Serious Vintage Episode 26: The Ballad of Lodestone

In episode 26, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Andy “Brass Man” Probasco (@tmdbrassman) discuss the changes afoot in Vintage since the restriction of Lodestone Golem.


Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:
0:00:56 – Wherefore Art Thou, Lodestone?
0:03:44 – What Happens Now? (Shops)
0:21:51 – What Happens Now? (Not Shops)
0:50:51 – Serious Culture
Total runtime 1:03:10

Wherefore Art Thou, Lodestone?

This was an obvious topic, and one that had to be discussed immediately, but the one thing we didn’t want to do was complain about the “why” of the restriction. Essentially, it’s too late. Way too late if we’re to believe Magic designer Ethan Fleischer:

There were arguments and emotions on both sides of the restricted aisle. Other cards were brought up for restriction or unrestriction, and points were made all around – good and bad, meaningful and not. At this point though, the only thing that matters is the outcome: Lodestone Golem is restricted. Vintage will still be fun, Mishra’s Workshop will still be playable, and you should continue playing what you want. Fear not. Look to the future.

What Happens Now?

There’s a lot to consider about the prospective format. We look at changes to Workshops, including the potential resurgence of colored Shops decks and the likely continued strength of mono-brown versions. Then we look similarly at Gush-based blue decks, non-Gush blue decks, Storm, Hatebears, Dredge, and Oath. There are brief explorations of specific decks and of individual cards.

It should be a lot of good food for thought—lots of ideas to pick up and run with. It’s too much to summarize, so listen and draw your own conclusions. In a few months you can listen again and let us know how right or wrong we are.

If you want specifics: this won’t be the return of Slaver, but someone will almost certainly try Slash Panther.

Serious Culture

We close the discussion with 45 minutes on cottage cheese and other cultured dairy products. Geoff experienced some cottage cheese dumplings with cardamom sauce at an Indian restaurant. These were delicious, partly because they contained more carbs than a can of soda. Nat referenced this XKCD comic with regard to the sugar content.
XKCD Cadbury Eggs

It is in fact two Creme Eggs to one can of soda. Sugar is delicious.

The topic of cottage cheese led to Nat’s favorite pancakes (which were also referenced in Episode 17).

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 cup full-fat or low-fat cottage cheese
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
2 large egg whites

Directions:
1. Lightly butter, oil, or spray griddle, if needed, and preheat it over medium heat.
2. Whisk together in a large bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together in a second bowl the milk, cottage cheese, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk them together, mixing just until combined. Beat the egg whites until peaks are stiff but not dry then fold them into the batter.
3. Spoon 1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until the top of each pancake is starting to dry around the edges then turn and cook until the underside is lightly browned.

They’re good enough to repeat here. Trust us. If you want to learn more about cottage cheese, Nat also referenced an NPR piece on the stuff.

Andy, it turns out, likes kefir. We learn about kefir (“It’s like a drinkable yogurt that’s very lightly carbonated?”) and hypothesize the “kefirita.” We had no idea how much we wanted to talk about cultured dairy products.

Concluding Remarks

Thanks for listening! We look forward to any questions or comments here or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.