Control Magic – Pondering about SCG: Phoenix

So the Star City Games Open is right around the corner here, in are very own home town of Phoenix, and I for one thing it’s about damn time. I know I’m not alone in this feeling as I have heard the same thing for over the last few years of playing Magic.

Before we get to talking about the upcoming Open, let’s take a trip back in time to 2006—the last time the world of competitive Magic had graced us with its presence. Unfortunately Phoenix didn’t return the favor, with only 387 players—one of the smallest turnouts for a Grand Prix event that year. The only destinations that year to get fewer were Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, both of which have gotten competitive events again since then, years later. Why hasn’t Phoenix? Well, while these destinations had fewer players, they are also the only stops for those countries for any Magic: the Gathering events. It is difficult to ignore their out cries for Magic the Gathering to return. How can we fix that for that Phoenix? By showing the world that we are one of the largest Magic the Gathering communities in the world. I know that we have a large player base here as I hear over and over again about stores getting 40 to 50 players for a Friday Night Magic every week; it’s not just one shop either. The Valley of the Sun is filled with mages throwing down every Friday night competing to show who the top dog is. Well now we have a chance to see who really is. Even I will be throwing my name in that hat for both the Standard and Legacy events. For of those who don’t know me, I am a dedicated Legacy player who hasn’t played Standard for more than a night in over 2 years, yet I will be sleeving up cards from Scars of Mirrodin to Innistrad and diving head first in to a format I know little about. Why you ask? Because I for one want to see more events like this come here in the future. And I encourage you to do the same, and not just for the Standard event.

Yes, I can already hear it now. “Legacy is so expensive to get into and I don’t want to spend the money for a format I may never play again.” To that, I ask “Why, good sirs and madams?” Why is it that every magic player seems to own a current Standard deck and not Legacy deck? Is it because the cards rotate to fast to pick up what you need before it’s too late? Wait—I know that can’t be it, as you literally have a life time to build a deck. Maybe it’s cause all the good cards you need for Legacy are really old and hard to find? No I don’t believe that this either. Let’s look at the top 3 deck of Legacy and see what we could have in our collection just from standard since Shards of Alara (released in March of 2008).

Creatures

  • 4 Knight of the Reliquary
  • 4 Mother of Runes
  • 4 Noble Hierarch
  • 3 Qasali Pridemage
  • 2 Scavenging Ooze
  • 3 Stoneforge Mystic
  • 1 Gaddock Teeg
  • 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Spells

  • 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
  • 4 Green Sun’s Zenith
  • 1 Sylvan Library
  • 4 Swords to Plowshares
  • 2 Umezawa’s Jitte
  • 1 Batterskull

Lands

  • 3 Forest
  • 2 Plains
  • 2 Horizon Canopy
  • 1 Maze of Ith
  • 4 Savannah
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 4 Wasteland
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Dryad Arbor
  • 1 Karakas

Sideboard

  • 1 Tormod’s Crypt
  • 2 Ethersworn Canonist
  • 2 Choke
  • 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
  • 1 Enlightened Tutor
  • 2 Path to Exile
  • 1 Surgical Extraction
  • 2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
  • 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
  • 1 Gideon Jura
  • 1 Bojuka Bog

All the cards bolded were all Standard legal in the past couple years. If we take the rest of the cards in the deck,and total them up for around $850, we could have one of the top deck in the format. If we’ve been playing Magic as far back as Time Spiral Block (October 2006) we could have this same deck for about $150 dollars less and even cheaper if we bought the Counterpunch Commander deck that was released in the last year.

UW Stoneblade

Creatures

  • 4 Snapcaster Mage
  • 4 Stoneforge Mystic
  • 3 Vendilion Clique

Spells

  • 1 Batterskull
  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 2 Mana Leak
  • 4 Spell Snare
  • 4 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Umezawa’s Jitte
  • 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
  • 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands

  • 3 Island
  • 1 Plains
  • 4 Flooded Strand
  • 3 Mishra’s Factory
  • 4 Misty Rainforest
  • 4 Tundra
  • 4 Wasteland
  • 1 Karakas

Sideboard:

  • 2 Relic of Progenitus
  • 3 Meddling Mage
  • 1 Oblivion Ring
  • 1 Disenchant
  • 2 Path to Exile
  • 2 Spell Pierce
  • 2 Surgical Extraction
  • 2 Wrath of God

Once again, all the cards marked have been Standard-legal since Shards of Alara (released in March of 2008). The remaining would total out to $1200 and if we have been playing since Time Spiral (October 2006), we save $200.

RUG Tempo

Creatures

  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 4 Nimble Mongoose
  • 4 Tarmogoyf

Spells

  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 3 Daze
  • 3 Force of Will
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 4 Spell Pierce
  • 3 Spell Snare
  • 2 Thought Scour
  • 2 Chain Lightning
  • 4 Ponder

Lands

  • 4 Misty Rainforest
  • 4 Scalding Tarn
  • 4 Tropical Island
  • 3 Volcanic Island
  • 4 Wasteland

Sideboard

  • 2 Scavenging Ooze
  • 3 Sulfur Elemental
  • 2 Sulfuric Vortex
  • 1 Ancient Grudge
  • 2 Pyroblast
  • 4 Submerge
  • 1 Life from the Loam

If you had been playing Standard since Shards of Alara (released in March of 2008), it would cost $1000 to finish this out with the cards you could own from then. From Time Spiral Block (October 2006), you would save another $200.

Yes, this does seem like a lot of money when you consider buying it all at one time. But, this is Legacy—you can take all the time you want. Right now, the top tier standard decks would cost you, on average, perhaps between $500 to $600, and this is for a deck that would only be playable until October of this year. If we were to go back a little further to the Caw Blade days, then we’re talking almost $1000. Legacy is an expensive format to get into if you attempt to get in to it all at once. These are the top decks of the format, but not the only decks in to format. The guys Jeff and Jason here at AZMagicPlayers have gone to great lengths to write articles, showing you decks that you can build for less then what your average Standard deck costs to build. Some of these decks like Affinity and Burn have won recent Star City Opens. You don’t have to spend a lot to build a deck that can win. Remember it’s the skills of the player that get the wins and not the decks themselves.

I personally hope to see many of my local Magic players slinging spells come April 14th and 15th in both the Legacy and Standard opens as it maybe are only chance to host a Star City Event.

On a personal note, for those interested in playing more Legacy, there are many stores that offer Legacy events throughout the week and weekends. I personally know of Amazing Discoveries in Tucson running a Thursday Night and a Saturday Legacy event, Rookies to Legends on Saturdays in Phoenix, and Pop Culture Paradise on Sundays in Tempe. Sorry to any stores in Arizona that I have missed and feel free to let us know where and when your events are as I for sure would love to make them part of my weekly schedule. I have started to set up a Legacy test group on Tuesdays at Manawerx around 5pm I hope to see you there as well.