Legacy is a remarkable format.
Seriously, there are like 14,000 cards legal in the format, and it’s been played for years and years. Other than Conspiracy cards (which were never
intended to be Constructed cards), there hasn’t been a banning in over three years. Despite this, the format continues to evolve, and has more viable
archetypes than anyone can count.
Not every format has a major impact on Legacy, but Khans of Tarkir certainly did. Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are revolutionizing Modern, but they
are also making their presence felt in Legacy (and Vintage, but that’s a story for another day). The combination of fetchlands and one-mana library
manipulation spells is just out of control with the two blue delve power cards.
With Grand Prix New Jersey rapidly approaching, I thought I’d take a look at the Legacy metagame since the addition of Khans of Tarkir. There have been
four Legacy Opens with Khans before this past weekend, as well as the Legacy Championships. This breakdown is weighted by finish in the same Frank
Karsten-inspired method we use here regularly.
With 25 archetypes making the top tables of at least one of these five tournaments, it’s a bit unwieldy to look at all of the archetypes at the same time.
Still, for reference, here are all of the decks to top 16 one of the first four Legacy Opens of the format, or top 8 the championship:
|
Archetype |
Post-Khans Metagame |
|
Elves |
16.9% |
|
U/R Delver |
13.2% |
|
Miracles |
10.0% |
|
Jeskai Delver |
8.7% |
|
Reanimator |
6.4% |
|
Sultai Delver |
5.0% |
|
Temur Delver |
4.1% |
|
Esper Deathblade |
3.7% |
|
Dredge |
3.7% |
|
Maverick |
3.2% |
|
Death and Taxes |
2.7% |
|
Sneak and Show |
2.7% |
|
Painter |
2.3% |
|
Lands |
1.8% |
|
Omni-Tell |
1.8% |
|
Slivers |
1.8% |
|
Grixis Delver |
1.4% |
|
Tezzeret |
1.4% |
|
Storm |
1.4% |
|
Abzan Depths |
1.4% |
|
Shardless Sultai |
0.9% |
|
Burn |
0.9% |
|
Jund |
0.9% |
|
U/W Counterbalance |
0.9% |
|
Mono-R Moggcatcher |
0.9% |
Remember, this isn’t a reflection of the metagame as a whole, just what’s been winning, what you need to beat to win the tournament. Elves is
disproportionately high because of how much success it has had in this format so far. It took literal first, second, third, and fourth at SCG
Indianapolis, which was definitely unusual, but it’s put up good numbers elsewhere.
Long time Legacy aficionados will surely notice just how much things have changed from the Delver/Stoneblade/Shardless era one year ago. All of those decks
are still present, no question, but the balance of power has shifted a great deal. All three have incorporated Treasure Cruise, but it does so much more
for Delver than the other two.
There are so many different Delver decks now.U/R, U/R with white, U/R with black, and U/R with green. There’s even a Delver deck without red! Are these all
the same deck underneath? Well, really, there’s kind of two different styles of Delver. The white Delver decks are very much Stoneforge Mystic decks, while
the rest are all sort of in the same family. Nevertheless, if we merge them and some other related archetypes with each other, we can get a more manageable
picture of the metagame.
|
Archetype |
Post-Khans Metagame |
|
Delver |
32.4% |
|
Elves |
16.9% |
|
Misc Combo |
11.4% |
|
Aggro |
10.5% |
|
Graveyard Combo |
10.0% |
|
Miracles |
10.0% |
|
Misc Blue Decks |
5.6% |
As you can see, nearly a third of the field at the top tables are playing Delver decks fueled by Treasure Cruise. I am skeptical of how long it will be
legal in Modern, but Legacy is such a busted format, Treasure Cruise fits right in. Still, this is a bit much even for Legacy. It will be interesting to
see how much the format is able to adapt to this new power player.
Interestingly, most of the rest of the top of the format is combo, with Shardless and Stoneblade decks seriously dipping in popularity. Ten percent aggro
isn’t a ton or anything, but it’s definitely an increase compared to the norm in Legacy.
Let’s distill this data down just a little more before looking at some of the important new cards and decks. Here’s a look at the four basic styles of
Legacy decks right now:
|
Archetype |
Post-Khans Metagame |
|
Combo |
38.3% |
|
Aggro-Control |
37.1% |
|
Control |
10.9% |
|
Misc Aggro |
10.5% |
As you can see, the format is basically evenly split between “busted combos,” “Treasure Cruise,” and “everything else.” As popular and successful as
Treasure Cruise has been, it only seems to be picking up steam. Already, it has won three of the four Opens and the Legacy championships.
If you’ve got the ability to test against just three decks for GP New Jersey, one of them should be U/R Delver. If you’ve got the bandwidth for a five-deck
gauntlet, Jeskai Delver should be one of the extra two. Fighting this strategy takes practice, as it can be a tricky one to play against.
Here’s the “bad guy” of the format, the first deck anyone that wants to win at Legacy should test against:
Creatures (12)
Lands (17)
Spells (31)
It’s a little creepy how close this deck is to a Modern deck, though turning Brainstorm into Serum Visions is not a trivial power level drop, and Mana Leak
and Remand are nowhere near Daze and Force of Will.
While yes, Treasure Cruise is absolutely filthy here, Monastery Swiftspear is another new addition that has had a major impact. It’s generally a
three-power one-drop for one with haste. That’s beyond absurd. Will time show that Monastery Swiftspear is in the same league as Delver of Secrets…?
Forked Bolts are nothing new to Legacy, but they are more important than ever. Remember all those Elves decks we were discussing? Besides, when you’re
fighting Delver of Secrets, Young Pyromancer, and the like, being able to split up Forked Bolt is potentially game-winning.
I love the use of Grim Lavamancer in the sideboard. A lot of people have discarded the Grim Lavamancers they used to have, wanting to save their graveyard
for Treasure Cruises. The card is still awesome though, and having it in the sideboard gives you a powerful trump against Elves, not to mention the mirror.
I also like the Blood Moons in the board. Most of these decks in the past needed three-colors, making Blood Moon not really an option. Treasure Cruise and
Monastery Swiftspear add enough power to the deck, we can actually get away with no Stoneforge Mystics, no Tarmogoyfs, no Dark Confidants, if we want. One
side effect of this is having enough basics to actually operate under Blood Moon.
The more of these decks we see, the more we’re going to encounter hate decks designed to prey on them. Chalice of the Void for one is a pretty brutal play
against this build. Rest in Peace is becoming a more and more popular maindeck card, thanks not only to the delving, but also the Reanimator and Dredge
decks showing up more and more. Even “hate bears” like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, are becoming more popular, helping elevate Death and Taxes and
Maverick.
While U/R Delver may be the most popular variant, Jeskai Delver is no slouch either. Last week’s winner shows us why more and more Stoneblade decks are
turning into Delver decks.
Creatures (10)
Lands (20)
Spells (30)
It’s no surprise that Treasure Cruise has people playing the full playset of Ponders, but pay attention to just how many Gitaxian Probes are showing up
now. That’s so many one-mana (or zero-mana) cantrips. Spirit of Labyrinth loves to see it, though all these Lightning Bolts, Plows, and Forked Bolts have
her name on them.
Council’s Judgment has quickly become a Legacy staple, a sort of Banishing Light where the target can never come back, plus it can actually hit True-Name
Nemesis.
It wasn’t too long ago that Temur Delver was the go-to build, but Treasure Cruise does make Tarmogoyf less appealing than it used to be. That said, this is
still a very viable approach, and the hard hits from Tarmogoyf reward a more disruptive spell-suite, as opposed to Monastery Swiftspear pushing you towards
aggression. As a result, Spell Pierce, Stifle, and Wasteland are all more common with green.
Creatures (10)
Lands (18)
Spells (32)
It seems crazy to me to play less than four Treasure Cruises here, but I guess you do find them pretty quickly with all these cantrips. Krosan Grip is a
particularly important sideboard card, as Counterbalance has been gaining a bit of popularity again. The Counterbalance + Sensei’s Divining Top combo is so
great against these 30+ one-drop decks, and the U/R list above is mostly just dead to it. You can try to ride a Young Pyromancer to victory, but it’s a
long shot.
Delver decks are not the only strategies to incorporate Treasure Cruise. Esper Stoneblade is the lone standing Stoneforge deck to not give in to the allure
of Delver of Secrets.
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (21)
Spells (27)
While I absolutely want four Treasure Cruises in the Delver decks, this is one that I am more likely to believe actually wants just three. We’ve got more
power worth of cards, and we aren’t exactly the fastest deck in the format.
Force of Will, Spell Pierce, and Thoughtseize? Glancy’s winning list is obviously gunning for the combo decks that have become so popular. Zealous
Persecution is quietly one of the most important tools in his arsenal, helping fight not only True-Name Nemesis, but also Elves, a combo deck that isn’t as
vulnerable to Spell Pierce as most.
It breaks my heart to see the only Jace, the Mind Sculptor a sideboard one-of, but Treasure Cruise has a really warping influence on the format. Honestly,
with Treasure Cruise legal in Modern, I’m not sure how many people would play Jaces there either.
Not everyone has cut their Jaces though. It’s still the go-to victory condition for control decks, and some Sultai decks still make good use of the card.
For instance, here’s one of the few remaining Shardless Sultai decks:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (21)
Spells (23)
- 4 Brainstorm
- 4 Force of Will
- 1 Sylvan Library
- 4 Ancestral Vision
- 2 Thoughtseize
- 4 Abrupt Decay
- 2 Toxic Deluge
- 2 Treasure Cruise
Sideboard
Shardless Agent into Ancestral Visions kind of occupies a lot of the same space as Treasure Cruise, but Cady goes ahead and plays both.
It’s interesting to see just how popular Meddling Mage has become. Cady actually sideboards a Savannah to support the full playset of Pikulas. I think I’d
probably replace the Marsh Flats in the maindeck with a Misty Rainforest, to give ourselves an extra way to find it in a hurry.
Toxic Deluge has become a common fixture in the format. I like that WotC is finding ways to support Legacy, but it is a little odd to see more and more
cards helping define the format that were never Standard playable. Cards designed to not be Standard legal have a different sort of feel, as opposed to
most of the Legacy cards that were actually printed to be playable in all formats.
Golgari Charm? Zealous Persecution was already great, but Golgari Charm is just in another league. It’s often a two-mana wrath, but it also doubles as
enchantment removal. That’s an incredibly slot-efficient sideboard card!
Why is Dig Through Time so much stronger in Standard, while Treasure Cruise seems to scale better the older the format? Once you are consistently spending
just one or two mana on the spell on an early turn, the difference between one and two is a lot. Besides, the selection from Dig Through Time is less
relevant when your deck is packed with tons of cantrips and cheap spells that are similar to each other.
That said, Dig Through Time definitely has a place for it in Legacy. The ability to dig so hard is perfect for some combo decks. Basically, if you’re
playing a blue deck that wants to assemble a two-card combo to win the game turn 3 or 4, Dig Through Time is perfect.
Creatures (8)
Lands (19)
Spells (34)
You really don’t have to change much to incorporate Dig here. A few more Gitaxian Probes than before, but that hardly costs anything at all. As an added
bonus, you can get more mileage out of cards like Blood Moon that can sometimes just steal free wins for you. Remember, you don’t have to exile six cards
to play Dig. Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors mana adds up quick.
The other obvious home for Dig Through Time is in Sneak and Show’s sister, Omni-Tell.
Creatures (1)
Lands (18)
Spells (41)
With just one maindeck, one in the side, Murphy’s list doesn’t seem like it Digs that hard, but remember, he also has three copies of Cunning Wish. Cunning
Wish into Dig is a very mana efficient way to set up your combo when the game stalls out a little.
It’s not a new kill, but you have to respect the style points of using Ancient Tomb to power out Show and Tell to power out Omniscience to power out Enter
the Infinite, then putting back another copy of Enter the Infinite to ensure no end to the amount of ants you can release.
These next two decks didn’t gain anything from Khans of Tarkir, but both are vital inclusions for any testing gauntlet. Up first, Elves:
Creatures (28)
- 4 Wirewood Symbiote
- 4 Quirion Ranger
- 2 Birchlore Rangers
- 3 Heritage Druid
- 3 Nettle Sentinel
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 2 Craterhoof Behemoth
- 4 Deathrite Shaman
- 1 Reclamation Sage
Lands (20)
Spells (13)
Sideboard
This list is set up to combo hard game 1, but then transform into more of an interactive “fair” deck after sideboarding (albeit still a combo deck, thanks
to Natural Order finding Progenitus or Worldspine Wurm).
The other must include for Legacy gauntlets is Miracles, the format’s go-to control deck.
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (23)
Spells (35)
This is another example of how popular Rest in Peace/Leyline of the Void type effects are in Legacy. Going after people’s graveyards can really punish
people relying on Treasure Cruise. Interestingly, the surge in popularity of these two ultra-hate cards has brought along with it an increase in popularity
of Helm of Obedience, which forms a two-card kill with either of them.
I’d like to leave you with two sweet brews that help remind that despite all this Treasure Cruising going on, right now, Legacy is still this super awesome
format where people are always going to find ways to surprise you. Up first, Slivers!
Creatures (24)
- 4 Crystalline Sliver
- 1 Winged Sliver
- 3 Muscle Sliver
- 4 Hibernation Sliver
- 4 Sinew Sliver
- 4 Predatory Sliver
- 4 Galerider Sliver
Lands (20)
Spells (17)
Is this the first Sliver deck to ever use three Muscle Slivers?
Set up like a Merfolk deck, this Sliver deck takes advantage of Galerider Sliver and Predatory Sliver from M14, as well as Sliver Hive from M15. Thalia,
out of the sideboard, is a particularly nice touch to combat all these Delver decks.
Finally, we come to the Moggcatcher deck.
Yeah, Moggcatcher is a Magic card.
Creatures (24)
- 4 Moggcatcher
- 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
- 3 Siege-Gang Commander
- 4 Simian Spirit Guide
- 4 Magus of the Moon
- 1 Murderous Redcap
- 2 Rakka Mar
- 1 Tuktuk Scrapper
- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
Lands (19)
Spells (17)
Chalice of the Void, Trinisphere, Blood Moon, and Magus of the Moon make it really hard to play unfair Magic against Bagley. All of the red midrange
creatures that can take over a game on their own are well set up to win fair fights. Goblin Rabblemaster, Rakka Mar, Moggcatcher, and Siege-Gang Commander
are all one-man armies! If they need a little push, Umezawa’s Jitte and Sword of Fire and Ice are great at beating fair strategies.
This is an exciting time in Legacy right now. Even though Treasure Cruise has redefined the format, 25 different decks put up big finishes last month. The
diversity is awesome, not only in terms of how many different cards are seeing play, but also in how many forgotten about cards from years gone by are
re-emerging. Legacy truly is the format of all 21 years of Magic.
What would I play in GP New Jersey?
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em…