I am trying to play Vintage. I have never played in a tournament, and I live in San Jose, California. I know that there are vintage tournaments in my area because I checked this board and saw that the run some at Super Stars in San Jose, and according to the calendar, they look to be playing 1 tournament a month.

Killane: Thank you for the run down! Correct me if i'm wrong, but this is what I gathered from your post: Currently, the vintage matches are dominated by a very select group of decks. So in a tournament of say 20 people, its possible for many of these people to be using the same deck as another person? Or do these decks have a certain theme that is followed, and the cards are your choice?

Also, my deck would have been good in 2000, but currently, with the new cards that have come out, the format has outgrown my deck, and more specifically the stasis theme in general? I guess its no surprise that the theme of my deck would have been good around the time I stopped playing.

So, if I were to try and construct a deck, the best way to start would be to find a list of the cards in these types of decks?

Thank you all in advance! Any light you can shed on this is very helpful! It is very amazing how much the game has evolved since I left!

Sujer

Hi, I am currently working on a stasis deck to (hopefully) one day use in a legacy tournament. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated!
First off, let me set this up. I have been playing magic since late 1993, and stopped playing in 2000. I have recently come back to magic (about 6 months ago) and have picked up some cards to help me construct decks.
I have never been in a tournament, and have only played against 2 different people.
I chose a stasis deck because after looking at a lot of different decks, it seemed like a natural fit to be a well rounded type. A lot of these newer cards do thing I have never seen, so I figured that if I could lock down the board, I would increase my chances of playing against them. My Blue/Green Stasis deck is as follows:


Creatures
4 - Birds Of Paradise: This will be used with Instill Energy to produce the land necessary to pay for the upkeep on Stasis.
2 - Cudgel Troll: This was put in to help fend of creatures early in the game with its regeneration ability.
4 - Mirri, Cat Warrior: This is used for its ability to not tap when attacking, which will be necessary to use when Stasis and Nature's Will are both on the board.
4 - Serra Sphinx: This will be used similarly as the Mirri, Cat Warrior.
2 - Pouncing Jaguar: This was put in to help fend off early game attacks that my deck seems to be so susceptible to.
2 - Troll Ascetic: This creature was put in for its regeneration ability (like the Cudgel Troll) but, also because of the shroud.

Spells
4 - Counter Spell: These will be used to either get rid of creatures/spells that can some how ruin the stasis ability, or general creature control.
2 - Gigadrowse: I originally used twiddles, but when I saw this card I figured it was an obvious choice. It is used to tap lands and or creatures of my opponent or untap mine.
2 - Snap: I originally used Boomerang's to help with creature control once my Stasis was out, and I figured that this was better than the Boomerang.
1 - Time Walk: The stasis is used like the Time Walk, I am trying to not allow my opponent to play anything during his turn, so I felt this was a good card to add in!

Enchantments
4 - Instill Energy: This is to be used with the Birds Of Paradise to allow me to pay the upkeep cost of stasis without losing it to the Stasis.
3 - Nature's Will: This was the best card I could find to help me really take advantage of the Stasis. With my vigilant creatures, I could untap my lands every turn, and make sure my opponents lands were tapped before his turn.
3 - Propaganda: This was a way to help me the whole game. The early part of the game it would be used to not allow many creatures to attack me at once, buying time for my stasis. Once the stasis was out, I would use it to not allow my opponent to attack.
4 - Stasis: This is what everything is built around.

Artifacts
1 - Black Lotus: Used for quick mana draw
1 - Mox Emerald: Used to help speed up the deck in the early portion of the game to play 2 land generation cards in one turn.
1 - Mox Sapphire: Same as above.

Land
8 - Forest: Since I have to get my Birds Of Paradise out before the stasis, and the Birds Of Paradise can be used for blue mana, I thought that the Forest is the most important land to draw early.
6 - Island: Used to pay for my spells, creatures, and enchantments.
4 - Tropical Island: Dual lands are always useful to have in a multi colored deck.

So far I have had a lot of luck with this deck, but, if I am playing against a speed deck, if I don't get the right draw, I have a lot of trouble with it. Having never played in a tournament i'm not sure what to expect, so if you could help me out with this deck it would be greatly appreciated!

tl;dr: Help me get my Stasis deck tournament ready, you can check it out here: http://essentialmagic.com//decks/View.asp?ID=760629

Thanks in advance!
Sujer

Hey, this is my first post, so be easy on me

I started playing Magic around 1994, and stopped in 2000. I recently got back into the game, and have been trying to construct a legacy stasis deck as well. I have play tested my deck, and the only times I cannot win with it is when the other player has to many speedy creatures. Here is my deck:
http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=760629

I think the deck is self explanatory, but if you have questions feel free to ask! Any help would be appreciated! Also, since I have never been in a tournament (I have only played against 2 people my whole life) what is the draw backs to using a stasis deck in a vintage tournament? I would like to try a tournament once I can get a good deck set up and it seems like if done right it could be very effective, but again, I have never played competitively.

Thanks!
Sujer