(I would've put this in the Vintage Forum, but unfortunately I can't make topics there. So I apologize if this is out of place.)
It's been a while since Mike Long was caught with that Cadaverous Bloom in his lap.
That said, his laughable attempts at cheating there and thereafter proved highly unnecessary, as he played what was at the time, one of the most powerful combo decks in the format, Prosperous Bloom. It was a deck that took him to US Nationals, and Pro Tour Paris. Unfortunately, when Urza's Saga came into being, and the 6th edition rules amended the zero-life loophole, Prosperous Bloom has long gone by the wayside.
So years have gone by, and here we are with new, powerful cards from Type 2, such as Orim's Chant to replace the old staple Abeyance, Diabolic Tutor, which isn't restricted anywhere, or Chrome Mox to aid in mana acceleration. These are just a few of the cards that could help a Prosperous Bloom deck.
Now the last time I knew cards in a block relatively well was in the Invasion block, so call me a grampa, and help me out with some knowledge I don't have.
Anyways, the idea is this: could Prosperous Bloom be made competitive again in Vintage or Legacy, with the advent of these new Type 2 cards? What kind of tweaks would need to be made to it, what kind of protection would it have to have now, and methods to keep the chain from being interrupted?
And as a side note, something else to stimulate discussion, my top five fastest deck archetypes ever designed:
5. Red Sligh
Reason: Between one and two to cast creatures, and one and two to cast direct damage, when Red Sligh came on the scene, it didn't take more than four, maybe five turns to blitzkrieg the opponent down to nothing with a very fast and painful weenie assault, supported by Lightning Bolts, Chain Lightnings, and Shocks. Even today, years after the archetype was designed, with a few tweaks here and there, Sligh remains one of the most popularly played decks in Vintage and Legacy, and one of the fastest ways to die. Not mention one of only two decks on this list still playable at all in any type of DCI sanctioned tounrmanent.
4. Tinker
Reason: Not too many people talk about Tinker much anymore, I guess it's heyday was overshadowed by Academy, even though they were two completely different deck archetypes. A Tinker deck, more often than not, could whip out a Masticore, or even worse, a Phyrexian Processor on the first turn, before the opponent could even lay a land. The regularity of this kind of fetch ability was the very definition of broken, and although it may very well have been overshadowed by Academy, Tinker was ridiculously fast in its own right.
3. Hatred.
Reason: Black, especially black weenie, has always been fast. Ever since the first Dark Ritual was printed, black had a natural advantage of speed over other decks. When Exodus came out though, black weenie had the equivalent of two tons of pure Nitrous dumped in it's engine. With cards like Culling The Weak, and more importantly, the key card Hatred, people began finding themselves on the recieving end of a 21/1 attacking creature on the third or fourth turn. With the advent of Urza's Saga shortly afterwards, particularly Priest of Gix, that kill time was quickly promoted to the second turn. The modern incarnation of Hatred hasn't changed much since the days of Saga and Exodus, and no cards to my knowledge have ever been banned or restricted from the deck. A Hatred deck today would probably only cost about 100 dollars to put together, and that only because of Lake of the Dead if you so chose to include them. If not, I would say a playable Hatred shouldn't cost more than 30 bucks.
2. Tolarian Academy.
Reason: One pro tournament. That's as long as this deck archetype was allowed to exist. In current days the Academy has taken on an almost mythical stature, and as someone who was there to see Wizards practically panic and chop it into pieces, that stature is well deserved. No less than seven key cards were banned from Standard and restricted in all other formats because of this deck. The regularity with which Academy could fire it's engine and launch a 500 card Stroke of Genius first turn was scary. And if it didn't first turn, it almost certainly would second. This deck was so fast and so reliable, that players eventually reached a point where one person playing Academy would look at his opponent, and say he could fire the engine that turn, and his opponent would simply concede. Academy vs. Academy came down to nothing but who won the coin toss twice. Thankfully though, this deck has been banned and errated beyond all possible repair.
1. Channel-Fireball.
Reason: First turn, Fireball for twenty, play again? Next game, first turn, Fireball for twenty, play again? This was a combo that made players want to take a handgrenade to their opponent's deck. It's the most infamous use the power nine have ever seen. It went off first turn more often than even Academy did. I don't think I've seen this deck archetype even talked about in years and years. It's nigh impossible to play anymore, since Channel, and all of the power nine have since been restricted, and obviously the power nine are far too expensive to just buy on a whim. Still though, Channel-Fireball holds a much hated place in some of the oldest players's hearts.
Again, lemme hear some thoughts, opinions, discussions on both topics in this thread. Get those juices flowing!
