Vintage Horizons
What if Vintage Got a Masters Set?
Let’s shake up the Vintage Meta
Author: Nico Bohny
The Modern Horizons sets were a huge success. They have been awesome for Limited play purposes, and they strongly shook up the Modern format as well. While some cards were obviously too strong and not that fun to play against (*cough* Nadu, Winged Wisdom *cough*), there were a lot of great tools in those sets and people went nuts figuring out new strategies.
Vintage had some recent restrictions addressing some of its flaws, but in the end, the format didn’t really change much. The metagame wheel is spinning again, and we are slowly returning to the old metagame.
And while I like the changes, I think Vintage also deserves a shakeup and some cards to balance out the flaws and weaknesses the format has. It’s time for
VINTAGE HORIZONS
(or at least my humble take on what cards they could print to make Vintage great again)
Fix Number One: Going Second
Losing the die roll sucks in every format, but in Vintage it can be really punishing, meaning you don’t even get to play along sometimes. Force of Will and Force of Negation can balance things out a bit, but there’s too much pressure on those cards being in your opener or not.
Also, decks without those cards or blue in general are just uncapable of beating unfair stuff like a turn 1 Doomsday, Paradoxical Outcome or Sphere of Resistance.
Force of Shir
Why Force of the Shir?
While this card is clearly similar to its blue siblings, it can be brought in by any deck on the draw. A single blue mana can be splashed, and you don’t need tons of blue cards to make it work. The life clause should prevent the card from being busted with fetchlands, where you could sacrifice your fetch and Force in response to the ability while you don’t have any permanents.
Leyline of Acceleration
Why Leyline of Acceleration?
Starting the game with a card in play that balances the speed of the game would be very welcome, but the card needs some additional power in order to not faint when drawing multiples or drawing it late in the game.
Mind Prank
Why Mental Prank?
Being able to address explosive draws with multiple Moxen would be on my wish list as well. Most free spells are overpowered anyway, so creating a tool that would work against it could give you a fair edge on the draw. To prevent Mental Prank wars where one would counter the other, I think the life clause makes sense. Also, you don’t really need combo decks to have a cheap answer to Force of Will.
Eagles of Paradise
Why Eagles of Paradise?
Just adding a little extra to cards if you are on the draw would be fair. Maybe there would at some point even be a deck that would actively want to go second in a game, so the first decision of the game – play or draw – would even become more interesting against decks or cards like these. And if this would lead to a little minigame – my opponent probably boarded such cards in, so I actively decide to go second – that would be awesome!
Fix Number Two: Counters
While countermagic is a necessary evil to keep the combo decks in check, why would the fair cards have to suffer from it? Blue just has the best interaction tools against every strategy, and that’s unfair. Cavern of Souls is a good solution to that. Furthermore, Wizards came up with an elegant solution on their Eldrazi – replace enter-battlefield-effect with cast triggers. Like that, you can still get your effect through countermagic. Just be sure that the effects are not broken.
Charismatic Tiger
Why Charismatic Tiger?
By mixing cast triggers and effects, you make sure a card can be answered, but not fully negated by counters.
Fix Number Three: Beating Card Draw
Blue has something else that unfortunately pairs well with interaction in the form of counters: card draw. Other colors should have equivalent possibilities or good interactions with card draw. Maybe not on the level of Orcish Bowmasters, but you know, something not too punishing, but not too weak either.
Balancing Monstrosity
Why Balancing Monstrosity?
I hate how some games are sometimes just decided by an early Ancestral Recall. A card like this would mean that the game continues. Also, Paradoxical Outcome decks need some help to finally climb back into the metagame, and this would be a nice card for them.
Fix Number Four: Nonblue Power
Yes, Blue gets even more hate. Blue has the best interaction, the best card draw, and then it also has Time Walk and Ancestral Recall. Why can’t we have some nonblue Power? I know that there are restricted cards in all colors, but none even come close to the power of… well… the power.
I would print the following cards as ultra mythic rares in booster packs (so us Limited folks don’t have to mess with them too often) and restrict them from the start with their introduction in Vintage:
Wooden Library
Why Wooden Library?
Encouraging players to have a sweet lands toolbox is nice, as well as playing and relying on creatures is a very green thing to do.
Oblivion Song
Why Oblivion Song?
While not as spectacular as Wooden Library, I think it’s only fair that other colors get nice interaction that isn’t countermagic. Giving you a buyout against tax effects, especially on the draw, is something we need more of in Vintage.
Sorrow
Why Sorrow?
This is more of a punisher card than a power card for itself, but it’s still good against decks without card draw. While I’m aware of the fact that this could lead to some unfun sequences, I feel like it could overall balance out some uneven things.
The Joker // Trembling Hill
Why The Joker // Trembling Hill?
Creating red power was the most challenging, but I think good red cards should offer flexibility. The Joker would be a unique and powerful card for every game state, while not being too broken in itself.
Fix Number Five: Companions
Maybe the title should just be “Lurrus”, but companions overall is a very cool mechanic that’s just unbalanced in Vintage. Decks with Lurrus basically start with an additional card in hand, which is unfair since the actual cost to include Lurrus is just too low. Furthermore, cards with mana value three or more just lose a lot of appeal, which makes us play with lesser cards in the format overall.
So there are two options: Ban Lurrus, or print new companions to balance things out.
Buster, The Unwealthy
Why Buster, The Unwealthy?
Playing powerless decks in paper events without proxies is the poor man’s choice, and often you see paper tournaments handing out prizes for the best non-powered decks. Why not create another reason to run them?
Senta, The Loyal
Why Senta, The Loyal?
Unconditional love is a beautiful thing, and everyone should have access to a loyal companion, in Magic as well as in life overall.
Conclusion
Those are some of my ideas. And who knows, maybe Vintage Horizon isn’t as far away as we all might think…
(And if it isn’t, well, there’s still Christmas to look forward to)
You can find me and my stuff on YouTube, X and Twitch, be sure to catch up and say hi:
About the Author
Nico Bohny is a retired Pro Player from Switzerland. His impressive resume contains of two PT top 8’s, 2 Grand Prix Top 8’s and a win with the Swiss national team at Worlds 2007, where they beat Austria in the finals. He’s a Vintage aficionado and skilled Limited player.
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