GrandpaBelcher
Adepts
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« on: May 02, 2006, 08:13:05 pm » |
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This afternoon at work I read a series of Stephen Menendian’s articles on restriction. I learned a lot but got very little work done. Oh well, there are still three days left this week.
Much of the discussion that went on in the forums dedicated to these articles was based on the Columns of Vintage, those cards that are so engrained into the format that any attempt to restrict or otherwise regulate them would be the penultimate step to either A) restricting the rest of them or B) destroying Vintage as it is known.
However, there was very little agreement on what these cards are. Some people cited four cards (usually Mana Drain, Mishra’s Workshop, and some combination of Dark Ritual, Goblin Welder, and some other card); others listed three or five; some only two—Drain and Shop. Since these articles were written during the Mirrodin block which unleashed numerous artifacts and support cards into the Vintage environment, however, the consensus on the “Columns of Vintage” would probably have been better delayed until after the format settled down.
I think it has settled somewhat, and I will therefore present my views on the Columns as they appear to be today.
Vintage as a format takes longer to adjust than Standard, Extended and Legacy. The sense of urgency is really only driven by newly released sets and a few big tournaments in the US: StarCity, Waterbury, and the Vintage Championships at Gencon. Because of this, though each Column’s popularity grows and shrinks based on a cycle and the development and introduction of new cards, each one has been present for multiple years and some consideration must be given to each one when building decks or sideboarding.
There are, I think, five Columns that hold up Vintage. The sudden destruction of any one (by restriction or other action) without the emergence of another similar Column would alter the format permanently as one or more of the remaining Columns would become overly powerful.
The Columns are Drain, Shops, Hate, Ritual, and Enchantment. Of course, decks are not limited to running only one of the Columns (e.g. an Enchantment based Oath Deck might run Mana Drains, it just doesn’t have much to Drain into), but I think the most played decks can be put into one of these categories.
Column 1: Drain
Beats Ritual and Enchantment
Loses to Shops and Hate
Mana Drain is the most built-around card in Vintage play. It serves a dual role as it counters threats and provides acceleration in blue, a color that traditionally lacks outside speed. Usually, it’s put into a controlling deck that has a quick finish (e.g. Gifts for Tinker, Recoup, Time Walk, Yawgmoth’s Will) or some other dominating blow that cannot be overcome (e.g. Mindslaver).
It forces opponents to play its game and focuses only on the most dire threats, like those that will be appear in Enchantment Decks and Ritual Decks. Though Drain decks are very powerful and popular right now, their weaknesses lie in being overcome by Hate (e.g. Fish) or by having their resources limited by Shops (e.g. Stax).
Drain decks are somewhat a hybrid of Ritual and Shop decks as they will ruin the other player’s gameplan before winning quickly in a combo-like finish (or an actual combo finish, as before Flame Vault was errataed.
Column 2: Shops
Beats Drain and Ritual
Loses to Hate and Enchantment
Mishra’s Workshops were first used to pump out fat artifact creatures before players realized that the better use was to put multiple kinds of locking devices (e.g. first turn Crucible of Worlds, second turn Strip Mine, Smokestacks) on opponents. Though there are still some Workshop Aggro builds that show up periodically, even they usually focus on denying an opponent's resources with Sundering Titan and other similar cards. Shop decks are in the game for a long time and are relentless about their strangleholds.
Shop decks focus on leading in permanents and will lose to decks that can outdo them in that aspect (e.g. Hate) or decks that can keep enough resources on the board with control to win quickly (e.g. Enchantment).
They are a hybrid of Hate decks and Drain decks as their control pieces are specifically tuned to ruin opponents’ days.
Column 3: Hate
Beats Drains and Shops
Loses to Enchantment and Ritual
Obviously Hate isn’t really a card, but a set of cards chosen specifically against the current metagame and against the game in general. Currently that list might include Null Rod, Tormod’s Crypt, Extract, Stifle, and Duress. A Hate deck plans to prevent an opponent from winning long enough to apply creature pressure for the win. Because it needs to control tempo, then, a Hate based deck is susceptible to anything that wins quickly, namely a combo finish from a Ritual or Enchantment based deck.
Hate decks are further hard to classify because they’re always changing to better combat the current metagame. One month may see Hate decks pack extra artifact hate against a Shop deck, while next month it has numerous anti-creature cards against an environment filled with Enchantment and other Hate decks. Generally, however, as Mana Drains and Mishra’s Workshops are so powerful, popular, and universal, Hate decks will be tuned to beat those first.
With resource denial and a creature strategy, Hate decks combine Shop and Enchantment ideas.
Column 4: Ritual
Beats Hate and Enchantment
Loses to Drains and Shops
Dark Ritual keeps dedicated combo alive in a world of decks built to prevent spells from being cast. It is accelerated mana that can be used on black or colorless costs, which usually means tutors, Yawgmoth’s Will, more mana, and a game winning Tendrils of Agony or Goblin Charbelcher. They generally lose to only the most dedicated control decks, whether a Shop based prison or a Drain based counter deck.
Because they focus almost solely on winning, their disruption (usually in the form of Duress or Force of Will) is usually enough to punch them through a Hate deck’s less specific disruption, and their speed helps them outrace an Enchantment based deck for the win.
With acceleration and a combo finish, Ritual decks are a combination of Drain and Enchantment decks.
Column 5: Enchantment
Beats Hate and Shops
Loses to Drains and Ritual
Enchantment decks could easily have been called “Other” or “Miscellaneous.” They’re usually based on a combo that falls prey to metagame hate and therefore uses more protection and disruption than a Ritual deck, though not as much as a Drain deck. There may be multiple active Enchantment decks, but all of them require some consideration when building, tuning, and sideboarding a competitive deck. Current examples would include Oath, Dragon Combo, and to a lesser degree Vengeur Masque and Metalworker-Staff.
They’re generally fast enough to beat Hate decks and can afford to be selective enough with their disruption to beat a Shop deck. However, they will not outrace a Ritual deck, and their combo can be shut down or taken out by a Drain based deck.
Their disruption can be metagamed to give them Hate deck elements, while their speed makes them comparable to a Ritual deck.
Really, this is just the bare bones of the theory, and it’s not perfect.
The Columns adjust sizes as new tournaments, decks, and tech come and go. Right now the Shop Column seems to be waning somewhat as the Drains deck grows, and if the message boards are any indication, the Hate and Ritual columns will increase with the legalization of Dissension. What does this mean? I'm not sure. Ritual decks should be more powerful in the coming months, but they'll be held in check by Drains decks, which will be checked in turn by Hate decks.
There may be no true explanations to be gleaned from this theory right now.
However, it does allow us a new look at possible deck choices in different environments. For example, in any environment with only one dominant archetype, a Hate deck can be constructed—more mana disruption against Drains, artifact hate against Shop decks, creature removal or anti-enchantment spells against Enchantments, etc. Of course, everybody knows that already. That’s how Hate decks and the metagame work all the time.
In an environment without a lot of fast-combo Ritual decks, an Enchantment deck that doesn’t lose to the most commonly played hate is usually the best choice as it can get past Hate and Drain’s control and win faster against a Shop deck’s lock. Unfortunately, because Vintage is such a diverse format, this is a difficult situation to find. Oath and Dragon are solid decks, but they both take splash damage from answers to Darksteel Colossus, along with traditional stoppers like counter and enchantment removal.
Interestingly, other decks all run into splash damage for Oath and Dragon and are limited in the number and power of enchantments they can reasonably play.
Perhaps this could be used as a guide to deckbuilding. Think of the strategy you want your deck to have and build towards that rather than trying to wedge a completed deck into one of these categories. Perhaps this is why Cerebral Assassin has fallen out of favor; it’s a subpar Hate deck plus a subpar Enchantment deck.
Basically, this system of classification isn’t so much of a guide to metagaming as it is a new take on the traditional, simpler rock-paper-scissors division of control-aggro-combo.
I wouldn’t even consider saying that every Hate deck will always beat a Drain deck or a Shop deck, for example. And most Fish-style Hate decks that don’t pack a ton of hate for Oath will roll over in a heartbeat to that Enchantment deck.
Plus, once you get into decks that don’t really fall into any of the above categories, or rather, fall between them, it’s just not a perfect system. Workshop Aggro—which I believe developed into Stax during the days of unrestricted Trinisphere—uses Shops, but is really more of a hate deck. Cerebral Assassin is a combination of Hate and Enchantment style decks that uses Sundering Titan and other disruptive artifacts to keep opponents off their game but that will happily combo out Worldgorger Dragon style.
Ichorid, well, I don’t even know where that would go. Hate, I guess, but it has a quick finish like Enchantment and cheats so many mana costs like Ritual. This deck is probably the best argument for a sixth or replacement fifth category of Bazaar based decks. With this classification, Oath moves to Hate and a new non-Yawgmoth’s Willing graveyard focused category arrives.
It may not be the case now, but Magic is definitely leaning in that direction. It could also include Goblin Welder based decks that aren’t Stax or Slaver variants.
Capisce?
Does this have any use or validity?
I think it will at least be good for debate. Have at it. I’ll be around.
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