Vintage 101: Strategic Complexity

[Islandswamp]

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-strategic-complexity

My latest article for MTGGoldfish. Enjoy.

[Brass Man]

I really liked this one, Joe. Very ambitious topic, very dense information - I was surprised how many different cards you packed in.

[Metman]

Great article. Great article I really like getting your insight.

I think one thing you didn't emphasize about the strength of Force of Will is the mana advantage it provides. In the example you provided with using Force to counter Ancestral Recall, you would also be up one mana in the exchange, not a significant amount but perhaps that's a testament to the strength of Ancestral. Using Force to counter a two-plus spell may be closer to providing a card.

Perhaps exploring the mana advantage provided by free counterspells is an article itself.

Thanks for the work you do analysing and promoting the format.

[mediumsteve]

So is the thesis of the article that new players should play simpler decks to minimize their mistakes?

Why exactly are gush decks simpler than oath?

Why not just play shops instead of blue?

[Islandswamp]

@Islandswamp
For some reason I wasn't able to post directly to medium Steve's comment on my phone.
The thesis is that new vintage players shouldn't be afraid to try different decks, perhaps ones that are less complicated than combo decks like storm, because learning the fundamentals of the format is important.
Workshops are deceptively simple. There's a reason Nick Detwiler will always do better with shops than Joe Fiorini will.

[vaughnbros]

Nice article! I think these types of articles are great and highly necessary for new players to the format to learn how to play these decks.

[Islandswamp]

@vaughnbros Thank you very much.

The original impetus for the section on Force of Will was listening to a frustrated Vintage newbie discuss how he FOW'ed his opponent's Treasure Cruise, and his Ancestral recall, and then still died to some other bomb.
At the time I suggested that maybe he should have saved his Forces, instead of mindtwisting himself for four in one turn.

[igooazoo]

Thanks for the article!

[Islandswamp]

@igooazoo No problem. Any time. Each week to be exact.