I was experimenting with a MUD build right before Gush was unrestricted. I wasn't playing in any large vintage tournaments at the time (I was keeping up with various deck news) and at the local shop in Albany (NY), there was an old pro tour player who was running a version of U/R scepter with mana drains and echoing truth as his imprints. If he forced my opening sphere and was able to lay a scepter it was game over for me. He atypically ran main board shattering sprees and without a welder my artifacts were unable to recur. I think that the MUD is weaker than Mono red aggro. I agree that chalice is awesome and it works well with the colorless mana base, but I think that too much is being sacrificed for this one card by not adding red. I think that if you are not going to build a traditional STAX deck (with smokestack and tanglewire) than you should switch to Mono red aggro and if you want a traditional build I think that 5c STAX is the way to go.

I have been a fan of your articles for some time now and have been a GAT player since 2003. Are you really giving up on GAT completely to work on MUD, or are you just putting GAT on the backburner for now?

I think that Mutavault could replace Mishra's Factory in vintage decks (mostly casual) whose theme is based around a creature type. I think that Mutavault would have additive effects with Mishra's Factory in many vintage decks, where it would be capible of receiving the pump. Besides vintage it will be a great card in standard now with creature types being very important.

I think that Chameleon Colossus will fit well in Rock builds. It would also be a nice addition in G/B Elves (sometimes just called Rock incorrectly). I think that it will always hold a decent value, but after it phases out of standard it will decrease dramatically.

I think that Murmuring Bosk will have a similar financial path when compared to Chameleon Colossus. It obviously makes a nice addition or replacement for some lands in Doran builds.

I think that Mutavault is the strongest card in the set financially. It will have the highest value long term after Morningtide phases out of standard. It makes a nice replacement/addition to any standard tribe based decks and in other formats can replace or supplement Mishra's Factory.

Bitterblossom will fit nicely into faerie builds and I like the mechanics on Countryside Crusher, but have never played a lot of red or land based decks, so I will not comment on it.

I wanted to start this thread for all of those who like to discuss the roles some of the new cards will have in the standard format. Especially since those good people at MtgSalvation.com have the entire Morningtide spoiler up now. Some of the chase cards with higher value (on eBay now) are Chameleon Colossus, Murmuring Bosk, Mutavault, Countryside Crusher and Bitterblossom. I have listed their information below. I wanted to gather opinions on how these specific cards would fit into the current standard format. Fell free to comment on any possible sleeper cards, that may peak in value later on (ex. Tarmogoyf). If anyone wants to comment on the predicted cards value long term (when they phase out of standard play), that would also be interesting. Thanks!

Chameleon Colossus                                                                           Rare
Creature - Shapeshifter 
Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times)
Protection from Black
2 : Chameleon Colossus gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is equal to its power.
Illus. Darrell Riche #116/150                                                                                  4/4

Murmuring Bosk                                                                                                  Rare
Land - Forest 
(: Add  to your mana pool.)
As Murmuring Bosk comes into play, you may reveal a Treefolk card from your hand. If you don't, Murmuring Bosk comes into play tapped.
: Add or to your mana pool. Murmuring Bosk deals 1 damage to you.
 #147/150

Mutavault                                                                                                          Rare 
Land 
: Add to your mana pool.
: Mutavault becomes a 2/2 creature with all creature types until end of turn. It's still a land.
Some changelings born at Velis Vel never return, but their essence never leaves.
Illus. Fred Fields #148/150

Countryside Crusher                                                                            Rare
Creature - Giant Warrior 
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it into your graveyard and repeat this process.
Whenever a land card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, put a +1/+1 counter on Countryside Crusher.
                                                                                                                                                                                       3/3
Bitterblossom                             
Tribal Enchantment - Faerie 
At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 1 life and put a 1/1 black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying into play.
Illus. Rebecca Guay #58/150

 

Madmanmike25, I like your idea about using Thorn of Amethyst in addition to Sphere of Resistance. I would like to try to incorporate one or two into my build. I have issues with space. Here is my current list (take into account that in my metagame I come across a lot of rogue builds where I always feel that I am creature less: this is the reason for this creature heavy Uba version):

Lands
        4 Mountain
        2 Barbarian Ring
        4 Bazaar of Baghdad
        2 City of Traitors
        4 Mishra's Workshop
        1 Strip Mine
        3 Wasteland
        1 Tolarian Academy
Creatures
        1 Duplicant
        2 Solemn Simulacrum
        2 Karn, Silver Golem
        4 Goblin Welder
Artifacts
        3 Chalice of the Void
        4 Crucible of Worlds
        1 Mana Crypt
        1 Mana Vault
        3 Smokestack
        1 Sol Ring
        3 Sphere of Resistance
        4 Tangle Wire
        1 Trinisphere
        3 Uba Mask
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Sapphire
Sideboard
2 Granite Shard
2 Pyroclasm
4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Shattering Spree
1 Sundering Titan
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Triskelion
2 Viashino Heretic

I started out running a similar build to your own, but after I found I started to have a harder time trying to lock them down I slowly began removing some of the lock components. The first thing I went down to three of was Smokestack and replaced this with the first Karn, Silver Golem. When that didn't seem to be enough I went down to 3 Sphere of Resistance and added a second Karn, Silver Golem. I had originally devoted one main board slot to a Triskelion, but after I got beat down by some large Gush deck creatures, such as Quirion Dryad and Psychatog, along with some Oath Deck angels, I decided to replace Triskelion with Duplicant. I had always had in one Solemn Simulacrum to help act as a beater, help fix a mountain less solution for an in hand Goblin Welder, or being a to draw when needed (meaning when the Uba Mask-Bazaar of Baghdad engine isn't in operation). One of the slots I had open up to put in a second Solemn Simulacrum, was -1 Uba Mask (to go down to a 3 of card in the deck).

I would appreciate any feedback on my build and how the Thorn's may be added, if needed and what can be replaced. I also was toying with the idea of:
-1 Mountain
+1 Barbarian Ring

My SB consists of a lot of artifact hate since one old time pro tour member in my metagame likes running an affinity/Isochron Scepter deck, with re-occurring Mana Drains and Boomerangs on the Scepter. Thanks!

I liked Steve's premium article on what cards from Lorwyn will have an effect on the vintage format. Since we discussed in an earlier topic that a possible impact card may be Ponder (whether or not it takes Opt's or Mana Drain's slot in GAT), I thought that Thoughtseize still needed some debate. I personally would not replace Duress in my GAT deck with Thoughtseize due to the fact that it can fall victim to Misdirection (which is prevalent in today’s format with all the Gush decks), but I wanted to hear others opinions on this topic. I have also heard chatter that it may be used in addition to 3 or 4 Duress, in Long.dec builds. Would it ever be a viable option for GAT to run a 5th or 6th Duress type card (aka Thoughtseize)?

Will this new card from Lorwyn (source: mtgsalvation's spoiler) find its way into vintage decks? I think it has potential, but it is a sorcery. What are your opinions?

Ponder   
Sorcery 
Look at the top three cards of your library. You may put them back in any order or shuffle your library.
Draw a card.
"We see the same sky as you, but through a different lens."
Illus. Mark Tedin 

Just so I understand you correctly, the list is either incorrect or out of date, right?

I had not checked the vintage banned restricted list in about a month, but when I went to wizards of the cost and looked at it today all of the June unrestricted cards were back on the restricted list. This included Gush, Mind Twist, Black Vise and Voltaic Key. Is this correct and if so when did this occur? I tried to find the announcement on the side of the page that would have included this re-restriction, but all I could find where the September and June updates.

I have noticed that alot of newer GAT constructions (since gush was unrestricted), run less psychatogs and now are using street wraith in their place. Is the cycling ability on street wraith the reason that this is occuring, or is there another purpose?

Thanks for the information everyone. It was very helpful for a new vintage player. Thanks for the links as well Zherbus!

I have looked around and I can not find out how a basic stax and how a basic fish deck work, so how am I suppose to understand everyones posts about how there modified versions work? Also, how am I suppose to list why cards I chose were in this particular deck that I listed when my question was how the deck operates in general? Can you answer how the stax and fish decks run or provide a link that shows me a post which does? I have even used the search feature. Thanks.

If anyone could also help, by explaining how this Fish deck runs, it would be appreciated. Thanks! Does Anyone have an opinion on the best type of vintage deck in current use?
Mainboard:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Null Rod
4 Dark Confidant
2 Dimir Cutpurse
3 Jötun Grunt
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
2 Stifle
3 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Duress
1 Time Walk
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland

# 60

Sideboard:

2 Pithing Needle
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Exalted Angel
4 Yixlid Jailer
2 Serenity
2 Swords to Plowshares

# 15

I am new to vintage after finally being able to purchase the necessary cards and after losing to Stax in casual play, but never really understanding how it runs completely, I thought I would ask before attempting to create my own version. I am interested in the cards that this deck contains but not sure how it runs, can someone help? Also how does a more typical and an Uba Stax run?

Mainboard:

1 Black Lotus
3 Bottled Cloister
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Juggernaut
3 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
4 Metalworker
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Powder Keg
3 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
3 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland

# 60

Sideboard:

2 Duplicant
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Jester's Cap
1 Powder Keg
3 Razormane Masticore
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Triskelion

# 15

Hello, and welcome to The Mana Drain!  While we appreciate newer users seeking the guidance of the community in refining their decklists, our forum rules require that threads contain more content than just decklists.  One suggestion for additional content might be to include explanations about your card choices and specific aspects of your deck that you are uncertain about.  Please be sure to review the TMD rules so as to avoid this issue going forward.  We look forward to your future contributions.  -DA

If anyone could also help, by explaining how this Fish deck runs, it would be appreciated. Thanks! Does Anyone have an opinion on the best type of vintage deck in current use?
Mainboard:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Null Rod
4 Dark Confidant
2 Dimir Cutpurse
3 Jötun Grunt
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
2 Stifle
3 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Duress
1 Time Walk
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland

# 60

Sideboard:

2 Pithing Needle
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Exalted Angel
4 Yixlid Jailer
2 Serenity
2 Swords to Plowshares

# 15

I am new to vintage after finally being able to purchase the necessary cards and after losing to Stax in casual play, but never really understanding how it runs completely, I thought I would ask before attempting to create my own version. I am interested in the cards that this deck contains but not sure how it runs, can someone help? Also how does a more typical and an Uba Stax run?

Mainboard:

1 Black Lotus
3 Bottled Cloister
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Juggernaut
3 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
4 Metalworker
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Powder Keg
3 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
3 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland

# 60

Sideboard:

2 Duplicant
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Jester's Cap
1 Powder Keg
3 Razormane Masticore
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Triskelion

# 15