Vintage 101: College Scholarships
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of Vintage 101! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're going to be taking a look at the start of Secrets of Strixhaven for Vintage! In addition, we've got our weekly recap as well as Challenges from last week. We've also got a look at the Showcase Qualifier from the end of the season.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
SCHOOL?!
Yep, we are back to another Standard spoiler season, this time with Secrets of Strixhaven! A return to Strixhaven is pretty cool, as the first set gave us a lot of really interesting cards, and this one is shaping up to look quite good as well, but not quite a ton of cards that are just for Vintage. That being said, if you think I missed anything, let me know. I'll be doing a follow-up on this next week.
Let's take a look to see what cards from this set could see some play in Vintage!
Petrified Hamlet
Okay, let's get this one out of the way, because I've seen a lot of chatter on it already. I'm going to be on record here stating that I do not think this card is going to move any real needles in Vintage. A lot of people are freaking out pretty hard over the implications of this card on Bazaar of Baghdad decks, but quite frankly I think this card is absolutely too slow to be a card that deals with Bazaar effectively. In order for this card to be any good at all, you need to be playing this out on Turn 1 - Turn 2, and you more than likely need to be on the play to do it. Once you're past these crucial turns, the value of this card falls off quite a bit.
It is important to note that this card does not quite operate like Pithing Needle in that this card has an ETB trigger, not a replacement effect. Needle names as it enters and can't be responded to; this has to trigger and can be responded to. Not to mention that this takes up a land drop for the turn, and that in itself isn't negligible. I don't think there's any deck that would want a full four of these to maximize seeing it Turn 1, and if you're only playing it as a one-of, then having to be aggressive with tutoring for it seems like quite a lot. This could end up being a one-of in Golos as a silver bullet, but the Sphere Shops/Golos decks already have an insanely good Bazaar matchup as it stands.
I'm not super keen on this one in Vintage, and I'd rather be much more intrigued with it in Legacy. I do expect people will be trying this thing out, but I don't expect it will last. This is a Void Mirror.
Erode
One mana removal is always interesting to consider in white, and this one not only removes creatures but also removes planeswalkers. The downside for this feels pretty easy to get around given that many of the decks in Vintage don't play any basics. I feel like most decks that play white will want this, especially Initiative where it can destroy creature threats without giving the opponent life and not cutting down on their clock. Sure, destroying isn't quite as good as exiling, but I think it's just a fine card.
Flow State
This card looks a lot better in Legacy than it does in Vintage, honestly. In Vintage, I think fulfilling the condition of getting an instant and sorcery in the graveyard to ensure this always pulls two cards is a bit more interesting. I'm curious to see if this goes anywhere. It's a lot like Expressive Iteration, however, I think that card's mana cost of UR is a bit more restrictive than this card is.
I'll be curious to see if this goes in any lists. The effect is pretty good though, and quite powerful, so if it does end up going anywhere I do expect it could be quite good.
Flashback
This one is sort of curious because it could be used in some weird corner case scenarios in any kind of combo decks. I doubt the card is super good, but at the same time, one red for this is sometimes better than Snapcaster Mage. Also, the name is genuinely perfect.
Emeritus of Ideation
Yo dawg, I heard you like Ancestral Recall...
Weekly MTGO Recap
As always, thanks to Justin Gennari for his community-supported data and weekly recaps. You can find his social media info here. This was a fairly normal week of events, with the only extra event beyond the regular Challenges being the Showcase Qualifier on Saturday, but this event is an invitation-only event, so it doesn't move the needle much.
We had the following events this past week:
| Event Name | Top 32 Link | Data Sheet Link | Number of Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vintage Challenge 32 4/2/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 48 |
| Vintage Challenge 32 4/3/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 42 |
| Vintage Challenge 32 4/4/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 53 |
| Vintage Challenge 32 4/5/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 37 |
| Vintage Showcase Qualifier 4/4/2026 | Top 32 | Data Sheet | 29 |
Let's take a look at the graphical data for the week. Because of the normalish nature of the week, there were around 209 deck entries as opposed to last week's 270.
From a macro archetype perspective, both Workshops and Lurrus were equal in metagame share, which is a lot for just two major macro archetypes. However, there's a lot of variety within these macro archetypes, most especially in the Lurrus world. Lurrus decks are grouped because they play Lurrus as a companion, but they all have a wide range of gameplay styles.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck of this past week, down from 44 players to 33, but fairly similar win rates with this week sitting at a 44.7% non-mirror win rate. I think this is quite indicative of there really just not being a clearly defined best deck in Vintage at the moment. Things float around here or there and cycle in and out as natural metagame forces shape things. I think people have well figured out how to poke holes in the Lurrus PO decks, and that's a good thing.
Dredge remained a popular deck, but its overall win rate was extremely bad. It had a 42% non-mirror win rate, and honestly, it makes sense. Dredge as a deck does very well when it isn't expected, and it feels like the deck is extremely expected at the moment. Dredge is always going to be popular enough, regardless of its status in the metagame, but players are absolutely keeping tabs on the deck with sideboard cards, and decks like Sphere Shops are very good against Dredge.
Speaking of Shops, both Raker and Sphere Shops were also very popular this week, which leads pretty directly to Dredge being bad, as the matchup for Shops vs. Dredge is pretty well favored for Shops. Raker did exceedingly well with a 57.5% non-mirror win rate and Sphere Shops (Golos variants) had a 53% non-mirror win rate. Both of these decks being popular is pretty big since Lurrus was also very popular.
Right in line behind the other two Shops variants was Jewel Shops (so three Shops decks right in a row), and it had a strong 54.5% non-mirror win rate. I think Shops is probably one of the better decks in current Vintage, and realistically of the three variants, Jewel is probably the one most susceptible to Null Rod effects, since both Raker and Sphere often tend to play Rods themselves.
Outside of these top 5 decks, a smattering of other decks had strong win rates this past week. Esper and Dimir Lurrus both had solid win rates, as did Oath and Lurrus Breach/Doomsday. Initiative, a deck that was once one of the most popular decks in the format, did not fare well at all. It had a 37.3% non-mirror win rate, which is kind of wild. How the mighty have fallen.
I still think things are looking quite good for current Vintage though, week to week things are shifting appropriately and the format is reacting as it should.
Vintage Challenge 32 4/3/2026
The first Challenge event we are covering this week was the Friday event. This event had 42 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dredge was the most played deck of the event, and despite a Top 8, it had a fairly poor win rate. PO did very well, as did Raker Shops. Initiative fared quite poorly.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Lurrus | 1st | jake-upLVT |
| Lurrus Breach | 2nd | desolutionist |
| PO | 3rd | choutin |
| Raker Shops | 4th | YoungElf |
| Sphere Shops | 5th | Boin |
| Lurrus PO | 6th | crK |
| Jewel Shops | 7th | mechrataal |
| Dredge | 8th | HugoVenda |
Fair bit of Shops here, but at the end of the event, it was Dimir Lurrus that won.
Pretty solid looking list. Seal of Removal is a pretty sweet card to recur with Lurrus. I also do love Wan Shi Tong, Librarian quite a lot.
In Second Place we had Lurrus Breach.
I quite like how focused this list is. It knows what its game plan is and doesn't pretend otherwise. The sideboard is also quite sweet as well.
At the bottom of the Top 8 we had Dredge.
Pretty straightforward variant here, on the much more controlling side of things. This wants to actively cast your Forces or your Mindbreak Traps while using your dredge cards to accrue an army to destroy the opponent with.
Vintage Challenge 32 4/5/2026
The final Challenge event we are covering this week was the Sunday event. This event had 37 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Sphere Shops was the most played deck of the event, and despite a Top 8, it had a fairly poor performance. Oath did very well, as did PO and Lurrus Breach. Jewel Shops did not perform well, neither did Dredge.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Oath | 1st | helvetti |
| PO | 2nd | otakkun |
| Esper Lurrus | 3rd | Ark4n |
| Esper Lurrus | 4th | lordoflifegain |
| Lurrus PO | 5th | Wesal |
| Doomsday | 6th | SingPanMan |
| Dredge | 7th | medvedev |
| Sphere Shops | 8th | kasa |
Fair bit of variety here, and at the end of the event, it was Oath that won.
I'm not a huge fan of the Tinker package in Oath personally. I do think it ends up being sort of clunky, but it does let you play some cool stuff like Sphinx of the Steel Wind.
In Second Place we had PO.
Quantum Riddler seems like an incredibly sweet card to buy back with PO, especially if you can warp it in for cheap and then PO it back. The sideboard for this is also pretty crazy. Urza? Commandeer?!? I love it.
Also in this Top 8 we had Doomsday.
This feels very straightforward, leaning hard on the qualification of ABCD (Always Be Casting Doomsday). I do like the Unable to Scream main deck because it deals with so many creatures that can make it hard for Doomsday to execute its game plan.
Vintage Showcase Qualifier 4/4/2026
This week was also the weekend for the Showcase Qualifier event. This event is an invitation-only event with the participants coming from the Showcase Challenge Top 8s as well as doing well in a Last Chance Qualifier event. This event had 29 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Discord. These events often tend to have a somewhat skewed metagame to them given their invitation-only nature.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck of this event, and it did have two Top 8s, but its overall win rate was not very good. Raker Shops and Jewel Shops both did very well. Sphere Shops and Dredge both had nonexistent win rates.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Raker Shops | 1st | Shuichi_Saito |
| Lurrus Breach | 2nd | ChessNight5030 |
| Jewel Shops | 3rd | TonyScapone |
| Lurrus PO | 4th | Miharu_Fuyumiya |
| Raker Shops | 5th | reojund |
| Lurrus Breach | 6th | Pugface |
| Lurrus Breach | 7th | discoverN |
| Lurrus PO | 8th | Sommertroll |
Quite a lot of Lurrus in this Top 8. At the end of the event, however, it was Raker Shops that won.
Solid looking list here. I find the split of Scrawling Crawler between the main and side interesting enough. All in all, Raker is a solid deck choice for an event like this.
In Second Place we had Lurrus Breach.
This is much like the other list that did very well this past week, very focused game plan. I am digging a full play set of Hexing Squelcher in the sideboard though. Having multiples of that card is very, very good.
Also in this Top 8 we had Jewel Shops.
Chaos Defiler is SUPER sweet here, especially if you can Metamorph it. What a sick list.
Around the Web
- Justin Gennari always has some stuff for us:
- MahfuzVanGogh has a sweet video on a Top 4 with Dredge. Check it out here.
- StraddaG has a video on PO. Check it out here.
- kindamtg is playing some Dimir Faeries. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
This is a pretty sweet PO list.
What I'm Playing This Week
I put a video up this past week! Now that MTGO Replays are back and working great, I expect I will be getting back into the swing of this sort of thing. I use the replays for the videos because it's way easier for me to analyze the gameplay personally.
Anyways, I played some Oath and had a solid 4-1 league with it, featuring Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers.
Wrapping Up
That's all the time we have this week, folks! Thanks for your continued support of the column and join me next week as we continue our journey into Vintage!
As always, you can reach me at my Link Tree! In addition, you can always reach me on the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the Vintage Streamers Discord.
Until next time!
