Rich Shay
Young Americans
1st place from 24 players at Eudemonia in Berkeley, CA
Decklist// Land
1 Island
2 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
7 Blue Fetch
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
// Mana
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
// Creatures
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Young Pyromancer
1 Trinket Mage
4 Dark Confidant
1 Snapcaster Mage
// Broken (Spells that don't require any explanation)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Force of Will
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Time Walk
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
// Other (I'll explain these below)
3 Mental Misstep
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Cabal Therapy
1 Grapeshot
1 Skullclamp
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 3 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Ancient Grudge
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Trygon Predator
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
Background and TheoryTo understand why Young Pyromancer is a game-changer in Vintage, we need to look at the threats generally employed by Blue decks. I am omitting threats in both Workshop and Bazaar decks from this, because those decks operate on different axes than most blue decks. The threats in a blue deck are generally divided into one of two categories. There are threats that will end the game only after a set number of turns have passed. These threats include cards like Tarmogoyf -- a powerful card that is often large, but never requires less than three turns, unaided, to end a game. Some of these slower threats have utility; for example, Snapcaster Mage is played primarily for his ability, but with enough turns, he will end the game. At the other end of the Vintage threat spectrum, one finds single-turn kills. These fast threats include Tinker, Tendrils of Agony, and Time Vault. Each of these threats can end the game straight away. However, these threats also require no small amount of setup, and entail risk if something goes wrong. When not winning the game, Tendrils does very little. Tinker sets up an opponent's Jace to be even more powerful than before. And while Tezzeret doesn't require the investment of more than a single card, five mana for a Sorcery-speed spell in Vintage is itself an investment.
Thus, threats in blue Vintage decks tend to be either slow but reliable and sometimes disruptive, or quick but precarious. Enter Young Pyromancer. Over the span of a few turns, he can provide a reliable clock; he can even dodge targeted removal through careful timing. However, he can also provide a rapid win, turning a chain of spells into a horde of tokens just as lethal as a Blightsteel Colossus. This confluence of reliability and celerity is rare in Vintage, but not entirely without precedent. One is reminded of the original Gro decks, featuring Quirion Dryad. Able to function as an effective 4/4 creature and also to translate a flurry of spells into a quick victory, she fulfilled this role quite well. Moving forward in time, and Psychatog performed this while also pitching to Force of Will. Alas, time has not been kind to these Gro staples. Jace has made them both much worse than before -- which is to say, they fail the "Jace Test." The printing of Abrupt Decay and the growing popularity of targeted removal spells in Vintage means that their days are over. However, the very factors which make those older creatures unplayable today are actually arguments in favor of Young Pyromancer. He certainly passes the Jace Test.
So, let's say that I've convinced you, the reader, that casting Young Pyromancer is what you want to be doing in Vintage. The next step is to decide how to build a deck that takes advantage of him. First, it becomes clear that the deck wants to be casting a lot of spells. Unless your goal is to revive Vintage Burn, this means playing Blue. My first thought with Young Pyromancer was to graft him into my 2011 BUG Gush list. My initial attempt had 3 Young Pyromancers along with a Tendrils of Agony in a Gush shell. I tested this build on Cockatrice and with my friend Brian.
I eventually reached a problem that I was not able to solve using the Gush engine, and that problem taps for 3 colorless mana. Could I get the Pyromancer Gush deck to flow nicely? Yes. Could I get the Pyromancer Gush deck to beat Workshop decks? Yes. What I could not do, however, was get the Gush Pyromancer deck to do both at the same time. Now, perhaps you are wondering what I mean about flowing nicely. A Vintage Gush deck ought to be able to operate in two different modes. There is the mode where the Gush deck plays the long game, using Gush and its relatively low land count to drag opponents into the deep end and drown them. And there is the second mode, in which the Gush deck resolves Fastbond and shifts into being a combo deck. The potency of Vintage Gush decks has always been predicated on their ability to play both of these roles effectively. You, astute reader, will note that these two modes of Vintage Gush decks correspond to the two different types of Vintage threats I described above.
At any rate, I was not able to make the Pyromancer Gush deck flow correctly, while also being favorable against Workshop. Perhaps Steve's build does this; I have not tested it enough to know. But the build I was working on did not. Rather, the cards that had stood out so much in my testing against Workshop decks were not at all related to the Gush plan. Lightning Bolt and Deathrite Shaman were standouts, and neither was necessarily best friends with the Instants from Mercadian Masques. Enough cards like Lighting Bolt in your deck, and you're just not going to be able to transform Fastbond into victory often enough. So, I realized that I wanted to cut Gush. And this being Vintage, there were not that many draw engines left to choose from. Dark Confidant was the next logical choice, along with Skullclamp for all those one-toughness creatures.
Card ChoicesThe ManabaseThe manabase is fairly standard, but a few comments are in order. The manabase would not have worked without Deathrite Shaman, which I will cover below. Each splash color has two dual lands to make it difficult to cut us off the splash color. You will note while the deck does play four colors, it treads lightly into each color. There is no copy of Tendrils, requiring double Black. There is also no Abrupt Decay, requiring two splash colors at the same time (Ancient Grudge requires two eventually, but they needn't be present at once). Library of Alexandria did its job of drawing me cards, and I can't complain. I could, however, see the argument for replacing the library with the off-color Mox to fuel more first-turn Wizards.
CreaturesI've discussed Young Pyromancer himself above. Dark Confidant is one of the best unrestricted draw engines in Vintage. When I realized that I didn't want to be casting Gush, I added Bob to the deck and didn't look back. Trinket Mage and Snapcaster Mage were ways to add some value while increasing the blue count, and both performed quite well. Snapcaster Mage, in particular, was an invaluable member of the team. Trinket Mage probably would have been a better card if I had included a Sensei's Divining Top (Yes, GI, I should have run that).
And then there is Deathrite Shaman. Deathrite Shaman was nothing short of amazing for me both in testing and all day during the tournament. I suspect that we will see more of him in Blue decks as players test him and realize how strong he is. I've won games with each of his three modes. Deathrite Shaman accelerated me, fixed my colors in the face of Wasteland, shut down Crucible, disrupted Goblin Welder, served as a threat, and even gained me enough life to survive an otherwise-lethal attack in the semi-finals. All that for one mana, and a hybrid mana at that.
SpellsThe pile of cards listed as "Broken" above probably don't require any explanation; so, I'll discuss the other cards. Mental Misstep isn't ideal against Workshop decks. Against everything else, however, it is extremely powerful -- including against Dredge post-board. Duress, Deathrite Shaman, Ancestral Recall -- I don't need to list a bunch of powerful one-drops played in Vintage. You know how good one-drops are. And Mental Misstep lets you counter them for free.
Lightning Bolt has been around since the beginning of time, and hasn't always been worth including next to Black Lotus and Time Walk in Vintage decks. However, more recently, Lightning Bolt is looking better than ever. Blue decks in Vintage either run Dark Confidant or care about their life total due to Fastbond. Many Blue decks also run Jace, who is fairly good at dying to Lighting Bolt. Fish decks, for their part, are basically defined as decks that lose to Lighting Bolt. And the best cards in Worksop also die to the Alpha common.
Speaking of removal, Ancient Grudge was extremely strong all day. While I've always been concerned about playing four colors, Deathrite Shaman made it all work. This meant that Grudge was an ace against Workshop decks, as I was consistently able to cast both ends of it. Against Blue decks, too, Ancient Grudge was worthwhile. Even eating two Moxen, Ancient Grudge was a good source of value in the deck. And since so many Blue decks are running Time Vault, Grudge gets even better.
Skullclamp is a very potent draw engine that isn't seeing much play. It's a very low investment -- one mana -- to turn any creature in your deck into an Inspiration. I have every belief that there is a strong Young Pyromancer deck waiting to be built more heavily around Skullclamp. I just used it for incidental value, but the card is strong enough that it would be reasonable to build around it.
Grape Shot is a clever idea, but not one that I can claim credit for; Treblocaz gave me the idea for it on Cockatrice. Since so many creature-based decks in Vintage have low-toughness creatures, it can be used to clear entire boards. It can also be used to kill Jace and Confidant against Blue decks, while being able to kill opponents like Tendrils. It offers a much more flexible option than Tendrils of Agony, while still being able to end games quickly.
Finally, there's the tag-team of Cabal Therapy and Gitaxian probe. In theory, it all makes sense. Young Pyromancer rewards you for playing cheap instants and sorceries, and they don't come any cheaper than Gitaxian Probe. Gitaxian Probe is a combo with Cabal Therapy, letting you see the opponent's hand before naming a card. And Cabal Therapy also works with Young Pyromancer, since the Elemental Token you sacrifice to Flashback the Therapy just replaces itself. Check out all that synergy! Unfortunately, in practice, things didn't work out as well for those cards. Gitaxian Probe was fine, but some might have been better as Top or Ponder. Cabal Therapy, however, was especially disappointing. Cabal Therapy is great in a deck like Legacy Storm, where you know you can win so long as the opponent isn't holding, say, Flusterstorm. In a deck more built around longer games, and not a combo deck, Cabal Therapy gets much worse. And while being able to sacrifice a token to Therapy is neat, I'd rather just use Skullclamp and draw two cards.
SideboardThe Red Element Blast should have been a Pyroblast, but all except two of my Pyroblasts are in Pittsburgh. Tormod's Crypt is generally not as strong as Nihil Spellbomb, but Trinket Mage makes a strong argument for a single Crypt. Nature's Claim is better friends with Bob than Ingot Chewer, and moreover, is the deck's only way to handle Oath of Druids. I haven't tested it, but I assume this deck has a terrible Oath matchup.
Quick Tournament Report24 Vintage Wizards arrived at Eudemonia in Berkeley, CA.
Round 1: Galen (No Show). Galen was about half an hour late and I got the match win. Instead of playing him, I helped him sleeve.
Round 2: Adam with Blue
Game 1: We trade cards and then enter draw-go mode. I use Library to get ahead and Jace puts away the game.
Game 2: Adam leads with Ancestral, but I have Deathrite Shaman. My Shaman gets killed by Pyroclasm, and Bob and Clamp arrive on my side. My Young Pyromancer gets Mana Drained and my Yawgmoth's Will gets Flusterstormed. Adam has Engineered Explosives while I use Grape Shot to get rid of his Confidant and Lightning Bolt to handle his Jace. Trinket Mage into Nihil Spellbomb precludes his Yawgmoth's Will. Eventually, I win this long, slow game.
Round 3: Eric with Blue
Game 1: This is a long game where I keep dealing with Eric's threats but can't get ahead. I keep removing his Dark Confidants and Jaces, and he keeps countering my spells. Eventually, Eric is able to use Snapcaster Mage to pull ahead while I am not quite able to end the game with Yawgmoth's Will while at one life.
Game 2: I open with a one-lander with Lotus into Young Pyromancer. Eric has a Confidant, and we trade Forces. After that, Eric has a Jace who ends the game, countering my Ancestral in the process.
Round 4: Sam with Workshops
Game 1: I Force Sam's first-turn Chalice at one and resolve Deathrite Shaman. Revoker stops Shaman, and I don't hit a second land despite Ancestral Recall resolving.
Game 2: Sam has an early Trinisphere, but Trygon quickly ends this.
Game 3: Sam has a quick Lodestone, and I can't break through this with a Revoker on Jace.
Round 5: Lotus Head with Workshop
Game 1: Lotus Head has a first-turn Chalice at Two, and I realize my deck is very weak against this play.
Game 2: I draw a lot of Lightning Bolts this game, with Snapcaster Mage for value. Deathrite Shaman keeps his Goblin Welder from returning Golem.
Game 3: Young Pyromancer makes Lotus Head's board full of Smokestacks fairly terrible. Skullclamp keeps my hand full.
Top Eight: I think this was a rematch against Eric
Game 1: Bob kept his Jace from doing anything while drawing me cards.
Game 2: Eric has a first-turn Ancestral and we both get Confidants. I get a Young Pyromancer. Eric resolves Jace, forcing my REB. Eric soon assembles Vault/Key.
Game 3: Eric Mulligans to five cards and I ride Jace and Confidant to victory.
Top Four: Michael with Robots/Affinity
Game 1: Michael opens with a first-turn artifact that makes a 1/1 creature for anyone who plays a creature. I respond with a first-turn Trinket Mage for a Skull Clamp. I get out Bob and Pyromancer, drawing lots of cards off Clamp.
Game 2: Pyromancer is amazing, letting me use my removal spells and create an overwhelming board. Deathrite Shaman's lifegain ability keeps me from dying at one point.
Finals: Brett with Blue
Game 1: Brett's Library is made worse by his Mulligan. Dark Confidant keeps my hand full while Brett misses land drops.
Game 2: Dark Confidant draws me cards while Nihil Spellbomb and REB keep his cards from working.
PropsThanks for reading. This deck was a lot of fun to play. I think the deck can be improved, as discussed above. I think that this sort of deck, however, will remain a very strong contender. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. The deck is quite strong. And, as per my custom, props (but no slops):
- My teammates, especially Allen Fulmer, who helped me test the combo matchup (which is very good).
- Brian Schlossberg for helping me test the Workshop Matchup.
- Blaine for helping remind me about the event.
- Steve for trying to arrange a ride for me.
- The good folks at Eudemonia, who are terrible at spelling, but good at hosting Vintage tournaments.
- GI and Treblocaz for their comments on Cockatrice.
