Vintage Year In Review: Part 2

The last installment of the 2014 Vintage Year In Review covered some pretty significant
events that took place in what was a very exciting year in Vintage history. In the spring came a few game changing printings:

Over the summer, the release of Vintage Masters on Magic Online was an exciting event that will have a profound and lasting impression upon the format from
here on out. When we last left off U/R Delver was beginning to make its presence felt in Vintage on Magic Online…

July: Vintage is Heating Up

Summer is typically the hotbed for IRL Vintage card play in the United States, and there is typically no shortage of awesome events spread throughout the
country. 2014 was no exception to the rule, and July had some pretty high profile events including the NYSE II Open which was won by

Metalworker Shops

Keith Seals

1st Place at Miscellaneous on 07-05-2014

Vintage

Creatures (19)

• 4 Metalworker
• 1 Sundering Titan
• 1 Duplicant
• 4 Lodestone Golem
• 2 Wurmcoil Engine
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 2 Phyrexian Revoker

Lands (18)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 4 Wasteland
• 4 Ancient Tomb
• 4 Mishra's Workshop
• 1 Tolarian Academy
• 4 Cavern of Souls

Spells (23)

• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Trinisphere
• 2 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Black Lotus
• 4 Tangle Wire
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 4 Chalice of the Void
• 3 Thorn of Amethyst
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus

Sideboard

• 2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 2 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 3 Dismember
• 2 Witchbane Orb
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage

Kuldotha Forgemaster MUD is one of those great Vintage decks that has left its mark on the format ever since the card was printed back in Scars of
Mirrodin. Mishra’s Workshop decks are both powerful and consistent and end up winning a lot of tournaments. The NYSE Open events are both large and
difficult to win, so Workshops getting a victory here says a lot about the deck in a post MTGO world.

Speaking of MTGO and Vintage, July 2014 also featured another unique Vintage moment: the first Vintage Online Premier event!

The event featured two very unlikely decks pairing off in the finals:

Deathblade versus Slaver.

Ultimately it was Deathblade that won the day.

Deathblade

Jsiri84

1st Place at Magic Online Premier Event on 12-06-2014

Vintage

Creatures (14)

• 4 Dark Confidant
• 2 Trygon Predator
• 2 Stoneforge Mystic
• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Deathrite Shaman

Planeswalkers (2)

• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands (15)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Swamp
• 3 Underground Sea
• 2 Tundra
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Bayou
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 2 Flooded Strand

Spells (29)

• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Plains
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 4 Force of Will
• 3 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 1 Steel Sabotage
• 1 Batterskull
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 1 Flusterstorm

Sideboard

• 1 Umezawa's Jitte
• 2 Energy Flux
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 3 Thoughtseize
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 2 Grafdigger's Cage
• 3 Rest in Peace

Deathblade was able to edge out another very popular old school Vintage archetype in the finals.

Control Slaver

Kowal

2nd Place at Magic Online Premier Event on 12-06-2014

Vintage

Creatures (5)

• 2 Goblin Welder
• 1 Myr Battlesphere
• 2 Baleful Strix

Planeswalkers (2)

• 2 Dack Fayden

Lands (13)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 2 Volcanic Island
• 3 Underground Sea
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 1 Tolarian Academy
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Scalding Tarn

Spells (40)

• 1 Brainstorm
• 3 Mana Drain
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 2 Duress
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Gifts Ungiven
• 1
• 1 Merchant Scroll
• 4 Night's Whisper
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Mindslaver
• 1 Tinker
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 1 Mental Misstep

Sideboard

• 1 Mountain
• 2 Red Elemental Blast
• 2 Massacre
• 1 Darkblast
• 2 Yixlid Jailer
• 3 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 3 Grafdigger's Cage

One thing that is really interesting about both of these finalists in the first MTGO Premier event is that they are both really well-equipped to prey upon
Delver of Secrets decks. Back in July, U/R Delver decks were running absolutely rampant on MTGO and putting up very strong numbers.

Both Stoneforge Mystic and welding in and out Baleful Strix are powerful strategies for attacking opposing Insectile Aberrations.

It is really interesting that a deck like Control Slaver could pop back up several years after its key component, Thirst for Knowledge, was restricted, and
have a strong showing in a modern Vintage metagame.

TFK2.0

The main reason was that another really significant Vintage printing showed up to enable a lot of Slaver synergies. Dack Fayden has obvious applications as
a draw and discard outlet to help enable Goblin Welder-based strategies. However, the other big factor is that Mishra’s Workshop decks were super
well-positioned at the beginning of the summer, which made Dack Fayden all the more awesome in this archetype!

August: Hot Fun in the Summertime

Toward the end of the summer, Oath of Druids started to separate itself from the rest of the pack as one of the premier decks in the format. Being able to
crux on Show and Tell as a back up plan to beat the multitude of Grafdigger’s Cages and also steal free wins off of 1G, Suspend 1: Griselbrand was simply
too good to be ignored.

Sultai Oath crushed its way to a victory at the Team Serious Open in the Midwest:

Sultai Oath

Chad Slany

1st Place at Miscellaneous on 08-03-2014

Vintage

Creatures (2)

• 2 Griselbrand

Planeswalkers (2)

• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands (15)

• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 3 Underground Sea
• 2 Tropical Island
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 1 Tolarian Academy
• 4 Misty Rainforest

Spells (41)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Brainstorm
• 2 Mana Drain
• 2 Show and Tell
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Gaea's Blessing
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Time Vault
• 1 Misdirection
• 1 Voltaic Key
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Thoughtseize
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 1 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Swan Song

Sideboard

• 1 Show and Tell
• 1 Forest
• 1 Duress
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Ravenous Trap
• 2 Nature's Claim
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 1 Griselbrand
• 1 Abrupt Decay

It is also worth noting that Oath of Druids is fantastic at beating Stoneforge Mystic decks like the one that won the MTGO Premier event and is also well
equipped against Delver of Secrets and MUD.

August also featured another exciting tournament: The TMD Open #16. The event was huge and featured many of the best Vintage players in the country. While
the event was ultimately taken down in a close three game set by Will Magrann playing MUD, the most interesting deck in the tournament was piloted by Paul
Mastriano and designed by yours truly.

All the turns all the time ASAP.

The big innovation behind this deck was to fuse Steel City Vault with an Affinity deck!

This deck makes Speedy Gonzalez look like regular Gonzalez…

When all else fails? Play the restricted list.

September: Waiting for Khans

Do you remember looking at Khans of Tarkir spoilers in September? You’re welcome for that awesome Earth, Wind and Fire reference…

In September, as Vintage moved closer to the Vintage Championships at Eternal Weekend, the metagame started to shift once again. Delver of Secrets started
creeping into and securing more Top 8 slots with greater frequency, as did Oath of Druids.

To be fair, the European metagame was quite a bit ahead of the curve on getting results with the U/R Delver archetype. However, that was very quickly about
to change…

What format can’t this creature dominate?

While Delver of Secrets decks may have been on the upswing last fall, nobody could have predicted the format-sweeping effect that Khans of Tarkir was going
to have in the following month…

September also featured the first ever MTGO Vintage Championship tournament which was taken down by an old time Vintage archetype, Smokestack!

Stax

Jugeia

1st Place at Magic Online Championship on 09-14-2014

Vintage

Creatures (12)

• 4 Lodestone Golem
• 4 Phyrexian Revoker
• 4 Phyrexian Metamorph

Lands (18)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 4 Wasteland
• 4 Mishra's Factory
• 4 Ancient Tomb
• 4 Mishra's Workshop
• 1 Tolarian Academy

Spells (30)

• 1 Sol Ring
• 4 Sphere of Resistance
• 2 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Trinisphere
• 4 Smokestack
• 1 Black Lotus
• 4 Tangle Wire
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 4 Chalice of the Void
• 2 Thorn of Amethyst
• 2 Staff of Nin

Sideboard

• 2 Null Rod
• 1 Duplicant
• 2 Relic of Progenitus
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine
• 2 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Dismember
• 2 Witchbane Orb
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage

Most MUD decks tend to focus on being disruptive but also creature and attacking based. JUGEIA’s deck goes into full-fledged prison mode and can lock an
opponent out of the game with Smokestack, an effective but dated tactic from yesteryear.

October: Khans Changes Everything

Khans of Tarkir was released in October 2014 and has easily been one of the most game changing sets ever printed, especially with regard to Eternal
formats. In particular, the extremely powerful delve spells Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time.

For whatever reason, these extremely powerful mana cheating card draw spells saw print and made a huge splash in both Vintage and Legacy. Obviously, blue
decks had the most to gain from the blue delve spells, in particular Delver and Oath of Druids decks.

The first big event in October was another NYSE event that was won by Myles Caracciolo playing a planeswalker control deck.

Grixis Planeswalkers

Myles Caracclio

1st Place at Miscellaneous on 10-04-2014

Vintage

Creatures (2)

• 2 Snapcaster Mage

Planeswalkers (5)

• 2 Tezzeret the Seeker
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Dack Fayden

Lands (12)

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

Spells (41)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Brainstorm
• 3 Mana Drain
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 3 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Time Vault
• 1
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Misdirection
• 1 Tinker
• 1 Voltaic Key
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Spell Snare
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 1 Toxic Deluge

Sideboard

• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Pyroblast
• 2 Leyline of the Void
• 2 Yixlid Jailer
• 3 Ingot Chewer
• 2 Ravenous Trap
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 1 Notion Thief

This style of deck is interesting because it simply adds Dack Fayden to the Tezzeret/Jace control decks, proving that Dack Fayden can go into just about
anything.

However, the big news for the month, and perhaps the entire year, came from the Vintage Championship at Eternal Weekend.

Oath

Mark Tocco

1st Place at Vintage Champs on 10-26-2014

Vintage

Creatures (3)

• 3 Griselbrand

Planeswalkers (2)

• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands (15)

• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 2 Island
• 2 Underground Sea
• 2 Tropical Island
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 4 Misty Rainforest

Spells (40)

• 1 Brainstorm
• 3 Mana Drain
• 3 Show and Tell
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 2 Misdirection
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Maelstrom Pulse
• 4 Preordain
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 2 Flusterstorm

Sideboard

• 2 Pithing Needle
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 3 Nature's Claim
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 3 Abrupt Decay

Tocco’s finely tuned Oath of Druids defeated David Morelo’s U/R Delver deck in the finals of the event.

U/R Delver

David Morelo

2nd Place at Miscellaneous on 10-26-2014

Vintage

Creatures (10)

• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers (2)

• 2 Dack Fayden

Lands (13)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 4 Volcanic Island
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Scalding Tarn

Spells (35)

• 1 Brainstorm
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Force of Will
• 2 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 3 Gush
• 1
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Ponder
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Preordain
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 3 Treasure Cruise

Sideboard

• 1 Mountain
• 4 Ingot Chewer
• 2 Ravenous Trap
• 2 Steel Sabotage
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage
• 2 Electrickery

Two big storylines emerged from the Vintage Championship this year. The first being that Oath of Druids may very well be the most powerful deck in Vintage.
The ability to simply put Griselbrand into play and use the gigantic lifelink card drawing machine to win the game cannot be denied.

The other storyline was the emergence of U/R Delver as a real force in the format. Roughly half of the top 8 of North America’s premier event was comprised
of the deck.

A boat load of card advantage.

The question emerged on the heels of the Championship: “Is Treasure Cruise too good for Vintage? And does it need to be restricted?”

Unfortunately, that is not a question that will ultimately be answered in 2014.

November: It’s Oath’s World. We’re Just Living in it.

The Vintage Championship really shook up the Vintage landscape.

U/R Delver and Oath emerged from that event as the decks to beat in Vintage moving forward (with, of course, Workshops also nipping at their heels…).

While having a few “best decks” or “decks to beat” is an important part of MTG, there is always room to innovate a good thing! The Player’s Guild
Tournament in November was won by an Auriok Salvagers Oath Hybrid deck.

Salvagers Oath

Brian Kelly

1st Place at Miscellaneous on 11-09-2014

Vintage

Creatures (4)

• 2 Auriok Salvagers
• 1 Magus of the Future
• 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 Tezzeret the Seeker

Lands (16)

• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 1 Underground Sea
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 1 Tolarian Academy
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 3 Mana Confluence

Spells (39)

• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 3 Force of Will
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Gifts Ungiven
• 1 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Pyrite Spellbomb
• 1 Aether Spellbomb
• 1 Tinker
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Repeal
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 1 Ponder
• 2 Preordain
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Mental Misstep
• 2 Gitaxian Probe
• 2 Flusterstorm

Sideboard

• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Tsabo's Web
• 2 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Ethersworn Canonist
• 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
• 1 Mindbreak Trap
• 2 Nature's Claim
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Mental Misstep
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Notion Thief

The Griselbrand Oath deck (like the one that won Champs) is basically a control deck that uses Griselbrand to be all things: a Moat, a win condition, and a broken card draw engine. It doesn’t actually win by doing anything outside of attacking with and controling the game with Griselbrand.

Brian’s Oath deck from the Player’s Guild is also a control deck, but it uses Oath of Druids to put a different kind of control creature package onto the
battlefield:

Hey, those are not Griselbrand!

Salvager’s Oath is an interesting variation on a theme, but will the flexibility offered by a diverse and “grindy” Oath package be able to make up for the
raw power of Griselbrand? Only time will tell.

December: Waiting for the 2015 Banned/Restricted Announcement

One last big event for 2014 before I start to wrap things up in this year’s review. The MTGO Vintage Holiday tournament took place last week and was
ultimately won by LSV playing U/R Delver.

U/R Delver

Luis Scott-Vargas

1st Place at Miscellaneous on 12-21-2014

Vintage

Creatures (7)

• 3 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 Dack Fayden

Lands (12)

• 1 Strip Mine
• 3 Volcanic Island
• 1 Tropical Island
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 4 Scalding Tarn

Spells (40)

• 1 Brainstorm
• 3 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Force of Will
• 2 Island
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 3 Gush
• 1
• 2 Pyroblast
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Repeal
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 4 Preordain
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 2 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 1 Electrickery
• 4 Treasure Cruise

Sideboard

• 1 Mountain
• 1 Null Rod
• 2 Tormod's Crypt
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 4 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Flusterstorm
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage

Does it look familiar? Well, it’s very close to the deck that ended up taking second place at the Vintage Championship back in October. The archetype has
really shown itself to be a Vintage powerhouse on the back of Treasure Cruise and Young Pyromancer.

Backwards Storm.

Ari Lax pointed out to me that Wizards has taken to printing cards that are “the storm mechanic in reverse” over the past year. Cards like Young Pyromancer
and Monestery Swiftspear both fit into this category where you essentially play your “Tendrils of Agony” first and then each card you cast afterward
continues to power up your win condition.

It’s also relevent that “reverse storm” cards are very good with Counterspells…

Well, that was 2014 in a nutshell… A very long and wordy nutshell…

Magic had a very good year in 2014 and continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and unsurprisingly, so did Vintage! There were a lot of events and moments
that stand out in my mind from the past 365 days, but if I had to rank them, as of right now, here are the ones that I think are the most significant for
the format:

5. The printing of Mana Confluence and Spirit of the Labyrinth: Both are awesome Vintage cards from Theros block that will see play for
years to come.

4. The rise of Delver: Even before Treasure Cruise was printed, Delver decks were all the rage on Magic Online. However, since the Vintage
Championship, Delver appears to be one of, if not the, best deck in Vintage!

3. Dack Fayden released: Perhaps one of the best Vintage planeswalkers ever printed, and at the moment, perhaps the most played one in the
format!

2. Khans of Tarkir and explosive Delve cards join Vintage: Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are both insanely powerful Vintage caliber
staples that are going to get played for a long long time.

1. Magic Online releases Vintage Masters: Power got reprinted (albeit digitally) and Vintage became tournament playable for the first time
ever on Magic Online. A huge moment for Vintage.

2014 was fun and I’m already looking forward to playing Vintage in 2015! The new banned and restricted announcements are just around the corner and,
depending upon what happens with the ban hammer, the format could look very different very shortly!

There seems to be a lot of people who are waiting to see what is going to happen with this upcoming B&R announcement because a lot of people are pretty
convinced that cards are going to get banned and want to wait until then to invest time and money into a format. In a couple weeks, I think things are
going to start getting crazy… not to mention there is another set on the verge of being released!

So, if you are waiting for excitement in 2015, it’s just around the corner!

I hope you all enjoyed 2014, and I hope 2015 keeps the good stuff coming!

Happy New Year!