Hi all! So had this chat with some friends recently and wanted the high level take on it. It’s sort of a big, potentially contentious thing but I Think it is ultimately a strategy question, and one that has probably appeared before. But, given metagame shifts and the current vintage playing field:
What marks a “strong” player of a particular deck in vintage vs a “weaker” player beyond the vagaries of varience? Given the exact same list what is the difference between say - a strong shops player vs a weaker or less experienced shops player, and the same for Dredge, Jeskai, Oath etc.
Mind you, we’re not saying weaker meaning people who have no clue what they are doing, miss their big triggers etc, but rather people who may being playing Okay but who are not tuned to whatever nuance or elegance separates excellent play from merely adequate in piloting a particular deck.
Then, a question follows, are there particular plays in particular decks or matchups that you believe demonstrate a Vintage “maturity” and are a tip off that someone is evincing particularly excellent gameplay?
Finally, when are there times that an excellent player with even a marginal or fringe deck (Red Hatebears, Merfolk, Belcher, et al) by dint of sheer gameplay, has the most opportunity to win against a low to moderately skilled player with a top tier deck?