Viperfang4 wins STX Vintage League! Interview

The recent Strixhaven Vintage League was won by Viperfang4 on Golos Stax! I got the opportunity to talk with him and ask a few questions about how the season went for him on his way to winning the finals.

First off, congratulations on winning Vintage League! Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how you got started in Vintage?

I started playing Magic back in late 2015 around BFZ because some dormmates introduced me to it. I joined Untap Open League all the way back in Hour of Devastation and have since won three leagues and top 8’d somewhere around 70 leagues. Me not winning a league became a bit of a joke for quite a while.

I have helped brew a lot of decks people know for a lot of formats: Pioneer Spirits, Pioneer Dredgeless, Pioneer Oops, Pioneer Nexus, Pioneer Winota, Modern Oops, Modern Whir Lantern, Modern Whir Prison, Modern Neobrand, Modern Heliod, Late Legacy Stax, Legacy Urza Echo, Legacy Urza Stompy, many more Pioneer decks because of the Frontier community, and some others still. 

I am one of our resident judges for the league. I usually end up playing Toolbox Prison, Toolbox Combo, or some other anti-meta deck that requires specific interaction or you’re cold to it.

I got started in Vintage through UOL. We have had several people there playing Vintage, and I think I joined in the Guilds of Ravnica or Ravnica Allegiance season. It was one of the few supported constructed formats I didn’t play then.

Why did you select Golos Stax for your deck this season? What have you played in the past and why didn’t you play that?

I have been on Golos Stax since the Karn, the Great Creator restriction, which before that I was on the Karn Vault deck, and I have played White Eldrazi before. I am known in the Vintage League for playing a lot of prison decks. Toolbox prison is my favorite archetype, and I played Stax in Legacy before War of the Spark. It is basically a perfect fit and a way to still kind of be a continuation of a deck Legacy’s power left behind. Our leagues have open decklists, which can be really nice game 1 and knowing the sideboard hate they have, but the opponent can also know that I have no reaction if they get the play, as well as what I have to deal with them.

What was your hardest game or match you played?

I had a match vs Doomsday that ended up being pretty close. A number of matches vs the Sedgemoor Witch deck also got close. I had a match vs Paradoxical Charbelcher that got close too. The top 4 didn’t actually have close matches like the swiss did. Winning all the close matches in the swiss let me play my final round of swiss instead of doing an intentional draw so I could be first seed for top 4, and that ended up being the best decision of the league. I think I won with no losses or draws in any round.

Do you have any advice to someone who is interested in trying out Vintage Stax for the first time?

Knowing the meta is a big part in playing prison in general, you need to know what cards you need to shut down the other deck and win. This ties into mulligans and tutors. Sequencing matters a lot. Decisions when playing against decks that have interaction can get tricky, like dealing with Force of Vigor, Oko, Thief of Crowns, Dack Fayden, and a number of other cards. Being on the play is a good idea on any deck in Vintage as well. Crucible of Worlds is consistently the best card in the deck. With nine lands that destroy the opponent’s lands, a land that can tutor loop, and recurring lands from the opponent’s land destruction, Crucible is fantastic.

What changes would you make to your deck in the future?

I am not sure. The deck bends a little to deal with the meta, as prison decks do. Most of the deck is pretty set right now, though. I am debating whether or not to add Cascading Cataracts to activate Golos, Tireless Pilgrim but slots are tight.

What do you expect to play in the next season of Vintage?

I will probably be back on Golos Stax. I love the deck. Not very many people brought decks that were good vs Golos Stax this last season, but people will probably be back on those next season and I’ll still be on this deck.

Thank you for answering these questions! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Bow to the Artifact Overlords?

If you’d like to participate in the AFR Season Vintage League, join our Discord and check out the #vintage-league channel or see our Vintage page. It’s completely free and takes place on Untap.in, a website similar to Cockatrice where you can play any deck for free. If you want to cast Black Lotus without selling your house or kidneys, this is your chance. You can read more about the League format here. Signups close at 11:59 PM EDT (UTC-4) on August 18th.