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Can it really be? Magic 2010? Counting Alpha/Beta as "First Edition," M10 is the eleventh edition Core Set. And this looks like the most exciting core set since Alpha. Alpha/Beta/Unlimited is my favorite set. It’s clear that Wizards is trying very hard to emulate that feel from the top down, but in a very modern way. At the top, they have included many iconic or tweaks of iconic cards, to keep that core set feel. At the bottom, ABU had cards like Lance, Borrowing, the Wards, Flight and Regeneration which endowed creatures with First Strike, Mountainwalk, Protection, Flying and Regeneration respectively. Wizards created cards that feature the keyword mechanics of today for the same effect. Lifelink and Indestructibility are two Auras that provide their namesake’s abilities. Somewhere in the middle is a bunch of tweaks. For example, the tweak they made to Crusade is great for the reasons Tom LaPille explained a few weeks ago. Incredibly, they simplified Terror even further. Finally, they’ve included cards that have that iconic feel, but are of more recent origin, like Ponder. M10 a great set. Since half of the set is composed of new cards, let’s take a look at potential applications in Vintage.

Before we dig into the M10 spoiler, let’s take one last look at Alara Reborn to make sure that you have your Vintage checklist in order.

4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Lorescale Coatl
1 Sen Triplets

Qasali Pridemage has already seen play in tournament winning Vintage decklists, such as the one here. Also, Lorescale Coatl has replaced Tog in some Remora Control decklists, including this tournament winning list. Sen Triplets hasn’t shown up in any Vintage Top 8 I’ve seen, but it has been bandied about as a potential card, including in Cerebral Assassin.

M10:

Elite Vanguard

He’s as good as Savannah Lions, and probably better than Isamaru for Vintage purposes, a card that has actually seen play in UW Fish decks from time to time. This guy replaces Isamaru in those lists. This guy may also see play in a Boros Legacy deck. It’s an eternal playable. Savannah Lions hasn’t been in a Vintage Top 8 since January, and before that October, so although it’s viable, I wouldn’t recommend it for your Vintage collection at this time.

Mesa Enchantress

At long last, they’ve put Verduran Enchantress in the correct color. Legacy Enchantress doesn’t run Verduran Enchantress, so that’ s probably a sign that this isn’t quite good enough.

With Enlightened Tutor and unrestricted Mox Diamond, is Parfait there? Parfait can now play much more like a Silver bullet deck. I think it’s probably not playable in Vintage until they print the version that only costs two mana. It’s not just the cost, it’s the fact that the Vintage Parfait deck doesn’t actually have enough Enchantments. If you were to make it more enchantment heavy, say, by diversifying the color scheme, it probably wouldn’t be as good.

Silence

It’s strictly inferior to Orim’s Chant, but it’s probably better, on balance, than Abeyance. With Ethersworn Canonist in print, this is a crowded market for this effect, but it’s still a useable tool. It’s also another card to combo with Isochron Scepter, for Scepter-Chant enthusiasts, god love ‘em. The unrestriction of Enlightened Tutor actually makes that combo easier to assemble in Vintage nowadays. It’s a nice, clean, core set card, much like they printed in Alpha. Props to Wizards for simplifying the idea to its bare essence. Vintage playable.

Tome Scour

This is the most efficient Millstone effect they’ve yet printed, even Memory Sluice. The effect of seeing five cards for one mana is quite powerful, especially since it goes into a zone that is so easily accessible. I wonder what sort of Flashback or Dredge cards might justify the use of this card. The "U" casting cost is one of the most important in Eternal Magic, and this brings another potential playable into the fold at that cost. Unfortunately, I can’t see any immediate applications in Vintage, but it strikes me as a potentially playable card. People talked about Mind Funeral as potentially viable, although nothing has come from it. But this card can be used on yourself, not just opponents. It’s close, but I’m not sure it’s there. Could it be better than Putrid Imp?

Mana Ichorid

4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
4 Tome Scour
4 Breakthrough
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bridge From Below
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
2 Cephalid Sage
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
2 Sadistic Hypnotist

Tomb Scour not only helps set up turn 2 victories with Bazaar and Breakthrough, it synergizes with Cephalid Coliseum, allowing Coliseum to function like a Bazaar on turn 2. Turn 1 Tome Scour, turn 2 draw step dredge, play Coliseum, activate, win!

If only they had made this an instant, then we could be using it on turn zero with Gemstone Caverns.

Probably not good enough in Vintage, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned up somewhere. The "U" casting cost is a precious slot.

Sign in Blood

This card illustrates how good Night’s Whisper is. Night’s Whisper is about to see a lot more play in Vintage. Although Night’s Whisper currently doesn’t see much play in Legacy, if there were a heavy Black home for Night’s Whisper, this could also have a place. It’s not Vintage playable.

Burning Inquiry

Drawing three cards at one mana is very powerful, no matter the drawback. The fact that your opponent gets to draw three more cards as well makes it too symmetrical. The fact that they could potentially lose three critical cards does not outweigh this drawback, although it does make things more interesting. For instance, if you were on the play in Legacy with Dredge and cast this card, you could potentially force your opponent to discard all of his or her land. This card is synergetic with Dredge and Goblin Welder, among others. In terms of interactive potential, it’s not better than Careful Study, although it isn’t bad.

Here are some potential uses:

Burning Uba Stax

4 Mishra’s Workshop
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Mountain
3 Barbarian Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
5 Moxen
3 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Tangle Wire
4 Uba Mask
4 Null Rod
4 Smokestack
3 Chalice Of The Void
4 Goblin Welder
4 Burning Inquiry
3 Crucible Worlds
2 Duplicant
1 Trinisphere

Sideboard:
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Rack And Ruin
3 Mogg Fanatic
3 Pithing Needle
2 Tormod’s Crypt

A deck like this maximizes the synergies with Burning Inquiry. Turn 1 Burning Inquiry will help you see more spells at the outset of the game, and with Crucible and Welder to recur both artifact and land alike, you will lose little out of the deal. Its potentially disruptive effect on your opponent is merely an additional upside. Also, once you have the Uba Mask lock going, Burning Inquiry is Ancestral Recall.

A less promising possibility is Mana Ichorid:

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
2 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Breakthrough
4 Burning Inquiry
2 Cephalid Sage
2 Fatestitcher
1 Flame-kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave Troll
3 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Dread Return
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bridge from Below

Turn 1 Bazaar and turn 2 Burning Inquiry should be a solid turn 2 victory. Alternatively, turn 1 Burning Inquiry and turn 2 Breakthrough, or vice versa, is an easy victory as well.

Seems like a potential playable for Vintage.

Mold Adder

This seems custom created for Vintage. It's certainly Vintage playable, and I'm excited about this card! The downside is that it's mostly a metagame choice or a sideboard card, so it will have to take up precious space. That said, I think it’s a perfect fit for Vintage aggro decks.

Vintage Aggro decks are almost an oxymoron. That said, Vintage Aggro decks remain viable, but they have to be highly disruptive. For reference, I suggested such a deck a few months ago in G/W.

G/W Beatings Featured by Stephen Menendian on 2009-05-10 (Vintage) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/17429_So_Many_Insane_Plays_Vintage_on_a_Budget_GW_Beatdown.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Lotus Petal 4 Null Rod Artifact Creatures 2 Ethersworn Canonist Creatures 4 Aven Mindcensor 4 Elvish Spirit Guide 4 Qasali Pridemage 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Vexing Shusher Enchantments 2 Choke 1 Seal of Cleansing 1 Seal of Primordium	Legendary Creatures 4 Gaddock Teeg 2 Kataki, War's Wage Basic Lands 3 Forest 3 Plains Lands 4 Savannah 1 Strip Mine 4 Wasteland 4 Windswept Heath 4 Wooded Foothills	Sideboard: 2 Choke 1 Seal of Primordium 3 Orim's Chant 4 Swords to Plowshares 1 Kataki, War's Wage 4 Tariff
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

The printings in the last few years of Aven MIndcensor, Qasali Pridemage, Ethersworn Canonist, Vexing Shusher, and Gaddock Teeg has given us enough disruptive beaters to be able to play highly disruptive non-blue aggro decks in Vintage. Dark Confidant often joins the fray as a source of card advantage, and Tarmogoyf is the fastest beatstick around.

Mold Adder could easily have a home in those shells. First of all, Mold Adder is a turn one drop. That is a spot that is problematic for the G/W deck, since there are no good ways to accelerate out on a budget and maximize Null Rod. Here is how I would adjust the deck for the new metagame with Mold Adder:

G/W Beatdown

1 Lotus Petal
4 Null Rod
4 Aven Mindcensor
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Mold Adder
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vexing Shusher
2 Pithing Needle
4 Gaddock Teeg
2 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Forest
3 Plains
4 Savannah
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

This deck is such a beating! Gaddock Teeg, Kataki, and Qasali Pridemage are murderous for Workshop decks. PIthing Needle is great against the Time Vault decks and can stop Goblin Welder and other annoying forms of recursion, like Strip Mine. It’s also good for stopping turn one Bazaar. Mold Adder is just the icing. It should significantly boost your clock. Turn 1 Mold Adder will lead to a prompt killing against any of the better decks in the format.

One of the criticisms of Mold Adder is that it’s just like HIdden Gibbons. That could not be further from the truth. Unlike Hidden Gibbons, this guy is triggered by everything from Thoughtseize to Cursecatcher. Blue and Black creatures make this guy grow as much as Blue or Black enchantments or instants. Vintage playable.

Nature’s Spiral

This is a nice attempt to fix Regrowth. Unfortunately, the best spells in Vintage are instant, sorcery or artifact. Therefore, this card is shorn of Regrowth’s most important usage.

Mirror of Fate

It’s good know that Wizards is printing cards that will reach into and extract out of the Exiled zone. Thematically, this most closely resembles Doomsday, without the advantage of exiling your deck first. Instead, this card swaps cards that are exiled to your library and vice versa. There are many ways to exile large swathes of your library, but all of them seem janky, including what’s needed to pull off a stunt like this. Unplayable.

Pithing Needle

Let me just say that the fact that this is being printed in M10 makes it one of the most important printings for Vintage. This is one of the most proxied cards in Vintage tournaments on account of that fact that many Vintage players do not own it because of its price. The fact that it’s being reprinted should help make it more accessible for Vintage players and reduce the need to proxy Pithing Needle.

It could not have come at a better time. Pithing Needle appears to be one of the all-stars in NuVintage, fighting Time Vault, Strip Mine, and Goblin Welder, among other threats.

Gargoyle Castle

This card is recurrable with Crucible of Worlds or Life from the Loam. It’s also a tutor target with Crop Rotation. However, I think it’s just a little bit too slow to really see much play in Eternal formats. That said, Barbarian Ring is used as a win condition in some Stax variants, so maybe this card is viable.

New Dual Lands: Dragonskull Summit, Drowned Catacomb, Glacial Fortress, Rootbound Crag, Sunpetal Grove

The problem is that there will be times when this is the only land in your hand, or your other land isn’t of the requisite type. If you are holding Glacial Fortress and a Wasteland, you just lost your turn 1 drop. That isn’t to say that these lands can’t be used, but both the shocklands and Ice Age painlands are superior, and even they are all worse than simple A/B/U duals. And unlike Shocklands, which are serviceable substitutes for A/B/U duals in Vintage, these guys don’t even help out in that regard since they can’t be found using an Onslaught fetchlands, a critical Vintage interaction. I’m glad that Wizards is finding new ways to print playable dual lands, but these guys don’t make the cut in Vintage.

Conclusion

M10 is an excellent set, although its contribution to Vintage is marginal, overall. There are a few cards that are Vintage playable, in the sense that they are powerful enough to see play in Vintage, but even then it’s not likely that these cards will have any significant role within the format. Many of the cards seem more exciting for Legacy, and are more readily playable in that format.

To complete your Vintage collection, here are my recommended purchases:

4 Burning Inquiry
4 Mold Adder
4 Silence
1 Gargoyle Castle

And if you have any interest in playing UW Fish in the near future, pick up a playset of Elite Vanguard as well.

Join me next week as we reach a major milestone!

Until then…

Stephen Menendian