These days, Vintage players want two things from Wizards:

• We'd all like to see more recognition and support for the Vintage formats.
• Everyone and their mother wants the banned and restricted lists separated from Type 1.5.

With the recent Vintage World Championships, it seems like Wizards finally caught wind of all our bitching. Whether or not it was a one-time deal intended to shut us up remains to be seen, but I applaud Wizards for making the effort.* But they have yet to announce any plans to"fix" the banned and restricted list problem. I'm willing to bet they've discussed it and just haven't figured out a solution yet. (But then again, I have no psychic powers that I'm aware of.)

So what I'm hoping to do here is spark some intelligent, well-thought-out discussion about how to fix the perceived problem. Sure, there are plenty of discussion about all topics vintage over at TheManaDrain.com - but for Vintage to really get some support, it needs to attract the interest in more places than just the hardcore areas like Syracuse, NY. I'd also like to offer a little more substance than what you see on the message boards about this subject. People posting suggested list revisions with no real explanations aren't going to convince anyone, especially the large community of players unfamiliar with the format. It's also not going to convince the people whose opinion matters most - the guys at Wizards.

What follows is my take on what changes should be made to the type 1.5 banned list, and some thoughts on the Type 1 list as well. I have infinitely more experience with 1.5 than I do with Type 1, so I can't offer more than theory on the Type 1 list. I can, however, offer a relevant opinion, backed by years of experience, on Type 1.5 decisions. So without further ado....

Channel
The first deck I ever played revolved around the Channel/Drain Life combo.** Then someone discovered the first turn kill of Mox, Black Lotus, land, Channel, and Fireball. Wizards, in their infinite wisdom, realized first turn kills were bad and banned the culprit. Recently it was elevated to"restricted" status, since it's not much of a threat in type 1 anymore. These days it's even less of a threat in type 1.5. It would require five cards to pull off on turn 2...Which is not gonna happen on a regular basis.*** Or you could go with the super-fast first-turn kill with only six cards!****

Decks that would use it: None, really. It could spawn some janky combo decks, but Force of Will and Misdirection are still too prevalent in the environment.

Crop Rotation
The best land you can get with this in 1.5 is Gaea's Cradle. (If you're thinking it's Mishra's Workshop, well... I'll get to that.) It stands to reason that if no lands are restricted, this card is fine.

Decks that would use it: Oath used it to get Treetop Villages once, and might do so again. It might also make a splash in 1.5 The Rock to get Volrath's Stronghold and Dust Bowl, since 1.5 has no Tutors. Stompy builds that play Cradle would play it for sure.

Demonic Consultation
The only 1.5 deck that utilized this before its banning was Pox. I'd say it at least deserves a chance to prove itself to be broken without Necropotence.

Decks that would use it: Pox

Fact or Fiction
There's no arguing that this is an awesome card. However, 1.5 is more akin to the old Extended than it is to Type 1, and Fact or Fiction didn't break the metagame there. I'll admit I'm a little biased on this one because of a deck I used to play***** - but that also means I have first-hand experience playing Fact in 1.5. It wasn't overpowered when it was legal, and I doubt it will be if it becomes legal again.

Decks that would use it: Most decks with blue in them. It could bring back Dumbo Drop, which was always a cool deck.

Regrowth, Fork
The problem with these two cards, like the Tutors, is that they break the restriction rules. I think the Tutors should definitely remain banned, since"no Tutors" is somewhat of a trademark of 1.5. However, Fork and Regrowth are far more situational, and not powerful enough to warrant a ban. While it might scare some people to have a card as powerful as Regrowth legal again, green tends to be a weak color in both Vintage formats. Adding a little power to green would be good for the environment.

Decks that would use it: Sligh would be the obvious home for Fork. Regrowth, like Fact or Fiction, would go into most decks that could support the color.

Mind's Desire, Tinker, Gush, Mox Diamond
These four cards are all legal in Extended - and as a general rule, what's good for Extended is just fine for type 1.5. In fact, Survival of the Fittest and Dark Ritual were banned a long time ago in Extended, but are still legal in 1.5. Neither is too powerful for 1.5; I'm sure Desire, Tinker, Gush, and Diamond aren't, either.

Decks that would use it: The same decks that use them in Extended would use them in 1.5.

Frantic Search, Mind over Matter, Voltaic Key, Doomsday
These four were all broken because of their interaction with other restricted cards. Without their partners in crime, none of them present a threat to the stability of the format.

Decks that would use it: Without the combo parts that went with them, Mind Over Matter, Doomsday, and Voltaic Key will probably only make it into casual decks. Frantic Search would see some use in Mind's Desire decks.

Entomb
If Wizards would just fix the ruling on Worldgorger Dragon so the combo doesn't work, Entomb would just be a good card instead of a broken one.

Decks that would use it: I think unbanning Entomb could lead to some interesting, but not overpowered, decks that utilize flashback or Squee, Goblin Nabob, among other things. It could be the lynchpin of a cool 1.5 silver bullet deck, somewhat like Napster.

Add To The 1.5 Watch List
The following suggestion is pretty bold, and is sure to ruffle some feathers. But before I get lynched by an Angry Mob, let me explain: For a long time, 1.5 has been without an established metagame. The field is wide-open because everybody plays with whatever decks their card pools allow, and no one deck type has really dominated.

Mana Drain and Mishra's Workshop are too expensive and hard to find for most players to bother with, so they've pretty much flown under the radar... But lately, they've begun to show their colors. A lot of Extended decks have migrated to 1.5, which is why there were so many old Extended decks on the list of viable 1.5 archetypes in my last article.

When mono-blue and U/r Trix decks became big in Extended, some players naturally copied them for 1.5. One change, though, was to add Mana Drains. Whereas Mana Drain had already been a staple in blue control for the few who had them, the Drain's power was fully unleashed in the new Trix decks. While the Intuition/Accumulated Knowledge combo gave it massive card advantage, Mana Drain gave it speed that other decks couldn't keep up with. An opponent could Drain your spell on turn 2, and use that mana to play an Intuition for AK on his turn with mana open for another counter. Going second, they could play Sapphire Medallion and Intuition with two blue open. Mike Glow won more tournaments in Syracuse than I care to think about with that deck.

A little later, the new crop of Type 1 decks based around Mishra's Workshop began to do the same thing. Players that owned Workshops adapted the Type 1 decks for 1.5, and other decks just can't keep up. The problem is, thankfully, limited by the availability of Drains and Workshops... But if 1.5 becomes more popular, Mana Drain and Mishra's Workshop become a bigger threat. As such, I think we need to keep an eye on them for now.

Earthcraft
No one played Earthcraft in type 1 when it was legal. Rumor is that it was restricted to get it out of 1.5. With the lists separated, there's no reason to restrict it anymore.

Decks that would use it: No high-profile Type 1 decks played it even when it was legal.

Entomb
This is also dependant on a rules fix for Worldgorger Dragon.

Decks that would use it: Without the Dragon? Probably none.

In a recent article, Oscar Tan complained about the DCI's policy with regards to the banned list. The DCI holds that they want to maximize the number of playable cards. However, as Oscar pointed out, a handful of troublemakers (like Academy Rector, Yawgmoth's Bargain, and Necro) keep a host of other cards on the restricted list. He says,"It is undeniable that the Restricted list would be a lot shorter if you just banned Tolarian Academy, Memory Jar, Yawgmoth's Bargain, and Necropotence." My sentiments exactly, Oscar. I think the reason they're so reluctant to ban cards is that they remember too well the days when cards like Channel and Mind Twist sat worthless in people's binders. It does suck to own a card that you know is utterly without value... But it sure would be nice to have a shorter restricted list.

As I said in my last article, 1.5 has gotten along just fine with the lists the way they are. But my desire to have the lists fixed and separated isn't just because I'd like more cards to build decks with. It would validate 1.5 as a format, and show that Wizards is listening and taking an interest in what we all have to say. The Vintage World Championship was a step in the right direction: Let's hope they keep it up.

Sebastrd
Pellius@msn.com

* - I'd like to see them hold a 1.5 World Championship in the northeast. I'm curious as to whether or not there'd be a bigger turnout. I have a feeling there would.

** - Be the first to e-mail me how that combo works, and I'll send you a rare.

*** - Turn 1: Forest, Tinder Wall.
Turn 2: Forest, Channel for nineteen, sac the Wall, Kaervek's Torch for twenty.

**** Turn 1: Forest, Tinder Wall, discard two Elvish Spirit Guides, Channel for nineteen, sac the wall, Kaervek's Torch for twenty.

***** - I got a lot of requests for decklists after my last article. Since it's no longer legal because Fact or Fiction is banned, I decided to include this deck here.

4 Counterspell
3 Arcane Denial
3 Force of Will
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
3 Tithe
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
2 Scroll Rack
2 Jester's Cap
2 Vindicate
3 Gaea's Blessing
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Scrubland
3 Savannah
2 Tundra
7 Island
6 Plains

The original idea for this deck was to have no permanents (other than land, of course). It's also based on the interaction between Fact or Fiction and Gaea's Blessing. Since Fact puts cards directly into the graveyard, it triggers the Blessing's ability and recycles your graveyard. Needless to say, games took a while with this deck, but it was unmatched in the long game. People around the shop used to laugh about my"deck with no win conditions." They also questioned my use of Arcane Denial, but I never had any problems with it.

All in all, the deck was fun to play, but Fact or Fiction just can't be replaced. Incidentally, after it was banned I replaced the Mishra's with Treetop Villages and played it in Extended. It absolutely wrecks Oath and Turboland (they hate maindeck Caps), but it got rolled by the Rock because of Volrath's Stronghold.