Legions, Legions, Legions: The word on everyone’s Limited lips. I am not sure why people rush to get strategy articles out there; even Nick wanted to work on Legions stuff shortly after the pre-release. I didn’t know Legions strategy then, and I hate looking back at my articles and seeing stuff I no longer agree with.
With that said, I am now going to go back and disagree with much of what I said before. However, I am not doing this because I feel I was wrong – I am adjusting my pick orders to suit Legions.
White:
This was my most recent list, and as such it has the most minor adjustments. I know I said that it was already modified for Legions but I was wrong. The main problem was that I was so averse to White that I didn’t bother to adjust my picks based on Legions. Spending a week with Joe Crosby taught me a thing or two about drafting White.
Original Pick Order:
- Pacifism
- Daru Lancer
- Glory Seeker
- Gustcloak Harrier
- Daunting Defender/Gravel Slinger
- Daru Healer/Dive Bomber
- Battlefield Medic/Daru Cavalier
- Piety Charm (moves up to 5th if you have a lot of soldiers)
- Disciple of Grace
- Renewed Faith
- Grassland Crusader (moves up in Green/White)
- Demystify
New Pick Order:
- Pacifism
- Gustcloak Harrier
- Glory Seeker
- Daru Lancer
- Daunting Defender/Piety Charm
- Daru Healer/Dive Bomber
- Battlefield Medic/Gravel Slinger
- Grassland Crusader
- Daru Cavalier
- Disciple of Grace
- Renewed Faith
- Demystify
Okay, you guys can start laughing at me at your leisure. I know this is very close to the pick order I debated against, but I simply did not understand the Legions impact on this color well enough.
I also did not consider the emergence of a new viable archetype: Blue/White. White is extremely aggressive, and needs cards like Harrier and Dive Bomber to fly over the later-game blockers that slow the beats. Grassland Crusader moves up for tribal and Provoke reasons.
Another important aspect of White to keep in mind is that Soldiers are significantly better than Clerics. White is by no means a control color, nor should it generally be drafted that way (although if you draft Green/White, this is somewhat unavoidable). There are some temptations to draft control even in the new set – but take my word for it, avoid white control.
Blue:
I have caught a lot of flack about this list, or at least the dilemma surrounding it. I am going to move Ascending Aven up as well, but this is only because of Legions. Blue/Black and Blue/White have emerged as powerful archetypes, and Aven is better there. Make no mistakes: Mistform Wall is still far better in Blue/Red.
The Original Pick Order:
- Mistform Wall
- Ascending Aven
- Mistform Dreamer
- Choking Tethers
- Sage Aven
- Riptide Biologist
- Imagecrafter
- Mage’s Guile
- Slipstream Eel
- Backslide
- Disruptive Pitmage
- Screaming Seahawk (your second and third ones move it above the cyclers)
- Mistform Mask
The New Pick Order:
- Ascending Aven
- Mistform Wall
- Mistform Dreamer (moves above Wall in Blue/White)
- Choking Tethers
- Sage Aven
- Riptide Biologist
- Imagecrafter
- Backslide
- Mage’s Guile (moves above Backslide if you have Lavamancer’s Skill)
- Slipstream Eel
- Disruptive Pitmage
- Screaming Seahawk (your second and third ones move it above the Eel)
- Mistform Mask
Blue really came into its own in Legions. It may not be the deepest color, but it is likely the most powerful. It has the second best common in the set in Echo Tracer, and has two strong follow up commons in Mistform Seaswift and Keeneye Aven. This allowed other blue combinations to become as powerful as Red/Blue.
Backslide moved up due to all the new 187 morphs. This card can now be a powerhouse that is easier to control and far less situational. The fliers in this set allow Blue/White to emerge as an aggressive powerhouse. Other than that, not much has changed except the gap between Tethers and Sage Aven has widened.
Black:
Now, there are going to be a lot of changes here – and not all are due to Legions. As I mentioned in my Battering Craghorn article, I was mistaken about some of the picks in Black. These lists will probably have the most drastic changes.
The Old Pick Order:
- Cruel Revival
- Nantuko Husk (this is situational, and it can move up)
- Screeching Buzzard
- Severed Legion (swap with Buzzard in booster draft)
- Swat (moves up if you’re light on removal)
- Festering Goblin
- Crown of Suspicion
- Shepherd of Rot
- Haunted Cadaver
- Dirge of Dread
- Fallen Cleric
- Spined Basher
- Disciple of Malice
- Wretched Anurid (Moves up significantly in R/B, or in G/B with multiple Wirewood Savage)
- Anurid Murkdiver (There should be one in every sideboard.)
- Profane Prayers (Moves up with eight or more Clerics)
- Misery Charm
- Aphetto Dredging
The New Pick Order:
- Cruel Revival
- Nantuko Husk
- Swat
- Festering Goblin
- Screeching Buzzard
- Severed Legion
- Dirge of Dread
- Crown of Suspicion
- Wretched Anurid
- Shepherd of Rot
- Aphetto Dredging
- Spined Basher
- Fallen Cleric
- Anurid Murkdiver
- Haunted Cadaver
- Disciple of Malice
- Misery Charm
I feel much better about this list. Once again, my position on a dilemma has been turned on its ear: Swat is so good with Legions, it’s absurd. First of all, you want to pick up all the spells you can get, as you will have an overabundance of creatures. Secondly, it allows you to pick off those pesky 187 morphs before they rear their ugly heads.
It makes no earthly sense, but Wretched Anurid has been so much better for me since Legions came out. It is counterintuitive, since Legions added so many creatures – but the best I can figure is that he is this 3/3 in a world of 2/2s, and aggressive strategies have gotten even better. I dogged Dredging pretty badly, but with stronger tribal possibilities and 187 creatures in the mix, this card’s stock shoots up.
Red:
Finally! I get to stick to my guns with a dilemma. Everyone tells me I am crazy here – even Kai, who has agreed with most of my dilemmas – but I know I am right. In fact I am surer on this dilemma than any of them. The only color combination this doesn’t hold true for is Red/White. The greatest argument I heard in response to both Daru Lancer and Battering Craghorn was”nobody ever blocks.” Now, if this is true I can only assume people are playing improperly. I certainly still block. There are way too many variable to take into account to make such a sweeping statement. There are always times to block.
The Old Pick Order:
- Sparksmith
- Shock
- Solar Blast
- Erratic Explosion
- Pinpoint Avalanche (occasionally moves above Explosion)
- Battering Craghorn
- Skirk Commando
- Goblin Sledder
- Charging Slateback
- Goblin Taskmaster
- Wave of Indifference (moves up in Red/Green)
- Lavamancer’s Skill (moves up to number 2 in Blue/Red)
The New Pick Order:
- Sparksmith
- Shock
- Solar Blast
- Erratic Explosion
- Pinpoint Avalanche (occasionally moves above Explosion)
- Lavamancer’s Skill (#2 in U/R)
- Battering Craghorn
- Skirk Commando
- Crown of Fury
- Goblin Sledder
- Charging Slateback ( Moves above Sledder if you have Erratic Explosion)
- Goblin Taskmaster
- Wave of Indifference (moves up in G/R)
The Changes to this list are minor: Perhaps the most significant is the addition of Crown of Fury. This card is extremely abusable with provoke. Lavamancer’s Skill also moved up because of the addition of some Black Wizards in Legions.
The gap between Pinpoint Avalanche and Erratic Explosion has become smaller: Explosion is important to remove the early 187 morphs, but Avalanche has a better shot at dealing with active Timberwatch Elf. As for Commando, even if no one blocks, he is so unimpressive next to Marauder, and all my face-up arguments for the Craghorn still hold true.
Green:
The father of all the dilemma articles. I have been insulted more about Elvish Warrior than all of my other opinions. I don’t think it is because it was the least accurate, but rather because it was the first. But Elves really came into their own with Legions. The best common in the set belongs to this tribe, and the additions of new two-drops gives green a much-needed early game. This is not to say Beasts were robbed – Canopy Crawler and Krosan Vorine are both potential game winners.
The Old Pick Order:
- Snarling Undorak
- Wirewood Savage
- Barkhide Mauler
- Elvish Warrior
- Spitting Gourna
- Krosan Tusker
- Vitality Charm
- Wirewood Elf
- Treespring Lorian
- Symbiotic Elf (situational; can move up)
- Wirewood Herald
- Wellwisher
- Leery Fogbeast (situational; can move up)
- Naturalize (situational; can move up)
- Taunting Elf (situational; can move up)
- Wirewood Pride (situational; can move up)
- Birchlore Rangers
- Crown of Vigor
The New Pick Order
- Snarling Undorak
- Wirewood Savage
- Barkhide Mauler
- Elvish Warrior
- Vitality Charm
- Krosan Tusker
- Spitting Gourna
- Wirewood Elf
- Wirewood Herald
- Wellwisher
- Taunting Elf
- Treespring Lorian
- Symbiotic Elf
- Wirewood Pride
- Leery Fogbeast
- Naturalize
- Birchlore Rangers
- Crown of Vigor
Green is so deep. It is very hard to order these cards. I know Vitality charm has surged with the lack of spells in Legions, and all the elf cards went up with the introduction of Timberwatch Elf. I have Wirewood Pride lower than I would like, but I had trouble pushing it up any further. Krosan Vorine is a slight temptation to pick Crown higher – but don’t get too caught up in that; it is likely more trouble than it is worth. Symbiotic Elf is still powerful with Nantuko Husk, and you should still have a Naturalize in your sideboard. These picks all need to be made with respect to tribal considerations. When you have multiple savages the beasts can move above the elves.
So this is my springboard to Legions pick orders. Legions being a small set, it may be difficult for Paul and I to find dilemmas – but thanks to a helpful suggestion by StarCity’s own Geordie Tait, we may have found the answer. Wish us luck in Venice (we’ll need it), and you will have your Legions pick orders starting when we get back.