Unlocking the Vault #27: Year 1, a Retrospective

It’s a tired cliche, but really, time does fly. When I pitched my ideas for this series to MTGO Academy, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Classic has always been a bit player to the legions of loyal Standard and Limited grinders. To their credit, MTGO Academy saw the potential and have fully supported the Classic Community. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to be a voice in the Community!

In my first article, I shared my story with all of you. I’ve found that my story is very similar to others’ who have come to the format. I’m not going to rehash everything (though I encourage you to go back and read it if you haven’t already), but I’d like to take some time today to reflect on what my goals were and which ones I met, which I need to work on, and also evaluate what I may have missed.

Goal: Write a Series of Deck Primers

One of my goals was to write deck primers for people that are new to the format or who just want to pick up a new deck and learn the ins and outs of it. I wrote several primers on the decks of the format. Here are the primers and links to their respective webpages:

Workshop
GW Hate, or Maverick
Fish
Dredge, Part 1 and Part 2
Delver
Oath
Landstill
Storm

The great thing is that while I was able to write eight different primers, I’ve only just scratched the surface of all the viable decks! Blue Control decks, Affinity, Dark Times, and even Red Deck Wins, are among the decks that I haven’t spotlighted yet. There are many others, and I’m sure I’ll get to them eventually, though. Classic is truly a diverse format. Yes, the pillars of the format by and large stay the same, but that can be said about just about any format, including Standard (Delver anyone?).

That being said, what primers would you like to see me tackle? Are any of the primers worth updating or even completely revisiting to account for changes in the metagame?

Goal: Discuss the Financial Market as it Relates to Classic

One of the ideas that I had for the series was to look at the financial market of Classic. It was an ambitious idea, and in hindsight, one best left for professionals to evaluate. On top of that, the Classic market is actually fairly easy to predict. Since the card pool does not rotate, the card prices (aside from those that are staples of formats that either rotate or have ‘Seasons’ on the MOCS circuit) are fairly stable. Prices truly are in a supply-demand dynamic. When the supply is affected by events that Wizards runs (i.e., more cards are added to the pool), prices subsequently fall. The value of Time Spiral Block after the Cube drafts is a perfect case study. Similarly, when demand for a card changed, either because the card is found in a top deck or that once dominant deck is no longer at the top of the food chain, the prices will fall.

One interesting dynamic, though, is that the floor of Classic cards is much lower, making investing in them an easier proposition. Look at Null Rod. That card has seen almost no play in months, but has maintained its $30-35 price tag all the while.

Needless to say, I do have my own thoughts on the subject. Would you like for some financial analysis going forward? I’m no Jonathan Medina or Kelly Reid, etc., but I’d like to think some of my ideas are sound and certainly worth discussing.

Goal: Evaluate New Sets for Potential Cards that are Playable in Classic

One of my regular articles has been a set review for Classic purposes. It’s always fun to go back and see what I may have missed and what turned out to be spot on. Lets start with Innistrad, the first set that I reviewed.

Snapcaster Mage – It was quite obvious that Tiago was going to be powerful. I can’t claim that my prognostication was any revelation, but the fact of the matter is that Tiago has been a staple of Classic since he was released. Going forward, it’ll always be interesting to argue which of the Invitational 2-Drops is better: Bob or Tiago.

Past in Flames – I was skeptical of this card, and it has indeed failed to make an impact in Classic. I have some hope that Red Storm could be a real deck, but realistically, Yawgmoth’s Will will be searched up 100% of the time before Past In Flames, so it is only useful as a back-up in case things go incredibly wrong.

Liliana of the Veil – I thought Liliana had a chance in Dark Times decks and so far, that has been the only place she has shown up. I’ve toyed with her in other Control decks, but aside from being a (planes)walking Diabolic Edict, she has underperformed.

Stony Silence – Since Innistrad has been released, there have been fewer GW decks showing up, likely because Workshop decks have similarly disappeared. Since GW decks are the only ones that would need a harder-to-kill Null Rod, it’s been absent from the metagame. That being said, Silence is still perfect at what it does, giving white decks a much more difficult-to-remove Null Rod.

Other cards that I thought could see some play: Witchbane Orb was promptly rendered obsolete by Grafdiggers Cage, Memorys Journey has not been necessary for Oath builds thus far, and Laboratory Maniac has not won any Classic events, though it is always a game winning consideration as new cards are introduced. With regard to the misses that I predicted, Skaab Ruinator, Nevermore, Purify the Grave, Dream Twist, and others never made an impact.

The one card I failed to recognize was none other than Delver of Secrets. When I wrote my article, I didn’t think that the little Blue Bug would be worth talking about. I did grab a playset of foils within days of the set release, before it had even made an impact on Classic at all, but I can’t take any credit for that. Delver has caused me to re-evaluate my process for looking at cards for a set to see if they would be Classic-worthy, much like Slash Panther before it.

I wrote an article regarding the release of Mercadian Masques Block online and its effect on Classic, but as all of those cards had been played in Vintage and Legacy before, it didn’t require much prognostication. The one revelation was how little of an impact Rishadan Port had on Classic. If it appeared in any decks, it was probably a 1-of in a random Workshop deck and probably didn’t even affect the outcomes of the matches that person played. I bought a couple of Ports right after release and I immediately realized that it wasn’t necessary in any deck besides Tribal Legacy decks. Yet, even Merfolk and Goblin decks have not picked up Ports. I sold my Ports and haven’t looked back. Why do you think Port made so little an impact?

Similarly, Tangle Wire has not lived up to its reputation as a Vintage staple in Workshop decks. I believe this is partly due to the Aggro-Control Devler decks running around. Blue decks can now drop a creature on Turn 1 before a Sphere hits the table and that same creature cannot only provide an efficient clock, but can also trade with Workshop’s best creature: Lodestone Golem. Wire will see play in the future, but I just think Workshop decks need to come up with a solid plan against Delver decks… maybe Mental Misstep or a Dismember out of the sideboard?

I did not write a full Dark Ascension review. I didn’t think there were enough cards to discuss for an entire article. I did, however, write a full article on Grafdiggers Cage. Time has shown us that Cage is a fine sideboard card, but even my predictions of main-decking the card have yet to come true. Perhaps the sheer number of Delver decks running around makes the maindeck slot better served as more versatile disruption than a Tinker-bot/Storm/Oath/Dredge hate card.

It’s too soon to judge the cards from Avacyn Restored, but my early testing has shown that Miracles are underwhelming and that even Griselbrand has not performed as well as I had hoped. Speaking of #Griselbanned, I’ve been testing with him as much as I can (which has not been all that often as of late) in various decks. I’ve tried Show and Tell decks and of course, and Dredge. It’s been hit or miss with Show and Tell… sometimes I get the nut draw and have countermagic protection… other times, I sit there doing nothing trying to assemble a hand with #GriselBanned and Show and Tell. Dredge worked as you would expect. If you can get him on the battlefield, there is virtually no way to lose. You simply dredge your entire deck with his Draw 7 ability, Dread Return a Flame-Kin Zealot and attack with an army of hasty 3/3s and an 8/8 flying lifelinker. I don’t even think FKZ is really necessary since you’d be hard pressed to lose unless they have a Swords to Plowshares in their hand which you should have stripped away with Cabal Therapy anyway.

I then tried a Bargain-Spike decklist that simply swapped out Yawgmoth’s Bargain for 4 Griselbrand. Much like the other Show and Tell decks, it was very hit or miss. For those curious, here is the Grisel-Spike decklist:

The deck is a work in progress; some cards I’m simply experimenting with include Devastation Tide and a disruption package with Misdirection. The idea is to cast a Show and Tell and get Griselbrand on the board. From there you will draw anywhere from 7-14 cards, depending on your life total. Soul Spike helps eliminate tough creature threats and helps stabilize your life while you pitch any extra Griselbrands and other unnecessary black cards to pay for its alternate casting cost. While the potential is there to use your new hand to storm into a win right then and there just as Bargain-Spike would, the upside is that even if you somehow miss, you still have a 7/7 Flying Lifelinker to help win the game.

If you are interested in trying this deck out, you’ll have to account for the fast decks in the format. The potential is there for a Turn 1 or Turn 2 kill, but the average is Turn 4, or much worse if you keep drawing blanks. Splashing red for Pyroclasms might be the way to go, but the mana base will probably be pretty ugly.

Goal Round-up

Sorry about that sidetrack involving my latest brew. Getting back on point, I think I was able to accomplish the goals that I set out to do. There is room for improvement, so I think for Year 2, that’s one of the things I’ll focus on. Moving on, let’s discuss the format and how it’s evolved over the past year.

Musings on What has Impacted Classic in the Past Year

Several notable events have happened in the past 12 months. I’d like to take some time to reflect on them and discuss what they mean for the future of Classic. Here is my Top 5 list for notable events of the last year in no particular order:

1. Modern’s Impact

A few weeks after I started writing, Wizards unveiled a new Eternal format, meant to replace the aging and unattractive Extended format. Thus far, Modern is a thriving format and fires Daily Events every single day, despite being in the PTQ ‘off-season.’

The introduction of Modern has had impact on Classic: good and bad. The ‘Good’ aspect of Modern is that it has spiked the monetary value of many cards that saw Eternal play which were only owned by Classic/Legacy players (and perhaps a few Extended hold-outs) before. Cards like Hurkyl’s Recall, Affinity staples, Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, Kataki, Wars Wage, Ensnaring Bridge, Thoughtseize, Dark Confidant, etc., have all seen a bump in value. Of course, that’s only good if you already owned them, but anything to prop up the value of a collection is nice, right? Also, while it hasn’t really made any strides yet, having a non-rotating format that is being played at the highest of levels (Pro Tour) could bring people to Legacy and Classic since their Modern collection includes a number of Classic staples as well. I mean, look at the Delver decks in Modern vs. Classic. Yes, Force of Will and the dual lands are large financial speed bumps, but aside from those, the decks are nearly similar. I think that one could reasonably use their profits from grinding Modern events to fund their evolution into Classic if they so choose.

On the not-so-positive side, Modern has taken a few players away from Classic. There are a handful of players whom I’ve seen regularly playing in Modern events who have not played in Classic for months. This is a problem, but the solution is to simply fire the Classic events to bring those people back. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think the allure of prizes in Modern and the lack of events in Classic have caused the switch. It could also be due to the fact that Modern is a PTQ format, yet these same people I’m seeing are continuing to play Modern months after the Modern PTQ season has ended.

2. All the Pre-Invasion Blocks Have Been Released

With the release of Mercadian Masques Block in December of 2011, all of the Pre-Invasion blocks have been released in the client. This was no small feat. It took several years and a lot of faith on the players part to work within the confines of a format that had one of the strangest card pools available.

While I wrote a set review discussing the cards that were poised to make an impact, I didn’t discuss what it meant for Classic going forward. Obviously, there are a few cards that are still not available on MTGO. There is lots of speculation for how those cards will (or won’t) be released in the client. Worth Wolpert has been on the record as saying that they see a time when full Vintage is available on MTGO, but that they don’t currently have a plan to do so.

With that being said, there are two ways to look at it: Either there is no plan to speak of and they are a long way off from implementing anything, or they are withholding their true intentions and actually have a plan but aren’t ready to announce it yet (hey, doesn’t everyone love a good conspiracy theory?). In all seriousness, no matter what the case may be, Classic is a great format with the most unique card pool in all of Magic. If full Vintage never makes its way to MTGO, I won’t have a problem with that.

3. The Creation of the Classic League

MMogg had the wherewithal to form a weekly league for Classic to help those players who are interested in the format but cannot find the time to join the scheduled events due to real-life scheduling issues. The League was also free to participate with the community offering up donated prizes to those who finish in the Top 8.

To say that it was an instant hit would be an understatement. Credit goes out to MMogg for taking the time to run four different leagues in the last ten months.

4. Winter Celebration

In December 2011, Wizards announced the Winter Celebration would be dedicated to Classic. Having Masques Block released, this was a great program that Wizards threw for the community. The prize support was top-notch, the events were scheduled regularly each day, and everyone who participated received a text-less Ponder promo card!

The event was a success with nearly every event firing with more than the 16-person minimum. The momentum from the event was short-lived. I can’t put my finger on what exactly happened, but I think many people got simply burned out by the sheer amount of Classic that they played in such a short period of time. The take-away is that there are plenty of people out there with collections and who are willing to play the format. All we need is some more momentum to get the ball rolling again.

5. Erik Friborg Tournaments

More recently, BlippyTheSlug hosted two large-scale events to celebrate Erik Friborg’s birthday. Players from around the world showed up to play in the free event that awarded prizes to nearly every person who participated.

Again, this was a great demonstration of the community rallying for a good cause and show that there are plenty of people that are interested in the format.

Looking Forward

For the next year, I hope to improve upon the foundation that I’ve established with Unlocking the Vault. It will also be important to add new features and ideas into the mix.

As for Classic, we have a new schedule of Daily Events, including 2 events each day of the weekend, Friday included. The week-nights are also filled Monday through Thursday. Several people expressed their feeling that these event times are in fact the best in which to fire events regularly. I know it’s a big change and people need to adjust after having the same schedule for so long, but we as a community no longer can use the time of the events as an excuse for not getting them to fire.

The Classic format is ever-evolving. The diverse card pool allows for creative decks to be made. I’m constantly in search of new brews (such as the Grisel-Spike deck earlier) and I hope to bring some of them to you in the future.

Wrap-up

In the comment section of my first article, I wrote: “If I can show people who might be interested in Classic how fun and accessible it can be… then I will consider this series a success.” I believe that I was able to reach my main goal. It’s something that, going forward, will always be in my mind each and every time I sit down to write an article. Classic is an excellent format and I enjoy sharing it with all of you every other week, just as I hope you look forward to reading it.

I’d love to hear from the audience about what you’d like to see more of in the future. Do you enjoy videos and commentary? Are the primers helpful? What about the metagame reports? Is there something else that you’d like to see which is entirely different? What about a podcast with other guests? I’m all ears! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

enderfall
Clan Magic Eternal
Follow me on Twitter @enderfall