I think pure control may be about to make a comeback, if not pure aggro.  Workshops and Ichorids will be big, but people will find ways to stop them.  Maybe some new decks will emerge that wouldn't have come about if the format remained as it was.

I agree wholeheartedly with this statement; I am not happy with the reasoning behind the restrictions either, and I also fear for the future of the format.  However, as much as I may disagree with the restrictions themselves, the result that they will have is something that I am looking forward to.  I think that the loss of a staple card such as Brainstorm, unfair as it may be, will spur on some serious innovation, and may end up spawning new and interesting decks that wouldn't have been considered otherwise (given the power of the pre-restriction decks).  This should also slow the format down quite a bit, which I also think is a good thing. 

I can only hope that Wizards doesn't continue on in this way with future restrictions, but I am not too broken up about the newness of the format that we are about to experience.

I think that it would likely be difficult to get a B/R list that everyone could agree upon.  That's why the official list is so good for us; if we don't like it, we can't do anything to change it.

Give the community the power to alter the list, and it could cause trouble...

The problem I have with this set of restrictions is the justification for the restrictions.  The way I see it as having been thought through is something like:

Flash: instant speed 2-mana combo card, discourages interactivity, etc
Gush: present in many of the most successful decks, undoing the mistake of previous unrestriction
Merchant Scroll: present in many top tier decks, tutor
Brainstorm: Used in just about every top archetype that uses blue
Ponder:  has an effect similar to brainstorm, could possibly replace brainstorm

Though I understand the argument for restricting the first three, its the restriction of Brainstorm and Ponder, as well as what I think to be the reasoning behind it, that I have a problem with.  If Brainstorm was restricted because of its presence in many top decks, or because it is a staple in such decks, that means that they could, in the future, restrict other staple cards that are considered "essential" in certain types of decks using this restriction as a precedent(and in particular, present as a 4-of most often).  How long will it be before they've restricted Ritual, Bazaar, and Workshop using this reasoning? 

Its going to be interesting to see how Vintage ends up after this.  By hurting several of the archetypes that have been dominant recently, it seems as though a regression to a couple of years back is inevitable, though blue will still be hurting.  Given the effect on combo (in particular the decks using Gush), it wouldn't surprise me if control made a comeback.  The level of regression is the real question here:  what will be viable nowadays?  Mono-U control?  3-color control even? 

For right now, however, we can examine what is left.  Workshop decks will likely be running rampant in the near future, as will Ichorid.  The only combo deck that I can think of that is unaffected by this is Belcher, so that may gain popularity.  Oath will likely still be around, as will Fish.  Some weakened form of Long may emerge as well, and decks like R/G Beatz are unaffected.

I, for one, am interested to see how this all turns out.  Though I haven't posted here before, I have been into Vintage magic for quite some time.  Though this certainly does spell the end of an era for Vintage magic, I am not about to quit.  I think that, though the format may become weaker in general with the loss of Brainstorm, that it will likely become more diverse as more decks emerge to fill the gaps left by the ones leaving the format.  It should be quite an adventure.

On a related note, could they just unrestrict Dream halls already?  With the inevitable slowing down of the format that this set of restrictions will bring, it just may be of some use...