I went 3-3, but had a good time! Screen-name of "Reeniee" if any of you happened to play me along the way.

Thanks for the push to get this happening. If they keep with the same schedule then all the premier events start at 1:30am my time, so can't see playing too many more, but it was fun to be part of the first one ever!

It's played a lot in Goblin Sideboards in Legacy, so I guess this is just a straight swap in for that.

In terms of vintage though I think you're right, not seen an angel of despair for some time.

Cool article, I like the way each pillar is broken down and discussed. Looking forward to part 2!

One question, you say about 'big blue'  "Drains may or may not be present in every Big Blue deck, however..."

Is this where you would put Gush decks? Particularly ones that don't play mana drain feel like their own pillar, but are they just similar enough to drain even when they don't play it?

Well that's embarrassing, I read the whole article and missed that...haha. Thanks again!

I guess against blightsteel collossus you make that the only card in their library and hope they can't win in their 1 turn they get?

Feeling pretty stupid that I can't figure it out. D: Can someone explain the Fiend Hunter win?

Thanks.

Presumably because you can have it in play on their first turn on the draw, unlike a fetch land or basic island.

Win a game without ever controlling a land?

Why no Gaea's Cradle? That seems like a good fit.

The 2 mana elf that seems worth the mana is priest of titania, but I've not tested this so I'll assume you're right about cutting her.

She stops the use of fetch lands too.

I guess she's just 1 mana too much for that to be useful, but it's worth considering.

Menendian's Plunder is actually a ponder right?

I spent about 30 seconds reading the gather for plunder and was "What can this *possibly* be for? ~_~

Random question that seems as good here as anywhere:

What makes a particular workshop deck 'Espresso Stax'? I thought it was the presence of Serum Powder, but obviously that's not the case! Thanks

Anyway, Chris' deck looks pretty brutal! How important is the singleton Rishaden port to the strategy? Is it there mainly as the 19th land, or as a disruption tool?

I'm surprised by the lack of Sol Ring, with 3 Jaces it gives you a lot of really unfair openings, particularly when all your countermagic doesn't cost mana. Did you miss it during the day?

It also stops the flashback on ancient grudge, which means they have to use the first half destroying this rather than what they wanted to kill.

I think it's a better fit in a stax style workshop deck than a MUD deck, but I think it could be played effectively in the MUD MD, but I'm not sure what I'd cut for it.

"Alternatively, they only play
one spell, and you play the other, to get this card to flip back."    (Afflicted Deserter//Werewolf Ransacker)

Alas, this doesn't work, the werewolves only flip back if a player played two or more spells, not just if 2 or more spells were played.

How do you mean? To have more weapons against ancestral recall, or something else? You can't change what the mage is targeting can you?

Am I missing the 3rd place deck? Is it the skullclamp deck?

Thanks for the article, was a great read! : )

One thing though, what do you mean by (about phyrexian mana) "It can even be played under a Trinisphere."? I've been told by judges that you can't pay life instead of mana for it under trinisphere.

More serious question:

Given the Riptide Lab in Kevin's deck, what do you think of vendillion Clique, probably as a singleton?

Thanks! : )

Good show, thanks guys

Random unrelated question: What is the show's theme music?

Not your fault man! The deck just got out so I doubt many people have played lots with or against it yet!

Thanks for the quick reply, and for the article, I enjoyed it.

I hadn't really thought about the interaction between riptide lab and Snapcaster mage (or I guess any wizard) like that, it's kind of like maze of ith against creatures without trample, all whilst getting you card advantage...sounds pretty difficult for a dryad deck to deal with yeah

Hi Mark.

When you say (About DeMars): "I quickly find out that he is on something that will provide me a far tougher matchup." Are you implying that the Gro deck is good against the Doomsday deck? Could you expand on this?

Thanks! : )

I tried to buy your gush book before UK vintage nats, but paypal failed me, and I just haven't had a chance since, it's on my to do list still though! : P

Yeah, I guess that duress does a lot of what you want probe to do, and lets you assume a more controlling role as well. The 5 duress effects do feel very strong in this deck!

Since Stephen left SCG I've only purchased 3 of his article, the cobra gush one, the first doomsday article, and this one. I think this one is my favourite of those though, some really interesting descriptions of games, and interesting thought processes. I wasn't disappointed with buying any of them, but I really enjoyed this one.

Stephen: You say in the article (In the match against Chris Pikula) that trying to work out when to play for the long game, and when to try to win is a big part of the Doomsday Vs Blue control match up, and that this is a good argument for the inclusion of Gitaxian Probe, but you still choose not to play it in your newest list, could you reflect on this? In the (admittedly limited) testing I've had with this deck I've really liked the gitaxian probe.

Thanks! : )

How about an article on the differences between the European Metagame and your metagame? In England I'm probably in a halfway house between the two, so it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.

Thanks for the quick answer. That makes a lot of sense : )

Interesting article, and a really interesting deck.

Can you explain briefly why you don't play demonic consultation? It's the card that probably comes to everyone's mind first when they think of laboratory maniac.

Thanks : )

That deck looks sick!

*Goes to proxy it up to play with/against.*

Any news on when we'll have the deck lists from yesterday? : )

Is it possible to pay for this other than with Paypal? It's not working for me.