M10 is the best base set we’ve seen in a long time. First, the new cards mean that I can actually review it as a set for Legacy, and second, it’s an elegantly designed set. There’s a lot of talk about the hypothetical “new player,” a person who may be scared from the game by mana burn or want to play the biggest creatures possible while avoiding land destruction and counterspells. The base sets in the past have been hampered by the idea that Wizards needs to make a learning set for beginning players, who might be too flighty to figure out why some cards are good, running from the game like Bambi at the sound of a rifle when they see Llanowar Wastes. M10 seems to be constructed to get us back to the high fantasy of Alpha, and it’s pretty successful at that.
While the reprints don’t help Legacy much at all, it does signal some good potential for the future. If Wizards is willing to reprint Duress and Lightning Bolt, maybe we’ll see some other reprints in the future that push boundaries and give us access to other older cards. For example, City of Traitors would be a good and likely fair reprint, as would Standstill. I’d love to see Grim Tutor or Imperial Seal in the base set, especially the former, as it encapsulates a great deal of Black’s flavor. Is Imperial Recruiter too out-of-flavor for Red to reprint? I kind of like the idea of a guy calling up his buddy to come and attack the opponent, and it plays into Red’s creature hordes theme. Reprinting some of the more expensive cards from Legacy that won’t have an impact on other formats would go a long way to making some decks affordable for newer players and veterans alike.
Legacy, like its cousin Vintage, is a format that thrives on early design mistakes and unforeseen interactions. Phyrexian Dreadnought was never designed to be Stifled, Mangara of Corondor never saw visits to Karakas on his schedule, and it’s pretty obvious that nobody took time to see what would happen if Counterbalance and Sensei’s Divining Top ended up in the same deck. As sets become fairer, more thoroughly tested, and better designed, the number of Legacy-playable cards often dips down and sets look challenging for Legacy designers to draw new cards from. There are still some gems left in M10 for Eternal warriors, so let’s take a look!
Harm’s Way is a possibility for several decks, Mono White Control and Zoo being the two that easily come to mind. It’s a good way for Mono White decks to kill early Goblin Lackeys or Mutavaults. Manlands can be a problem for a deck with Sorcery-speed sweepers and only limited spot removal, so Harm’s Way is good to consider if those tend to be a problem. It also serves as an Agony Warp-level combat trick for Zoo mirrors, though I get the sense that Umezawa’s Jitte will still reign supreme in that match.
Illusionary Servant is enticing because it easily mimics Serendib Efreet, a classically powerful creature that’s been in Legacy for over a decade. While Faerie Stompy is the only deck that plays the Efreet these days and it runs the card because of good interactions with City of Traitors and Ancient Tomb cheating the card into play, I feel that there might be a use for another Blue flier in a deck that doesn’t want to take damage from the Efreet or work around the land bouncing of Sea Drake. The Servant costs the same as Vendilion Clique, and while it doesn’t have the same interactive effect, it has a pleasantly giant booty that makes for a much better blocking creature. I’m doubtful that the Servant will see much play (outside of my Peasant Highlander deck) but it’s got a unique combination of stats and cost that borders on playable. It’s potentially a good left-field card that can both block well and slam in. As just about anything that can target the Servant in Legacy would kill it anyway, the drawback on the card doesn’t matter very much.
Merfolk Sovereign has to compare with Merrow Reejerey and Lord of Atlantis for a spot in a Merfolk deck, and both cards offer stiff competition. The Reejerey is probably the closest analogue to the Sovereign, and they have a very similar effect – helping your creatures get in past blockers. I’m inclined to think that the Reejerey is better at this, as it can still attack and utilize its ability, but the Sovereign is a good consideration for any player wanting to take advantage of the improved Wake Thrasher (as no mana burn means you can tap out at the end of the turn to pump it up). Sovereign will give the Thrasher two more points of power if it untaps, meaning that Merfolk can race players without Islands at a terrifying speed now. There is also the potential for an all-Lord Merfolk deck, which just tickles me. Playing nearly entirely creatures that buff each other seems like a trick only Elves would attempt.
Tome Scour looks marginal and is only slightly better than Vision Charm at the milling trick, but can add critical mass to the milling deck I want to see in Legacy that will likely never materialize. It’s a variant of the Philosophy of Fire. Your opponent will start the game with 53 cards in their deck, and every card of yours must mill at least 4 cards per mana spent. If we look at Tome Scour and Vision Charm, along with Glimpse the Unthinkable and Mind Funeral, we see a decent machine for milling an opponent. The math essentially requires about 12 mana worth of cards to see a full milling, which is around three or four turns of dedicated library destruction. That puts it on line with Burn decks and may result in a barely playable but wickedly fun deck for the more casual Legacy players around.
Doom Blade is a significant improvement in the 1B removal spot, usually occupied by Smother and Diabolic Edict. Being able to nail artifact creatures is kind of a big deal, as one can now pick off Mishra’s Factory, Phyrexian Dreadnought and Painter’s Servant. One must compare this alongside Smother, which can also hit those threats, and consider what else Doom Blade can nail that Smother cannot. Doom Blade can hit some of the bigger Goblins and the beasts out of Dragon Stompy. In return, one gives up shots at Dark Confidant and Nantuko Shade. Marginal trade-offs with both cards, but an intelligent player with an idea of their metagame should consider Doom Blade if they’re also looking at Smother. The general utility of the card makes me think about some of the BG decks that splash for white for Swords to Plowshares. Such decks now have the option of dropping the third color altogether.
Sign in Blood excites me the most in M10, as it adds critical mass alongside Night’s Whisper for black card draw. A mana less than Infernal Contract, with two less cards and a lot less life, Sign in Blood might be a good replacement for that card in the UB Storm decks that sometimes appear in Legacy. I wouldn’t play it before Night’s Whisper, since dealing two damage to the opponent is pretty irrelevant, but I would certainly play it alongside it. Black is full of excellent creatures and damaging Sorceries, and Sign in Blood + Night’s Whisper could be just the engine that a Mono Black Control deck is looking for. The low cost and targetability gives the card potential for Pox as well, since you can easily blow those just-drawn cards out of your opponent’s hand or deal a bit more damage along the way.
Goblin Chieftain could usher in another kind of Goblin deck, less reliant on big-mana Goblins like Siege-Gang Commander and focusing more on attacking with efficient beasts. While Goblin Warchief can save several mana in the course of a game, the haste and buff that the Chieftain gives seems just a whole lot better than shaving mana from Goblin Matron. I look at a deck like Kaleb King’s Goblins and think that this lord would fit right in. The Chieftain opens other design potentials as well; maybe the deck wants Tattermunge Fanatic alongside its Mogg Flunkies, opening up lines of play that involve huge, early life swings. It makes cards like Siege-Gang Commander and Rise of the Hobgoblins especially scary and plays nicely alongside the existing Goblin Warchief and Goblin King.
Zoo decks have another pounder in the form of Mold Adder. With the potential to get giant with no effort of the caster, it’s worth consideration. We have to compare the Adder to other situational cards, however, and ask how large this must be to outclass what we currently have available. First, it must be able to get bigger than a Wild Nacatl or Nimble Mongoose rapidly. If we’re banking on cards that require the opponent to be casting a certain kind of spell, then it must also compare favorably to Hidden Gibbons. As a sideboard card, the Adder is disappointing; there are better cards to devote to beating blue and black decks that are already available (with Vexing Shusher coming immediately to mind). Further, many decks with blue can simply rely on their green creatures to do the heavy lifting against Zoo-style decks. I do like the idea that this creature can slip in under Counterbalance and get a lot bigger than a Tarmogoyf, but without actual testing results, I’m hesitant to say that it’s worth running in Zoo to the level that it overcomes the inherent disadvantage the deck would have when facing Elf decks or Goblins.
While we didn’t get Golden Lotus this time around (and who thought that card was actually real anyway?), we’ve got several roleplayers for Legacy decks. I’m excited to give Goblin Chieftain a try alongside Skirk Prospector and Mogg Flunkies or Mogg War Marshal. I’d like to take Sign in Blood for a spin in a Mono Black shell as well. The prerelease should be a great time and can serve as a good event for proselytizing the beauties of Legacy to players who are enamored with Lightning Bolt’s return or the possibilities of Merfolk and Goblin tribal decks. Sound off in the forums or by email about the cards you’re most looking forward to in M10 for Legacy! As always, I try to respond to every email and forum question, so if you’ve given milling decks a try or you’ve taken a crack at a revised Goblins list, let me know!
Until next week…
legacysallure at gmail dot com
P.S. SCG is planning more Legacy $5Ks in Charlotte and Philadelphia later this year!