Hello again! My article last week was about a cheap, almost exclusively MTGO-based format where I talked about an aggressive and cheap W/R deck that could give the best expected value for your invested tickets. Bleh. Who likes new cards anyway? Maybe I’m just an old man at heart, but my happiest moments in Magic involve cracking fetchlands and searching out Revised duals. I consider it to be Magic for the more discerning player.
Of course, I’m talking about my favorite format, Legacy. Now, Legacy is really intimidating for people who have never picked up a Brainstorm, but let me tell you, when you really get good with a Legacy deck, you feel like you can just never lose with it. Almost all the decks have extraordinarily powerful things that they get to do without being “broken,” and the person who figures out what matters in a particular game is significantly advantaged. Maybe it’s this flexible role-assignment that makes me appreciate U/W Stoneblade so much in the current Legacy format. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I can juice up with Jace, the Mind Sculptor in the one “fair” format he’s still legal in. I mean, seriously, you can play with all the old Caw-Blade heroes, just more consistently with Brainstorm and Snapcaster Mage! And Elspeth, Knight-Errant! She’s like, Jace’s favorite lady friend (when Stoneforge Mystic isn’t around, that is), and she is the best way to kick in the teeth of those pesky RUG Counterbalance players. All your cards are just so good!
Enough joking around, let’s get to a list.
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
This is the list I played at the Invitational to a 4-1 (+2 byes!) Legacy record, and if the Top 8 had been Legacy, I’d wager that I would have done better than my quick 0-2 quarterfinals exit. I also split the finals of a local Legacy tournament for a Mox Ruby the very next week, so I’m pretty high on the deck right now. But let’s break down what I’d change and why the cards I have in the list are in the list.
First off, I want Spell Pierce back in there. I lost to a U/R combo deck in round 3 of the Invitational partially because I didn’t have as many counterspells as I’d have liked (and partially from punting, but that’s neither here nor there!). I’d probably cut the boarded Ancestral Visions for it because I always have lots of cards to bring in and not that many to take out for the mirror and other control deck matchups. Also, I think that although Spellstutter Sprite is great and all, it’s been just a smidge low-impact for me. While trying to figure out what to cut for another Vendilion Clique, Kurt Spiess and I decided that maybe cutting the Spellstutter Sprites for a Vendilion Clique and a Spell Pierce was the right call. That’s debatable, certainly, but it frees up the sideboard Ancestral Vision slots for a Disenchant (secretly awesome!) and two more Spell Pierces.
As a bonus, this creates a clean sideboard plan for the mirror because we can now bring in the Elspeth, the Umezawa’s Jitte, and the Oblivion Ring for a Swords to Plowshares, a Force of Will, and a Spell Pierce. Additionally, it enables us to cut Mutavault for Mishra’s Factory, since the +1/+1 bonus when the Factory blocks and pumps itself is worth more than being able to bounce Mutavault with Riptide Laboratory. Two Riptides is still correct, though, because it’s still awesome value if you can ever return your Snapcaster Mage with it.
So we obviously have the core of four Brainstorm, Stoneforge Mystic, Swords to Plowshares, and Snapcaster Mage. Those cards shouldn’t be a source of much debate, as they make the deck really work. The first card that people automatically put down as a four-of that I don’t think needs to be a four-of is the omnipresent Force of Will. The card is necessary in a format with combo decks—don’t get me wrong—and sometimes it is well worth it to lose an extra card to jam through a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, or Crucible of Worlds. It’s just that the second copy of Force of Will is just so bad, and it almost always ends up being pitched to the first copy or thrown away to a Brainstorm + fetchland activation. Three is better against everything except the combo decks, and if you’re particularly worried about those, I could certainly see justifying a fourth Force, but in the current format, I think three is the correct number.
The next card is the misunderstood Spell Snare, sort of the awkward cousin to superstar Mental Misstep. Now that Misstep’s gotten the axe, Spell Snare has risen to its full potential in this deck, countering Counterbalances, Tarmogoyfs, Snapcaster Mages, Smallpoxes (thanks Reid Duke!), and Stoneforge Mystics with ease. It’s great against almost all the decks out there; it’s a great Snapcaster Mage target; and though some people might argue for cutting it to three copies, I find myself always wanting one in my opener as insurance for not getting killed quickly, and it always performs.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor is awesome but not quite as awesome as he was when he had Mental Misstep to do his bidding. The format has gotten less Jace-friendly, and you don’t want to see two copies against most decks. A helpful rule of thumb: When everyone is playing Jace, you want four. When only your deck is playing Jace, you want three. We used to have BUG Still, NO RUG, and U/W Stoneblade all Jacing to their hearts’ content, but now U/W is the main Jace player in a format with more aggro and Punishing Fire decks, so he’s lost his luster. Luckily, we get to slide an Elspeth in to replace one of our fallen Jaces, and she does great work. Where Jace gets you way ahead on cards if you untap with him in play, Elspeth does the same thing for your board position. She’s also better against Punishing Fire and great at fighting a Jace. She is surprisingly awesome, much more than it would seem on paper. #TeamElspeth
Two Vendilion Cliques is a little light. Three is great, which is why I’ve been toying with chopping Spellstutter Sprites for more Vendilion Cliques. If you play Legacy, you know how secretly awesome Vendilion Clique always is. If you don’t play Legacy, well, take my word for it; you can never have too much Vendilion Clique! Two Counterspells is a little different. It’s a nice catch-all and nice with Snapcaster Mage, but it’s something you only really want to see in the mid-game when you end up needing to fight a counter battle over a trump of some sort.
The equipment is the standard equipment package, but it’s the other artifact lurking in the list that really shines. Crucible of Worlds is a card that, when you draw it, you can either Brainstorm it away when it’s too slow for the matchup, or you can sculpt your whole game plan around resolving it and winning with it. It’s situationally awesome cards like these that make Brainstorm spectacular, and although I could see cutting the Crucible, the times when you surprise a control opponent and take game 1 with it are priceless. Of course, it’s one of the first cards on the chopping block when sideboarding for aggro and combo decks, but that’s well worth it for the ability to randomly crush control decks when they least expect it.
As for the sideboard, I like Surgical Extraction more than Purify the Grave because of how badly it wrecks Dredge and how much better it is against Intuition-based U/R combo decks. Having a Snapcaster Mage and a Surgical Extraction against Dredge is just game over because after you take their Narcomoebas and their Ichorids, suddenly they have no creatures! You mop up the Tireless Tribe/Putrid Imp with a random Swords to Plowshares, and they literally cannot win. Try doing that with a Purify the Grave!
The rest of the sideboard is pretty standard, except that I don’t play the Krosan Grips that some other builds of the deck have adopted against Counterbalance. That’s a fine card to play if you want more cards to sideboard against that deck, but the fact is, you can beat Counterbalance with Spell Snares, and even if they resolve it, they often will miss on countering Jace, Elspeth, Batterskull, or Crucible of Worlds. Instead of fighting a battle where you sideboard in very narrow reactive cards to beat a trump for your cheaper, less impactful spells, why not create a game plan where you intend to go over the top of Counterbalance, all the way up to game-ending three- and four-drops? I know it’s a light splash, but I don’t consider it necessary at this time. I’d rather use that Tropical Island slot on a second Riptide Laboratory, which is a fearsome card now that Snapcaster Mage is legal.
Here’s my usual sideboarding for each matchup, and you should use it as a rough guide because sideboarding is a little bit more organic than a simple formula for each matchup. You won’t go too wrong with this simple framework, though.
Storm: +2 Spell Pierce, +3 Surgical Extraction, -4 Swords to Plowshares, -1 Crucible Of Worlds.
Be warned, though, that if they’re playing a five-color Storm build, they could have some nasty Xantid Swarms in store for you, so board out that Elspeth and a Stoneforge Mystic and keep a pair of Swords to Plowshares if you fear that!
U/R Hive Mind and/or Show and Tell: +2 Spell Pierce, +1 Oblivion Ring, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Wrath of God, -4 Swords to Plowshares, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -2 Spell Snare.
They often have very few, if not zero, targets for Spell Snare, and if that’s the case, cut more Snares and keep your Elspeth and Crucible!
Reanimator: +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Spell Pierce, +1 Path to Exile, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine, -2 Stoneforge Mystic, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
If you’re on the draw, you could cut the remaining Jaces for two more Path to Exiles, but I prefer having a couple copies of Jace on the play.
Zoo: +2 Wrath of God, +4 Path to Exile, +1 Oblivion Ring, -3 Force of Will, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Vendilion Clique.
Naya Maverick: +2 Wrath of God, +4 Path to Exile, +1 Oblivion Ring, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Disenchant, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Spell Pierce, -3 Vendilion Clique, -1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor, -3 Force of Will.
Watch out for Choke, as it’s one of the main reasons we play a Disenchant in this matchup. Sword of Feast and Famine is really nice against it, basically blanking their supposed “trump.” On the draw, I’d cut the Counterspells for two Force of Wills.
Merfolk: +2 Wrath of God, +4 Path to Exile, +1 Oblivion Ring, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine, -1 Spell Pierce, -3 Force of Will.
On the draw, I’d cut those Counterspells and a Vendilion Clique for those three Force of Wills, since you’re down tempo and up cards on the draw and can more easily afford to lose a card. The game plan is sticking a Stoneforge and failing that, killing every lord they play. It’s pretty easy when you have a virtual twelve Swords to Plowshares post sideboard.
Affinity: +2 Wrath of God, +4 Path to Exile, +1 Disenchant (mise!), +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Vendilion Clique.
Goblins: +2 Wrath of God, +4 Path to Exile, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Oblivion Ring, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -3 Vendilion Clique, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Dredge: +3 Surgical Extraction, +4 Path to Exile, +2 Spell Pierce (if they’re playing their draw spells and not just trying to slow Dredge you), -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -3 Vendilion Clique, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine
Mirror: +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Oblivion Ring, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Spell Pierce, -1 Swords to Plowshares, -3 Force of Will (on the play)
+1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Oblivion Ring, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -1 Swords to Plowshares, -1 Force of Will, -1 Spell Pierce (on the draw).
This is a tough matchup, from a sheer mental expenditure point of view, and there are lots of ways to try to get an edge. Getting a small game one edge here with Crucible of Worlds is one of the main reasons for playing such an otherwise clunky card. Additionally, Vendilion Clique is particularly nice in this matchup for the information it gives you, and the sequence of end-of-turn Vendilion Clique, take the opposing Force of Will or Counterspell, untap, cast Jace is one of the standard best lines you can take. Adam Yurchick wrote an article a while ago about his U/W Stoneblade build that ran Gitaxian Probe, and it seems like another interesting piece of technology that might just be the mirror-breaker. There’s a lot of room for innovation here, if you have the time to really mash out some mirror matches and see what is most effective.
U/R Delver Burn: +4 Path to Exile, +1 Spell Pierce, +1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, -1 Sword of Feast and Famine
R/U/G Counterbalance/Punishing Fire: +1 Oblivion Ring, +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Spell Pierce, -1 Swords to Plowshares, -1 Stoneforge Mystic, -1 Vendilion Clique.
This is the matchup that would merit some Krosan Grips in the sideboard, if you would like a crutch to help break their Counterbalance lock.
Now, I’ve talked a lot about figuring out your particular game plan and how U/W Stoneblade is awesome because of its flexible role assignment in a given matchup. Like many of the best decks in Magic’s history, U/W can play a disruptive tempo strategy, or it can be the grindiest of control decks. Faeries was notoriously good at this reassignment of role on the fly, and the more comfortable you get with a deck like that, the better you become at recognizing what your job is in a given game. Spell Snare, Force of Will, Stoneforge Mystic, these are all cards that can be played to slow down the pace of a game or to attack your opponent while gaining tempo.
Let me give a concrete example. Against a deck like R/U/G Counterbalance, your job is to stick a planeswalker or a Crucible of Worlds. A resolved Elspeth is very, very tough for them to beat, and it effectively trumps their trump of Counterbalance/Top. The matchup is therefore about manipulating the tempo of the game so they are forced to react to you and then to find an opening to resolve one of these game-enders. Against a deck like U/R Delver or Merfolk, however, you are working as hard as possible to slow the game down because their deck is naturally going to peter out if you can just trade one-for-one with all their spells and pull ahead with your more powerful cards. This may all be very intuitive to a lot of people, but just recognizing how your role may change based on the cards in your hand and the cards you think they have is a monumentally important skill to develop.
Like its relatives Caw-Blade and Faeries, U/W in Legacy presents you with loads of options and critical decisions on both a strategic (overall game plan) and tactical (individual plays) level. It’s decks like these that I enjoy playing the most, and if you want Magic to be a real mental exercise rather than a day on autopilot, you should learn to love the Stoneblade too!
Thanks for reading,