[FREE article] The 2008 Vintage Year in Review

[The Atog Lord]

Steve,

Excellent article. This is a great narrative of the past year in Vintage, and illustrates how much fluctuation there is in the Vintage metagame.

[Tha Gunslinga]

The article was great, the year was amazing, and once again, Steve, thank you for all you do and have done for Vintage.  Except getting Time Vault errata'd.

[ELD]

Great Job.  Glad to see you got in a line about the overkill with the restrictions - Merchant Scroll alone would have been a better place to start.  The constant adaptation of the metagame to new cards and dominate strategies is evidence that the format is much more capable of taking care of itself than one might think.  It's great to look back and remember how it all played out.  It's a little painful to look back at my woefully unprepared SB for Shops in that Spain event.  Oxidize is no Ingot Chewer (I'm looking at you Chalice), and after that loss I revamped my plan with much success vs Shops.  Goyf was cute, but he was only good vs Stax.  Mud had creatures that were a heck of a lot bigger than my Lhurgoyfs.  That's just one of the great things about Vintage, you really can swing a match up by having a good enough SB plan.  I'm really looking forward to 2009. 

[zeus-online]

I liked it, it reminded me about how much has happened in one year.
Oh, and it also reminded me to acquire a few tez's

/Zeus

[NicolaeAlmighty]

A wink depressing IMO. Not aiming at the read, but just reminiscing on how at the beginning of the year I was an avid vintage player sporting a devoted group of 5 others who would regularly commute to all areas within a 5 state radius fer this game. Now? Every single one of us has quit... Myself porting to weak ass type 2. Yeah, I know, qq'in like crazy, but one can't help but feel this massive vintage recession. Regardless of what people say, this format is on its deathbed. What was once a diverse metagame and blooming population has dwindled to few "big names" and other randoms not willing to make repeat visits to the local card shops. 

Out of pure boredom I came back to this site only to find this downer (yet very well written and still a noice read). Once again, I know yall think this is the shit. To each his own, after all. Different strokes and all that jazz...

Keep enjoyin the disco and the... elves.

 
/end rant. Once again- very well written. Don't want that to be overlooked by the rest of this "bs".

[Smmenen]

I think what it points to -- and what we are recognizing again -- is the importance of organizing. 

Vintage players took for granted that there would always be a big tournament they could go to -- or not go to.   The end of that does not mean that Vintage is dying, or rather, will die.  Instead, it means that Vintage players need to take greater ownership for their format.   It means that grass-roots matters more.   It means that Vintage players can't live in a castle, they have to make it more of a priority to teach and promote the format.    It means that every TO and every person supporting a TO needs to call all of their magic friends and try to get them to come to every tournament.   

Players will always come in and out of Vintage, but I believe that anyone who reads the history of Vintage, as presented in this article as merely one example, will come away interested in the format.   It's a matter of getting those people to try it.   And that requires encouragement and support. 

[Schonkreuz]

I mentioned this is my other post but after reading a few new posts on the article (over at mtg) I just had to type up some more. There are people looking at decks and trying to figure out how they work, I saw links to explain how ichorid works to other people. Sadly I also saw some people saying that skill is such a small part of vintage, obviously these people are vintage players  . Articles like this  is what Vintage needs, because so many people don't even know what vintage is and would likely have never become interested if they had not clicked on the article. Again, amazing article!!!

[rilegard]

Very good job.
I found interesting that you did not annalyze just the US competitions but the European too.
Any ideas about T1 influence from other zones?( Japan / SouthAmerica ... )

Regards from Valencia - Spain.

[xycsoscyx]

Steve, you're a self centered and egotistical a-hole.....don't change!  XD  You, and many others, have always fought to keep the format strong and interesting, and you've definitely succeeded.  Great job on the article and I'm glad that Wizards published it, hopefully more people will at least get interested in the format and look into it more (instead of just the typical assumtion that it costs too much).  I like that you posted decklists to pique people interest, and good to hear that people on the mtg forums are helping vintage newbies to understand how those decks work.

[Akuma]

Great article Steve. Sadly, the article serves to remind me of just how dynamic and fun the Vintage format was up until June 20th. I'm glad you got that one line in there about the excessiveness of those restrictions, Merchant Scroll would have sufficed indeed.

Hopefully your voice can reach those at WotC and bring about change. Can you honestly say that you are happy with the current state of the format?

[nataz]

Excellent. I never thought I'd say it, but man I miss the old brainstorm days.

[OwenTheEnchanter]

Excellent. I never thought I'd say it, but man I miss the old brainstorm days.

Ya fishing some of these hands, Brainstorm was so awesome. 

[M.Solymossy]

Can you Imagine what Tezzeret would look like if you had 4 braistorms!?  Or even worse, 4 brainstorm AND 4 ponder?   SO DUMB...

[Brot_Ohne_Kruste]

Thanks for this good overview, Stephen. I played my first Vintage tourney three days ago, coming from Legacy. Actually I liked that tourney so much that I decided to play Vintage a little bit more. After reading your article, which was great, I think I'll focussing on Vintage from now on. In my eyes this format is healthier than Legacy (Counterbalance + Top and other things) and more fun. I'm glad that a friend of mine "forced" me to play at this tourney .

I hope many new players will come to Vintage after reading your article, especially here in Germany, where Legacy is dominating.

[DoubleDrain]

Steve,

Really enjoied your articles (WOTC and SCG). Thanks for the kind words 

I'm just a little concerned people will start testing Ad Naus some more now, and it will start catching on in other metagames... once people realize how sick the card is, the restriction timer will start ticking down for Ad Naus.

Prediction: 2009 year in review will discuss the restriction of Ad Naus @_@

Thanks again,

Travis

[OwenTheEnchanter]

Oh and also, no love for Doomsday? It was only out there for a while and may just be better to lump it in with the rest of the Gush decks but ive played Flash and such and Doomsday is probably the most powerful deck ive ever played. You had the same explosive starts as TPS with the same protection and consistency as other Gush-Bond decks.

[Stormanimagus]

@Stephen.

I'm curious about one thing in your article in particular. You outlined Ad Nauseam Storm Combo decks as a potential "sleeper" deck for the up-coming vintage year, but it seems that you think TPS is more consistent. If TPS is more consistent then I take it you'd take that to a major vintage tourney and not Ad Nauseam combo.

So what advantages DOES Ad Nauseam have over TPS (if any)?

It is MY opinion that Ad Nauseam is a bit better at side-stepping Graveyard hate because it is much less reliant on Yawg's Will, but, then again, TPS can also have other routes to victory besides Yawg's Will (Draw 7's).

That seems like the biggest difference to me. One deck (TPS) = Tutor for a Yawg Will or find a bomb that can allow you to "win smaller" and get the job done and
                                                          the other deck (Nauseam Combo) = Find a 4-of (really 5-of with necro) and go crazy or tutor up Yawg Will and go crazy.

Could you perhaps get in to some more nitty gritty as to how Ad Nauseam could be a BETTER tournament choice than TPS. I've always been a faithful storm player and I'd like to what monster to sleeve up should I go to a vintage tourney any time soon.

peace,

     Noah

[Smmenen]

I'm not going to answer that question   I'm not being coy -- I just think that the question doesn't have an answer at the moment.  Play whichever one you like best    The Ad Nauseam list is probably better for all skill levels since its much easier to play well. 

Great article Steve. Sadly, the article serves to remind me of just how dynamic and fun the Vintage format was up until June 20th. I'm glad you got that one line in there about the excessiveness of those restrictions, Merchant Scroll would have sufficed indeed.

Hopefully your voice can reach those at WotC and bring about change. Can you honestly say that you are happy with the current state of the format?

Yes.   To be honest, I think Vintage is really amazing right now. 

I did not agree with the restriction of the non-Merchant Scroll cards, but it's never too late to unrestrict Gush again.   I'm kinda glad that we don't have to deal with Flash, to be perfectly honest -- even though we both know it would not be very good, it still would be annoying to lose two games to it on turn one thanks to a lucky draw.   

The restriction of Ponder and Brainstorm hurt no one really, since it hurt everything equally.    I kinda don't mind seeing Brainstorm restricted, although I wish that Ponder was not.   But if you restrict Brainstorm, it's hard not to also restrict Ponder.   In general, I would not have restricted either, and would prefer to see both unrestricted, but it hasn't been the end of the world.   If anything, it's opened up some deck buiding space for other cards.  It's kinda good that Ad Naus and Oath don't have four Ponder.

[Clint_NZ]

Mmmmmmmm... Pictures....

I remember when SCG.com used to do it to the premium articles.

Overall a splendid article to read.

[Stormanimagus]

I'm not going to answer that question   I'm not being coy -- I just think that the question doesn't have an answer at the moment.  Play whichever one you like best    The Ad Nauseam list is probably better for all skill levels since its much easier to play well. 

Oh Steve, you are sly and tricksy, but I can't let you off that easily. All right, here's where I'm coming from. I'm not a very experienced Vintage player, but I am very experienced with Storm Combo decks, and I'm a good Vintage Theorist. I've played TPS, D-Day or some Tendrils style deck for a while now, and I'd be comfortable taking either TPS OR Ad Nauseam to a tourney. All I really want to know from you is what you think the pros-cons of bringing either would be?

What play opportunities does one give you vs. the other? I do have some of my own ideas regarding this, but I always like another opinion, especially one that I respect as much as yours.



   Noah

[Hero]

As a casual player who only reads about the exciting changes in Vintage through places like TMD, this was a really great article.  Seeing how in one year the metagame can change so drastically only to wind up at about the same place it started is really interesting from many different points.  You did a great job at explaining how decks worked and its advantages and disadvantages and the images and decklists helped to understand those archetypes better.

Would love to see more articles like this in the future!

[neotrophy]

This is my best year in review, and I've been doing them for half a decade now.    I think I really managed to capture the incredible changes in Vintage from month to month over the course of 2008.   Plus, the formatting on MTG.com will allow us to relive great memories with their goldfish function. 

I've seen people accuse you of hubris, and basically tooting your own horn a little too much, Steve.  But this comment is spot on.  This is far and away your best Year in Review article.

I think you've captured the year perfectly.  Thanks for a great article.

[reaperbong]

This was a really awesome article, i am enriched and enlightened. Thanks again Steve!

[chrissss]

I really really enjoyed that article. I stopped playing for 18months ish, and this gave me a great insight to 2008 and the state vintage was in.

[Mr. Type 4]

There's a reason that Narcissus is a fable and not a fictional story. 

For the record, I'm pretty sure fables ARE fictional stories.  I mean, unless you really believe that in the past grasshoppers really could talk to ants and it was normal for a tortise to race a hare. 

It's a shame that the animals of today are so reluctant to speak to eachother anymore, let alone engage eachother in sports.

[justaguy]

2008 was a year that provided very little time for me to play Magic: I don't think I touched my cards or the related forums from March till December. It was disappointing, as I had in the past loved to follow Vintage. So needless to say, I enjoyed this article immensely! I still have that flutter of excitement in my chest. Thanks, Steve!