the tournament is certainly not intended to be run in one sitting. also the point is not to decide what is the best deck, its who is the best player, so die rolls should either even out or we just alternate each match.
thanks for input thus far.
I think this is prob what I want in abstract

workshop
ritual
drain
gush
fish

This leaves out dredge and oath, but dredge vs field is more a sideboarding crapshoot than a skilltesting experiment. also I was under the impression oath was barely played anymore.
Eliminating dredge from the tournament makes sideboards simpler, but that might make it too unrealistic. I could go either way. I assume Gush gets the bump if dredge joins the lineup.

Gregg Keithley and I have set a bet.

We each proxy up our own copy of 5 vintage-legal decks. Play a series of tournament style best 2of3 matches with randomly selected decks (re-roll if its same ppl playing same decks). First to 13 match wins is the winner of the bet.
My $60 to his $40.

So now need to come up with five representative deck lists. There are way more than 5 viable archetypes, so cant be comprehensive metagame demonstration. Also both players will be running the same lists, so theres no value in 'surprise' tech.
Suggestions appreciated

when is the april event?
moxes are getting dusty in st louis...

all good pts. I forgot to mention I had deed first. It didnt matter, he was drawing dead.

there are zero vitnage events sat or sun? no mox tourneys or anything?

Good
preordain
leyline sanctity

Maybe
autumn veil
stormtide leviathan
scroll thief
redirection
sun titan

unlikely
leyline anticipation
time reversal
call to mind
reassembling skeleton
war priest thune
manic vandal
crystal ball
pyretic ritual
phylactery lich
dark tutelage


http://unpopularideasclub.blogspot.com/2010/07/m11-in-vintage.html

The general maindeck package of stax is still a consistent contender, in all these variations. The real challenge is sideboarding.

The only reason I play Twister is a necessity of running a mill my own library combo. Otherwise the symmetry is too dangerous for non-storm-combo.

"What are you preordering from ROE?"

nothing, bc the cheapest shipping option is $8.

I overlooked it because its green. I don't think the card is better than Bazaar, nor worth another color, but I'll mention it.

My review. Probably nothing really controversial:
http://unpopularideasclub.blogspot.com/2010/04/eldrazi-vintage-review.html

I endorse terastodon as oath creature. I put one in my sb.

I salute Preacher's maindeck T8 debut

erroneous, sadly

Good call on Kalni Garden. Im pretty sure no dredge decks play Dryad Arbor anymore, but Kalni does seem better in this niche application.

You really think Jace Mindsculptor is not even worth mentioning?

Im only concerned with vintage. I have no input as to what WW cards will be viable in other formats.

Ricochet- I don't think either REB nor Misdirect are worth playing personally, but they are definitely in the vintage canon. Ricochet is a comparable cost+effect.
Thada Adel- be aware if you connect twice with this vs Time vault decks, you get inf turns yourself. I could see it even being sideboarded in Tez-style decks for the mirror.
Loam Lion - GW currently plays chock full of disruption guys. The only slot that Kird Lion is competing for is vs Tgoyf. 1 vs 2c makes a huge difference in vintage, and sometimes Tgoyf will linger at 2/3 for awhile, so maybe 1drop version is better. I doubt it, but Im satisfied with my placing it on the list.

This happens every time I post a new set review. A bunch of people who apparently have only passing familiarity with vintage start suggesting completely terrible cards.

As for Ricochet Trap, in what percentage of games vs blue does your opponent tutor for and cast Recall? 95%? In what percentage of games vs blue does your opponent tutor for and cast Tinker? 60%? Being able to severely punish the Recall line of play trumps losing the ability to counter Tinker. Thats my analysis anyway. I don't play either REB nor Misdirect, so it may be a subtle distinction, but Im confident Ricochet Trap is a viable among the oddball tier of counterspells.

Mire Toll fails because the ideal time to cast discard is turn 1, when you will have only 1 Swamp, thus letting them choose, which is the opposite of why Duress/Thoughtseize are good.

Have you ever had your Recall Misdirected? Its completely demoralizing. Battling over Recall is a critical part of the blue mirror, and the existence of an effective 1c 1for1 hard-misdirect effect, I think will make these battles all the more skill intensive. So yes I think Ricochet Trap is better than REB.

Triple-creeping mold guy as Oath target is not the worst if Iona and Tidespout, Sundering Titan didnt exist, but if you want board control out of your oath, rather than fastest possible clock, there are better creatures.
However, if you were to run him, Id imagine playing two. First one takes out most their mana, second one hits your own Oath and extra mana to win the race. I will upgrade Terastodons ranking, but I still think its strictly worse than other oath options.

Im completely unconvinced of Treasure Hunt being breakable.

Explore is worse than an Elf in Elves.

Anowon Ruin Sage is better than Abyss for this effect in Storm, because if you use up most your hand to drop something that controls creatures, you will be substantially less likely to have the gas left over to then combo out. Anowon solves this problem by being a wincon unto itself. Wumpus went out of favor because Tgoyf got printed. Im not saying Storm definitely should play this guy, but if he lands its bad news for fish, who most likely will not have access to any creature removal at this stage in the match. If I were building like ANT, Id probably rather play Deathmark, but your mileage may vary.

Some obvious choices here. Seems like a good set

http://unpopularideasclub.blogspot.com/2010/01/worldwake-summary.html

Definite playable
Lodestone Golem
Bojuka Bog
Natures Claim
Thada Adel Acquisitor
Ricochet Trap

Not Unlikely
Jace Mindsculptor
Wind Zendikon
Anowon Ruin Sage

Not Impossible
Terastodon
Loam Lion
Slavering Null
Dispell

Definitely Not
Treasure Hunt
Amulet of Vigor
Explore

Remember the corner cases of stacking smokestack backwards to get rid of an extra permanent, like Mana Crypt when going from 0->1, or if need to fill yard for B-Ring threshold. Also if digging desperately, and Crucible in play, a few times Ive activated Bazaar in upkeep, sacked it to soot, then replayed it main phase to mill more. Ie if Welder up and need to find Tangle to keep Inkwell down, etc.

Really what needs to be considered is how fast your opponents deck is, vs how many permanents they have. If they have two permanents and its Storm, def go to 2. If they have two permanents and its fish, keep it at 1. If its Tez, harder call. If you have a known play next turn, then I would ramp so they can't have drain mana up via a land drop. Otherwise, probably go for the long game and keep at 1.
If they have 4+ I will go to soot@2 almost every time. If they have 3, I will keep it at 1, unless its Storm. The danger is they sac 2, don't make a land drop, and then you have choice of keeping soot at two, sacking 4 to take out 1; or drop Smoke and leave them with a land.
Of course if you have Welder, always ramp no matter what.

Mindbreak Trap seems to have missed its opportunity. Tendrils decks adapted quickly with return of Xantid, thus making additional counterspells out of the board an inefficient method of fighting storm.
Spell Pierce though has secured a place as Type 1 staple.
Rav Trap is not groundbreaking, but is definitely relevant, to keep Dredge guessing.
Sad-Sac is the real sleeper hit, which has subtly changed boarding and game decisions in non-intuitive ways.

and Ive gotten compliments on what an effective proxy that is.
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2765608760086718795ASNbwR

It needs 4 mana in play by the mainphase of the turn it mills the whole library. If he didnt have a mana in hand at the time he decided to mill his library w 3 land in play, then he would have to pass the turn, and thus exactly die to Dsteel trample + spirit token.
However, the play is to K-rec Lotus+Yawg, when theres only going to be 4 mana available, not Lotus+Twister. Its K-Rec in upkeep, draw step, make land drop, flashback Flash Insight for 1, play Lotus, play Yawg, go infinite. Theres no point in just Twistering. The only way his play makes sense is if he had Yawg in hand, in which case he just needs to K-Rec on Lotus alone, and not get the 50% chance of losing.
This makes me think he was not bluffing and thought he actually had it.

I made so many mistakes this tournament. Vintage is hard.

nonetheless you are a cheater

this is cheating.

With two Moxmonkeys, surely Mana Crypt is better than Pearl/Saphire/Emerald.

I do not understand the appeal of Relic over Tormod. If you need to remove their graveyard, usually its to avoid losing the game. So the cantrip has got to be worth sacrificing, in order to not need 2 colorless available. When its an emergency, free is better than maintaining card parity, especially in a Bazaar+Dconf deck that can stay in the game with low/no hand count.

Respectfully, I can't help thinking that willingness to play <4 Bazaar indicates less than full understanding how to abuse the card.

Lastly, you have black mana and Trinisphere, but no Vamp Tutor? It costs one. Too good.

Sure, some times things go perfectly for you. However, its risky to have a win condition that gifts your opponent to the edge of victory, and then needs to take down another counter war to actually steal the game back.