Vintage Doomsday Deck List Analysis for 2021.09.11-12

Lists have really solidified now, but sideboards are more diverse than ever. What is the key to tackling this Blue, Blue Meta?

Saturday Challenge

Sunday Challenge


TheJigIsAlwaysup (7th Place)

Creatures (6)
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle

Sorceries (13)
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Gitaxian Probe
Ponder
Preordain
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise

Instants (23)
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Force of Will
Gush
Mental Misstep
Mystical Dispute
Mystical Tutor
Pact of Negation
Vampiric Tutor

Artifacts (3)
Black Lotus
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire

Enchantments (1)
Necropotence
Lands (14)
Flooded Strand
Island
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Underground Sea
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)
Pact of Negation
Cavern of Souls
Force of Negation
Null Rod
Pithing Needle
Steel Sabotage
Thoughtseize

revenantkioku (9th Place)

Creatures (6)
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle

Sorceries (13)
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Gitaxian Probe
Ponder
Preordain
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise

Instants (23)
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Force of Negation
Force of Will
Gush
Mental Misstep
Mystical Dispute
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor

Artifacts (3)
Black Lotus
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire

Enchantments (1)
Necropotence
Lands (14)
Flooded Strand
Island
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Underground Sea
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)
Island
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Leyline of the Void
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

IdraftTheBeatz (22nd Place)

Creatures (6)
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle

Sorceries (13)
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Gitaxian Probe
Ponder
Preordain
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise

Instants (23)
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Force of Will
Gush
Mental Misstep
Mystical Dispute
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor

Artifacts (3)
Black Lotus
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire

Enchantments (1)
Necropotence
Lands (14)
Flooded Strand
Island
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Underground Sea
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)
Island
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Leyline of the Void
Library of Alexandria
Null Rod
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

_INF_ (28th Place)

Creatures (6)
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle

Sorceries (13)
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Gitaxian Probe
Ponder
Preordain
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise

Instants (23)
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Force of Negation
Force of Will
Gush
Mental Misstep
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor

Artifacts (3)
Black Lotus
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire

Enchantments (1)
Necropotence
Lands (14)
Flooded Strand
Island
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Underground Sea
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Leyline of the Void
Library of Alexandria
Snow-Covered Island
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

League

Core and Differences

Core

Creatures (6)
Street Wraith
Thassa's Oracle

Sorceries (13)
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Gitaxian Probe
Ponder
Preordain
Time Walk
Treasure Cruise

Instants (21)
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Daze
Demonic Consultation
Dig Through Time
Flusterstorm
Force of Will
Gush
Mental Misstep
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Lands (14)
Fetch Lands
Island
Underground Sea
Watery Grave

Artifacts (3)
Black Lotus
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire

Enchantments (1)
Necropotence

Sideboard (2)
Steel Sabotage

IdraftTheBeatz (22nd Place) Differences

Main (2)
Daze
Mystical Dispute
Sideboard (13)
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Island
Leyline of the Void
Library of Alexandria
Null Rod
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

TheJigIsAlwaysup (7th Place) Differences

Main (2)
Mystical Dispute
Pact of Negation
Sideboard (13)
Cavern of Souls
Force of Negation
Null Rod
Pact of Negation
Pithing Needle
Thoughtseize

revenantkioku (9th Place) Differences

Main (2)
Force of Negation
Mystical Dispute
Sideboard (13)
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Island
Leyline of the Void
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

_INF_ (28th Place) Differences

Main (2)
Daze
Force of Negation
Sideboard (13)
Duress
Fatal Push
Hurkyl's Recall
Island
Leyline of the Void
Library of Alexandria
Steel Sabotage
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

Total Differences

Counters (8)
Daze
Force of Negation
Mystical Dispute
Pact of Negation
Sideboard (0)

Graveyard (12)
12 Leyline of the Void

Artifacts (12)
Hurkyl's Recall
Null Rod
Steel Sabotage

Discard (5)
Duress
Thoughtseize

Lands (6)
Cavern of Souls
Island
Library of Alexandria

Counters (4)
Force of Negation
Pact of Negation

Removal (9)
Fatal Push
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

Other (4)
Pithing Needle

Thoughts


Only two cards differ per deck this week and not by that much. Everyone has seemingly agreed on Watery Grave and Treasure Cruise at the moment, which makes sense given all the BUG. We need reliable lands and card draw. The new thing we see this week is TheJigIsAlwaysup running main Pact of Negation. I played against them in the challenge and was a bit surprised by the cards they had available game two. So let's look at the sideboards.


The first thing to notice is that creatures are all gone from sideboards this week. I missed Opposition Agent in the mirror, but let's be honest, most of the time I needed to be going for the win, not gotchas. IdraftTheBeatz is still on the same list from last week, and it seems to be doing well for them. I tried some slight changes with going back to Duress and Leyline of the Void, and _INF_ wasn't much different. Library of Alexandria instead of one copy of Hurkyl's Recall.
This week we have TheJigIsAlwaysup trying a different approach at siding. I spoke with them and the approach came from trying to be more like Legacy. Free cards and protection. Since Dredge is low and HollowVine and Hogaak decks are the Bazaar decks that are coming up, the full playset of Pithing Needle is there to fight those decks. Null Rod comes in for the Tinker/Paradoxical Outcome decks trying to make lots of artifact mana, and Cavern of Souls for protection. The rest is an emphasis on free or cheap interaction. Thoughtseize takes everything including the dreaded Endurance out of BUG. Force of Negation helps fight combo decks and, I assume, quick starts from Shops. Then there is Pact of Negation.
Pact of Negation has gained popularity in Legacy as a way to stop Endurance. A full playset can be found in the 75s of players looking to make a quick one-turn win against Delver decks by having the ability to hold up multiple pieces of interaction without needing those extra Blue cards for Force of Will. This was the strategy TheJigIsAlwaysup took into Vintage this past weekend and the Top 8 showing is an indication that this may be the way.
Will more players jump on Pact of Negation as we try to squeeze more out of our lists or will we find another way to attack the meta?


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