The explanation is so soft. It seems like they don’t know anything about Vintage. Three sentences isn’t enough. My hopes and dreams destroyed by a careless organization folding to all the hype and commentary.
If you’re going to play the same DPS deck for 6 months, then it’s more worth it to just own the cards sure.
But if you want to play a different deck every week, experiment with new cards or ideas then
Manatraders is only $35 a month flat for renting up to $350 value of cards (which all Vintage decks tend to be under) and you have access to any new printings. You essentially have a boundless collection for $35 a month and don’t have to worry about the program being deleted.
Is buying $40 digital “Okos” whenever a new set comes out - only to see its value go to practically nothing in a short while - wasting money?
The trend for all mtgo cards is down. That’s just a fact. Mox Emerald is what, $2? It used to be over $100. Pernicious Deed used to be over $100, now it’s a couple cents. There’s no investment here, you’re giving money away no matter what.
Mtgo cards will soon be worthless. You might want to consider selling out and just using a rental service
@trius it’s also good against survival and Oath. (Bridge/Tabernacle and Karakas). The main targets in Oath are Griselbrand and Niv Mizzit so Oath has little impact vs Karakas sometimes if you also have some other cards to go along with it. They could bring in Blazing Archon, but they’ll never trigger Oath if you have Leyline of Sanctity.
Keep in mind the Karakas + Golos combo. It’s built in late game card advantage.
I think part of the idea behind one Smokestack, one Uba Mask, etc is that through Golos and Inventors Fair you can theoretically tutor for whatever lock piece you need. I chose to just go more straight forward because that flexibility idea is kind of like wishful thinking. Most games are decided on turn one. Sphere, Chalice, Golos is probably wishful thinking as well. Also any true lockdown prison deck is going to be soft against Oko. You really need some Stonecoil behind your Revokers.
I started with Deunan’s list and went 3-2 in league. Made some tweaks and then went 5-0. Made some more tweaks and then went 4-2 in the challenge, barely missing the top8, losing to my friend for the win and in.
I went the opposite direction, cutting Smokestack ultimately. You’ll notice in my 5-0 list I had Bazaar and Uba Mask, but they’re just not necessary. I upgraded Bottled Cloister to Coercive Portal, but it’s also an effect that is just not necessary. I just want a strong opening and Golos is enough to make the game out of reach for the opponent; Smokestack or card draw is just a slow effect that doesn’t really matter in a lot of games. It’s all about leading the game with a Sphere or something and following it up with a Golos. Ultimately I removed the ineffective 1-ofs for the very effective Stonecoil Serpents in the challenge. I think that was a pretty good move given the dominance of Oko. Ensnaring Bridge continues to be clutch, so running two of those feels pretty good against Survival and Dredge as well.
I also boarded 4 Leyline of Sanctity which felt pretty smart in the Oath meta.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2430853#paper
Defense Grid is very effective at pushing through threats like Golos as well as preventing Hurkyls/Force of Vigor.
Hey Mike have you tried Anger? I had some “recent success”(prior to the printing of Walking Ballista) with TNT. I thought it was amazing at the time but Ballista coming out made me not want to play it anymore.
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=13618&d=280171&f=VI
I suppose it shouldn’t be too bad though if you can shut down Ballista with Revoker and keep using your own Triskelions