Welcome to “Unlocking Legacy,” a weekly column at StarCityGames.com dedicated to discussion and analysis of Legacy. Multiple writers will contribute to this column — the regulars being Chris Coppola, Dan Spero, Kevin Binswanger, and Doug Linn. We may also have occasional guest writers. This column will cover a variety of topics, intended for a wide range of readers. The writers are also open to suggestions regarding content. We have some good work planned, but it’s helpful to have feedback, so please let us know what you think!
I. Card Pools
Every format has its basic components – the key cards that define what archetypes succeed, and which strategies are viable. These can be individually strong cards, but most of the time it requires a set of synergistic and supporting cards to create a deck that works. Locating and utilizing these cards is the objective of all serious deckbuilders. Designing competitive decks requires familiarity with the building blocks of the format.
This process occurs in every format. At its largest, the Standard card pool contains fifteen hundred cards from eight sets. Many of these cards are designed for Limited play, or are aimed at players other than competitive deckbuilders, so the effective card pool for deck design in Standard is much smaller. At the other extreme, Vintage contains around nine thousand magic cards. However, due to the power level of the format, again only a small fraction of cards are playable.
The Legacy cardpool is just as big as that of Vintage, yet it was designed to have no broken interactions. The banned list used to create the format targeted the problematic cards (and some harmless ones). The result is a balanced environment, with enormous potential for new strategies and deck designs.
Both Standard and Vintage have their foundational cards. For much of Magic’s history, Wizards could be counted on to reproduce many familiar strategies in every Standard environment. Some foundational cards of Constructed magic have been cards like Stone Rain, Incinerate, Counterspell, Inspiration, Dark Ritual, Terror, Birds of Paradise, Rampant Growth, Disenchant, and Wrath of God. Their presence was expected and set basic guidelines for deck construction and Constructed strategy. Vintage’s defining cards are just as famous. Cards like the Moxen, Mana Drain, and Yawgmoth’s Will define the environment and support the entire format.
Legacy was, and still very much is, an opportunity for deckbuilders that has not existed since the adolescence of Vintage several years ago. Creating new decks in a fresh environment is one of the central attractions of a rotating environment such as Standard, but in Legacy, players are able to use cards from any set. Building decks in such a large card pool is much more exciting. However, it also requires players to work harder. Finding viable interactions takes time and research.
Ever since Legacy was created, I have been exploring the card pool as a serious deckbuilder. In that time I have discovered what I think are some important guidelines for deckbuilding and strategic objectives. Creative decks always come from experimentation and practice, but it is helpful to have some guidelines for what is available, and what to expect from other strong decks. I will discuss the strengths of individual cards as well as some other ways of catalyzing the deckbuilding process.
II. Individual Cards
Lands
Perhaps the most beloved and versatile cards known to deckbuilding, the alpha Dual Lands allow decks to support any number of colors in any combination. If it weren’t for the strength of the next card on this list, these would be ubiquitous in Legacy. Currently, they are merely common.
By now, most people who have played Legacy know about the importance of Wasteland. This card takes both tempo and mana fixing from the opponent, is uncounterable, and provides mana itself. I once underestimated the strength of Wasteland in an aggro deck due to metagame considerations, and I was rewarded with a losing record at SCG in October. In my opinion, Wasteland is one of the most powerful cards in the format.
The Onslaught fetchlands are the counter and foil to the land destruction of Wasteland. They both prevent Wasteland from activating, and can fetch basic lands from your deck. In addition, they provide shuffling effects, and thin your deck so that your draws increase in quality. When combined with draw effects, fetchlands have a powerful effect that almost every deck benefits from.
Rishadan Port is another useful mana disruptor. This card is quite good against combo and control decks, and in many cases is stronger than Wasteland, because it can disrupt mana production from basic lands. A drawback of Rishadan Port is that it requires you to spend two mana to turn off one, so it is best in decks that can generate tempo in other ways.
The lands that produce more than one mana are also very powerful. Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, and Crystal Vein are the central components of this type of manabase. Decks that exploit their mana production have had a small amount of success (mainly Stax and Artifact Aggro decks), but they have not yet been widely adopted. These are among the most underutilized cards in the format.
There are lands that provide a great defense against aggro decks, but they also have not been widely used. Mishra’s Factory and Quicksand both allow decks to use cheap, uncounterable removal in addition to mana producers. Mishra’s Factory is particularly strong, since it can block many creatures in Legacy and survive.
Nonland Permanent Mana
The best artifact accelerants are Mox Diamond and Chrome Mox, but Mox Diamond is better in Legacy because the card disadvantage can be recouped by cards such as Crucible of Worlds or Life from the Loam. Another important advantage of Mox Diamond is that it creates any color of mana.
Another well-known mana producer is Exploration. Recently in Legacy, a deck was developed that exploited this card along with Manabond. This card and Mox Diamond require a deck that can support a higher land count, but there are many cards that can support this restriction.
A very powerful card that generates “mana” is Aether Vial. A staple of Goblin decks, this card’s effect is available to all aggro decks, and just as good in those applications. Aether Vial provides a huge boost to aggro decks in general, and is a symbol of the design of Legacy, as well as a genuinely defining card.
Two other cards that have been heavily used in every format are Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves. These cards don’t see much play in Legacy due to the prevalence of removal and better green creatures, but they are still available as effective turn 1 acceleration options.
Single-Use Accelerants
Lion’s Eye Diamond and Lotus Petal are both unrestricted and give Tendrils decks considerable opportunity to execute their strategies very early in the game. These cards have steep drawbacks, and one reason why they are not played more is that the most degenerate cards are not available for casting.
There are many unrestricted ritual effects in Legacy. Dark Ritual and Cabal Ritual are the best, but also available are Rite of Flame, Desperate Ritual, and Tinder Wall. There are also two inferior versions of Lotus Petal: Elvish Spirit Guide and Simian Spirit Guide. There are many combo engines available to combine with these fast mana effects.
Permission
Another symbol of the format, Force of Will is played in many decks and is one of the most constructive members of the card pool. Along with cantrips, this card allows aggro and aggro-control to dominate the format.
Daze and Force Spike are two of the better counters available in Legacy, but Daze is free and performs well outside of control decks. Force Spike is a card that has proven effective in faster formats, but has not yet been used effectively in Legacy.
Remand is commonly played, and for good reason. It is the best counterspell to be printed by Wizards since Circular Logic, another strong card but one with only specific applications. Remand often delays a spell for an entire turn, and does not cost a card. When used to counter anything with a casting cost higher than one, Remand acts very much like a Time Walk, maintaining your board position and giving you another turn.
Counterspell is legal in Legacy, but pure control does not have enough tools to consistently beat aggro, which usually composes a majority field fraction. The double Blue cost means this card can only be played in Blue-heavy decks, which for Control means either weaker threats or a less stable manabase. This card is most successful in aggro-control decks. (Mana Leak is in a similar position.)
There are also some pseudo-counterspells available that succeed in narrower roles. Disrupt, Stifle, and Chalice of the Void provide cheap card advantage or tempo in many situations, but they place strong limitations on a deck’s functionality.
Discard
Cabal Therapy has seen heavy play in every environment, but so far has not found an application that uses the card to it’s full potential. Used in a typical fashion, this card trades one mana and a creature for your opponent’s strongest cards. However, there are many ways to turn the sacrifice into an advantage.
Duress is another discard staple played in every legal environment. Its ease of play and sometimes debilitating effect are just as good in Legacy, where it gets rid of cheap permission and creature removal.
Hymn to Tourach is as powerful as Cabal Therapy, and as easy to use as Duress. This card is utilized in almost any deck that can support the casting cost due to it’s ability to mana-screw an opponent early, or simply shut down their strategy.
The last discard spell on my list is quite underused, and surprisingly so. Chains of Mephistopheles brutalizes every deck with Blue in it, but so far has had only minor adoption in sideboards.
Draw
There is a very large selection of cards to choose from in this category, but there is still a clear favorite. Brainstorm is played in every deck with Blue. The effect on its own is quite good, but when combined with fetchlands, it’s unparalleled and invaluable. Brainstorm goes a long way to configuring your optimal hand, and increases the consistency of early permission.
Impulse is an old favorite that is well worth the cost. It is typically strongest in control-type decks. A high standard for two-mana draw.
There are several other powerful control-type draw spells that are uncommonly used. Examples are Fact or Fiction, Deep Analysis, and Thirst for Knowledge. These cards have been very strong in other formats, but have not yet been incorporated into Legacy, mainly due to the strong pressure from all decks to win an early tempo game.
Careful Study is synergistic with all of the graveyard-centered cards in Legacy, but still suffers because it is card disadvantage. However, just like Cabal Therapy, there are many ways to make this discard into an advantage.
Tutoring
Intuition is perhaps the strongest tutor in Legacy. However, most decks eschew the expensive Accumulated Knowledge engine in favor of a direct tutoring effect. Intuition also fills up the graveyard with synergistic cards, of which there are many in Legacy.
Infernal Tutor is quite strong as well, providing a pure tutor effect in a format of four-ofs, Ill-Gotten Gains, and Lion’s Eye Diamonds. If not for Intuition, I think this would be the strongest tutoring effect.
The Wish cycle from Judgment has seen moderate play in Legacy – mainly Cunning Wish and Burning Wish. These cards provide flexibility in often unpredictable environments, as well as enabling decks to draw key spells more consistently.
Mystical Tutor is also unrestricted, but is not commonly played. I believe card-disadvantage tutors will always be infrequently played in Legacy, but their effect is essential in the few combo decks in which they are used.
Enlightened Tutor and Grim Tutor are both available as well, but the lack of broken targets currently minimizes their use.
Survival of the Fittest is a powerful tool for exploiting utility creatures. A weakness of this deck is its vulnerable mana sources, but when it draws the right cards it executes very smoothly.
Removal
In such a creature-heavy format, removal is a very important aspect of decks. There is an abundance of cheap, versatile removal in Legacy. Swords to Plowshares is the standard. This card is a strong reason to include White in your deck design.
Pyroclasm is the best board sweeper in the current Legacy environment. It destroys most of the early threats in the format for two mana. Pyroclasm is a strong reason to run Red.
Fire / Ice is another efficient card that is good in both control and aggro-control. This card functions as burn, removal, draw, and mana denial.
Pernicious Deed would be heavily played if it weren’t in the formats two weakest colors. Any deck that can support this card would have a huge advantage against the creature-heavy environments that define Legacy tournaments.
Wrath of God and Damnation are both efficient sweepers for control decks. Many supporting cards exist for White and Black control decks.
Nevinyrral’s Disk and Powder Keg are both good at destroying multiple threats, but require additional supporting cards to be effective, due to their speed. Both Disk and Keg require a turn to become useful, and may even have to be protected from removal themselves.
Black has a plethora of strong removal cards. Two of the best for Legacy are Innocent Blood and Engineered Plague. These cards excel against efficient aggro decks, which are popular in Legacy.
Umezawa’s Jitte performs several functions very well, but its best role is as an aggressive tool for removing blockers. This card is incredibly strong, but has not been played in many decks so far. The best way to abuse this card is with easily-cast creatures and mana acceleration.
There are many threatening abilities in Legacy, and Pithing Needle is a cheap and universally available answer to many of them. If you do not have an effective way to answer problematic cards, consider using Pithing Needle.
Burn
Lightning Bolt is still the standard, and it is used as both removal and a damage source. Chain Lightning is not as popular, but it is almost as effective. These cards, and burn in general, are best when supported by an offensive creature base.
Cursed Scroll is a legal card, but surprisingly does not see very much play. Scroll requires an investment in mana and untap steps, both of which are usually in short supply in Legacy.
Fireblast and Price of Progress offer very high damage, but place restrictions on deck design. These are the best finishers for burn or sligh decks.
Land Destruction
Sinkhole is the superior land destruction spell, but it requires a heavy commitment to Black. A suite of removal or creatures is required to make this card useful. Land destruction becomes irrelevant soon after the development of the early game, so this card becomes much worse if it is not supported by similar denial effects.
Vindicate is another powerful land destruction spell that also destroys any type of permanent. This card is best when destroying lands, as there are much cheaper ways to deal with other types of permanents.
Pillage, Stone Rain, and Ice Storm are the other good land destruction spells. However, unless they are accelerated out, they are generally too slow to contribute to a favorable board position.
Artifact Removal
Artifact removal has become quite efficient over the years. Meltdown and Shattering Spree are the two strongest artifact destruction spells in Legacy. Null Rod is also useful when targeting temporary artifacts such as LED.
Creatures
I have saved creatures for last, because there are far too many to cover comprehensively. I will only discuss some of the more representative creatures of the format. Keep in mind that the majority of innovation in Legacy will come from the discovery and utilization of old creatures in new ways.
Goblin Lackey is a very important card in Legacy, because it enables a small subset of Red creatures cards to develop board position very quickly. It is a driving force for efficiency and development, and exerts a strong pressure on the environment to enable combo room to succeed. The rest of the Goblins belong in this category as well, because they are all only played in one deck.
Meddling Mage is an efficient disruption mechanism and offensive creature. Legacy decks run four-ofs, and naming a key card against any deck can be devastating.
Nimble Mongoose is perhaps the most efficient creature in the format. For one mana and some minor deck configuration, it returns an untargetable 3/3. This card excels at offense and defense, and is very hard to remove.
Jotun Grunt is another efficient card, but with a drawback / ability that takes some effort to support. However, its size and disruption are relevant in almost every matchup.
Wild Mongrel is a creature that has found a home in many different decks. Its synergy with all of the graveyard-centric cards and powerful abilities leave it on par with Nimble Mongoose.
III. Design Restrictions
The basic strategies of Legacy decks are different, but the most successful decks all follow similar rules. There are some basic restrictions on what cards and tactics are valuable enough to use.
The first rule is one of casting costs. The majority of cards in Legacy decks must cost two or less. With additional ways to generate mana, this limit can be raised, but without it, it is very dangerous to try to play with expensive cards. To put even more emphasis on this, the more free effects your deck can run, the better. Affinity runs many “free” spells, and it is very strong in the early game because of it. A deck like Stax can break this rule because its manabase creates enough mana to support a curve starting at two.
The second rule is one of card advantage. This rule basically states that you cannot sacrifice cards unless you are maintaining parity with your opponent, or you are going to win the game because of it. This sounds like an obvious rule, but it is truer in Legacy than in other formats. In Extended or Standard, losing cards is a negative event, but you still have some opportunities to compensate for your mistake by playing well. And in Vintage, there are so many degenerate cards that often sacrificing card advantage doesn’t matter, or does simply end the game. In Legacy, there is pressure from decks that exploit both tempo and card advantage. Threshold is a good example of this: the cards in the deck work together to answer multiple threats and answers at the same time. Ill-Gotten Gains can break this rule because it will win the game before the opponent can use his or her card advantage.
The third rule is one of versatility. Cards in Legacy decks must be able to answer different threats, and protect themselves from different answers. The more versatile a removal spell can be, or the more relevant a creature can be, the better. There are many different viable decks in Legacy, and competitive decks must be able to attack unexpected strategies and answer a variety of threats. High Tide is a good example of this, as it has counterspells for important threats, and can tutor for answers to the rest.
IV. Additional Development
In such a large card pool, there are certainly going to be more supporting cards for mechanics than there were within individual blocks. Well-designed mechanics have synergy with many other good cards and are relatively open-ended, and these prove to be the most successful. Many older mechanics and decks have found powerful support cards in this format. Goblins gained Wasteland, Aether Vial, and Goblin Tinkerer; Threshold gained Meddling Mage, Daze, and Swords to Plowshares; and High Tide gained Reset, Meditate, and Cunning Wish. Many other decks in the format have found synergistic elements to add and improve their strategies, and I’m sure many of them have not yet been found.
Extended, Vintage, and even Standard can provide ideas and a basic structure of synergies to develop and refine. Taking the core cards or even just the core strategies of many other decks and utilizing them with the much larger card pool can yield strong decks. Creating Legacy decks from scratch is difficult and time consuming, but the most basic synergies between two cards can lead to the development of deck structures and strategies.
All that is required to succeed as a deckbuilder in Legacy is a current knowledge of your metagame, and some way of mining for technology in the card pool. With these two assets, you can create winning decks.
Chris Coppola
Machinus @ TMD, The Source, StarCityGames.com, and Gmail