speed of vintage??

[Aardshark]

I disagree completely. When I look at Flash and Ichorid, I see tournament success as one of the least important factors. Lets say I spend 35 bucks and an afternoon to go play Magic. I get paired against Flash and Ichorid respectively, and I get wrecked by ridiculous nut draws where I have no potential to interact, and skill is not a factor. I am now out of contention.

It doesn't matter to me whether or not those decks draw like crap for the rest of the day and go 2-3, what matters to me is that inevitably these "high-variance" decks draw completely ridiculous hands and ruin what Magic is supposed to be about. Yes, every deck has this potential (like Long, Gifts, etc.) but I feel like Flash pushes it beyond some imaginary line of acceptability.

I think that tournament success is the wrong benchmark to be judging these decks on (even though Flash has enjoyed plenty of it.)

I understand, and your position is fair (although I question why anyone bothered by unbeatable nut draws would choose to play vintage).  Same argument as was made against trinisphere--its not that it won, its how it won. 

I have little doubt that Flash is just about the highest variance deck in history.  I also must admit that results have proven Flash to be better than I thought it was when I played it two months ago. Given its tournament success combined with its unbeatable nut draws (which ensures it will remain in the meta), I could stomach its restriction (although I'd hate to leave GAT all alone at the pinnacle). 

In contrast, I think its would be ridiculous to neuter Ichorid, which has been virtually hated out of the meta through a few sideboard slots. 

[Guli]

I think some people should put more trust in the adaptive power of the meta. I can design a deck to completely destroy flash or ichorid its not that hard. However it would lose to a multiple of other decks. So if too many people start playing flash or ichorid or whatever that is 'hyped' some smart ass wil come up with an answer im sure of that. And then slowly the number of flash/ich will decrease and so will the hate towards it. This is simple and logical. The question is once its 'normalized' again will some people go back to the 'omg i win on turn 0-1 and you can't do anything about it' and will this create a loop.

Its like the omega directive in star trek, some boundaries should not be crossed (for now)

who know what will come in the next set, it could completely change the meta.

I think  unrestriction gush was acceptable and kinda fun. Gat can be beaten really. It opened some new ideas and decks. But flash is just that card you want to think twice before allowing it x4. Or at least don't print cards that cost 0 mana that can protect it or look for the combo pieces. Its like the deck was created by wizzards himself.

[runeblayde]

I think it is more appropriate to say that the speed of vintage is more variable now than it used to be.  Flash is a glass cannon, capable of playing a very fast game, but more vulnerable to hate.  Decks like Fish and Bomberman run 1cc disruption, yes, but that just goes to prove that the glass cannon decks that are "speeding up" the format are susceptible to cheap hate, and don't have the resiliency of past combo decks.  I believe this has lead to a progression towards both ends of the speed of the game.  Good players continue to top8; skill is not lost from the format.  We have just a had a major shift in the meta and it will require a new set of play skills that do not include your ability to make a gifts pile.  I for one am happy with the changes.  I am glad to see creatures turning sideways again that don't read "goblin" in the middle.  I think the variability in the speed of the game just goes to show that you have more flexibility in your play strategy and style than before.

[Grand Inquisitor]

I wanted to know if the different protagonists were still thinking the same way, a month later

Flash actually didn't improve as much as I expected (yet); we'll see if GenCon brings new tech to that archetype.  That being said, it still has an enormous distorting effect on the format.  It's slightly different than ichorid in that when it gets 'the' draw, Flash resolving immediately ends the game, whereas dredging has some variance to it which will give you meaningful extra turns.  Also, as Shockwave mentioned, the usual bulwark against this type of deck, FoW, is rather ineffective.

Ichorid is something I hate playing against, but I do think it's strangely healthy.  Kowal mentions in his D2 Stratford that he had really interactive games while playing it; I believe him.  Ichorid allows non-ichorid hate decks a metagame advantage over the usually dominant blue based combo control deck (see tog, slaver, gifts, gat).  Evidence of this was bomberman's performance earlier this year.

Is the format faster?  Unequivocally, yes.  However, I think Flash is much more the culprit than either GAT or Ichorid.  Like was mentioned above, I think the best evidence of this is 1cc answers like REB, Spell Snare, and Stifle showing up a lot.