I. Legacy Returns in 2009
It’s been quite a while since we had a very big tournament in Legacy. Columbus was more of a management mistake than anything else. Lille was the last time there was an actual Legacy format being played at that magnitude. It was a great tournament, which brought some interesting innovations to the format, and showed what could be done with proper metagaming and sideboarding. The decks at Lille were efficient and ahead of their time in many ways.
Wizards has just announced GP: Chicago, scheduled for March 7, which will be the fourth Legacy event at the Pro Tour level ever. No one really had to do any serious Legacy analysis for Columbus, since Flash was broken and it was a mistake not to play it at that event. The last time the pros had to take a serious look at Legacy was for Lille, which was three years ago already. This may be the first time that many players even seriously consider playing Legacy. The format has grown deeper and more complex since Lille (when it was only a year old), so I will explain where the format is right now as you start to prepare for the tournament in March.
II. The Character of the Format
Legacy can be mostly characterized by the lack of any overpowered cards, meaning that archetypes must rely on synergy and consistency. If you’re looking for an easy deck based around some borderline cards, you won’t find it in Legacy. Flash was a mistake that completely violated the DCI’s banning criterion, and it is not what this format is like at all.
Legacy rewards intelligent play from the first turn of the game. Strategic thinking is one of the most important skills in this format, and therefore it is vital that you are experienced with all the ways your deck can beat other decks. The manner in which you compete over resources and attack your opponent’s life total is far more important than the cards that you use to do it. This was already emphasized in the early days of the format, but now that some slightly stronger cards have entered the format and are now present in multiple decks, it is even more important that you know when and how to pick your battles, since you will probably be playing with many of the same cards that your opponents are.
Another characterization that I often use in analyzing Legacy is that you can play almost any mana source except for power, but that there isn’t anything uniquely threatening to play with them. There are many situations where you can end up with bombs, but they are going to be sideboard cards that you were saving for a particular matchup. There are so many answers in Legacy, in all the colors, that even the most efficient strategies will have weaknesses that are easily exploited.
Even though there isn’t anything too good, there are still plenty of very good cards that have been discovered to pair well with other strong cards. These combinations roughly determine the archetypal divisions of Legacy, and any process for choosing which decks to play and how to modify them should start with these basics.
III. Combo
There have been several version of storm over the lifetime of Legacy, but they have gradually converged to a single deck that has some slight variations. I would say that Storm is really one archetype now, and that there are a few other decks such as Belcher and Salvagers which sometimes see play, but are not as good.
Currently, players are working on incorporating Ad Nauseam most effectively into the five-color storm decks that have been a consistent presence at tournaments for some time now. This deck recently won the side event at GP: Okayama:
Ad Storm
Ryousei Kawai
2 Ad Nauseam
1 Ancient Grudge
4 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Echoing Truth
4 Mystical Tutor
2 Orim’s Chant
3 Burning Wish
4 Duress
2 Infernal Tutor
4 Rite of Flame
4 Chrome Mox
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
2 Mox Diamond
1 Badlands
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
3 Dark Confidant
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Angel’s Grace
1 Orim’s Chant
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Meltdown
1 Pyroclasm
1 Rolling Earthquake
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Thoughtseize
Multicolor storm decks run a lot of mana sources, and use Infernal Tutor, Mystical Tutor, or Burning Wish to search for Ill-Gotten Gains, Ad Nauseam, or Diminishing Returns to go off, and also to find either Tendrils of Agony or Empty the Warrens as the win condition. Orim’s Chant is one of the best disruption spells for this deck, but Thoughtseize, Duress, Pact of Negation, and Force of Will are also common options. Ad Nauseam is a recent addition to the archetype, which is still being experimented with. Here is a version that made 3rd place at an 84-player event at Piazzolla del Brenta:
Ad Nauseam
Carlo Gnesotto
2 Ad Nauseam
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Orim’s Chant
1 Pact of Negation
1 Rushing River
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
4 Infernal Tutor
3 Ponder
1 Tendrils of Agony
3 Chrome Mox
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
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1 Swamp
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
1 Brain Freeze
3 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Pyroblast
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Wipe Away
2 Duress
2 Wheel of Fate
2 Volcanic Island
IV. Aggro
There are many Aggro decks in Legacy, since it is easy to rebuild any threat suite from previous formats with strong manabases, equipment, and support cards. However, few of these decks achieve a high level of success in many tournaments. The first Aggro deck that I consider to be successful is Goblins, once the defining deck of Legacy, and the standard by which all other Aggro decks have to be measured. I have analyzed and discussed Goblins many times, and I wrote a two-part primer on it for this column which is still very relevant. Here is the latest version of this deck, which I played last month in Vestal, NY:
Templar Goblins
Christopher Coppola
4 Aether Vial
1 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Siege-gang Commander
2 Wort, Boggart Auntie
4 Thoughtseize
4 Warren Weirding
4 Mountain
4 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
3 Mogg Fanatic
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Perish
This is the same Goblins deck, with a slight update. Thoughtsieze and Warren Weirding have replaced Mogg Fanatic and Gempalm Incinerator as the main removal spells, since creatures like Tarmogoyf, Phyrexian Dreadnought, and Tombstalker are now becoming common and require different answers. I think this is a good place to start if you are considering building Goblins for Chicago.
The next deck is slightly more difficult to classify, but it most resembles Aggro decks so I am including it here. Regardless of which archetype it belongs to, all decks need to be prepared to play against Ichorid in a large tournament. It avoids so much common disruption and vulnerability that it really needs to be sideboarded for substantially if your maindeck can’t handle it effectively.
Ichorid
Alexander Privalov
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
3 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
3 Putrid Imp
1 River Kelpie
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Breakthrough
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Careful Study
2 Deep Analysis
3 Dread Return
4 Bridge From Below
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
Sideboard:
1 Ancient Grudge
4 Chain of Vapor
2 Ray of Revelation
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Pithing Needle
Ichorid works by dredging cards into the graveyard on turn 1, and then abusing Ichorid, Narcomoeba, and Bridge from below to make creatures, which it then sacrifices to Cabal Therapy and Dread Return, to reanimate either a Flame-Kin Zealot to attack with hasted zombie tokens, or put a large creature into play such as Empyrial Archangel. This involves the expenditure of very little mana, is mostly immune to discard and counters, and can happen very quickly, within the first few turns of the game. Needless to say this deck should be heavily tested against if you plan on playing any deck with Blue.
Another classic Aggro deck that has recently received many new tools is Affinity. This deck has seen very little rebuilding since Shards of Alara and there is more potential in this design. Here is a build that recently won a tournament in Berlin:
Affinity
Patrich Dierbach
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Frogmite
4 Master of Etherium
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Ornithopter
4 Thoughtcast
3 Chromatic Star
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Ancient Den
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
Sideboard:
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Krosan Grip
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Pithing Needle
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
V. Control
Control was not viable for a while during the peak of Goblins’ popularity, but with the resurgence of Aggro-Control, it has become a much stronger choice. The standard choice is Landstill, which plays very strong cards like Pernicious Deed, Standstill, and Fact or Fiction. This deck is slow, requiring many turns to establish control and kill the opponent, but it thrives in environments without land destruction and cheap threats. Here is a version by a World Champion:
Landstill
Antonio de la Rosa
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
3 Counterspell
2 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
1 Ghastly Demise
4 Stifle
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Standstill
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hydroblast
4 Engineered Plague
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Tormod’s Crypt
Landstill has been discussed extensively in the literature. The general strategy is to stop the opponent’s early threats long enough to resolve Standstill, the breaking of which will allow you to draw into more draw or Pernicious Deed, which you can then sweep the board with and set up Crucible of Worlds for recursion of Wastelands and Mishra’s Factories.
Another control deck which was not very successful until recently is Mono-Blue Control. A few interesting cards were printed in the last few sets that have allowed this deck to improve enough to start showing up in Top 8s:
Mono-Blue Control
Arne Haak
3 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Morphling
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Counterspell
2 Echoing Truth
4 Fact or Fiction
3 Force Spike
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
3 Back to Basics
3 Powder Keg
3 Vedalken Shackles
23 Island
Sideboard:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Back to Basics
3 Propaganda
3 Pithing Needle
4 Tormod’s Crypt
Control decks have advantages in diverse environments. They play answers for all threat types and can generate overwhelming card advantage in the late game, which is strongest against the Aggro-Control decks which can be popular in Legacy. The problem is that they are susceptible to fast Aggro decks and consistent Combo decks. Control decks will beat all the decks which are slow or underpowered from the other archetypes, generally pushing out the weakest decks and forming a lower bound on the power level of the format. With the right types of answers they can exploit common decks and strategies, but metagaming your disruption suite is always a risk.
VI. Aggro-Control
By far the most diverse archetype in Legacy, Aggro-Control has too many incarnations to summarize effectively. Threshold can reasonably represent this archetype, but there are so many deck types that fall into this category that it is difficult to detail them all. Some of the other relevant decks include Suicide variants, Aluren, Aggro-Loam, Survival of the Fittest, and Chalice Aggro. Let’s start with Threshold:
Threshold
Alberto Varela
1 Mystic Enforcer
2 Sower of Temptation
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Krosan Grip
4 Predict
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Ponder
3 Counterbalance
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
2 Windswept Heath
Sideboard:
3 Trygon Predator
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hydroblast
1 Krosan Grip
3 Back to Basics
1 Counterbalance
4 Ghostly Prison
Threshold also has received a huge amount of attention, but I will again summarize here. Threshold runs a lower land count that is supplemented by cheap draw spells. These help to reach Threshold itself and find the disruption or threats that are most relevant in the given matchup. Counterbalance and Sense’s Divining Top counter many of the more common spells in the format, and it is one of the strongest pairing in Legacy currently. For more information about Threshold read just about any of my other articles from this year.
Suicide decks have experimented with all the colors. Historically the “Red Death” was the stronger version due to its superior Goblins matchup, but after the printing of Tarmogoyf a new version was innovated:
“Eva Green”
Anwar Ahmad
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tombstalker
4 Dark Ritual
4 Snuff Out
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Thoughtseize
3 Seal of Primordium
3 Bayou
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
6 Swamp
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Choke
4 Engineered Plague
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Umezawa’s Jitte
This is a classic Suicide deck. It relies on Dark Ritual and discard to control the game and attack the opponent with efficient threats. Tarmogoyf and Seal of Primordium offer unique effects that have been absent from Suicide in the past, and which allowed the deck to make many Top 8s.
Another Aggro-Control deck that has been very successful is Aggro-Loam. This deck has been rebuilt several times to include various cards, but the main engine has not changed. It is designed around Mox Diamond, Life from the Loam, Seismic Assault, and cycling lands, so it provides mana acceleration, draw, and a lot of damage in the late game. It is also able to run many strong cards that get even better with the engine, such as Countryside Crusher and Burning Wish. Here is a pretty standard build:
Aggro-Loam
Urs Glaubitt
4 Countryside Crusher
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Terravore
4 Burning Wish
2 Devastating Dreams
3 Life from the Loam
3 Seismic Assault
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Mox Diamond
1 Bayou
2 Forest
4 Forgotten Cave
1 Karplusan Forest
4 Mountain
1 Taiga
4 Tranquil Thicket
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
4 Krosan Grip
2 Devastating Dreams
1 Life from the Loam
1 Pyroclasm
1 Reverent Silence
1 Shattering Spree
4 Tormod’s Crypt
The creatures in this deck can get very big, and Devastating Dreams and Seismic Assault can remove most blockers or just deal damage straight to the opponent to kill them. I expect this deck to play a big role at Chicago.
A recent addition to Legacy, this next deck is a hybrid of Threshold and Suicide, and has made multiple Top 8s in the last month.
“Team America”
Dan Signorini
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tombstalker
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Snuff Out
4 Stifle
4 Ponder
4 Sinkhole
4 Thoughtseize
1 Bayou
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Diabolic Edict
4 Krosan Grip
4 Tormod’s Crypt
This deck combines the land destruction of Stifle, Sinkhole, and Wasteland with the free answers Force of Will, Daze, and Snuff Out, setting up to play very large Tarmogoyfs and Tombstalkers for two mana. The disruption suite is very powerful since it is so cheap, but the deck may suffer from being too threat-light.
There are many more Aggro-Control decks, but far too many to list. In general, they all attempt to abuse some subset of the cards listed in these decks with other threats, disruption, or mana generation. There are so many cards in the Legacy pool that Aggro-Control can be built in many different ways.
VII. Chicago
The decks I have briefly discussed here are just a part of the diversity that Legacy has come to enjoy since the last GPs. Currently there are a very large number of viable decks, and there are also many new viable cards entering the card pool from the Alara block. It has never been a more exciting time to design and metagame in Legacy. While it is still over three months away, large Legacy tournaments are infrequent, and the state of the format now will go a long way towards predicting the composition of GP: Chicago. I hope to see you there!