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p0p1 challenge description

Alright, well this one should be interesting. Honestly I don’t know how I feel about having 17lands data for a vintage cube, but I’ll comfort myself in the (unsubstantiated) fact that it will probably be skewed and unusable in some way.

Had to mull on these for a bit. Well, not for the power, that one was a snap pick, but the rest are definitely interesting…

My Picks:

  • W: Reprieve

Going for white Remand. While you're not as likely to cast it on 2, it can still be a big tempo swing if you can catch your opponent's more expensive spells with it. Path to Exile is a good card but it's way worse than Swords, and can really ruin your day if you cast it at the wrong time.

  • U: Mana Leak

I think Mana Leak is the best soft counter, because 3 mana is just a very significant tax at pretty much any point in the game. Also in consideration is Memory Lapse, which I think is slightly stronger than Remand in some situations, or maybe Sink into Stupor for low cost of inclusion

  • B: Dismember

Maybe this is wrong because people will probably die to it, but this is a {1} instant that kills any* creature, which is fantastic in these cubes. Better when you can pay black, but absolutely not necessary. Snuff Out and Deep-Cavern Bat are also in consideration for me, although without monarch/initiative Bat loses some value

  • R: Gut, True Soul Zealot

An insane clock, probably one of the fastest in the cube? They're really annoying to block too

  • G: Crop Rotation

I'm gonna pick crop rot on the assumption that if it's going in your deck you're doing something powerful with it, but wow the green (un)commons don't look great huh. Obviously the elves can be good, but I think people are gonna pick them too highly and end up in GB midrange and lose so... probably not a good choice for p0p1. Maybe I'm supposed to just pick

  • bonus (un)common: Zuran Orb

I'm using similar logic to Crop Rotation here, but Zuran Orb also has a lot of useful applications besides lands decks - it can also combo with Balance to be an Armageddon, and a lot of Academy decks will just take more 0 mana artifacts. It's good with Bolas's Citadel too, and surprisingly good into a lot of aggressive decks since it will often keep you alive until they run out of gas

  • 2-color uncommon: Fire Covenant

Fire Covenant is so good. I think people underrate it a lot (maybe not as much these days?) but it's an instant speed asymmetric wipe!! And RB is a solid color pair to be in as well

  • Power 9+: Sol Ring

It's gotta be, right? Right? Right??

This argument has been done to death, but I think Sol Ring's floor is generally higher than Lotus and it's also worth considering that you can't leverage a t1 initiative/monarch creature in this cube unlike the MTGO Vintage Cube, so I'm definitely p1p1 taking Sol Ring over Lotus. If we factor in how p0p1 is scored, with GIHWR... well I honestly don't know how much that changes things, but it might also bein Sol Ring's favor since people may be more liable to misplay Lotus or take it at inappropriate times in the pack.

It's definitely better than the rest of the Power, as well as the "honorary" Power here (Library and Mana Crypt). I think if pressed I'd end up on Sol Ring > Lotus > Mana Crypt.