meadbert - You are a crazy mad scientist of vintage!

These are ideas are crazy cool.

It looks like I have alot of testing to do! Thanks for the feedback everyone - Keep it Coming!

Thanks for the feedback!

Great call on the Oboro, Palace in the Clouds!  <-- I think I just picked up a foil one of these! Which makes it so much cooler of a suggestion! LOL

The other stuff I am toying with:
Sensei's Tops
Yawgmoth's Bargain

I had 4 tops and 1 Etherium Scuptor - But I took that combo aspect out .. (w/ null those will let you draw your deck up)- I ended up going with the stock 1 top and pulling the rest for quirion dryad .. who is weak in the deck at the moment.

Thanks again man! Keep the feedback coming!

Lol - I really didn't want to draw the comparison between Bargin and Profusion but it had to be said (the elephant in the room if you will)... Bargin is insane, there is no doubt. The difference is that you can run more than one Profusion. I don't have a strong defense for profusion but I do like the card and I think it could possibly be viable. Once profusion is down all of your cards just become better in the sense that they draw you a card. Hurklys Recall becomes insane when you have a ton of moxes ect. I appreciate the input.

In playtesting the tower was good because there was times that I resolved an early profusion and I was able to keep my hand instead of having to discard down to 2.

The pithing needle is my security blanket. I like to have it for a tinker target against tezz and ichorid. But you may be right - it might need to be chopped.

Thoughtcast has raised some eyebrows LOL Thoughtcast is another cards that I am testing for viability. I have been running it in Tezz and it seems ok. I think the vertict is still out for me. Thirst is really good if I am running Colossus or Academy Ruins or if I have a Will lined up, but I am not sure I like it in this build. I really like the Impulse idea.

Thanks man for the constructive criticism !

Thanks for taking the time to read FTB.

The towers are sometimes necessary. If you have to pass the turn with the profusion on the table.. then the tower is really solid of else you could get Mind Twisted / Hymned out of the game.

I think your right about the Dryads. They don't seem to be pulling their weight.

I am not sure that it is superior to TPS - I suppose if you take the dryads out, then it technically is TPS with Null Profusion instead of Yawg Bargin. Does the "engine" (profusion fastbond) have merit? That's why I am trying the deck and asking you fine folks .

I wanted to get everyone’s thoughts on this deck. Basically I have been working on an engine using these cards interaction:

Fastbond
Null Profusion
Reliquary Tower

It’s a draw engine that allows you to draw up your entire deck. Every time you play a card including a land you draw a card off Null Profusion. Once Fastbond is down you can play most anything that you draw. The Reliquary Tower allows you to draw half your deck and keep it in you hand as long as you play it after Null Profusion (Timestamp). I put the engine in a grow/storm shell. It seems to do ok in the games that I’ve tested.

Let me know what you think of the deck and the engine. Thanks!

Disruption
4    Force of Will
2    Mana Drain
4    Thoughtseize
1    Echoing Truth
1    Hurkyl's Recall
1    Pithing Needle

Draw
3    Thoughtcast
1    Gush
1    Time Walk
1    Ancestral Recall
1    Brainstorm
1    Ponder
1    Sensei's Divining Top

Tutors
1    Demonic Tutor
1    Vampiric Tutor

Engine
1    Fastbond
2    Null Profusion

Win Condition 1
1    Tendrils of Agony

Win Condition 2
1    Tinker
1    Inkwell Leviathan

Win Condition 3
3    Quirion Dryad

Mana
4    Dark Ritual
1    Mox Emerald
1    Mox Jet
1    Mox Pearl
1    Mox Ruby
1    Mox Sapphire
1    Black Lotus
1    Sol Ring
1    Mana Crypt
1    Mana Vault

Land
4    Polluted Delta
3    Underground Sea
2    Tropical Island
1    Bayou
2    Reliquary Tower
1    Tolarian Academy
1    Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

Cards to Consider
Imperial Seal
Grim Tutor
Library of Alexandria

I really like Inkwell in the Tezz build. The 3 reasons that sell it for me are:

1) Shroud
2) Easier to hard cast (recast) that DS
3) Can Pitch to a Force

I know Hurkyl's Recall can bounce him, but he is easier to hard cast (recast) than DS. Not to mention that I run 8 Counter Spells and 4 Duress, most of the time that is sufficient disruption to win. In many cases it's my 12 disruptions cards verses their 1 (Hurkyl's Recall)- If I ran Darksteel it would be my 12 verses up to their 3 (ET, HR, CoV) and that's a best case senario, when you start talking about fish decks with 4 swords and bounce, or decks running 4 Welders.

Just some thoughts.

This was my list 61 cards

Mana
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt

Disruption
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
1 Pithing Needle

Draw
4 Thoughtcast
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk

Tutors
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll

Win Condition 1
2 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

Win Condition 2
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan

Win Condition 3 / Reach
1 Banefire

Lands
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Acamdemy
2 Poluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Islands
3 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea

Side Board
2 Pithing Needle
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Pyroclasm
1 Red Elemetal Blast
2 Pyroblast
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Rack and Ruin
3 Extirpate
1 Platimnum Angel

Banefire was really good when I actually casted it (I even used it once to toast an Aven Mindcensor- LOL). I seen it a couple times when I didn't even cast it because the game was already won. It was a nice insurance policy to have in the deck something I could Vamp Tutor for EOT to steal the game. With Tolarian Academy Banefire can be ridiculous.

I only lost 2 games all day and that was in the Top 8 against Dan:

Game 1, I got greedy and he punished me for it.

Game 2, His Tarmos smashed my face; I tinkered my Inkwell in but it was a little too late, The two Lhurgoyf  held off my Inkwell, I drew into an echoing truth swung bounced the Tarmos, and put him at 6. On his turn he Vamp-Tutored for Yawgwill and won with a Time Vault.

I gotta give Dan props, He knows his deck very well and he plays it like a pro.

The 2 "Force of Will" thing was actually a typo or a mistake on my deck list, because I was running 4 of those puppies

Yeah - Inkwell was a house! No one could get rid of it! There was a game against Dan where 3 swings was two slow, I hit him twice and the following turn he was going to go off with a Time Vault - Thankfully I had a Banefire to finish the Job 

Hey Oliver...

How does your deck do against dredge/ichorid? I tried a similar build and I am getting destroyed. What is your game plan in that matchup?

Thanks!

Does anyone have decklists for this ?

Hopefully I didn't miss something that simple LOL

Congrats BTW Oli!- That Game Was RIDICULOUS!

Yeah - I wanted a tutor target in case I got in trouble with Dredge, Empty the Warrens, or in case they doubled up on spheres. It was more or less out of fear. I have only been running the deck for a couple of weeks I probably played with it 5 or 6 times before the tournament and ET was like a security blanket. Now that all is said and done, I prefer it to the single chain of vapor. In that final game if I had an echoing truth it would have been the nail in the coffin for Oliver.

The other cards in question for me are:

Misdirection - This didn't seem to help much. I did some alot of pitching it to force.
Gifts Ungiven - I am not sure how to use this. I will leave this in until I can make an educated decision on it. I just don't know what a typical gifts package would look like. If you include Yawgmoth's Will in any package you risk losing it.

I am pretty lost on the sideboard in general. Any tips you can offer would be helpful- what to side-in when and for what.

Hymn to Tourach - I feel like I would rather have cabal therapy here. There were many times after a Duress that I could have stripped some one for 2 or even 3 cards with a cabal.

Thanks for reading my report. The more I play this deck the more respect that I have for it.

Thanks for the feedback

Writing the tournament report helps me to think through my plays. I can see some clear mistakes which I will try not to do next time. Hope to read your report soon! Thanks for the congrats.

It was my first vintage tournament- my team (I use this term loosely) and I piled into my car at 7am and started the trek to Myriad Games in Salem New Hampshire. I decided to stick with the Pitch Long deck. Before I give the briefing, let me first give some props to Myriad Games for being a sweet venue.

From the “Myriad Games Mana Cookie” to the free Cube side event (with prizes), Myriad did an awesome job of making new player feel welcome. The tournament was well structured, the card pricing was reasonable, and you could even order lunch at registration to be delivered to you during the tournament. It was worth the 3 hour drive and I recommend them for future events. Here is the deck I ran:
 
Pitch Long 

Land:
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
3 Underground Sea

Artifacts:
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Creatures:
1 Darksteel Colossus

Enchantments:
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Spells:
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Ritual
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
3 Grim Tutor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Necropotence
1 Ponder
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will   
1 Echoing Truth   

Sideboard:
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Hymn to Tourach
1 Massacre
3 Phyrexian Negator
1 Rebuild
2 Tormod's Crypt
4 Yixlid Jailer

Ok, I didn’t take notes during the games, I was having a hard enough time just making my plays and not looking like a total newb. So this is my record and some highlights to the best of my recollection.

Round1 Vrs. Storm- Empty The Warrens
Game 1 : I took a seat at my first game and shook my opponents hand while I introduced myself (he was a nice guy). I lost the roll and he was on the play. Turn one. He played a mox, a manamorphose, then it was a blur 10 spells later he dropped an “Empty the Warrens” and made 22 guys. He smiles and said, “Welcome to vintage!” I drew and passed the turn for my beating.

Game 2 : I dropped a 1st turn Necropotence while gripping Force support. My opponent commented, “Wow the exact opposite of last game.” I played out my Moxen and passed the turn. I won on my second turn with tendrils after a careful (and probably painful to watch) series of plays..

Game 3 : He stormed for 3 on turn 1 and dropped 6 dudes. I dug for some business or an Echoing Truth with no luck. The turn 1 mini –warrens was a great move on his part.

(0-1)

Round 2 Vrs. Elves
Game 1 : The guy got an auto loss for not listing his deck correctly on the deck list. I felt bad for the guy – That’s the worst way to get a loss.

Game 2 : He mulled to 6 and kept. He played a Wirewood Lodge and passed the turn. I played a Duress to see a hand full of elves and no mana sources (ouch), he only had two Duress targets. I don’t remember what they were but I took the Door of Destinies. I took my time with this match and ended up winning with tendrils a couple turns later before he could drop another green source.

(1-1)

Round 3 Vrs. Welder /Belcher
Game 1 : I won the roll and lead off with a Duress, I distinctly remember this hand because that when I knew I would loose the game.

Empty the Warrens
Goblin Charbelcher
Tinder Wall
Seething Song
Rite of Flame
Land Grant
Manamorphose

I took the Goblin Charbelcher. Looking at it now I might have taken the Warrens, Let him ramp and then Forced the Charbelcher. I dropped some Moxen and passed the turn. He played Land Grant. I Forced it. I was trying to keep him out of mana until I can Duress the threat in his hand or win. No such luck. He drew an Elvish Spirit Guide on his turn two and went off.

Game 2 : This game started off with a Leyline of the Void. I went first, I played some junk. The only think I remember is what the board looked like when I tinkered. Him: Goblin Charbelcher, Vexing Shusher, and Leyline of the Void. Me: Mana. Thanks to the Leyline I was able to Tinker for a Colossus and not have it “Weldered”. I beat in for the win.

Game 3 : I don’t remember this game. Just that I won.

(2-1)

Round 4 Vrs. Fish
I don’t remember these games either. It was against a cool guy named Paul. I believe that I swept both games (I could be wrong). It was an early Colossus in the first game that ended it. I do remember that in the second game- I encountered the first “Insane Play” of my vintage career. I had a big turn, I dropped a Yawgmoth’s Bargin and attempted to storm out I was at 7 life and with an Isamaru on the other side of the field I decided to stop and Tinker for a Colossus. I played a Time Walk and hit with the Colossus. Here was my hand from what I can remember:

Fact of Fiction
Force of Will
Hurkyl’s Recall
Chain of Vapors
Some Black Card
Dark Ritual

Paul untapped, drew and swung with the Isamaru.Then he played a Swords to Plowshares on my Colossus, I pitched the Hurkyl’s Recall and Forced his Swords, he then pitched a Force of Will to Force my Force. I was in trouble. I drew three cards off the Bargin – No force. I played a Dark Ritual and played the Fact of Fiction off the ritual and another blue source. I revealed 1, 2, 3(No Force), 4, 5 (BLAM! There it was Force of Will the fifth card). He put the Force in one pile and the other junk in another. I picked up the Force and Forced his Force. I untapped and swung with the Colossus for the win.

(3-1)

Round 5 Vrs. Control Slaver
This was it. If I won here I would go to Top 8. I was already very happy with my 3 wins for the day, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to win.

Games 1/2 : I don’t remember these games. I won one and he won one. I remember seeing the nastiness of Mana Drain.

Game 3 : We both played until he tapped out for a Mindslaver. I played an Echoing Truth on the Mindslaver and then played Timetwister (Effectively shuffling the Slaver back into his deck). I seen some business and won (I don’t remember how I did it).

(4-1)

Top 8 Vers Oliver- Painter

Game 1 : This was a pretty quick game, he dropped an early Grindstone and after some counter wars he drops a painter and ends it.

Game 2 : I Force of Will a Painter’s Servant then Necro into a Tinker into a Colossus. After a Mini-Tendrils I swing with the Colossus for the win.

Game 3 : My opponent drops an early Thorn Of Amethyst ( I wasn’t too worried. I figured that I could play around it- It proved much more difficult than I thought it would.).  I played a land into a Mox into a Lotus. We play pass of a while he drops a Sphere of Resistance and a Grindstone - I play more mana and a Memory Jar but still did not see much action. I cracked the Jar and played out the contents (putting a Time Twister aside for after.)- more mana and a Time Walk (which I played).  On my Time Walk Turn I played the Time Twister (because I drew into junk). I played a Necropotence out of the twister and drew down to 2 Life and passed the turn. Oliver is grinding himself looking for a Painter’s Servant. I played some junk and did a Mini-Tendrils for a storm of 4. I drew a new 7 and left myself at 3 Life. My opponent gets a painter and plays it then grinds me. I play a land and pass then do the same all while getting punched buy a painters servant (trying to get the mana to cast Colossus- I must have miss counted because I when I played the Colossus I had an extra mana).  I played the Colossus at one life and I had lethal on the board and my opponent grinded himself looking for the second Painter. He forgot that it would completely grind his deck but thanks to Academy Ruins he was able to move a Painter to the top of his “Library” then he plays it. I swing down and he throws a Servant in front putting him at 3 life. He swung with the lone Servant for 1 point of damage.

That game was the perfect way to end my first vintage tournament. It will go into the books as one of the best games of Magic that I ever played. It was a good way to loose- by such a narrow margin in such an entertaining and interesting game.

(4-2) 6th Place

WOW - Great feed back. I like the counterbalance idea.

I don't really like ninja in the deck maybe I can cut some for counterbalance. I wanted to fit goyf in here .. so If I cut the ninja and the tinker combo I can probably squeeze some goyfs in.

I like the vaults because the power the spirits up. The original list ran mishras factory, which is a more combat superior card but the vault helps me counter stuff with the sprite and acts as a fake mishras factory when it's off sprite duty.

Sorry about posting in the wrong place. Thanks for the tips. I have some duals:

4 Scrubland
4 Badlands
4 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea

I guess I just need more blue duals

As some of you know I just started in vintage. I have been playing a pitch long deck and I don't think I like it. I found this deck list at morphling.de and it seems to be more my play style:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Sage of Epityr
2 Spell Snare
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Time Walk
2 Fire/Ice
3 Gorilla Shaman
2 Grim Lavamancer

2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
3 Wasteland


Sideboard (15):
2 Energy Flux
3 Ingot Chewer
1 Pyroblast
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 Umezawa's Jitte

I was thinking of taking out the red an running green instead. Something like this:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
3 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
3 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Spell Snare
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Time Walk
2 Snapback
4 Nimble Mongoose
1 Darksteel Collossus
1 Tinker
1 Lotus Petal
1 Ponder

1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
4 Mutavault
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Tropical Island
3 Wasteland


Sideboard (15):
2 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Korosan Grip
2 Stifle
2 Vendillion Clique
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 Umezawa's Jitte

What are you thoughts? Do you think a deck like this will work? I am used to playing threshold in legacy - that why I wanted to move to green. I also don't have volcanic islands. I mean I could use steam vents but I am not sure.

You can read about my vintage adventures HERE Smile
http://mytradebinder.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=22

Yeah ELD- I heard that you were the man when it comes to proxies .. How do I get your proxies. How much are they?

I agree- Especially because I am not investing any money (that isn't generated from my current collection) to get into the format. I think that alot of people think that vintage takes a ton of cash - but as I looked at the decks I noticed that I had alot of the cards and that the only really expensive ones were the power 9 and some of the tutors. In a weeks time, I am already pretty close to being able to join a tournament with 10 proxies. Hopefully I can make it to the tournament in NH at Myriad Games next weekend.

I will probably trip up with group of my friends who are getting into vintage also. I have one question - where can I get some sweet proxies? Like not hand drawn but maybe printed.

Any other advice is welcome!

Staying at 1 life plus the number of force of wills in my hand is a good idea LOL I forced at 1 life - doh!

Yeah - I played alot of type 2 and I have spent way too much money on cards. So I really want to put those cards to work. I watch the price trending and keep on top of the tournament anyways.. why not use that knowledge to sell/ trade cards and try a new format!

The deck that I have chosen "Pitch Long" is pretty complicated for me as type 2-1.5 player. I have to get used to the format. I have killed myself twice already with that deck already LOL - I have to learn that life is a comodity and one of my resources to balance, like mana and cards in hand. In the other formats life is a measure of how you are doing. In this format it's a resource. (That's spoken by a newb.. maybe I'm totally off )

Thanks for the welcome. I will be posting on my blog regularly. I wont be posting much on the forum.. Unless I have something constructive to say - but I will be an avid reader on these forums .

Sweet thanks! It was actually his tournament report for the 2008 Championship that really got my into the format. I aways thought that vintage was a coin flip until I seen the way his games played out - there was a lot of intention and alot of skill behind the plays.

Thanks for the welcome.

Hey Guys. I have been playing magic for about a year now and my interest has been peeked about vintage. I decided to go on a quest to play and become good in the format. I have been posting my adventures here:

http://mytradebinder.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=22

I thought it might be amusing for seasoned veterans to read and maybe helpful for newbs like me. I have to say the vintage forums are very informative. I have been reading up in here for the last couple weeks- Thanks all your valuable input- if you have any advice for me, feel free to post it here.