I would like to do an exploration of what a constructed format would look like if there were no restrictions; an Unrestricted Vintage. Can a format emerge amongst such raw power? I think there a some disclaimers to preface this exploration. You can find a foil in any archetype. However, foils and counters are determined by the threats best suited in the meta. So let's begin by taking a crack at finding a consistent threat as quickly as possible. Let's construct a goldfish FTK machine. Combo seems the most reliable way to consistently put up lethal damage on the first turn and until either Emrakul, the Aeons Torn puts on some weight or Time Vault gets a few more redundant pieces, I think Storm is our best bet. The most natural approach to an Unrestricted Storm deck is to lean into the mana as spells. So how can we fling out enough mana rocks to get lethal? Well first we note that we are looking for a critical mass of rocks rather than specific ones. So we need to pull in cards in quantity. The most efficient quantity enablers are the wheel and twisters, or what I call hand flippers. That magic number three is what it is all about. Black Lotus, Timetwister these are the standard bearers. Because each hand only needs one flipper to continue the chain, we can load up on flippers and mana rocks, in the proper ratio. That is its own consistency. Drop some rocks, flip hands, drop the rocks, flip hands. Given the proper rocks in the proper ratio with flippers and it really is trivial going from one flip to the next. The real challenge is the foil, which is important to address in this first step of exploration. For now, let's break down how this stack works.
We have Force of Will and Force of Negation as some means of defense. But when we get to the foils, we'll see that they aren't perfect fixes. I am considering swapping Force of Negation out for Mindbreak Trap as an alternative but that would open up a vulnerability against Shops decks in exchange for better mirror matches. Just something to keep in mind. With defense out of the way, let's get to the mana.
Before jumping into the manabase, I want to offer my first thoughts on the idea that mana rocks would become ubiquitous to such a format. First off, by their nature they are spells. This gives them a double-edged sword. They are far more unrestricted in their play as spells. You can dump as much mana as you have available. In fact, when I first started playing with cards I had with no clue how the actual game rules worked, that's how I played lands. Empty out all your lands on the battlefield from each player and let the game begin. Crazy to think, in retrospect. But as spells, the artifact mana does work that way. As I've come to learn as a player with significantly more of a grasp of the game now relative to then, artifacts are far easier to interact with. Being spells means they can be countered and taxed on top of regular destruction. There is also special exceptions lands see in card effects such as with Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay. So the format would essentially operate in a space where the manabases may be much more explosive, but are much more subject to interaction than may be the case with current formats. To end this matter abruptly, I dont think they will push lands out of the format. More on that later.
Black Lotus is the premium mana source for fat mana quick. It is the first half of the critical number three that makes this deck go. We have Lotus Petal for more now-not-later mana. These sac rocks work with the framework of the deck as some of our flippers will restock the deck with them. Next we have our colored moxen and friend Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, and Mox Opal. Mana Crypt is serviceable as our hand flippers have pretty light colored requirements. Lastly, Lion's Eye Diamond works particularly well in a deck running flashback spells like Echo of Eons, but can also be cracked in response to any flipper to float into the next flip. That takes us to the flippers proper.
The most well known of the bunch would be Timetwister. Three mana to pull a fresh set of seven after dropping our rocks. We drop our new rocks and dump another flip. Timetwister can recycle our graveyard and multiple can virtually go ad infinitum. Generally we want to be pushing through our deck to get to our finisher, but a draw seven is enough card draw to recuperate the mana, given the right ratio of mana sources. That takes us to Wheel of Fortune. I mentioned that we want to be pushing through our deck and that makes this flipper our most preferred option. Straightforward, unconditional, powerful. This flipper in specific is effectively a combo with Black Lotus and Underworld Breach so long as we have at least six cards in the yard. We Lotus into Wheel, exile six, draw seven, exile six discarded by Wheel to do it again and again. Once you get the mana on board for your finisher and that combo set up, that's the end. We do have Windfall as an approximation of Wheel of Fortune. It can run into issues if your opponent is packing counters or you are leading with it while going second. As a discard flipper it does help push through the deck. And that circles us back to Echo of Eons. Echo is expensive but doable out of hand. Where it thrives is in being discarded to Wheel of Fortune, Windfall, and Lion's Eye Diamond. It makes for a great backup if we draw funny. Good way to reboot our deck if a chain of Wheel of Fortune and Windfall fail to find.
We are packing Ancestral Recall as the only draw spell more efficient than the flippers. Three cards for one mana.
We also are utilizing Underworld Breach as mentioned before. The combo with Black Lotus and Wheel of Fortune is potent and easy to assemble, but it's really here as an insurance policy in case we find our finisher in the graveyard while sequencing. Underworld Breach is a better option for decks that prefer sheer volume in the graveyard as opposed to Yawgmoth's Will which favors cheap spells.
That leaves us with our finisher. We are utilizing Wish to grab either a host of finishers. Tendrils of Agony is a pretty well known quantity as storm finishers go. The storm mechanic gives a lot of resliency to counters. We have something that's a little less familiar in Molten Psyche. Psyche is a mind play to go around Leyline of Sanctity. We can mind game opponents by playing Tendrils in game one and get them to bring in useless Leylines and then Psyche them in the following game. We can go with Brain Freeze when we can't damage our opponent. Mind Funeral is a counter to other landless decks. More on that later. Storm Entity can go around Leyline of Sanctity with a tall strategy while Ovika, Enigma Goliath can do the same by going wide (and has built in protection). Aside from the suite of Wish finishers, we have some actual sideboard interaction. Mindbreak Trap is to shut down mirror matches. Chancellor of the Annex can hopefully buy us a turn against control and prison decks.
That's the deck. Its gameplan is incredibly straightforward. Drop rocks, spin the wheel, rinse and repeat, Wish for victory. Now let's analyze how this plays out as a matter of meta. What are some problems this archetype can run into? What are some problems this shell can run into? Storm has plenty of weaknesses from powerful counters like Flusterstorm and Mindbreak Trap to taxing effects like Trinisphere and Sphere of Resistance. This could make control decks and prison decks potent counterplays. Control decks in particular are dangerous because of the engines this particular shell runs. Timetwister, Echo of Eons, Windfall, and Wheel of Fortune are symmetrical effects that can feed interaction into your opponent's hand free of charge. So let's conclude with an overview. Wheel Storm is incredibly consistent at goldfishing FTKs. It utilizes all of the most efficient, least conditional draw spells in the game, but this comes at a price. This deck doesn't have a proper meta to tune against, but it has intrinsic issues that are tough to compensate for. We feed our opponent interaction and open ourselves up to get blown out. Our manabase is exclusively artifacts, which opens us up to not only tax effects, but Null Rod, Karn, the Great Creator, and the secret sauce killer or landless decks: Mind Funeral/Mind Grind (upcoming control deck featuring the aforementioned). It very well could be the case that extremely streamlined shells like this are just unfeasible in such a hostile space. Or that could well be the nature of the space that is accepted and embraced.
A lot of the weaknesses this shell faces seem an inevitable byproduct of running symmetrical card draw engines and spell based manabases. We'll be exploring other archetypes for sure such as the aforementioned Shops and control decks, but we'll also develop more shells around this archetype aiming to minimize the symmetrical drawing while maintaining consistency.
If you've read to this point, thank you.
