Hello, and welcome back to this week’s installment of Sullivan’s Satchel. This column was on a very brief hiatus because, believe it or not, I’m actually playing enough Magic to feel comfortable producing some competitive-focused content. Hopefully more to come down the pipeline (I’ve been playing a ton of Todd Anderson Red list in Pioneer, but that doesn’t feel like my article to write.)
In any case this brief pause has allowed my inbox to become flush with questions, and thanks again to everyone who participated. As always, you can send your questions to [email protected], or hit up my DMs @basicmountain on Twitter. With that:
Hey,
What do you see as the future for Legacy? The format was struggling somewhat to get new players despite being focused on the SCG Tour. Now that SCG have removed it from coverage, I imagine it will be even harder to get fresh blood into the format. Are we looking at the beginning of the end for the format?
Thanks, Phill, UK.
The short answer is “I’m not sure.” I think projecting too far into the future with such things is tempting but tough to get right. Legacy started becoming popular a decade ago not because of some dedicated organized play push, but due to organic interest that several tournament organizers, including Star City Games, wanted to get in on. Even if it seems all doom and gloom now, there’s no particular reason such an event couldn’t happen again. I do think the format has three major hurdles to overcome before it can receive the level of support it once did.
- Are the games actually fun? I know people who love Legacy really love Legacy, but I think Magic Online is revealing – even with card prices at a fraction of their physical counterparts, Legacy never had much traction in digital even when Legacy received more support. I know this is heresy to Legacy’s most devoted followers, but getting locked out or killed on the first or second turn isn’t that much fun for the average human. This might not be a reconcilable issue with the format, but moving the dial in the right direction can help matters.
- Is the format accessible? Another place where the ship may have sailed. Old Magic cards are collector’s items whose prices are propped up by formats outside the scope of competitive play, like Old School and Commander. I doubt the Reserved List is going anywhere, I doubt the format could ever evolve to the point where the Reserved List cards are not ubiquitous staples, and with so many of the older cards subsidized by other things I doubt the prices are likely to tank, either.
- Nostalgia. It isn’t surprising to me that Legacy took off around Year 15 of Magic – that’s the time when people who played Magic as teenagers and young adults had the resources and nostalgia to acquire their old cards back. I’m skeptical that people who are entering Magic today will ever have the same type of fondness for Taiga and Force of Will that I do; so much of that is part of being in a particular place and time.
Those barriers are massive, but not insurmountable. Any effort to get the format to be played like it was five or ten years ago is going to require a ton of grassroots support. I know my take here is pretty pessimistic but I know a handful of people who are doing tremendous work on the local and regional level, and even if things never return to the way they were, that is a path to get it back on the radar of the larger community.
Hello Patrick, always a big fan of Sullivan’s Satchel and your insights on Mono-Red! I don’t play Magic Online but I’ve been playing a very successful list of Mono-Red in Pioneer at FNM. It has game against Inverter and can goldfish by turn 3. Would love your insights on my list and help with the sideboard.
16 Mountain
Sideboard
??
??
??
Best,
James Reid
I love a good Deck Doctor – so much of my early reading about Magic was this sort of content. I also love a good Wizards-based Mono-Red list in Pioneer. I think this was my starting point for the format (the maindeck looks very close to something I was playing a few months ago) and even if doesn’t have top billing in the format, the raw power of this deck isn’t low.
A few notes:
- I think this manabase can support at least one copy of Castle Embereth. I understand being reticent to add a Mutavault (even if the red mana requirements aren’t that demanding, it’s critical to cast two cards on the second turn), but Castle Embereth has a very low opportunity cost and is busted with Runaway Steam-Kin. I’d cut a Ramunap Ruins if you have reservations about cutting a Mountain for it.
- I would consider at least one copy of the Todd Anderson Special: Collective Defiance. It’s solid on raw rate just on the first two modes (especially with Steam-Kin subsidizing), and the third mode can randomly punk Dimir Inverter players if they try to combo out as quickly as possible, which I believe is their best approach Game 1. It’s also a natural hedge against Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet among other popular sideboard cards against you.
- If you’re only on red sources of mana, I think the best card you can have for the mirror (besides Experimental Frenzy, which you already have) is Boros Reckoner. I think builds like yours are soft in most “mirrors” (Bonecrusher Giant is so sick here, as is Chandra, Torch of Defiance if you aren’t playing Mutavault for the easy kill coming back) and Reckoner happens to be good against Mono-Green Devotion also.
- I think Rending Volley is busted. The best card by a mile against Bant Spirits, and good against other random decks like Mono-White Devotion. Even if it’s somewhat narrow, I think it has maybe the highest win equity among aggressive red sideboard cards in the format.
- I’m skeptical of four copies of Experimental Frenzy. The creatures are good enough in the Mono-Red mirrors that it isn’t trivial to kill everything and then bury them with Frenzy, and four copies with twenty lands is a lot if you assume your Steam-Kin is going to die a lot.
The maindeck I like, substituting out one of your current lands for a Castle Embereth and one Collective Defiance for a Skewer the Critics. For the sideboard, I would go with:
- 4 Rending Volley
- 4 Boros Reckoner
- 3 Experimental Frenzy
- 3 Collective Defiance
- 1 Mutavault (to come in whenever you bring in Frenzy and/or Defiance)
Hope this helps, and good luck with this deck; it’s a favorite of mine as well.
From @sequentialsmart:
Question for Sullivan’s Satchel: I love your context-based and rational writing style, a refreshing spotlight of rationality in a world that increasingly rewards hyperbolic declarations and reactionary thinking. Who are your influences and where did you learn to write like that?
I don’t self-identify as a “rational” person; I think everyone is optimizing for the stuff they are optimizing for and fetishization of “rationality” is often a way of trying to signal that you don’t agree with the things someone is trying to optimize for but masking it in some objective veneer. I think concepts like “justice” and “freedom” are more accurately captured by discussing the actual real-world implications of actions rather than drawing absolute lines around “do’s” and “don’t’s,” and I’ve been told this approach is “irrational” by some. I know some extremely successful people (and not just describing economic success) who have processes and outlooks very different from my own, so I make no claims to have a good handle on any of this, really. But I appreciate the sentiment.
As far as influential writers go, JS Mill informed a lot of my early politics (I object to more of it now, but it helped form a base) and Hunter S. Thompson taught me that people aren’t worthy of reverence just because they are in a position of power. The blend of those two elements informs a lot of my outlook, so I guess I’d go with those two. I’m nowhere near good enough of a writer to compare myself to anyone who actually does it well, but I’ve always gone for a conversational tone in writing, mainly because it is easier if you have no technical or artistic chops.
From @SamEdHayes:
How has your knowledge of Magic helped you with your role in Eternal? What lessons do you think are most important to game design?
- I no longer work on Eternal.
- Keep your resume up to date, don’t burn any bridges, and take every phone call.
From @Spit3_Duck:
What do you think the most underrated deck is in Pioneer?
What deck do you wish would be explored more that could have a healthy impact on the Pioneer format?
- I think Lotus Breach is very good again. I see a ton of lists with almost no sideboard cards for the matchup and the deck doesn’t fold to a single piece of interaction anyway. I think sideboards were very reactionary towards it in previous weeks but that has toned down; I would strongly consider it if I was playing in a tournament this weekend.
- This might sound strange but I wish Azorius Control got a bit more love. I think Pioneer is in good shape right now but I think the decks sort of collectively aspire to end the game too quickly. It would be nice as part of the range for something playing a deeper game to be part of the metagame.
Thank you again for all the questions/antagonistic comments masquerading as questions. Until next week.