"So how many people do you guys have actually looking at Vintage tournaments for B&R decisions?"
Well, I forgot to ask about the Vintage Pro Tour, but I took the chance to speak to Randy Buehler and Mark Rosewater at the staff dinner on Sundy night about this. Turns out, it isn't much different than we already knew. They are watching the tournaments and TMD to see if anything requires action. They are keeping an eye out for anything that may be disturbing the player base or the format.
When designing cards, both Maro and Randy confirmed that they don't care specially about Vintage, because the format is already busted. I got the feeling that it isn't considered part of normal magic. There are some cards especially in Mirrodin block that prompted some Vintage thinking when they were designed, notably Chalice of the Void, but according to Maro, Trinisphere wasn't one of them.
Randy mentioned how he had enjoyed playing Vintage and that it was fun for him. There's noone actively watching Vintage at all times in R&D. "We don't check daily", but they do look to TMD occasionally, especially when there's an issue they need opinions on. So basically, nothing new: R&D is aware of Vintage but treats it as an animal of it's own. Vintage is basically the free-roaming stepchild of Magic, riding in on its Harley whenever a family gathering is announced, but never invited to anything else.
As a side note, Randy was surprised at how many people in the 180 man Vintage tournament actually had power. I didn't get the Top 8 lists (believe me, I tried), because they were lost in the gigantic scuffle that side events was, but it seemed like a fun event.
So that's it for now. Worlds was great, I got to meet & greet Pyro, rvs, Lunar, Wompi and probably some other guys I didn't recognize, and CF came in 11th. It was a great week!
