I'm going to Eternal Weekend and I would like to try playing in one of the smaller Vintage events. Not the main event, because I have no Power (or experience), I just want to try out the format. I've got a bunch of Legacy stuff, so I'm not going entirely budget, but I only have a handful of expensive things that I'll mention below. I have at least seen almost all Legacy decks played, and I've messed around with lots of decks casually, so if something I am familiar with can port over easily that would be preferable to trying to build a new budget deck in the next couple days.
For reference, here are the Legacy decks I am able to build now or with minimal investment:
Death and Taxes - one of the primary decks I've been playing lately, seems like this wouldn't change much. There's actually a chance I could borrow a Mox Pearl as well, probably the only Power card I might be able to get my hands on. Strip Mine is great here. I have a Moat in the board, if that's even important here.
Elves - the other deck I've played with a lot in the last couple years. Survival of the Fittest could be a big addition, and I'm sure I could get one or two easily enough. Can't think of any changes besides that. [Edit - How did I forget Skullclamp? That looks like it would be insane, but it might mean going for a different kill card than Craterhoof]
Tezzerator - I haven't played this for a few years, but it gains a lot of stuff that I have/can get. The non-Power mana rocks, Tolarian Academy, and Tinker would be huge upgrades. I've got one each of Chains of Mephistopheles and The Abyss that I played in the board. Could possibly get access to a Nether Void. I'm sure I would change this up somewhat to take advantage of Tinker.
Lands - I have no competitive experience with this deck, but I think I still have everything. I do have a Tabernacle, but I don't know if that's as big in Vintage as in Legacy. Strip Mine is a big upgrade here too.
Any flavor of Delver - I've got the 4 Force and plenty of blue duals. It seems like going budget with this deck would be missing too much (small-p)power to do well, especially with the cantrips restricted.
Reanimator - I may be able to borrow a R/B reanimator from a friend, assuming he isn't using it in Legacy at the time. I don't have experience with it myself, but I've watched it a lot and it's straightforward enough to pick it up quickly.
Cheeri0s - since I'm not expecting to do great anyway, this deck is just plain fun. Besides the fact that the deck loses to itself too often to play seriously, this one seems like it could actually compete with Vintage decks in terms of speed. I would definitely have to fit Mental Misstep to fight others, since a 1-drop is the whole deck.
Infect - I have no actual playing experience with this one either, but I have access to everything except Berserks already, and they're cheap enough now that I've been thinking of getting a couple anyway.
Having only looked at Vintage in passing, I'm thinking the combo decks would likely work the best without being able to add power, and of those Reanimator and Cheeri0s would be the two that require the least changes/learning. I assume Workshops is a horrible matchup for any of them, but that's likely true of most decks I could play anyway.
D&T also seems like it could do pretty well, but would probably need retuned for totally different matchups.
I know there's very little notice on this, but if anybody has suggestions before the end of the weekend I would appreciate it.
Playing legacy decks in vintage is going to be kinda like playing modern decks in legacy or standard decks in modern. You'll be able to win some games, but you're going to have to feel pretty good about those games because you're going to lose a lot more.
Reanimator is not going to do very well in vintage, mostly because everyone's already packing a ton of graveyard hate for dredge. This is replaced by the Oath decks in vintage that don't depend on the graveyard. Infect and Elves are generally going to be a turn too slow, in addition to being very vulnerable to Mental Misstep. Death and Taxes is the closest to a tier 1 vintage deck that you're going to get, except that without the moxes and lotus, you're always going to be a turn behind and you don't really have any way of making it up.
If you're going to try to take a deck to a vintage tournament without any power 9, bazaars or workshops, I think you're best off with a creature based control deck like Merfolk or some kind of UR Delver Young Pyromancer list. You're still going to lose a lot of games from not having Ancestral Recall and Time Walk and the missing moxes and Lotus, but at least you get to pack a bunch of blue cantrips and a bunch of Forces and Mental Missteps to stop what your opponent is doing while you cast your cheap creatures and you won't always be behind. Something like these:
For reference, here are the Legacy decks I am able to build now or with minimal investment:
Death and Taxes - one of the primary decks I've been playing lately, seems like this wouldn't change much. There's actually a chance I could borrow a Mox Pearl as well, probably the only Power card I might be able to get my hands on. Strip Mine is great here. I have a Moat in the board, if that's even important here.
Elves - the other deck I've played with a lot in the last couple years. Survival of the Fittest could be a big addition, and I'm sure I could get one or two easily enough. Can't think of any changes besides that. [Edit - How did I forget Skullclamp? That looks like it would be insane, but it might mean going for a different kill card than Craterhoof]
Tezzerator - I haven't played this for a few years, but it gains a lot of stuff that I have/can get. The non-Power mana rocks, Tolarian Academy, and Tinker would be huge upgrades. I've got one each of Chains of Mephistopheles and The Abyss that I played in the board. Could possibly get access to a Nether Void. I'm sure I would change this up somewhat to take advantage of Tinker.
Lands - I have no competitive experience with this deck, but I think I still have everything. I do have a Tabernacle, but I don't know if that's as big in Vintage as in Legacy. Strip Mine is a big upgrade here too.
Any flavor of Delver - I've got the 4 Force and plenty of blue duals. It seems like going budget with this deck would be missing too much (small-p)power to do well, especially with the cantrips restricted.
Reanimator - I may be able to borrow a R/B reanimator from a friend, assuming he isn't using it in Legacy at the time. I don't have experience with it myself, but I've watched it a lot and it's straightforward enough to pick it up quickly.
Cheeri0s - since I'm not expecting to do great anyway, this deck is just plain fun. Besides the fact that the deck loses to itself too often to play seriously, this one seems like it could actually compete with Vintage decks in terms of speed. I would definitely have to fit Mental Misstep to fight others, since a 1-drop is the whole deck.
Infect - I have no actual playing experience with this one either, but I have access to everything except Berserks already, and they're cheap enough now that I've been thinking of getting a couple anyway.
Having only looked at Vintage in passing, I'm thinking the combo decks would likely work the best without being able to add power, and of those Reanimator and Cheeri0s would be the two that require the least changes/learning. I assume Workshops is a horrible matchup for any of them, but that's likely true of most decks I could play anyway.
D&T also seems like it could do pretty well, but would probably need retuned for totally different matchups.
I know there's very little notice on this, but if anybody has suggestions before the end of the weekend I would appreciate it.
Reanimator is not going to do very well in vintage, mostly because everyone's already packing a ton of graveyard hate for dredge. This is replaced by the Oath decks in vintage that don't depend on the graveyard. Infect and Elves are generally going to be a turn too slow, in addition to being very vulnerable to Mental Misstep. Death and Taxes is the closest to a tier 1 vintage deck that you're going to get, except that without the moxes and lotus, you're always going to be a turn behind and you don't really have any way of making it up.
If you're going to try to take a deck to a vintage tournament without any power 9, bazaars or workshops, I think you're best off with a creature based control deck like Merfolk or some kind of UR Delver Young Pyromancer list. You're still going to lose a lot of games from not having Ancestral Recall and Time Walk and the missing moxes and Lotus, but at least you get to pack a bunch of blue cantrips and a bunch of Forces and Mental Missteps to stop what your opponent is doing while you cast your cheap creatures and you won't always be behind. Something like these:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/488354#online
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/497105#online