Team Portugal

BUG

Marijn Lybaert

12th Place at Grand Prix on 10-23-2011

Legacy

Creatures (8)

• 4 Tarmogoyf
• 4 Snapcaster Mage

Planeswalkers (4)

• 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Liliana of the Veil

Lands (24)

• 4 Wasteland
• 4 Underground Sea
• 2 Tropical Island
• 2 Bayou
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 1 Sunken Ruins
• 2 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Creeping Tar Pit

Spells (24)

• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Hymn to Tourach
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Ghastly Demise
• 3 Spell Snare
• 1 Ponder
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 2 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 2 Dismember

Sideboard

• 2 Diabolic Edict
• 3 Pernicious Deed
• 2 Ghastly Demise
• 1 Darkblast
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 3 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Liliana of the Veil

Why do I think this is the best deck in Legacy?

Snapcaster Mage and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are two of the strongest cards in Legacy at this moment, and this deck uses these two to their fullest extent. At the GP, I didn’t lose a single game where I resolved Jace. I dare you to find a Legacy deck that beats this hand on the play:

The deck certainly has its issues. The manabase is not what it should be. A resolved Blood Moon, and to a lesser extent Magus of the Moon (as you can still Dismember that guy), is game over, and you can’t really afford to play basics. Running one Swamp and one Island won’t solve the Blood Moon problem anyway, and you don’t want to add too many lands that don’t produce black mana (Hymn to Tourach is what you want to cast on turn two).

With only four removal spells maindeck, you have a hard time against Merfolk and Maverick game 1. Things certainly get better after sideboard, but if Merfolk goes Vial, Waste, Waste on the play, there are very few draws that can save you.

Another problem is that you have a limited amount of ways to come back into a game. You should keep this in mind when taking mulligans. A hand with Goyf, Spell Snare, Force of Will, and four lands is a mulligan! Make sure you have things to do on your first few turns so that Jace can seal the deal.

Taking a closer look at some of the numbers:

8 creatures (no Vendilion Clique or Tombstalker):

I tested with both Vendilion Clique and Tombstalker but didn’t feel like they were necessary. Once you are in control, you don’t need a Tombstalker to finish the job, and most of the time I wanted an extra removal or discard spell so that I could survive the early game and get to a point where I could safely deploy my Jace or Goyf. Yes, there are games where you get in control and your opponent is able to come back because you don’t have any gas, but these games are very rare, and it probably means you messed up a Brainstorm somewhere along the line.

2 Thoughtseize 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Hymn to Tourach:

Some versions run only two Thoughtseize and no Inquisition of Kozilek, but I disagree. Your best draws consist of turn 1 discard, into turn 2 Hymn, into turn 3 Goyf/Snapcaster/removal, and you really want to maximize the chance of hitting that turn 1 discard spell. Agreed, eight discards and 24 lands sometimes result in a string of bad draws once you get to the late game, but at that point you should already have a Jace or Goyf controlling the game.

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, 1 Liliana of the Veil:

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the best card in this deck so playing fewer than three is no option. I tried playing four but ended up losing too many games whilst holding two of them. I opted for one Liliana of the Veil as my fourth planeswalker, and she certainly didn’t disappoint. She’s awesome against Merfolk and Maverick and lets you discard useless removal spells against combo. I’m considering adding a second one for future tournaments.

1 Ghastly Demise, 1 Go for the Throat, 2 Dismember:

Choosing the right removal package is certainly tricky. Ghastly Demise is awesome in some matchups, but awful in others. Dismember is very versatile, but four life is a lot. At the GP I lost a game to Imperial Painter because I was holding Ghastly Demise instead of Dismember, but I’m sure I also won games at four or less life because I had been able to kill a creature with Demise instead of Dismember. As long as Dark Confidant doesn’t get popular again, I’d cut the Go for the Throat for a second Ghastly Demise.

4 Wasteland (no Riptide Laboratory):

A lot of people are running Riptide Laboratory over Wasteland these days because they want games to go long and don’t want to Wasteland people. I agree with the first part, but I have won so many games just on Wasteland that I can’t see myself running less than four. Sometimes you’ll Thoughtseize your opponent on turn one and see that they’re holding only two lands and a Brainstorm. You can just take the Brainstorm and Wasteland them on turn two. Sometimes your Hymns have emptied your opponent’s hand, and all they have left is three lands. Wasteland is your man once again. Other times your opponent might try to hide Jace on the top of the deck in response to your second Hymn, only for you to Wasteland their fourth land and to deploy your own Jace the turn after. I’ve found Wasteland to be too important, and running five colorless lands is just no option, so no Riptide Laboratory for me.

1 Creeping Tar Pit:

This card was absolutely insane for me. I would definitely cut the Sunken Ruins for a second one. This deck is very good at taking control in the first few turns, but afterwards it sometimes struggles to finish the job. Creeping Tar Pit really helps there. Together with Snapcaster Mage it is a four-turn clock. Together with Goyf it gets the job done in three turns.

4 Force of Will (and only 19 blue spells):

Ideally you want to be running at least 20 blue cards, but I just couldn’t find the non-blue card I wanted to cut. If you really want another blue card, I’d cut a land for an extra Ponder. After sideboard, things get better as you can add two Spell Pierce in matchups where Force of Will is important. 

24 lands:

I didn’t want to lose to Wasteland all day long, and drawing too many lands is never a problem with this deck. In the late game you’ve got Jace, Brainstorm, and Snapcaster (on Brainstorm) to get rid of them.

Taking a closer look at the sideboard:

3 Surgical Extraction (no Leyline of the Void):

I thought there would be more High Tide and ANT than Dredge so I opted for Surgical. Agreed, your matchup against Dredge is tricky, but if you draw a Surgical and a Snapcaster, you should be fine. If Dredge becomes popular again, I’d probably add a fourth Surgical.

1 Liliana of the Veil:

I think I sideboarded this card in every round. Don’t cut it from your sideboard. She really is that good.

3 Pernicious Deed:

I think two would have been enough, as you also have Liliana as a three-drop and don’t want to draw too many expensive cards.

What about sideboarding plans?

 No worries, I’ve got everything covered for you.

Vs. Merfolk:

– 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
– 4 Force of Will
– 2 Spell Snare
+ 2 Ghastly Demise
+ 2 Diabolic Edict
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 1 Darkblast
+ 2 Pernicious Deed (assuming you are only running two)

If your opponent is running Back to Basics, consider adding two Spell Pierce on the play.

Vs. Maverick:

– 4 Force of Will
– 3 Spell Snare
– 1 Ponder
+ 2 Ghastly Demise
+ 1 Diabolic Edict
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 1 Darkblast
+ 2 Pernicious Deed
+ 1 Life from the Loam

Watch out for Choke after board. Bayou and Creeping Tar Pit are your best lands after sideboard. Try to protect them.

Vs. ANT/Storm:

– 2 Dismember
– 1 Go for the Throat
– 1 Ghastly Demise
– 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
– 1 Creeping Tar Pit
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 1 Darkblast
+ 2 Spell Pierce
+ 3 Surgical Extraction

With 2 Liliana and 1 Darkblast you should have enough outs against possible Dark Confidants. Cutting a land is fine against any deck without Wasteland.

Vs. RUG Tempo

– 4 Force of Will
– 3 Spell Snare
+ 2 Diabolic Edict
+ 1 Darkblast
+ 1 Life from the Loam
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 2 Pernicious Deed

Liliana is your girl. Play her on an empty board, and there is no way you are losing the game. Try to wait till you are sure you can resolve her (don’t run into Daze).

Vs. Reanimator

– 4 Hymn to Tourach
– 1 Creeping Tar Pit
– 1 Go for the Throat
– 1 Ghastly Demise
– 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+ 3 Surgical Extraction
+ 2 Diabolic Edict
+ 2 Spell Pierce
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil

Vs. Stoneforge

– 4 Tarmogoyf
– 1 Go for the Throat
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 2 Pernicious Deed
+ 2 Spell Pierce

This was a good matchup until people started running four Spell Snare. It’s possible that you also want to bring in a few Surgical Extractions. Bring in Darkblast against versions with Spellstutter Sprite and Vendilion Clique. 

Vs. Zoo

– 4 Force of Will
– 3 Spell Snare
+ 2 Ghastly Demise
+ 2 Diabolic Edict
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 2 Pernicious Deed

Vs. BUG

– 4 Tarmogoyf
+ 1 Liliana of the Veil
+ 2 Spell Pierce
+ 1 Life from the Loam

Consider sideboarding the Darkblast against versions with Vendilion Clique.

That’s it for now. I’ll be concentrating on Standard and Modern in the next few weeks, but I’m sure I’ll be playing a lot more Legacy once Worlds is over. I really love to play Legacy, and I’ll be trying out some other strategies in the upcoming tournaments. Snapcaster Mage might be a little bit too powerful, but the format seems healthy as it is. The Top 8 of GP Amsterdam featured eight different archetypes, and there were at least two more archetypes hiding in the Top 16 (Dredge and Team Portugal).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this.

Thanks for reading,

Marijn Lybaert

BONUS PART:

I originally planned on writing an article about Innistrad Limited and detailing what I feel are the five major draft archetypes, but the web seems to be flooded by articles on that subject.

Together with three Belgians (Vincent Lemoine, Jan Van Nieuwenhove, and Chris Van den Wouwer), I have constructed a pick list for these five archetypes so I might as well share these with you all. Thanks to Vincent, Jan, and Chris for helping me out. The set is still fresh, so there is certainly a lot to be learned, both by you and me. Please feel free to post in the forums whenever you disagree with something. Please keep in mind that these pick lists are not cast in stone. While drafting, pick orders change constantly and depend on what you have already. Sometimes you’ll have to take a stupid two-drop instead of just picking the best card for the archetype. 

First let me say that the format is once again very fast. Whatever you are drafting, you should make sure that you have enough early drops and an aggressive curve. There are cards in almost every color that punish slow draws. Blue has Silent Departure, which will time walk you twice if you don’t pay attention; green has Werewolves; red has Bloodcrazed Neonate and Werewolves; and white is pretty fast in general.

Talking about Werewolves and flip cards, I think they have a bigger impact on draft than people seem to think. Being able to see what colorsthe guy on your right is drafting is a HUGE deal. At GP Milan for example, the guy in front of me opened Ludevic’s Test Subject together with Sturmgeist, two powerful blue cards. He took the Test Subject and passed me the Sturmgeist (a card I would have slammed without the extra information). Here I took another card and passed the Sturmgeist to the guy on my left, positioning myself in between two people drafting blue. 

Not only do you get to know what others are drafting, there is also the possibility to base your strategy on what flip cards are opened. For example: in the first booster, six people open a mediocre Werewolf (e.g. Village Ironsmith or Villagers of Estwald), cards which are in general not first-pick worthy. Imagine now that your own booster contains a card that is only slightly better than the Werewolf you opened. It might be well worth taking the Werewolf and signaling to everyone that you are going to be drafting red and/or green.

Let’s take a look at our pick lists (going from left to right).

U/W Spirits

R/B Vampires

R/G Werewolves

W/G Humans

U/B Zombies