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    Budget/Unpowered options in 2018

    Vintage Strategy
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    • Stuart
      Stuart last edited by

      In our group chat, several Goyf teammates are trying to figure out unpowered decks they could play at Vintage Champs. The immediate options we outlined were:

      • Moon Stompy
      • Jacodrazi
      • Hatebears
      • UR Delver
      • Merfolk

      But I thought I'd throw it out here to TMD. What unpowered/budget decks do you guys think are currently viable? (If you have lists, post them!)

      wfain 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • BlindTherapy
        BlindTherapy last edited by

        dredge is unpowered, but not what you have in mind per budget.

        unpowered standstill should be possible.

        A grave is the safest place to store ill-gotten treasures.

        NYSE 3 winner, vintage champs 2015 top 4, vintage champs mox emerald 2021 top 4.

        Unban Shahrazad.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • N
          neo_altoid last edited by

          Dredge is the best option, if you are willing to spring for Bazaars. It's not even close.

          After that, it's Jacodrazi. That deck is doing something legitimately busted, and doesn't want power. It's just better without.

          0 Power Landstill works, but it's worse than having Acall and Time Walk in your deck. The Moxen are less necessary, but still good.

          Hatebears is probably your next best bet, but again--it benefits a lot from moxes and pooping out Thalia on turn 1.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • thecravenone
            thecravenone last edited by thecravenone

            I think there are three overlapping categories these could go into:

            Unpowered - What it says on the tin, though some people consider Dredge to be powered
            Budget - Even keeping in mind that Vintage has a much higher cost than other formats, some "budget" decks certainly aren't that.
            Easy to build with an existing Legacy collection - EG, Jacodrazi is real cheap when you've already got the lands and resistors from a Legacy stompy deck. A lot of dudesweats decks can fall here.

            Quote from: Stormanimagus on March 16, 2016, 06:39:41 pm
            >Instead of tearing things down we should calmly explain our opinions.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • Marland_Moore
              Marland_Moore last edited by

              I played around with a multi-color humans deck that was unpowered and I had OK results. It has some hard match ups against combo but stable against shops and blue decks. You have to run 8 spirit guides or play chrome mox and neither option is good

              Marland_Moore 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Stuart
                Stuart last edited by

                Cheers guys. I should have clarified, but I'm essentially looking for decks someone with a reasonable Legacy collection could play, so Dredge is out. If you have access to Bazaar that's clearly the best deck, but a playset is like $3-4K.

                @moorebrother1 Post a list!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • wfain
                  wfain @Stuart last edited by

                  @stuart
                  Maybe Skullclamp elves? That should be fine against fair decks. Mono-Blood Moon sounds interesting, especially with Gorilla Shaman and Wheel of Fortune (since Ensnaring Bridge isn’t too important vs half the field).

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • dataspot
                    dataspot last edited by dataspot

                    You could build a reasonable Oath of Druids deck that wouldn't break the bank. Oath of Druids is under $2 and Forbidden Orchard is around $7. Most of the rest of the deck is pretty much legacy staples and you can customize the list to the cards you have access to.

                    Here's an example that assumes you have Force of Wills, duals, and fetches.

                    2 Flooded Strand
                    4 Forbidden Orchard
                    1 Forest
                    1 Island
                    1 Misty Rainforest
                    2 Polluted Delta
                    2 Scalding Tarn
                    1 Strip Mine
                    2 Tropical Island
                    2 Volcanic Island

                    1 Ancient Grudge
                    1 Arlinn Kord
                    1 Brainstorm
                    1 Chain of Vapor
                    1 Dack Fayden
                    1 Damping Sphere
                    1 Deep Analysis
                    1 Dig Through Time
                    1 Fire / Ice
                    2 Flusterstorm
                    4 Force of Will
                    1 Gitaxian Probe
                    1 Griselbrand
                    1 Gush
                    1 Hurkyl's Recall
                    2 Inferno Titan
                    1 Izzet Charm
                    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
                    4 Mental Misstep
                    1 Merchant Scroll
                    1 Mindbreak Trap
                    1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
                    4 Oath of Druids
                    1 Ponder
                    4 Preordain
                    1 Pyroblast
                    1 Sylvan Library
                    1 Treasure Cruise

                    Sideboard:
                    2 Ancient Grudge
                    1 Carnage Tyrant
                    1 Damping Sphere
                    1 Firespout
                    1 Hurkyl's Recall
                    1 Nature's Claim
                    1 Null Rod
                    1 Pyroblast
                    1 Relic of Progenitus
                    1 Sorceress Spyglass
                    1 Thrun, the Last Troll
                    3 Tormod's Crypt

                    Note: It might need more lands - I just compiled a list based on cards that see play in this kind of deck.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • Marland_Moore
                      Marland_Moore @Marland_Moore last edited by Marland_Moore

                      @moorebrother1
                      I took it apart a little while ago but it was close to this

                      3 Null Rod
                      1 Thorn of Amethyst
                      4 Noble Hierarch
                      4 Elvish Spirit Guide
                      4 Simian Spirit Guide
                      2 Kitesail Freebooter
                      2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
                      3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
                      4 Containment Priest
                      4 Dark Confidant
                      4 Mayor of Avabruck
                      4 Phyrexian Revoker
                      4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
                      1 Strip Mine
                      1 Ancient Ziggurat
                      3 Mana Confluence
                      4 Unclaimed Territory
                      4 Cavern of Souls
                      4 Wasteland

                      My questionable cards were Harsh Mentor and Scab-Clan Berserker are not good. I also played around with Shardless Agent and Chrome Mox, which was mixed at best.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Uvatha
                        Uvatha last edited by

                        I would choose a deck where you could turn your otherwise disadvantage into an advantage:

                        • If you loose moxen and lotus run main board Stony Silence to punish those who do (and that will mess with both Shops and various storm variants too)
                        • Without fast mana you potentially loose the ability to play many spells in the same (and early) rounds. Punish other decks that thrive on doing that - I'd go with a Human based deck where you have access hatebears that tick that box. If you mix with Spirits you have access to Thalia, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Eidolon of the Great Reveal, etc., etc.

                        Humans are still vulnerable to storm so I typically run Spirit Guides that can help get that bear on the board in your first round. They can double as a stick later in the game.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • garbageaggro
                          garbageaggro TMD Supporter last edited by

                          I think main board stony silence and 6+ spirit guides with hatebears is a workable strategy for budget constraints, however, be aware that when you don't have stony/null rod, walking ballista is very good against you. Have a plan for not losing to shops critters.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • Marland_Moore
                            Marland_Moore last edited by

                            Hatebear unpowered is a 50/50 deck at best. I built one for my brother back 2016 and he played it at Eternal Weekend to a 5-4 record. Every game was a grind. Humans is aggro and you can push past the grind. Damping Sphere can help this deck and give you an edge.

                            I am curious if there is a Death and Taxes build for Vintage. I think losing Aether Vial hurts a little bit but you make up for it with more disruptive creatures.

                            If you go with Hatebears you need very early disruption and now you need removal. Dredge and Shops are just too aggressive and PO decks are very fast. The midrange decks have less outs but those are now about 20% - 30% of the meta.

                            There may also be a UR Delver deck that could be played. You only lose 4 cards (Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby) . You can play Simian Spirit Guide to accelerate if you want or just push into more hate with Pulverize and Spell Pierce.

                            Stuart 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Stuart
                              Stuart @Marland_Moore last edited by

                              @moorebrother1 said in Budget/Unpowered options in 2018:

                              There may also be a UR Delver deck that could be played. You only lose 4 cards (Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby) . You can play Simian Spirit Guide to accelerate if you want or just push into more hate with Pulverize and Spell Pierce.

                              I really think this is a strong route to go based off my experiences playing it at SCGCon; I was playing 4 Daze, which were fucking awful, and the deck still felt pretty solid. I agree that you want to ratchet up cards like Spell Pierce and artifact destruction. Also, I'm convinced 1-2 Price of Progress would be an absolute beating in this format.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • T
                                Tittliewinks22 last edited by

                                A friend and I are brewing up some way to resolve a shared fate in a bad powerless deck. That way you get to play power, and your opponent gets junk

                                D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                                • M
                                  mikestheman8 last edited by

                                  At ET NA champs budget decks can NOT have bazaar, the moxen, or black lotus. Maybe twister.
                                  At least that's what it was last year if I remember correctly.

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                                  • D
                                    Dr. J @Tittliewinks22 last edited by

                                    @tittliewinks22 Lol, I love it

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                                    • A
                                      alakar_tcm last edited by

                                      Just for clarification, I'm pasting the deck construction restrictions to be competing in the "budget" category.

                                      Budget prizes are awarded to the highest placing decks without any of the following cards:
                                      any "Power Nine", Bazaar of Baghdad, Mishra's Workshop or Library of Alexandria

                                      The change from last year I can see is you can no longer run Library of Alexandria, but you can run Time Vault.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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