[Free Article] Jace, the Format Sculptor

[voltron00x]

This week's article talks about Jace in Vintage, including why I don't think it should be restricted (yet) and how other decks might adapt to Jace's presence int he format.  I also discuss the effect of the winning deck from Champs on the Vintage metagame.  Finally, I preview the deck I played at last Saturday's Blue Bell. 

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/19859_The_Long_and_Winding_Road_Jace_the_Format_Sculptor.html

[Note - the deck list from the article for Bob Tendrils should be -1 Yawgmoth's Bargain and +1 Mana Vault.  I'll explain why in next week's article.]

[mikekilljoy]

Great article Matt. I'm still on fence about it, but I do think Jace will be restricted sooner or later.

[Killane]

Good article. I generally agree without your overall reasoning regarding Jace. You're rapidly becoming one of my favourite writers on the net!

[Grand Inquisitor]

I read this in bites over the course of a day, so maybe that's why I think it's sort of scattered: you think Owen's deck is the new metagame threat...but it might not have a good workshop matchup?...which may lose out to TPS?...and Fish can adjust with Lightning Bolt but cutting Null Rod?...and Dredge is positioned well because of all this?

It sounds like you're saying anything could be good...especially in the hands of a good pilot.  I guess I agree.


edit: One part I was totally on board with is how you showcased the breadth of early opinion on Jace.  Well done.  Full disclosure, I was definitely one of the people that underestimated the card (not totally discounting it though).  I also totally whiffed on Voltaic Key when that came around.  I'm not very good at this part of magic.

[voltron00x]

Anything could be good.  Trying to get people's thoughts in motion rather than seeing everyone default to Trygon Tezz.

Which, frankly, is fine with me.  That deck is a lot easier to beat than previous versions of Tezzeret, once you play against it a few times.

[Grand Inquisitor]

Anything could be good

Then why bother writing?  You have some interesting observations here, but I don't think you take them far enough.  Eg, from what I've seen, if Tez is taking a dedicated control role then Oath can't compete.  If it's facing decent stopping power and a slew of nature's claims, it simply can't execute its game plan consistently in the early game and it draws dead more often in the midgame.  On the one hand, Jace does aid Oath's midgame hand sculpting, but we're talking about where the two decks are different, not where they're the same.

Fish has a similar predicament.  If Tez is running lots of creatures and Jace can add effective board control (not to mention REB out of the board), there aren't a lot of advantages to the current builds.  All of the cornerstones: null rod, pridemage, selkie are less effective.  If Oath becomes less popular, Fish also loses one of its favorite whipping posts.  I don't know if adding lightning bolt helps any of this, but a complete rebuild of the archetype is probably needed.

Workshops I really can't tell, have you tested this?  My long term experience is that running a 4c manabase into that many spheres hurts, even with Trygons and Bobs at your disposal.  Then again, with Bobs, Trygons, Claims and Spell Pierce, maybe there's so much interaction that the shops just can't get anything to stick.

The real interesting options are for the decks that can race Bob and Trygon. Dredge and Storm combo look poised to gain some ground here.  I know you cover a lot in this piece, but I wish you'd spend some more time on this.  I don't think literally everything could be good, 2c.

[voltron00x]

I’m not sure I understand your post.

You ask, “why bother to write?” – but then you basically recap exactly what I said in my article, the purpose of which was to get people thinking about how they can react to Trygon Tezz.  Losing that italics also changes the meaning of my statement.

Yes, I think Oath is probably not going to be viable for a period of time.  Yes, I think Noble Fish isn’t in the best spot.  Yes, I think Dredge and Storm decks are well-positioned.  No, I’m not sure of the match-up against Workshops because there are so many differing Workshop builds that referring to them en masse is disingenuous, and I haven’t had time to test them all (and have received wildly different opinions on the strength of that deck against MUD, probably due to the reasons I just stated).

These things may be relatively obvious to you – you’re a Vintage Adept for a reason.  Most others are not.  For them, this look at the metagame – a brief look at why certain decks may be poorly positioned and wha they may be able to do to adapt - may be a useful exercise, even if it wasn’t helpful to you.   

This article was 4,000 words.  In later articles I can expand on the surface level thoughts provided in this one, when I have had time to test in detail.  Like many people, right now I’m brainstorming Fish and Oath decks while I play other decks that I *know* will beat Trygon Tezz just by nature of their design.

[Stormanimagus]

I’m not sure I understand your post.

You ask, “why bother to write?” – but then you basically recap exactly what I said in my article, the purpose of which was to get people thinking about how they can react to Trygon Tezz.  Losing that italics also changes the meaning of my statement.

Yes, I think Oath is probably not going to be viable for a period of time.  Yes, I think Noble Fish isn’t in the best spot.  Yes, I think Dredge and Storm decks are well-positioned.  No, I’m not sure of the match-up against Workshops because there are so many differing Workshop builds that referring to them en masse is disingenuous, and I haven’t had time to test them all (and have received wildly different opinions on the strength of that deck against MUD, probably due to the reasons I just stated).

These things may be relatively obvious to you – you’re a Vintage Adept for a reason.  Most others are not.  For them, this look at the metagame – a brief look at why certain decks may be poorly positioned and wha they may be able to do to adapt - may be a useful exercise, even if it wasn’t helpful to you.  

This article was 4,000 words.  In later articles I can expand on the surface level thoughts provided in this one, when I have had time to test in detail.  Like many people, right now I’m brainstorming Fish and Oath decks while I play other decks that I *know* will beat Trygon Tezz just by nature of their design.

Matt- Do you think U/R Landstill could be a threat in this meta? I think its only seriously horrible match-up is Dredge and you can still try the Powder/Leyline plan in the SB and rely on Spell Pierce to keep them in play yes?

Just thought that Landstill with Lightning Bolt in the place of the old Fire//Ice slot might be an interesting consideration. Something like this list:


U/R Landstill

Land (24):
3 Mutavault
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library Of Alexandria
3 Island

Artifacts (7):
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Null Rod
1 Crucible Of Worlds

Planeswalkers (2):
2 Jace, The Mindsculptor

Enchantments (4):
4 Standstill

Instants (22):
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force Of Will
4 Spell Pierce
3 Mana Drain
3 Stifle
3 Chain Of Vapor
4 Lightning Bolt

Sorceries (1):
1 Time Walk

SB
4 Leyline Of TheVoid
3 Serum Powder
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
4 Chalice Of The Void

[voltron00x]

Not sure of his exact list, but Josh Potucek won the side event at Blue Bell on Saturday with Landstill, so it is definitely a possibility.

[mr.grim]

As always great arti Matt!

[desolutionist]

Josh's list was about 15 cards different in the maindeck but that discussion belongs in the UR Landstill thread!

Nice article Matt! You covered all the best topics