Hello, I was very into magic years ago, but stopped playing for at least a decade. When I moved out of my apartment into a big house, I went back to my parents and got all my magic cards. I broke up most of my decks and sold off tons of my cards in order to put together some of my favorite sets. But I kept my 'best' deck together, just in case I ever wanted to get back into playing. It's a Black and Blue Type 1 (Vintage?) deck. I have a very extensive collection of cards from Unlimited up through 5th Edition, and Arabian Nights up to and including Tempest, so if card suggestions could come from those sets it would be great, although I'm not totally opposed to buying or trading for a few newer cards, if I really love them. I haven't played in a tournament in years and years, but I'd love it if the deck were of a tournament caliber.
Enough of all that, here's the deck:
The deck works pretty well overall. When I used to play, Mindtwist was restricted. I actually can't believe it's not anymore. It's really pretty common for me to get 5 or 6 mana out on the first turn, so that's fun for me. Back when I was only allowed to have 1 in the deck, the other 3 slots were filled with:
1 more Juzam, 1 more Time warp, and one more Shimmering Grotto
I took the Juzam out because even though he's a great creature, I don't like to get him out on the table until later in the game, just in case my opponent has someway to make me take the damage during my upkeep but not allow the Juzam to attack (icy manipulator comes to mind, but I'm sure there are other ways too) I left the one because once my opponent has no cards left the Juzam is really a great way to do damage or kill creatures. If I haven't drawn the card by the time I want it, I usually have either the Demonic or Vampiric tutors to go and get the Juzam.
the Time warp left because even though taking extra turns is just about the best way to win any game in the world, 5 mana is a lot for this deck, I was finding that I was using the Time warps more as a blue card in my hand to remove from the game for the Force of Wills, then I was using them to take extra turns with. I left the other 3 in because if the game goes a little long, taking extra turns IS great, and in the early game, you have to have some blue card in your hand to remove from the game or the Force of Will goes from one of the best cards ever printed to a laughably overpriced counterspell.
I like the Shimmering Grotto card because it can take the mana from my off color Moxes or the colorless mana from the underground river and turn it into blue or black. It doesn't come into play tapped, and it doesn't cost me any life to play or use. But I needed to clear a spot for the fourth mind twist and I think the Grotto is my weakest land because if it's the only land I draw in my initial hand, I can't use it to play a dark ritual, unless I've also got some kind of mox/ lotus.
The only change I've really been considering is taking out one of the Abyssal specters to put in a second Juzam. The reason I haven't is i LOVE playing either one of the specters on the first turn. It's really easy to get 3 or 4 mana out on turn 1 and the sooner my opponent is discarding the better it is for me. In the end, Magic is a card game and if I can have a significant amount more cards then you, I will usually win. Like if we were playing poker and you got 5 cards but I got 7......you’d really have a hard time winning hands.
Enough of all that, here's the deck:
4 Underground Sea
4 Underground River
4 Watery Grave
3 Shimmering Grotto
1 Library of Alexandria
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Ritual
4 Mind Twist
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Abyssal Specter
1 Juzam Djinn
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Blue
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Time Warp
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
The deck works pretty well overall. When I used to play, Mindtwist was restricted. I actually can't believe it's not anymore. It's really pretty common for me to get 5 or 6 mana out on the first turn, so that's fun for me. Back when I was only allowed to have 1 in the deck, the other 3 slots were filled with:
1 more Juzam, 1 more Time warp, and one more Shimmering Grotto
I took the Juzam out because even though he's a great creature, I don't like to get him out on the table until later in the game, just in case my opponent has someway to make me take the damage during my upkeep but not allow the Juzam to attack (icy manipulator comes to mind, but I'm sure there are other ways too) I left the one because once my opponent has no cards left the Juzam is really a great way to do damage or kill creatures. If I haven't drawn the card by the time I want it, I usually have either the Demonic or Vampiric tutors to go and get the Juzam.
the Time warp left because even though taking extra turns is just about the best way to win any game in the world, 5 mana is a lot for this deck, I was finding that I was using the Time warps more as a blue card in my hand to remove from the game for the Force of Wills, then I was using them to take extra turns with. I left the other 3 in because if the game goes a little long, taking extra turns IS great, and in the early game, you have to have some blue card in your hand to remove from the game or the Force of Will goes from one of the best cards ever printed to a laughably overpriced counterspell.
I like the Shimmering Grotto card because it can take the mana from my off color Moxes or the colorless mana from the underground river and turn it into blue or black. It doesn't come into play tapped, and it doesn't cost me any life to play or use. But I needed to clear a spot for the fourth mind twist and I think the Grotto is my weakest land because if it's the only land I draw in my initial hand, I can't use it to play a dark ritual, unless I've also got some kind of mox/ lotus.
The only change I've really been considering is taking out one of the Abyssal specters to put in a second Juzam. The reason I haven't is i LOVE playing either one of the specters on the first turn. It's really easy to get 3 or 4 mana out on turn 1 and the sooner my opponent is discarding the better it is for me. In the end, Magic is a card game and if I can have a significant amount more cards then you, I will usually win. Like if we were playing poker and you got 5 cards but I got 7......you’d really have a hard time winning hands.
Thanks for your time and the advice.
-Josh
The Precious
B___U___G___R___W