Welcome to my first Legacy-focused set review! I’ve never done a Legacy-only set review. It’s kinda funny; Oscar Tan used to do these incredibly elaborate, four-part Vintage set reviews, where he had a complex system for evaluating cards. I always thought that set reviews were a little bit like trying to predict the weather four months out. I’d seen so many predictions so far off that I resisted doing them, despite the fact that people want set reviews, and really enjoy them. My first set review was Time Spiral. One of the reasons I did it was because Time Spiral was so nostalgic. And many of the cards in Time Spiral harkened back to iconic older cards, like Ancestral Visions to Ancestral Recall and Lotus Bloom to Black Lotus.
As I started doing these set reviews, I realized it wasn’t that tricky, and more or less I could predict with pinpoint accuracy how a card would impact Vintage. I think there are two reasons for that. One is my experience in thinking about set reviews, and in particular, thinking about why I missed a card or predicted incorrectly, and bringing those reasons to bear when evaluating new sets. For example, one of the cards I missed in Vintage was Empty the Warrens, which I dismissed pretty much out of hand as an inferior Tendrils of Agony. With cards like that, I was forced to look at new sets and new cards in a much closer way. The second reason is the practice of doing set reviews. As I look at the sets and evaluate them, I become better at understanding the interaction of new sets and the metagame, both in terms of how new cards plug into existing decks, but also how new cards interact with emerging decks or shape new decks. That doesn’t mean I’ve got it down by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m pretty good at it at this point. Now, the caveat is that, despite knowing a lot about Legacy, I know a lot less about Legacy than I know about Vintage. So, as my first Legacy set review, there will be errors and missteps, but I hope you’ll find it worth reading.
Let’s begin!
The first issue about Admonition Angel is its casting cost. It’s my opinion that its casting cost is not so prohibitive that this can’t see competitive play in Legacy. Baneslayer Angel is the finisher in this SCG $5K winning deck:
Creatures (5)
Lands (20)
Spells (35)
Admonition Angel is only slightly more expensive, and the effect may actually be more powerful, and a better finisher for Mono-White Stax. On each subsequent turn, a permanent can be removed via Crucible recursion. Unlike Baneslayer, this card can actually remove cards like Counterbalance. And Counterbalance can never counter this creature.
It kinda sucks that you have to wait a turn to begin using it. I think it would be a much clearer case if this had an enters-the-battlefield trigger in addition to the landfall ability. Also, I’m slightly concerned that if this leaves play they get all of their creatures back — so it’s a total blowout if they can remove this card. That said, it’s still a pretty good finisher that could see play.
At Grand Prix: Chicago, Gabriel Nassif played with Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender in his sideboard as an anti-Red card. I think Kor Firewalker is pretty much the White Weenie creature to end all White Weenie creatures in terms of defeating Red. This card is a pretty clear sideboard inclusion for White Weenie, at least in terms of defeating burn and goblins, and burn, as we’ve seen, is quite popular. It also might be a tool for other decks, like Mono White Stax, or anything with White really, like Bant or UW Tempo. It’s pro Red so it can’t be destroyed by the burn player, and is tremendous at slowing them down. In some ways, it seems more exciting than a COP, because it can win games by attacking. It’s a really interesting effect.
Wizards printed a White Kird Ape, which makes it better than Kird Ape (because it can’t be Blue Elemental Blasted) and because of Kor Firewalker. That’s pretty amazing because Kird Ape is played in most Zoo decks, and those that don’t use it, use Steppe Lynx:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Kird Ape
- 4 Grim Lavamancer
- 4 Tarmogoyf
- 1 Gaddock Teeg
- 1 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Wild Nacatl
- 2 Knight of the Reliquary
- 4 Qasali Pridemage
Lands (17)
Spells (19)
Loam is really good. This card may actually be so good that it changes Zoo so that Zoo plays with 8 Kird Apes. I think that’s what a lot of folks will do. In terms of one-drops you get Kird Ape, Loam Lion, and Wild Nacatl. Your two drops are then Tarmogoyf and Qasali Pridemage. The question isn’t whether this will see play, but just how much play.
Harm’s Way is very good and already sees play in Legacy, in White Weenie — maindeck in fact. Refraction Trap is better, at least against Red, and will see play in white weenie sideboard if white needs another way of dealing with burn, and they don’t want to use cards like Sphere of Law. This set has given white excellent tools to combat red.
I stared at this card for five minutes, before deciding not to include it in my set review. Then, Ben Bleiwess talked about this card in his article last week, and I changed my mind. Here’s what Ben said:
Stoneforge Mystic is the Trinket Mage of equipment – a cheap creature with an extremely powerful tutoring effect for a smaller subset of card (in this case, equipment instead of “converted cost 1 or less artifacts”). You might never use the second “put equipment into play for W1” ability; Deathrender, Pariah’s Shield, and Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang are realistically the only equipment that you’d want to cheat into play competitively (other options either aren’t going to see Constructed play, or are only a one-mana saving), but who cares? Here’s what you do get for two mana:
1) The ability to run a toolbox of equipment in your deck – Umezawa’s Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Lightning Greaves… heck, you can even run a singleton Manriki-Gusari as a way to battle other people’s equipment. Having a cheap creature which lets you pinpoint tutor enables you to run more diverse threats/answers, and draw them with more reliability, while potentially dedicating fewer deck slots to the actual equipment cards.
2) A body to put the equipment onto! While W1 for a 1/2 is in Squire territory, I’d rather draw Stoneforge Mystic late game than Umezawa’s Jitte, because after turn 4, I’ll be thankful to have a body to throw the equipment onto, all things considered.
3) Wizards has shown a commitment to printing equipment in the long term, and we’re about to head into an artifact block (where there is likely to be really good equipment printed). Over the course of time, there are only going to be more options that you can use Stoneforge Mystic to get – and this goes double for Legacy, where this guy is low enough on the curve as to be a potential playable in White-based mid-range and weenie decks. See the U/W Tempo deck that Richard Wayne piloted to a Top 8 Finish at our Dallas Legacy Open and Jeffrey Lin piloted to a Top 4 finish at our Los Angeles Legacy Open.
I think Ben makes a few excellent points. Trinket Mage has really been an incredible creature, and probably much better than I ever would have given it credit for. It’s shown up, quite a bit actually, in both Eternal formats. While I don’t think this guy will be Vintage playable (who knows, though?), I do think he’s Legacy playable. Two mana is a Legacy playable creature, and allows you to curve out into a three mana Equipment spell, which, incredibly enough, he can put directly into play, making it uncounterable too! I like it.
Instants are not the dominant spell type in Legacy. Creatures tend to predominate. That said, there are a lot of instants, and many important ones, like Sword, Force, Daze, and Lightning Bolt. That said, there a number of decks that use a lot of instants. For that reason, this could be a powerful sideboard card against those decks. For example, burn decks are mostly instants. It could also be powerful against a control deck where Spell Pierce wouldn’t be as useful because they can pay for the two mana.
I could see Dispel used as a Merfolk (or other Blue tribe) sideboard card, over Spell Pierce or something like that. This is a playable card. I doubt that it’s a maindeck card except in combo decks.
Consider a deck like High Tide or Dream Halls, or even ANT. Those deck don’t want to invest a lot of energy into protecting itself, and this card is a one mana Force of Will. It counters their counter, no questions asked. It’s actually better than Spell Pierce in that situation. It protects your combo for one mana without having to splash Red for Red Elemental Blast. It’s also disruptive in the combo mirror, even where Red Blast isn’t. This is a useful card for niche decks like combo, and a sideboard card for other decks besides.
So, this card is interesting, right? Lands is one of the best decks in the format, and this card can’t be Maze of Ithed or Barbarian Ringed and can block Mishra’s Factories all day long. The problem is that Tabernacle still gets it. More and more I appreciate how central Tabernacle is in Legacy. It’s really quite shocking, because the card is unbelievable. It defines game states as much as anything. I just don’t think that this card, Horizon Drake, is anything to be concerned about, or really care about.
Jace, The Mind Sculptor
Planeswalkers are good in Legacy. They aren’t great, but they are good. A number of Planeswalkers have and continue to see play. They are played in a deck called Planeswalker Control, which made Top 8 at a SCG $5K last year:
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (19)
Spells (36)
That deck uses Ajani, Jace, and Elspeth. Other Planeswalkers have seen play. Sorin Markov is in several decks. Tezzeret has seen play. Scepter Chant uses Planeswalkers. Landstill often uses a couple of Planesalkers. So, these cards are good enough. This guy costs as much as Elspeth. Elspeth is really phenomenal because he starts clogging up the board immediately. This guy is pretty good. He affects the board immediately, but you can’t keep it indefinitely. The top ability will be used to refill the bounce effect. If you play this guy, you will want to use the —1 or the Brainstorm effect. I think this guy is Legacy player, but I don’t think he’s better than Elspeth. But, he might be better than the other Jace, to be quite honest.
Elspeth is the gold standard for good Planeswalkers in Legacy. This guy might be the second best Planeswalker in Legacy. He already plays well with Counterbalance, a Legacy staple, but he could power up cards like Lorescale Coatl, which really haven’t made much of a splash in the format.
We all know that Legacy is an incredibly tempo oriented format, and that Tarmogoyf is in something like 45% of decks in the field. Permafrost Trap is a one mana way to win Goyf battles. It’s sort of similar to Submerge. They lose the same number of attack steps, but they don’t suffer the card disadvantage. Also, this card is much more conditional. It’s probably worse than Submerge overall, but the difference is that your opponent doesn’t have to control a Forest, and you don’t have to control an Island. The big problem, and the reason I don’t think this card will see play, is that it’s only cheap if your opponent played a Green spell that turn. So, you’ll be spending the effect to tap a creature that already has summoning sickness. Too bad.
The Merfolk deck is already incredibly tight, and every card in there is very powerful. That said, this card does give you a chance to gain life beyond having Jitte, if you play White. I could see this as an offbeat, although unlikely, consideration for Merfolk with a White splash, but it would really depend on the metagame.
Almost every deck in Legacy plays with artifacts. Whether its Top, Engineered Explosives, or Aether Vial, artifacts are to be found. That said, playing this guy just to steal artifacts is probably not good enough. This guy’s power comes from being a complete house in the Merfolk mirror match. He steal your opponent’s Umezawa’s Jittes, and uses it against them to win the game. That’s what makes this guy interesting for Legacy: as an Ace in the Merfolk mirror match.
Now, whether Merfolk pilots can afford the space for what is mostly a dedicated anti-Merfolk card in their sideboard is another question altogether. I would say it’s probably worth it. Merfolk pilots have a lot to contend with, but having a trump in the Merfolk mirror in Theda Adel only takes two sideboard slots but virtually guarantees matches.
Treasure Hunt is something of an enigma to me. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. It has the air of a card that could be format-defining. But Wizards is very careful about the cards they make these days, and I’m just not convinced.
This card plus Scroll Rack is obviously a very powerful interaction, and is undoubtedly behind Scroll Rack’s recent price spike. But neither card directly affects the board or disrupts the opponent. You’d need another engine to translate that card advantage into something more immediately impactful. Psychatog? I can’t think of an upper tier Legacy deck at the moment that relies on a two-card combo that doesn’t directly affect the board. And Psychatog seems just too slow to stop the Goyf rush, particularly with Daze in the format.
I could see how Treasure Hunt could be good, and if it could be good, it could be good in a format like Legacy where there are a lot of lands. For example, this card could just be better than Intuition in 38 Land.dec. That might be the most obvious place to plug this card in. Exploration is an amazing effect in Legacy. But Exploration’s drawback is the loss of card a card, which Treasure Hunt recoups.
Whether a deck will be built around this card remains to be seen. It’s a card to watch.
Wind Zendikon is much stronger than cards we’ve seen like this before, like Genju of the Falls. You don’t have to pay to activate it. The problem is that I don’t think there is a home for this card in Legacy. I doubt Sea Stompy or Landstill would really want this card. It’s a good card, and it might be Legacy playable, but I don’t see where.
Abyssal Persecutor gives new meaning to Suicide Black.
The key to this card is the fact that you need a way to kill it. There are a couple of options to that end. The most efficient and best card to do that is Cabal Therapy. Except that the most natural way to do it is to put it in a Pox deck. It’s the ultimate win condition in Pox. They run the Dark Rituals, Pox, and sometimes Smallpox, and often run Diabolic Edict or Innocent Blood. It makes perfect sense. The question, though, is: is this better than Nantuko Shade in Pox? Will they have the mana to play this? That’s a question I can’t answer. But I still think it’s a viable finisher in Pox.
Consider:
4 Chrome Mox
4 Sphere Of Resistance
4 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Dark Ritual
4 Innocent Blood
4 Pox
4 Rain Of Tears
4 Sinkhole
4 Smallpox
12 Swamp
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
4 Dystopia
4 Engineered Plague
4 Leyline Of The Void
Look at the Hexmage Depths decks that Ken Adams played to 8th Place at one of the SCG Opens:
Creatures (11)
Lands (24)
Spells (25)
He runs Smallpox and Cabal Therapy. This card could easily fit in that deck, probably over Grim Discovery.
The drawback is pretty egregious, and I don’t want to downplay that. The probability of where you have the guy in play, and you need to win, and if you can’t kill it soon, you will lose may be low, if you build your deck proper, but it’s enough to dissuade people from running this guy. You are relying on another card for this card to work. And any time you do that, you are taking a chance. Because there a possibility that at the most important juncture, perhaps the final game of a top 8 match, you won’t be able to find one of your 8 Cabal Therapy/Smallpox before they kill you. I’ve seen things like that happen plenty enough in Magic to know that it’s possible, and it can make a difference. It’s something to be aware of.
A new Donate. I don’t see any applications, although Ben Bleiwess suggested one in his article last week. But to be Legacy playable, any combination would pretty much have to win you the game on the spot, and involve, ideally, just one more card.
Searing Blaze is Legacy playable. Red burn is one of the least expensive options you can build in Legacy, and right now it’s just not very good. Burn struggles against most of the top decks, Zoo, Goblins and Merfolk in particular. This card allows you to kill your opponent’s creature while it kills them, and functions sort of like a two-for-one. Burn mages are going to have to figure out how to play with this card, and what the proper number of fetchlands is. This card is better than cards like Flame Javelin, which has made an appearance in Sligh decks from time to time. And arguably better than Magma Jet.
Consider this burn list:
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Price of Progress
4 Fireblast
4 Magma Jet
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain
Another question is: where else will this show up? That is, is this card good enough to make it into decks like Zoo? I would say probably not, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Time will tell.
Slavering Null
Goblins is already a powerful tribe in Legacy, and I don’t think that having this effect really improves its station. Discard isn’t a bad effect, but the opportunity cost of the slot is high. This is another tool to be aware of for the Goblins pilot, but I doubt this will see much, if any, play.
Arbor Elf is an automatic inclusion in Legacy Combo Elves. It’s better than a Llanowar Elf because it untaps a Forest, which can mean a dual land, rather than simply generate a green. Add it to the Legacy checklist.
This card is almost free turn 2 acceleration. It replaces itself, and you get another land drop. The problem, however, is that you’re basically using up half of your second turn mana to do all of this, in exchange for a more potent third and fourth turn. Few decks would want to make that trade, and therefore it’s difficult to imagine which deck would want to spend 4 of its 60 slots on this card. Still, it’s possible that some deck would take that deal.
For three mana you can have an Elf Lord. For five, you can give all your elves +2/+2. And so on. There are a few Elf ball decks that already play with elf lords. This creature, on the surface, may appear to be one of the weaker versions, but it’s actually one of the strong. You can run it out there early to combo out with Glimpse, but in the late game you can use Wirewood Symbiote you could power this guy up when you’ve developed your mana and enlarge your elves tremendously. Pretty good.
Rhox War Monk sees more play in Legacy than it probably should, in my opinion. This card will too.
Interesting to note that very few decks in Legacy actually play Naturalize, either maindeck or sideboard. A big reason for that, obviously, is Krosan Grip. Krosan Grip will limit the play of Nature’s Claim, but I don’t think it squeezes it from the format entirely. It’s too efficient to not see play. This is Legacy playable, and will probably see play, at least in sideboards. Nailing Counterbalance is probably just one of many things this card will be addressing. Jittes and Aether Vials and Engineered Explosives will be high on that list. I suggest you add four to your collection at your earliest convenience.
This is a card that brings into sharp focus a value question that is rarely raised: how much is an additional permanent point of creature power worth in mana? This question is not to be confused with Firebreathing. This effect is not Firebreathing because the power boost investment doesn’t end at the end of the turn. Once you pump the guy, he keeps his power so long as the guy remains on the table.
This card reminds me of Quirion Dryad a little bit: an efficient, small Green creature that grows a certain way, except that it’s Green mana that pumps this guy (mana production) rather than spells, as with Dryad and Goyf.
I don’t consider his Legendary status to be a big issue. If he’s destroyed, you don’t lose all of that power, like Quirion Dryad. Rather, he’s like Goyf: he enters play as big as the previous version.
The biggest problem is that it’s slow. If this cost two mana on turn three you could make it a 4/4 and use things like Force and Daze to protect it. And, you could pump it before your opponent could do anything. Adding mana to your mana pool doesn’t use the stack, and you can do it even in response to Split Second effects (like Sudden Death). If you could make it 4/4 on turn three, you could keep it a 4/4 and use the rest of your mana as you see fit, maybe using a smaller portion of your mana to grow it. As it is, you can only play it on turn 3, and then pump it on turn 4.
You will likely want a way to accelerate it, which will weaken it. Also, Legacy decks want to use their mana to interact. To utilize this guy you are basically saying: partition some portion of your mana supply, not the entirety of it, but some portion to make this guy grow. I’m not buying it.
Terastodan
This card replaces Angel of Despair, wherever it sees play, Dredge or Reanimator.
The problem with this card is twofold. First, there aren’t enough cards that enter the battlefield tapped with tap effects powerful enough to justify this card. Second, even if there were, relying on this card to do that work means that you have to play with a bunch of cards that are otherwise very weak. I hope someone proves me wrong, because this is an interesting card, and would be fun to play.
It’s the best equipment you can tutor up with Trinket Mage. This isn’t Jitte quality, but it’s playable.
Legacy doesn’t have quite the graveyard emphasis of Vintage, but it’s got enough graveyard decks to make this a legitimate Legacy tool. Dredge is a very popular archetype, Life from the Loam is everywhere, and Reanimator is seeing more and more play. This card isn’t even that narrow, since it can be used as a mana source. This card should find its way into many sideboards, and is a tutor target with Knight of the Reliquary. I expect to see this in Loam decks immediately, and in other deck sideboards very soon. Dredge can’t stop this card, and it has a pretty potent hoser effect, despite the fact that it has to be played on your turn. This deck may be the answer to the 38 Land deck that people have been looking for.
Dryad Arbor actually shows up in some Natural Order Counterbalance decks. This card generates a token that can be Natural Ordered into Progenitus. The problem, though, is that you can’t fetch Khalni Garden. It will be interesting to see if any Natural Order pilots run this card.
The Complete Updated Legacy Checklist
With every set review, I will revise the complete format checklist. Changes are listed at the bottom.
Key: ** Commonly Played/Format Staples, * Niche/ Less Commonly Played
Land:
2 Academy Ruins *
4 Arid Mesa **
4 Ancient Den *
4 Ancient Tomb **
4 Badlands **
4 Barbarian Ring *
4 Bayou **
4 Blinkmoth Nexus *
4 Bloodstained Mire **
4 Cabal Coffers *
4 Cephalid Coliseum *
4 City of Traitors **
4 City of Brass **
2 Dakmor Salvage *
4 Dark Depths *
2 Darksteel Citadel *
2 Dryad Arbor *
2 Dust Bowl *
4 Flagstones of Trokair *
4 Flooded Strand **
X Forest **
4 Forgotten Cave *
3 Gaea’s Cradle *
4 Gemstone Mine **
2 Ghost Quarter *
2 Glacial Chasm *
1 Glimmervoid *
4 Great Furnace *
3 Horizon Canopy *
X Island **
1 Keldon Megaliths *
1 Kor Haven *
1 Magosi, the Waterveil *
4 Marsh Flats **
4 Maze of Ith *
4 Mishra’s Factory **
4 Misty Rainforest **
1 Nomad Stadium *
4 Nantuko Monastery *
X Mountain **
4 Mutavault **
X Plains **
4 Plateau **
4 Polluted Delta **
1 Riftstone Portal *
2 Riptide Laboratory *
4 Rishadan Port *
4 Savannah **
4 Scalding Tarn **
4 Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author] **
4 Seat of Synod *
2 Secluded Step *
2 Serra Sanctum *
X Swamp **
X Snow-Covered (Basic Lands) **
4 Taiga **
3 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale **
1 Tomb of Urami *
4 Tranquil Thicket **
4 Tree of Tales *
4 Treetop Village *
4 Tropical Island **
4 Tundra **
4 Underground Sea **
4 Undiscovered Paradise *
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth *
4 Vault of Whispers *
4 Verdant Catacombs **
4 Volcanic Island **
1 Volrath’s Stronghold *
4 Wasteland **
4 Wooded Foothills **
4 Windswept Heath **
Colorless:
4 Aether Vial **
4 Arcbound Ravager *
4 Arcbound Worker *
4 Chalice of the Void **
4 Chrome Mox *
4 Cranial Plating *
3 Cursed Scroll *
4 Crucible of Worlds **
4 Defense Grid *
4 Engineered Explosives **
4 Ensnaring Bridge *
4 Frogmite *
4 Goblin Charbelcher *
4 Grindstone *
4 Helm of Obedience *
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond **
4 Lotus Petal *
4 Myr Enforcer *
4 Ornithopter *
4 Mox Diamond **
4 Painter’s Servant *
4 Pithing Needle **
4 Phyrexian Dreadnaught *
3 Powder Keg *
4 Relic of Progenitus **
4 Sensei’s Divining Top **
4 Smokestack *
4 Springleaf Drum *
4 Staff of Domination *
4 Thorn of Amethyst *
4 Tolaria West *
4 Tormod’s Crypt **
4 Trinisphere *
3 Umezawa’s Jitte **
4 Vedalken Shackles *
4 Zuran Orb *
White:
1 Ajani Vengeant *
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath *
1 Ancestor’s Chosen *
4 Armageddon *
4 Aura of Silence *
4 Baneslayer Angel *
4 Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender *
1 Circle of Protection: Red *
3 Decree of Justice *
2 Disenchant *
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant *
4 Enlightened Tutor *
1 Eternal Dragon *
4 Ethersworn Canonist *
3 Exalted Angel *
4 Ghostly Prison *
2 Glowrider *
3 Karmic Justice *
1 Kataki, War’s Wage *
4 Knight of the White Orchid *
4 Harm’s Way *
2 Humility *
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria *
4 Jotun Grunt *
2 Karmic Justice *
4 Loyal Retainer *
4 Magus of the Tabernacle *
2 Moat *
4 Oblivion Ring **
4 Orim’s Chant *
4 Path to Exile **
4 Patrician’s Scorn *
4 Plated Sliver *
4 Ranger of Eos *
4 Ravages of War *
2 Ray of Revelation *
4 Replenish *
1 Reveillark *
4 Rule of Law *
4 Runed Halo *
1 Sacred Ground *
4 Samurai of the Pale Curtain *
4 Seal of Cleansing *
4 Serra Avenger *
2 Sigil of the Empty Throne *
1 Silence *
4 Silver Knight *
4 Sinew Sliver *
4 Solitary Confinement *
4 Soltari Priest *
4 Sphere of Law *
3 Suppression Field *
4 Swords to Plowshares **
4 Tireless Tribe *
4 True Believer *
4 Weathered Wayfarer *
4 Wheel of Sun and Moon *
4 Wispmare *
4 Wrath of God *
Green:
4 Argothian Enchantress *
4 Birds of Paradise *
4 Choke **
4 Elephant Grass *
4 Elvish Spirit Guide *
4 Enchantresses Presence *
4 Eternal Witness *
4 Exploration **
4 Fyndhorn Elves *
2 Garruk Wildspeaker *
1 Genesis *
4 Golgari Grave-Troll *
2 Ground Seal *
4 Heritage Druid *
4 Krosan Grip **
4 Land Grant *
4 Life From the Loam **
4 Living Wish *
4 Llanowar Elf *
4 Manabond *
4 Muscle Sliver *
1 Naturalize *
4 Natural Order **
4 Nettle Sentinel *
4 Nimble Mongoose **
4 Noble Hierarch *
4 Protean Hulk *
1 Regal Force *
4 Regrowth *
1 Reverent Silence *
4 Seal of Primordium *
4 Skyshroud Elite *
1 Spike Feeder *
4 Survival of the Fittest *
2 Sylvan Library *
4 Sylvan Messenger *
4 Tarmogoyf **
4 Terravore *
2 Troll Ascetic *
4 Tinder Wall *
4 Utopia Sprawl *
4 Vines of Vastwood *
2 Viridian Zealot *
4 Wall of Roots *
4 Wild Growth *
4 Wild Nacatl **
1 Woodfall Primus *
4 Xantid Swarm *
Red:
2 Ancient Grudge *
3 Anarchy *
1 Anger *
4 Arc-Slogger *
4 Atog *
4 Boil *
4 Blood Moon *
4 Burning Wish *
4 Chain Lightning **
4 Countryside Crusher *
4 Desperate Ritual *
4 Devastating Dreams *
4 Empty the Warrens *
4 Fireblast **
4 Firespout **
1 Flame Jab *
4 Gamble *
4 Gathan Raiders *
4 Gempalm Incinerator *
4 Goblin Chieftain *
4 Goblin Guide *
4 Goblin Lackey **
4 Goblin Matron **
4 Goblin Piledriver **
4 Goblin Ringleader **
2 Goblin Sharpshooter *
1 Goblin Tinkerer *
4 Goblin Warchief **
1 Grapeshot *
4 Grim Lavamancer **
4 Ingot Chewer *
4 Incinerate *
4 Imperial Recruiter *
2 Jaya Ballard *
4 Keldon Marauder *
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror-Breaker *
4 Kird Ape **
4 Lava Spike *
4 Lightning Bolt **
4 Magma Jet *
4 Magus of the Moon *
2 Meltdown *
4 Mogg Fanatic *
4 Mogg War Marshall *
4 Price of Progress **
4 Pyroblast **
4 Pyroclasm **
4 Pyrokensis *
4 Pyrostatic Pillar *
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon *
4 Red Elemental Blast **
4 Rift Bolt *
4 Rite of Flame *
4 Seething Song *
4 Seismic Assault *
4 Siege-Gang Commander **
4 Simian Spirit Guide *
3 Shattering Spree *
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob *
4 Stingscourger *
4 Sulfuric Vortex *
4 Taurean Mauler *
4 Tin-Street Hooligan *
2 Viashino Heretic *
3 Volcanic Fallout *
4 Warren Instigator *
1 Words of War *
Black:
4 Ad Nauseam *
4 Beseech the Queen *
1 Bile Urchin *
4 Bitterblossom *
4 Bloodghast **
1 Body Snatcher *
4 Bridge From Below *
4 Cabal Therapy **
4 Cabal Ritual *
1 Carrion Feeder *
1 Chainer’s Edict *
1 Crippling Fatigue *
4 Damnation *
4 Dark Confidant **
2 Darkblast *
4 Dark Ritual **
4 Deathmark *
4 Diabolic Edict *
4 Disciple of the Vault *
4 Doom Blade *
4 Doomsday *
4 Dread Return *
4 Duress **
1 Dystopia *
4 Engineered Plague *
4 Entomb *
4 Extirpate *
4 Faerie Macabre *
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir *
4 Ghastly Demise *
4 Golgari Thug *
4 Grim Discovery *
3 Haunting Echoes *
1 Helldozer *
4 Hymn to Tourach *
4 Hypnotic Specter *
4 Ichorid *
4 Ill-Gotten Gains *
4 Infernal Tutor *
4 Innocent Blood *
4 Mesmeric Fiend *
4 Nantuko Husk *
4 Nantuko Shade *
4 Necromancy *
4 Perish *
4 Planar Void *
4 Pox *
4 Putrid Imp *
4 Leyline of the Void **
4 Ravenous Trap **
4 Reanimate *
1 Sadistic Hypnotist *
2 Shriekmaw *
4 Sinkhole **
2 Slaughter Pact *
4 Smallpox *
4 Smother *
4 Snuff Out *
2 Sorin Markov *
4 Stinkweed Imp *
4 Tendrils of Agony *
4 Thoughtseize **
4 Tombstalker **
2 Unearth *
4 Unmask *
4 Vampire Hexmage *
4 Warren Weirding *
4 Yixlid Jailer *
Blue:
4 Ancestral Vision *
4 Annul *
4 Back to Basics **
4 Blue Elemental Blast **
1 Body Double *
4 Brainstorm **
4 Breakthrough *
4 Careful Study *
2 Cephalid Sage *
4 Chain of Vapor *
4 Chill *
4 Counterbalance **
4 Counterspell *
4 Cursecatcher **
4 Daze **
4 Deep Analysis *
4 Diminishing Returns *
4 Disrupt *
4 Divert *
4 Dream Halls *
3 Echoing Truth **
2 Energy Flux *
4 Fact or Fiction *
4 Fathom Seer *
4 Force of Will **
4 Gifts Ungiven *
4 Hydroblast **
2 Hurkyl’s Recall *
4 Intuition *
2 Jace Beleren *
2 Kira, Great Glass Spinner *
4 Lord of Atlantis **
4 Master of Etherium *
1 Meditate *
1 Merfolk Sovereign *
4 Merrow Reejerey **
4 Mindbreak Trap *
4 Mind Harness *
4 Misdirection *
4 Mulldrifter *
4 Mystical Tutor **
4 Narcomoeba *
4 Negate *
4 Pact of Negation *
4 Propoganda *
4 Ponder **
2 Rushing River *
4 Sea Drake *
4 Show and Tell *
4 Slivergil Adept **
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths *
4 Sower of Temptation **
4 Spell Pierce *
4 Spell Snare **
4 Spellstutter Sprite *
4 Standstill **
4 Submerge *
4 Stifle **
1 Telemin Performance *
4 Tezzeret the Seeker *
2 Tolarian Winds *
4 Thoughtcast *
4 Threads of Disloyalty **
2 Trickbind *
4 Trinket Mage *
3 Vendillion Clique *
3 Venser, Shaper Savant *
4 Wake Thrasher *
4 Weatherseed Faeries *
4 Winged Sliver *
1 Wipe Away *
Multi-Colored:
2 Boartusk Liege *
2 Cold-Eyed Selkie *
4 Conflux *
4 Cruel Ultimatum *
4 Crystalline Sliver *
1 Dovescape *
1 Empyrial Archangel *
2 Flame-Kin Zealot *
4 Figure of Destiny *
4 Fire/Ice **
4 Gaddock Teeg *
3 Harmonic Sliver *
1 Hull Breach *
4 Kitchen Finks *
4 Knight of the Reliquary **
4 Lorescale Coatl *
4 Lightning Helix *
4 Manamorphose *
2 Maelstrom Pulse *
4 Meddling Mage *
4 Pernicious Deed *
1 Progenitus **
4 Putrid Leech *
3 Putrify *
4 Qasali Pridemage **
4 Rhox War Monk *
4 Sterling Grove *
4 Terminate *
4 Tidehallow Sculler *
3 Trygon Predator **
4 Vexing Shusher *
4 Vindicate *
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon *
4 Wooly Thoctar *
1 Worm Harvest *
1 Wort, Boggart Auntie *
As with the Vintage checklist last week, I made a number of changes to this list. Most of the changes were moving cards to their correct color or changing their star designation. However, I added Loyal Retainer, Fathom Seer, Weathered Wayfarer, Knight of the White Orchid, Ranger of Eos, Wheel of Sun and Moon, Thorn of Amethyst, Sulfuric Vortex, Dream Halls, Conflux, Show and Tell, and Cruel Ultimatum.
In the next go-round, I will be looking to cut cards from this list. This time I just cut Mold Adder and Crawlspace. Are there any cards on this list that you don’t feel are playable or see play in competitive Legacy?
Until next time…