Type 1 c. 2002

[kl0wn]

After getting the urge to sling the cardboard crack again, I followed some breadcrumbs that led me to a game store in my area that was recently opened by some of the original Binghamton Magic crew. Whilst hanging out and catching up with people, most notably one Carl Winter who happens to work there, I saw people coming in to play some pickup games and had to kick myself for not bringing my dust-caked backpack of doom.

I realized, though, that I didn't have anything built other than my 2005 Control Slaver that handily won me an Emerald the last time I played it in a tournament; probably not the best thing to bring to a casual table, especially considering the proxied power and now-illegal 4 Brainstorms.

So I've been thinking about some guidelines for building somewhat-casual, interactive decks that also let me use the cool stuff from way back that draw the "oohs" and "aaahs" when you bust them out (nothing with the new cardface, by default).

Immediately, the Winter 2002-2003 Vintage environment came to mind. The games back then were often slow as moleasses, Gro was just starting to develop, combo was basically Academy and Illusions/Donate (be it Rector-based or Mono-Blue) - storm didn't exist yet, Aggro was "good" (TNT, Tainted Mask, Oshawa Stompy, Madness) and well-built budget decks had a chance. Of course, most of these decks were also terrible by today's standards (fetchlands were being played with less than 4 Brainstorms, nobody had put Smokestack/Tanglewire/Sphere of Resistance together yet). I figure that's a good starting point, but there's the problem that unrestricted Gush, Burning Wish and Lion's Eye Diamond (and I think Entomb as well - correct me if I'm wrong) were floating around at that point.

So in order to mitigate the potential unfunness/uninteractiveness, I think it would be wise to follow the current restricted list. In short, my deckbuilding guidelines are:

1) Decks may contain cards from Onslaught (heh, or maybe Legions) and earlier.
2) Use the current Banned & Restricted list.
3) No proxies for me, because they're not cool.

Am I missing any potential problems here? I'm mainly designing this psuedo-format for myself with the purpose of playing pickup games for fun, but in the event that something else comes of it...eh, I'd just like to be prepared.

Fortunately, I think I have all the goodies needed to build the Fever Mask v. Trinity Keeper (without Timewalk) matchup.

Opinions?

Edit: I'm kind of torn on whether Scourge would be safe.

On the one hand, Storm makes things less fun, but Brainstorm is restricted.
On the other hand, Scourge would give budget decks Stifle-Nought now, as well as Warchief for Goblins.

But all of these would probably make things more comboey on the whole.

Things to consider I suppose, but then again, I'll likely be the only one doing this so it's probably not even an issue.

[Matt]

Build Venguer Masque!

Also, this thread may be of use to you: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=11916.0

[kl0wn]

I was thinking about it, but I get totally pooned by the Brainstorm restriction and missing Timewalk. Mostly the Brainstorm restriction.

Of course, I could also just scrap the idea altogether and go with a Legacy build with red over black and no expensive cards besides the duals. But then I lose the really cool stuff.

I was planning on just putting my old Trinity Keeper together, since it's pretty terrible:

Blue (20)
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Braingeyser
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Power Artifact
2 Morphling
1 Time Walk
2 Brainstorm

Black (6)
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Chainer's Edict
1 The Abyss
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Green (2)
1 Regrowth
1 Sylvan Library

White (3)
1 Balance
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Swords To Plowshares

Artifacts
1 Zuran Orb

Mana (28)
2 City of Brass
1 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Dustbowl
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Grim Monolith
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus

Sideboard:
4 Oath of Druids
2 Krosan Reclamation
4 Duress
2 Call Of The Herd
1 Aura Fracture
1 Scrying Glass
1 Ensnaring Bridge

But without the Timewalk and some other tweaks like Future Sight over a Morphling, improving the mana base and sticking some Impulses in there. Oh, and then I get to run Hystrodon in the board for the aggro-control component, which is totally awesome. But I also may not be sideboarding, so that could be irrelevent.

I suppose the draw to pre-Exalted Angel Keeper lists is that they're primarily reactive; whomever my opponent might be, they get to play their cards and I have to find the answers. Of course, the Trinity build was designed to be much more proactive, so it might not be the best direction to go in. But putting Power Artifact on Grim Monolith is still pretty awesome. So is Fastbond/Zuran Orb/Crucible of Worlds, but that requires a post-Onslaught card (albeit one with decent artwork).

I dunno, I'm at a loss.

But those ToC lists are awesome. It's like Type 1 to the extent of "Land, Lotus, Mox, Mox ---> First-turn Craw Wurm" compared to what's being developed today. I think that should probably be my goal here: doing not really broken stuff with broken cards. The TurboSpaz list looks really tempting. Hmm...maybe something with Haunting Echoes...could be too sadistic though.

[Matt]

I made T8 playing Spiritmonger; 'awesome' is definitely the word!