Vintage- The Lost format

A M:TG Vintage Blog

My name is Joshua Butler and I play Vintage... I don't just play Vintage, I embrace Vintage as a format. Everything I love about M:TG can be found in vintage. But what is Vintage?

Vintage is Magic's oldest format. Allowing ALL cards from all expansions to be used. All the way from Alpha to Innistrad (at the time of writing). With over 10,000 different cards in the cardpool, Vintage is a uniquely deep, riveting and expanding format, with new gems being discovered and new interactions being created every year. All of the most powerful strategies ever created are tested against each other, where every card matters, every card choice in your deck construction counts, not just in your Main Deck but your sideboard is a part of your deck as well. Vintage is a fiercely skill intensive format, where every decision you make may be your undoing or that of your opponents. But most of all, Vintage is FUN. Vintage has that undefinable spark that keeps me coming back to it.

But unfortunately Vintage does not seem to hold that spark for many. I can see the reasons for holding such views, that is, I know the reasons many inherently dislike Vintage. I don't understand why people hold the views that they do without ever trying to play the format. There are many, many myths surrounding the Vintage format. They generally involve:

Cost- That Vintage decks and even some cards cost more than their owners houses

Luck/Speed- That all games are basically decided by the die roll. Who goes first wins

Interaction: Or lack thereof, that barring Force of Will, you will die before your first turn (this is a part of point 2)

Originality: That there is no such thing as an original deck in Vintage

B0lue: (This more of an eternal problem as with legacy). The Best decks are always Blue decks or decks with Blue in them.

While some of the myths do have a ring of truth to them, none individually or collectively complete the story of Vintage. I have seen deck that must have cost thousands and I have seen decks that have played competitively for under $500 (the price of a cheap Legacy Deck). I have never seen a die roll decide a match but I have seen that die roll heavily influence matches. I have seen a Belcher deck go off turn 0 and I have seen a Landstill deck win by beat down with a singleton Mishra's Factory. I have seen a home brew win and I have seen many of my own fail. They all come in the highs and lows of Vintage where everything is possible.

I am going to try and combat these myths where ever I can, bring the Vintage format to others so that this little format of ours can see regular tournaments and a fair number of people playing. My aim is to grow my local Vintage scene into something we can be proud of. I am going to try to bring to you my vintage journey from here out. I may write about what I am currently doing/playing or working on or I may set out my views on Vintage as it stands. Until next time I write...