The Unbroken

[DubDub]

Counterbalance+Top, similarly to Archmage Vintage decks can be drawing dead to this combo.  Lodestone or Jace? Flip my Jace.  Dark Confidant? Flip Mana Drain.  Gush? Flip Force of Will.  Plus, the primary enchantment hate in this format is Nature's Claim, which spinning Top deals with cold.  With Island, Island, Mox you can have the combo active on turn two.

Oh I love this one.  So many 0 and 1 cost spells in Type 1.  Maybe it would be possible to build a true control deck with counterbalance as the key card advantage spell. 

This has actually been done before.  Austin Pollack knocked me out of NYSE II (I think, may actually be NYSE III) with CB/Top.  Then, I Finals split a Blue Bell with Chas Hinkle playing an updated version of the deck.

Yeah, it's been done before.  I definitely wasn't trying to say it's undiscovered, I mean, at one time it was a pillar of the Legacy format.  But I don't think its prevalence in Vintage matches its potential.

[voltron00x]

Counterbalance+Top, similarly to Archmage Vintage decks can be drawing dead to this combo.  Lodestone or Jace? Flip my Jace.  Dark Confidant? Flip Mana Drain.  Gush? Flip Force of Will.  Plus, the primary enchantment hate in this format is Nature's Claim, which spinning Top deals with cold.  With Island, Island, Mox you can have the combo active on turn two.

Oh I love this one.  So many 0 and 1 cost spells in Type 1.  Maybe it would be possible to build a true control deck with counterbalance as the key card advantage spell. 

This has actually been done before.  Austin Pollack knocked me out of NYSE II (I think, may actually be NYSE III) with CB/Top.  Then, I Finals split a Blue Bell with Chas Hinkle playing an updated version of the deck.

Yeah, it's been done before.  I definitely wasn't trying to say it's undiscovered, I mean, at one time it was a pillar of the Legacy format.  But I don't think its prevalence in Vintage matches its potential.

I was more replying to Eastman than to you, sorry.  The problem with CB/Top today is that it doesn't really do much for you against Dredge and does almost nothing against Shops, and trying to use "5"s against Gush is also kind of awkward.  When the field was some absurd percentage of Tezz, 50% or whatever it was for a while right when TFK was banned, CB/Top was pretty sick, but I'm not sure it still works right now.

Doesn't mean it won't be good at some point in the future, or that it isn't break-able as a sideboard card or something.

[evouga]

Lim-Dul's Vault. I've been wanting this card to be good for a loooong time.  isn't as awkward as it used to be with strong black support for Confidant everywhere and the decline of Mana Drain; on the other hand the closer Vintage moves towards a highlander format the weaker the card gets, obviously...

[TheWhiteDragon]

g3: easy, I start farting while I manage some artos / animals using swords and grudge, I wast to sharpen a few laps, he did a lot more cards in hand, much more mana than a metallo it attack with, I draw through bazaar and blocks through a booster to agame flying red bull shoed concede that my opponent ..

I actually fell out of my chair laughing at this.

On topic - entomb, seedtime, drop of honey, survival

[Joblin Velder]

1. Survival of the Fittest - One of my all time favorite cards. I wish I could play it in more formats than EDH.
2. Sundering Titan - Manabases just aren't as poorly constructed as they used to be...
3. Muddle the Mixture - Solid spell. Great transmute casting cost.
4. Academy Rector - I loved playing Rector Tendrils.

[Prospero]

Basking Rootwalla and every card that has maddness

What about Sacred Mesa and Land Tax? 

[LSD25]

i used to have a orim chant power artifact deck... didnt stoke or geyser used to be restricted?

[v4ino]

Basking Rootwalla and every card that has maddness

What about Sacred Mesa and Land Tax? 

Sounds like someone want's a rematch!!!

... and yes, Land Tax is a broken card advantage engine...

Throw Argivian Find and Aura of Silence on my list as well

[honestabe]

Esper Charm

[mulder]

Scroll Rack.

[Joblin Velder]

Scroll Rack.

yesyesyesyesyes

[TheBrassMan]

Man, these cards are all boring. With the exception of Birthing Pod and Garruk, Wildspeaker, I've played with or against every card mentioned here in tournament play.

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

[vaughnbros]

Man, these cards are all boring. With the exception of Birthing Pod and Garruk, Wildspeaker, I've played with or against every card mentioned here in tournament play.

So you or someone you played had spoils of the vault in their deck, id rank that as one of my top 10 worst cards in magic.

To add to the list Telemin Performance and Rootwater Thief.

[Joblin Velder]

There was a Meandeck Tendrils deck that ran 4 Spoils.

[Bloodcookie]

I've often thought Lat-Nam's Legacy could be a powerful anti-Duress tool, in a similar fashion to the now-restricted Brainstorm.

[DubDub]

Man, these cards are all boring.

I'll try three that are a little more out there:

1. Tainted Pact.  Two Tainted Pacts and a 58 card true highlander Vintage Deck.  I don't think there are quite the 'other 58' yet that are good enough, but we're getting there with the addition of Planeswalkers (Jace2.0/Tezz1.0/Tezz2.0/maybe-Liliana2.0 this fall) and additional worthwhile cantrips (Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Gitaxian Probe).  Some crazy singletons have changed in value with the printing of Planeswalkers as well, like Commandeer for stealing them or Vendilion Clique for assassinating them.  The restriction of Brainstorm and Merchant Scroll mean that you're not fighting an uphill battle in deck consistency by being largely Highlander.  I would probably think  are the colors to include so that you have enough lands to create a working manabase, and because Lotus Cobra can smooth mana out a little.

2. It that Betrays.  'It that' works against Dredge somewhat, fetchlands, waste/strip, Black Lotus/Lotus Petal and whatever gets sacrificed when it attacks.  Whereas an early attacking Emrakul might annihilate two permanents and deal 15 damage, an early attacking It that Betrays will annihilate two permanents and give them to you, more solidly gaining an advantage that you can quickly make inevitable.  Seething Song + Sneak Attack or Through the Breach are some enablers.  The new COMM card, Tribute to the Wild is neato, although it's not the best in other situations (Precursor Golem you'd want targeted removal for, Oath of Druids doesn't care who owns it (if you have ItB in play)).

3. Sapphire Medallion + Copy Artifact + Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas.  Copy Artifact has some general uses (Blightsteel, Steel Hellkite, etc) for blue decks, but one of the interactions that's cool is that a Sapphire on the battlefield makes the second Sapphire cost just  .  I was trying at one point to ramp more quickly to Planeswalkers by playing Medallion.  First turn land mox medallion, second turn land TAB make medallion a 5/5 was cool.  Unfortunately (I asked a question in the rules area at one point) Copy Artifact does not become a 5/5 if it's copying an activated artifact.  This was kinda cool to counteract Resistors, but I found they were too dead against blue decks and decks packing Trygon Predator.

[Eastman]

There was a Meandeck Tendrils deck that ran 4 Spoils.

Yes and was hyped like CRAZY at the time as I recall.  I think it was really fast/strong but had a bit too much inconsistency.  Plus shops...

[TheBrassMan]

Yeah, Spoils of the Vault/Meandeck Tendrils showed up a lot for a short stretch a few years back.  Some of these cards I've only seen once, but I've definitely played against spoils 6 or 7 times in tournaments - people really liked the deck, though it never actually did well at a major event.

@DubDub - Tainted pact was kicking around back when I started playing Vintage. "Tainted Mask" was a Phyrexian Dreadnaught deck (before stifle worked) that ran Snow Covered Island and Snow Covered Swamp to improve the chances of its Pacts getting to business.  I'm not sure it was considered good, but there were primers and all that.

but It that Betrays and Sapphire Medallion ... NOW we're talking.

[meadbert]

Man, these cards are all boring. With the exception of Birthing Pod and Garruk, Wildspeaker, I've played with or against every card mentioned here in tournament play.

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

Perilous Research maybe?

[Smmenen]

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

This card is unreal  -- you get to see TEN cards for 2 mana.  that's been a card i've wanted to break for years, but it's never worked.

I've tried it in many different decks. 

[Eastman]

Man, these cards are all boring. With the exception of Birthing Pod and Garruk, Wildspeaker, I've played with or against every card mentioned here in tournament play.

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

Perilous Research maybe?

Oh yah nice.  Ancestral Knowledge goes well with Perilous Research and Abjure, which in turn go well with Hatching Plans and Mystic Remora.  Lot of slots but you'd out-draw just about anything.    

[Grand Inquisitor]

Abjure

Seriously.  You don't know pain as a blue mage until you've been Abjured.

...unless you're a fish mage and have been ASSASSINATED!

[iamfishman]

Abjure

Seriously.  You don't know pain as a blue mage until you've been Abjured.

...unless you're a fish mage and have been ASSASSINATED!

Haven't seen you around recently.  Is that all you do know: sit around and troll people about Royal Assassin

[DubDub]

Abjure

Seriously.  You don't know pain as a blue mage until you've been Abjured.

...unless you're a fish mage and have been ASSASSINATED!

Haven't seen you around recently.  Is that all you do know: sit around and troll people about Royal Assassin

I think he means Assassinate, actually. 

[Bill Copes]

Abjure

Seriously.  You don't know pain as a blue mage until you've been Abjured.

...unless you're a fish mage and have been ASSASSINATED!

Haven't seen you around recently.  Is that all you do know: sit around and troll people about Royal Assassin

I think he means Assassinate, actually. 

Incorrect.

[desolutionist]

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

This card is unreal  -- you get to see TEN cards for 2 mana.  that's been a card i've wanted to break for years, but it's never worked.

I've tried it in many different decks. 

agreed. Its alll about having fun though and that card is fun.  Im going to throw it into the TPS deck im playing

[DubDub]

The whole reanimation strategy has seen some play in Vintage.  I remember an Elias article about it at some point.  But I think it still holds promise.  Elesh Norn is a beating against a lot of decks, killing Dredge/Ichorid/Zombies, Dark Confidant, Lotus Cobra, effectively Trygon by giving it 0 power, takes a turn off BSC, neuters Battlesphere.  It's also good against the current incarnation of fast Workshop Aggro decks, invalidating Phyrexian Revoker and Slash Panther and eating 3/1 Lodestone Golems for Breakfast.

[Onslaught]

Diabolic Intent has always seemed criminally underrated. Most people try to use it with a "leaves play" effect like Mindslicer, but I think it can be good just x1 or x2 in a deck that has 8-10 creatures. Maybe something like the Meandeck Bob/Gush could fit a Diabolic Intent?

[AmbivalentDuck]

I'm still looking for a way to break Ancestral Knowledge. That's a hell of a lot of card selection for 2 mana. Hoping to pair it with Erratic Explosion when Wizards inevitably decides to print a 20-drop.

This card is unreal  -- you get to see TEN cards for 2 mana.  that's been a card i've wanted to break for years, but it's never worked.

The problem is that you need a draw spell on the low-end of mana costs to make it worthwhile.  So, for + Gush, you get to Scry 10, draw 2.  Contrast this with Doomsday + Gush where you effectively Feldon's Cane + Scry 60, then draw 2.  And Doomsday sees little play right now for good reason.

It's not card selection on par with other blue cards with a similar effective mana cost.  Ie. Would you rather spend two cards and  to Scry 10, draw 3, or cast Gifts Ungiven?  What about Fact or Fiction?

[Delha]

Presumably you'd run Knowledge with something like Top or Jace. This is one that's been on my list for a while now too, though I haven't messed with it recently.

Back when I was trying, one of the huge things I liked was making Brainstorms hit 10 deep, while also knowing that you'd never waste turns redrawing crap just thrown back. It was pretty damn cool. Even in cases where you didn't have a BS to pair with, it often played out like weaker topdeck tutor for me. It was certainly too slow at times, but rarely felt completely useless. It was also a nice way to break parity when both sides were in topdeck mode from a big counterwar.