Eternal Weekend is coming up at the end of the week, and this is the first year I will be able to attend the Vintage Championship since it moved from Gen Con in 2013. This is very exciting for me. I’ve been playing Magic: The Gathering since 1995, playing Vintage since 2005, and writing about it regularly for two years (formerly at LegitMTG), and even though I’ve played in Champs before, I finally acquired a complete set of Power that I’ll be able to use in full. This time, it’s official.

Why Play Vintage?

Likewise, everyone with a Magic deck can play Vintage. Standard decks are legal. Most Modern and Legacy decks would be legal, too, though some (with Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, or Trinisphere and the like) would need to adjust for the restricted list. Decks like Affinity and Delver even have pretty close analogs in Vintage that experienced pilots would be able to leverage to earn some wins. But there’s still that power gap between Vintage and the rest of Magic that usually only money will close.

So, just as viewers can enjoy F1 racing at home on television, many players will be relegated to the sidelines to watch Vintage Champs coverage on stream, just as I had to the past couple of years. It’s a good opportunity to experience some of the tension and excitement vicariously, and seeing some of the nuances of Vintage play out should encourage people to try the format. Many new players and viewers acknowledge that the format is more balanced and interactive than they had previously assumed based on the powerful cards available. The interactions are fresh and different from those in other formats, and even though some of the cards might be older than their players, there’s always something new to see.

The point is that, with a small collection of cards (many of which will be playable in Legacy, Modern, or Commander), Vintage really isn’t as out of reach as some detractors would have people believe. Rather, it’s a fun format with a great group of casual and competitive diehards that is always looking for new ways to get people playing.

I recommend it especially to train new Magic muscles. Instead of focusing on combat math and maximizing removal as in more creature-focused formats, you can learn to interact on the stack with intricate counter wars, aggressively draw and dig for threats and answers, and navigate a storm turn or Mishra's Workshop prison complex. It’s a different set of skills, but like those learned in Standard, Legacy, or whatever your format of choice, they still apply in Magic across the board in different forms.

A Vintage Overview

Plus, the pillars aren’t as flexible as they need to be. Can you imagine trying to do something similar with Legacy, trying to fit everything into boxes for the duration of a nonrotating format? Vintage changes with new printings (and restrictions and unrestrictions) just like other formats, so why not look at its decks with the same eye as other formats? Top down, what are the decks you’ll see at Vintage Champs, and how do they play?

Most decks in Vintage can still be categorized using the rock-paper-scissors analogue of aggro-combo-control, where aggro loses to combo, which loses to control, which loses to aggro, although of course it’s not that simple. These categories should be familiar to most players, but there are some differences in Vintage, too. In Vintage, there are two additional archetypes that don’t always appear elsewhere: tempo and prison. Tempo decks fall between control and aggro; rather than answering specific threats like control, they rely on early threats and some generic control and delaying tactics to win before the opponent’s game plan can be enacted. Prison decks try to prevent opponents from playing anything at all using a strict regimen of mana denial and cost increasers.

Right now, there are four top decks in Vintage: Forgemaster Shops (sometimes called Martello Shops), Monastery Mentor Control, B/U/G Griselbrand Oath, and Dredge. The Forgemaster and Mentor decks are both using the most powerful cards available, and Oath and Dredge both exist as reactions to those. The lists presented here are just examples of what to look for.

Forgemaster Shops — Prison, Aggro, Combo

Forgemaster Shops ? Vintage | Montolio

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Sundering Titan
• 1 Triskelion
• 2 Hangarback Walker
• 4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 4 Lodestone Golem
• 4 Phyrexian Revoker

• Spells (24)
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Nin
• 1 Trinisphere
• 2 Sphere of Resistance
• 4 Chalice of the Void
• 4 Tangle Wire
• 4 Thorn of Amethyst

• Lands (18)
• 1 Strip Mine
• 4 Ancient Tomb
• 4 Mishra's Factory
• 4 Mishra's Workshop
• 4 Wasteland
• 1 Tolarian Academy

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Batterskull
• 3 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage
• 3 Metalworker
• 2 Precursor Golem
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine

Buy This Deck

Currently, this is the top deck in the format, evidenced by Brian Demars and Paul Mastriano winning Champs byes at Gen Con. As with most Mishra's Workshop–based decks, the primary plan is prison, preventing the opponent from playing spells with Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, and Chalice of the Void. From there, the deck can win using either beatdown with Lodestone Golem (using Tangle Wire to hold the opponent’s head under) or switch to combo mode with an active Kuldotha Forgemaster. It’s a brutal attack, and the transition from prison to a creature-based endgame is facilitated by the deck’s superior mana, which helps it play around its own lock pieces.

However, the Workshop archetype is linear and has very few ways to draw cards, fix its hand, or find answers in a hurry without Kuldotha Forgemaster. This means that, in many cases, if the opponent can pull ahead with creatures, mana, or a bomb like Tinker or Oath of Druids, it’s possible to stay ahead and win the game. Massive amounts of cheap (because of the Spheres), creature-based (because of Thorn), and broadly costed (because of Chalice) artifact removal is the answer. Ingot Chewer and Hurkyl's Recall are the current best places to start, but there are plenty of cards that say, “Destroy target artifact.”

Monastery Mentor — Control, Combo, Tempo

Monastery-mora ? Vintage | Kevin Cron

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Monastery Mentor

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Dack Fayden

• Spells (37)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Mindbreak Trap
• 1 Misdirection
• 2 Swords to Plowshares
• 3 Dig Through Time
• 3 Gush
• 4 Flusterstorm
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 3 Mystic Remora
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring

• Lands (16)
• 2 Island
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 3 Tundra
• 3 Volcanic Island
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Ingot Chewer
• 4 Containment Priest
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 3 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains

Buy This Deck

Monastery Mentor decks, and closely related Young Pyromancer Delver decks, use the Best Draw Engine in Vintage (Preordain into Gush into Dig Through Time) to control the game and then combo with their namesake creature. There’s also potential to land Mentor, Pryomancer, or Delver of Secrets early and win just by playing a few key counter and draw spells in a tempo role. As they’re built now, Mentor decks are usually going to be control–combo, using fewer creatures and holding the game until Mentor resolves and then using it like a white Tendrils of Agony to win next turn. Delver decks with Pyromancer are usually tempo-oriented, with more creatures that come down earlier and win before the opponent can establish.

Because these decks are meant to run lean, on light mana bases supported by an extensive and powerful draw engine, one of the best ways opponents can beat them is with a Mishra's Workshop–based prison strategy. Dropping an early threat—especially like Oath of Druids, which takes advantage of the creatures Mentor and Delver decks play—can also be an effective counter strategy, setting up a combo before the draw engine comes online. In either case, it’s really the draw engine that needs to be stopped. Once multiple Gushes or Digs resolve, the game can get out of hand for Mentor’s opponents quickly.

Oath of Druids — Control, Combo

B/U/G Oath ? Vintage | Rich Shay

• Creatures (3)
• 3 Griselbrand

• Spells (42)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Memory's Journey
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 2 Misdirection
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Show and Tell
• 4 Preordain
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Time Vault
• 1 Voltaic Key

• Lands (15)
• 2 Island
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 2 Tropical Island
• 2 Underground Sea
• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 4 Misty Rainforest

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Pithing Needle
• 4 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Nature's Claim
• 1 Forest
• 2 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Strip Mine

Buy This Deck

Oath of Druids is a regular part of the Vintage metagame as the most efficient way to bring the format’s best creatures into play; currently, that creature is Griselbrand. Most of the time, the deck combines Oath with Forbidden Orchard to trigger it, but that’s less important now that the format’s two best decks are playing and winning with multiple creatures. The game plan is often to control the game with counters and removal until Oath resolves. Then, with Griselbrand drawing cards, the deck either switches immediately to a fast combo win with Time Vault and Voltaic Key (or even, like, Time Walk) or it continues controlling the game with a 7/7 flying, lifelinking, draw engine.

As a deck, Oath works because its primary game plan is so simple: All you have to do is resolve a 2-drop enchantment and have it survive a turn until its trigger can resolve, too. That’s relatively easy against Workshop prison and against Mentor or Delver decks before their draw engines come online. Post-’board, Oath meets its biggest challenge when answers like Grafdigger's Cage and Containment Priest come in. Usually, these games push Oath into an even stronger control game, where Abrupt Decay is the critical answer.

Dredge — Combo, Aggro

Dredge ? Vintage | Travis Compton

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Fatestitcher
• 1 Flame-Kin Zealot
• 2 Ingot Chewer
• 3 Golgari Thug
• 3 Ichorid
• 4 Bloodghast
• 4 Golgari Grave-Troll
• 4 Narcomoeba
• 4 Stinkweed Imp
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

• Spells (17)
• 1 Nature's Claim
• 2 Dread Return
• 2 Unmask
• 4 Cabal Therapy
• 4 Bridge from Below
• 4 Serum Powder

• Lands (16)
• 1 Dakmor Salvage
• 3 Petrified Field
• 4 Bazaar of Baghdad
• 4 Mana Confluence
• 4 Undiscovered Paradise

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Ingot Chewer
• 3 Wispmare
• 3 Rending Volley
• 2 Contagion
• 1 Chain of Vapor
• 2 Nature's Claim
• 2 Unmask

Buy This Deck

Post-’board, Dredge has several options, mostly based on the assumption that the opponent will bring in swaths of graveyard-hate cards: again Grafdigger's Cage and Containment Priest, but also things like Ravenous Trap, Tormod's Crypt, and Yixlid Jailer. Usually, Dredge would try to overwhelm its opponent’s hate with anti-hate—things like bounce and artifact or creature removal. Dredge may also go around by simply hard-casting its creatures and attacking; Narcomoeba and Bloodghast can go a long way. Other sideboard plans might turn Dredge into a non-graveyard combo (Divining Witch and Laboratory Maniac; Vampire Hexmage and Dark Depths) or into a bigger aggro deck (Dragonlord Dromoka and more mana, no kidding).

Beyond these four, there are many other decks that will do well at Vintage Champs, but they won’t be as commonly played. Merfolk (tempo, aggro) won in 2013, played by Joel Lim, and is still a threat with counters, landwalk, and a solid mana base. Landstill (based around Standstill and Mishra's Factory, usually in blue with white, red, or both) and The Answer (U/R based around Magus of the Moon and Chalice of the Void) are both strong control decks with prison plans that have been good against both Dig Through Time and Forgemasters.

Pure combo—which in Vintage is usually represented by Tendrils of Agony storm decks, but has also included those that aggressively play for Time Vault and Voltaic Key (Steel City Vault variants) and things like Goblin Charbelcher—hasn’t been a major presence recently, but it always has a chance to win just because its cards are so objectively powerful. Usually, these decks will have a few counterspells for control, and they may be able to hold the fort a few turns, but the main idea in Game 1 is going to be combo, winning in one big turn.

You probably notice that all of the decks have a combo element. This is part the nature of Vintage: Games can end quickly when one player or the other is out of answers. I should add that it’s rare for this to occur early (that is, on turn one) without a decent punch and counterpunch from both sides.

You may also notice that there really aren’t many straight aggro decks. It may be a backup plan for some decks if, instead of finding their game winning combo pieces, they just find more random dudes, but there’s not a Zoo-type deck in Vintage and hasn’t been for several years. Some of the more regular attempts at aggro are made by decks like Affinity, Goblins, and Infect, all of which (of course) have combo elements as well.

So that’s the quick guide to Vintage for anyone watching this year’s Eternal Weekend coverage. Of course, if you can actually be on site to play and watch some games and hang out, that’s even better, but I guarantee no shortage of great cards, crazy plays, and discussion the following Monday. I’ll be back with a follow-up report then as well, looking at where Vintage is going in the last third of 2015.

Thanks for reading! I’m looking forward to hosting lots more Vintage content here. Feel free to contact me here or on Twitter with any questions or comments.

Nat Moes

@GrandpaBelcher