Changster's Paradise

Hello and welcome to The Eternal Spotlight, your source for Magic Online Vintage and Legacy content. This week, I'm happy to announce that I was able to score an interview with "The Changster", Roland Chang. Roland is a renowned player of the Workshop-prison archetype, and I've featured some of his decks in this series. Roland has won Championships in both Vintage and Legacy, which is quite a feat. He's also obviously a super nice guy, because he answered the questions of a relative stranger. So, to Roland, thank you very much.

Last week, I wrote about some decks featuring Goblin Welder. The decks were Night's Whisper Control Slaver and Steel City Vault. Since that article I've been spending most of my time playing with Steel City Vault, and I've also been testing an alternate take on that archetype. I briefly mentioned a deck dubbed "Angel City Vault" (due to it being developed by Danny Batterman in Los Angeles).

I did some google searches to find some additional information on the Angel City variant, and I came up with some videos from the last Vintage Championships. The first video I watched was Ari Lax piloting Angel City against none other than the Changster himself (playing Martello). A turn-one Trinisphere in game one managed to resolve, and I was a little sad at knowing the game was almost over already. A turn-one Trinisphere is as close to a turn-one kill as Martello Shops gets. Seeing this match-up got me thinking about my time spent playing Martello Shops for myself, and that's where I got the idea to ask Roland for the interview.

JF: - How did you first get into playing Magic?

RC: I first got into the game by collecting cards for the fantasy artwork. My younger brother Wilson and I collected baseball cards for years before we expanded into Magic. He and I played by our own made up rules until one of my friends from school taught me. I recall a pretty steep learning curve, but as soon as I got the hang of it, I started building and tweaking my own home-brews.

JF: How long have you been involved in competitive Vintage?

RC: I started competing in Vintage around 2002, playing in some proxy events in Cincinnati while attending college.

JF: You're known for playing with Mishra's Workshop decks. When did you discover your affinity for that archetype?

RC: I discovered it after I ran into Stephen Menendian at the Darksteel pre-release event in Columbus, OH. He had a Workshop deck that included four Trinispheres and it wrecked my two best decks (Goblins & Hulk Smash) in some test games. I didn't win a single game, so I knew I had plenty of work to do to combat the Workshop decks. However, instead of beating it, I decided to adopt the strategy as my own. Around that time, I also watched Kevin Cron consistently win with his 5-color list and intricate lines of play, so I aspired to play at that level.

JF: Of all the decks you've ever played. Do you have a favorite? If so, which deck is it?

My favorite would be 5c Stax. It's an incredibly difficult deck to pilot correctly and any small misplay creates an opportunity for your opponent to sneak out of your control. [Roland Chang's Vintage Championship-winning Stax deck is listed after this interview]

JF: You've won championships in both Vintage and Legacy. Which format is closer to your heart?

RC: I would say Vintage is closer to my heart, only because of what its community has meant to me through the years. When I had a great portion of my collection stolen from me in NYC, folks within the community sent me cards and organized tournaments in my name to help me recover from my losses. I'll never forget that.

JF: The first Black Lotus ever printed could buy a beer in any state in America. Where do you imagine Vintage will be in another 20 or so years?

RC: If Magic is still around in 20 years, we would probably have unlimited proxy Vintage tournaments and even better fakes from China. We'll also probably be paying our kids' college tuition and then some with Power 9 cards.

RC: If you could pick one card to be added to the Vintage Restricted list, and one card to be removed from the list, what cards would you choose? I would add Mental Misstep and remove Brainstorm.

JF: Which deck do you think is the "Deck to Beat" in Vintage at the moment?

RC: I think Martello Shops is still the "Deck to Beat" in Vintage. It has game against most of the format and on any given day, its raw power can overwhelm any strategy.

JF: Do you have any advice for aspiring Vintage players?

RC: Find a deck strategy that resonates with your play style, pace, and understanding of the game. Once you've discovered it, challenge yourself and stick with it for a while, making tweaks where you see fit. Lastly, testing regularly and competing in tournaments, large or small, is the best way to improve as a player and learn all of your match-ups.

JF: What is your favorite card of all time?

RC: Trinisphere.

Heading back to the Vault...

As I mentioned previously, I've been playing mostly with the Angel City Vault list that I found. I'm playing nearly card-for-card the same list that Danny Batterman and Ari Lax played in the last Vintage Championships. Here's my current list:

The reason that I'm working on Angel City Vault more than any of my other decks is that I feel like it is a great deck, and it addresses some of the issues that I've had with the artifact/rainbow builds of Steel City.

First of all, Angel City has a mana base that is considerably more stable. There are 12 lands as opposed to 11, and there's a basic in the main deck and two in the sideboard. Plus, the lands are easily fetchable with Scalding Tarn, meaning that you'll likely get them when you need them. In the Shops-infested metagame of Magic Online, showing up to a match with zero basics feels pretty loose. Seat of the Synod also gets hosed by Null Rod, which is means that Steel City plays only seven mana-sources that will function with a Null Rod or Stony Silence on the battlefield. Null Rod was already a card that hurt the deck a lot, and artifact lands just make it even worse. Angel City only plays Grixis colors, which adds some stability as well. Fetching duals and basics becomes easier, and getting a rainbow-land Strip Mined isn't as devastating. The only real downside is that Ancient Grudge isn't really playable in this build. One Mox Emerald, two Mana Confluences, and one Mox Opal isn't enough to reliably flashback Ancient Grudge. The original Steel City Vault had Tropical Island to support Ancient Grudge, which the deck needed to deal with Null Rod or Chalice of the Void.

Secondly, Angel City has slots for nine Counterspells main-deck, which is a lot more than the four slots found in Steel City Vault. More Counterspells mean that Angel City can protect itself better, and likely can survive a bit longer before comboing that the other Vault decks can. The proper split of counters is four Force of Will. two Misdirection, and three Mental Misstep.

Misdirection is actually about the same cost if not more than a Black Lotus as I sit here typing this, so I understand if someone wouldn't want to shell out the tix for two of them. It really is important to the deck though, and I highly recommend that people try to play at least one if they can't swing two of them. I know that this is a little off-subject, and for that I apologize, but wouldn't Misdirection have made a better MOCS promo than say Birds of Paradise? All financial issues aside, Misdirection is a key card. It acts as Force of Will numbers five through six, and it's great for saving your Time Vault from Abrupt Decay or other removal.

All of those counters had to take up some slots formerly used for other cards, and the trade-off here is that this list only has room for one Mox Opal. Mox Opal has been an absolutely amazing card when I'm playing SCV, so sometimes I wish that there was room for more. With the way the legendary rule works, each extra Opal is like a Lotus Petal, which is of course restricted. Playing with four extra pseudo-Lotus Petals feels like cheating sometimes! Also, Thoughtcast didn't make the cut, and it's the combination of Opals and Thoughtcasts that give Steel City some of its most explosive starts. Angel City has Preordain though, as well as Brainstorm and Ponder. This makes the deck more consistent in my opinion. Most Vintage decks rely on hand-shaping from early-game cantrips, and a combo deck is no different.

Instead of doing a deck tech on the entire deck, I'm just going to discuss a few of the card choices that make this deck different.

These three cards are not found in the Steel City deck I discussed last week, but they're great in this list. Jace is another bomb to wear out the opponent's Counterspells, and if he sticks he can take over a game. Against some finishing creatures like Griselbrand or Blightsteel Colossus, Jace's bounce ability is a terrific answer.

Mind's Desire is as busted here as it is in a TPS deck, and being that it's in the deck's primary color (blue) it's easy to cast. I've only lost one game where I cast Mind's Desire, and in that case I was already losing and I only had a small storm count. I've had one turn one win from casting a small Mind's Desire that just spiraled out of control (for my opponent), and although that is rare, similarly powerful plays occur quite often.

Time Spiral is an incredible draw7 that is nearly free to cast. Thinking of this beast of a card as a fixed Timetwister makes me laugh, but that is really how the Urza's Saga design team imagined it to be. In reality, it is substantially more broken that Timetwister.

Dig Through Time is just an amazing card. SCV couldn't really support it with it's lack of fetch-lands and cantrips, but Dig works great in Angel City.

I've considered Treasure Cruise as well, but I think that in a combo deck digging seven cards deep at instant speed is where you want to be. If the wise sages at the Duelist Convocation should ever decide to limit me to just one Dig Through Time, then I'd surely pop a Treasure Cruise in that spot.

These are the creatures in the list. Goblin Welder is played as a singleton, which is a change. Welder is as powerful as it is fragile in today's Vintage metagame, and relying to heavily on it can be a liability at times. The main times that I miss having more Goblin Welders are when I'm facing either a Stax deck, or another deck that uses Time Vault as a win-condition. Against Delver and Mentor, Welder doesn't resolve often, and usually dies quickly when he does.

Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a great tinker target versus Delver decks, and even some Monastery Mentor builds that don't play with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Delver can't touch a Sphinx, and the lifelike ensures that you can race most anything they can throw at you. Sure, they can block with an Insectile Aberration, but Sphinx has first-strike so that kind of block is always a losing proposition. Sphinx is a better Baneslayer than Baneslayer Angel, the think has a ton of abilities and relevant protection! Note that although prior incarnations of Steel City Vault ran a main-deck monster to Tinker into play, current versions do not. In this way, ACV is reminiscent of the original Vault builds.

Inkwell Leviathan is brought in against any deck that doesn't fear Sphinx of the Steel Wind. Basically, if a deck has an out to Sphinx such as Jace or Swords to Plowshares, than Ol' Inky makes his entrance. Both Tinker-Bots can be pitched to Force of Will, which is a nice little bonus.

The idea behind keeping a main-deck fatty to Tinker into play is to increase the "free wins" that the deck has. Sometimes you can just Tinker with Force back-up on turn one, and that ends up being the safest bet. The downside is that sometimes you'll draw your creature, and that isn't so hot, Luckily, there are ways to Restock the deck with the Sphinx, so it isn't all bad. Inkwell is easier to hard-cast, as it only takes double blue, but Sphinx of the Steel Wind is much harder to play the old-fashioned way.

Other than the aforementioned cards, much of the deck follows the same principles of other Vault decks. There's no Burning Wish, so Transmute Artifact goes back into the main-deck (where it rightfully belongs, it's Tinker number two!). Mox Opal is played as a one-of, and ACV plays several additional "free" Counterspells. The four Forces, two Misdirections, and three Mental Missteps, give this deck the ability to enter into a counterwar at almost any time.

Why should I play Angel City Vault?



If you're looking for a powerful deck to play that is also a blast to play, Angel City Vault is right up your alley. There are many intricate lines of play you can take, and the deck is deceptively simple to pilot. While many hands will contain a clear path to a Key/Vault win, many will not. Those hands are the ones that become increasingly difficult to evaluate.

Another good reason to play the deck is that it can have a decent Workshop match-up. The combo isn't very mana intensive, and as I've said before, cheap threats are one of the best things you can play to beat Shops. Main-deck cards like Dack Fayden, Goblin Welder, and Hurkyl's Recall also help out considerably. If you're facing a non-Null Rod variant like Martello Shops, you can sometimes flood the board with mana accelerants when you're on the play. Having access to abundant mana is also a strong tactic against such decks.

The deck also has good match-ups against other combo decks. In many games it ends up playing out Key/Vault faster than the other deck can combo out.

So, if you enjoy doing broken things, and enjoy doing them faster than your opponents, this deck is for you. Besides, picking this deck up and playing it has the rogue surprise factor going for it. A little Shock and awe goes a long way!

Closing Thoughts...

On Vintage, Daily Events, and Eternal Magic.

Last weekend, the nine-thirty P.M. Saturday Vintage Daily Event I usually play in did not fire. The Sunday D.E. at that same time slot also did not fire. As far as I'm concerned, that's a serious issue.

If anyone reading this is unaware, I'd like to mention that Standard Dailies are so popular that they are capped for attendance. Back when I first started playing MTGO, I missed the first Standard Daily that I tried to play because I waited too long to sign up. I don't expect the Vintage tournaments to ever completely fill up, but I'd surely like to think that the sixteen-person minimum should be easy to reach.

I want the Dailies to always fire, and I want pick-up games in the Tournament Practice room and two-player queues to fire much more quickly. In most formats, you get matched with an opponent as soon as you click "play". There are times that the wait for a Vintage game is several minutes.

I don't know what the solution to all of this is. I hope to entice MTGO players to try Vintage with these articles, and I always talk about the format with anyone who wishes to discuss it. I've been Pondering what else I could do to spread the gospel of the power nine, and I've had some revelations.

First of all, I think that many prospective Vintage players are intimidated by the perceived cost of the format. I also think that people assume that Vintage is a "turn-one format", and they worry that they'd just get blown out every time that they play. Being that I've identified these two problems, what kind of solution can I come up with?

Cost can be addressed by finding some decks that aren't so expensive. I've decided that I'm going to do an entire article on decks that are good for beginners due their low-cost. Ideally, these beginner decks will be competetive and easy to pilot reasonably well. Dredge is a cheap and powerful option that has been suggested by several people, but I'd like to also highlight decks that will appeal to a wider range of players.

How do I convince people that Vintage isn't a turn-one format? That's a tougher nut to crack. I suppose I'd recommend that people watch the Vintage Super League, or even go into the tournament practice room and watch some matches to see what really goes on. Personally, I get turn-one wins infrequently, and only one of my decks is even capable of winning that fast.

I really wish that I had the perfect answers to these issues, but I suspect that it takes a community as a whole to remedy the situation. So I challenge everyone who reads this to be mindful of the state of the Vintage format, and to do their part in building bridges with aspiring players.

This is something that is very important to me, and I feel like it's important to Magic in its entirety. Eternal formats like Legacy and Vintage give cards that have rotated out of Standard (or that were banned from Modern) a home where they can be played. As Important as Standard is to Wizards, I think eternal formats are even more important to the rest of us.

Without eternal formats, everyone would just be buying a disposable product. Every card would eventually end up like the draft-chaff at a local game store, tossed aside for kids to put in their binders. Perhaps you think that Modern is the home for these rotated former-staples, but the Modern banned list is starting to look like a phone book. Where would Jace have a home if not for Legacy or Vintage? Don't even get me started on Birthing Pod...

I guess the best way to sum all of this up is that I want the word "eternal" in eternal formats to really mean something. I don't want cards to have expiration dates. This isn't an indictment of Standard, it's a fine format with its own merits. I just want Vintage and Legacy to be supported with the same vigor.

Untill we meet again, stay calm and cast Mana Drain.

You can follow Roland @Rolandmtg and Danny Batterman @dbatterskull