Podcasts about burning wish

This episode was originally released February 11th, 2019.For episode 37, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk with Steve McGrew and Jake Hilty (@TuringTested, our first returning guest) about a new, fun format we’ve been enjoying. It’s not as old as Old School or as new as Modern – it’s Middle School! Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:25 – Introducing Middle School39:54 – Upcoming Middle and Old School Events42:30 – Shameless Plug43:20 – Food and Drink for #MTGClevelandFull runtime – 55:52Also, until February 15, we’re selling Serious Vintage T-shirts! Hurry! Trying to Get A’s in Middle School Magic players love nostalgia. It’s not necessarily a “things were better when…” attitude. Sometimes it’s just that “things were different and I enjoyed that too,” as well as the fun that comes along with resolving favorite old cards, or even just seeing and thinking about them. Frequently that nostalgia will surround the era you started playing, when you were first learning the game and absorbing as much as you could. Good or bad, those cards tend to stick with you. Most players started in the Modern era, so they can get play their early favorite deck or card or strategy in the Modern format, even if it’s not the best path to victory, just to get that hit of remembrance. Old School likewise fills a need for people who want to get that historic Magic feel—simpler creatures and spells with “classic” art. Middle School fills in between Old School and Modern, allowing sets from 1995 (Ice Age and Fourth Edition) to 2003 (Scourge), stopping at the frame change with Eighth Edition. Deck construction rules tend towards inclusion, allowing pretty much anything printed during that time: promos (except Mana Crypt, part of a small Banned List), ancillary sets like Beatdown, any gold-bordered Championship Decks, and all three Portal sets. That’s a lot of cards! These allow a lot of great decks, many of which haven’t been fully explored simply because not all the cards were legal in the same format at the same time, except in Legacy and Vintage, where they’ve already been outclassed. From what I’ve seen, there are all kinds of archetypes available to players. Aggro decks have tribal and synergistic examples, and are very few turns behind the combo decks, meaning even that potentially lopsided matchup is challenging when one side stumbles. Midrange has excellent historical examples to learn from, and control has good options, being challenged mostly because the format is broad enough to allow so many disparate threats. There are also some interesting challenges to all Middle School deck building, including—as Jake mentions in the podcast—that mana fixing is far from perfect. Should you stick closer to two colors, or are you OK adding more and accepting the risk of not having the mana you need when you need it? We talk a lot about the format and what’s possible. I’m going to post some decklist photos, but you should know they’re for inspiration only. None of us would suggest that these are the best decks in the format or even necessarily optimal examples of their own kind. Just look at these hot pix and get excited about playing with old cards. UG Madness First up is Josh Chapple’s UG Madness deck, which is great because I’m pretty sure he was able to just pull this off the shelf as-is when he heard the format was created. Counters, card draw, and efficient creatures. Pretty straightforward. 10-Land Stompy This is mono-green 10-Land Stompy. When I told my local store owner about the format he was very excited to be able to build this deck. There are a few adjustments I would make, but it goldfishes very well. Jungle Lion can’t intercept, but it can attack pretty well. Aluren This Aluren deck from Jake does a couple of things that a lot of Middle School decks do: Birds of Paradise as a mana fixer, and Intuition as a Demonic Tutor. Also notice Living Wish and Rhystic Tutor. This deck will find what it wants. Eggs! Eggs (Helm of Awakening Storm) was the first deck I played seriously in Vintage, and I was really excited when I realized I could play it competitively in Middle School. Being able to Frantic Search for two mana and untap three lands is a real treat. The sideboard at the bottom is mostly for Burning Wish. Enchantress Jake will play Enchantress in literally any format, so obviously he has a Middle School version. This plays lots of answers to various threats, can lock out an opponent with Words of Wind, and might even win with Squirrel Nest. Wheaties Wheaties (one of many “cereal decks” in the format) uses Academy Rector to put together enchantment combos, primarily Enduring Renewal and Goblin Bombardment, or Survival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare. UW Landstill Steve’s Landstill deck is an example of one of the control decks in the format, with lots of card draw and removal. You can sit behind Standstill and attack with Mishra’s Factory or Faerie Conclave, and even cycle Decree of Justice to make tokens. How fun! That’s just a few examples of what neat things are available in the format. Keep in mind too that any of the gold-bordered Championship Decks are legal as well, and most of them are going to be playable (and competitive!) right out of the box. Upcoming Events UPDATE! If you’re interested in playing Middle School and are coming to Cleveland for Magic Fest, we got you covered! Friday evening, February 22, at 7 p.m., Team Serious is hosting a Middle School event at Mars Bar, a great local bar with beer and gyros in Lakewood, a short ride from the convention center. Even if you don’t have a deck or are getting in after 7, this will be a great opportunity to meet people and learn about the format! There’s also an Old School event hosted by the Cleveland Rocs for the benefit of Providence House, one of the oldest and longest operating crisis nurseries in the country. Entries are limited to 32, and they’re almost full, but there is a waiting list for cancellations or other provisions. That event will be at Bottle House in Lakewood (see below), on Saturday, February 23, at noon. Dining Out Around Magic Fest Cleveland Magic Fest Cleveland is coming up February 22-24, with its usual schedule of Magic tournaments, side events, artists, and ephemera. If you’re coming to the North Coast later this month, Team Serious is happy to present a list of food and drink recommendations before, during, and after your gaming adventures. Highly recommended and nearby the convention center, Pho Thang will offer hot Vietnamese soup and sandwiches that should be perfect for Ohio in the middle of winter. Also within walking distance is Mabel’s BBQ, which features “Cleveland-style” barbecue, as created by Michael Symon of Food Network fame. The area near Mabel’s, around Prospect and E 4th streets, has several other restaurants probably good for a post-tournament meal as well. A short Lyft away is the Ohio City area (outlined in red on the map), which surrounds the West Side Market. The market has fewer prepared foods than Reading Terminal Market in Philly or North Market in Columbus, but it’s a similarly fun place and great to pick up snack items if you’re there during the day. Try some of the different jerkies. Ohio City also has several bars and restaurants. Listing just a few: Bar Cento (open late, voted “Best Pizza in Ohio”), Great Lakes Brewing Company brewpub, Flying Fig for creative fare, and (if it’s not too cold) Mitchell’s Ice Cream. Tremont is next to Ohio City (in blue) and also has several restaurants and bars, as well as the house from the movie A Christmas Story. Steve recommended Prosperity Social Club for comfort food and beer, and Restaurant Ginko for sushi. Ginko is closed on Sunday but open till midnight on Friday and Saturday. In Asia Town, east of the convention center also a brief ride away from the convention center (in green), try Szechuan Gourmet or Han Chinese Kabob and Grill. If you’re there early enough (before 8 p.m.) or want a quick lunch, you can also stop at Koko’s Bakery, which has sandwiches, bubble tea, pastries, and Chinese buns. A little farther away to the west is the suburb of Lakewood, where the Old School and Middle School events will be. Lakewood has the original location forMelt, which serves outstanding and creative grilled-cheese sandwiches. They’ve since expanded to Columbus and beyond. Proper Pig is there as well, which was mentioned alongside Mabel’s as good barbecue. And for drinks, LBM describes itself as a “friendly neighborhood viking cocktail bar” and has great burgers, while Bottle House is the brewery and meadery where the Old School event will be held on Saturday. For food, try also Sarita, a restaurant, which has happy hour 5-9 on Thursday and Sunday if you’re in the city early or late, or Georgetown for cocktails and live music. Steve also recommends Good Company for burgers and boozy milkshakes; it just opened. He also touted the grouping of Plum Cafe, Platform Beer Co., and B and G Tavern (for cheap beer and pool), all in the same area of Lorain Avenue. And Jake likes Mason Creamery, an ice cream shop that transforms into a ramen shop during the winter, as well as Jerry Yang’s favorite pizza in Cleveland, Angelo’s. They’re also in Lakewood but they deliver. Cleveland has a burgeoning food scene thanks to local chefs like Michael Symon and Dante Boccuzzi, so there are definitely places to check out. And as mentioned, it’s the Midwest, so drinking is pretty cheap. Let us know if you have questions or want more specific recommendations. Questions for Discussion When did you start playing Magic? What cards from Middle School get you excited? Have you ever played Oath of Druids without Forbidden Orchard? Should Mind Twist be banned if Dark Ritual already is? Are you coming to Magic Fest Cleveland? Great! You should say hi! Thanks for Supporting Our Show! We’re glad you’re interested in Vintage, Middle School, and all of the things we talk about on Serious Vintage. If you’d like to support us financially, maybe you and your friends and loved ones would enjoy a T-shirt. For the next three weeks (until February 15, in time for Valentines!) we’ll be selling shirts to raise money to improve podcasting and Team Serious streaming technology. “Force of Love” shirts are back, and now you can show you’re competitive when it comes to the post-tournament meal with a “Vintage Supper League” shirt! As usual, we’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released October 12th, 2020.In episode 48, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter) and Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher) talk with Joe Dyer (@volrathxp) about the effect of modal double-face cards in combo decks. Joe is THE Vintage and Legacy correspondent to follow, with great weekly strategy and format articles at MTGGoldfish. Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:37 – MDFC Lands in Eternal Combo46:29 – Food & Drink: Myracles, Lobster, and Oyster Crisp1:12:48 – OutroTotal runtime – 1:12:59 What Can Lands Do for You? If you’ve listened to this podcast before, you’re probably aware that we have a bit of an interest in (or obsession with?) Goblin Charbelcher decks. From 2007 until 2010 or so, I played almost exclusively Belcher in Vintage. Goldfishing alone, I did a lot of work on that deck to make it a fast, effective weapon, especially good at taking advantage of opponents’ stumbles or setup starts. That was an important period for Belcher because three new cards debuted that revolutionized the archetype: Rite of Flame in Coldsnap (2006), Empty the Warrens in Time Spiral (2006), and Simian Spirit Guide in Planar Chaos (2007). Two +1 mana sources and an additional, cheap, orthogonal win condition that fit next to Goblin Charbelcher in what the deck was already trying to do. They let the deck simplify its mana base and, with the later unrestriction of Chrome Mox, eventually let Vintage players cut Land Grants and lands altogether, so a Belcher activation was always guaranteed lethal and you didn’t have to show your hand to your opponent. Holiday Goblins, by Serious Vintage Business (18)4 Goblin Charbelcher4 Empty the Warrens1 Wheel of Fortune1 Memory Jar1 Tinker1 Timetwister4 Goblin Welder2 Veil of SummerMana Sources (42)4 Chrome Mox4 Elvish Spirit Guide4 Simian Spirit Guide4 Rite of Flame4 Tinder Wall4 Desperate Ritual2 Pyretic Ritual4 Manamorphose1 Channel1 Lion's Eye Diamond1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Ruby1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)4 Leyline of Anticipation4 Storm Entity2 Veil of Summer2 Guttural Response2 Pyretic Ritual1 Pyroblast These same cards and developments carried the deck into Legacy as well, with a similar red-green build. Without the additional power cards, and to take advantage of unrestricted Lion’s Eye Diamond, that deck often made use of Burning Wish as an additional win condition, but the idea is the same. It’s surprisingly easy to switch from Vintage to Legacy by just increasing the counts of restricted cards and cutting banned cards. When Zendikar Rising recently introduced the modal double-face cards (MDFCs), it felt like the same kind of watershed moment. Does this change everything? My initial reaction was skepticism. Why play a card that’s really only a land in the best case, a Chrome Mox imprint in the second best case, and unplayable in the worst case? There was also something anathema to me about playing lands in Belcher, but tradition isn’t a good reason to not play good cards. After some consideration, though, I realized that lands are very good in this type of deck. Most cards in the deck—Rite of Flame, Tinder Wall, a Mox, and so on—are simply plus-one mana, the same as a land. And lands have the benefit of being uncounterable and also permanent. They don’t build storm for Empty the Warrens, but neither do Spirit Guides. Finding the right balance of MDFC lands to provide mana, imprint extras on Chrome Mox, and not hurt storm too much would be great. In the above list, switching 4 Desperate Ritual for 4 Shatterskull Smashing (Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass) and 2 Pyretic Ritual for 2 Turntimber Symbiosis (Turntimber, Serpentine Wood) seems totally reasonable, within two or three cards. I don’t think you want any lands that enter the battlefield tapped, for example. But there’s another version of Vintage Belcher that doesn’t rely on storm, and it could really use an additional source of black mana. BuRGr Belcher, by Serious Vintage Business (13)4 Goblin Charbelcher1 Timetwister1 Wheel of Fortune1 Memory Jar1 Tinker1 Demonic Tutor1 Demonic Consultation3 Goblin WelderMana Sources (47)4 Shatterskull Smashing4 Agadeem's Awakening4 Elvish Spirit Guide4 Simian Spirit Guide4 Tinder Wall4 Rite of Flame4 Dark Ritual3 Manamorphose1 Channel4 Chrome Mox1 Lion's Eye Diamond1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Ruby1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)4 Empty the Warrens4 Veil of Summer4 Tormod’s Crypt1 Goblin Welder1 Necropotence1 Blightsteel Colossus I’ve played a version similar to the above (without the MDFCs, of course). It’s more all-or-nothing than the red-green version above, which has very consistent mana. BuRGr Belcher aggressively goes for Goblin Charbelcher, using Dark Ritual to fuel bigger plays, including tutors and explosive draw-sevens. The thing missing from previous versions was consistent access to the right colors of mana, since your starts come from green Tinder Wall, red Rite of Flame, or black Dark Rituals and try to make other colors happen from there. Adding more free, uncounterable mana should be a boon to this build, and having permanent mana sources means it is easier to activate a turn-one Belcher on turn two if necessary. I look forward to testing something like this as a much-improved version of its predecessor. Joe helps us talk about playing Oops, All Spells, another combo deck that can’t have lands and doesn’t need storm but does need consistent access to the right colors of mana. Joe wrote about this list in one of his recent articles. Oops, All Spells, by yashimoro Business (36)4 Balustrade Spy4 Undercity Informer4 Narcomoeba1 Cabal Therapy1 Dread Return1 Thassa’s Oracle4 Force of Will2 Pact of Negation1 Mental Misstep2 Thoughtseize1 Gitaxian Probe4 Preordain1 Ponder1 Brainstorm1 Ancestral Recall1 Mystical Tutor1 Vampiric Tutor1 Imperial Seal1 Demonic TutorMana Sources (24)4 Agadeem’s Awakening4 Sea Gate Restoration4 Dark Ritual4 Chrome Mox1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)1 Echoing Truth2 Fatal Push3 Goblin Charbelcher3 Hurkyl’s Recall4 Leyline of the Void2 Surgical Extraction I haven’t played Oops, All Spells in Vintage, but having played it in Legacy, the hardest part of mulliganing hands was trying to get the first black mana to pay for Dark Ritual. Even adding just Agadeem’s Awakening (Agadeem, the Undercrypt) to the list will be a huge help there. This list also looks like it might be happy to play a couple of lands and have a setup turn where it plays a draw spell or tutor. I still recommend Stephen Menendian’s exploration of the archetype for how to build and play a list in both Vintage and Legacy. Even with the new technology, the bases are the same. Getting to four mana with a turn-one, landless, combo deck is tantamount to victory, as even Empty the Warrens tokens or Goblin Charbelcher waiting for activation mana will win the game soon enough, to say nothing of Balustrade Spy and Undercity Informer. However, these are still very much glass cannons. Belcher loses to counterspells and Null Rod, and Oops, All Spells loses additionally to graveyard hate. The pilot of these decks knows they have to make their opponent have an answer, but they also know an answer frequently means a loss. Building these decks means making tradeoffs between more powerful cards, more reliable mana, and more protection like Goblin Welder, Veil of Summer, or counterspells. As better examples in these categories are printed (Veil of Summer coming out last year was huge), these decks will get stronger and stronger. The MDFCs are going to be big here. As I mentioned on the show, I think there’s going to be more done with them than what we’ve seen here. Food & Drink: Myracles, Lobsters, and Oyster Crisp Joe recommended a new restaurant in the Dayton, Ohio area: Myracles Bar and Grill. It sounds pretty good, particularly the idea of specialty egg rolls with different flavors. I’m a fan of bar food in general, and I notice they have $4.29 baked beans, so those have to be amazing, right? Anyway, good luck to them opening in the middle of a pandemic. Someday, perhaps, Team Serious will make it out there and dine as a group once again. Geoff talked about his recent trip to his family’s undisclosed location on the coast of Maine. The cabin is rustic, but it has access to local lobster and a beach, from which it is possible to harvest oysters, at least for now. There’s lots of good talk about fresh and not-so-fresh seafood. I recommended Taylor Shellfish in Seattle, where they will help the uninitiated learn about shellfish and will sell you a geoduck (pronounced “gooeyduck”), which looks like this: And now we can provide the recipe mentioned in the show for oyster crisp, which sounds pretty good if you can get the oysters. Definitely cook them if you’re unsure of their origin. 1 pint oysters, drained1/2 tsp salt1/8 tsp pepper6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled1 cup Parmesan cheese1 cup heavy cream1/2 cup crumbled saltine crackers2 tbsp butter, melted Salt and pepper the oysters and layer with the other ingredients in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for at least 20 minutes, or until top is brown and bubbly. Eternal Weekend(s) 2020 We didn’t get a chance to talk about this on the show because it hadn’t been announced yet. Eternal Weekend is going to be an online affair this year (thanks, coronavirus), but that means there’s more opportunities to win as there are still three paintings to give away. Everything is organized on MTGO by Wizards, so details are all online here. The basics are that an MTGO account is required, it’s $25 to enter, and there are three events for three different paintings:● Saturday, October 24, at 12:00 AM PDT (Tolarian Academy)● Saturday, October 24, at 2:00 PM PDT (Library of Alexandria)● Sunday, October 25, at 8:00 AM PDT (Mishra’s Workshop) Good luck! I hope you win on turn one a lot. Questions for Discussion Is it wrong to play lands in Belcher at all? What if you play 15 lands, but they’re all in your sideboard? Should Oops, All Spells get a different name now that it has lands in it? Should it have gotten a different name anyway? Is Oops, All Berries a good cereal? I don’t think so. Crunch Berries have a weird flavor, kind of perfumy. I’m not a fan. Oops, All Oyster Crisp might be a better cereal. Oops, All Geoduck. Conclusion Thanks again to Joe Dyer for being our guest for this episode! Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter and check out his articles on MTGGoldfish. Life has been stressful and weird lately with, you know, disease and injustice and whatever is going on in Washington, D.C. lately. Sheesh. Thank you for spending some of your time with us. We at Serious Vintage encourage you to be safe, and also to vote. We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released October 12th, 2020.In episode 48, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter) and Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher) talk with Joe Dyer (@volrathxp) about the effect of modal double-face cards in combo decks. Joe is THE Vintage and Legacy correspondent to follow, with great weekly strategy and format articles at MTGGoldfish. Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:37 – MDFC Lands in Eternal Combo46:29 – Food & Drink: Myracles, Lobster, and Oyster Crisp1:12:48 – OutroTotal runtime – 1:12:59 What Can Lands Do for You? If you’ve listened to this podcast before, you’re probably aware that we have a bit of an interest in (or obsession with?) Goblin Charbelcher decks. From 2007 until 2010 or so, I played almost exclusively Belcher in Vintage. Goldfishing alone, I did a lot of work on that deck to make it a fast, effective weapon, especially good at taking advantage of opponents’ stumbles or setup starts. That was an important period for Belcher because three new cards debuted that revolutionized the archetype: Rite of Flame in Coldsnap (2006), Empty the Warrens in Time Spiral (2006), and Simian Spirit Guide in Planar Chaos (2007). Two +1 mana sources and an additional, cheap, orthogonal win condition that fit next to Goblin Charbelcher in what the deck was already trying to do. They let the deck simplify its mana base and, with the later unrestriction of Chrome Mox, eventually let Vintage players cut Land Grants and lands altogether, so a Belcher activation was always guaranteed lethal and you didn’t have to show your hand to your opponent. Holiday Goblins, by Serious Vintage Business (18)4 Goblin Charbelcher4 Empty the Warrens1 Wheel of Fortune1 Memory Jar1 Tinker1 Timetwister4 Goblin Welder2 Veil of SummerMana Sources (42)4 Chrome Mox4 Elvish Spirit Guide4 Simian Spirit Guide4 Rite of Flame4 Tinder Wall4 Desperate Ritual2 Pyretic Ritual4 Manamorphose1 Channel1 Lion's Eye Diamond1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Ruby1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)4 Leyline of Anticipation4 Storm Entity2 Veil of Summer2 Guttural Response2 Pyretic Ritual1 Pyroblast These same cards and developments carried the deck into Legacy as well, with a similar red-green build. Without the additional power cards, and to take advantage of unrestricted Lion’s Eye Diamond, that deck often made use of Burning Wish as an additional win condition, but the idea is the same. It’s surprisingly easy to switch from Vintage to Legacy by just increasing the counts of restricted cards and cutting banned cards. When Zendikar Rising recently introduced the modal double-face cards (MDFCs), it felt like the same kind of watershed moment. Does this change everything? My initial reaction was skepticism. Why play a card that’s really only a land in the best case, a Chrome Mox imprint in the second best case, and unplayable in the worst case? There was also something anathema to me about playing lands in Belcher, but tradition isn’t a good reason to not play good cards. After some consideration, though, I realized that lands are very good in this type of deck. Most cards in the deck—Rite of Flame, Tinder Wall, a Mox, and so on—are simply plus-one mana, the same as a land. And lands have the benefit of being uncounterable and also permanent. They don’t build storm for Empty the Warrens, but neither do Spirit Guides. Finding the right balance of MDFC lands to provide mana, imprint extras on Chrome Mox, and not hurt storm too much would be great. In the above list, switching 4 Desperate Ritual for 4 Shatterskull Smashing (Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass) and 2 Pyretic Ritual for 2 Turntimber Symbiosis (Turntimber, Serpentine Wood) seems totally reasonable, within two or three cards. I don’t think you want any lands that enter the battlefield tapped, for example. But there’s another version of Vintage Belcher that doesn’t rely on storm, and it could really use an additional source of black mana. BuRGr Belcher, by Serious Vintage Business (13)4 Goblin Charbelcher1 Timetwister1 Wheel of Fortune1 Memory Jar1 Tinker1 Demonic Tutor1 Demonic Consultation3 Goblin WelderMana Sources (47)4 Shatterskull Smashing4 Agadeem's Awakening4 Elvish Spirit Guide4 Simian Spirit Guide4 Tinder Wall4 Rite of Flame4 Dark Ritual3 Manamorphose1 Channel4 Chrome Mox1 Lion's Eye Diamond1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Ruby1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)4 Empty the Warrens4 Veil of Summer4 Tormod’s Crypt1 Goblin Welder1 Necropotence1 Blightsteel Colossus I’ve played a version similar to the above (without the MDFCs, of course). It’s more all-or-nothing than the red-green version above, which has very consistent mana. BuRGr Belcher aggressively goes for Goblin Charbelcher, using Dark Ritual to fuel bigger plays, including tutors and explosive draw-sevens. The thing missing from previous versions was consistent access to the right colors of mana, since your starts come from green Tinder Wall, red Rite of Flame, or black Dark Rituals and try to make other colors happen from there. Adding more free, uncounterable mana should be a boon to this build, and having permanent mana sources means it is easier to activate a turn-one Belcher on turn two if necessary. I look forward to testing something like this as a much-improved version of its predecessor. Joe helps us talk about playing Oops, All Spells, another combo deck that can’t have lands and doesn’t need storm but does need consistent access to the right colors of mana. Joe wrote about this list in one of his recent articles. Oops, All Spells, by yashimoro Business (36)4 Balustrade Spy4 Undercity Informer4 Narcomoeba1 Cabal Therapy1 Dread Return1 Thassa’s Oracle4 Force of Will2 Pact of Negation1 Mental Misstep2 Thoughtseize1 Gitaxian Probe4 Preordain1 Ponder1 Brainstorm1 Ancestral Recall1 Mystical Tutor1 Vampiric Tutor1 Imperial Seal1 Demonic TutorMana Sources (24)4 Agadeem’s Awakening4 Sea Gate Restoration4 Dark Ritual4 Chrome Mox1 Lotus Petal1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Sapphire1 Mana Crypt1 Sol Ring1 Mana Vault | Sideboard (15)1 Echoing Truth2 Fatal Push3 Goblin Charbelcher3 Hurkyl’s Recall4 Leyline of the Void2 Surgical Extraction I haven’t played Oops, All Spells in Vintage, but having played it in Legacy, the hardest part of mulliganing hands was trying to get the first black mana to pay for Dark Ritual. Even adding just Agadeem’s Awakening (Agadeem, the Undercrypt) to the list will be a huge help there. This list also looks like it might be happy to play a couple of lands and have a setup turn where it plays a draw spell or tutor. I still recommend Stephen Menendian’s exploration of the archetype for how to build and play a list in both Vintage and Legacy. Even with the new technology, the bases are the same. Getting to four mana with a turn-one, landless, combo deck is tantamount to victory, as even Empty the Warrens tokens or Goblin Charbelcher waiting for activation mana will win the game soon enough, to say nothing of Balustrade Spy and Undercity Informer. However, these are still very much glass cannons. Belcher loses to counterspells and Null Rod, and Oops, All Spells loses additionally to graveyard hate. The pilot of these decks knows they have to make their opponent have an answer, but they also know an answer frequently means a loss. Building these decks means making tradeoffs between more powerful cards, more reliable mana, and more protection like Goblin Welder, Veil of Summer, or counterspells. As better examples in these categories are printed (Veil of Summer coming out last year was huge), these decks will get stronger and stronger. The MDFCs are going to be big here. As I mentioned on the show, I think there’s going to be more done with them than what we’ve seen here. Food & Drink: Myracles, Lobsters, and Oyster Crisp Joe recommended a new restaurant in the Dayton, Ohio area: Myracles Bar and Grill. It sounds pretty good, particularly the idea of specialty egg rolls with different flavors. I’m a fan of bar food in general, and I notice they have $4.29 baked beans, so those have to be amazing, right? Anyway, good luck to them opening in the middle of a pandemic. Someday, perhaps, Team Serious will make it out there and dine as a group once again. Geoff talked about his recent trip to his family’s undisclosed location on the coast of Maine. The cabin is rustic, but it has access to local lobster and a beach, from which it is possible to harvest oysters, at least for now. There’s lots of good talk about fresh and not-so-fresh seafood. I recommended Taylor Shellfish in Seattle, where they will help the uninitiated learn about shellfish and will sell you a geoduck (pronounced “gooeyduck”), which looks like this: And now we can provide the recipe mentioned in the show for oyster crisp, which sounds pretty good if you can get the oysters. Definitely cook them if you’re unsure of their origin. 1 pint oysters, drained1/2 tsp salt1/8 tsp pepper6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled1 cup Parmesan cheese1 cup heavy cream1/2 cup crumbled saltine crackers2 tbsp butter, melted Salt and pepper the oysters and layer with the other ingredients in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for at least 20 minutes, or until top is brown and bubbly. Eternal Weekend(s) 2020 We didn’t get a chance to talk about this on the show because it hadn’t been announced yet. Eternal Weekend is going to be an online affair this year (thanks, coronavirus), but that means there’s more opportunities to win as there are still three paintings to give away. Everything is organized on MTGO by Wizards, so details are all online here. The basics are that an MTGO account is required, it’s $25 to enter, and there are three events for three different paintings:● Saturday, October 24, at 12:00 AM PDT (Tolarian Academy)● Saturday, October 24, at 2:00 PM PDT (Library of Alexandria)● Sunday, October 25, at 8:00 AM PDT (Mishra’s Workshop) Good luck! I hope you win on turn one a lot. Questions for Discussion Is it wrong to play lands in Belcher at all? What if you play 15 lands, but they’re all in your sideboard? Should Oops, All Spells get a different name now that it has lands in it? Should it have gotten a different name anyway? Is Oops, All Berries a good cereal? I don’t think so. Crunch Berries have a weird flavor, kind of perfumy. I’m not a fan. Oops, All Oyster Crisp might be a better cereal. Oops, All Geoduck. Conclusion Thanks again to Joe Dyer for being our guest for this episode! Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter and check out his articles on MTGGoldfish. Life has been stressful and weird lately with, you know, disease and injustice and whatever is going on in Washington, D.C. lately. Sheesh. Thank you for spending some of your time with us. We at Serious Vintage encourage you to be safe, and also to vote. We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released February 11th, 2019.For episode 37, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk with Steve McGrew and Jake Hilty (@TuringTested, our first returning guest) about a new, fun format we’ve been enjoying. It’s not as old as Old School or as new as Modern – it’s Middle School! Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:25 – Introducing Middle School39:54 – Upcoming Middle and Old School Events42:30 – Shameless Plug43:20 – Food and Drink for #MTGClevelandFull runtime – 55:52Also, until February 15, we’re selling Serious Vintage T-shirts! Hurry! Trying to Get A’s in Middle School Magic players love nostalgia. It’s not necessarily a “things were better when…” attitude. Sometimes it’s just that “things were different and I enjoyed that too,” as well as the fun that comes along with resolving favorite old cards, or even just seeing and thinking about them. Frequently that nostalgia will surround the era you started playing, when you were first learning the game and absorbing as much as you could. Good or bad, those cards tend to stick with you. Most players started in the Modern era, so they can get play their early favorite deck or card or strategy in the Modern format, even if it’s not the best path to victory, just to get that hit of remembrance. Old School likewise fills a need for people who want to get that historic Magic feel—simpler creatures and spells with “classic” art. Middle School fills in between Old School and Modern, allowing sets from 1995 (Ice Age and Fourth Edition) to 2003 (Scourge), stopping at the frame change with Eighth Edition. Deck construction rules tend towards inclusion, allowing pretty much anything printed during that time: promos (except Mana Crypt, part of a small Banned List), ancillary sets like Beatdown, any gold-bordered Championship Decks, and all three Portal sets. That’s a lot of cards! These allow a lot of great decks, many of which haven’t been fully explored simply because not all the cards were legal in the same format at the same time, except in Legacy and Vintage, where they’ve already been outclassed. From what I’ve seen, there are all kinds of archetypes available to players. Aggro decks have tribal and synergistic examples, and are very few turns behind the combo decks, meaning even that potentially lopsided matchup is challenging when one side stumbles. Midrange has excellent historical examples to learn from, and control has good options, being challenged mostly because the format is broad enough to allow so many disparate threats. There are also some interesting challenges to all Middle School deck building, including—as Jake mentions in the podcast—that mana fixing is far from perfect. Should you stick closer to two colors, or are you OK adding more and accepting the risk of not having the mana you need when you need it? We talk a lot about the format and what’s possible. I’m going to post some decklist photos, but you should know they’re for inspiration only. None of us would suggest that these are the best decks in the format or even necessarily optimal examples of their own kind. Just look at these hot pix and get excited about playing with old cards. UG Madness First up is Josh Chapple’s UG Madness deck, which is great because I’m pretty sure he was able to just pull this off the shelf as-is when he heard the format was created. Counters, card draw, and efficient creatures. Pretty straightforward. 10-Land Stompy This is mono-green 10-Land Stompy. When I told my local store owner about the format he was very excited to be able to build this deck. There are a few adjustments I would make, but it goldfishes very well. Jungle Lion can’t intercept, but it can attack pretty well. Aluren This Aluren deck from Jake does a couple of things that a lot of Middle School decks do: Birds of Paradise as a mana fixer, and Intuition as a Demonic Tutor. Also notice Living Wish and Rhystic Tutor. This deck will find what it wants. Eggs! Eggs (Helm of Awakening Storm) was the first deck I played seriously in Vintage, and I was really excited when I realized I could play it competitively in Middle School. Being able to Frantic Search for two mana and untap three lands is a real treat. The sideboard at the bottom is mostly for Burning Wish. Enchantress Jake will play Enchantress in literally any format, so obviously he has a Middle School version. This plays lots of answers to various threats, can lock out an opponent with Words of Wind, and might even win with Squirrel Nest. Wheaties Wheaties (one of many “cereal decks” in the format) uses Academy Rector to put together enchantment combos, primarily Enduring Renewal and Goblin Bombardment, or Survival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare. UW Landstill Steve’s Landstill deck is an example of one of the control decks in the format, with lots of card draw and removal. You can sit behind Standstill and attack with Mishra’s Factory or Faerie Conclave, and even cycle Decree of Justice to make tokens. How fun! That’s just a few examples of what neat things are available in the format. Keep in mind too that any of the gold-bordered Championship Decks are legal as well, and most of them are going to be playable (and competitive!) right out of the box. Upcoming Events UPDATE! If you’re interested in playing Middle School and are coming to Cleveland for Magic Fest, we got you covered! Friday evening, February 22, at 7 p.m., Team Serious is hosting a Middle School event at Mars Bar, a great local bar with beer and gyros in Lakewood, a short ride from the convention center. Even if you don’t have a deck or are getting in after 7, this will be a great opportunity to meet people and learn about the format! There’s also an Old School event hosted by the Cleveland Rocs for the benefit of Providence House, one of the oldest and longest operating crisis nurseries in the country. Entries are limited to 32, and they’re almost full, but there is a waiting list for cancellations or other provisions. That event will be at Bottle House in Lakewood (see below), on Saturday, February 23, at noon. Dining Out Around Magic Fest Cleveland Magic Fest Cleveland is coming up February 22-24, with its usual schedule of Magic tournaments, side events, artists, and ephemera. If you’re coming to the North Coast later this month, Team Serious is happy to present a list of food and drink recommendations before, during, and after your gaming adventures. Highly recommended and nearby the convention center, Pho Thang will offer hot Vietnamese soup and sandwiches that should be perfect for Ohio in the middle of winter. Also within walking distance is Mabel’s BBQ, which features “Cleveland-style” barbecue, as created by Michael Symon of Food Network fame. The area near Mabel’s, around Prospect and E 4th streets, has several other restaurants probably good for a post-tournament meal as well. A short Lyft away is the Ohio City area (outlined in red on the map), which surrounds the West Side Market. The market has fewer prepared foods than Reading Terminal Market in Philly or North Market in Columbus, but it’s a similarly fun place and great to pick up snack items if you’re there during the day. Try some of the different jerkies. Ohio City also has several bars and restaurants. Listing just a few: Bar Cento (open late, voted “Best Pizza in Ohio”), Great Lakes Brewing Company brewpub, Flying Fig for creative fare, and (if it’s not too cold) Mitchell’s Ice Cream. Tremont is next to Ohio City (in blue) and also has several restaurants and bars, as well as the house from the movie A Christmas Story. Steve recommended Prosperity Social Club for comfort food and beer, and Restaurant Ginko for sushi. Ginko is closed on Sunday but open till midnight on Friday and Saturday. In Asia Town, east of the convention center also a brief ride away from the convention center (in green), try Szechuan Gourmet or Han Chinese Kabob and Grill. If you’re there early enough (before 8 p.m.) or want a quick lunch, you can also stop at Koko’s Bakery, which has sandwiches, bubble tea, pastries, and Chinese buns. A little farther away to the west is the suburb of Lakewood, where the Old School and Middle School events will be. Lakewood has the original location forMelt, which serves outstanding and creative grilled-cheese sandwiches. They’ve since expanded to Columbus and beyond. Proper Pig is there as well, which was mentioned alongside Mabel’s as good barbecue. And for drinks, LBM describes itself as a “friendly neighborhood viking cocktail bar” and has great burgers, while Bottle House is the brewery and meadery where the Old School event will be held on Saturday. For food, try also Sarita, a restaurant, which has happy hour 5-9 on Thursday and Sunday if you’re in the city early or late, or Georgetown for cocktails and live music. Steve also recommends Good Company for burgers and boozy milkshakes; it just opened. He also touted the grouping of Plum Cafe, Platform Beer Co., and B and G Tavern (for cheap beer and pool), all in the same area of Lorain Avenue. And Jake likes Mason Creamery, an ice cream shop that transforms into a ramen shop during the winter, as well as Jerry Yang’s favorite pizza in Cleveland, Angelo’s. They’re also in Lakewood but they deliver. Cleveland has a burgeoning food scene thanks to local chefs like Michael Symon and Dante Boccuzzi, so there are definitely places to check out. And as mentioned, it’s the Midwest, so drinking is pretty cheap. Let us know if you have questions or want more specific recommendations. Questions for Discussion When did you start playing Magic? What cards from Middle School get you excited? Have you ever played Oath of Druids without Forbidden Orchard? Should Mind Twist be banned if Dark Ritual already is? Are you coming to Magic Fest Cleveland? Great! You should say hi! Thanks for Supporting Our Show! We’re glad you’re interested in Vintage, Middle School, and all of the things we talk about on Serious Vintage. If you’d like to support us financially, maybe you and your friends and loved ones would enjoy a T-shirt. For the next three weeks (until February 15, in time for Valentines!) we’ll be selling shirts to raise money to improve podcasting and Team Serious streaming technology. “Force of Love” shirts are back, and now you can show you’re competitive when it comes to the post-tournament meal with a “Vintage Supper League” shirt! As usual, we’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

East Coast Burns abound. Leading theme camps. Wickerman humble Brag. Scrambles is scramblin'. Dance Fight Dance Party. Historical fencing. Talking economies. Pivoting toward ritual screaming. The comeback tour. Scram fam. Mutant, right? Tripticon. Or Trypticon. Or Triptikahn. Lucky cancer stuff. He fucked her formula. Burning Wish. Let down some guards. Also, D-day goes far afield, and Bethest confronts religiosity. Photo credit: Snazzypants www.nextbestmen.com

Jimmy and Josh go in depth on a question about Burning Wish and how to sideboard in Commander. Then we deck tech Jimmy's newest brew: Anafenza, the Foremost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the second Serious Vintage Podcast! Episode 2 features #TEAMSERIOUS members Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher on Twitter), Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple on Twitter), discussing the politics of concession, a look at some of the lists developed in the wake of Burning Wish’s unrestriction in Vintage, and Serious food and drink […]

Kevin Cron and Steve Menendian conclude their discussion of Return to Ravnica, as well as the unrestriction of Burning Wish. 0:06:20: Burning Wish 0:28:00: Rest in Peace 0:39:34: Epic Experiment 0:47:06: Vandalblast 0:52:35: Deathrite Shaman 0:57:50: Abrupt Decay 1:01:19: Detention Sphere 1:03:00: Treasured Find 1:08:36: Nivmagus Elemental 1:19:27: Rakdos Charm 1:24:08: Slitherhead Total Runtime: 1:33:10 […]

Welcome to the inaugural Serious Vintage Podcast! Episode 1 features #TEAMSERIOUS members Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher on Twitter) and Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), discussing the unrestriction of Burning Wish in Vintage, potential playables in Return to Ravnica, Sandusky Food options, and even tackle some questions from Twitter. Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your […]