Is DPS still playable?
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Hi, I took a hiatus from Vintage around the Era where Karn and Narset got restricted. Been looking at top 8 data recently, and have noticed the large absence of DPS. What exactly happened?
Is it the fact that the average big blue decks have gotten significantly faster with more backbreaking plays that you can no longer assume to be the fastest deck and ride Defense grid + Discard to victory?It seems like saga should have helped DPS by making it less susceptible to hate, with a Construct beatdown/Vault key plan B when going off is not an option. Running Petition/Talisman with Saga seems like it would be ridiculously easy to assemble Key Vault.
But this is clearly not the case.What about playing a TPS style gameplan with permission, where you sculpt your hand with cantrips to assemble a kill while sitting on counters? With Saga as your plan B.
So basically a UB Tinker deck with rituals, Petitions, Talisman, Necro and Tendrils. Is that not viable in the current meta?
The most recent DPS lists largely ignore Hullbreacher, since there is no more draw 7s or Bargain, just the 1 mana cantrips, Ancestral and Top with Citadel.
Seems better than running Outcomes in a Hullbreacher Meta? -
The first factor is that Dark Ritual -> Doomsday is the best use of Dark Ritual and probably always has been. It’s a much more compact combo engine that allows you to get away with playing a ton of permission.
The other factor is not that many people play Vintage. All the original players and deckbuilders are gone, so “Grim Long” style of decks probably aren’t being worked with that often.
A personal view that I’ve been developing is that in a lot of ways, Dredge is just a better aggressive “black-combo” deck.
I’d be cautious about using Defense Grid when Boseiju, who Endures now exists.
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@lienielsen
That makes sense. I guess Doomsday is a much better choice. Although it is extremely soft to Hullbreacher which seems omnipresent. It's the same issue that PO runs into.TPS seems like it could be good in a metagame dominated by Hullbreacher and Saga. Since you are faster and more consistent than other saga decks, can largely ignore Hullbreacher and Pyroblast, and you are more likely to be able to play around Time Vault/Saga hate.
Grid seems bad these days because it's not actual interaction, it was great vs quad missteps Gush decks. Since those decks were light on mana and not able to close games very fast. But Boseiju makes it even worse, you are right.
Dredge might just be the best combo deck of all time in terms of resiliency vs consistency. But it doesn't fit everyone's playstyle.
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TPS is very playable but is at best arguably as good as doomsday.