@Lesbimagical said in R&D is completely incompetent:
@Brass-Man This, wholeheartedly. Maybe this is to see if combo can exist in Standard, safely. Either way, Old School & Vintage aren't going away. We're existing in an area entirely unsupported by Wizards as it is, other than being thrown a bone or two in every set for Vintage.
I disagree very much with the last statement. Vintage and new cards/standard are as entwined now as I can remember. The power level of current creatures alone is so high that Vintage has significantly shifted towards creatures as the main threat and base of most decks.
Mentor and Pyromancer created new archetypes, the former is arguably the deck to beat these days. Eldrazi is a strong deck in all metagames these day, and via Jaco even created a budget list that is tournament viable. TKS is a defining creature of most artifact decks. Paradoxical decks are on the rise. The Thalias have pushed a viable hatebear strategy, and are very important in white Eldrazi. Leovold just powered Rodrigo Togores into the VSL. These are cards from pretty much the last three years, and are constituting the majority of decks being played. A ton of other new cards are actually viable, or at least being seriously tested in vintage.
Back in the day there were very few threads on TMD about new cards simply because many sets didn't even have one serious candidate for inclusion in the metagame.
While I agree with Brassman, and disagree with the hyperbole of the OP and others, Vintage is very dependent on the new cards coming out these days, possibly more than even during Urza's block. Thus the health, and continued development, of the game, is crucial for Vintage and its evolving metagame.