Help me pick a deck for my first vintage tournament

[Choke]

Hi everyone,

I need your advice: I've got my first vintage tournament coming up in roughly a month, and I have no clue on what to play - 15 proxies are allowed and since I own every Legacy relevant card and some Vintage staples from EDH I should be able to build anything.

Some things I'd rather not play: Dredge, Shops, anything that is just "powered-up" Legacy, e.g. Hatebears, BUG Fish, RUG Delver (not sure if this even falls in this category). Things I might enjoy: Something blueish interactive, anything with Gifts Ungiven (I'm brewing Legacy decks with it all the time) in it or something in the vein of Brian Kelly's Humanstorm (I enjoyed the deck a lot on cockatrice) - feel free to suggest something to me

As for the expected meta: No clue, since it's the first Vintage tournament here in years. If I had to extrapolate from Legacy, I'd have to expect a very blue meta (e.g. I won a GPT for Paris, and in 8 rounds I faced 3 Esperblade, 3 UWr Miracles, 1 RUG Delver, 1 Omnishow - just that you have an idea how blue our Legacymeta is) - so anything that is well suited to battle blue decks is a plus.

Many thanks for all the input!
Philipp

[Prospero]

Hey Philipp.

Welcome to TMD!

For starters, what kind of collection do you have?  If you needed to play blue duals, could you?  Do you own fetches? 

If you're aiming to play something blue, you're probably going to want to proxy power, which will eat up eight of your 15 proxies (five Moxen, Black Lotus, Time Walk, Ancestral Recall).  I'd imagine that you're also going to look to proxy cards like Mana Drain and Mana Crypt as well. 

If you own the necessary duals, fetches and Forces, I'd look at playing something like Greg Fenton's Oath list:

Greg Fenton
Oath

4   Misty Rainforest
4   Forbidden Orchard
3   Underground Sea
2   Island
1   Black Lotus
1   Sol Ring
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Pearl
4   Oath of Druids
2   Griselbrand
4   Force of Will
3   Mana Drain
3   Mental Misstep
2   Flusterstorm
1   Misdirection
3   Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3   Preordain
1   Brainstorm
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Time Walk
1   Yawgmoth’s Will
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Abrupt Decay
2   Show and Tell
1   Time Vault
1   Voltaic Key
1   Memory’s Journey
   
Sideboard:

4   Leyline of the Void
3   Nihil Spellbomb
2   Pithing Needle
1   Forest
3   Nature’s Claim
2   Abrupt Decay

There are other good blue decks in the field right now, notably U/W Bomberman:

Justin Kohler
Bomberman

1   Aven Mindcensor
2   Auriok Salvager
2   Vendilion Clique
4   Trinket Mage
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Flusterstorm
1   Thrist for Knowledge
3   Mental Misstep
3   Spell Snare
4   Force of Will
4   Mana Drain
1   Time Walk
4   Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1   Aether Spellbomb
1   Black Lotus
1   Engineered Explosives
1   Gradigger’s Cage
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Sol Ring
2   Sensei’s Divining Top
1   Plains
1   Tolarian Academy
2   Cavern of Souls
2   Polluted Delta
3   Island
3   Tundra
4   Flooded Strand
   
Sideboard:

4   Swords to Plowshares
3   Rest in Peace
2   Disenchant
2   Steel Sabotage
1   Devout Witness
1   Grafdigger’s Cage
1   Pithing Needle
1   Tormod’s Crypt

I tried finding one of Tom Dixon's non-Oath control lists, but didn't readily see one.  I'd potentially ask Samoht if he'd share one with you.

If you're short on duals, Forces and fetches, I'd look at some of the Junk style lists that have been popping up lately:

Tom Dixon
Junk Hatebers

1   Eternal Witness
1   Tarmogoyf
1   Knight of the Reliquary
1   Scavenging Ooze
1   Gaddock Teeg
2   Qasali Pridemage
4   Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4   Deathrite Shaman
4   Dark Confidant
1   Vampiric Tutor
4   Thoughtseize
1   Demonic Tutor
3   Abrupt Decay
2   Green Sun’s Zenith
2   Nature’s Claim
1   Swords to Plowshares
4   Spirit of the Labyrinth
1   Null Rod
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Strip Mine
4   Wasteland
2   Bayou
2   Savannah
2   Scrubland
3   Verdant Catacombs
3   Windswept Heath
1   Dryad Arbor
1   Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
   
Sideboard:

1   Umezawa’s Jitte
3   Swords to Plowshares
2   Kataki, War’s Wage
2   Rest in Peace
4   Grafdigger’s Cage
2   Disenchant
1   Abrupt Decay

I stole all the lists from here:

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=46135.0

These events were run on the East Coast of the U.S., in the most active Vintage hotbed in the country.  Europe is always different (PeAcH and others can attest), but it's a good baseline for where to start.

Good luck!

[Soly]

If you want something TRULY vintage-ey for your first event, I highly recommend Burning Oath.

[Samoht]

This is AJ's list that he shared with me that is full of broken cards/plays.

4   City of Brass
2   Polluted Delta
2   Underground Sea
1   Tropical Island
1   Volcanic Island
1   Tolarian Academy
2   Mox Opal
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mana Crypt
1   Black Lotus
1   Sol Ring
1   Mana Vault
1   Lotus Petal
4   Gitaxian Probe
4   Force of Will
2   Misdirection
2   Chain of Vapor
2   Voltaic Key
1   Blightsteel Colossus
1   Memory Jar
1   Time Vault
1   Brainstorm
1   Gifts Ungiven
1   Hurkyl’s Recall
1   Mystical Tutor
1   Thirst for Knowledge
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Imperial Seal
1   Merchant Scroll
1   Ponder
1   Time Walk
1   Timetwister
1   Tinker
1   Transmute Artifact
1   Wheel of Fortune
1   Windfall
1   Yawghmoth’s Will
1   Tezzeret the Seeker
1   Regrowth
  
   Sideboard
3   Toxic Deluge
3   Ingot Chewer
2   Nature’s Claim
2   Nihil Spellbomb
2   Tormod’s Crypt
2   Thoughtseize
1   Hurkyl’s Recall

Here is an Oath control list slightly different than Greg's, notably the addition of Gifts:

2   Underground Sea
2   Tropical Island
1   Volcanic Island
2   Misty Rainforest
1   Polluted Delta
1   Scalding Tarn
1   Library of Alexandria
2   Island
4   Forbidden Orchard
4   Force of Will
2   Mana Drain
2   Mental Misstep
1   Misdirection
1   Mindbreak Trap
1   Spell Snare
1   Flusterstorm
1   Steel Sabotage
1   Abrupt Decay
1   Ancient Grudge
1   Lightning Bolt
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Brainstorm
1   Preordain
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Merchant Scroll
1   Gifts Ungiven
1   Time Walk
1   Memory’s Journey
1   Regrowth
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Black Lotus
1   Mana Crypt
4   Oath of Druids
2   Griselbrand
2   Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1   Yawgmoth’s Will
1   Time Vault
1   Voltaic Key
  
   Sideboard
1   Tinker
1   Helm of Obedience
1   Ancient Grudge
3   Abrupt Decay
1   Toxic Deluge
2   Duress
4   Leyline of the Void
2   Nihil Spellbomb

I have some control lists that aren't Oath based as well:

4 Dark Confidant
3 Baleful Strix
2 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Snapcaster Mage

4 Force of Will
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Mana Drain
2 Gush
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Mental Misstep
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Vault
1 Tinker
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy

SB:
4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Ingot Chewer
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Volcanic Fallout
1 Mountain

or if you want more resource denial:

18 LANDS
4 Wasteland
2 Polluted Delta
2 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Strip Mine
1 Island

6 CREATURES
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Gorilla Shaman

22 INSTANTS and SORCERIES
4 Force of Will
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Spell Snare
2 Mana Drain
1 Mental Misstep
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor

14 OTHER SPELLS
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Voltaic Key
1 Sol Ring
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Time Vault

SIDEBOARD
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Trinisphere
4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Ingot Chewer
1 Red Elemental Blast
3 Tormod's Crypt

[Smmenen]

Without alot of Vintage experience, you will want something that is powerful, yet intuitive.  Oath decks usually fit that bill, but without a grasp of the many subtleties of Oath, the binary nature can lead to frustration.  I'd recommend something like my UR Delver deck, which is superficially Legacy-like, but actually very Vintage-y:

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendillion Clique

4 Preordain
4 Gush

4 Force
4 Misstep
3 Flusterstorm
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Misdirection

3 Bolt
1 Fire/Ice

1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll

3 Island
8 Fetchland
3 Volcanic Island
1 Ruby
1 Sapphire
1 Blotus

SB:

4 Cage
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline
1 Mountain
2 Pyroblast 

If you haven't played with Gush before, it's a blast. 

If you want something a bit more controlling, Brian Demars recent BUG Control is a great option:

Brian DeMars (BUG Control)

 

1 Black Lotus

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mox Pearl

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mana Crypt

1 Mana Vault

1 Sol Ring

1 Sensei’s Divining Top

1 Blightsteel Colossus

1 Time Vault

1 Voltaic Key

3 Dark Confidant

2 Thoughtseize

1 Toxic Deluge

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Yawgmoth’s Will

1 Nature’s Claim

1 Ancestral Recall

1 Brainstorm

1 Ponder

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Merchant Scroll

1 Tinker

2 Mana Drain

2 Flusterstorm

4 Force of Will

1 Thirst for Knowledge

1 Hurkyll’s Recall

1 Time Walk

2 Mental Misstep

1 Tezzeret, the Seeker

2 Jace, the Mind Scuptor

 

2 Polluted Delta

4 Misty Rainforest

1 Verdant Catacombs

3 Underground Sea

3 Tropical Island

1 Tolarian Academy

1 Island

 

SB

4 Leyline of the Void

3 Nihil Spellbomb

1 Thoughtseize

2 Trygon Predator

3 Nature’s Claim

1 Flusterstorm

1 Forest

[mmcgeach]

This is a great thread!  So many fun decklists, all in one place!

If you seriously expect a ton of blue control, the decks that have the best game against that (of what's listed here) are Bomberman (first post) or Smmenen's Gush list (or any Gush list).  Those two decks play pretty differently.  Bomberman might be hard for a first-deck cause it's such a control deck: you really need to know what to counter and what to allow.  A deck with a more proactive strategy is going to be easier to learn quickly - like Gush, or Oath.  The oath matchup can be a little rough against blue control.  I guess I'm recommending Gush. 

[John Cox]

If you go with a gush list, do yourself a favour and read a bit about how to play gush effectively. There are a lot of times you could make better use of gush, and a lot of times when its the best play. I would vote for a BUG or Grixis control list. Those I feel are the most easily understood from a legacy point of view, but offer all the awesome #fluterstorm  #tinker vintage plays.

[Ten-Ten]

You can go with a u/w/r SFM Standstill build: http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=8028&iddeck=58510

A Potucek style Landstill build: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=43394.0

Or this: Ghost-Still
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=41445.0


Something more Vintage-ey?
Definitely Burning Tendrils. With or without Oath
http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=11331&iddeck=82725

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=12696&iddeck=93113

[mmcgeach]

As for the expected meta: No clue, since it's the first Vintage tournament here in years. If I had to extrapolate from Legacy, I'd have to expect a very blue meta (e.g. I won a GPT for Paris, and in 8 rounds I faced 3 Esperblade, 3 UWr Miracles, 1 RUG Delver, 1 Omnishow - just that you have an idea how blue our Legacymeta is) - so anything that is well suited to battle blue decks is a plus.

I thought maybe I'd give you a different opinion on this.  When a lot of non-vintage players show up to play vintage, these things happen:
1) people play a lot of decks that are similar to decks they like from other formats: powered-up legacy decks, as you say.  Stuff like RUG delver, BUG fish, merfolk, stoneforge-based decks, etc.
2) people play vintage decks that have a high novelty factor: very fast combo decks and dredge.
3) almost no one will play shops.  It's not similar to anything else, nobody has the cards for it, and it doesn't look like fun to play.

People in category #2 will almost entirely be bad at the decks they're playing, but those decks are powerful enough to get turn 2 wins.  Play something with force of will and some missteps or flusterstorms to beat these decks.  Also make sure your sideboard beats dredge.  People in category #1 are the real threat; those are some of the best decks in the format and they're not that difficult to play.  Oath is a fine choice against these types of decks, although the matchups are probably more even than one might assume.  Gush is still a good choice against these decks, since its fast and proactive.  Gush being an underdog to shops decks is probably not a major deterrent here.

I think you're over-estimating the number of people that will play blue control builds (stuff based on jace, bob, snapcasters, and/or trinket mage).

[Protoaddict]

Normally I would say Gush because nothing in legacy is like it, basically any version, but between Spirit of the Labrynth, shops, and thalia your going to probabaly face a lot of hate.

That being said, maybe some UR gush list that utilizes a good amount of removal and Young Pyromancer could be a really good option.

[WhiteLotus]

So, if you want something with real vintage feel you might as well be playing Storm decks or Combo control decks

Gush decks aren't really easy to pilot, but they're a ton of fun and strong against most decks except workshops and dredge. Here my version of it which also plays Ak + intuition as an alternative and overlapping storm engine.

GushBond + Almost Broken Storm:

1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Ruby
2 Underground Sea
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Tropical Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Fastbond
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Force of Will
2 Flusterstorm
2 Mental Misstep
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Gush
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Intuition
2 Mana Drain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
2 Regrowth
1 Imperial Seal
1 Ponder

SB: 4 Ravenous Trap
SB: 2 Trygon Predator
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 3 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Forest

Here's a Tezzeret control list:

4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Underground Sea
4 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Pierce
1 Rebuild
1 Misdirection
1 Flusterstorm
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll

SB: 4 Steel Sabotage
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 4 Ravenous Trap
SB: 1 Toxic Deluge
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Thoughtseize

[6StringSamurai]

Seems like you might enjoy playing something like LotusHead's Slaver list. Nat Moes talks about it in his recent article:
http://legitmtg.com/uncategorized/the-vintage-advantage-whats-new-in-vintage/

Should cover most of the criteria you're looking for: It's blue-ish, interactive, and utilizes Gifts Ungiven well.

[gribdogs]

You want fast and easy?  Try Affinity!

4 Memnite
3 Frogmite
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Signal Pest
2 Steel Overseer
4 Phyrexian Revoker

1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Opal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
4 Skullclamp
4 Genesis Chamber
4 Tangle Wire

1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Gaea's Cradle
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb

SB
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Witchbane Orb
2 Dismember
2 Tormod's Crypt

Nothing beats Skullclamp for fun!

[Choke]

Dear all,

many thanks for the constructive input. So the first vintage tournament really did fire, but unfortunately I was not able to attend because of my brother's birthday.

The good news is that 10 people showed up, which may not sound much to you, but is impressive to me since:

a) Legacy events in that store usually don't draw many more people.
b) for the last vintage event 2 people showed up

So, while I haven't had a chance yet to talk to many people who played there, one friend said he really enjoyed it even though he just went 1-3. Meta was like 1 Dredge, 1 RUG Delver,  1 MUD, 1 Storm (I assume he meant TPS or Long) and 5 controllish blue decks with one unknown.

Once again, thanks for the impressive input.