The GenCon results are in, and what a list it is! You can check them out here if you haven’t seen them already. In this week’s column, I’ll be discussing the lists, both based on their individual strength as well as the inferences we can draw from its performance in the field.
My Preliminary Thoughts
First, there are 20 copies of Force of Will in the Top 8, meaning that there were five base-blue decks. If you don’t already know that Force of Will is the card to have in Legacy, you know now. Your first goal in the format should probably be to pick up a set. Interestingly, we don’t see just one blue strategy- there are two Canadian Threshold decks and three CounterTop variants. The former attempts to play the tempo game, smashing the opponent’s mana with Stifles and Wastelands. The latter aims for the soft-lock of Counterbalance backed up with advantageous creatures like Trygon Predator and Dark Confidant. Backed by the powerful cantrips Brainstorm and Ponder, players can either build a disruptive or controlling deck, depending on what they prefer.
Second, the non-Blue decks are all oriented to beating up on blue strategies. How do they do this? The strength in most Blue decks is utilizing the power of Daze, Force of Will and sometimes Counterbalance to frustrate the opponent’s plans. Every non-Blue deck here relies on casting either only a few spells (like Dredge) or casting highly redundant spells (like Stax). It’s no surprise to me that non-Blue aggro or aggro-disruption decks, like Goblins, Elves or BG Suicide, didn’t make it in (though that might be a factor of too few players on them). Those decks play pretty standard Magic, which means casting spells that do a variety of things and exposing their strategies to counterspells or tempo sinks like Stifle.
The Canadian Threshold Lists
Ben Wienburg, 2nd place
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire / Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
Sideboard
2 Krosan Grip
4 Pyroblast
3 Pyroclasm
4 Submerge
2 Trygon Predator
David Caplan, 3rd place
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire / Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
1 Rushing River
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
1 Wipe Away
Sideboard
4 Disrupt
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Krosan Grip
2 Pyroblast
1 Pyroclasm
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Submerge
Both David and Ben packed Canadian Threshold, a very strong deck that relies on efficient creatures, tempo effects and burn to give the opponent a hard time. The maindecks are very similar — 18 lands, full sets of Tarmogoyf and Nimble Mongoose and the same cantrips and counters. Ben opted for two Vendilion Clique, one of the most powerful and simultaneously underrepresented threats in Legacy. David went for a mix of Wipe Away and Rushing River for more utility. I prefer the Cliques, partly because of the disruption but also because they give another crucial creature to attack with if the opponent has gummed up the battlefield.
The sideboards are very similar, even though the cards differ slightly. Submerge is just the best creature disruption for Canadian Threshold, about as close to a Time Walk as can be found in Legacy. I’m not surprised at all that both players ran a full set. I’d run nine if I could get away with it. They also pack four Red Elemental Blasts (or equivalent), valuable because many times, the burn spells or Dazes can be weak against other Blue opponents. Further, Canadian Threshold absolutely cannot lose the Counterbalance war or the entire deck is easily locked out. The Red counters go a long way towards preventing this. Beyond that, both players ran some number of Pyroclasm and board sweeper, with Ben rounding out his sideboard with more artifact/enchantment hate and David playing Disrupt, a stellar card against black disruption cards and combination decks. Note that neither player ran many Krosan Grips. Canadian Threshold is pretty good at stopping decks like Enchantress, and the primary reason to run Grip is to take out Counterbalance. With the Pyroblasts hopefully taking care of that already, the two players rightfully recognized that the green instant was less necessary. Their sideboards are excellent examples of how to create a board that’s really attuned to your deck instead of one just filled with good cards.
I get the sense that these players performed so well with Canadian Threshold because they are excellent players who understand the right times to use the disruption. For example, it’s almost always better to save a Daze for the two-drops of Legacy instead of blowing it on the first spell that the opponent casts. In my experience, the performance of Canadian Threshold is bimodal. That is to say, if you were to graph the success of the deck, there would be two peaks on the chart, corresponding with players who understand how to play the deck and those who are inexperienced. Most decks are bimodal, but I think the two peaks on Canadian Threshold are further apart because it only really works well when a player knows what threats actually matter and whether it’s better to use that Stifle now or use the Brainstorm in their hand. When played by someone with experience, the deck is insane and rewards them for their testing and playing time.
The Counterbalance Lists
Tim Hunt, 5th place
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland
4 Dark Confidant
2 Sower of Temptation
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Putrefy
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Smother
4 Stifle
3 Thoughtseize
Sideboard
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Hydroblast
3 Krosan Grip
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Sower of Temptation
Deven Ducommun, 7th place
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Trygon Predator
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
3 Daze
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Force of Will
4 Ponder
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Smother
3 Spell Snare
3 Thoughtseize
Sideboard
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Extirpate
2 Hydroblast
3 Krosan Grip
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Threads of Disloyalty
Ben Steiner, 8th place
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
4 Windswept Heath
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Progenitus
3 Rhox War Monk
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Trygon Predator
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
3 Natural Order
2 Ponder
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
Sideboard
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Hydroblast
3 Krosan Grip
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Trygon Predator
This is where the lists start to get very interesting. How do the players maximize the benefit of the Counterbalance soft lock? Deven and Tim both use Dark Confidant to get the most benefit out of the Sensei’s Divining Top on the table. The net effect of a Dark Confidant down on the table with the Counterbalance lock set up is that the player with the lock down will be drawing another card each turn, usually with little or no life loss, and will be making plenty of land drops. Their creatures become more powerful, as the player can see twice the cards and more monsters. Left untouched for a few turns, it’s very hard to bust out of. A subtle effect is that the player can clear off duplicate mana costs from the top of their library, meaning that they can find the best operating mana costs in the particular matchup (like three against Enchantress, two against Loam Aggro, etc.) and just sit on it. Ben takes the Counterbalance lock and augments it with Natural Order for Progenitus, a gambit that strengthens Counterbalance because the lock doesn’t need to be maintained for very long after the Hydra hits.
I’m surprised that all three players were nowhere near as greedy as I would be when it comes to playing colors. All ran only three colors; I would have run four, to support both Dark Confidant and Swords to Plowshares. Tim and Deven chose Smother over the White removal spell, staying with the trend of playing several removal spells. They also run some number of Sower of Temptation either in the maindeck or sideboard; the faerie is incredibly annoying and, at four mana, makes for a good Counterbalance card to float on top of the library. I’m very surprised that Ben did not play any number of Qasali Pridemage. I expected the cat to make a big impact at GenCon and it’s strange that not one copy surfaced in the Top 8.
Regarding their sideboards, you can see a difference between the tempo-Thresh lists and Counterbalance lists in the way that they evaluate threats. All of the Counterbalance lists run a few graveyard hate cards. Since they are aiming to play a longer game, graveyard strategies are more of a threat. Similarly, none run Submerge; the tempo gain cannot be exploited as much (though you can send creatures back to get hit by the Counterbalance). The Blue Elemental Blasts are a hedge against Zoo-style decks, since CounterTop decks can fall to early burn if they cannot get the namesake enchantment on the table.
Though all five previous decks share several dozen cards, they operate differently from each other and give a good look at the diversity that can be achieved in Legacy deckbuilding, even with the same core of cards. I’d be happy piloting any of the decks in an event, though I’d probably run Deven’s list above any other. He maxes out Ponder and makes good use of Dark Confidant. Knowing me, though, I’d probably get a little greedy and try to cram in a fourth color…
The Other Lists
Dredge
Ernest Turck, 1st place
3 Cephalid Coliseum
4 City of Brass
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
3 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
4 Putrid Imp
2 Sadistic Hypnotist
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Tireless Tribe
4 Breakthrough
4 Bridge from Below
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Deep Analysis
3 Dread Return
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Firestorm
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Pithing Needle
1 Ray of Revelation
Ernest played and took the big cookie with a great-looking Dredge deck. He proved that when an environment doesn’t plan appropriately against Dredge, the graveyard deck can do very well. Even Legacy isn’t immune from Bridge from Below. There has been a little controversy in Legacy recently about whether the deck can do fine without Lion’s Eye Diamond. Ernest chose to run the pseudo-Lotus, which is greatly improved by Deep Analysis and Cephalid Coliseum, since the free discard becomes very powerful when a player can back it up with a draw effect immediately. Ernest ran eleven dredgers; the industry standard in Dredge is to never dip below ten. The interesting part about this list is the inclusion of Lotus Petal. Ernest conceded that he played them, in large part, because he liked the card. It certainly smoothes out mana requirements and allows for earlier Breakthroughs.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this list is the inclusion of Sadistic Hypnotist. The Black creature can blank an opponent’s hand on the second turn, and while the Hypnotoad doesn’t guarantee a win, it’s quite hard to recover from. Ernest ran a full pack of Ichorids alongside, providing more early fuel for Dread Returns and an alternate win condition if his Bridge from Belows are Extirpated. Dredge is a very powerful and inexpensive deck in Legacy, and if you’re looking for a place to start, Ernest’s deck is absolutely the first choice. You may find yourself deviating on things like Lotus Petal and the Hypnotist later on, but it’s a good list for showcasing the options available for Legacy Dredge.
G/W Stax
Jacob Schneiders, 4th place
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
3 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kor Haven
3 Mishra’s Factory
1 Nomad Stadium
5 Plains
1 Savannah
4 Wasteland
2 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Magus of the Tabernacle
4 Armageddon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Mox Diamond
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Smokestack
3 Trinisphere
Sideboard
2 Aura of Silence
3 Choke
3 Krosan Grip
3 Sphere of Law
3 Suppression Field
1 Trinisphere
Jacob chose to run the highly redundant G/W Stax. With an array of lock components, the deck can deprive another player of resources very easily by just throwing out spell after spell to be pesky. Jacob’s deck plans to make the most of Chalice of the Void for 1, which rules out cards like Swords to Plowshares and Sensei’s Divining Top. While Stax cannot play those, neither can the opponent, and against decks like Canadian Threshold, a Chalice for 1 on the first turn is an incredible obstacle to overcome.
Jacob’s use of Green is interesting. I think the Knight of the Reliquary is mostly superfluous, only fetching a few utility lands while pounding in for obscene damage. Is that what the deck wants, though? Stax is just as comfortable sitting behind a Trinisphere and Smokestack with a soot counter. The deck benefits from Choke and Krosan Grip on the sideboard, both good reasons to run green. However, were I to run Green, it’d probably include some surprise Tarmogoyf sideboard action in an attempt to play a retro ErnhamGeddon deck on unsuspecting players. I’m not sure whether I’d really need Choke against blue decks; I’d be more afraid of graveyard-based strategies like Dredge and Lands!.
Lands!
Owen Turtenwald, 6th place
2 Barbarian Ring
4 Maze of Ith
4 Mishra’s Factory
1 Nantuko Monastery
1 Nomad Stadium
4 Rishadan Port
1 Savannah
3 Taiga
2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4 Tranquil Thicket
1 Treetop Village
3 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Exploration
3 Gamble
3 Intuition
4 Life from the Loam
4 Manabond
4 Mox Diamond
Sideboard
1 Ancient Grudge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Firebolt
1 Glacial Chasm
3 Krosan Grip
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Ray of Revelation
Speaking of lands, Owen decided to run Legacy’s most entertaining deck at GenCon and placed very well with it. Owen’s list diverges from the list I presented a few weeks ago, since his makes a more serious spell investment with Mox Diamond and Intuition. The blue tutor can grab two nasty lands and a Life from the Loam or get nasties like three Maze of Ith when a Loam engine is going. Powerful, indeed! Because it can set up like that, Owen’s choices support Glacial Chasm on the sideboard, since that lock can be found and established more easily. Owen was one of several pros playing the Lands deck in the GenCon championship, betting that the deck would perform well against a blue-centric field.
I think it’s curious that Owen doesn’t run any Zuran Orb on his sideboard, but four Chalice of the Void do a great job against zoo and burn decks that historically hassle Lands. His Krosan Grips allow for easy removal of Counterbalance, one of the few cards that really scares a Lands deck. Two copies of the Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale also give him extra game against Zoo decks and the like. If you’re looking for a good Lands list, Owen’s is a good choice — it’s lean and mean and doesn’t run a lot of conditional cards in the maindeck, meaning that it can execute a consistent gameplan.
Putting It All Together
The GenCon results are felicitously representative of the format. In years past, we’ve had… how can I say this politely, decks that cannot easily replicate their success past GenCon. This T8 reflects a good portion of the format, while highlighting that at the moment, Legacy is really divided into Blue Decks and Decks That Try To Beat Blue Decks. The ubiquity of Force of Will and Tropical Island is uncontested. To a pessimist, the presence of those two cards might elicit a cry of “stale format!” but with Dredge taking home the bacon and several other discrete and interesting decks performing well, the format looks entertaining and healthy. It’s interesting that Merfolk did not appear in this Top 8; the rest of the decks look pretty unfriendly to the fish. Nor did we see Zoo, though the deck continues to be popular in smaller events. Overall, I am happy with the results of this event and it gives us a good backdrop for the coming months, especially with another block coming out soon.
Until next week…
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