http://www.eternalcentral.com/serious-vintage-episode-26-the-ballad-of-lodestone/

In episode 26, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Andy “Brass Man” Probasco (@tmdbrassman) discuss the changes afoot in Vintage since the restriction of Lodestone Golem. We also spend a good three hours talking about cottage cheese and other cultured dairy products. Anyone who mentioned our lack of a food segment last time will surely be sated.

Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:
0:00:56 – Wherefore Art Thou, Lodestone?
0:03:44 – What Happens Now? (Shops)
0:21:51 – What Happens Now? (Not Shops)
0:50:51 – Serious Culture
Total runtime 1:03:10

Great podcast, thanks again!

One question though. Like many people right now, I am sitting back considering what deck to play moving forward. As I was listening to the cast, I kept thinking Oath for the following reasons you guys pointed out:

Good win rate lately with a low profile due to few pilots
Tick up in mentor lists (oath is good against creatures)
Tick up in flusterstorm, misstep, red blast (doesnt stop oath)
Storm kept in check by control (storm seems like a bad oath matchup)

But when you guys get to Oath as a topic, you dismiss it as a metagame deck. It just seems like the meta could still be solid. To be honest, I am not the biggest oath fan. I just dont really want to just be another mentor pilot in a room full of 50 other mentor players!

Did Oath really get knocked as hard as the cast hints at?

@Solomoxen I can't speak for the other guys, but my personal opinion:

I don't think Oath goes from being top dog to being bottom-of-the-barrel ... but I do think it gets worse.

Oath is good against the card Mentor, but it's much worse Gush Aggro decks featuring Mentor than it is against Prison/Aggro decks featuring Lodestone. You're not wrong that blue decks have a lot of cards that don't stop an Oath, but shops had a lot of those too. You're trading a good matchup for an okay matchup.

I agree that control will keep storm combo in check, but I still think that storm combo will be more successful now than it has been (I don't think it will start dominating, but it has basically no strong finishes now, and I expect it to be more popular than that).

I don't think Oath is necessarily a bad deck to be playing now, particularly if you're experienced with it and it was getting you results before. I just think the metagame is going to be a little less friendly for the deck now.

Of course these are all predictions, things could go an entirely different way (Shops could get BETTER, Gush aggro decks could die off, etc). We'll know pretty soon.

Thanks for the response! I better understand where you guys (or at least you) are coming from now, and I cant say I disagree. I also buy into the concept that desperation will breed creativity with the shops archetype, and it could become even better than before.

Unfortunately, that still leaves me unsure of what to play. I guess I will dust off 2003 TnT and have some fun until things sort themselves out, haha.

@Solomoxen said:

Unfortunately, that still leaves me unsure of what to play. I guess I will dust off 2003 TnT and have some fun until things sort themselves out, haha.

Oh man, probably one of my favorite 2 decks to play, ever! Miss the meta of 2003/2004.

@Brass-Man I beat two workshops decks last time I played a daily with oath. The deck is fantastic! Except my best matchup had its best card restricted...
I'll be Oathing up something deadly soon, not sure what or how, but of this I am certain.