Holiday party so can't make it.   Maybe catch the next one.

Debating bringing my vintage deck in case I scrub out of the main event.    Would be nice if they had better prizes then Khans packs.  Foil fetchlands or things vintage players actually want.  I remember playing in the Legacy Trial at a GP and they were giving out Born of the Gods packs as prizes.

Used to run Caltrops in keeper back in the day.  Might be time to bring them out again.   Kills Pyromancer and tokens if they attack.  Doesn't do anything about flipped Delver though.

Looks pretty interesting but I really didn't like the Workshop match up when I was playing blue white without a couple Steel Sabotage in the board as well as the Disenchants and Swords.

Devout Witness is great against workshop if it resolves and doesn't get killed or Revokered.  Is not easy to resolve between Lodestones, Spheres, and Wires.  Make sure to fetch a basic plains so can't get wastelanded out of using the activation.

Really do like Pithing Needle as a solution to Stoneforge Mystic as well as Bazaar among other things.   Disenchant is unreliable because of Batterskull able to bounce itself.

I prereged for both Legacy and Vintage Champs.  Should be a fun weekend.  Nick and co rock for putting this all together.  See you there.

Thank you to Nick, the judges, security and everyone that made this event possible.  Thank you to Jeff Menges for chatting and signing my cards.   Tourney was fun. Will definitely go to the next one.  Congratulations to everyone who won a prize.

Restoration Angel in Bomberman looks interesting and something I would like to try.  Especially with the new July ruling that each player can have a Jace in play.  I have played Restoration Angel in standard and nice to see the extreme value of flashing in to block or save a 187 creature from removal while getting additional value from its CIP ability translates to vintage.   

The Affinity list looked interesting as well.

@CwaM
Notion Theif has black in its costing cost so you can not run it in the UW version.   Will have to test Notion Theif in Esper Bomberman though sounds decent for Jace Mirrors but deck and board are so tight not sure what to cut for a Notion Theif.

Blue White Bomberman has better manabase and more counterspells while the Esper Bomberman version adds black for more draw power via Dark Confidant, Tutor(s) and brokenness via Yawgmoth's Will but mana is not as good and runs less counterspells.   Its really personal preference which version you like.  I like drawing cards and brokeness so I run the Esper version.

After board I have 2 Grafdigger's Cage,1 Nihil Spellbomb, 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Tormod's Crypt for grave yard hate vs dredge in addition to Pithing Nddle to shut down Bazaar and Engineered Explosives to kill Zombies if I need to.

Devout Witness is pretty much wins the game against Workshop if you can resolve it and can pay for its ability and they don't have the Revoker or Duplicant answer.  Lot of ifs but unanswered if your not facing lethal next turn it just wins.   Only 1 Devout Witness because you want to diversify your hate since Devout Witness does get shut down by Revoker. 

My board vs shops running Esper is
+1 Devout Witness, +2 Disenchant, +1 Kataki, +1 Serenity +1 Pithing Needle (Bazaar, Metal Worker, or Welder)  +1 Steel Sabotage, +2 Swords to Plowshares
-2 Auriok Salvagers, -1 Flusterstorm, -2 Mental Mistep -2 Snapcaster Mage, -1 Thirst for Knowledge -1 Yawgmoth's Will

If you want to beat Merfolk, Supreme Verdict does a good job of it but the match up isn't that common.

@Samoht
Justin played turn 1 Jace last time I played against him at Top Deck Games.  He made the argument for 4 Jace.  I tried 4 for a couple tournaments but trying Vendilion Clique in place of the 4th Jace right now.

I find the Shops match up for any Jace deck isn't particularly good unless your on the Baleful Strix, Dark Confidant, Goblin Welder version and even then going second is still not so good.

@personalbackfire
Cavern might not be so good in your deck if you want double blue asap to land Counterbalance quickly.  If your running Lotus Petal to get double blue quickly why not Mana Drains?

I can see running Vampiric Tutor in your deck because it does find Counterbalance/Top and is good with Counterbalance in play.   I just don't like the card disadvantage and life loss is relavent when your taking damage from Dark Confidant.

I lost to my own Mana Crypt more often then I lost to Dark Confidant damage even with Blightsteel in my deck.   Confidant card draw usually puts you ahead so you win and  you can mitigate Dark Confidant damage with Top and Jace.  Your bound to lose some flips in long control match ups and die to your own Mana Crypt if you don't get rid of it via Tinker, Gorilla Shaman etc.

I took out the Trinisphere for more Workshop hate since I kept losing to Workshop but time to put it back in especially with Regrowth Gush being a deck now.

@CwaM
I haven't been impressed with Surgical Extraction period in Vintage or Legacy.   Ability of Rest in Peace to just turn off graveyard strategies is just game winning.   Dredge can come back from single use grave yard removal and it is possible for the dredge player to destroy Cage by using Thug's ability to recur an Ingot Chewer. Rest in Peace just locks them out.   They either have the Nature's Claim or likely lose if they didn't have a crazy first turn.

I don't really think removing the maindeck Explosives is such a good idea.  Its a catch all that removes anything that costs 5 or less and you can recur it with Salvagers.  It kills those 18 Goblins from Storm, opposing Dark Confidant or fish creatures.   Gets rid of moxes if your opponent has a bunch and you have none.  Its just so useful.

@Watanabe
Rest in Peace is good not because it locks out the Dredge player unless they have the Nature's Claim to destroy it.   With Moxes you can play it turn 1 sometimes.

Engineered Explosives is pretty good at taking care of the Zombie Invasion and is tutorable with Trinket Mage.

I think you need to test straight drawing naturally and not starting with 6+BoB all the time since with 4 BoB and 4 Serum Powder you have a 54% chance of having BoB in your oppening 7 and a 22% of having a BoB in an oppening 6 if you did not have it in your openning 7.  Don't remember the numbers for 5 cards and lower but mulls to 3 and not finding a BoB aren't all that common.  You also have to factor in that you want a Dredge card in your openning hand with the BoB which is hard to figure out the percentages for.   Disruption is tertiary after aggressively mulliganing for BoB + Dredge card.

I was more thinking of Council sideboard if you run into lots of Landstill or U/W bomberman.  They have 3-4 Jaces to your 2-3 (I run 3 was 4).  If you have a 2/4 that locks them out of Mishras beats.  Probably is bad as like you said you would want the 3rd and probably 4th Jace before the first Council.

I'd consider playing Notion Theif main deck in the V. Clique slot if there wasn't so much Workshop in the North East US.  Might cut the 2nd Steel Sabotage since it only shines on the play versus Workshop.  I cut the first Steel Sabotage for Trinisphere because I have issues with Burning Oath and with Regrowth unrestricted we will likely see Regrowth Gush.

I prefer Devout Witness because it destroys stuff of your choosing and is easier to cast dodging Thorns as a creature.   If I untap with a Devout Witness and the basic plains + 2 + other mana I'm feeling pretty good about winning, barring a Revoker or Duplicant.  Energy Flux I find is pretty difficult to cast once resistors start coming down and with Ancient Tomb and Mishras they can just pay for their Lodestone Golem and bash you for 5.  Kataki is easier to cast and can actually swing for damage and block if you have to.

Your looking at the probability for BoB + Dredge card + Unmask + Black card.   4 cards is a harder to find then 3.  Math for that is too complicated for me with Serum powder + mulligans in the mix.

@Samoht
Totally agree with you about Rest in Peace being the blow out versus Dredge.  You can get hit by discard but thats what counterspells are for.

What are your opinions about Notion Thief and Council of the Absolute from Dragon's Maze? 

They probably both cost too much at 4 Mana which is Jace territory but are worth mentioning.

Notion Theif the Jace mugger sounds decent as a sideboard in the Jace mirror.  Castable off a Cavern of Souls on Humans you can flash it in in response to their Jace storm and you draw 3 they have to put back 2 and you have a 3 power creature to hit Jace with which likely will kill Jace if they didn't fate seal first.    4 mana is likely too much as it comes to late to hit Ancestral and Brainstorm unless they are top decked.   

Council of the Absolute is also castable off a Cavern of Souls on Human and you can name Jace with it making your opponent unable to cast Jace and your Jace costs UU.   As a 2/4 it blocks any Dark Confidants or Snapcasters they may have and doesn't die to a single Lightning Bolt.

@Cruel Ultimatum
Your right about Yawgmoth's Will coming down to playstyle.  I don't like taping out for Yawgmoth's Will either but as a long time Keeper player I always liked the broken Yawg Win and the ability to come back it gave.   Sure sometimes Snapcaster used your Ancestral Recall or Time Walk but sometimes Yawgmoth's Will gets you the discarded or destroyed Key or Time Vault and win.

@CwaM
Congratulations on your win.

I haven't found black mana to be too much of an issue except against Wasteland decks.  You can cast Dark Confidant off Cavern of Souls on Human and that leaves you with Demonic Tutor that you want to cast early.   Yawgmoth's Will is a mid to late game card usually.

Difference between Jace and Snapcaster is Jace wins the game by himself if left unchecked.   Snapcaster needs to recur something for advantage which is difficult under resistors and is unlikely to win the game as a 2/1 beater.

I board out my Snapcasters in the dredge match up.  I bring in the full 6 cards against dredge in addition to the Nihil Spellbomb main

+2 Grafdigger's Cage, +1 Pithing Needle, +2 Rest in Peace, +1 Tormod's Crypt
-1 Yawgmoth's Will, -2 Mana Drain, -2 Snapcaster Mage, -1 Thirst for Knowledge

I don't like Surgical Extraction.  It takes 2 Surgicals to cripple dredge where 1 Rest in Peace just locks them out of the game unless they kill it and hopefully you have a counterspell for when they try and kill it.

@Samoht
Dredge and Workshops are the two match ups that I miss the Mana Crypt.   I've lost too many games to Mana Crypt damage to put it back in without Tinker being in the deck at this point.

Devout Witness is great vs shops as long as you can actually resolve it and your opponent and your opponent doesn't have a Revoker plus you have the mana to use it, hence needing a basic plains.

Notion Thief the mugger of Jace sounds pretty good to play one via Cavern of Souls on Human in response to your opponents using Jace's Brainstorm ability.  They better have a Lightning Bolt, Izzet Charm or Swords to Plowshares.   You then have a 3/1 to smash Jace with next turn too assuming your opponent didn't Fate seal first.   Is pretty good versus Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gush, Yawgmoth's Bargain as well.   Only caveats are costing 4 mana and being bad versus Workshops and Fish.   Probably worth at least trying running 1 Notion Thief sideboard for control mirrors if you have Cavern of Souls in your deck.   

I want to like Ral Zarek because he untaps Timevault but Jace Brainstorm, Unsummon and Fate seal are much better then Ral Zarek, untap timevault and  lightning bolt.   Ral Zarek ultimate sounds fun though.  Both Tezerrets are probably better then Ral Zarek making 5/5's or finding Time Vault.

Congratulations to all the winners and Thank you to Nick Coss for another great event.

Ran this at the Top Deck Games tournament this past weekend.

Artifact (12)
1 Black Lotus
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

Black (6)
4 Dark Confidant
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Blue (22)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Flusterstorm
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
3 Trinket Mage
1 Vendilion Clique

White (4)
2 Auriok Salvagers
2 Swords to Plowshares

Land (17)
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Tundra
2 Underground Sea

Sideboard (15)
1 Devout Witness
2 Disenchant
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Kataki
1 Pithing Needle
2 Rest in Peace
1 Serenity
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Tormod's Crypt

Put in Vendilion Clique instead of the 4th Jace.   Clique was pretty good in a couple matches.

This is from memory

Round 1 Shops (Win)
G1 Loss get locked down
G2 Win He mulls to 5 and I get Kataki in play
G3 Win He turn 1 chalice at 0 and 1 then I force his Resister.  Play Bob and draw into Serenity for the blow out.

Round 2 U/W Landstill (Draw)
G1 I force my threats out via Cavern and win.
G2 I get out threats with Cavern but die to Colonade couldn't find the Swords or Needle for it.
G3 I Trinket Mage for Lotus and get Jace  in play but we go to time and I can't kill him in time.   He drains my EoT clique which force and he forces back.  Might have had it with Time Walk + Yagwill.

Round 3 R/U Moon Welder (win)
G1 he arrives late so I get a game win
G2 I get out a Dark Confidant followed by a Jace and counter his threats.

Round 4 vs Burning Oath (loss)
G1 He drops Orchard Oath on turn 1 I don't have a force.
G2 I have the Cage and Dark Confidant but no counters so he just plays Griselbrand via Show and Tell

Round 5 vs Burning Oath (loss)
G1 He has duress for my drain and plays Oath + orchard next turn.
G2 I get out a Cage but I found I punt this one forcing using Jace on a Burning wish and later forgeting I made my land drop and I discard Top to Thirst thinking I can cast a Mox so I can Trinket for Pithing Needle to Needle Grislbrand.   He hard casts Griselbrand with fast mana next turn.  My  my next card was Force.

Thinking I might want to add Trinisphere to my board again for Storm.  Might cut a Steel Sabatoge for it since those only good on the play.  Might want a second Flusterstorm in the board as well but not sure what to cut for it.  Could also use another Mana Drain maindeck but space is tight.

@Cruel Ultimatum
I think Yawgmoth's Will is still worth running. Yawgmoth's Will is so powerful late game.  There are times where you draw it early or removed your Ancestral with a Snapcaster Mage.  It is a non combo with Salvagers since you often remove your Black Lotus to Yawgmoth's will but this usually puts you far enough ahead to win.

@CwaN
Rest in Peace is better because it just turns off Dredge period till they remove it it.    Losing Bridges hurts but Dredge can still win without bridges.

Jace is hard to play under resists but you only have to pay the resistor tax once.   Snapcaster becomes really difficult to pay the resister tax since you have to pay it twice once for Snappy and again for the flashback card.

I like having the basic lands.   2 Basic islands so you can cast Mana drain and the basic plains to cast and use Salvagers is nice.  You can't always save a fetch land,  Crucible of Worlds + Wasteland is a threat.  I can see the 3 island with the plains in the board also.

@personalbackfire
I saw you playing at the event with the Counterbalance in play and thought it was worth trying as a side board card vs control.  I didn't know you had them main deck.

I was the Asian guy playing Esper Bomberman.

Just keep playing.  You don't always do well unless well your Justin.

I'm not sure how good Counterbalance really is versus Bomberman if you don't have Wasteland to get rid of Cavern of Souls.   That made Bomberman really powerful with uncounterable Bob, Trinket, Snapcaster and Salvager.  You do have Swords to kill resolved creatures though.

I think you should have 4 Dark Confidants.   Drawing cards is just so good.

I'm not a fan of top deck tutors for the card disadvantage and with things like Clique during your draw step I cut them all.

I think you should run 1 or 2 Cavern of Souls on Wizard is pretty good lets you cast Bob, Snapcaster and Clique.

I might have been playing Bomberman too long but I like Trinket Mage to find Top, Lotus, Engineered Explosives or sideboard artifacts is pretty good.

I just started running Vendilion Clique after running it for awhile in Legacy stoneblade and I like it so far.

Flusterstorm is just good in control mirrors to win counter wars and versus storm so having the 1 to hedge is decent.

I agree on Tinker Blightsteel since most workshop decks are running Metamorphs and Duplicant its not even worth it against them anymore.

I haven't run Ponder in awhile. 

Hurkyl's was more relevant when there was more Tinker bot.  I prefer destroying then bouncing so I run destroy effects mostly.    I ran Echoing Truth in the past its pretty good vs Goblin Tokens from Empty the Warrens but I don't really think you need it if your running white for Swords to Plowshares and Engineered Explosives kills Goblin tokens along with other stuff pretty well.

I personally don't like Mana Crypt as I tend to lose the die rolls and take tons of damage from it.   I take more damage from Mana Crypt then I take from Dark Confidant.  If you don't have Tinker to get rid of it I don't think you should be running Mana Crypt.  Having to play an Engineered Explosives for 0 to not die to Mana Crypt is pretty terrible.  Your mileage may vary if you are more lucky with die rolls then I am.

Trinisphere answers Gush decks pretty well.  I'm thinking I might want to put the 1 of Trinisphere back in my board since I played two burning oath decks.

White has Rest in Peace is pretty good versus Dredge. It does nerf your Snapcaster Mages and Yawgmoth's Will but you can board some or all of those out. Other then that Grafdigger's Cage is good because its also decent versus Oath.

@Samoht
Back when I saw Empty Gush in the meta I had a Trinisphere and a extra Flusterstorm in the board.

@DubDub
Costing 6 vs Costing 8 is a big difference in castability.  I don't know if I would board Wurmcoil without Goblin Welder or Mana Drain.

@CwaM
Maindeck basic lands are against Wasteland decks.   You want at least 3 basics so you can lay a 4th land and cast Jace with Null Rod out.   I like having a basic plains because it lets you cast and use Salvagers along with Swords to Plowshares. 

Spell bomb is so you can combo off with Salvagers and draw lots of cards.   Nihil Spellbomb gives you a maindeck answer to Dredge, Goblin Welder and Yawgmoth's Will.

Thirst is actually quite good because there isn't that much instant card draw and manipulation with most of it being restricted and Fact or Fiction competes with Jace for slots.

I think you should be playing the 3rd Jace before you play the 2nd Flusterstorm but if you play against alot of Storm Combo maybe the 2nd Flusterstorm is good.

Time Vault + Key is nice for the just win aspect of it.   Hard not to run if you have Trinket Mages to find Key and Demonic Tutor to find Time Vault along with Yawgmoth's Will

As far as sideboarding.

Devout Witness is quite good if you can get it in play. Making every card in your deck a disenchant is quite awesome.   Basic Plains helps with having white mana.  If you can get it out early before they get too much out  and they don't have the Revoker or Duplicant it usually wins the game.  3+ mana can be rough to get it into play but as a creature is doesn't get by Thorns at least.

I have to give Serenity another try.  I tried it last tournament instead of Kataki and the one time it came up I couldn't get it into play.  The Serenity + Ancient Tombs board plan might be worth trying again.   You do take a bit too much damage with Bobs.  You still need Disenchants for Null Rod and Oath though.

Energy Flux is really awesome if you can cast it but I found to be difficult to cast unless you want first and had at least 1 mox.  Kataki was much easier to get into play.

Rest in Peace is too good not to run as it locks out Dredge unless they remove it.  2 mana isn't an issue as you can play it turn 1 if you have a Mox.  You can kill it with Engineered Explosives when you are ready to go off or just win with Jace.  I would run 2 Rest in Peace instead of the Surgical Extractions.

Steel Sabotage is really good if your on the play since you can counter an artifact for 1 blue mana.   On the draw its not as good but still decent.  Don't estimate the end of turn bounce.

You really want 2 Disenchants vs Null Rod, Stony Silence, Oath of Druids etc.

I keep the Spellbomb in against Shops because Spellbomb is pretty good versus Goblin Welder if they have it.   Even if they don't its another cheap artifact you can throw out there to have something to tap to Tangle Wire or sacrifice to Smoke Stack.

Snapcaster costs 5 mana to flashback a 1 mana spell if they have even 1 Resistor so I board it out.

Jace is pretty much your win con vs shops as they lock you out of the Salvagers plan so you want to draw it.  Getting it into play isn't that easy but it is possible with all your hate.  You do make a point that I could go down to 3 on the draw.

@Cruel Ultimatum
I can see cutting Library for another basic but Academy enables some pretty explosive turn 1 plays including turn 1 Jace so not so sure about cutting it.  It does make your mana more consistent though.
 

I like playing with Dark Confidant so I prefer the Esper Bomberman version.   As a long time Keeper player, I like white's ability to deal with all threats over Red.    Salvagers combo is also nice.

This is what I been running.

Artifact (12)
1 Black Lotus
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

Black (6)
4 Dark Confidant
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Blue (22)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Flusterstorm
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
3 Trinket Mage

White (4)
2 Auriok Salvagers
2 Swords to Plowshares

Land (17)
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Tundra
2 Underground Sea

Sideboard (15)
1 Devout Witness
2 Disenchant
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Kataki
1 Pithing Needle
2 Rest in Peace
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Tormod's Crypt

A few opinions.
I can't see running less then 3 Jace since Jace is just so good.    Justin stresses the 4 Jaces and I have been liking that change to 4.   Might drop to 3 but liking 4.

Can't see not running Yawgmoth's Win if your playing black.  Yes its a non combo with Salvagers but you often get enough advantage out of it to win.

Vault Key is worth running despite the hate with Trinket Mage and Demonic to find the combo along with Salvagers to get it back if it got countered or destroyed.

No Top deck tutors.  Don't like the Card disadvantage..

No Tinker Blightsteel most decks have an answer for it and then its a liability.  Also really bad to hit Blightsteel off Dark Confidant.

No Mana Crypt, I lose die rolls often.   I die to Mana Crypt much more often then I die to Bob.  Cut it after I cut Tinker and Blightsteel haven't really missed it.   It was nice with Tinker or against Workshops on the play but with out Tinker to get rid of it I died to it too much.

Cards under consideration
+1 Basic Swamp / -1 Library- I had one for awhile but I ended up cutting it and putting Library back in.  Having another basic would be good for Workshop match ups although Library is good vs control.

1 Vendilion Clique / - 1 ??- I like it in my legacy esper stoneblade deck but can never find room for it vintage.  Considering cutting a Swords to Plowshares or Jace #4 but I feel you need removal maindeck with Caverns making creatures uncounterable now and cutting Jace never seems like a good idea because well he wins the game.

2 Ancient Tomb sideboard over something like Kataki.   In theory this sounds good to help you cast your hate but the damage sure adds up in conjunction with Bob.

Sideboarding

Blue control
+0-1 Pithing Needle (if they have Tez or Mishra's Factories.)
-0-1 Mental Mistep, -0-1 Swords to Plowshares (if they don't have bob or mishras)

Dredge:
+2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Tormod's Crypt
-1 Yawgmoth's Will, -2 Mana Drain, -2 Snapcaster Mage, -1 Thirst for Knowledge

Fish:
+2 Disenchant, +1 Devout Witness,  +2 Swords to Plowshares,
-1 Flusterstorm, -2 Mental Mistep, -2 Mana Drain

Oath:
+2 Disenchant, +2 Grafdigger's Cage
-0-2 Swords to Plowshares, -2 Snapcaster Mage, -0-1 Yawgmoth's Will

Shops:
+1 Devout Witness, +2 Disenchant, +2 Kataki, +0-1 Pithing Needle (Bazaar, Metal Worker, or Welder)  +2 Steel Sabotage, +2 Swords to Plowshares
-2 Auriok Salvagers, -1 Flusterstorm, -2 Mental Mistep -2 Snapcaster Mage, -1 Thirst for Knowledge -1 Yawgmoth's Will

Blue control vs Shops match ups can be pretty miserable on the draw but its that way even with Red for Welder and Chewer.  Baleful Strix actually helps out the Workshop match up quite a bit but thats a different deck then.  Not exactly sure what the best options against shops.  The old 3 stoneforge + batter skull was decent till everyone started running Revokers.  Instants like Disenchant you can cast under Wire but creatures like Stoneforge and Kataki are easier to get through resisters and give you additional things to tap to wire.   I run Kataki because Energy Flux is really hard to resolve outside of getting it going first and having a couple of moxes or a Lotus.  Serenity sounds good, need to test that more.

@Kalisia
I actually tried Tendrils awhile back not just as a win now but I wanted some life gain to offset Bob and Crypt damage that wasn't Swords to Plowshares your own BoB and it wasn't really that good most of the time.   Occasionally you would get a big Will + Tendrils turn or your opponent was low enough on life that a mini Tendrils would win it but majority of the time it didn't do much other then sit in my hand since I played out all my moxes.   It would be a bad gain 4 as you would draw a mox and play it and the Tendrils.   Felt like you wanted Dark Ritual for Tendrils to be decent and then that is a totally different deck.    I found running Jitte won me more games then Tendrils when I tried it and Jitte was also bad and got cut.

4 Confidant + Demonic Tutor and Yawgmoth's Win I agree are must run but I don't think Vampiric is worth it with the card disadvantage.

I'd be interested in seeing your list.

@Anusien
That is why you run 3-4 Jace.

@Pokey
I seen couple people play Inkwell at the last tournament I was at.  Still probably not worth sideboarding Hurkyl's for an answer to it.

@Guli
Small Pox kills your Blood Scivener / BoB.

@Serracollector
I like that shell it would probably make a fun legacy deck actually if you took out all the restricted card that are banned in legacy.

Has the May event been scheduled yet?


Going to have to agree with Pokey on this one.  Vintage is the best format.   Although I am actually having fun in standard right now.

Thank you Nick for a great time playing vintage.  Should be at the next one on April 20th.

I'm looking for a ride or carpool to GP Columbus.  I live in Central Jersey but I can get to NYC or long island easily enough.  I do have a car but I don't feel like driving the 10+ hours alone.  If anyone has room in their car or wants to get a carpool group together let me know.   Friends that are going either have a full car or flying.   Please let me know if you can help. Will help pay for gas and tolls.  If you had room in hotel that would be great too. 

Hi.  Congrats on the win Andrew.

I went 2-2-1 with Fish.   beat tes and tog and lost to Ashok with belcher, he had a turn one belcher on the play game 1 and i didn't have the force for it.   game 2 i didn't draw a second land to pop my EE after he went with the goblins plan.  lost to dennis and his maindeck pyrostatic pillars.   drew with threshold.

Almost a 5 hours drive for me too.   There is a Grand Prix Trial the same day at Neutral Ground in NYC but I'm sure the prize for this tourney is better.   I'll have to see if my team mates want to go to this one instead of the Grand Prix Trial at Neutral Ground.

I aggree it really depends on your meta game.

As others  stated Misdirection helps force through the first turn or early Oath.   Where Duress you need a black source also however it can strip combo of a key peice or get rid of a nasty spell in addition to clearing a counter to resolve oath doing double duty.  If you see alot of combo and control Duress might be a good choice instead of Misdirection.   I ran both at one point but moved more towards Misdirection as that doesn't stretch the mana as much having to fetch or get black early then you need green to cast the Oath too as well as it works ok with the Thirst/Chalice plan where Duress does not.

Its been a long time since I played Oath in vintage. Oath is one of those decks I play when I take a break from playing Control Slaver since my local shop has alot of aggro.  I think I might give Oath a shot at the next vintage tourney instead of my normal slaver.

I really don't like Timetwister in non combo decks as it gives you opponent cards.

I really like Mishra's Factory as an alternate win.  Yes it hurts a little on the colored mana but it provides another method of winning if your Oath is countered and Extirpated and Factories are really good these days since alot of decks don't pack wastelands anymore.  Even if they do Life from the Loam makes Mishra's Factory really great since there isn't Keeper with Swords to Plowshares anymore.

I also feel that you want Strip mine and some number of Wastelands against Bazaar, Library and other problem lands.  With fetches it really doesn't hurt the mana base that much.

Crucible of Worlds combos well with Mishra's Factory, Strip Mine, Wastelands, Fetchlands and is nice for control match ups and decent against Stax.

I run 2 Blessings because I hate losing to getting decked.  It happens sometimes.

I run Akroma and Razia because they are hasty and flying and win fast.  Don't like Collosus cause he can be welded away and has to fight through whatever land lubbers are around.  Hellkite might be worth a try instead of Razia but is not hastey and does not have Vigilance.

I like Thirst for Knowledge as additional draw for control mirrors.

I choose Echoing Truth as the bounce of choice because of the new Empty the Warrens tech it bounces all the Goblin Tokens if this isn't popular in your area you might want to just go with Wipe Away.

Sideboard is mainly against ichorid, control and stax.   Depending on your meta you might want to change this.  Only thing I really miss is Duress, they good against control and combo.  Other sideboard consideratons are Darkblast to kill Welder, confidant, spirit tokens among other things.   Also considering Bogardan Hellkite or Ancient Hydra sideboard against aggro but Akroma Razia works pretty well as is.  Sideboard Platinum Angel was removed because of Sudden Death.



Artifacts (12)
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice Of The Void
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Null Rod


Black (2)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

Blue (20)
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force Of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Misdirection
3 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Time Walk

Gold (1)
1 Razia, Boros Archangel

Green (7)
1 Crop Rotation
2 Gaea's Blessing
4 Oath Of Druids

White (1)
1 Akroma, Angel Of Wrath

Lands (18)
2 Flooded Strand
4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Mishra's Factory
2 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Wasteland

Sideboard (15)
1 Damnation (aggro)
1 Hurkyl's Recall/Rebuild (stax)
4 Leyline Of The Void (ichorid)
2 Life From The Loam (control/too much enchantment hate)
2 Oxidize (artifacts)
2 Pithing Needle (welder, bazaar, etc)
2 Simic Sky Swallower (targeted removal)
1 Mishra's Factory (control / too much enchantment hate)

Congratulations on your finish.  Nice Report and analyasis it was a very good read.

I like the Gifts Slaver Hybrid alot.  However not to sure on cutting down to just 1 Thirst for Knowledge.  I understand your arguments for it but it is a draw card for 3.  Yes sometimes it sucks to not have an artifact to discard and it makes sense that you cut down on Thirsts since you cut down on big artifacts to discard but why not 2 or 3 for more draw power?  Seems to me having more draw power is always good.  Sure sometimes you draw blanks and have to discard but that gets you by 3 cards so you can see more of your deck to get to what you need.  Sure gifts gets you waht you need but that doesn't mean you should cut all the thirsts sans one.  I feel having more draw power is good especially in control mirrors.

Why do you not run Burning Wish? You are runnning Tendrils and Empty the Warrens sideboard why not run burning Wish to enable the combo kill game 1.  This also gives you another way to win if you get caped for slaver, titan, triskelion. It also lets you fetch Pyroclasm to help the aggro match up which I find myself doing quite a bit since I play mostly at a local shop with no proxies.  I do also find myself wishing for tendrils or empty the warrens sometimes as well.

I understand trying to minimize the amount of cards that sit in your hand but it seems you are really vulnerable to cap.  I would think a 4th win condition would be a good idea.

How is Libary working for you?  I know its awesome in slower control matchs but I haven't run Library in awhile.  It does just win games sometimes but I always run Crucible / Stripmine / Darksteel Citadel so I have alot of colorless lands so I haven't run Library in awhile since the enviroment is so much faster you don't get to abuse it as much as in the past.  Considering going to Seat of Synod and using Library.   I understand you do not like Crucible of worlds but I like it because of the two locks that you can get with it and it can help with mana development with fetchlands netting card advantage.  Its not as good as it used to be in the new fast metagame but I still like to have the slaver or strip lock.

Have you tried Academy ruins?   I currently testing it but haven't really gotten to use it in the test games I have played.  It just seems not that great so far but a friend said to test it.

Also I found it odd that you didn't run Sphere of Resistance sideboard.   Is trickbind enough against storm combo?   They might just duress your trickbind or get out a defense grid or swarm.

I'll have to agree with this being really undercosted at B but then again its not that hard to hate it out with a chalice at 1.  This will definately have an impact on all formats but how much we should just wait and see.

I actually see it being really good in black aggro where you have both discard duress, hymm and land destruction, wasteland and sinkhole.  You can remove cards you forced them to discard or remove dual lands which will be pretty devastating since it cuts them off from a color unless people start running Ravinca duals which if your playing black aggro they take damage for playing a ravinca dual untaped so thats win win for you.  The fetchland count in most decks is 3/2 anyway so this wouldn't be  so great rather hit a dual and unless they run Ravinca duals or basics of the color they need you cut them off from a color besides the mox and lotus.

The use of it on duals and brainstorm will be pretty strong.

It might actually be useful in control mirrors to remove counters if some have been used already but duress does that earlier but just isn't as effective.

It does hurt any deck reliant on one card but that card has to get in the grave either by discard or being cast already so it isn't as potent as it is hyped to be.

some keeper players play sudden death as does suicide black and blue black control.  Suicide black can come out of the gate pretty quick with a ritual draw and if you don't have answers or they discard the wrong things or destroy the wrong lands or get a null rod if you have lots of arti mana it can be good night.

thats another reason.  I really like crucible is if you have an active welder,  gifts or intuition is usually a win.  I do run crucible but you don't always have it when your tundra gets wasted.

balance is the awesome against non powered aggro decks and is pretty good at times against keeper.

Aura Fracture is awesome against multiple enchantment hate.  If people board in all that hate you should run it.  You do have to sack a land to destroy each enchantment but its better then being completely hosed.  It has been awesome for me since the keeper days.

I actually played Oath at the last local vintage tourney at my local shop cause Slaver isn't cutting it with sudden death to kill my platinum angel and all the hate lately.  I won a few times.

I've tested the white splash for balance and swords to plowshares and aura fracture side board back when I was still playing in a no proxy metagame against some diehard keeper players as well as aggro at Neutral Ground.   Its unfortunate that the type 1 community died there.   As a former keeper player,  I did like balance against aggro decks and aura fracture was awesome against problematic enchantments but if someone wastes your tundra it does kinda suck and having more then that one tundra hurts your mana base too much.  I usually do try and hold back fetching the tundra or playing it till I need white but sometimes that isn't possible.  I went back to the usual blue red with black splash and I do sort of miss Aura Fracture board and Swords though.  The White splash makes it feel alot like old style keeper though I played Platinum Angel back then too.

I'm actually trying to get my local shop to run proxy events.  A few of us have power but it would make things more interesting.

I feel maindecking blasts really depends on your metagame.  In a proxy all power metagame where alot of people play blue maindecking blasts is pretty good.  In a non proxy metagame probably better to add black and play duress. 

I personally like the URb fish better cause of Dark Confidant for more draw power since most of your spells are cheap.  Black also gives you the duress option which is some good against control rather then just having reactive blasts and it makes the combo match up better.  Haven't actually tested fish in vintage but I really like the Confidant in my legacy fish deck which is UWb.   Red probably is alot better in vintage cause of monkey and the prevalence of blue in proxy vintage metagames.