Vintage 101: Murder, It Wrote
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 Murders at Karlov Manor, the newest Standard set to hit the block, and whether any of those cards will be interesting enough for Vintage gameplay. In addition to that we've got two Challenges to take a look at.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
The Murder in the Building
We have a new Standard set coming soon in Murders at Karlov Manor. This set has a number of returning mechanics such as Investigate in addition to newer takes on old mechanics (the changeover of Manifest/Morph into Cloak/Disguise) while having some new mechanics (Suspected, Cases).
Let's take a look at what cards from this set could be interesting to see in Vintage!
Case of the Filched Falcon
Controlling three or more artifacts is a pretty low ask in most Vintage decks, given that most decks are playing Moxen/Lotus. One of the more interesting aspects of this card is being able to sacrifice it and make a creature and then bring it back Solved immediately with Lurrus. The fact that it even provides an artifact on ETB is nice to abuse with Lurrus.
Doorkeeper Thrull
We've had a reasonable number of effects like this that shut off triggered abilities. This one being able to shut off artifacts is incredibly relevant, given the prevalence of cards like Coveted Jewel. This could be an interesting card for Mono White Initiative for sure.
Forensic Gadgeteer
This goes infinite with Basalt Monolith! That's about it. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, or if this would actually see play, but it's a thing it does.
Long Goodbye
Being able to get rid of cards like Lurrus, Bowmasters, etc while having an infinitely splashable effect is very nice. Yes, Abrupt Decay exists as a card, but it's hard to ignore how easy it is to fit a 1B spell into a deck over a GB spell.
Pick Your Poison
This card seems very strong, even if the "Sacrifice an artifact" mode is much weaker in Vintage than other formats. Forcing them to sacrifice an Enchantment which can hit Urza's Saga is nice. There's always flexibility in these spells for sure even if it is Sorcery speed.
Ransom Note
Because Urza's Saga exists, we have to consider one mana artifacts. This one is a lot weaker than most of the other ones we've seen for sure. However, it is a card that can be abused with Lurrus by forcing the opponent to make bad attacks or even just draw a card. At worst, it makes a creature.
Surveil Lands
We have a whole cycle of new lands that Surveil on ETB but they have land types, which allows them to be fetchable. As it stands, these probably aren't very good in Vintage. Wasteland play is at an all-time high in the format as is, so I don't see these being very good.
Vintage Challenge 1/27
The first Challenge event of the weekend was the mid-afternoon Saturday event. This event had 51 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Vintage Streamer's Discord.
You can find all of the decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Jewel Shops was the most popular deck of the event, with a solid win rate to boot. Breach also did very well as did Oath and Lurrus Saga. Prison/Aggro Shops performed poorly as did AggroVine/CounterVine decks, despite the former having a Top 8 finish.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Jewel Shops | 1st | Clockwork Dean |
| Oops! All Spells | 2nd | hodortimebaby |
| Breach | 3rd | handsomePPZ |
| AggroVine | 4th | Cuikui |
| Breach | 5th | wiky |
| Jewel Shops | 6th | ADP_Player |
| Beseech Storm | 7th | werdwood93 |
| Merfolk | 8th | karatedom |
Fairly interesting Top 8 here. At the end of the event, it was Jewel Shops that won.
The power level of this deck simply can't be overstated. It continues to make waves in the format as one of the decks to beat as we've discussed in the past few weeks.
In Second Place we had Oops! All Spells.
Very powerful looking list here. The Belcher sub-plan is a sideboard juke, which is kind of cool to see. Usually, these decks try to do it all in the main deck, but keeping to a definitive game plan pre-board is nice.
Also in this Top 8 we had AggroVine.
This list is pretty sweet. Digging the copy of Legolas's Quick Reflexes here. Being able to turn Hogaak into a removal spell at the same time as attacking is super cool.
At the bottom of the Top 8 we had Merfolk.
Very sleek and strong-looking list. They keep printing powerful Merfolk with strong effects and this is the end result of making that deck good.
Vintage Challenge 1/28
The second Challenge event was the early morning Sunday event. This event had 43 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Vintage Streamer's Discord.
You can find all of the decklists for this event here and the datasheet here.
Lurrus Saga was the most popular deck of the event, and its win rate looked very good overall. Initiative also did well in addition to Dredge. Lurrus DRS and BUG performed poorly here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Lurrus Saga | 1st | Mogged |
| Lurrus Saga | 2nd | duke12 |
| Beseech Storm | 3rd | musasabi |
| Doomsday | 4th | Munchlax446 |
| Initiative | 5th | LasVegasChaos |
| Lurrus Saga | 6th | 416FrowningTable |
| Lurrus Saga | 7th | KingHairy |
| Dredge | 8th | ecobaronen |
A lot of Lurrus Saga going on here. At the end of the event, it was both Lurrus Saga decks with the winner being on Azorius.
I am liking the Dauntless Dismantler in the sideboard here. Seems quite good as a way to approach the Jewel matchup.
In Second Place we had the Dimir version of Lurrus Saga.
Very straightforward and clean list here. Spreading Seas continues to be a really good card in these decks.
Also in this Top 8 we had Beseech Storm.
This is a really strong list overall. It's nice that a deck exists that is a Dark Ritual deck that isn't Doomsday for sure.
Further down the Top 8 we had Initiative.
I like this list quite a bit. The addition of Snow-Covered Plains is interesting enough. Very clean looking sideboard here.
Around the Web
- FiretruckModo has a video on Oath from the Vintage Showcase. Check it out here.
- Justin Gennari has a few videos this week!
- Charlotte Legacy League has a Lands vs Lurrus Saga video. Check it out here.
- Montolio also has a few video this week.
- ChannelFireball has a video on Vintage Doomsday. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that League results are spread out throughout the week, let's do some hunting for some spice!
Sun Titan Oath is a real callback!
GOBLINS!
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!
