Aether Vial in workshop?

[Lurker101]

I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but would there be any benefit to playing Aether Vial in a shop list? That way you can vial out creatures  that have colored mana costs and may not be artifacts but could function as lock pieces. Ethersworn Canonist seems like it could be decent and maybe Leonin Arbiter? Would this dilute the deck too much? Thoughts?

[LotusHead]

you should probably brainstorm a huge list of viable 1 and 2 drops that would help (if you are in a counter heavy meta)


Goblin Welder
Ethersworn Cannonist
Phyrexian Revoker
Qasali Pridemage
Relic Warden

etc.

[Lurker101]

Right now I'm testing two vials with 2 Leonin Arbiter and 2 Ethersworn Canonist maindeck as additional lock pieces. In the SB I'm trying out 1 Blade Splicer and 2 Master of Etherium for the mirror match and 2 Qasali Pridemage for taking out Rods and Stony Silence.

[Cruel Ultimatum]

Very bad.

1. Doesn't effect the board when you play it
2. Opens you up to misstep

[Twaun007]

I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but would there be any benefit to playing Aether Vial in a shop list? That way you can vial out creatures  that have colored mana costs and may not be artifacts but could function as lock pieces. Ethersworn Canonist seems like it could be decent and maybe Leonin Arbiter? Would this dilute the deck too much? Thoughts?

I've never really liked Aether Vial in Shops since it doesn't really affect your opponents board state at all. Plus, with Workshop being a reusable Black Lotus for Artifacts you never really need a Vial effect to put dudes onto the battlefield.

What exactly are you're trying to accomplish by including Aether Vial in a Workshop deck or better yet, what are the benefits you think Aether Vial will offer you in a workshop deck?

If I were to begin theorizing a Workshop deck with Vial in it I'd start with something like this...

25-
4x Mishra's Workshop
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
4x Scrubland
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2x Marsh Flats
1x Cabal Pit
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Emerald
1x Black Lotus

21-
3x Crucible of Worlds
4x Tangle Wire
4x Thorn of Amethyst
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Aether Vial
2x Nihil Spellbomb

17-
4x Dark Confidant
4x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3x Tidehollow Sculler
3x Braids, Cabal Minion

63 cards and it still looks like an Archie Bunker....

[Prospero]

There are a few issues with this, namely:

1.  If you're running Aether Vials you're going to have to run the mana to support the creatures that you intend on Vial'ing into play.

2.  If you're running Vials, you potentially set yourself up to get blown out by your own Chalice 1.  This isn't something that you want to do, as Chalice 1 is a very strong play against most of the blue decks in the field.

3.  You're going to be forced to trim down, or entirely cut, certain lockpieces in order to run creatures.

If there was more space in a typical Vintage deck then it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.  Still, I think that you may be getting away from the Shop fundamentals in order to do something that may end up being more cute than effective.

If you feel strongly about this then you should run it.  Put something together that runs Shops and Vials and see where it leads you.  Having the masses shout down a few people, and tell them that things aren't possible, isn't conducive to the kinds of breakthroughs that make Vintage the great format that it is.  If you approached me four years ago and you told me that Vintage was going to be about myriad creature strategies, and that the prototypical blue decks from back in the day wouldn't exist, I'd have called you crazy.  Still, here we are.  

Good luck with it.

[boggyb]

You might try starting with a white MUD build like the one featured at http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=44161.0 :

4 Mishras Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
5 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb

3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Lodestone Golem

4 Chalice of the Void
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Tangle Wire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Emerald
  
Sideboard (15)

2 Uba Mask
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
2 Dsimember
3 Jesters Cap
4 Grafdiggers Cage

Try nixing chalices and other prison pieces and adding swords, bears, and vials alongside? Might be sweet in a creature-heavy environment. At that point might be just smarter to run a white trash deck, but Lodestone and Wire are tempting, so could be worth it.

[Lurker101]

Really I just wanted to see how Canonist and Arbiter would work as lock pieces and I have come to the conclusion that they're not worth the trouble. I also tested 2x Ghost Quarter in the list and that worked out really well. I think that's a really underrated card. Anyway, thanks for the feedback. 

[TheWhiteDragon]

Really, the best colored critter to cast in shops is welder.  For this, just run cavern of souls.  You then get through counters and can still effectively play chalice @ 1 with no penalty.  Welder essentially makes all your stuff uncounterable too.  Also, extra caverns can push through uncounterable golems like lodestone and karn or precursor.  They are an awesome card for running 1 color in shops.  There's no benefit to vial that isn't just better with cavern.  If you are looking at pridemage as an answer to rod/silence, realize that vial is turned off GW in a shop deck.  Bad.  Go with cavern shops for welder (and a few bazaars) and call it a day.

[Lurker101]

  If you are looking at pridemage as an answer to rod/silence, realize that vial is turned off GW in a shop deck.  Bad.  Go with cavern shops for welder (and a few bazaars) and call it a day.

LoL
Yeah, I wasn't thinking about Vial being turned off by rod/silence so pridemage wouldn't work. Cavern is not a bad idea though. I'll look into it.