[Article] Stoking the Furnace: Vial Aggro

[Nidd]

My first article. It got delayed quite a bit due to internal problems, I wrote it 1 week or so after SCG Indianapolis took place. Take that in mind when reading it.

Three of the top eight decks from the SCG Indianapolis Legacy event were decks that can be labeled as Vial Aggro. Vial Aggro is the term used to describe a whole lot of decks. Some of these decks are veterans of the format, some are relatively new, but they have some glaring similarities – in this article I'll give you a short overview over the decks we call Vial Aggro – and how to beat them.

Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Enjoy! (http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=132797)

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Well written and a good read, my kind sir.

I've actually had the opportunity to face Hanni playing Vial Bant on MWS. It's an interesting deck that doesn't get too much spotlight. So the article, even though delayed, still has relevance.

Can't wait for the next article, Nidd.

[Finn]

It's a worthy topic, Nidd. Vial aggro decks are so varied that it is pretty hard to arrange them into a single group when talking about how to beat them. Despite that I think you did a fine job of discussing it, although probably not in detail enough to lend any particular wisdom to the rest of us. If I may be so bold, it seems that you were writing about a topic that was fun for you, rather than because you had something to say. I am going to try to be brief since I really only wish to make the point rather than rewrite an article.

You could have said:

One of the things that make an Aether Vial so difficult to handle is that it is in a deck full of creatures, yet it is not itself a creature. So you will need specialized hate in a deck that may not ever see another artifact. A first turn Goblin Lackey or Mother of Runes are often as much of problem as an Aether Vial. Dark Confidants and a few other cheap creatures similarly have to be handled immediately. Seeing one of these early makes your nature's Claim look awful if you do not also have a removal spell for the creature. But you really have to handle the Vial or it will facilitate your death if they have it. For that reason amongst others many decks prefer something like Engineered Explosives for their Aether Vial hate. Of course, against decks packing mana denial (as these decks do), Engineered Explosives has its own limitations. There really is not perfect solution for Aether Vial

and also:

On the surface it seems that any collection of good creatures and some Aether Vials make a good deck. That is quite far from the truth though. A Vial Aggro deck needs a few other things to be effective.

1. The deck has to be able to function without the Vial. Goblins is particularly good at this since it has Warchiefs and Lackeys which also circumvent mana cost restrictions. That is why it can play creatures like Siege gang Commander which ordinarily fall beyond the boundaries of a Legacy spell in terms of converted mana cost.
2. The deck must practice some sort of card economy. That means it needs either card draw or an internal engine of some sort. These decks all need to be able to switch between aggro and control depending on the opponent or even (especially against other Vial aggro decks) switch on the fly within a game.
3. Because it is not going to be as fast as pure aggro, the deck needs significant disruption.

...or some other points that the casual reader could not have deciphered simply by perusing some decks lists. Insight is the key to making it a good source of information and not just a description of decks.


Also, Hanni may think he is the first to try a Bant colored deck with Aether Vial. I am fairly sure that he does not think this though. At any rate, you should not print that the deck is new because it is not even close. So many writers have difficulty with these issues. There is no reason you have to join them. I faced something remarkably like this in SCG Orlando last year. It made top 8 so we are not talking obscurity. And I myself made a thread for a deck of this sort a few years back called Bag 'O Tricks over at Salvation.

So much for my brevity.