Nevermore
Meddling Mage in enchantment form. At 1 more mana, this makes it uncounterable by Spell Snare, which is significant at this point in time where the blue counterspell is prevalent (and probably will remain so).
I've been playing Enchantress in some local tournaments and have previously considered Null Chamber since it prevents combo players from blasting through my locks with eg Burning Wish/bounce. Now Nevermore is much better and will be in my sideboard to name the cards that gets your opponent out of the pit. (Runed Halo is still main as it's that much faster in naming Tendrils/Empty the Warrens etc).
Now I only have to pray I can survive the first 2 turns against combo!
Stony Silence
Null Rod in enchantment. It seems like everything is going to have an enchantment form with Dark Tutelage, Nevermore, and now this. Wonder when I'll have Black Lotus in enchantment form...
Anyway, I've been using Null Rod in my sideboard to stop the LED, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox in my Enchantress sideboard against combo. This is a decent replacement though it makes a Back to Nature effect a greater blowout.
As for Vintage, prepare for the true blowout of 8 Null Rod.dec!!! And it's immune to Ancient Grudge, which means it's much better than the stick in Vintage! But wait... How many Rods does a "Fish" deck want? Dilute threat density? And if the archetype becomes great, expect Workshop decks to go beatdown (already are with Cat Stax). Also expect more Nature's Claim, which also deals with Demon Oath.
Forbidden Alchemy
Why are all these cards so good in Vintage? The guys at Eternal Central have argued for the unrestriction of Fact or Fiction in Vintage. Now Forbidden Alchemy, my friends, is much better than Fact or Fiction. A full turn faster and about just around the same number of cards seen! You get to keep the best card and the rest of the 4 go into the graveyard, waiting for a big Yawgmoth's Will turn. Plus, the winning point is that you can chain Alchemy into Alchemy much more efficiently at 3 mana while leaving the 4cmc slot for Jace. I dare say that other than Stony Silence, this will be an absolutely game changer for Vintage.
Oh wait... Intuition isn't restricted? There's a card that grants all instants and sorceries flashback? Ok, we'll just have to wait till Intuition's banned before this shows up in force.
Now in Legacy, it's difficult to assess what impact Alchemy will have. Stocking up of your graveyard is relevant in some decks like Reanimator, Dredge, Loam decks and many of those deck aren't really blue or don't require Alchemy.
For example, Reanimator has a rather fragile manabase of ~18 lands. Though Alchemy may function like a Mystical Tutor like effect in helping you get to that bounce/Pithing Needle for Relic, you're probably better off with Show and Tell at 3cmc. Similarly, Lands already have Intuition to get what they want instead of slowly filtering through the deck.
And don't tell me Dredge wants this.
Blue Control? How does this beat Standstill or Ancestral Vision? Heck, how does this beat Intuition?
In all, Alchemy's a solid card, but probably has limited impact on Legacy if any. Anyway, get 4 of these as throw-ins since it's a common!
Memory's Journey
Vintage darling, you're getting all the great stuff. This replaces Krosan Reclamation in Oath decks just for being blue.
In Legacy? It'll actually not be a long shot if some blue control deck wants to use this instead of Tormod's Crypt as sideboard hate just because it has Flashback!
Corpse Lunge
I read the card wrong as it targets creatures only. Remember guys, reading is tech!
Heartless Summoning
This is the exact kind of card that makes Johnny tickle. Combolicious on first sight until you try to figure out cards that can play well on its own without this in play. Most likely, cards that don't cost a ton don't need this to be good.
Unbreathing Horde
Soulless One is going to be so sad. Anyway, the Zombie tribe is lacking good 1, 2-drops to make it competitive. Just a bunch of 3-4cmc lords won't make it good, even with Vial. Until those are printed, it'll just be a casual card.
Victim of Night
Reminds me of Rend Flesh, which means it kills just about everything. To prove my point, name me any Vampire, Werewolf or Zombie that sees play in Legacy.
Ok, you'd probably have Gatekeeper of Malakir, Vampire Nighthawk, and Bloodghast. And that's shows this is pretty good, if you can generate the double black consistently. It's not stellar, and probably won't be used that much just because of its casting cost. Anyway, grab a playset for being common!
Infernal Plunge
A weaker Culling the Weak in red. Culling the Weak isn't played, so this won't either, as we already have Rite of Flame, Pyretic Ritual, and Seething Song.
Past in Flames
Perhaps this set should be named Time Spiral 2, as there's so many throwbacks to previous cards. Recoup was used in Vintage together with the Gifts Ungiven package. Just resolving a Tinker/Time Walk/Yawgmoth's Will will win the game. Now that you can resolve all of them ON THE SAME TURN, there's probably be major repercussions in Vintage.
Oh, and start with 4
Legacy? Not so much, but you might want to get your Intuitions.
Essence of the Wild
Please don't play this over Regal Force in Elves.
Parallel Lives
What? Doubling Season is sold out at $25 at SCG?
Splinterfright
Don't bother when you have KotR and Tarmogoyf.
So that's it for now. Vintage is riped for a big shakeout with Stony Silence, Forbidden Alchemy, Memory's Journey and Past in Flames. Legacy, on the other hand, probably will have to wait until the other set.
What do you think? Do you think Intuition will be busted with Past in Flames in Vintage Mana Drain decks? Or do you think Stony Silence will completely bust the archetype out? Let me know by commenting below or over at the mtgtrinket facebook page. Tweet this!
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