Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die

[Outlaw]

By dictionary definition, a legend is "An unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical." while a Hero is " A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life". How does this have relevancy to the Vintage environment? Simply put, there are times when a deck performs to the point of becoming a legend, and there are times when one performs to the point of becoming a hero.  

There are those decks in Type 1, that historically have gone through hell and back, and will continue to do such things. They have created such a story for themselves that they have become legends. Every legend is a story waiting to be told, just like every "legendary" deck is a Pandora's box waiting to be opened. It's definitely possible that those decks have submerged for the time being, but at some place and time the story of the deck will be told once again. Look at perhaps one of the oldest decks in magic history "Keeper", it had transformed into 4 color control or whats popularly known as "Germbus". When it made the conversion it snatched up tourney wins and top 8 positions for a substantial time period, until the metagame shifted in order to correctly deal with it. Based upon the given metagame, Germbus has gone into hibernation, waiting for that one person to break open its slumber (retell it's story). I have the distinct feeling (perhaps it's shown by statistics) that every legend status deck has the ability to become retold based upon changing how its appearance is shown (card choices).  

In example, many believe that Tog and Fish have been slayed off by certain factors in the metagame. I believe its definitely possible, with card changes and list adaptations, these two great decks have the ability to come alive again and take control of the metagame. Legends never die, they will always be apparent in the back of the minds of all players, and will emerge amongst remission when certain elements prevail.

Perhaps a deck, isn't as note worthy to become a legend, but it has the prestige to become a hero.  Heroic decks are those that simply take something by storm, and win the prestige of those surrounding. Soon enough heroic stories fade into time, never hitting the legendary status. They don't hold the statistics of legendary decks, they win single tourneys or place low numbers into top 8 for the time being and get lost in time.  Heroes do well in the face of others because of their prestige, they are new ideas (or old rather with new tricks) that win the Vintage war by storm. It has been demonstrated that some people attempt to retell the story of heroes, and perhaps some falter, while some do decent with it, but never to the level of retelling a legend.  Heroes will always be remembered for what they did and how they did it, its one of the defining characteristics of what a hero really is.   Perhaps decks like doomsday, and oath were short time heroes?

My questions are do you agree at all in general? If so what do you feel are the heroes and legends of Vintage magic? Do you have the feeling that those certain legends can return with adaptations to the metagame or have they finally died out, and their stories are lost?  Are heroes just metagame tuned decks that are entirely dependent on such?  Lastly do the return of decks come in cycles based upon the given metagame?

[Note I left out many definite examples so the posters could bring what they feel would be good ones to attention]
-=Outlaw

[Dozer]

This is a truly poetic approach, and I like it. It sure feels like there are some decks that have become legendary, and as you mention Keeper, stories long not told rise in my mind. On the other side of the legendary spectrum, I see Suicide Black: the ultimate "unverified story handed down from earlier times", as you so nicely quote the definition.

To me, Tog is a legend, Fish was a hero. Fish gave its life to the cause, not becoming a story to be re-told but rather one to be remembered. Tog has been re-told even in the process of its conversion into Vintage: from Standard to Extended to Vintage, from two to three to four colors, not many decks have assembled a story so varied in so short a time.

OSE was a hero. Shortly after it arrived, it was overtaken by developments and ultimately drowned by the legend that Keeper, its archnemesis, is.

Of the recent decks, some may have the strength to rise to legendary status. So far, neither Oath nor Doomsday nor Tendrils have had their stories refined. Oath is maybe the closest, having undergone at least one redevelopment (another chapter in its story) and having appeared on the scene with a legendary T8-domination out of the blue.

One deck that is a true hero but will never be a legend is the White Weenie
that T8'd Dülmen once...

Concerning the process, what makes a legend? I think it is the story that players remember. A deck without a story or a local story only may just be a hero, or maybe not even that if the story is not remembered. Circular the process is not - a legend is a legend is a legend, there is no place for a fall in status to a mere hero.

Dozer

[bedafile]

How about villains?

long.dec