Vintage 101: Fantasy of Power, Part 1
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of Vintage 101! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're starting our set review of Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy! In addition to that we've got some events to cover from last week including a Vintage Qualifier!
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Do You Fantasy?
Another Standard set is on the way, but this our first set based on Universes Beyond for Standard! Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy is incoming soon, so we're going to get looking at what from this set could look good for Vintage! I haven't seen a ton of cards that would be playable, but there's some interesting cards.
I personally don't have much exposure to this series as a whole, but I do know a little bit about the games. This list is in no particular order and will be spread out across the next two weeks.
Black Mage's Rod
This is kind of a neat card. Comes with a creature, has a trigger that works with 95% of most Vintage piles, and is able to be Lurrus'ed back. It may not be 100% good enough, but it does do some things. If you have to you can even re-equip it later.
Instant Ramen
Ramen goes down, Ramen goes up. You can't explain that! This seems like a neat PO card even if it's just a one-of.
Machinist's Arsenal
What really kills this thing is the White Pip. Otherwise, having a super Nettlecyst that comes with a creature is pretty dope. If you can get this into play it's super good, it's just the colored mana requirement and the lack of evasion is rough.
Vivi Ornitier
I have read virtually every 1UR creature that has ever been released and printed into Vintage. I've even tried a bunch of them. They're all sort of meh. I don't actually think Vivi changes that dial either at all, unfortunately.
Avalanche of Sector 7
Oh this one is kind of neat. Growing with your own artifacts is cool, but the second trigger doesn't specify mana abilities, so if your opponent taps their artifacts for mana they're taking that damage. Super sick.
Noctis, Prince of Lucis
There is a super sick combo you can pull off with this card with stuff like Mox Diamond or having Vexing Bauble/Chalice of the Void with Aetherflux Reservoir in play. With this setup, you can cast Mox Diamond or another MV 0 artifact from your graveyard for 3 life, triggering Aetherflux Reservoir. The artifact will never actually enter the battlefield (in the case of just Mox Diamond you just choose to not discard a land and it never enters) so it won't get the finality counter.
You can just keep repeating this until Reservoir is lethal. Is this at all Vintage playable? Doubtful since Noctis is three different colors, but hell it's cool.
Suplex
I really wish this was an Instant. If this were an Instant this would be so much better than Abrade or even Cast into the Fire. Oh well, dude's gonna suplex a train.
Yuffie, Materia Hunter
Oh ho. Gaining control of any artifact is kind of sick, especially since you can Ninjutsu Yuffie. I like it.
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
So the big thing here is that you can't cast this with Mishra's Workshop since it's not an artifact, but holy heck being able to shut down certain opposing lands or just boost your own mana production is kind of cool. Five mana is a lot but this could be cool.
Tifa Lockhart
Tifa and Fastbond go BRRRRRRRRRR.
Vintage Qualifier 5/18/2025
We had a bonafide Vintage Qualifier last weekend! The big difference on Qualifiers vs Super Qualifiers has to do primarily with how the prizing structure works and event entry. Qualifiers can only be entered with QPs and only the two finalists receive the invitation to the Regional Championship. This particular event had 130 players in it, which is pretty solid.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck of the event, and its win rate was solid at around 52-53%. Initiative was also well played but its win rate wasn't very good. Lurrus Breach, Lurrus DRS, and Oath all had strong win rates.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Lurrus Breach | 1st | CrazyMorango |
| Dredge | 2nd | Wizard_2002 |
| Raker Shops | 3rd | Martin_Dominguez |
| Lurrus Breach | 4th | Jujkata |
| Dimir Lurrus | 5th | B-Carp |
| Countervine | 6th | MdvWin |
| Jewel Shops | 7th | Gobern |
| Lurrus DRS | 8th | etoustar |
Fair amount of Lurrus with some Shops and Bazaar sprinkled in. At the end of the event it was Lurrus Breach that won.
Mana Drain making a big comeback in 2025 in these Breach decks is pretty sweet. Playing it alongside 4x Stock Up is pretty wild, but I think the upside of a Drain into a big turn is huge especially if you're turning that into a Gifts Ungiven for a win. This list is very interesting.
In Second Place we had Dredge.
The much more aggressive builds of this deck are definitely in the upper position of Bazaar strategies at the moment. This tends to wax and wane with what's going on in the metagame currently, but right now it seems being aggressive (BE AGGRESSIVE, BE BE AGGRESSIVE sorry I had to) is the name of the Dredge game.
Vintage Challenge 32 5/15/2025
The first Challenge event of the week was the Thursday event. This event had 48 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Community.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck and despite a strong showing in the Top 8 its overall win percentage was less than 50%. Dredge looked good, as did Jewel Shops and Doomsday.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Lurrus PO | 1st | unluckymonkey |
| Dimir Lurrus | 2nd | O_danielakos |
| Doomsday | 3rd | Tsubasa_Cat |
| Lurrus PO | 4th | Jumba |
| Dredge | 5th | Lord_Beerus |
| Jewel Shops | 6th | Sharkym02 |
| Stiflenought | 7th | Ark4n |
| Esper Lurrus | 8th | ziofrancone |
At least 5x Lurrus decks in the Top 8 here, with the winner being Lurrus PO.
This pilot has certainly been on a real tear with this deck. It's pretty crazy how good this deck really is.
In Second Place we had Dimir Lurrus.
Pretty stock in what we've come to expect from these decks. Not a huge amount of innovation. I would like to see a surveil land, those things are so good.
Vintage Challenge 32 5/16/2025
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 41 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Community.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck again by quite a bit, and it had a strong win rate to boot. Dredge and Dimir Lurrus also looked great here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Lurrus PO | 1st | unluckymonkey |
| Dredge | 2nd | IamActuallyLvl1 |
| Lurrus PO | 3rd | MentalMisstep |
| Dimir Lurrus | 4th | B-Carp |
| Dimir Lurrus | 5th | O_danielakos |
| Initiative | 6th | DominiqueTutor |
| PO | 7th | Bullwinkkle6705 |
| Lurrus PO | 8th | La_Ele |
A large amount of Lurrus along with some Bazaar, Initiative, and PO. At the end of the event it was unluckymonkey again on Lurrus PO that won.
Yup, it's unluckymonkey again! They really should change their name to like "theluckiestmonkey" or something, that would be incredible.
In Second Place we had Dredge.
Another hyper aggressive version of the deck. Don't worry, I won't do the thing this time.
Vintage Challenge 32 5/17/2025
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 50 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Community.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Lurrus PO was the most played deck of the event and while it had some strong representation in the Top 8, its overall win rate was less than 50%. Dredge and Initiative did really well here, as did Beseech Storm.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Esper Lurrus | 1st | ziofrancone |
| PO | 2nd | Bullwinkkle6705 |
| Initiative | 3rd | Shuichi_Saito |
| Lurrus PO | 4th | RatherBplayingMTG |
| Dredge | 5th | Firetruck |
| Sphere Shops | 6th | LORiWWA |
| Dredge | 7th | Bawer |
| Lurrus PO | 8th | Miharu_Fuyumiya |
Weird spread of Lurrus, Dredge, etc. At the end of the event it was Esper Lurrus that won.
Fairly stock looking for Esper variants at this point. Lavinia doesn't feel all that great right now to me, but it does have its moments.
In Second Place we had PO.
Kind of a weird window into what could be without Lurrus, and I do think Thundertrap Trainer is still playable even without Lurrus. The card does do a lot of digging which is pretty awesome. I expect it hits a lot in this deck.
Vintage Challenge 32 5/18/2025
The final Challenge event of the week was the Sunday event. This event had 40 players in it thanks to the MTGO Vintage Community.
You can find all of the decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Esper Lurrus was the most played deck, but its win rate was quite deep in the tank at even below 40%. Jewel Shops looked great here, as did Doomsday and Lurrus PO.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Jewel Shops | 1st | Amiracle |
| Doomsday | 2nd | Matti |
| Raker Shops | 3rd | oosunq |
| Lurrus PO | 4th | trinity |
| Jewel Shops | 5th | EiJunCHN |
| Lurrus PO | 6th | unluckymonkey |
| Sphere Shops | 7th | _Shatun_ |
| Stiflenought | 8th | Ark4n |
Lot of Workshops here. At the end of the event it was Jewel Shops that won.
Simulacrum Synthesizer is a sick card here, especially with Phyrexian Metamorph and Coveted Jewel. Just make a veritable army of Constructs.
In Second Place we had Doomsday.
Tamiyo and Frog are sweet inclusions here. I think it's nice to have something to fall back on when either the Doomsday plan needs some cooking to protect better or to fake the opponent out on your actual game plan. Either way, I love Tamiyo. Card is super fun to play with.
Around the Web
- Justin Gennari always has stuff for us.
- DB3MTG is playing 4C Tempo. Check it out here.
- LSV is playing Jewel Shops. Check it out here.
- kindamtg is playign Doomsday with Voice of Victory. Check it out here.
- Brian Coval is Scamming on a Budget. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
ELDRAZI!
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!
