You read that title right. You're about to read about playing 5 C Staxx in 2019.

5C Staxx has a long and distinguished history. I'm too lazy to find it but I'm pretty sure it top 8'd at least one Vintage Champs.

Here's the oldest decklist I'm able to find, from this article by @Smmenen (who I really hope chimes in with some more history of the deck!)

In 2008, my best friend opened a game store. That first Friday, I played my first sanctioned Magic event. This lead to me building my first competitive Magic deck, Bant Aggro in Shards of Alara Standard. As soon as I experienced my first rotation, I knew that rotating formats were not for me. I built my second competitive deck ever, and my first Vintage deck, 5C Staxx. We have had long and torrid love affair ever since.

Since a Vintage scene formed in Houston a few years ago, I've toyed with a more modern version of the deck. Here's my most recent build.

The last time I played this deck, I posted a picture of the deck. A friend who had very recently said that they needed to take a break from Magic asked for a deck tech because of how fun the deck looked. But I'm very lazy.

So last night, I got two friends to podcast with me. One of them plays a lot of Workshops and the other plays a lot of EDH and wacky brews. I surprised them with our subject and asked them to discuss the deck with me as well as brewing a more up to date version. The conversation went a lot of directions and I had to look up a lot of cards. Listen if you'd like more info but here's the sketch we ended up with:

I'm too lazy to write in full English sentences so here's a non-exhaustive list of cards that are in this deck and cool things they can do and/or reasons that they've been chosen.

Karn, the Great Creator

The following cards were moved to the side so that Karn can act as an addition four copies of those cards.

• Smokestack
• Crucible of Worlds
• Ratchet Bomb (Could also be Engineered Explosives)

These cards were put directly into the side

• Mycosynth Lattice - Combo, duh
• Chalice of the Void - With the spread of mana costs in this deck, Chalice isn't great. Grabbing it with Karn makes it much less of a liability to draw.

Oh, also Null Rod main is okay.

Goblin Welder

This is a not-at-all thorough list of sweet things you can do with Welder.

• If your Shops opponent has an X/X in the yard, it says T:Destroy target artifact an opponent controls
• Force an opponent to sac to Smokestack, then weld it out so it doesn't affect you. If you weld in another, you can add a counter to it, effectively making Smokestack one sided.
• Exchange Sundering Titan back and forth to blow up lands repeatedly.
• Turn a mox into a Lotus
• Recur Triskelion to shoot things (this is why Trike is in the deck instead of Walking Ballista)

Quick Bullet Points

• Sundering Titan - We're trying to be hateful. Sundering Titan is hateful as can be and is also a quick wincon. This is the Tinker bot to play. I will fight you.
• Dack Fayden - Filters cards, the downside of discarding is significantly reduced by Welder and Crucible
• Balance - Read this card.
• Chromatic Lantern - Makes everything easier to cast

There's a lot more to be said but I think the decklist speaks for itself. Feel free to ask questions or tell me my ideas are terrible.

I know this deck isn't going to be the best but I also know that you'll have a hell of a lot of fun.

@KIP_NZ asked me in chat what I think of Bolas' Citadel in 2CM. Reproducing here for further discussion:

For reference, the last list I played may be found here.

Yea it does a lot but for six mana, you could cast and activate Painter+Grindstone. You could cast and activate Helm. Hell, if you've got one more mana, you can do it through Pierce.

Paying life is not inconsequential in 2CM - you're playing 5C pain lands, Ancient Tombs, and a smattering of other mana producers that deal damage to you.

So here's a question: How often do you want to Tinker for Citadel? Tinkering means:

1. Not getting your bot.
2. Not having any half of your two (or more) two-card combos in play.

It's certainly possible that there's a Good Bolas' Citadel build of 2CM but if there is, I think it almost certainly requires a thorough rebuild of the deck.

@chubbyrain said in How do I beat shops when I'm on the draw without FoW?:

You lose to god draws like the one you describe

Yea, given the sample draws, this question is better framed as "how do you beat a turn one kill without force of will"

No but that's mostly because there's no event called "Eternal Championship"

Eternal Weekend, which has recently been the host event for the Legacy and Vintage championships has not yet been announced for 2019.

How much shake up is too much

$200 worth. If I have to spend more than $200 because a new set comes out, I'll be vaguely annoyed before doing it anyway.

@smmenen said in London Mulligan Coming to MTGO:

That's pretty insane. It also means it's really incumbent on Vintage players on MTGO to try to make the case, one way or the other. Dredgeapolooza.

Given my experience with WotC, this would be a lost cause. Play how you will but trying to make your case is tilting at windmills. Step outside and, if you're not in the Houston area, take a deep breath. Enjoy things that aren't Magic for a moment.

A week before the only Legacy GP of the year, they're going to configure MTGO to play by a different set of rules than real magic. Fucking awesome.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/march-11-2019-banned-and-restricted-announcement-2019-03-11

No changes.

Next B&R Annoucement: May 20, 2019

I played Grixis Phoenix a few weeks ago but unfortunately did not save the decklist.

My build was more like a modified Grixis Pyromancer deck. With 4 Cabal Therapies, some number of Thoughtseizes, and of course 4 Buried Alive, looting and other GY powering effects weren't really necessary.

Here's the one pic I took that has a lot of cards in it that should give an idea of what my decklist looked like.

In an effort to improve local turnout, I've started posting more on FB and Twitter in the days leading up to our events. Just about every SEO person out there will tell you that a post with pics gets more clicks. To that end, my posts usually have a [usually very lazy] Magic joke attached. Here's the most recent ones. Feel free to use them for promoting your own local events.