I think it’s a touch too soon to talk about Extended, so this week we’ll be discussing some Vintage ramifications from the Time Vault errata and the upcoming Blue Planeswalker. Time Vault by itself was already a big deal, but with Tezzeret on the horizon, the win conditions of Vintage may be completely supplanted, much like Tendrils of Agony’s impact on the format over time.
For Vintage, the major card that’s been spoiled thus far is Tezzeret the Seeker, essentially an expensive threat that combos perfectly as a win with Time Vault; as well as fetching it out of the deck at the same time. It also happens to be Blue, which means it gains a host of other bonuses, such as being on-color with the most common basic lands in the format, it pitches to Force of Will, and it plays well with Mana Drain. In essence it is a one-card kill since it finds the other piece and puts it directly into play, as well as requiring no other moving parts to fuel the infinite turn’s combo.
Of course, there are a few downsides to the card that may limit how much play the card initially sees, and it could limit the viability of the card as a whole in certain metagames. Here are a few of the basic arguments against use of the card.
1. Tezzeret always costs 3UU and is sorcery speed
Typically, cards in Vintage that are stuck at sorcery speed (or can’t be played via cost-cutting measures, unlike Tinker or Goblin Welder) are close to unplayable in the format. This isn’t to say they never see play if they have an obviously strong effect – Yawgmoth’s Bargain can attest to this – but it makes it much harder to promote them to viability. Future Sight is a good example: it has a prohibitive mana cost that can’t be subverted, and it doesn’t necessarily win the game the turn it comes into play. Panoptic Mirror is another example of a heavy-duty mana-cost card, but with a number of restrictions based on how good it can actually be based on your hand when activating the mirror. It can range from useless to game over (Time Walk), but it has seen a small amount of play, and it was taken seriously in testing for a while because it gave control another way to ‘just win’ if it survived long enough.
The opposing side of the argument is pretty simple: Tezzeret ends the game if you untap with it in play and something hasn’t happened to Time Vault (i.e. somehow it’s been removed from the game). Even without Time Vault, Tezzeret can threaten a win from certain board positions with its ultimate ability, or simply fetch cards to make the opponent’s life miserable until you can play the back-up win condition. In versions with Voltaic Key, for example, it sometimes becomes appropriate to spend the first search for Tormod’s Crypt, Welding Jar, or Chalice of the Void to disrupt the opponent, or to ensure Time Vault’s survival when fetched. Other versions of the deck have suggested going so far as to fetch cards like Trinisphere to shut the opponent out of the game and then simply rebuild loyalty over time, or use an alternate win via Tinker.
Sorcery speed is a pain in the butt, but, for the most part, resolving Tezzeret is like resolving any other game-ending bomb. You generally probe with cards like Duress and have your own set of countermagic at the ready, and try to get it down when you can. On paper the 3UU sounds like a bigger challenge than it actually is. Only against Painter have I had a significantly harder time resolving Tezzeret than any other game-ending spell such as Yawgmoth’s Will, Tinker, etc. due to the nature of them having 4-6 one mana counterspells in the deck. In this match it proves itself to be a liability in many board states, or simply a much harder road to travel than winning via a lethal Will or finding and hard-casting Time Vault plus Voltaic Key. Even against decks looking to use mana denial as a significant portion of their strategy against me, it hasn’t been much of an issue, since nothing stops me from fetching multiple Islands. Unlike most decks, a Tezzeret strategy doesn’t need to rely on the support colors if deemed so.
2. Tezzeret is bad because it doesn’t end the game the same turn you play it
I’ve never agreed with this. You can make the same argument against Necropotence, Tinker, Oath of Druids, and the vast majority of two-card combos (since often they couldn’t be played on the same turn unless you’re winning via Yawgmoth’s Will already). Okay, so it doesn’t kill the opponent ASAP… most of the time, if you’ve won the fight over such a big spell, they have little left to attempt the win (especially if you fetch a disruption piece first). Either that, or they didn’t fight you over it at all, in which case you still have any free countermagic still in hand. In the case of Voltaic Key versions, this can be even less of an issue, as there are a number of mana artifact plus Key combinations that can generate the colorless mana needed while only sapping the bare minimum of colored mana to resolve the spell.
If all you want to do is try and play bombs that supposedly win as soon as you play them, just play Grim Long or Belcher and be done with it. If you play a Drain deck, you assume on some level that your main strategy it to set up an inevitable win in the first place. The fact that it takes an untap step to do so shouldn’t be a major factor, otherwise every time somebody tapped out to slam a mid or late game Sundering Titan / Mindslaver / Darksteel Colossus and passed the turn would just lose every game. If anything, the proliferation of Tinker into Colossus in the format should show threats that take multiple turns to win aren’t exactly all that bad.
3. Tezzeret can be killed while waiting for the untap phase
To some degree, this argument is connected to the second, and it’s probably the best case against the card. Even a hit from some utility creatures like Dark Confidant, Auriok Salvagers, or two Goblin Welder / Painter’s Servant can destroy a Tez if you immediately fetch Time Vault and have no blockers in play. Cards like Fire/Ice could also gain in value if this type of strategy is deemed valid and gets enough support which can become problematic. There are two basic ways to dodge this; the first is simply playing creatures of your own that help the combo out, whether they are Trinket Mage, Dark Confidant, or whatever else. At the extreme end, Tez can fetch out a Shield Sphere from the deck, which can block the vast majority of creatures for more than a single turn, and at no hit to loyalty.
The second is to simply run multiple Keys and win the same turn you fetch Time Vault out of your deck. This plan has the added benefit of being able to focus purely on getting Time Vault into play, since Key will often be overlooked by the opponent unless you have some obvious threatening use for it (Mana Vault comes to mind) or simply snuck into play due to the low mana cost. The downside of the plan is that Key takes up multiple business slots in the deck, and they are still of minimal value if you can’t safely get Time Vault into play. Of course, any artifact has some value simply for being pitchable to Thirst for Knowledge.
So, do I find Tezerret worthwhile? Definitely.
Are there drawbacks to Tezerret? Yes.
Enough to prevent it from being part of the core of combo-control deck? I doubt it, especially if early testing is any indication.
If you still are hung up on Tezerret being some overcosted threat that just doesn’t do enough, then feel free to ignore it. However, I’ve played and seen enough games come down to resolving a threat the other guy couldn’t deal with in time to know just how dangerous some of these slower cards are. In fact, I’d go so far to say as there’s a good chance Tezzeret Control-Combo will replace Control Slaver, unless Painter is the best deck.
For our core, our team decided on a UB control shell with the alternate kill being either Tendrils or Tinker into Darksteel Colossus. After testing with some rough builds, we had the basic layout for the shell:
16-17 land
8-9 artifact mana sources
8 counters — 4 Drain and 4 Force of Will
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
2-3 Tezzeret the Seeker
10 obviously broken draw / search cards
1 Darksteel Colossus
This would be the basic base for any of our non-wacky versions.
After that, it tended to vary, with the most creature-centric base being 4 Dark Confidant, 3 Trinket Mages, and a few artifact answer one-ofs, with two or three Divining Tops and Duress filling the remainder. The other extreme has zero creatures, multiple Dark Rituals, Mind’s Desire, Necropotence, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Gifts Ungiven, Repeal, and Tendrils of Agony thrown in for the ability to simply combo out in the face of hate. The oddest version I’m willing to share is listed just below my name at the end of the article. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but perhaps the idea can help someone else.
Often, with the comob-ish Desire build, instead of trying to fight through two or three counters in a single turn, I’d attempt to set up a Mind’s Desire turn and just use a Dark Ritual plus Mox plus Repeal plus replay Mox into a Desire for five or more, and it’s almost always give me the resources to end the game within a turn, if not immediately. Or an early Necropotence would be thrown out… I’d Mana Drain something small, and then drop Tez on the table.
This plan also had its fair share of drawbacks, since the common win-factors are only loosely connected (gee, you drew 12 cards and need to protect a two-card, four-mana win? Seems fine), meaning Bargain and Tezzeret tended to be vying for the same resources. It also tended to increase the power of Null Rod against the deck, as it had more mulligan cards in openers and increased the overall mana curve.
This is the version I’ve had the most testing with, although I wouldn’t call it a finished product even as far as the maindeck goes, let alone a good sideboard.
The Seeker
4 Island
3 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Trinket Mage
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Mana Drain
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Skeletal Scrying
4 Force of Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Echoing Truth
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
Ultimately, I’ve probably become too attached to the Top engine, but in this deck, since I only want to find Time Vault, Tinker, or Tez the vast majority of the time, I prefer the extra manipulation. Trinket Mage also has proved valuable for hands I’d normally consider dumping, simply because of Duress. Having a way to fetch out Top or Engineered Explosives that they can’t force you to discard is a very good thing against many decks.
This is essentially the base of the archetype, and a lot more work still has to be done. I merely wanted to give some of the basic reasoning for pursuing work on the idea.
Josh Silvestri
Team Reflection
Email me at: joshDOTsilvestriATgmailDOTcom
Void
By speerscontrol
3 Island
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Time Vault
4 Duress
1 Negate
1 Misdirection
4 Force of Will
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Imperial Seal
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Echoing Truth
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tinker