Serious Vintage Episode 21: Team Serious Invitational

In episode 21 Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) are joined by teammate and Eternal Games store owner Paul Kim to talk about the Team Serious Holiday Invitational, get a store’s perspective on Vintage, and look ahead to 2015.


Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:
00:25 – ‘Recalls on the River’ (aka Team Serious Invitational) Wrapup
11:00 – Glass City Vault (aka Notion Thief in Combo decks)
13:35 – Nat Moes on his Dig Through Gush deck
15:30 – Jeskai Ascendancy in Vintage
27:59 – A Store Owner’s Perspective on Vintage, with Paul Kim
37:20 – Looking Ahead to Vintage in 2015
Total Runtime – 47:01

Recalls on the River (aka Team Serious Invitational December 6 2014) Video Playlist

Dig Through Gush

This is the list Nat used to claim victory at the Team Serious Holiday Invitational on December 6 2014.

Dig Through Gush, by Nat Moes, 1st Place, Team Serious Holiday Invitational

Business (41)
Force of Will
Misdirection
Flusterstorm
Thoughtseize
Hurkyl’s Recall
Gush
Preordain
Ponder
Brainstorm
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Dig Through Time
Vampiric Tutor
Mystical Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Merchant Scroll
Tinker
Gifts Ungiven
Regrowth
Fastbond
Blightsteel Colossus
Yawgmoth’s Will
Voltaic Key
Time Vault
Tendrils of Agony

Mana Sources (19)
Lotus Petal
Black Lotus
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire
Mana Crypt
Tolarian Academy
Polluted Delta
Misty Rainforest
Underground Sea
Tropical Island
Island
Sideboard (15)
Forest
Trygon Predator
Ravenous Trap
Surgical Extraction
Abrupt Decay
Toxic Deluge
Nature’s Claim
Nihil Spellbomb
Hurkyl’s Recall

The only thing to add about this deck is that you’re probably playing too few delve spells if anything. They are really that good, and there’s rarely ‘too much delve.’ If you’re interested in reading more about the deck, Nat wrote a longish report about his experience at the Invitational.

Jeskai Ascendancy

This is the list Jimmy McCarthy used to Top 4 the Team Serious Holiday Invitational on December 6 2014. It is based on Rich Shay’s Legacy Jeskai Ascendancy deck from a MTGO Daily event.

Vintage Jeskai Ascendancy, by Jimmy McCarthy, 4th Place, Team Serious Holiday Invitational

Business (42)
Force of Will
Mental Misstep
Spell Pierce
Pyroblast
Lightning Bolt
Swords to Plowshares
Gush
Gitaxian Probe
Preordain
Ponder
Brainstorm
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise
Mystical Tutor
Young Pyromancer
Fatestitcher
Jeskai Ascendancy

Mana Sources (18)
Black Lotus
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Volcanic Island
Tundra
Island
Sideboard (15)
Mindbreak Trap
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Ancient Grudge
True-Name Nemesis
Pyroblast
Swords to Plowshares
Containment Priest
Grafdigger’s Cage
Shattering Spree
Ingot Chewer

Jimmy threw this deck together the morning of the tournament, and had several terrible proxies (as were featured on camera). It is substantially similar to the versions of the deck played in Legacy and Modern, except that you can run fewer creature removal spells The main idea is to draw many, many cards, and use them to run over your opponent with Fatestitchers or Elemental tokens, with the help of Jeskai Ascendancy. This build probably needs some numbers tweaked, but it was good enough to Top 4 this mighty Ohio tournament.

Glass City Vault

Finally, this is the list Geoff used to Top 4 the Team Serious Open in Warren, Michigan on December 20 2014.

Glass City Vault, by Geoff Moes, Top 4 Team Serious Open December 20 2014

Business (35)
Fire//Ice
Hurkyl’s Recall
Nihil Spellbomb
Imperial Seal
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Tinker
Tezzeret the Seeker
Ponder
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Timetwister
Wheel of Fortune
Windfall
Thirst for Knowledge
Reforge the Soul
Thoughtcast
Memory Jar
Yawgmoth’s Will
Dack Fayden
Notion Thief
Goblin Welder
Time Vault
Voltaic Key
Tendrils of Agony

Mana Sources (25)
Mox Opal
Lotus Petal
Black Lotus
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Mana Crypt
Sol Ring
Mana Vault
Tolarian Academy
Mana Confluence
City of Brass
Seat of the Synod
Sideboard (15)
Nihil Spellbomb
Vandalblast
Grafdigger’s Cage
Toxic Deluge
Myr Battlesphere
Goblin Welder
Force of Will

Geoff went for the broken card strategy for this event, and it paid off. The plan for this deck is to combo with Time Vault, but en route to that finish, you might get to play Wheel of Fortune with Notion Thief in play. The deck draws cards seven at a time, and the artifact-heavy manabase helps ensure you have plenty of mana to play them.

Monday Night Vintage

One thing we’d like to see implemented in 2015 is the idea of Monday Night Vintage. This would be similar to Friday Night Magic – walk into a store with a Vintage deck on Monday night, and find a tournament or opponents to play against. It helps build Vintage by getting people to actually play the format, and thus brings more people into the Vintage community. And if you already play, the extra practice will only help you improve your game.

We picked Monday just because we know of several stores that already have Monday night Vintage gatherings, but people can feel free to do what works for them. All that’s required, really, is to make sure that people in your local community know about it.

Concluding Remarks

Thanks for listening! We hope to do more regular podcasting in 2015. We look forward to any questions or comments here or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.