Wednesday, February 13th – The Vintage metagame, it seems, is undergoing a renaissance period of impressive innovation. The attack step has gained relevance, control is on the wane, and new strategies and ideas have proved powerful time and again. Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Stephen Menendian turn to the past in order to build for the future. Oath of Druids may well be good again…
At present, Vintage is a format of change. While it’s long been a format of broken combos and control strategies, it seems that the attack phase is becoming a lot more important. Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Vintage World Champion Stephen Menendian bring us his current take on the aggressive archetype, with full reasoning and card breakdown each step of the way!
With a plethora of choices available to the Vintage player – including fast aggro, storm combo, and tempo decks – Stephen has turned his head towards a control creation… yes, that’s right: Doctor Teeth is back! The Vintage World Champion looks at Tog in the current Vintage metagame, and runs the deck through the wringer at a local Vintage tournament.
When a new set comes out, we all look for cards that’ll make a splash in our favorite format. Vintage players usually find this task a short one – Magic’s most powerful format isn’t easily impressed by fresh cardboard. However, the past few sets have shook the format with a slew of powerful effects. Does Morningtide continue the trend? The clue is in the title…
The Vintage metagame is currently in flux. While GAT ruled the roost with an iron fist, it seems that other potent strategies are taking up the slack. One such strategy, Workshop Aggro, proves that consistency is at a premium in modern Vintage. So, can an uber-consistent deck like MUD prove potent in the current field? With the hybrid ability to take on multiple roles, Stephen Menendian believes the deck has promise…
Vintage, it seems, has turned from the combo table, opting instead to feast on the attack step. Stephen Menendian, Vintage World Champion, takes his GAT deck into the Workshop Aggro fray, with mixed results. As usual, the detail in his report is phenomenal, and the insight he offers cannot be ignored. If you’re looking for an edge at your next Vintage tournament, look no further!
Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Vintage Champion Stephen Menendian take one last look at the Vintage scene of 2007. He rounds out the Top 8 statistics from the latest Vintage tournaments that matter, and casts his eye over some of the more pertinent questions raised by the current metagame…
In this fascinating article, Vintage World Champion Stephen Menendian examines a fundamental flaw in human intelligence: the inability to make optimal strategic decisions in a worlds of dynamic complexity. We all know that Magic is a complex game. We all agree that the player who makes the fewest mistakes is the player most likely to win. But why, exactly, are those mistakes being made? Stephen reveals all…
Today’s So Many Insane Plays is a step away from the normal Menendian fare. Instead of exhaustive Vintage analysis and intricate play-by-play breakdowns, Stephen turns his powerful brain to the very building blocks of our thinking process itself. By looking at why our minds behave as they do, we can begin to see where our failings may be in our Magic play. Beware… this is not for the fair of heart!
Christmastime, mistletoe and wine. Children frolicking in the snow, presents piled under the tree, chestnuts roasting on an open fire… and begging letters sent by children to a jolly old guy dressed in red. Today, Stephen send his own Dear Santa letter to Mark Ho-Ho-Rosewater, listing his ten Vintage Wishes. So, has Stephen been naughty or nice?
After coming so close to a Top 8 spot at Day 1 of the StarCityGames Vintage Mega Weekend, Stephen dipped low into the think tank in order to improve his chances for Day 2. Today’s So Many Insane Plays is a comprehensive report on the highs and lows of the tournament from Stephen’s perspective. Did his changes to his beloved GroAtog deck cut the proverbial mustard? Read on to find out!
The recent Vintage Mega-Weekend in Chicago shook the metagame like a Polaroid picture. The Little Lhurgoyf That Could, scourge of many a tournament, finally made its presence felt in the most broken format. Stephen brings us an exhaustive play-by-play of his own tournament performance, and ruminates on the Vintage metagame as it currently stands. Are we entering a Golden Age?
Today’s So Many Insane Plays concentrates on two things. The first is a thorough breakdown of the Bring Your Own Standard format, played at this year’s Invitational. If Mark Rosewater has his way, this could be coming to a sanctioned tournament near you! Second, Stephen takes us through the rest of his Invitational experience, including the long awaited Vintage portion…
In today’s So Many Insane Plays, Stephen unlocks the metagame secrets of Vintage, breaking down all of the tournament results since the Vintage World Championship. What’s winning and what’s changing in Vintage? This is a must-read article for Vintage players!
In last week’s So Many Insane Plays, we left Stephen Menendian at 3-3 heading into the entertaining Winston Draft format. With multiple practice drafts under his belt, Stephen felt confident… but was this confidence enough to post a winning record? As we know, the wheels fell of Stephen’s wagon after his sterling 3-0 Cube performance… with pick-by-pick and play-by-play analysis of his Winston drafts, it’s time to see if we could have done anything different.
