[Premium Article] History of Vintage: 1998

[Smmenen]

The latest chapter is out!

http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3719

Blurb:

Continuing in the Schools of Magic: History of Vintage series, author Stephen Menendian retraces the history of 1998, an unforgettable year in the history of Type I. Follow the important changes to the Restricted List, the rise of recursion strategies and new combo decks, and the lasting impact of Urza’s Saga on the format. Read about the birth Oath and Workshop Aggro decks in the format, and about the continuing evolution of The Deck, Necropotence, Prosperity, and Zoo strategies.

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Pretty soon I'm going to put together a free trivia article to test to see what people have learned!!

The entire series so far can be viewed here: http://www.eternalcentral.com/?tag=history-of-vintage

As always, please let me know what you think!

[tribet]

Just three comments regarding the overall project:
First, Thank you.
Second, I think you should take your time and wait when it comes to the most recent years (say the last 4 years). At any given time, you will always need a maximum of perspective in order to see and understand the whole tectonic and consequences of the most recent events.
Only once you fully appreciate them, then we can call it history but you need time, everybody needs time. Please don't rush.
Last, Thank you.

[Smmenen]

Thanks Tribet.  At this pace, I won't even get to 2012 until the Spring or early Summer of 2014, so I think that will give me enough time and distance to have 2012 (the final year in my series) in proper historical perspective.  I'm not rushing anything

Thanks for continuing to follow and support my series.   

[John Cox]

You could blend year 2012 nicely into the current year at that point (2014) via the yearly meta reports you have done.

[Smmenen]

Well, I haven't written a year in review in two years now, and I haven't done a quarterly metagame report since the summer of 2011.  

I'll probably stop with 2012, but will spend the last full part of the project tracing all of the schools of magic through their changes and lineage, much as I did at the end of 1997, highlighting both how slowly the format has evolved, and yet how much it has changed since its inception.  

[PeAcH]

Great new issue @Smmenen, keep up the good work as always.

Having a look back with perspective with what has been learned from this many years of the format allows us to get a first-row seat to enjoy how this game has changed and matured up to the point where we are nowadays.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to perform such a great achievement.

 

[Smmenen]

Thanks Peach! 

I know our European friends will appreciate the point I make about the center of Type 1 gravity beginning to shift in 1998 from the US to Europe.   You'll see alot more of that coming up

I hope that this series inspires folks to come out of the woodwork and share their stories.  Spread the word!

[brianpk80]

Pretty soon I'm going to put together a free trivia article to test to see what people have learned!!

What is the prize?  I propose if I win, you enter your next Vintage event with a Cavern of Souls based Fish deck.  Keep in mind, their performances are very sensitive to playskill and knowledge of the game, so you'll have a good chance of doing well. 

I'll respond more on the content of the article when I have a chance to read it.

[Smmenen]

 

What is the prize?  I propose if I win, you enter your next Vintage event with a Cavern of Souls based Fish deck.
I'll respond more on the content of the article when I have a chance to read it.

That seems unlikely

Now that I get to play with all of my favorite toys again (Gush, Burning Wish, etc), you'd be hard pressed to pry them from my grip.

[brianpk80]

That seems unlikely

Precisely why it would make a fun prize.  Thematically, it would be a reversal of the Scars block, where instead of spreading contagion, Thalia and her friends begin a redemptive process of cleansing for the unholiest of black mages.  Good > Evil and all that.   

I hope that this series inspires folks to come out of the woodwork and share their stories.  Spread the word!

1998 was very transformational.  I don't know if anything has come close since, though Mirrodin block gets an honorable mention. 

[CorwinB]

That was a very enjoyable and informative read as usual. Thanks again, Steve !

[Smmenen]

That seems unlikely

Precisely why it would make a fun prize.  Thematically, it would be a reversal of the Scars block, where instead of spreading contagion, Thalia and her friends begin a redemptive process of cleansing for the unholiest of black mages.  Good > Evil and all that.  

Evil is a point of view Anakin.   From my point of view the Jedi... er, I mean, Fish decks are evil.  

Dimir >>> All

Seriously, though, I would not enjoy playing non-Gush or Combo decks at this point.   I recently played my Vintage Doomsday deck with Gush and Maniac, and found it slow, linear, and unfun compared to my combo deck.  I just enjoy playing Restricted List Combo so much.  It not only offers So Many Insane Plays, but such a diversity of game states and unique, fun cards that you don't get to play in other formats.  It's not really about colors for me as it is the experience of game play.  I prefer game states that are strategically immersive rather than defined by trying to win by attacking.   I want to duel using logical connectives rather than swinging with bears. 

That was a very enjoyable and informative read as usual. Thanks again, Steve !

Thank you!

Just a question for readers:  If it meant publishing only every other month, would you prefer me to bundle years together?  It wouldn't actually be a price difference because we basically price 10 cents a page rounded to the nearest dollar per article for these.  Just curious.   So, for example, would folks prefer 1999 and 2000 be bundled into a single article, even if that meant it wouldn't be published until mid- or late- May?  

[brianpk80]

Evil is a point of view Anakin.   From my point of view the Jedi... er, I mean, Fish decks are evil.  

Blasphemy.  Thalia is evil but Tendrils of Agony is... benevelont? 

Seriously, though, I would not enjoy playing non-Gush or Combo decks at this point.   I recently played my Vintage Doomsday deck with Gush and Maniac, and found it slow, linear, and unfun compared to my combo deck.  I just enjoy playing Restricted List Combo so much.  It not only offers So Many Insane Plays, but such a diversity of game states and unique, fun cards that you don't get to play in other formats.  It's not really about colors for me as it is the experience of game play.  I prefer game states that are strategically immersive rather than defined by trying to win by attacking.   I want to duel using logical connectives rather than swinging with bears. 

Humans are not bears.  They are a circle of close friends living in a medieval town under the auspices of a revered Mayor who has a terrible secret.  Most of the above must have been written in jest because the winner is not determined during the attack phase at all; that's just a formality.  Modern variants are best thought of as aggro-prison.  They're very engaging, challenging and fun to build & play, and certainly not lacking strategic immersion.  It's possible your aversion to the light has clouded your judgment. 

Just a question for readers:  If it meant publishing only every other month, would you prefer me to bundle years together?  It wouldn't actually be a price difference because we basically price 10 cents a page rounded to the nearest dollar per article for these.  Just curious.   So, for example, would folks prefer 1999 and 2000 be bundled into a single article, even if that meant it wouldn't be published until mid- or late- May?  

Either way is fine.  Did you come across the info about how the power level was scaled down for Urza's Destiny and so they fixed many cards in that set before its release?  The Yawgmoth's Bargain that was printed is actually the "fixed" version of its development counterpart.  Unbelievable. 

[Smmenen]

Was reading Douglass Rushkoff's new book, Present Shock (http://www.amazon.com/Present-Shock-When-Everything-Happens/dp/1591844762), and it really made me think about what I'm trying to do here.

Ruskoff's book argues that we are now in this state of narrative collapse.  In a sense, Magic is a perfect example of it.   The NFL or MLB have more narrative coherency than Magic.  Magic players are always competing in an endless cascade of tournaments, where no tournament is the end tournament, and every tournament is merely the predecessor to another experience.   This generates a kind of alienation from the game -- where people drop after a poor performance and don't even follow the rest of the event.

How many times have I watched great players drop from a tournament, and basically never pay attention to the outcome unless there is some direct, tangible gain for them?  I remember going to my first Waterbury, scrubbing out and watching every match thereafter to learn and to observe and to enjoy.  Yet, for most players, that's not the experience of this game.  What Rushkoff describes as the saturation of the present and the collapse of narrative is exactly what most players experience.

And yet, it is narrative that is exactly what I'm trying to excavate.   Yet, I'm not doing it in the way that Magic is traditionally presented.  I"m not building my narrative on great players, egos, or even great names (except to the extent that they represent something else besides an individual person).  I'm trying to show an arc  -- to reveal the deepest truths about this format -- a format's who evolution is slow, steady, and above all coherent.  It is a history that teaches us about the present and the future.  It is a narrative.  It's not a narrative about great achievements or stupendous accomplishments.   It's a narrative about the ways in which a format changes -- in which the schools of Magic I identify emerge into existence and then steadily evolve to compete to exist. 

In a sense, I turn Hahn's narrative on its head.  By framing each school with an individual, he is stuck in a narrative that is beholden to those individuals.  I rescue his accomplishment by fitting those schools into a coherent body of principles and ideas that no longer map to a single player's ideas, preferences or predilections. 

In doing so, I have the profound opportunity to rescue Magic players who encounter this work from Present Shock -- to bring them out of the experience of this game as an all encompassing present moment, to snap them out of a lull in which the only thing that matters is this tournament, this experience, this match, and allow them to embed themselves in a greater tapestry of work, effort, and history -- both past and future.   

[BaronSengir]

This was a fun one for me to read. I thought I knew how much of an impact Exodus and Saga had on T1 but not completely until I read this. Saga really was an incredibly powerful set that certainly has stood the test of time. Also, as someone who piloted Oath I really appreciated this article and how the card and others like it affected the decks being played and how they evolved. Seeing early Shops deck really made me smile because Shop decks are the other type I like to pilot, and I had no idea they originated in Europe mostly.

[Smmenen]

Thank you!

FYI, we are giving away promo copies of some of the chapters to people on twitter who answer trivia questions about the history of the format correctly...   

Yesterday's question was: what was the first card banned in the format that is known as Type I/Vintage for power reasons?  We had two winners.

Follow @eternalcentral

[CorwinB]

Just a question for readers:  If it meant publishing only every other month, would you prefer me to bundle years together?  It wouldn't actually be a price difference because we basically price 10 cents a page rounded to the nearest dollar per article for these.  Just curious.   So, for example, would folks prefer 1999 and 2000 be bundled into a single article, even if that meant it wouldn't be published until mid- or late- May?  

I prefer having new chapters as often as possible (which would mean splitting 1999 and 2000), but I'm fine either way.

[Smmenen]

Sorry it's taking me so long to get 1999 finished!  This chapter is a beast! The 1999 invitational is fascinating and important, and there were about a hundred restrictions.  I also got to conduct some more interviews, with material I'm going to go back and edit into earlier chapters.

 I will try to catch up at some point, but it will be at least a few more weeks until its published, but it will definitely be with the wait.

[brianpk80]

Got the copy a little while ago but haven't had a stress free afternoon/morning to delve into it.  Will let you know when I finish it and the DGM review.  I'm guessing there are Humans in that list.  Eventually, you will atone for a lifetime of black magic and convert to Fish.   

[Smmenen]

Hey, don't shoot the messenger!  Besides, it's not like Fish is one of the attractions of this format :p

[Smmenen]

I submitted '1999' to Jaco last night for editing.  Sorry for the long wait!  I'm already well into 2000, so hopefully that won't take as long.  Both are surprisingly beefy years.