Spell Snare says "converted mana cost", not just "mana cost".  Thus it will never counter Chalice of the Void.

Key is actually pretty decent on its own - it is useful with all targetable artifact creatures for providing combat tricks, and goes with absolutely all artifacts (including itself) that have tap activated abilities (Sol Ring, Divining Top, etc.).  Key isn't a house, but it definitely meshes better than Vault, as in it isn't completely useless without other direct support cards.

Yeah, dearth was the wrong word.  I think the word I was looking for is extant.


You obviously missed their point, which is actually a really good one.

To make Wizards point more obviously, restricting Force would be dumb because then combo would take over, and rampant first turn kills would make the format completely boring.

T1 has cards that there simply aren't enough other cards that do anything nearly the same for the same ridiculously low cost or ease of playing.

Examples are Force of Will, which has Foil,  and Pact of Negation as its closest approximates, which are at once unplayable and/or ridiculously narrow.
Workshop has Ancient Tomb.
Bazaar is simply matchless - I guess the closest analogs would be Careful Study, Breakthrough, Attunement, and many other things that aren't free.
Ritual has Cabal Ritual, Rite of Flame, and Culling the Weak.

These analogs are strictly inferior.

The thing with Mana Drain is that it is a UU counter that provides slight mana acceleration, usually a drop or two at a time unless you get somebody who walks right into it.
If drain were restricted, it's not like there wouldn't be 3 other UU or 1U counters (like Counterspell, Mana Leak, and *insert counter here*) that could be dropped right into the open slots.  Combo/Control deckbuilders would just have to bring the curve of their decks down to accommodate for reduced mana acceleration.

That said, Drain doesn't appear broken enough yet to warrant restriction, and it is ostensibly an interactive/reactive card that provides situational mana acceleration, of which nothing analogous currently populate the B/R list.

That said, anybody who bemoans restrictions and threatens to leave the game - you are free to play whatever cards you want casually.  If you are into the sanctioned tournament scene, then you should be happy that your format isn't allowed to stagnate.  For every person who bemoans restrictions, there is another who thinks it is exciting because it enforces a complete remapping of the meta.

I think if the power level of un-errata'd Vault was too high, then you'd see people start playing Transmute Artifact to have Tinkers 2~5, and people maindecking Null Rod due to the dearth of Vault combo.  At that point, something would have to be done.

The fact that it is a two-card combo - and usually with another restricted card - means it's like any other two card "autowin" combo where one of the cards by itself does not do a whole heck of a lot (like Stifle/Illusionary Mask + Phyrexian Dreadnought).  Time Vault by itself is not a terribly useful card, unless you are playing something like Mystic Remora - in which it has a little more added synergy.

You have 2 tops in play.

Tap top 1 to draw a card, and then top 1 goes on your library.
Tap top 2 to draw top 1, and then top 2 goes on your library.
Play top 1, and ripple out top 2 plus any extra revealed tops.

Rinse and repeat to load up your hand and storm count.

Note that with 2 free tops (no thrumming stone), you can do this for the storm kill w/brain freeze:

You have 2 tops in play and Brain Freeze in hand.
1) Tap top 1 to draw a card, and then top 1 goes on your library.
2) Tap top 2 to draw top 1, and then top 2 goes on your library.
3) Play top 1.  Tap top 1 to draw top 2, and top 1 goes on your library.
4) Play top 2.  Tap top 2 to draw top 1, and top 2 goes on your library.

Rinse and repeat 3 and 4, and finish with Brain Freeze.
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My advice would be to ditch the tops, sculptors, thrumming stone and future sight(s), throw in FoW and tutors (including Merchant Scroll) and stick with the Trinket Mage/StifleNaught kill.  4 card combos do not work in vintage, especially ones that bend over to Null Rod, and this combo list as it exists is strictly inferior to Tendrils.  This is because the entire deck in a good tendrils build is the engine, with the only potentially dead (read: useless until the combo is in play) card being Tendrils of Agony itself -edit- and even then, in some rare situations such as with Bargain/Necro in play, Tendrils can even help keep things moving.  For example, Chain of Vapor is a house in Tendrils, because it is both an answer and engine card, letting you swap out tapped lands for reusable moxen mana and upping the storm count in the process.

The goals of every vintage combo deck are threefold:
1) Drop the fundamental turn as low as possible, which means control doesn't have a chance to get UU active, and aggro doesn't stand a chance, period, and other combo is left in the dust.
2) Never have dead cards in your grip.
3) Don't just die to hate.

The CounterTop strategy looks like an interesting sideboard swapout, though.

It usually does make it harder for them to win, but I've seen them still power through - countered spells still ramp up the storm count.


Card parity for random cards is not good.  To do what brainstorm did, you need card parity, the ability to put dead cards in hand back into the library (Blessing/Hellkite/Progenitus, obviously), and a cost of U at instant speed.

Rack is close, but chokes on Null Rod, and isn't blue.

Sylvan Library is close as well, but is slow, and isn't blue.  Other than that, it has been working very well for me, since in many matchups the optional card advantage and ability to optimize your hand every turn has really been adding consistency.  I also run an Enlightened Tutor, too, which has been helping tremendously.

Just throwing out ideas...

To reply to this sort of post is to die a little death...

If you are going to include Tinker, I'd at least include 4 x Transmute Artifact. 4 x Goblin Welder, and more graveyard filling effects.

By the way, you are thinking of http://www.5-color.com/.

That's true.

I think this was primarily meant to be a Limited combo with Sharuum the Hegemon and/or Reaper King.

The fact that the ability takes a turn to come online renders this card strictly inferior to say, Academy Rector (albeit Enchantments < Artifacts).  Heck, if you could sac it to do the ability just once, it might be worth considering, esp. since the card is blue, but alas.

/edit
And I forgot to mention Goblin Welder exists.

I'm surprised no one jumped on this the first time you brought it up.  It might be due to the inherent antipathy most Spike players have against drawback cards.

Just brainstorming:
Pros
1) It is obviously nuts against decks with limited or no basics (e.g., combo), as the card becomes Strip Mines 2-5.
2) It possesses slighlty more synergy with the Land Tax engine (ensuring you have fewer lands than your opponent), although the search is optional.  It is slightly better than Wasteland with Tax in play in that you can nuke one of your own lands and effectively only reduce your manabase by 1 instead of 2 if desired.  This effect can also be used to trade for colored mana by replacing a tapped land.
3) It is arguably more synergistic with Crucible of Worlds, which has been admitted to be very includable.
4) It can help with smoothing your own manabase when you go for the color splash, as it a fetch that costs you a land drop.

Cons
1) This Parfait build has a ton of combo hate already, and sans the Tax engine in effect it is generally inferior to Wasteland in the same matchups because of the drawback.
2) Wasteland is superior to Ghost Quarter against a deck sporting a good number of basics, as you are possibly helping them thin their deck and smooth their manabase.

I think the card overrall has more flexibility and versatility than Wasteland, but the fetch drawback may simply be a net detractor in too many matchups to warrant it being an unconditional inclusion.