The Boston StarCityGames.com $5000 Legacy Open was a huge success, with 187 players showing up to battle! I can only hope that SCG will plan another Legacy Open or four in the near future. With GenCon coming up, we’ve got another big tournament to get excited about this summer and sixteen decklists from the $5k to pore over. We’re going to look at not just the top deck, not the top four, but the whole top sixteen SCG winners and explore their superb builds!
Creatures (8)
Lands (18)
Spells (34)
- 4 Brainstorm
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Force of Will
- 4 Daze
- 4
- 4 Stifle
- 1 Rushing River
- 4 Spell Snare
- 1 Wipe Away
- 4 Ponder
Sideboard
Douglas Menger ran the familiar Canadian Threshold list, which skips the usual Counterbalance and Sensei’s Divining Top for a pure disruption machine. It packs cheap creatures, a pile of bounce and all the best blue disruption around. One defining element of the deck is the Stifle and Wasteland configuration, allowing it to prey on shaky Legacy manabases. It also runs 8 burn spells, giving it reach, winning Tarmogoyf wars and picking off aggro creatures in the process. The two bounce spells give it an answer to big guys like Tombstalker that are usually unwieldy to deal with and can also take out a Counterbalance lock from the other side.
Menger’s sideboard is thoughtfully crafted. Canadian Threshold is a very mana-light deck, so it needs to protect its own lands and cards in hand well. Divert is an excellent answer to B/G disruption decks, sending that Hymn to Tourach right back at them. It synchronizes well with the mana denial elements already present in the deck. He’s also packing Submerges for a free and incredible tempo boost over other Threshold decks or anything that threatens to be faster than him with say, a Wild Nacatl. Canadian Threshold is a deceptively complex deck to play because it will fail in the hands of a greedy player. With only eight creatures, the player must ration them successfully and make sure that their counterspells are spent wisely. For example, stopping an Argothian Enchantress that might draw three or four more cards in the near future could be the wrong play when what you actually fear is Moat hitting the board. As much as it punishes greedy players, it rewards long-sighted ones, as you’ll see later in the article…
Creatures (14)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
That sleeper deck, the one we all know about but don’t really prepare for, Aggro Loam, has popped up again! Bryan packs Chalice of the Void to steal early game time, an excellent choice as Aggro Loam needs a few turns to set up a real draw/inevitability engine. If the opponent can shut off his Life from the Loam, can they also stop his Dark Confidant? Can they prevent Bryan from Burning Wishing for Worm Harvest and winning that way? If those cannot make contact, then the deck can also just use Seismic Assault to pound damage in. Aggro Loam is a deck that often has more ways to win than you have ways to stop them from winning, meaning that it preys on control decks that want to sit back.
With access to Devastating Dreams, a card that can singlehandedly shut down an aggro deck, Bryan can shore up the often-challenging aggro match. I found that if you give Aggro Loam much time, it will quickly be drawing six cards a turn and hitting you for an unfair amount of damage. The two classical weaknesses are losing to its own manabase (such as being stuck on tapped cycling lands and unable to get Loam going) or a Counterbalance sitting at 2, stopping the deck’s best tricks. Bryan’s deck seems to minimize those two risks by not being greedy on mana or spells (sticking to 3 colors) and packing the aforementioned Chalice of the Void to ideally, come down early against the Counterbalance player and blank half of their cards.
Creatures (21)
Lands (19)
Spells (20)
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 2 Swords to Plowshares
- 3 Fireblast
- 3 Magma Jet
- 3 Lightning Helix
- 3 Rift Bolt
- 2 Path to Exile
Sideboard
Matthew packed a very respectable Naya Aggro deck, reminiscent of Brian Six’s list from GP: Chicago. Matthew dropped the Price of Progress for White removal spells and is packing two Woolly Thoctars. I’d be inclined to run Knight of the Reliquary in its place, since it will often be as large as, or larger than, a Thoctar when it attacks. Even without quirky lands like Skargg, The Rage Pits, KOTR would allow a Zoo player to land a positively giant creature that also interacts well with Fireblast. I can’t talk too much trash on Matthew’s Thoctars, though, since they delivered for him in the event. I like the adoption of 4 Qasali Pridemage, a creature that has given Zoo a giant booster shot of competitiveness. It can now pick off things like Counterbalance or Runed Halo or Phyrexian Dreadnought that used to just end the game on the spot.
Matthew also wisely runs Vexing Shusher on the board, which I feel is a necessary evil these days. Shusher can make those burn spells actually get over the top of a Blue opponent that has locked up the board or dropped creatures that make it highly unprofitable to attack. Although Shusher is better with Price of Progress, he still does a great job defending the gamewinning Fireblast while hopefully, attacking for some damage along the side. Naya Zoo is a very fun and engaging deck to play, with a low learning curve for new players who have rocked Zoo in other formats. Matthew’s list is a great example of an easily assembled, enjoyable, competitive Legacy deck.
Creatures (30)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 4 Goblin Matron
- 4 Goblin Lackey
- 4 Goblin Warchief
- 4 Goblin Piledriver
- 4 Gempalm Incinerator
- 2 Siege-Gang Commander
- 4 Goblin Ringleader
Lands (23)
Spells (7)
Sideboard
James proved that the Little Red Men can still win matches last weekend. He presented a straightforward Goblins deck, supporting Black for Warren Weirding, the Tombstalker killer, and Taigas for Krosan Grip from the sideboard. His singleton Goblin King can swing a tribal match, nullify an Engineered Plague or give his team the unblockable Alpha Strike in a mirror. He runs Pyrostatic Pillar on the sideboard, a touch that goes along better with the Goblins plan against combo than Thorn of Amethyst or Chalice of the Void could. If you’re looking to play Goblins or run a list in your gauntlet, James’s list is great for both.
Creatures (34)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Priest of Titania
- 4 Elvish Champion
- 2 Quirion Ranger
- 3 Fyndhorn Elves
- 1 Anger
- 1 Viridian Zealot
- 4 Elvish Spirit Guide
- 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
- 1 Thornweald Archer
- 4 Imperious Perfect
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 1 Progenitus
Lands (18)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Every now and then, a player like Mark will run a list like this that makes me gleeful to be a writer and happy to know there are other people that share my weirdness when it comes to deckbuilding. This list is elegant in that it can attack from many angles without contortion. This is an Elf deck, capable of ramming Imperious Perfects into slower players. It’s a Natural Order deck that can cheat Progenitus out before Threshold can stop it. It can get Survival of the Fittest making more Elves than the Merfolk player can handle.
While the weakness of a deck like this is usually that you don’t know what your deck is doing until you open up your starting hand, Mark’s list minimizes that effect by being largely synergistic. If he’s against the wall facing a Zoo player, Natural Order for the giant hydra might not save him in time, while an Imperious Perfect would buff his team to blocking size and then make even more creatures to gum up the battlefield. I can’t stress enough how much I like this deck, even if it looks soft against combo and early sweepers like Pyroclasm. Not enough players know to kill the mana elves, and this deck can exploit that ignorance grandly.
Creatures (8)
Lands (18)
Spells (34)
Brian shows us another Canadian Threshold list, largely the same as the one above. Brian runs two Wipe Away, a superior touch for removing most problem cards in the format. His sideboard packs Disrupt, an all-time favorite of mine. Disrupt can tackle BG Disruption decks as well as give combo a hard time. While it doesn’t have the blowout effect that Diverting a Sinkhole does, it has a little more utility. His combination of Blasts and Threads of Disloyalty give him a good edge on faster decks like the Zoo lists, and the four Red Elemental Blasts can contain the Merfolk that a lot of people expected at the event.
Creatures (6)
Lands (24)
Spells (30)
- 4 Sensei's Divining Top
- 4 Brainstorm
- 2 Counterspell
- 4 Force of Will
- 4 Swords to Plowshares
- 2 Intuition
- 1 Vedalken Shackles
- 2 Engineered Explosives
- 1 Life from the Loam
- 2 Spell Snare
- 4 Counterbalance
Sideboard
Steve Sadin, no stranger to Legacy, ran a good take on the Counterbalance deck. I love the Intuition, setting up annoying plays like Life from the Loam, Academy Ruins, Vedalken Shackles (with interchangeable Engineered Explosives and Lonely Sandbar). He runs four Tops and four Counterbalance, adding more fuel to the fire about whether the best number of both is three or four. Though Sadin doesn’t run any Daze, he has a duo of Spell Snares and Counterspells to stop early game bleeding. I’ve noticed that a lot of CounterTop lists deviate from Daze, especially when they’re set up for the long game with things like Academy Ruins instead of the short game with cards like Dark Confidant. I can’t help but think that Trinket Mage is slow and awkwardly mana-intensive, but it does beat in, and having lost half my life total to the Wizard before, I’m inclined to respect it.
Sadin’s sideboard also packs some unexpected black cards to catch opponents off-guard. I like that he can bring in four Engineered Plagues, probably surprising a Merfolk opponent, and win the second game after probably losing the first. It also slows down Elves a bit and makes it less painful to use countermagic early, as the strategy changes from “stop their combo parts” to “stay alive until turn 3.” The list, overall, reminds me of a lot of European lists I’ve seen lately that run CounterTop and few win conditions, but set up engines with Intuition and Life from the Loam. Borrowing from those lists, this deck might benefit from a Cryptic Command or two somewhere in the first 60. Another solid deck that I would feel confident playing!
Spells (32)
David chose to run a blisteringly-fast burn variant that probably kept opponents on their toes and keenly looking at their life total pads all day long. While he opens himself up to removal through Keldon Marauders, the card can get in a few points of damage in the meantime and isn’t quite the dog that Hellspark Elemental is. This is a tournament result that should remind you that Burn is a real deck and can be a serious threat to underprepared opponents. Like Zoo, it is inexpensive to build and can yield tremendous results, making it another good entry-level Legacy deck for beginners and veterans alike.
Creatures (11)
Lands (21)
Spells (28)
Eli is a very experienced and skilled player, so I trust that this isn’t just a pile. It looks like a total blast to play, as it can set up to attack from so many different angles. You’re facing down their Tarmogoyf and then, from nowhere, a Burning Wish comes out and Eli grabs Cave-in to kill your team? That’s a brutal play, as is the oldschool Grim Lavamancer opening into a Standstill on the second turn, guaranteeing that you’ll be taking a bit of damage before you break open that Standstill.
The sideboard could probably stand to lose half of the cards on it, but it looks like Eli was having a little fun and I hope it paid off for him. I hope that Telemin Performance killed at least one opponent by decking, or a Banefire unexpectedly shortened an opponent’s life. So that he could support this kind of sideboard, you’ll note that Eli has very few situational cards in his maindeck, the most prominent being Engineered Explosives. He avoids having to sideboard out Swords to Plowshares or Snuff Out against a creature-light opponent and can opt to bring in draw spells or general burn like Firebolt if he needs to board out Explosives. Though I don’t know if other players will be able to replicate Eli’s success with the list, it looks like a fun deck to play throughout an event or at the table with friends.
Lands (13)
Spells (47)
Kyle gives us a very straightforward Ad Nauseam list, packing nothing cute like Angel’s Grace or something meant for a longer game like Sensei’s Divining Top. You’ve got a solid killer deck with an average card cost of less than 1, meaning Ad Nauseam can become an instant-speed Yawgmoth’s Bargain. Pact of Negation backs up the combo, with Slaughter Pacts killing things like Gaddock Teeg from the sideboard. Though this deck gets a bit weaker after M10’s mana floating changes, I predict that we will continue to see it in events for a long time.
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (23)
Spells (32)
Yan’s deck is probably the breakout deck of the tournament. It’s novel, taking the Landstill shell and replacing Standstill with Ancestral Visions. It can set up a Forbid lock with Jace Beleren or Cunning Wish for an answer card. Elspeth is one of the most annoying permanents to deal with in Legacy, as she can dominate the board with just a little help and is nearly impossible to get rid of. I do not like Daze in this deck, as picking up a land seems like the worst when all I want to do is get Crucible of Worlds online. I’d max out the Spell Snare and add in two Counterspell instead. I’d also look at fitting in a Counterspell on the sideboard, as a Cunning Wish in hand can become protection very easily with that option. Overall, though, this deck just looks powerful and fun to play. I don’t know how much mana it routinely has on the board, but it’s another contender for Cryptic Command and possibly Glen Elendra Archmage from the sideboard. Could we just fit in an Underground Sea for a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker somewhere? At least it would be on theme…
Creatures (20)
Lands (21)
Spells (19)
Alex chose to run Merfolk with that oft-splashed Tarmogoyf alongside. That spot is often filled with Umezawa’s Jitte or Wake Thrasher, but Alex’s choice requires no setup and no waiting to be a strong threat. It also gives built-in resilience against tribal hosers that opponents bring in. If you remember my Merfolk deck breakdown from several weeks ago, I noted that most Merfolk lists run three of Wasteland and Mutavault. Alex has maxed both out, making an early Lord of Atlantis a little harder, but giving some added punch to the deck in general.
Alex’s sideboard also follows the general trend with 4 anti-Red cards and some number of graveyard hate cards as well. The Jittes, as well as being great in the mirror, are a nice general-purpose card to bring in if Alex needs to lose some maindecked cards and has nothing else to bring in. I have heard from many Merfolk players about how good Sower of Temptation is from the sideboard and I’m pleased to see Alex supporting three of them. I had originally dismissed the faerie (it’s a four mana glassjaw!) but I’ve been on the receiving end of it enough to know that it often creates a huge shift in which deck is the aggressor as soon as it lands.
Creatures (22)
Lands (21)
Spells (17)
Alix’s Zoo list takes some interesting twists compared to the usual Naya Zoo builds, clearly paying off with his fourth-place finish. Path to Exile has given the deck a lot of strength against the common strategy of landing a big guy in the way of a Zoo deck and slowing it down. Alix’s Path to Exiles not only blow away a creature, but also represent more damage tacked on, as they enable further attacking. He also runs two Woolly Thoctar, so maybe my impressions of the card are wrong. He’s got Price of Progress threatening to end the game at any point and the now-standard Qasali Pridemage. I compare Alix’s deck with Matthew’s from earlier and see a more hedged list that can compete in the lategame with cards like Sylvan Library. The presence of Price of Progress makes this all work, letting the deck recoup a bit of lost steam. I’m surprised that Alix chose Chain Lightning over Lightning Helix, as the latter is a critical card in other aggro matches. However, Alix might have not wanted to deal with fixing the mana and could have preferred the cheaper Sorcery instead. The presence of Horizon Canopy in the list shows that Alix is an experienced deckbuilder, able to identify where a deck can gain marginal advantages without losing much in the process. Alix’s Zoo deck is excellent and again, would work well for a Legacy player of any skill level.
Creatures (9)
Lands (21)
Spells (30)
Rich Shay Dreadtill deck plans to make you break a Standstill or face one of the biggest, fightiest guys in the whole game, ideally on the second turn. You can look at this deck as sort of a variant on Canadian Threshold, running some burn, an engine in the form of CounterTop, ample land destruction and some seriously threatening creatures. It’s a solid and road-tested archetype, especially in Rich’s hands. I expect to see Rich in the Top 8 of GenCon this year with a list that looks very similar. I’ve found that one of the deck’s great weaknesses is access to blue mana, especially enough to get Counterbalance on the table. Rich brings in a Ponder for more card selection and to hopefully see that other Island sooner. I also like his teched-out sideboard, though I wonder if Firespout is fast enough against a lot of the decks you want it against. My gut feeling is that it’s fine if you can mulligan properly with this deck to see an opening hand with the right mix of mana, along with being skilled enough to fetch the right dual lands so that you can get both Tarmogoyfs and Firespouts flying.
Creatures (8)
Lands (18)
Spells (34)
- 4 Brainstorm
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Force of Will
- 4 Daze
- 4
- 4 Stifle
- 1 Rushing River
- 4 Spell Snare
- 1 Wipe Away
- 4 Ponder
Sideboard
Pierre-Mare’s list, like Brian’s and Douglas’ lists, is a fairly standard Canadian Threshold build, built to press early advantages on mana with beasties and burn. He runs a Rushing River and a Wipe Away (come on, guys! Standardize on bounce already!) and an interesting sideboard. Like Brian, he runs four Disrupt, which can also slow down Burn players along the way. The four Submerge look absolutely brutal; having played with and against them, it sets an opponent back so much that it’s often difficult to recover from, especially with a deck as punishing as Canadian Threshold. Pierre-Mare shows that he’s unafraid of graveyard-based decks or many creature swarms, thanks to his narrow sideboard that illustrates how a deckbuilder should look at boarding by only playing cards that they know they need in matchups that they know they need help in.
Creatures (9)
Lands (21)
Spells (30)
Scott, the day’s winner, stomps around with a deck like Rich’s, but one that skips out on burn spells in the maindeck for Spell Snares. The two ran very similar sideboards, with Scott opting for Sower of Temptation instead of Submerge. I’m not sure which is better. A Submerge can take most things off the battlefield and often, set up Counterbalance to prevent the creature from hitting again. Sower, on the other hand, is more powerful on its own in this deck, often coming as a complete surprise to the opponent and letting a Tarmogoyf get multiple attacks in. I get the sense that Submerge is better if you play the deck aggressively, while Sower is better if you’d rather sit back and develop mana and a good hand. Submerge also lets one keep CounterTop up almost all of the time, so it gets a few more points there. Players with insight about this should chime in on the forums!
Wrapping It All Up
Let’s look at what was not in this T16: Dredge, Enchantress, Dragon Stompy (oops on that call!), Next Level Blue, traditional Landstill and more. In their place, we’ve got a bit of Naya Burn and lots of Canadian Threshold. I’m pleased with those two decks doing well, as they’re often on the periphery of top-performing decks and it’s nice to be reminded that they’re still competitive. A player with an eye on GenCon or another summer tournament can find solid performers in this T16 alongside fun lists like Eli’s Burning Wish deck and Mark’s Survival Elves. As a player intent on going to Legacy Champs this year, I will certainly be asking myself whether I can play Choke and how I will deal with fast burn. Thanks for joining me this week, and congratulations to not only the T16 of the SCG $5k, but every player who showed up and made it a success!
Until next week…
legacysallure at gmail dot com