So Close I Could Smell The Power | 13th Place at 2026 NYSE Open X w/Doomsday

A week ago, I was resigned to skipping the 2026 NYSE Open X, the final iteration of the high-stakes Vintage tournament. Between a lack of preparation, newborn twins (yeah, they are still here), and the steep $500 entry fee, it did not make sense.

I lamented my situation — if it had been a year earlier, with my success in Italy behind me, I surely would have tried harder to get some practice in and make the entry value (EV) positive.

Then, Friday night, less than 15 hours before the tournament started, I was convinced by a generous patron to drive to Long Island and play. The offer was too good to refuse, so I immediately contacted anyone who would listen, trying to smash together a deck.

Doomsday by Adrian Smith

Obviously, I played Doomsday. The big evolutions in Vintage over the last few months were the printing of Flow State and, to a lesser extent, Hexing Squelcher.

I knew Vintage Doomsday decks were experimenting with Flow State, and hurriedly compared recent top finishes. The theory behind Flow State in fast combo decks is that it allows powerful refills after exhausting resources and increases the “finds two cards” density. Ancestral Recall, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Gush, and, to a lesser extent, Brainstorm also have this ability.

All of those cards are restricted. To maximize filling the graveyard, many Doomsday decks also play Consider, which has strong potential to turn on Flow State all by itself.

Doomsday | 2026 NYSE Open X | Eric Ratkowski

Creatures (6)

2 Thassa's Oracle
4 Street Wraith

Instants (20)

4 Force of Will
4 Dark Ritual
2 Flusterstorm
2 Consider
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Mental Misstep
1 Misdirection
1 Gush
1 Dig Through Time

Sorceries (16)

4 Ponder
1 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
3 Flow State
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Doomsday
1 Treasure Cruise

Artifacts (3)

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire

Enchantment (1)

1 Necropotence

Lands (14)

4 Underground Sea
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Undercity Sewers

Sideboard

4 Leyline of the Void
1 Consign to Memory
1 Force of Negation
1 Long Goodbye
1 Thoughtseize
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Unable to Scream
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Snap
1 Null Rod

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Consider by Zezhou Chen

Vintage orthodoxy is that discard spells are not effective enough. However, I have consistently had great results with them. Thoughtseize and Duress are also sorceries for Flow State.

I knew there were Hexing Squelcher decks running around, and wanted to diversify my disruption away from only countermagic. In Europe in 2025, I replaced one Street Wraith with an Edge of Autumn, but for this tournament, I expected Orcish Bowmasters to be at a minimum, so I swapped back.

The important flex slot differences for my deck were:

1 Misdirection
1 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
2 Consider
3 Flow State

Notably, I did not play Vampiric Tutor or Mystical Tutor, but I should have. There are typically three Flusterstorms, but only two here. With the pressure on the graveyard, I may cut Treasure Cruise in the future.

The sideboard was a mess. The important decisions were one Thoughtseize and one Snap — a cheeky nod to a Pauper friend I spoke with on Friday night. Snap is indeed “free,” and it answers creatures. Late in the tournament, it ALMOST won a game. With this untuned pile, I went to bed to get some “sleep” before the 2.5-hour drive. Let’s just say that with two infants, sleep is never restful.

Child of Night by Ash Wood

It was a pleasant morning drive down to Long Island. I had no idea what to expect, but I quickly saw friendly faces from New York City. Among them were the inimitable Paolo, always bringing the best vibes, the esteemed Dave Kaplan, one of the godfathers of NYC Vintage, and the killer group of Matt Dupuy, Adri, and Bill Li. I recognized many other players, Eternal Weekend nemeses from last year like Hank Zhong and Matt Girardi, as well as some famous luminaries like Justin Gennari, Michael Mapson, and Tony Scapone.

A local friend, Noah, made Top 8 in 2025 and was there again in 2026. I made new friends among several opponents, who were, again, all skilled and professional.

Round One: Esper Lurrus | WW

I played against Jacob, whom I have competed against in Legacy in NYC. In theory, the fair Lurrus of the Dream-Den matchups should be challenging, but in my experience, they aren’t awful.

Esper, in particular, has some dead cards. Psychic Frog is, strangely, a bit slow, and Orcish Bowmasters are not as impactful as in Legacy.

These games often play out with both players exhausting resources. Doomsday can close from there much more swiftly than the deck trying to leverage Lurrus of the Dream-Den’s long game.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den by Slawomir Maniak

In Game One, we were both on low resources after the trading interaction. Importantly, during an early counter fight, I exiled a Thassa’s Oracle. My opponent Wastelanded me, but held a Wasteland and did not use it, either assuming I had more mana or valuing it to help cast Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

In any case, I cast Flow State and saw Thassa’s Oracle, Time Walk, and Demonic Consultation. I put the Thassa's Oracle on the bottom, cast Time Walk, then Demonic Consultationed, naming Thassa's Oracle. Notably, my opponent did not bother to look at my exiled deck, a small tournament detail that is often overlooked.

In Game Two, my opponent cast Nihil Spellbomb and activated it in my upkeep to keep me off Flow State. With the activation on the stack, I cast Dark Ritual and Dig Through Time, consuming my doomed graveyard. They cast Flusterstorm for two storm copies, but another Dark Ritual paid for them. This sequence tapped them out so they could not profit from their Nihil Spellbomb.

Nihil Spellbomb by Franz Vohwinkel

Thoughtseize took their relevant interaction and left them with Swords to Plowshares. Doomsday put me to four life. I win by Force of Willing the Sword to Plowshares on my Thassa's Oracle.

Round Two: Flow State Doomsday | WW

I had an excellent conversation with Adam about the philosophy of Doomsday and playing paper Vintage. The mirror is largely a coin flip: who draws the better balance of interaction and combo pieces. I believe I have a slight advantage due to my discard suite.

In Game Two, Thoughtseize proved its worth when one was countered by Force of Will — a 2-for-1 I’m ok with. When I cast the second Thoughtseize, the disadvantage proved too much.

Round Three: Oath of Druids | LL

Generally, I believe Oath of Druids to be a reasonable matchup. They typically aren't fast enough and have dead cards like Oko, Thief of Crowns. My opponent had an absolutely nutty hand; however, in Game One, with double interaction to stop my turn-one Ancestral Recall on their upkeep, they dropped Forbidden Orchard, Mox Emerald, and Oath of Druids.

Oath of Druids by Daren Bader

For some reason, my opponent talked openly about this being the mirror. I did not change their mind, and was hoping this would give me an advantage.

In Game Two, we traded resources until my opponent hardcast Raph and Mikey, Troublemakers. I had Force of Will, but so did they. In desperation, I cast Demonic Consultation for one of my three remaining Force of Wills, and did not lose immediately. I drew air until they cast Stock Up and revealed Oath of Druids and Time Walk.

Round Four: Tinker | WW

I sat down in Round Four against Adri, who I know from NYC and was part of the team that put two players in the Top 8. I knew he was on some sort of Hexing Squelcher deck, and expected a tough match. I also knew the team had been working hard and grinding leagues, so I figured I’d have to get a little lucky.

I won the die roll and opened a decent hand for Game One. I played land and passed. Adri played Mox Sapphire, Mana Crypt, and Thundering Falls, tapped. If I were more dialed into Vintage, I would have been suspicious of the raw Mana Crypt on Turn One.

On my turn, I drew and cast Ponder. Adri responded with Hullbreacher. I cast Force of Will, and Adri cast Force of Negation. I cannot stop the Hullbreacher. My Ponder put a needed land on top, and I passed with two cards in hand.

Hullbreacher by Sidharth Chaturvedi

Adri cast Hexing Squelcher and Stock Up. He tanked for a while on the Stock Up, and I know from his recap that he saw three lands, Mystical Tutor, and Flusterstorm. He took the two cards, assuming that he would untap into a protected Timetwister to end the game.

On my turn, I drew the land, fetched twice, and cast Demonic Consultation. When it resolved, I named You Are Already Dead and cast Thassa’s Oracle from hand. Adri’s breakdown of the play is available on his YouTube channel, ValueBeforeVictory, and there’s a good lesson in there.

In Game Two, I Gitaxian Probed and saw lands, Stock Up, Flusterstorm, and Pyroblast. I only had Duress, but also saw a line to weave through the interaction.

My Duress took Stock Up. I cast Gush, which was Pyroblasted. My Dig Through Time was Flusterstormed. I cast Mox Jet, Dark Ritual, and Doomsday. I built a safe pile, and Adri revealed a drawn Tolarian Academy that did not help.

Round Five: Sphere Shops | WLW

I sat down against a famous Long Island Vintage player, Raffaele Forino. Raffaele and his brother are pillars of the Vintage community, having been featured in a VICE documentary on May 8, 2015.

I was confident I knew what he was on, believing that he was a longtime Prison Shops player. I was on the play.

I Force of Will his turn-one play and win on the next turn. In perhaps a bit of gamesmanship, Raffaele seemed sort of confused by the Doomsday matchup. After the match, he stated that he had played it many times, and I believed him.

I had a decent number of relevant cards for the matchup, but felt a little bit behind with only a single Force of Negation. I countered a Sphere of Resistance, but a second one stuck. A turn later, Scrawling Crawler arrived and pressured my life total while drawing us extra cards. My life total dropped fast, but I had a few draws that could find my Hurkyl’s Recall and swing the game. I never found them, and we went to Game Three.

In Game Three, Raffaele opened on Ancient Tomb into Mana Vault, which I Mental Misstepped. He followed with Mox Emerald and Sphere of Resistance. On my turn, I developed an overcosted Mox Jet.

Sphere of Resistance by Doug Chaffee

On his turn two, he cast another Sphere of Resistance. The game slowed to a crawl, even with no Scrawling Crawler in play. Over the next few turns, I cast Black Lotus, an end-of-turn Consider, and played a few lands. Raffaele did not draw a land nor a mana source, with growing frustration. A usually-unplayable basic Plains cast his Null Rod.

Finally, I drew my Hurkyl’s Recall and cast it on his end step. He conceded when I untaped with eight mana. I did not have Doomsday in hand, but I had two Flow States and a Dig Through Time. He was understandably annoyed after the match, but that emotion was clearly directed at the deck. We discussed for a bit and got to the point where I gently said I didn’t feel that bad about him being locked out by his own Sphere of Resistances. He chuckled wryly.

Round Six: Tinker Paradoxical Outcome | WLL

I was in a good position for big-time stakes. My opponent was Dan Nelson, and I saw that in 2025, he’d played Doomsday in the NYSE. Dan reached the semifinals after our match, which was an incredibly hard-fought battle.

In Game One, my discard was excellent, punching a hole and allowing Doomsday to resolve after we’d exhausted resources.

Force of Will by Matt Stewart

In Game Two, Dan made a heads-up play to Force of Will my turn one Black Lotus. I had no other lands, and it took quite a while to develop any. Dan found countermagic after countermagic. Some friends watching the game told me later that consecutive Flow States showed him a total of five Force effects. Eventually, a large Forth Eorlingas ended it.

In Game Three, we battled to a stalemate, both at low resources. Dan cast a recently-drawn Forth Eorlingas for a single knight, which hit me to 11 life and claimed the Monarchy. On my turn, I drew and resolved Necropotence. I drew seven cards, hoping to Doomsday from two life after the next turn’s attack. At eight cards, I discarded a useless fetchland.

It was a poor seven cards, and Dan attacked me to two life. I cast Consider, and saw Snap. I have a plan! Snap bounced the knight and untapped my lands. I Dig Through Time with desperation and found nothing. Dan casts Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Time Walk.

My tournament was over.

Round Seven: Hate | WLW

For my final round, I played against Steven, a dedicated Magic cards player I know from NYC. We laughed about our near-misses and set out to determine where we would fall in the also-rans.

In Game One, on the play, I cast Black Lotus Doomsday, and played a fetchland. In hand, I had Underground Sea, Island, and a couple of blanks. My pile was the straightforward Street Wraith-Thassa’s Oracle-Street Wraith-Thassa’s Oracle-Underground Sea. Steven played a land and Mox Ruby, betraying my normal expectation of a mono- deck. He passed.

Thassa's Oracle by Jesper Ejsing

I cycled into Thassa’s Oracle, fetched the Underground Sea, and cast it. He casts Fatal Push, and we go back to his turn.

He seemed a bit unfamiliar with standard tech and wondered aloud what my outs were. He exclaimed that he has his own sweet winning line. It didn't materialize, however, and he Wastelanded one of my Underground Seas.

I drew Street Wraith from my randomized deck, went to zero cards in the deck, and cast Thassa's Oracle. After the match, he mentioned that if he had drawn his Demonic Consultation, he could have Reanimated my Thassa's Oracle, and I agreed that that would have been sick.

In Game Two, he cast some fast mana on his turn one and passed. I went to crack my fetchland, but he cast Opposition Agent. I scooped.

Opposition Agent by Scott Murphy

I brought in Leyline of the Voids, but suspected they were not useful, so I swapped them for Snap and Long Goodbye. Steven lets it slip that he was playing Magus of the Moon, so I was prepared.

Game three was swift. Steven Mental Misstepped my Dark Ritual, but I Mental Misstepped back and won the game immediately.

Closing Out

That was a lot of fun. Vintage has a bad reputation, but games can be very intricate, and it is cool to play with such powerful spells. Finishing 13th felt good, given my utter lack of preparation. I feel minor frustration at missing such a close opportunity to win power, but those are the breaks.

Doomsday remains a difficult deck to play against. As long as Lurrus of the Dream-Den control remains weak, and you dodge Underworld Breach, it feels like a strong way to attack Vintage.

My list was rough, but there were things to like about it. I missed Vampiric Tutor and Mystical Tutor. They should replace at least one Consider. I would like to try four Flow State. If so, the deck may not be able to support Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time. Discard was excellent, and if Hexing Squelcher continues to rise, I’m going to want more discard instead of Flusterstorm.

There are some excellent meta breakdowns of NYSE X from various sources, including ValueBeforeVictory and IAmActuallyLvl1. There was plenty of Lurrus of the Dream-Den control, but it did not do well.

ValueBeforeVictory's Tinker deck did spectacularly well, and is probably going to be a major player in the metagame. There were significant differences between paper and online play, both of which are fun sub-metagames.

Catch you at Eternal Weekend 2026!