For the next week, we’ll be covering the vast format that is Legacy. We’ll be covering 10 decks a day to help you get familiar with the variety that Legacy has to offer, significant finishes, a small “How the Decks Work” section, some variations, and finally, some sideboard cards that help combat that particular strategy. If we missed anything, feel free to comment and let us know!
What did you think of the yesterday’s 10 decks? From ANT to Affinity to Bant, you can get a pretty good idea of how diverse Legacy can be. It’s not surprising to play 7 rounds and play different decks each round! That’s part of the reason why we feel this primer is necessary. It can be frustrating to face a deck and not know what it does, but at the same time, that’s what we find fun about Legacy. Facing a random deck and trying to find a way to deal with the cards with the 75 you’ve registered with (for example, finding outs to Bridge from Below with a deck that doesn’t have sacrifice effects) can really test your skills.
Continuing yesterday’s decklists, here are another ten decks to fill your fancy:
Deadguy Ale
AKA: BW Stoneblade
Sample Decklist
Significant Finishes in 2012
Joe Bernal, 9th of 94: http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7757&iddeck=56448
How the Deck Works
Chris Pikula’s homebrew from Grand Prix: Philadelphia in 2005, Deadguy Ale combines cheap disruption and cheap creatures to stop your opponent dead. Cards like Bitterblossom and Dark Confidant generate card advantage while Thoughtseize, Vindicate, and Cabal Therapy destroy your opponent’s board. From there, Elspeth and Stoneforge Mystic make your tokens formidable allies.
Deck Variants: Deadguy Ale is pretty easy to splash colors. Gerard Fabiano’s Team Italia is a red-splash version of this deck. Decks that add green are known as Junk decks.
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: High
Dragon Stompy
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (21) 1 Arc-Slogger 1 Moltensteel Dragon 1 Taurean Mauler 2 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Gathan Raiders 4 Magus of the Moon 4 Rakdos Pit Dragon 4 Simian Spirit Guide Spells (22) 4 Seething Song 3 Blood Moon 2 Koth of the Hammer 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Umezawa’s Jitte 3 Trinisphere 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Chrome Mox Lands (18) 2 Bloodstained Mire 4 Ancient Tomb 4 City of Traitors 8 Mountain | Sideboard (15) 3 Powder Keg 3 Pyroblast 3 Pyrokinesis 3 Shattering Spree 3 Tormod’s Crypt |
Significant Finishes in 2012
None
How the Deck Works
Dragon Stompy is a metagame deck. The creatures may vary – Werewolves have given a new set of creatures for Dragon Stompy to play around with – but the lock pieces are the same. Moon effects lock greedy opponents out of the game while cards like Chalice of the Void and Trinisphere make it hard pressed for your opponent to come back. Dragon Stompy is very explosive at the cost of consistency. The strength of the deck depends on the opening hands, and what deck it is pit against.
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Low
Dreadstill
AKA: Stiflenought
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (11) 3 Tombstalker 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Phyrexian Dreadnought Spells (31) 2 Spell Snare 3 Snuff Out 4 Brainstorm 4 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Stifle 2 Ponder 2 Preordain 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Torpor Orb Lands (18) 1 Island 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Swamp 3 Scalding Tarn 4 Polluted Delta 4 Underground Sea 4 Wasteland | Sideboard (15) 2 Perish 3 Surgical Extraction 3 Spell Pierce 3 Massacre 2 Reanimate 2 Counterbalance |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Grigoriy Gryaznov, 1st of 113: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7741&iddeck=56326
How the Deck Works
A two mana 12/12? Sign me up! Legacy is full of funny interactions, and the Phyrexian Dreadnought/Stifle is not a funny interaction, but a deadly one too. When Mental Misstep was running rampant in Legacy last year, Dreadstill fell to the wayside. However, it’s poised to make a comeback. Since Delver of Secrets & Stifle is a pretty good combination, it only makes sense to throw in Dreadnought and have more relevant targets for Stifle, right?
Deck Variants: Since Stifle/Dreadnought only takes one color, there are many experiments to different colors. Black, as the one listed above, is a good one. A red splash for Grim Lavamancer isn’t so bad either. Also, don’t be surprised to see Trinket Mage tutoring up a Dreadnought either.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Krosan Grip, Ancient Grudge
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Low
Dredge
AKA: Ichorid
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (21) 1 Flame-Kin Zealot 2 Golgari Thug 2 Ichorid 4 Golgari Grave-Troll 4 Narcomoeba 4 Putrid Imp 4 Stinkweed Imp Spells (25) 1 Darkblast 2 Dread Return 3 Breakthrough 3 Cabal Therapy 4 Careful Study 4 Faithless Looting 4 Bridge from Below 4 Lion’s Eye Diamond Lands (14) 2 Undiscovered Paradise 4 Cephalid Coliseum 4 City of Brass 4 Gemstone Mine | Sideboard (15) 1 Angel of Despair 1 Ichorid 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Darkblast 3 Firestorm 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria 1 Breakthrough |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Adam Prosak, 1st of 297: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7662&iddeck=55655
Zach Tyree, 2nd of 141: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7807&iddeck=56824
Simone Giovannetti, 1st of 71: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7718&iddeck=56158
How the Deck Works
See our article here: http://www.azmagicplayers.com/articles/breaking-into-legacy-how-dredge-works/
Deck Variants: There are three main types – LEDless Dredge, LED Dredge, and Manaless Dredge. LEDless Dredge and LED Dredge are similar, except for the Lion’s Eye Diamond, which makes LED Dredge more explosive but less consistent. Manaless Dredge is the oddball, as it runs little to no land, and simply uses the maximum hand size as its discard outlet.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger’s Cage, Tormod’s Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, etc, etc etc
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: High
Enchantress
AKA: Solitaire
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (5) 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 4 Argothian Enchantress Spells (35) 2 Enlightened Tutor 2 Replenish 1 City of Solitude 1 Moat 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Runed Halo 1 Sigil of the Empty Throne 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon 1 Words of War 2 Mirri’s Guile 3 Elephant Grass 3 Solitary Confinement 4 Enchantress’s Presence 4 Sterling Grove 4 Utopia Sprawl 4 Wild Growth Lands (20) 1 Karakas 1 Taiga 2 Plains 2 Savannah 2 Serra’s Sanctum 2 Verdant Catacombs 4 Windswept Heath 6 Forest | Sideboard (15) 1 Blood Moon 2 Choke 2 Ground Seal 1 Karmic Justice 4 Leyline of Sanctity 1 Nevermore 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Runed Halo 1 Stony Silence 1 Lignify |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Tyler Kizer , 15th of 116: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7915&iddeck=57658
How the Deck Works
A highly synergistic deck, Enchantress uses the “Enchantress” effects of Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress’s Presence (hence the name) to generate card advantage. The main lock is established when you have an Enchantress effect or two out, and a Solitary Confinement out. A couple of Sterling Groves work as protection for the lock. Every other enchantment imitates Solitary Confinement in a way, and help you establish that lock. From there, Words of War, Sigil of the Empty Throne, and sometimes Emrakul come out to end the game.
Sideboard cards to consider: Ethersworn Canonist, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Krosan Grip
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Moderate
Eva Green
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (16) 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Kitchen Finks 2 Dryad Arbor 2 Phyrexian Metamorph 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Dark Confidant 4 Tarmogoyf Spells (24) 1 Beast Within 1 Go for the Throat 2 Dismember 1 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Green Sun’s Zenith 3 Duress 4 Hymn to Tourach 4 Thoughtseize 2 Pernicious Deed 2 Sensei’s Divining Top 2 Umezawa’s Jitte Lands (20) 1 Forest 2 Marsh Flats 2 Windswept Heath 3 Swamp 4 Bayou 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Wasteland | Sideboard (15) 3 Krosan Grip 1 Mindbreak Trap 2 Surgical Extraction 3 Damnation 2 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Relic of Progenitus 3 Choke |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Gianmarco Ramella, 8th of 47: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7473&iddeck=54278
How the Deck Works
Eva Green is an older Legacy deck that evolved from Suicide Black with the printing of Tarmogoyf and Tombstalker. It uses undercosted creatures with discard to disrupt your opponent, drop a creature, and ride it to victory. With the printing of Knight of the Reliquary, many green/black decks have opted to add white.
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Low
Faeries
| Creatures (11) 1 Snapcaster Mage 1 Sower of Temptation 2 Vendilion Clique 3 Dark Confidant 4 Spellstutter Sprite Spells (29) 1 Diabolic Edict 1 Dismember 1 Spell Snare 2 Counterspell 2 Smother 3 Daze 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Ancestral Vision 4 Bitterblossom 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1 Basilisk Collar 1 Umezawa’s Jitte Lands (20) 1 Flooded Strand 1 Riptide Laboratory 1 Swamp 2 Scalding Tarn 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Underground Sea 4 Mutavault 5 Island | Sideboard (15) 3 Perish 3 Faerie Macabre 3 Spell Pierce 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 1 Threads of Disloyalty 1 Hydroblast 2 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Umezawa’s Jitte |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Gavelli Lorenzo, 1st of 35: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7760&iddeck=56474
How this Deck Works
Ah, the old Standard menace makes its way to Legacy. The combination of Spellsutter Sprite, Mutavault, and Bitterblossom isn’t too bad. Dark Confidant does its usual job of providing card advantage while the constant creation of Faeries through Bitterblossom make it tough for most opponents to handle. Lingering Souls may just be the overall better replacement for Bitterblossom nowadays, but it is Legacy – anything can happen.
Deck Variants: Some Faeries decks add Stoneforge Mystic to up the threat count.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Engineered Plague
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Low
Goblins
AKA: Angry little green men
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (29) 1 Stingscourger 1 Tuktuk Scrapper 1 Wort, Boggart Auntie 2 Gempalm Incinerator 2 Goblin Chieftain 2 Goblin Piledriver 2 Mogg War Marshal 2 Siege-Gang Commander 4 Goblin Lackey 4 Goblin Matron 4 Goblin Ringleader 4 Goblin Warchief Spells (10) 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Warren Weirding 4 Aether Vial Lands (21) 1 Swamp 3 Badlands 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Rishadan Port 4 Wasteland 5 Mountain | Sideboard (15) 1 Stingscourger 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Pyroblast 2 Pyrokinesis 2 Red Elemental Blast 3 Perish 2 Shattering Spree |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Travis Hildebrand, 13th of 94: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7757&iddeck=56452
Brett Parise, 4th of 116: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7915&iddeck=57647
Timothy Thomason, 7th of 194: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7865&iddeck=57263
Kenneth Longhurst, 11th of 141: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7807&iddeck=56833
How this Deck Works
Anyone remember when the number one question of Legacy was “How do you deal with a turn one Goblin Lackey?” Goblins was quite the menace back then, and after its death during the Mental Misstep era, it is making a comeback. Goblins is a highly synergistic aggro deck that abuses the Goblin creature type with cards like Goblin Lackey, Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Warchief, Goblin Matron, and Goblin Ringleader. A turn one Lackey is devastating if it goes unanswered, but an unanswered Vial can grind out an advantage for the Goblins player.
Deck Variants: Despite being just one tribe, there are many variants of the Goblin deck. The obvious variants are the color splashes. Green and black are the most common. Green uses cards like Krosan Grip to take care of the problematic enchantments for Goblins – Moat and Engineered Plague. Black adds Warren Weirding, Cabal Therapy, and Perish to deal with other creatures and combo decks. Some Goblin decks go all out and add both colors, giving it the most versatility but also the most vulnerable manabase of the variants.
Furthermore, the actual Goblins may differ. While the core of Goblin Lackeys, Goblin Warchiefs, Goblin Matrons, and Goblin Ringleaders usually are present (though Brett Parise did get Top 4 at an SCG Open without Warchiefs), people can experiment with the Kiki-Jiki, Lightning Crafter, and Skirk Prospector combo. Other random Goblins include Goblin Pyromancer, Goblin Sharpshooter, Wort, Boggart Auntie, and Goblin Chieftain. The tutoring ability of Goblin Matron makes it really easy for Goblin players to customize the deck to their liking.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Engineered Plague, Moat, Umezawa’s Jitte
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: High
High Tide
AKA: Spiral Tide
Sample Decklist
| Spells (42) 1 Blue Sun’s Zenith 1 Pact of Negation 2 Flusterstorm 2 Meditate 3 Cunning Wish 3 Turnabout 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 High Tide 3 Preordain 4 Merchant Scroll 4 Ponder 4 Time Spiral 3 Candelabra of Tawnos Lands (18) 2 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn 12 Island | Sideboard (15) 1 Blue Sun’s Zenith 1 Brain Freeze 2 Defense Grid 1 Echoing Truth 1 Flusterstorm 1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Intuition 1 Pact of Negation 1 Ravenous Trap 1 Snap 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Turnabout 1 Wipe Away |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Colin Chilbert, 4th of 1214: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7872&iddeck=57325
Alix Hatfield, 7th of 264: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7989&iddeck=58198
Jesse Hatfield, 15th of 264: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7872&iddeck=57325
How the Deck Works
A monoblue combo deck that consistently goes off around turn 4, it abuses its namesake in order to generate extra mana, using untap effects to generate even more mana, and finally, draw spells to repeat this process until the player generates enough mana or storm to kill via Blue Sun’s Zenith or Brain Freeze. The unbanning of Time Spiral gave this deck new life, and made it so much better. However, the price of Candelabra of Tawnos keeps it out of reach for many players. The versatility of Cunning Wish also cannot be ignored: the Wishboard makes the deck so much more resilient to various kinds of hate.
Deck Variants: Another High Tide deck exists, but with a twist – it can only kill on your opponent’s turn. Abusing the engine of Reset/High Tide, Solidarity was created by David Gearhart, and taken to a heartbreaking 9th place finish at Grand Prix: Philadelphia. It is comprised of only instants and lands to abuses Reset, and was probably the best version of High Tide until Time Spiral was unbanned.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Ethersworn Canonist, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Mindbreak Trap
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Moderate
Hive Mind
Sample Decklist
| Creatures (3) 3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn Spells (38) 2 Slaughter Pact 2 Summoner’s Pact 3 Pact of the Titan 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Intuition 4 Pact of Negation 4 Ponder 4 Show and Tell 4 Hive Mind 3 Grim Monolith Lands (19) 1 Underground Sea 1 Volcanic Island 2 City of Traitors 2 Flooded Strand 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Polluted Delta 5 Island | Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of the Void 4 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Vendilion Clique 3 Firespout 1 Misdirection |
Significant Finishes in 2012
Kevin Lee, 2nd of 40: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7475&iddeck=54281
Tapparello Bruno, 3rd of 43: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7678&iddeck=55879
Samuel Friedman, 15th of 174: http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7865&iddeck=57271
How the Deck Works
This deck works in two fashions. It aims to put a Hive Mind into play, either through casting or through Show and Tell, and drops one of the Pacts printed in Future Sight. Each opponent is forced to copy it and if they cannot pay the cost during their upkeep, they lose. Hint – most opponents can’t pay the upkeep, especially as early as turn 2. The other way for it to win is to simply drop an Emrakul into play.
Its second place finish at GP: Providence last year put this deck on the map – its blazing fast speed and its two widely different angles of attack made it hard for opponents to answer it correct. Sure, you may have Knight of the Reliquary and Karakas to stop the Emrakul, but it does nothing if your opponent puts in Hive Mind instead. Your Daze may stop your copy of the Pact, but it won’t stop Emrakul.
Sideboard Cards to Consider: Spell Pierce, Vendilion Clique (cast in response to the Show and Tell to tear away their Show and Tell target)
Likelihood you’ll see this deck: Moderate
That brings our total to 20 different Legacy decks you may see at SCG: Phoenix. Join us tomorrow to see 10 more!
Jason and Jeff