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By now everyone knows that Shards of Alara has had a tremendous impact on Vintage. Virtually every new set in the last couple of years has contributed at least one important Vintage playable which has either ushered a new deck into the format and changed the structure of format in the process (such as Painter’s Servant), or transformed an existing deck with the same effect (such as Reveillark). Shards of Alara has done both at the same time, and it has done it on a scale that has perhaps never been seen since Urza’s Saga. Every major archetype in Vintage, from combo, to control, to aggro-control, to prison, to even fringe difficult-to-classify archetypes such Oath and Ichorid have seen major additions and changes thanks to Shards of Alara. In short, Shards has changed every major strategic approach (Control, Prison, Aggro-Control, etc) in the format. Some decks are merely remodeled and retooled versions of established archetypes, such as Etherium Slaver or Hellkite Oath. Other decks are new approaches on the existing strategies (Ad Nauseam Storm Combo). Finally, others are new strategies altogether (Tezzeret). In addition, Shards also gave Vintage a couple of broad-based utility cards, such as Relic of Progenitus. Before Future Sight, this was generally the MO of most new Vintage sets. They would contribute a couple of utility cards to the format, cards like Ancient Grudge from Time Spiral.

In my Shards of Alara set review, I picked what I felt were the Top 5 cards from the set:

Top 5 Picks from Shards of Alara for Vintage:

1. Tezzeret the Seeker
2. Ad Nauseam
3. Ethersworn Canonist
4. Hellkite Overlord
5. Mindlock Orb

Each of these cards has seen at least some Top 8 play in Vintage tournaments, but some more than others. Although it will be some time before we know exactly how Shards will settle in Vintage, I would definitely tweak that list if I knew what I know now. I am proud that I foresaw virtually every Vintage application, although I definitely underestimated a few cards.

I identified both Master of Etherium and Courier’s Capsule as cards with potential Vintage application. Here s what I said about Courier’s Capsule:

Courier’s Capsule

Is this the long-lost missing partner to Thirst For Knowledge? Four mana for two cards is not a good deal. However, if there are easy recursion possibilities, then this could be playable.

However, I definitely underestimated the replacement importance of Relic of Progenitus, about which I said:

Relic of Progenitus

Nice design, but too inferior to Tormod’s Crypt to see any play.

My review of that card is a reminder to think more carefully about a card’s potential.

I also overvalued Mindlock Orb, which has only seen a marginal amount of play. The only card – so far as I can tell – which has seen play but that I did not mention in my set review is Fatestitcher, which has been used in Ichorid decks.

At the time of this writing, almost 30 cards have not yet been spoiled. I’m traveling to Detroit to compete in a Legacy and Vintage tournament. Next week I will finish off the set review and report on one of those tournaments.

Blood Tyrant

To my knowledge, this is the first card that has a trigger when someone loses the game. Which means that this card is interesting for Type Four, a multi-player format. A 5/5 creature is not that exciting in Type Four. 5/5 flyers are a dime a dozen. To young Type Four stacks, such a creature might raise someone’s blood pressure, but it’s not that unusual. The fact that this card gets a huge bonus when someone dies makes it very flavorful for Type Four. But what I think elevates this card to the level of playable in even many of the sturdiest Type Four stacks is the fact that it deals one point of damage during each of your upkeeps. That kind of damage, like Infernal Spawn of Evil, tends to accumulate over turns and make a difference. At the same time, the Blood Tyrant will grow. It’s not a high pick, but it will create interesting game interactions.

Charnelhoard Wurm

Since every Type Four card is so powerful, every recursion effect is so much stronger. As this guy has Trample, so long as you get an attack step, there is a good chance that he’ll replace itself with a choice selection from your graveyard. It’s an auto-include in Type Four.

Child of Alara

This is a very exciting Type Four addition. This card is like poison to the touch. Once it’s on the table, no one will want to touch it. It will be a lot of fun for a lot of people.

Conflux

This kind of large, splashy effect is precisely the kind of card that is suited for Type Four. Best of all, it’s just a flavorful and thematic form of card advantage without being brutal or murderous, so while it will set a player up well, it won’t win the game by itself. It’s likely to put a smile on any player’s face. Auto-include in Type Four.

Countersquall

There must be over 60 hard counterspells now in Magic. Someone can correct me on that if it’s even more. There is a question, depending on how large your stack is, on whether you include every single one, or whether you should now be more selective. I would not say that this is in the upper half of countermagic. In fact, it’s probably among the weaker ones. Although creatures are not the most powerful spell type, they are often critical cards to stop. A consideration for Type Four stacks.

Esperzoa

There is no good turn 1 play in Legacy with this card. Chrome Mox or Lotus Petal plus an Ancient Tomb is not good enough. In Vintage, he’s a fine turn 1 play off a couple of a Moxen and a land. The real key to unlocking this card is finding ways to turn its drawback into an advantage. I can think of several already, and cards like Tangle Wire in particular stand out. Use it with an artifact that has a Comes Into Play ability like Tsabo’s Web, and you could also have a draw engine as well. Another application is Jester’s Scepter, a card that Mark Trogdon has played in Workshop decks in my area before.

I think we could see a Blue Vintage Skies deck in Vintage with Esperzoa, Tangle Wire, Force of Wills, full Moxen, etc.

Here is a solid starting draft, which I’m sure could be tweaked or incorporated into something else entirely:

4 Esperzoa
4 Sea Drake
4 Master of Etherium
3 Tsabo’s Web
4 Tangle Wire
4 Force of Will
2 Commandeer
2 Misdirection
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus

4 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt

This deck is actually competitive, and there is still room for improvement.

Inkwell Leviathan

Another card that appears almost designed for Type Four. This guy is in some ways actually more powerful than Darksteel Colossus. He can’t be targeted by cards like Swords to Plowshares or Path of Exile.

Lapse of Uncertainty

I happen to be a fan of Memory Lapse in Type Four. In Type Four, the tempo effect is far more brutal than in two-player Magic. In two-player Magic, you Lapse their spell, and they immediately untap and draw it again. In Type Four, it could be many turns before they draw that card again, let alone the next one. Also, being White could actually make it superior to Memory Lapse, depending on the balance of Blue pitch spells and Red Elemental Blast like effects in your stack and in your deck and opposing decks. I believe this card should be an auto-inclusion in Type Four stacks.

Maelstrom Archangel

This set is putting pressure on us to think about the value of creature damage by providing huge, beneficial consequences from being able to inflict some. Being able to play a card without having it be counterspellable is a potentially tremendous. This card should be playable in Type Four, without question.

Magister Sphinx

This guy is even better than he looks. Being able to Searing Wind an opponent when it hits play would already make this guy good enough, but it also gives a solution to players who have somehow gone infinite by Seeking out Gleemax, for example, to gain a million life. That doesn’t even account for the fact that he could increase your life total in certain situations. It’s a very good card for Type Four.

Master Transmuter

This card created quite a few initial negative assessments in the Vintage community.

David Ochoa said: “Metalworker blows this piece of trash away.”

Josh Silvestri said: “It's a Reverse Welder, but four instead of one. Horrible for Vintage.”

I don’t agree with either of their conclusions, nor their reasons.

First of all, and I’m sure they realize this, the effect this card creates is more than just generating mana (indirectly) a la Metalworker, or recursion or counterspell trumping a la Goblin Welder. In fact, it has elements of both cards.

I believe this card is Vintage playable in the sense that it is powerful and synergistic enough to see play in Vintage. Whether it will or not is another matter.

Here are the upsides.

First of all, it’s playable off a Mishra’s Workshop. That means that it’s a reliable turn 2 play.

Second, it’s Blue. It’s just better that way.

Third, it trumps countermagic. A Mox on board is a monster in hand. Holding Darksteel Colossus, Sundering Titan, or lord forbid Inkwell Leviathan? Return a Mox to your hand and play it. It can also help you resolve critical artifacts at the right time.

Fourth, it has powerful recursive possibilities. The most obvious include refilling counters on a Triskelion (ping your opponent, bounce it back to your hand on their endstep, and replay it). Potentially more powerful is recurring Sundering Titan repeatedly, wiping your opponent’s lands out every time. But that’s just the beginning. Think about Sensei’s Divining Top (stack the draw, bounce it to hand) or Solemn Simulacrum (a Doug Linn idea). Jankier possibilities include cards like Jester’s Scepter. Also, it can target itself or any other card, protecting them from bounce or removal.

Fifth, it allows you to play expensive cards like Colossus for a Mox in play and a Blue mana. Like I said, a Mox on board is a monster in hand.

I think the card is quite playable, but it may require us to build the Workshop deck from scratch, or just include this guy as a singleton or double.

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Welcome to Type Four, sir. You are going to be a ton of fun. Every time you are played, there will be excitement and humor.

Oddly enough, the first two abilities are stronger and more important than the third. He will come into play, and immediately steal the best creature on the board or Desert Twister something. No Type Four stack should leave home without him.

Obelisk of Alara

Some might be skeptical about this card in Type Four, saying it’s underpowered. True, it’s modest by Type Four standards power level, but that could actually be a bonus here. Power levels are so off the chart in this format, such that the most powerful cards almost never resolve or survive for very long. This card’s relatively marginal effects ensure that it’s a likely resolution. The “gain five life” is probably the strongest ability on the card, but the Red activation is not far behind. Aladdin’s Ring is a solid Type Four card, and this card is more versatile. I think it’s a very nice addition to Type Four stacks worldwide.

Path of Exile

Wizards continues in the vein of Thoughtseize, Ponder, and Thorn of Amethyst to reprint close substitutes of older classics with interesting twists. This is the closest we have ever seen to a straight reprint of Swords to Plowshares. And like Thoughtseize, Ponder, and Thorn, it is not strictly inferior to its predecessor.

This card is playable in both Vintage and Legacy.

The main targets of Swords to Plowshares in Vintage are Darksteel Colossus, Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, and Goblin Welder. In Legacy, the targets are far more numerous, but no less important. However, the tempo loss of early mana development has the highest price in Legacy, where early turns are defined by the one-land per turn progression. It also means that you can use it on your own creature, in its death throes, to find another land to put into play. It’s unlikely that you’ll be using it for this effect very often, but it’s still a bonus that could matter in certain situations.

In Vintage, this card will probably see little play simply because Swords will be favored in most cases. However, if the drawback could be turned into an advantage, it might be better. For example, this card is probably better than Swords in Parfait, where you want your opponent to find a basic to trigger your Land Tax.

Much like Thorn of Amethyst has a drawback as compared to Sphere, that drawback can be turned into an advantage in the right deck. Likewise, the more this drawback can be turned into an advantage, the more likely it is to see play.

Progenitus

If a more exciting creature – from a purely flavor standpoint – has ever been printed for Type Four, I’d like to see it. The whole idea of Type Four is infinite mana. In other words, it’s that you get to play with cards that are uncastable in real formats.

There are many ways to address this card. Cards like Panacea and Forcefield prevent damage from Progenitus. Cards like Wrath of God, Final Judgment, Nevinyrral’s Disk, Oblivion Stone, Plague Wind, etc all take him out of play.

Progenitus will create waves, but it isn’t indestructible. It’s better in some ways, since it can’t be targeted by Swords to Plowshares, like Darksteel Colossus.

Salvage Slasher

Whenever Arcbound Ravager gets larger, this guy grows as well. He is also in the same color as Disciple of the Vault. I am skeptical that he’s good enough to see play in Vintage. Even a Goblin Welder can take him out. Still, it’s another tool. He might actually be most powerful in something like Suicide Virus, where you use Artificer’s Intuition aggressively. I’ll try it and let you know how it goes.

Telemin Performance

This card is Helm of Obedience at sorcery speed for Type Four. It’s good enough for many, if not most, Type Four stacks.

Thornling

Thornling is the latest iteration of Morphling (followed by Torchling). Thornling is probably good enough. It’s a functional 7/infinite, hasted, indestructible trampler. Unless you are playing a very high powered stack, this is probably good enough for you.

Traumatic Visions

Another counterspell for Type Four.

Many Type Four players include a card called “Three Islands.” I wish I could find the jpeg that someone has designed for the card. If someone knows where it is, post the URL in the forums. In any case, this card counts as either 1, 2 or 3 Islands, depending on whichever you want. That way you may play cards like Thwart for their alternative casting cost. I believe it can also be cycled. Traumatic Visions could cycle for Three Islands.

Violent Fallout

Pyroclasm has long been a popular printing in Vintage. Firespout seems to have replaced it to some extent, despite the additional mana cost. One explanation is that a number of cards such as Painter’s Servant have three toughness. I actually think that it has to do with the versatility instead. The additional damage matters, but so does the option of only blowing up flying creatures. This card provides yet another option in the same vein. It is not only uncounterable, but it hits both flying and non-flying creatures, while inflicting some damage to both players as well. The question is whether the double Red in the costing cost is too prohibitive.

I think that this card will see some usage in Vintage, with a better chance that it will see more play in the long-term. Paying for double Red is not terribly challenging to a number of decks that would be interested in using this card and that run Red. Control Slaver or Painter decks will have enough Red mana to play this. The only oddity about the card is that decks that can most easily pay for this card and could use the uncounterability, such as Mono-Red Workshop Aggro, may be decks that have the most vulnerability to it since they run the most 2/2 or smaller guys (outside of Fish).

My assessment of the card is that it is a Vintage playable card based upon its effect and its casting cost, but that there is no obvious home for it. So whether it will be played is an open question.

Join me next week as I wrap up the review of Conflux…

Stephen Menendian

It’s StarCityGames.com Awards season, and time for you to make your votes heard! The poll below contains five of Stephen’s most popular articles from 2008. Cast your vote before Sunday and choose your favorite… it’ll then go head-to-head with a host of other articles to determine the StarCityGames.com 2008 Article of the Year!

What was Stephen's best article in 2008?

Poll closed on February 1st, 2009 at 11:59 PM, EST.
Total votes: 254

(33.46%)	The Ultimate Vintage Primer
(20.08%)	Zero Variance: The Ultimate Mental Magic Format
(14.17%)	Understanding Magic
(5.51%)	Lucky, Yeah, That's the Point
(26.77%)	The Perfect Storm

Thanks for your input on this, guys. Every article this week will contain a similar poll, so be sure to vote for your favorites!