[Premium Article] So Many Insane Plays - Windows of Opportunity

[Smmenen]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15724.html

Last week I took a look at the Oath v. Flash matchup.  While I think the article was interesting for many reasons, the actual match itself wasn't as interesting at the strategic level.   Today's match is much more intense.  I think it highlights most, if not all, of the major considerations that go into playing Flash and Oath against each other.   The lessons here are applicable to many other common Vintage matchups. 

Enjoy!

[Shock Wave]

Um, unless I've missed something, there is an inconsistency in the presentation of the game state.

After Flash resolves Ponder, Carrion Feeder is the second card from the top of the library. Vampiric is drawn from the top. Then Brainstorm is cast, without any shuffle effects in between, and the top 3 cards are:

Merchant Scroll
Mox Sapphire
Brainstorm

Where did the Carrion feeder go? 

[kicker52]

I was wondering that myself.  I read it like 4 times.  The Carrion Feeder disappeared!
With it in the picture the decision tree following the brainstorm would have been slightly different, but I don't see any different decisions being made (aside from the scroll for ancestral in the place of the now non-existant brainstorm).  Unless I'm missing something else too?

[Smmenen]

I have no explanation for that discrepancy.   I can't even hazard a guess, at this point, how that happened.

Anyway, I hope you both enjoyed the article

[ashiXIII]

A much smaller and irrelevant discrepancy, Flash attacks Oath down to 13 life twice.

[hauntedechos]

To move away from the oddities of the article, I would have to say that I enjoyed it.  I do feel that the play by play, with commentary is one of your strengths when writing Steve.  It's the primary reason I started to read your offerings a while back, and also why I subscribed to premium for SSG.  Ok enough kudos, you've already enough accolades and acclaim.

I Think that it is interesting to note the length of the matches are much longer, yet TSOath still smashed Flash's face.  To that end, I think that it gives us a showing of how the flexibility of TSOath overpowers the linear strategy of Flash.  I further think that when these articles are put together with tournament reports and standings, it shows us that Flash has a glass jaw, regardless of feelings one way or another to the deck.  This reality to the Flash player can be illustrated in the article by Flash holding back, instead of just trying to lay TSOath out, first and second turn as we've been shown to believe.  I certainly don't want to derail this thread from commentary on the article, into a Flash discussion.  Any reactions to what I've said here, should be posted in one of the Flash threads, if not in context to the article itself.

To finish, again, good read Steve.  I would really like to see an article doing Tropical Storm against Flash or TSOath th same way you have here.

Haunted.