Last week, I provided some tournament-winning Vintage lists to assist in making a testing gauntlet. This weekend, the ICBM Open was held in Chicago, which will undoubtedly give us some updated lists to add to such a gauntlet. While we wait to see what information we can glean from the results of this tournament, I thought it would be interesting to show some detailed testing between Double Dragon Oath and a potential Tezzeret update. First, the lists:
Double Dragon Oath:
4 Force of Will
4 Oath of Druids
4 Impulse
3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
2 Lim-Dul’s Vault
2 Hellkite Overlord
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Negate
1 Misdirection
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Regrowth
1 Lat-Nam’s Legacy
1 Scroll Rack
1 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Wipe Away
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Island
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
Tezzeret:
3 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
2 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Repeal
4 Dark Confidant
3 Duress
1 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Night’s Whisper
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Imperial Seal
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Thoughtseize
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
This Tezzeret list is based on the one Paul Mastriano played at the Philly Open 3. As Thirst for Knowledge is now restricted, I have turned two of them into Night’s Whisper. I also cut one Mana Drain for a Repeal, after really missing having one copy of that card in the list. The Oath list is identical to the one I played at the last Blue Bell tournament on 6/27. Below, you’ll find eight games played pre-sideboard, with the decks alternating play / draw.
G1 – Oath on the play
Oath:
Force of Will
Force of Will
Ancestral Recall
Thoughtseize
Brainstorm
Mox Pearl
Underground Sea
Tezz:
Underground Sea
Dark Confidant
Thoughtseize
Flooded Strand
Repeal
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
Note: You could potentially argue this is a mulligan, as it has no Force of Will, and a Thoughtseize leaves it without any action. It’s a borderline hand, in my opinion.
Oath T1: Play Underground Sea, Ancestral Recall. Draw: Mox Ruby, Time Walk, Impulse. Pass Turn.
Tezz T1: Draw: Yawgmoth’s Will. Play Underground sea, cast Thoughtseize. (18). Take Thoughtseize. Play Mana Crypt. Play Sol Ring. Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw Oath of Druids. Tap Underground, Mox Pearl, cast Impulse. See: Demonic, Island, Hellkite, Orchard. Choose Orchard. Play Oath of Druids, pass turn.
Tezz T2: Take 3 from Mana Crypt. (15). Draw: Force of Will. Play and break Flooded Strand, play Underground Sea (14). Play Repeal targeting Oath of Druids. Oath (response): Force of Will, pitching Brainstorm (19). Tezzeret: Play Confidant. Pass turn.
Oath T3: Upkeep: Oath of Druids into Hellkite Overlord (revealing Gaea’s Blessing), resolve Blessing trigger. Draw: Impulse. Attack with Hellkite Overlord (Tezzeret goes to 5). Play Time Walk. Game: Oath.
G2 – Tezz on the play
Tezz:
Flooded Strand
Ancestral Recall
Underground Sea
Time Vault
Thirst for Knowledge
Dark Confidant
Duress
Oath:
Wasteland
Tropical Island
Thoughtseize
Scroll Rack
Impulse
Voltaic Key
Mox Pearl
This hand is pretty much a do-nothing hand, since Voltaic Key does nothing without Time Vault (and this hand has no tutors), and it contains neither Oath of Druids nor Forbidden Orchard.
Oath Mulligan (6):
Orchard
Flooded Strand
Wipe Away
Strip Mine
Time Vault
Scroll Rack
This hand is pretty much just as bad, as it has no fast mana, contains Orchard but no Oath, Wipe Away and Scroll Rack are terrible cards in this match-up, and Time Vault does nothing by itself.
Mulligan (5):
Mox Emerald
Polluted Delta
Force of Will
Scroll Rack
Oath of Druids
This is a very strong five-card hand.
Tezzeret T1: Play Flooded Strand, break into Island. (19). Pass turn.
Oath T1: Tezz (response): On upkeep, play Ancestral Recall, drawing: Dark Confidant, Brainstorm, Delta. Oath: Draw: Underground Sea. Play Mox Emerald, Underground Sea, and Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Tezz T2: Draw: Underground Sea. Play Underground Sea, play Duress, choosing Force of Will. Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw: Lat Nam’s Legacy. Play Polluted Delta. Play Lat-Nam’s Legacy, shuffling back Scroll Rack. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T3: Oath: Upkeep (resolve Lat-Nam’s Legacy effect): Draw Voltaic Key, Oath of Druids. Tezzeret: Draw: Yawgmoth’s Will. Play Underground Sea, play Brainstorm, seeing: Force of Will, Force of Will, Inkwell Leviathan. Put Dark Confidant, Dark Confidant on top of deck. Play Time Vault. Oath: Break Strand, fetch Tropical. Pass turn.
Oath T3: Draw: Vampiric Tutor. Play Voltaic Key. Play Vampiric Tutor. Tezzeret (response): Force of Will, pitching Inkwell (19). Pass turn.
Tezzeret T4: Draw: Dark Confidant. Play Thirst for Knowledge, drawing: Dark Confidant, Time Walk, Tinker. Discard Dark Confidant, Dark Confidant. Play Polluted Delta. Pass turn.
Oath T4: Draw: Thoughtseize. Play Thoughtseize, choosing Tinker. Tezzeret: Break Delta for Underground Sea(18). Pass Turn.
Tezzeret T5: Draw: Demonic Tutor. Play Demonic Tutor for Voltaic Key. Cast Voltaic Key, untap Time Vault. Game: Tezzeret.
G3: Oath on the play
Oath:
Gaea’s Blessing
Wasteland
Misdirection
Tropical Island
Force of Will
Scroll Rack
Mox Ruby
Scroll Rack again? This hand is pretty terrible.
Mulligan:
Mox Emerald
Oath of Druids
Duress
Impulse
Impulse
Forbidden Orchard
Much better.
Tezzeret:
Mystical Tutor
Thirst for Knowledge
Lotus Petal
Mana Drain
Repeal
Underground Sea
Flooded Strand
Oath of Druids T1: Play Mox Emerald, Forbidden Orchard, Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T1: Draw: Mox Jet. Play Mox Jet, Underground Sea, Lotus Petal. Play Repeal on Oath of Druids, draw Inkwell Leviathan. Attack for 1 with Spirit Token (Oath: 19). Pass turn.
Note: An option here might’ve been to Repeal the token, instead of the Oath. This would use less mana and might provide a card that could be played immediately. However, if the Oath is Repealed and Tezzeret draws Force of Will, it turns the game around.
Oath T2: Draw: Impulse. Play Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T2: Draw: Black Lotus. Play Black Lotus. Play Flooded Strand. Attack for 2 with two Spirit tokens (Oath: 17). Pass turn.
Oath T3: Oath trigger into Hellkite Overlord, Gaea’s Blessing goes to graveyard. Resolve Gaea’s Blessing trigger. Draw: Mox Pearl. Play Mox Pearl, Impulse seeing: Force of Will, Force of Will, Hellkite Overlord, Force of Will. Keep Force of Will. Attack for 9 with Hellkite Overlord (pumping +1/+0 using Forbidden Orchard), (Tezzeret: 8). Tezzeret: Crack Flooded Strand into Underground Sea (Tezzeret: 7). Tezzeret: Cast Thirst for Knowledge, drawing: Island, Dark Confidant, Polluted Delta.
Tezzeret T3: Upkeep: Mystical Tutor for Yawgmoth’s Will. Oath (response): Force of Will, pitching Impulse. Draw: Mana Crypt. Game: Oath.
Note: Alternate line of play: Tezz could have cast Mystical Tutor in response to the impulse, and tried to draw into a Force of Will to back it up.
G4: Tezzeret on the play
Tezzeret:
Mox Sapphire
Flooded Strand
Sol Ring
Duress
Tinker
Mox Emerald
Mana Drain
Oath:
Forbidden Orchard
Underground Sea
Scroll Rack
Demonic Tutor
Wasteland
Regrowth
Misdirection
This hand has several problems. There’s no Blue card to pitch to Misdirection, and no fast mana to keep up when on the draw. The only action is the Demonic Tutor, which will easily get stripped away by Duress or countered. This probably needs to be a mulligan. You may notice that every hand with Scroll Rack has been a mulligan, so it is becoming pretty clear this card needs to be considered for removal.
Mulligan:
Wasteland
Ponder
Thoughtseize
Merchant Scroll
Forbidden Orchard
Oath of Druids
Again, this is a good six-card hand.
Tezzeret T1: Play Mox Emerald, Mox Sapphire. Play Sol Ring (tapping Mox Emerald). Play Flooded Strand, crack for Underground Sea (Tezzeret: 19). Play Duress, taking Oath of Druids. Play Tinker (sac: Mox Emerald) for Inkwell Leviathan. Pass turn.
Oath T1: Draw: Tropical Island. Play Tropical Island, Play Ponder, seeing: Demonic Tutor, Underground Sea, Lat-Nam’s Legacy. Shuffle library. Draw: Vampiric Tutor. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T2: Draw: Island. Play Island, attack with Inkwell Leviathan (Oath: 13). Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw: Forbidden Orchard. Play Forbidden Orchard, play Merchant Scroll. Tezzeret (response): Mana Drain. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T3: Draw: Mana Vault. Attack with Inkwell Leviathan (Oath: 5). Pass turn.
Oath T3: Draw: Gaea’s Blessing. Game: Tezzeret.
Game 5: Oath on the play
Oath:
Ancestral Recall
Island
Polluted Delta
Thoughtseize
Lat-Nam’s Legacy
Flooded Strand
Mox Jet
Note: In some ways, this is another borderline hand. It has a first-turn Thoughtseize and Ancestral Recall, so it probably is worth keeping, but it lacks Oath of Druids, Forbidden Orchard, and any tutors. It really is relying heavily on whatever Ancestral Recall yields.
Tezzeret:
Mana Drain
Night’s Whisper
Island
Thirst for Knowledge
Sensei’s Divining Top
Island
Tolarian Academy
Note: Clearly this hand is not going to work.
Mulligan:
Mox Sapphire
Time Vault
Yawgmoth’s Will
Mana Vault
Black Lotus
Vampiric Tutor
Note: Six card, and all are restricted. This hand is pretty insane.
Oath T1: Mox Jet, Thoughtseize (18), choose Yawgmoth’s Will. Play Flooded Strand into Tropical Island (17), play Ancestral Recall, drawing: Oath, Impulse, Orchard. Pass turn.
Note: Thus far, everything seems pretty good for Oath. Choosing Lotus over Yawgmoth’s Will was certainly an option, because if Tezzeret fails to pull a Black source, Tezzeret’s hand doesn’t really do anything. The safer play is probably to take Yawgmoth’s Will.
Tezzeret T1: Draw: Flooded Strand. Play Flooded Strand, Mox Sapphire, and Black Lotus. Crack Flooded Strand into Underground Sea (19). Play Mana Vault, play Time Vault, play Vampiric Tutor for Voltaic Key (17). Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw: Duress. Play Island, play Impulse. See: Hellkite Overlord, Strip Mine, Polluted Delta, Lim-Dul’s Vault. Game: Tezzeret.
Note: Tezzeret breaks serve first, on the strength of an insane mulligan hand containing a tutor, Time Vault, Black Lotus, and Yawgmoth’s Will. If Oath had chosen Black Lotus, it probably slows Tezzeret down a turn, so in hindsight that might have been the correct play. Thoughts? Post in the forums.
Game 6: Tezzeret on the play
Oath:
Strand
Strip Mine
Oath of Druids
Impulse
Impulse
Tropical Island
Polluted Delta
Note: I’m not sure why this hand was kept. It looks too slow on the draw to be a keeper, lacking any fast mana or Force of Will.
Tezzeret:
Sol Ring
Brainstorm
Gifts Ungiven
Dark Confidant
Ancestral Recall
Mox Sapphire
Duress
This is an obvious mulligan.
Mulligan:
Fact or Fiction
Mox Emerald
Underground Sea
Underground Sea
Demonic Tutor
Mox Ruby
Tezzeret T1: Play Underground Sea, Mox Emerald, Mox Ruby, and Demonic Tutor, choosing Ancestral Recall. Pass turn.
Note: There are plenty of viable options for this Demonic Tutor. What would you take?
Oath T1: Draw: Voltaic Key. Play Tropical Island, play Voltaic Key. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T2: Draw: Repeal. Play Underground Sea, play Ancestral Recall, drawing: Tinker, Vampiric Tutor, Mana Vault. Play Underground Sea, play Mana Vault (Tapping: Mox Ruby), play Fact or Fiction, revealing: Black Lotus, Gifts Ungiven, Hurkyl’s Recall, Mox Pearl, Underground Sea. Oath divides into: Black Lotus, Hurkyl’s Recall, Underground Sea vs. Mox Pearl, Gifts Ungiven. Tezzeret: choose Black Lotus, H. Recall, Underground Sea. Play Black Lotus, sacrifice for UUU. Tap Emerald, play Tinker using UUG, (sacrifice: Mana Vault), put Time Vault into play. Play Repeal on Mox Ruby, drawing: Polluted Delta. Play Mox Ruby. Pass turn.
T2: Draw: Mox Sapphire. Play Mox Sapphire, Flooded Strand. Crack Strand for Underground Sea. Play Impulse, seeing: Negate, Orchard, Time Vault, Flooded Strand. Game: Tezzeret.
Note: As expected, this hand was too slow, even though it had a potential turn 3 infinite turn set-up using Time Vault and Key.
Game 7: Oath on the Play
Oath:
Force of Will
Polluted Delta
Mox Ruby
Thoughtseize
Ancestral Recall
Oath of Druids
Force of Will
Tezz:
Demonic Tutor
Voltaic Key
Island
Island
Inkwell
Polluted Delta
Lotus Petal
Note: This is basically already a six-card hand as it contains Inkwell Leviathan without Thirst for Knowledge or Force of Will. One option is to keep and try to resolve a first-turn Demonic Tutor into Time Vault, but on the draw this hand probably doesn’t cut it.
Mulligan:
Force of Will
Night’s Whisper
Underground Sea
Dark Confidant
Tolarian Academy
Brainstorm
Note: This hand is also a little slow and lacks mana unless it hits an artifact, but has decent drawing power and Force of Will
Oath T1: Play Polluted Delta, crack Polluted Delta into Tropical Island (Oath 19). Play Mox Ruby, Play Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Note: An obvious option here is to play Force of Will to counter the Oath of Druids. However, to do so, Tezzeret has to pitch Brainstorm, which could hamstring its ability to develop its mana. Further, it is safe to assume Oath lacks Orchard, so sitting on Force of Will might allow Tezzeret to counter a tutor or draw spell that digs for Orchard.
Tezzeret T1: Draw: Mox Ruby. Play Mox Ruby, play Underground Sea, play Night’s Whisper (Tezzeret: 18), drawing: Mana Drain, Force of Will. Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw: Ponder. Play Ancestral Recall. Tezzeret (response): Force of Will, pitching Mana Drain (17). Oath (response): Force of Will, pitching Ponder (Oath: 19). Draw: Island, Thoughtseize, Mox Emerald. Play Island, Play Mox Emerald. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T2: Draw: Sensei’s Divining Top. Play Tolarian Academy, Play Sensei’s Divining Top. Tap Academy for UU, activate Top, seeing: Duress, Mox Pearl, Thoughtseize. Pass turn.
Oath T3: Draw: Forbidden Orchard. Play Forbidden Orchard (trigger: “Must be nice” from opponent). Play Thoughtseize (Oath: 17). Tezzeret (response): Brainstorm, seeing: Duress, Pearl, Thoughtseize. Put Dark Confidant, Duress on top of library. Oath: Choose Force of Will. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T3: Draw: Dark Confidant. Play Mox Pearl, play Sol Ring. Tap Mox Ruby, activate Top, seeing: Duress, Lotus, Mox Emerald. Play Dark Confidant. Attack with Spirit token (Oath: 16). Pass turn.
Oath T4: Upkeep: Oath into Hellkite Overlord, Gaea’s Blessing goes to graveyard. Resolve Blessing trigger. Draw: Impulse. Attack for 10 with Hellkite Overlord (pump +2/+0, using: Mox Ruby, Forbidden Orchard) (Tezzeret: 7). Pass turn.
Tezzeret T4: Upkeep: Dark Confidant trigger, revealing Black Lotus. Tap Mox Pearl, activate Top, seeing: Mox Emerald, Duress, Thoughtseize. Draw Duress. Activate Top, seeing: Mox Emerald, Thoughtseize, Underground Sea. Game: Oath.
Game 8: Tezzeret on the play
Oath:
Flooded Strand
Wasteland
Forbidden Orchard
Forbidden Orchard
Misdirection
Impulse
Oath of Druids
Tezz:
Lotus Petal
Thoughtseize
Flooded Strand
Sol Ring
Time Vault
Mox Sapphire
Black Lotus
Tezzeret T1: Play Black Lotus. Play Flooded Strand. Crack Flooded Strand into Underground Sea (Tezzeret: 19). Play Lotus Petal, play Mox Sapphire. Play Sol Ring (tapping Mox Sapphire). Play Time Vault. Play Thoughtseize (Tezzeret: 17), choose Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Note: This game more or less hinged on how the first turn was played. I suspect many people would go for the Thoughtseize, which would get Misdirected, leaving this hand with a lot of mana and no Time Vault.
Oath T1: Draw: Underground Sea. Play Underground Sea. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T2: Draw: Duress. Play Duress, choosing Impulse. Pass turn.
Oath T2: Draw: Oath of Druids. Play Forbidden Orchard, play Oath of Druids. Pass turn.
Tezzeret T3: Draw: Ancestral Recall. Play Ancestral Recall, drawing: Fact or Fiction, Vampiric Tutor, Polluted Delta. Play Polluted Delta, crack Polluted Delta for Underground Sea (16), play Vampiric Tutor for Yawgmoth’s Will (Tezzeret: 14). Play Fact or Fiction, revealing: Yawgmoth’s Will, Flooded Strand, Repeal, Dark Confidant, Mystical Tutor. Oath Split: Yawgmoth’s Will against Flooded Strand, Repeal, Dark Confidant, Mystical Tutor. Choose: Yawgmoth’s Will. Sacrifice Black Lotus for BBB, play Yawgmoth’s Will. Play Black Lotus, Play Lotus Petal. Sacrifice Black Lotus for UUU, sacrifice Lotus Petal for B. Play Vampiric Tutor for Voltaic Key (Tezzeret: 12). Play Ancestral Recall, drawing Voltaic Key, Mox Ruby, Polluted Delta. Play Mox Ruby, play Voltaic Key, untap Time Vault. Game: Tezzeret.
Note: Talk about a turn getting out of hand, right? Actually, this turn isn’t that atypical of Tezzeret: powerful restricted bombs chaining together into a Yawgmoth’s Will that puts the game away.
The final score for these pre-boarded games was Tezzeret 5, Oath 3. One thing that seems quite clear is that Scroll Rack needs to leave the deck. My initial thought for a replacement is a Negate, or potentially a way to disrupt Key/Vault (such as a Pithing Needle or a Krosan Grip). I’m also considering adding a Lotus Petal to Oath, as fast mana is so important in the games on the draw. This is a relatively small sample size in the scheme of things, and could have easily been 4-4 had Tezzeret played around Force of Will instead of Misdirection.
See any misplays or debatable decisions in these games? Comment away in the forms. I’m also curious if this is something I should return to periodically, looking at different Vintage match-ups and how they play out. It is much easier to record this type of data during testing compared to a tournament report, although I know this level of detail doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Until next week…
Matt Elias
[email protected]
Voltron00x on Xbox Live and SCG forums