I just got back from the M13 Prerelease at my local game store, and after having gotten a chance to see and play with this new and exciting MTG core set release, I am sitting down to write a Vintage set review. A non-Vintage related note: it is my opinion that Wizards has done an excellent job of not only making the core sets better, more interesting, and more relevant, but also that they have turned what was once a defunct and dreaded Limited experience into one that I find myself looking forward to during the summertime! It is also nice that with new printings in the core set, there is a sense of anticipation daily waiting for the spoiler to update in the weeks leading up to the core set Prerelease to see if Vintage will get some new toys (Preordain, for instance).

In general, I am of the opinion that most of the cards designed for the core set are meant to impact and shape Standard; however, every now and then some sleepers for Eternal formats find their way into the mix. M13 is very exciting with regard to Eternal formats because there are more new hits and potential playables in this release than I have ever seen in a core set before.

As always, I am going to outline the cards that are likely to see play but also the ones that may potentially see fringe play. While there are only a handful of cards that I feel confident in saying will see common play, there are actually quite a few hidden gems that could make a surprise showing (and be quite good) under the right conditions.

Here is the scale that I will be using to predict playability of my picks as Vintage playable:

Vintage Staple:  This is a card that is going to see a lot of play in Vintage; one of those cards that one simply expects to be playing with and against on a fairly consistent basis.

Vintage Playable:  This is a card that I could see played in the types of decks that already exist or have existed in the past; it isn’t a card that a player is going to use or face off against commonly. However, it’s the kind of card that one will pop up from time to time whenever the conditions are right.

Vintage Fringe:  This is a card that likely will not see much Vintage play during its lifetime, as it is just below the cusp of earning a spot in a deck due to being outclassed by preexisting options in Vintage’s vast card pool. However, these are the types of cards that can be put over the top and moved into the above categories based upon new printings or the development of new strategies and archetypes as the metagame evolves over time.

So let’s talk Vintage cards…

Ajani, Caller of the Pride

Vintage Fringe

“Cat Scratch Fever…“

I have put “Lil’ Ajani” into my fringe Vintage playable category; however, if I were to break down fringe into far-left and far-right with right being more likely to see play than left, then Ajani would certainly be about as far left as a card can be toward the unplayable side.

The fact that he is a three-mana planeswalker is the biggest attribute of this card that makes me want to hope against hope that he’ll find a place; yet, he has some problems:  three mana is a lot of mana to spend on a spell in Vintage, and I’m doubtful that he does enough (he’s no Tinker, Yawgmoth’s Will, or Show and Tell). The other problem with this card as a competitive planeswalker is that it doesn’t protect itself, and also that its first two abilities are very aggressive while its ultimate ability feels like a control finisher style ability. The card feels like it kind of has a split personality.

Although, in a G/W ‘Hate Bears’ style deck, I think there might be a place for him to do some important work at simply dealing damage. He is not 4CC, which means he can be played under Gaddock Teeg, and while Elspeth, Knight-Errant is simply a ‘better card’ with ‘better abilities’ than Ajani, the difference between 3CC and 4CC in a deck that is likely playing Thalia or Thorns of Amethyst could be enough to try out a singleton of this new planeswalker.

It’s a long shot, but I’m open-minded.

Arms Dealer

Vintage Playable

“Mogg Destroy.”

I am putting Arms Dealer into my Vintage playable category because he is a card that if I were sleeving up a Goblins deck (which I think is the best pure aggro deck in Vintage), I would play this card as a singleton in my sideboard.

At first Arms Dealer doesn’t really look like a very impressive card; in fact it simply seems “too fair” for Vintage. However, Goblins decks tend to suffer from not having enough good cards to play in their sideboard so I feel like this guy is worth a try. In particular, I could see wanting to play with this guy against the Maverick style Vintage hate decks. They have a number of cards that are problematic for Goblins to beat down through—in particular Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Tarmogoyf, and Trygon Predator can provide useful and advantageous blocks on the ground. Sure, Gempalm Incinerator is going to be better against most of these people, but you only get to play four of that card after sideboard.

Arms Dealer is exactly the kind of card that I might want to Matron up and then play off of a Cavern of Souls or Aether Vial. Keep in mind that if you are using Matron to find this card that you can sacrifice it and the Matron to kill two potential blockers against creature decks; so having one copy of the card in one’s deck allows Goblin Matron to become two copies of Flame Slash, which is pretty sweet against G/W creature style decks.

Omniscience

Vintage (in between) Fringe and Playable

“I don’t need to have this card in play to KNOW that somebody is going to try and put this card into play!”

I decided to put Omniscience right in the middle of being ‘fringe’ and ‘playable’ because although a deck doesn’t exist to put it into, I feel as though the cards already exist to abuse this exceedingly powerful 10CC enchantment.

Already we have begun to see hybridized Oath of Druids / Show and Tell / Emrakul decks begin to pop up in Vintage and have success. Clearly there is at least potentially a place for these ‘really, really big game’ combo decks to exist and thrive.

The cool thing (and I’m using the word ‘cool’ loosely here) about Omniscience is that it allows a player to play Emrakul ‘the real way’ (in order to get the free Time Walk for putting him into play).

Another option that I have been mulling over with this card is playing it in something similar to the Show and Tell / Oath deck that makes room to include Academy Rector and things to abuse with him. The following is a very rough list from off the top of my head that I’m sure could be built and tuned better to serve as a jumping off point:

Basically what I’ve done here is team up Show and Tell / Oath of Druids/ Academy Rector. I’m not sure if it is better to just be able to Oath every single turn or to have four Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in the deck. I’ve never actually played the Show and Tell Oath deck in a tournament, and it is certainly possible that Academy Rector isn’t necessary in the deck; however, Omniscience is a very powerful option to be able to find with an Academy Rector in addition to the pure power and utility of Yawgmoth’s Bargain, especially when one considers that a Show and Tell Style deck already wants to play with a high density of big, expensive, and broken permanents to cheat into play.

One of the interesting things about Vintage is that the card pool is already so huge and that the amount of tournaments that actually take place is comparatively small (compared to any other format) that there is always so much room for innovation. Were Vintage played as much as, say, Legacy, the format would be better solved and defined, but since it isn’t, who is to say what combinations of broken cards ought to go into this style of deck? That isn’t to say that I think this list is optimal (I’ve already said it’s more of a jumping off point); my point is more that there are literally so many busted things that can be done in Vintage and merely not enough time to do them all!

“Is Yawgmoth’s Bargain AND Omniscience enough incentive to put Academy Rectory back on the map?”

Smelt

Vintage Staple

“Smelt is a Grixis’ best friend.”

Smelt isn’t Nature’s Claim—but nothing before or since has been.

The key here is that Smelt is a card that is the premier sideboard option for a certain type of deck that previously didn’t have a good option.

Basically, Grixis decks that want to play with a bunch of Snapcaster Mages are going to love this card as a sideboard (and maybe even maindeck ) option.

While Nature’s Claim is simply a more versatile card (as it can destroy opposing Oath of Druids), people who have wanted to play Snapcaster Mage without having to use City of Brass now have a solid sideboard option that utilizes Snapcasters. Previously, the only real option for straight Grixis was to board in Ingot Chewers—which, don’t get me wrong are great—however, now I anticipate that these decks will shift to incorporate a mix of Smelt (best possible Snapcaster-able Grixis option against Workshop) and Ingot Chewers in order to fight against MUD.

Smelt also has another function in Grixis; whereas before boarding in Chewers to combat opposing Time Vault / Voltaic Key strategies wasn’t great (as it can’t break up the combo at instant speed), Smelt is actually a legitimate option out of the board.

Smelt by virtue of existing helps to solve a very specific problem that I’ve felt has plagued Snapcaster Grixis Control: the fact that it didn’t have a 1CC artifact removal spell that could be rebought with a Snapcaster Mage. Now that the deck has access to this sideboard solution, I think that as a functional and consistent deck it is much improved as a metagame choice moving forward.

I really like the idea of playing with Snapcaster Mages in the Baleful Strix Control deck, and I think that this new printing highly incentivizes playing that style of deck in the future.

Thragtusk

Vintage Fringe

“Your Mom busted in and said, ‘What’s that noise?’ Aw, Mom you’re just jealous it’s the Beastie Boys!”

Thragtusk is, in my opinion, the overall best card printed in M13; now with that being said, it isn’t really a standout Vintage playable (in fact, I think it is a fringe card at best), but it is one of those cards that’s just SO good that I could see myself occasionally and under the right conditions playing with it in my Vintage sideboard. Basically, most of the things that I said about Huntmaster of the Fells in my Dark Ascension set review apply here and now to Thragtusk.

Thragtusk is simply a stacked power fatty. For five mana (only one of which is colored mana) we get five power, five life, and another extremely relevant ability—a 3/3 beast token whenever the creature leaves the battlefield. It is also particularly relevant that the Beast token benefit comes when Thragtusk leaves the battlefield, not when it dies, meaning that if it gets exiled by Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile, or bounced by Jace, the Mind Sculptor, etc. that you will still get the Beast token. This is a benefit that is really awesome and much appreciated.

When I played my Midrange Bant brew at the Meandeck Open earlier this year, my literally 76th card (the last card I cut from my sideboard) was a singleton Rubinia Soulsinger which I felt was just barely not good enough to warrant the slot in my sideboard for a test drive. Thragtusk is objectively about 100 times better than Soulsinger could ever hope to be and is very good at everything I would want a creature like this to do in the matchups where I would want to play with it.

First of all, I’m pretty specifically envisioning playing with such a card in a midrange deck that utilizes Green Sun’s Zenith in matchups that revolve around grinding creature wars of attrition where life totals matter. It’s also pretty cute that he passes the Jace test (for value!).

Midrange Bant has lots of ways to produce mana against Wasteland Mana decks, and this creature seems like an absolute nightmare against other aggressive decks like Noble Fish or G/W Hate Bears.

I could also see myself playing a card like this in a Vintage Control deck out of the sideboard simply as a way of ‘going bigger’ in terms of card quality against creature decks. Getting back five life is a lot against decks that are trying to push damage, and plopping a 5/3 body (that will bring a 3/3 friend later) is a lot for decks to push back through to get that damage back.

Thragtusk is a card that I think is ‘better than fringe’ but I realistically know will only see fringe play. Take that for what it’s worth!

Jace’s Phantasm

Vintage (in between) Fringe and Playable

“If it were a regular Phantasm I wouldn’t care, but it’s JACE’S Phantasm.”

The stats on Jace’s Phantasm, if you can get your opponent ten-card thresholded somehow, are completely ridiculous.

I don’t know how, I don’t know when, and I don’t know why, but I do know that this is a special card that simply screams: “BUILD AROUND ME!”

It’s close to being playable just as is with how quickly people put cards into the graveyard in Vintage. If Delver is playable, this card can’t be far behind; yet, I sense it is behind…

I haven’t gotten a chance to play with it or against it, but this is the kind of card that I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was actually better than fringe.

Staff of Nin

Vintage Staple

“Trent Reznor’s roadies are apparently good at drawing cards and killing Bob Maher…”

I remember back in the days of the SCG Power Nine series Mark Biller constantly building Mishra’s Workshop decks and always complaining: “Shops can’t draw cards!” As a result, his efforts constantly led him to explore alternate and fringe options such as Mindstorm Crown and Grafted Skullcap as a means of not fizzling out through the mid- and late-game.

Man, would he have been all over this card!

I can’t even begin to fathom how much better this card is than cards like Triskelion which provide a similar function at picking off small creatures and controlling the board. Staff of Nin also provides a unique and desirable effect that has always been at a premium in Workshop decks: it draws extra cards while it controls the board.

I think that the Staff is particularly well positioned at fighting Workshop’s newest and biggest predator: Strix Control, which packs Goblin Welders, Baleful Strix, and Dark Confidants / Snapcaster Mages. Literally every creature in that deck dies to a tap of the Staff as the Staff simultaneously grinds card advantage. The card is literally a nightmare for Baleful Strix decks.

The other thing is that the Staff gets much, much better in multiples as you can deal more damage, kill bigger monsters, and draw more cards.

I remember that back in the day the best Workshop deck that I built at the end of the Trinisphere era before it got restricted played only Ticking Gnomes, Goblin Welders, and Gorilla Shamans as victory conditions (Ticking Gnomes to kill Control Slavers Goblin Welders which were a big, big problem). The Staff of Nin is so much better at doing what it does than other alternatives that I almost assuredly would have played four copies back in the day.

In particular, I believe that Staff of Nin will find a home in Mishra’s Workshop decks that focus more on a prison game plan than straight ‘disrupt and beat down,’ as the extra cards and ability to control the board are particularly well suited for grinding out opponents in the mid- and late-game.

Augur of Bolas

Vintage Fringe

“Has decent stats but excellent creature types.”

Augur of Bolas is the kind of card that I believe would have seen some serious Vintage play five or six years ago. It is clearly a ‘good’ card, but the problem is there are simply better options available.

Best-case scenario is he might be slightly better than a Baleful Strix because it gives you the option between two or three cards within the top three cards or the three toughness is relevant because of a Gut Shot, Staff of Nin, etc.

Worst-case scenario he is unplayable:  he whiffs then can’t trade with Lodestone Golem, Goyf, or Trygon Predator and then doesn’t turn Goblin Welder into Archivist.

Whereas Strix is easy to make awesome, in order to make this card merely ‘good’ takes a lot of preparation. I don’t think he is unplayable, but a deck would need to produce some MAJOR synergies in order to entice me to play him.

Two potential options come to mind:

First, I think that his creature type is the key to both potential uses: Merfolk Wizard.

Merfolk did quite well in this set—perhaps with eight Lord of Atlantis (Master of the Pearl Trident) he could see some play. Yet, the Merfolk like to play with a lot of creatures which makes consistently hitting problematic…

The second is to pair him up with Snapcaster Mage in a deck that can get a lot of value out of Riptide Laboratory. A copy or two of Augur of Bolas might be a nice fit in such a deck.

M13 Far-Fringe Honorable Mentions

Vile Rebirth

Vintage Far-Fringe

“Zombie on Zombie crime…”

Vile Rebirth is a pretty sweet card—being able to exile a card and wind up ahead a 2/2 all at instant speed is a good bargain—but against the type of things that people do in Vintage, it probably isn’t versatile enough to earn its keep. Unfortunately, graveyard hate takes up a huge percentage of sideboard slots already in order to combat Dredge decks, and this card, while value against decks that use the graveyard that are not Dredge (Snapcaster Mage or Reanimator Dragon), simply doesn’t DO enough against Dredge to warrant inclusion.

It is the kind of card that one would play in addition to Nihil Spellbomb and Leyline of the Void, but who has room in their sideboard for that?!

Wild Guess

Vintage Far-Fringe

“Your wild guess is as good as mine when Past in Flames will be a deck…”

Every single set review it seems like I say:  “Card could go into a red storm deck…” Yet the Red Storm deck never seems to be quite good enough.

One day, in one metagame, at some point in the future, there will be a Red Storm deck and depending upon how red it is, Wild Guess is a card that could find its way into the deck.

Faithless Looting, Wild Guess, Rituals, and Past in Flames are building to something—whether or not it is ‘good enough’ has yet to be foreseen.

My Top 5 M13 Picks for Vintage

5. Omniscience
4. Jace’s Phantasm
3. Arms Dealer
2. Smelt
1. Staff of Nin

My honorable mention goes to: Thragtusk.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the new cards!

Cheers,
Brian DeMars