[FREE ARTICLE] Vintage Avant-Garde: Innistrad Vintage Set Review

[forests failed you]

My Innistrad set review went live today, so feel free to read and discuss it if you want.

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/22839_Vintage_AvantGarde_Innistrad_Vintage_Set_Review.html

The decklists posted are pretty obviously untuned because I was under the gun to provide lists and generally speaking I don't just build random decks unless I am testing for an event.  That being said, I think it is pretty clear that the archetypes I am toying with are likely to be playable at some point in some iteration.

Cheers,
Brian

[MaximumCDawg]

I don't see much avoiding of hyperbole in that article, your intentions notwithstanding!  For example, I think most people are highly dubious about declaring Snapcaster better than Confidant, even though everyone knows Snapcaster is clearly playable and potentially very powerful.  Past in Flames does not go in the same decks that Yawgwill goes in (every deck that can generate B) because it doesn't play for free off a Lotus and doesn't get back mana to fuel the graveyard spells you're flashing back.  It works in a ritual deck, maybe some other weird storm shell, and that's about it.  How often, in a blue deck, do you have 4 mana to spare PLUS mana to cast a number of cards from your yard?  After a Mana Drain?  When you could just be winning with the Mana anyway?  

That said, I look forward to a game where I free cantrip (Manamorphose, Gitaxian Probe) into Past in Flames over the first few turns, and then cast it and gain raw card advantage off all of my free cantrips.

That said, you mention a few things that I think you're absolutely right about.  Snapcaster will make Brainstorm r-i-d-c-u-l-o-u-s in Legacy.  It might even push Preordain over the edge in Vintage.  I suspect it's more likely that Snapcaster gets the axe than Brainstorm, though, since it's the enabler.  A 3 cc 2/1 with Flash that, depending on what you need, either deals 3 damage, forces the enemy to discard a non-land card of your choice, casts brainstorm/ponder/preordain, bounces an artifact with Steel Sabotage, or counters a spell....?  Snapcaster is absurd in any deck that runs any of these effects and also wants creatures to beat with.  Vintage can probably absorb the blow, no sweat.  Modern, Legacy, not so much.  If he's popular, look for an uptick in Chalice of the Void!

[forests failed you]

Point taken.

To be fair, I have never really been afraid to tell people what I really think or how I really feel about cards, decks, etc.  I am confident in my ability to assess cards and strategies, and I am correct much more than not.  That being said, sometimes I am wrong and people absolutely love to say "i told you so."  That being said, I'm not going to sit on the fence about things because I'm afraid trolls will take glee in my being incorrect about something.  Snappy has some things to prove before we can claim that he is the best ever, but with that being said:  I personally know I'd be much more likely to play snapcaster than Bob in a deck, so that makes me think he is likely to be not only the real deal but the nuts.

[voltron00x]

Good set review.  It will be interesting to watch the changes to the Eternal formats through the end of 2011.