Vintage Magic: The Gathering changes regularly, despite some of its most steadfast and powerful cards being some of the game’s oldest. There’s a lot of inertia; it takes something big to cause sweeping adjustments, but they do happen—Lodestone Golem’s printing, for example, or the release of Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time (and the subsequent restriction of Treasure Cruise).

It’s always interesting in the early rounds to hear of decks that flash on people’s radars:

• “Did you hear there’s a Splinter Twin deck at the top tables?”
• “Dragon is still in at 4–2? Awesome!”
• “He had Living Wish to get Tolarian Academy and play ’Belcher on turn one.”
• “He was playing Infect. I just couldn’t keep up.”

Most of these rogue competitors will drop off, slowly but surely, and fall into the obscure mix of decks that performed slightly better than average. Others keep their heads above the fray, winning without any expectations. Good cards make good decks is helpful advice in Vintage, but sometimes, “bad” cards make good decks, too—even starting at the very top.

Dromoka-Salvagers Oath ? Vintage | Brian Kelly

• Creatures (3)
• 1 Auriok Salvagers
• 1 Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1 Griselbrand

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Dack Fayden
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (36)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Repeal
• 2 Dig Through Time
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 3 Force of Will
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Time Walk
• 3 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sol Ring
• 2 Pyrite Spellbomb
• 2 Sensei's Divining Top

• Lands (17)
• 1 Island
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 3 Mana Confluence
• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 1 Tolarian Academy

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Mental Misstep
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Nihil Spellbomb
• 3 Tormod's Crypt
• 2 Nature's Claim
• 2 Steel Sabotage
• 1 Magus of the Moat
• 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
• 2 Sudden Shock

Buy This Deck

Format champion Brian Kelly has been winning with this list for several months now. Oath of Druids is a strong plan against decks that have to win with creatures like Delver of Secrets and Monastery Mentor and against many Workshops lists, which may not lock out a 2-drop enchantment in time. Beyond this, though, the list has so many different angles to attack, whether incoming or outgoing. Besides the aforementioned Oath, there’s also control and Planeswalkers, hard-cast Griselbrand or Dragonlord Dromoka (neither of which is out of the question with fast Vintage mana), and the Bomberman combo of Salvagers, Black Lotus, and Pyrite Spellbomb. Trying to stop any of those can be tricky; trying to stop all of them can be impossible.

Another thing to note is the deck’s plan against Mishra's Workshop prison plans, starting with the twenty-five-card mana base. This is extensive compared many current Vintage lists and includes big mana-producer Tolarian Academy and Mana Confluence (along with Oath’s partner Forbidden Orchard) to ensure that colors are never cut off. Main-decked Dack Fayden isn’t uncommon, but it works better with more fast mana and can steal more if necessary to hard-cast the big creatures. Ancient Grudge is great when cast from hand, but it also flashes back when put into the ’yard by Oath, like drawing an extra card. Engineered Explosives works similarly when brought back by Auriok Salvagers and can be cast through Sphere of Resistance effects, even for 0, with the help of colorless mana. Post-’board, there are six more anti-artifact cards to bring in for sure, and Magus of the Moat, Steel Hellkite, and Sudden Shock (for Phyrexian Revoker) might be considerations, too.

Brian Kelly built a winner for sure, and congratulations to him on his victory. If you’re interested in his take on the deck, he wrote a report for a previous event that’s worth reading, not just for the tech, but also for the wit. To answer the criticism of there being only three Force of Wills: “Winning a game of Magic politely asks that you Hymn to Tourach yourself as infrequently as possible.”

Jeskai Planeswalkers ? Vintage | John Grudzina

• Creatures (1)
• 1 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (7)
• 1 Narset Transcendent
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 4 Dack Fayden

• Spells (36)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Brainstorm
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 2 Mana Drain
• 2 Pyroblast
• 2 Swords to Plowshares
• 3 Dig Through Time
• 3 Mental Misstep
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 3 Preordain
• 1 Moat
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sol Ring

• Lands (16)
• 2 Island
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 3 Tundra
• 3 Volcanic Island
• 4 Flooded Strand

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 2 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 4 Containment Priest
• 4 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Wear // Tear
• 1 Mountain

Buy This Deck

Planeswalker, as in this Top 8 list from John Grudzina, is the card type that is currently most difficult for Vintage opponents to hate out. Planeswalkers’ spell-like effects function no matter how many Sphere effects or Wastelands a Workshop deck plays, and most of them have some self-preservation ability that works directly against creatures. Lightning Bolt and other direct damage can be played around by careful application of their plus abilities, and direct removal like Dreadbore and Hero's Downfall isn’t played because it isn’t flexible enough. Using seven Planeswalkers—four Dack Fayden, two Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and one Narset Transcendent—with strong card advantage abilities, alongside Preordains and Dig Through Times, means getting ahead and staying ahead in card quantity and quality.

Most of the remaining cards are typical Jeskai removal and counters. The most interesting ones include Supreme Verdict and Moat, both with devastating potential against anything creature-based; Mana Drain, which hasn’t been seen frequently of late but helps keep mana active when casting Planeswalkers; and, especially here, Time Walk. As one of the Power 9, it’s rare that Time Walk is bad, but it will be so much better here, where it allows the pilot to gain multiple uses out of one or more Planeswalkers. I’m a little leery of having so few “simple” win conditions (since Dack and Narset aren’t often game-winners on their own), but it clearly worked for John, and Jace is very good.

Grixis Thieves ? Vintage | Robert Green

• Creatures (6)
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 2 Notion Thief
• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 3 Dack Fayden

• Spells (34)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 2 Dismember
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 3 Mana Drain
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Tinker
• 1 Toxic Deluge
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 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 Time Vault
• 1 Voltaic Key

• Lands (16)
• 2 Island
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 2 Volcanic Island
• 3 Underground Sea
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1 Tolarian Academy

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Engineered Plague
• 2 Energy Flux
• 1 Mountain
• 3 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Slaughter Games
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Yixlid Jailer
• 3 Grafdigger's Cage

Buy This Deck

If you’re looking to get into Vintage and want a deck with classic Vintage feel and powerful cards, start here. This deck has the best cards in the format, including Mana Drain, the comeback kid.

For a long while, Grixis decks powered by Dark Confidant and Jace, the Mind Sculptor, were a deck to beat in Vintage. In fact, it took home the Championship painting in 2012, in the hands of Marc Lanigra. The decks went away, as they had trouble keeping up with Gush decks and, later, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, but they came back with a vengeance at the hands of LSV in the Vintage Super League’s second season.

The new list has a strong game against Workshop variants, starting with (again) a large, twenty-four-card mana base and several main-decked Dack Faydens. Against decks running the Best Draw Engine in Vintage (Preordain into Gush into Dig Through Time), they can use fast mana to accelerate into Notion Thief or shut down big delve spells with Mana Drain. Grixis Thieves has enough tutors and draws of its own to set up Time Vault with Voltaic Key or it can control the game long enough to win with creatures, including hard-cast Consecrated Sphinx (like Notion Thief, a combo with Dack) or Tinker into Sphinx of the Steel Wind.

Mono-Red Shops ? Vintage | Matthew Deering

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Gorilla Shaman
• 4 Goblin Welder
• 2 Razormane Masticore
• 3 Solemn Simulacrum
• 4 Lodestone Golem
• 4 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 4 Phyrexian Revoker

• Spells (17)
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Nin
• 3 Sword of Fire and Ice

• Lands (20)
• 7 Mountain
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Strip Mine
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Mishra's Factory
• 3 Wasteland
• 4 Mishra's Workshop

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Duplicant
• 2 Rack and Ruin
• 2 Smash to Smithereens
• 4 Grafdigger's Cage
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 2 Witchbane Orb

Buy This Deck

I have a soft spot in my heart for Mono-Red Workshop decks, mostly because I love Goblin Welder. It has applications against most decks’ counterspells and removal, and (especially alongside “Mox Monkey” Gorilla Shaman) it can wreck an artifact player’s day. Its big weakness, one that keeps it out of more lists currently, is Mental Misstep, but Lightning Bolt, Swords to Plowshares, and Phyrexian Revoker aren’t helping either.

Matthew Deering’s Shops build is actually closer to a Mishra's Workshop–powered hate-bears list than it is to more prison-like colorless Shop decks. It has twenty-three creatures along with Lightning Bolts and Sword of Fire and Ice to get through blockers and removal, and it lacks Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, Chalice of the Void, and Tangle Wire. The plan here would be to delay the opponent just long enough for the heavy hitters—namely Lodestone Golem, but also Phyrexian Metamorph copying Lodestone Golem or anything carrying Sword of Fire and Ice—to get in and finish off the opponent.

It appears that this list would be especially strong against most opposing Workshop decks since its mana matches theirs and could keep up with their Spheres. However, I wonder if the Phyrexian Revokers and lone Pithing Needle are good enough to beat an early Kuldotha Forgemaster on the other side of the board.

Dark Petition Storm ? Vintage | Jesse Martin

• Spells (47)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Echoing Truth
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Rebuild
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 3 Cabal Ritual
• 4 Dark Ritual
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Mind's Desire
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Time Walk
• 1 Timetwister
• 1 Tinker
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Yawgmoth's Will
• 2 Tendrils of Agony
• 4 Dark Petition
• 4 Duress
• 1 Necropotence
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Lotus Petal
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Memory Jar
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Pearl
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 3 Mox Opal

• Lands (13)
• 1 Island
• 1 Library of Alexandria
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Underground Sea
• 1 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1 Tolarian Academy

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Rebuild
• 3 Hurkyl's Recall
• 4 Defense Grid
• 1 Strip Mine
• 3 Wasteland
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 1 Toxic Deluge

Buy This Deck

I wasn’t surprised to see a fast storm combo deck sneak into the Top 32 despite the proliferation of counterspells and prison artifacts. Similar to Robert Greene’s Grixis Thieves list, Jesse Martin’s list of powerful Vintage spells and a strong “answer-this” game plan gives an advantage over decks that take time to set up or are trying to do “fair” things. And like Grixis Thieves, I would recommend this as a must-try for anyone interested in playing Vintage. Even from a goldfishing standpoint, navigating a storm turn is fun and exciting, and it’s very much in line with what the format can do.

The plan against Workshops is even more interesting. The deck adds a typical set of Hurkyl's Recalls and Rebuild, but also adds a Strip Mine, three Wastelands, and an Ancient Tomb. The quartet of Waste effects plays a double-role in the matchup: First, they provide additional free mana sources, even though colorless; second, they can potentially stall a Workshop deck under its own lock pieces. Destroying a Mishra's Workshop will set an opponent back a long way, buying more time for the combo deck to build mana and sculpt its hand into a game-winning bounce-everything-and-go-off play. It’s a clever idea, one that will probably show up more frequently if it continues testing well.

Cheat Codes Oath ? Vintage | by Matt Mercer

• Creatures (3)
• 1 Blazing Archon
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 1 Griselbrand

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 3 Dack Fayden

• Spells (30)
• 1 Ancestral Recall
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Hurkyl's Recall
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Time Walk
• 2 Show and Tell
• 2 Energy Flux
• 2 Propaganda
• 4 Oath of Druids
• 1 Black Lotus
• 1 Mox Emerald
• 1 Mox Jet
• 1 Mox Ruby
• 1 Mox Sapphire
• 1 Sol Ring
• 4 Chalice of the Void

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Island
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Tropical Island
• 1 Underground Sea
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 2 Misty Rainforest
• 2 Scalding Tarn
• 3 Ancient Tomb
• 4 Forbidden Orchard
• 4 Wasteland
• 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 3 Ravenous Trap
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 3 Sudden Shock
• 1 Crucible of Worlds

Buy This Deck

Most current blue decks use a draw engine to stay ahead of opponents and then counter or manage threats with cards from the hand. Matt Mercer’s Cheat Codes deck forgoes this strategy and relies on permanents to control opposing players’ games. Chalice of the Void has been used alongside Oath of Druids before (since the deck’s main threat costs only 2 mana), but here, it’s accentuated by Energy Flux against Workshop decks and Propaganda against creature-based and token strategies. These are even further augmented by The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, a Strip Mine, and Wastelands to knock an opponent’s mana down even further.

This is not a strategy that appeals to everyone. Some players would rather have the precision of a Flusterstorm than the blanket of a Propaganda. And there’s plenty of opportunity for criticism, citing times when the deck provides Energy Flux against a non-artifact deck or allows a turn-one Chalice of the Void followed by a string of top-decked Moxes. Dead draws (starting with all the giant creatures, even with Show and Tell) have long been a problem for Oath decks, however, and the deck continues winning since its shell of blue cards and efficient win condition are so good.

Mercer wrote a thorough deck analysis and tournament report as well. There are some great insights on his way of attacking the format. It’s worth a read if only to inspire similar-style deck-building ventures.

Other Vintage Champs top performers have written reports on their experiences and reports, too. I’ll recommend two in particular. Stephen Menendian has a powerful modern take on the Gro lists of a few years ago with Pyromancer Gro 2015, and Danny Batterman played a novel version of Tolarian Academy Belcher, using Living Wish rather than Expedition Map to get the eponymous land and some other tricks (like Kuldotha Forgemaster out of nowhere!).

Truly, it’s amazing what a large event like the 2015 Eternal Weekend will do for a relatively small format like Vintage. We get an entire season’s worth of results, decklists, and testing done in just forty-eight hours. We also form a fuller look at the Vintage metagame. It’s a slightly different look from the typical U.S. metagame, which allows proxies to a large degree, but there’s still enough Power and a sense of, “I’m playing this because I think it’s the best deck,” (rather than, “I’m playing this because it’s the only thing I can afford”) that the overall picture is clear.

Basically, I hope you’re not sick of Vintage Championships analysis yet. With a restricted list update on the horizon (September 28, since I know I always have to look it up now), there’s a lot riding on what happened at the largest Vintage tournament ever.

Thanks for reading!

Nat Moes