Monday, September 14th – Vintage fans are in for a treat when Zendikar hits the shelves, as the new set promises a host of powerful cards and interactions for the most eternal format. Today, Stephen Menendian examines the impact of a much-heralded cycle of new cards that promise to shake up the metagame. Warning: Contains Spoilers.The printing of the Polluted Delta fetchland cycle in Onslaught was the most important printing for Vintage since Alpha. They shook Vintage with the force of a mighty earthquake.
Patrick Chapin is correct when he observed this week that Onslaught fetchlands are even more powerful than the original Alpha dual lands*. Polluted Delta (and/or Flooded Strand) might be the most powerful land in Vintage, even more important and synergistic with the format than Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Mishra’s Workshop, Bazaar of Baghad, basic Island, and even Tolarian Academy, Strip Mine, or any other land in the format. But why?
The most important reason is that the printing of Onslaught fetchlands makes it possible to play far more colors with consistency than you could possibly run without them. Mana production is the foundation of Magic. Fetchlands allow you to produce 3 or 4 colors consistently for virtually no cost on a smallish manabase. With Fetchlands as the core of a manabase, all you have to do is add a single dual land to splash another color. For example, old-school GroAtog played 4 colors on a 14 land manabase built around fetchlands. Perhaps the pervasive influence of Onslaught fetchlands is most obvious in Legacy where virtually all deck construction is shaped by Fetchlands. Take a look at any 4c Counterbalance deck. Those decks are not possible without Fetchlands, and not simply because you’d have to give up Daze if you wanted a 4c manabase, which would be built around City of Brass. It’s because you wouldn’t be able to get all four colors online as quickly and with the same level of consistency.
Gush in Vintage was not broken until Fetchlands were printed. Gush decks before Fetchlands played Land Grant. Most multi-color decks had to use City of Brass. That’s the second significant effect of the printing of Fetchlands: you can play basic lands rather easily in a 3-4 color manabase, and not lose any consistency. Before Fetchlands, cards like Blood Moon and Back to Basics were format-defining cards. Go read early Brian Weissman material or other early Type 1 strategy articles, and you’ll find repeated references to Blood Moon. It sounds ridiculous to modern ears, but in one of Oscar Tan articles, Aaron Forsythe was genuinely inquiring about whether Back to Basics should be restricted. Nowadays, you can put a basic land into play on turn 1 with a Fetchland, and then use Fetchlands to find your tertiary colors in consecutive turns. This all made possible by Fetchlands. Not to mention things like just playing Fetchlands to trump Wastelands.
With Onslaught fetchlands, Type 1 became Vintage**. The format we all knew was forever changed. Onslaught opened up a whole new vista of deck construction. The benefits — and the consequences — are manifest. Today, it is a simple thing to splash many colors into the same deck and still maintain resilience to things such as Wasteland. While that opens up new possibilities in deck construction, it also leads to greater brokenness. More colors means more power. The price of running additional colors was forever lowered with Onslaught.
If Onslaught was an earthquake in Vintage deck construction, aftershocks are still being felt today. Perhaps none are as significant as the recent news that Enemy-colored fetchlands are arriving with Zendikar. To some extent, the figurative damage has already been done. Onslaught fetchlands already perform the vast majority of the work that enemy-colored fetchlands might do.
But not all of it.
Things will now be possible that were not possible, or possible with the same degree of ease, as before. That alone makes this a tremor of some magnitude for Vintage. That alone makes Zendikar an important set in the long history of Vintage. In addition to making a few things possible, there will be many more things that can now be tweaked or improved.
Therefore, we should be looking for two things: 1) new possibilities and 2) improvements to existing decks. Sometimes, we will find a case that is both. However, I’d like to hone in on new possibilities. This is the most interesting avenue of exploration. However, both are important.
Unstable Shoal
Improvements to existing decks will be widespread. For example, virtually all Mana Drain decks will now mix up the number of Fetchlands, so long as they only have Islands for basic lands, you will see at least 3 different fetchlands, if not all four, per decklist. For example, if I were playing Tezzeret, here is how I’d build it:
Tezzeret Control
Stephen Menendian
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Unstable Shoal
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
4 Dark Confidant
1 Darkblast
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
The manabase is much improved. There is now a possibility of playing Gifts Ungiven for four Fetchlands. Dark Confidants deal damage to yourself, and Sensei’s Divining Tops therefore become better and more important than ever. Imperial Seal synergizes with both Top and Gifts (and Bob). Darkblast is the best anti-creature card at the moment because of the sheer quantity of Bobs out there.
Obviously the Blue-based enemy fetchlands offer the most interesting new possibilities. Both Unstable Shoal and Misty Rainforest will be more useful than Flooded Strand because Red and Green see more play as secondary and tertiary color complements to Blue than White, which is basically only played in Bomberman (which is very, very infrequently played) and in UW Fish decks.
But beyond simply tweaking a manabase, there are possibilities for direct upgrades:
ICBM Painter
3 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Grindstone
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Impulse
2 Trinket Mage
1 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Force of Will
1 Tinker
4 Painter’s Servant
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Mox Jet
1 Time Walk
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mana Vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
Sideboard:
3 Annul
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
3 Ingot Chewer
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pithing Needle
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Threads of Disloyalty
Painter is probably one of the places that Unstable Shoal is immediately useful, and more than just for diversifying manabases. Painter can add a basic Mountain to its manabase to provide even greater mana stability when facing its weaker matchups: Beats, Fish, and Workshop decks.
But what about something completely new? Back to Basics was a big loser when Onslaught fetchlands were printed. Today, it gains. Back to Basics is absolutely brutal to most Workshop decks. It’s also very powerful against Fish and Beats decks.
Take a look at something like this:
UR Phid
Stephen Menendian
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Leak
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
2 Back to Basics
2 Fire/Ice
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Ophidian
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Impulse
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan
4 Unstable Shoal
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
6 Island
2 Mountain
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
Now you can play Back to Basics in Blue-Red and Blue-Green decks and run no dual lands. I make no claim about the viability of this particular list, but to say that it is now possible. I included Gorilla Shaman, Fire/Ice, and Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast as the maindeck Red cards. Shaman eats Moxen and is pretty good against Time Vault. Fire/Ice is great against opposing Bobs and Goblin Welders. I goldfished the list more than a few times, and the ratio of 4 Shoal plus 2 Mountains plus Mox Ruby and Black Lotus is sufficient to find Red when needed. This deck may want even more Fire/Ice. It was pretty good.
But consider even something like Goblins:
Goblins
Hannu Laine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
1 Time Walk
3 Fire/Ice
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Vandal
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Mogg Fanatic
2 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
UR Goblins lists can be seen from time to time. These decks benefit greatly from being able to run superior fetchlands. While all of the fetchlands can already find Mountains, Shoal manabases will allow UR Goblins to run fewer dual lands. This decklist may only want 3 Volcanic Islands, if not just two.
Beyond Mana Drain based decks, I think one obvious improvement will be in BUG Fish. Jeff Rabovsky won the ICBM Open Day 1 tournament with BUG Fish:
BUG Fish
Jeff Rabovsky
4 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
4 Dark Confidant
3 Trygon Predator
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Null Rod
4 Duress
1 time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Life from the Loam
1 Brainstorm
Sideboard:
4 Energy Flux
3 Yixlid Jailer
4 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Sower of Temptation
1 Darkblast
Jeff ran Bayou, and the two Flooded Strands will almost certainly be replaced with Misty Rainforest. In fact, he may cut a Delta for a third as well. His manabase would be significantly improved with these new fetchlands.
But, again, Back to Basics is now something that can be paired with Green.
Look at the 2005 Meandeck Oath list…
Meandeck Oath
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Spirit of the Night
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak
2 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
5 Island
4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
1 Tropical Island
2 Wasteland
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
This list would cut the 4 Deltas for 4 Misty Rainforest. In addition, it would seriously consider cutting the Tropical Island for a basic Forest, and I probably would have. After all, we had multiple Back to Basics in our sideboard. (I know that Brainstorm is restricted, but it would cut 1 Brainstorm for a Ponder, a Top, and another Impulse).
But perhaps more importantly than being able to abuse Back to Basics and not having to run a Tropical Island, Oath may be able to splash Red more easily.
Take a look at the Oath list my team developed a few months after the original Meandeck Oath shook the metagame:
Chalice Oath
4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Ancient Hydra/Triskelion
1 Gaea’s Blessing
4 Mana Leak
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Brainstorm
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Phyrexian Furnace
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
4 Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
Sideboard:
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Spawning Pit
3 Arcane Laboratory
2 Back to Basics
1 Naturalize
3 Rack and Ruin
The explanatory article is here. Look at the manabase. Both Shoal and Rainforest would have a home here. But it’s possible, I suppose, that one could play with far more basics.
One of the scariest Oath lists I’ve seen was Choke Oath, by Team GWS. Perhaps these fetchlands will give that list new legs as well.
Matt Elias will probably speak more about this soon, but Oath will likely want to tweak its manabase in some serious ways as a result of these additions to the format.
Obsidian Flats
Meandeck Beats can now play a much improved manabase. Bloodstained Mire can be directly replaced with Obsidian Flats and Verdant Marsh, and a few dual lands can be trimmed at the same time. Vintage manabases will look more and more in the Highlander style (just like the spell bases), providing greater resilience to cards like Extirpate.
This is just an example of improvements.
Verdant Marsh
Once again, Verdant Marsh allows you to build a B/G deck with few, if any, dual lands. It also will have a home in Meandeck Beats. This card has even more direct application in Legacy, where it will see much play.
Arid Mesa is perhaps the least interesting of the five fetchlands for Vintage purposes. It’s true, you can use it in hater decks like the Mountains Win Again, or Vroman’s 5c Hide/Seek deck. But it’s going to be great in Legacy, where Path to Exile, Boros cards and Red spells can be paired together more directly with fewer Wasteland vulnerability and Price of Progress vulnerability.
…
The biggest winners appear to be Fish and Aggro decks. These fetchlands give them the tools to run more basic lands and reduce their vulnerability to opposing Wasteland strategies.
But every Vintage player would be well-advised to pick up a playset of the new enemy fetchlands. You may think that you only will want the Blue ones. I think that’s a mistake. These cards will be played for decades. You cannot predict what you will want to be using 20 years from now. I suggest you pick them up now.
Next week I will look at the rest of Zendikar. It’s looking to be an incredible addition to Vintage. Vintage players had better get ready to open their wallets.
…
* It might be more accurate to say that the interaction of the original dual lands and the Onslaught fetchlands is the key to the power of both. Much of the power of the Onslaught fetchlands comes from the synergy with the Alpha dual lands, and the Alpha dual lands were tremendously enhanced by their interaction with Onslaught fetchlands.
** Figuratively speaking.