Vintage Doomsday Deck List Analysis for 2021.04.06-11

Thirteen decks this week! Is Doomsday a problem? Or is this just the cyclical life that we Magic players must endure?

Showcase Challenge




Sunday Challenge




Preliminaries




League

Core and Differences

Core

Main (57)
Ancestral Recall
Black Lotus
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Fetch Lands
Flusterstorm
Force of Negation
Force of Will
Gitaxian Probe
Gush
Island
Mental Misstep
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire
Mystical Dispute
Mystical Tutor
Necropotence
Ponder
Preordain
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle
Time Walk
Underground Sea
Vampiric Tutor
Sideboard (10)
Island
Leyline of the Void
Mindbreak Trap
Steel Sabotage

zachattack23 (7th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent

GGoggles (13th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent
Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Jacobisboss (14th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Duress
Flusterstorm
Sideboard (5)
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent

SuperCow12653 (30th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Library of Alexandria
Opposition Agent

Diem4x (1st Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent

Enrichetta (12th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Duress
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (0)

ThornOfWrath (16th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent
Tasigur, the Golden Fang

GGoggles (20th Place) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent
Tasigur, the Golden Fang

discoverN (4-0) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Library of Alexandria
Opposition Agent

XShockWaveX (5-0) Differences

Main (3)
Chain of Vapor
Dig Through Time
Peek
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Flusterstorm
Hurkyl's Recall
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

TristanJWL (4-0) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Thoughtseize
Sideboard (5)
Eliminate
Fatal Push
Library of Alexandria
Opposition Agent
Treasure Cruise

Jacobisboss (3-2) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent

Diem4x (5-0) Differences

Main (3)
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Portent
Sideboard (5)
Duress
Fatal Push
Opposition Agent
Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Total Differences

Draw (23)
Peek
10 Portent
12 Dig Through Time

Counters (12)
12 Flusterstorm

Discard (3)
Duress
Thoughtseize

Bounce (1)
Chain of Vapor
Sideboard (0)

Graveyard (0)

Artifacts (1)
Hurkyl's Recall

Discard (10)
10 Duress

Draw (1)
Treasure Cruise

Creatures (21)
Tasigur, the Golden Fang
17 Opposition Agent

Lands (4)
Library of Alexandria

Counters (1)
Flusterstorm

Removal (27)
Eliminate
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
23 Fatal Push

Thoughts

The core this week is 57-10, which is quite high. Looking at the core lists, Dig/Fluster/Portent is in nine of the lists, the rest being Dig/Duress/Fluster, Duress/Fluster/Portent, Chain/Dig/Peek, and Dig/Fluster/Thoughtseize. That's only one deck choosing to forego Dig Through Time, and most of the different lists choosing to add discard.
We don't see anything out of the ordinary in the sideboard this time, other than a Treasure Cruise, which I am assuming comes in versus Jeskai or other grindy matchups. I almost like it more than Library of Alexandria. But I also think that is an incredibly difficulty card to play.
Perhaps the sheer number of Doomsday decks with similar lists could be concerning to some. However, some people have been running data and it seems so far in 2021 that Doomsday isn't doing particularly better than any other deck. It just feels that way. A book could probably be written on Combo in Magic and how people simply hate it to the point of wanting it gone more than any other archetype, but that's perhaps another story for another time.
Let's see what the next weekend brings us.