Unlocking Legacy – Columbus and the Format According to the “All Stars”

The Obligatory Flash Preface

So, a funny thing happened on the way to submitting this article. Funny as in “when a clown dies” sort of way, rather than when a clown just accidentally catches on fire but suffers no real harm. This “funny” incident was the removal of the power errata on the obscure Mirage rare Flash, and the discovery of Legacy players around the world that Flash has some degenerate interactions with a number of “when this dude goes to the graveyard” creatures.

By now, I’ll assume that “Hulk Flash” is nothing new to you and I’ll not belabor the point. Only in Legacy can two such awful cards, printed a decade apart, produce such insanity. With Elvish Spirit Guide and Gemstone Cavern, the combo even allows for the mythical “turn 0 kill,” where you can fetch multiple Disciples of the Vault to win the game before either of you draws a card.

One particularly nasty consequence of this of this card combination, for me anyway, is that it makes some parts of today’s article somewhat obsolete. I started organizing and collecting answers to the questions posed in this article in mid-late April, when the full ramifications of Hulk Flash were not known or understood. Luckily, Magic players are a lazy and oafish lot, so most of the content in the article was sent to me at the last minute or even after my deadline, by which point we all had a sense of what we were dealing with.

All of this out of the way, I’m very pleased that my monthly Legacy slot immediately precedes Grand Prix: Columbus, the largest Legacy tournament in the last eighteen months!

To celebrate the occasion, and with the help of some friends and other format luminaries, I’ve cooked up a question and answer session with several Legacy experts for your reading pleasure. The original idea for this article comes by way of the imminent Michael J. Flores, who, week-in, week-out, has to come up with interesting ideas for his articles and the one just linked is a fine one.

To come up with a list of players to survey, I brainstormed a bunch of names that ultimately struck me as arbitrary, capricious (in some cases), and otherwise biased. Enter Adam Barnello (Mr. Nightmare), who then organized a Legacy “All-Stars” competition a few months back. While there was an unmistakable popularity contest dimension to the whole thing, the fact that Nick Trudeau made it in – known almost solely for his exceptional tournament performance with BHWC Landstill – lent some credibility to the process. What the winners could not have known at the time was that I was looking for just such a list to be nominated by the community.

Since this is going to be another marathon piece, let’s just get to it. Other than in a few obvious sections, all of my comments and questions are italicized below.

#1 Chris Coppola (“Machinus")

Chris, a longtime Vintage player, got into Legacy on the ground floor: September 2004, right after the Vintage list was separated from the format formerly known as “Type 1.5.” He is the creator of Angel Stax, an outspoken critic of the DCI and well-known as a player and developer of Goblins in Legacy, which had the distinction of being considered by many Legacy enthusiasts to be the “best deck” in the format. That torch may have passed to Hulk Flash or perhaps we’re all Chicken Littles. We’ll know soon enough.

"What have you been testing lately?"
At the moment I am testing Flash, just like everyone else.

Prior to that, I was testing two of my older decks, Angel Stax and Wildfire Stax. I am constantly tinkering with these decks. I was also testing Red Threshold (U/G/r) and Green Goblins.

Here’s the Wildfire Stax list that I was testing last month:

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
Flash’s degeneracy shocked me, and I’m still not sure which is best the best version. There are quite a few lists being used at the moment, and I haven’t been able to learn a new format in just two weeks.

I was pleasantly surprised that my most recent Wildfire Stax list had better match-ups against Goblins and Threshold, but that is not enough for a control deck. There is a wide variety of strategies in the format, and Stax cannot possibly answer all of them, so I am worried about playing it. There are now so many aggressive decks to worry about that a control deck like this cannot really be prepared.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
There are some very fast combo decks in the format now, and Goblins has some trouble dealing with them, even with strong anti-combo hate. Before Flash, I was skeptical about the viability of Goblins due to the huge amounts of hate that were being played, and now that combo has taken such a huge leap, it’s strengths are even less relevant.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
I am still trying to figure out what the Flash tournament environment is going to be like, and so I don’t know what strategy to take with my deck. I might not be able to make a confident decision about tech by the time the tournament starts, but it is likely that I will just play a version of Flash that I have the most practice with.

I was going to rely on my experience and play Goblins, hoping to dodge the hate I expected to see at the GP. I do not think it is the best deck for the tournament, but it still has a lot of power and it can do very well with what was a typical set of match-ups.

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
I am disappointed that the format has been reduced to what it is, but I am still going to play in this tournament. I hope all serious Legacy players will voice their concerns to the DCI about the management of the Legacy Banned list. I’m as frustrated as you, but don’t forget that the format is coming back next month.

Build your deck yourself, test it as much as you can, and overall be comfortable with its strategies for beating the popular decks. Practicing with your deck in a tournament environment is the best way to increase your chances of success. There are many good decks for players to choose from, but you have to have experience if you hope to do well.

#2 Dave Gearhart (“Deep6er”)

Dave Gearhart is no stranger to the Legacy community at large. His bombastic and ADD-addled shenanigans are well known and sometimes exaggerated for theatrical effect. Dave is a resident of Northern Virginia and is credited with designing the stack-breaking powerhouse known as “Solidarity” to some and “Reset High Tide” by me, just to piss him off. He has an impressive resume with this deck, including a 9th place finish at Legacy’s first Grand Prix: Philadelphia; a 4th place finish StarCityGames.com Duel for Duals I, 1st place at the Duel for Duals II, and 4th place at the Duel for Duals IV. Yes, StarCityGames.com events have been very kind to Dave. He’s also done well at a few other events that I don’t feel like listing. His total winnings with Solidarity include sixty (60) Revised dual lands, a Mox Sapphire among other stuff.

"What have you been testing lately?"
I’ve been doing a lot of Solidarity testing. Primarily, I’ve been exploring different color splashes to determine the merits and drawbacks of each one. "The Red Tide" came out of this, and so far, I’ve been happy with it. However, there’s always room for experimentation and I’ve gone through some truly bizarre configurations in search of the ever-elusive excellent Goblins / Threshold match-up version. I may have found it, but more testing needs to be done. However, I’ve also been testing a large number of decks of my own design in addition to some of the more interesting decks that catch my eye in various forums.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
Well, I’m notoriously secretive about things that I’m building, so this question is a little harder to answer. I’ll start by saying that of all the "Chalice Aggro" decks, I haven’t been impressed by a single one. I was really excited about "Junk Pile" which is a five-color deck utilizing the strongest creatures possible in all colors. However, it had the single most fragile manabase of any deck that I have ever played. Incidentally, it also had the most difficulty when it was on the draw. That may be true for just about any deck in the format, but being on the draw seemed particularly bad for it. Unfortunately, I scrapped the idea before I could get a truly accurate measure, so I could be wrong. However, credit goes to "Goblin Snowman" for an innovative idea. Also, I loved the idea of having an Ernham Djinn in play, then playing Armageddon and saying “Welcome to 1995!” Man, hilarious.

I’ve also been looking into the obligatory Fish-type decks. None of these have impressed because, inevitably, the creatures suck. Threshold is just a better version of Fish. Primarily though, it’s been Solidarity against Goblins. I’m currently going through a number of ideas to strengthen the Goblin match-up while maintaining an advantage against Threshold. Needless to say, it’s difficult.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
Well, I’m certainly leaning heavily towards taking Solidarity. Honestly, the likelihood is pretty close to 100%. However, I have been looking into other decks. I do want to say that I’ve honestly considered taking other decks, but then I’d be lying to you. So, in reality, the list of decks is Solidarity and the various incarnations of the splash builds.

"Any parting wisdom or the GP or the format?"
I know it’s certainly easy to look to Solidarity as evidence that rogue decks work in Legacy, but that was a stroke of luck. Honestly, I would recommend decks that have performed well in the recent past, and have solidified decklists. Save the weird ones for local tournaments. After you rack up enough testing (and wins) at your local tournaments, then you can spring it on an unsuspecting populace. However, I cannot in good conscience recommend bringing weird oddities to the Grand Prix. I won’t lie; I’d love to have a bunch of bad rogue decks to beat up.

#3 Mike Herbig (“herbig”)

Michael Herbig, who just began a two-year tour teaching computer and tech skills to teachers in the Philippines with the Peace Corp, will sadly not be able to attend the Grand Prix, but he’s had a lot of success piloting Solidarity, where he has gone on to split the finals at the first and second of Kadilak’s Dual Land Drafts with the deck.

"What have you been testing lately?"
I’ve been playing a lot of different decks. The recent results from large tournaments have shown that it is not only Goblins, Threshold and High Tide that can win consistently. Decks like TES, Red Death, Enchantress, and Belcher have put up good numbers and should be considered as contenders. I’ve also been trying out different builds of Solidarity. Since its creator, David Gearhart, unveiled his list splashing Red, people have begun suggesting all sorts of support colors for interesting ideas.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
The deck I’ve been the most impressed with lately is Goblin Charbelcher. The new CRET list is incredibly powerful and can dodge hate by virtue of speed and the fact that it has two distinct win conditions. In addition, as much as I hate to say it, Slivers may be a very competitive aggro-control deck.

For reference, here’s the CRET Belcher list, mentioned elsewhere in this articles, which won a GPT in Canada back in early April:

"Which has been unimpressive?"
My love of combo may bias my response, but I don’t think that aggro decks will have what it takes to compete at Columbus. If you’re not playing a deck that does something broken, you’re probably going to lose to one, and Lackey is pretty tame compared to the decks that are being played now.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
Sadly, I will not be able to attend the GP since I will be leaving in early May for a two-year stint in the Peace Corps. Were I to go, I would play a deck that is proven solid and that I have the most experience with, Solidarity. Since everyone loves reading deck lists and I’m not going anyways, I’ll share what I’ve been running lately:

This is more or less a standard Tide list, but one that I feel is very solid. By modern combo standards, High Tide is extremely slow, yet one of the allures to playing combo decks are their consistently strong aggro match-ups. I found myself losing too often to quick creature rushes, and not just from Goblins. Opt over Peek helps you find your missing pieces much faster than stuff like Twincast or Think Twice, while Mystical Tutor in the board can find Tide by turn 4 in those instances when you absolutely have to go off. It is also boarded in, along with both Echoing Truths, against decks running Empty the Warrens.

Spell Snare comes in against almost everything, as every card that you care about, aside from Arcane Lab, has a casting cost of two. I also feel that splashing a color is the wrong direction to take the deck, since losing a land drop to Wasteland can often be game. And besides, blue has all the tools you need for any situation.

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
Test a lot with your weapon of choice. Learning how your deck plays against the other cards in the format is key to recognizing optimal plays. It is also very important to play every competitive deck first hand, since knowing what your opponent’s deck is capable of will help tremendously when you are sitting across from it.

#4 Jesse (“Mad Zur”) & #5 Alix Hatfield (“Obfuscate Freely”)

The Hatfield brothers, Jesse and Alix, have also been into the format from the beginning. I recall battling them with long arguments and rebuttals on what a generally optimized Threshold list looks like, before we tacitly agreed to disagree on the whole Mental Note versus Portent debate and whether or not Meddling Mage belongs in the maindeck or anywhere else in the deck, for that matter. Nonetheless, I always appreciate good and thoughtful debate, especially when it’s supported by actual tournament performance. And, for that, I commend the Hatfield brothers for advancing and helping to popularize my favorite deck in the format.

When I approached Jesse and Alix for this Q&A, they had the novel idea of answering it together, which seemed cool to me.

“So, gentlemen, tell us about yourselves and your accomplishments in the format.”
Obfuscate Freely (Alix): My name is Alix Hatfield, and my brother Jesse and I have been playing competitive Magic together since Onslaught was released. My tournament successes include making the finals of the Grand Prix: Philadelphia Trial at the 2005 Nationals, as well as making Day 2 of that Grand Prix. I’ve also made Top 8 appearances in a handful of privately-run Legacy events over the past couple of years.

Mad Zur (Jesse): As far as deck design goes, we’ve been working on Gro/Threshold for the past two years. Our initial list with Quirion Dryad was the precursor to the later Virginian Threshold decks that we (along with several others) have been tuning ever since. Over that period of time, the deck has taken me to several Top 8s up and down the East Coast, though I also managed to place in a Duel for Duals with Solidarity.

"What have you been testing lately?"
OF: Since it has given us so much success in the past, we have both continued to work on Threshold. We have also spent quite a bit of time with Aluren. Aside from those two, we have also sleeved up The Epic Storm (TES), Faerie Stompy (FS), CAL/Aggro-Loam, Friggorid, Red Death, Enchantress, 9-Land Stompy, and various builds of Zoo.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
OF: Aluren surprised us. It isn’t as if the deck blew me away in testing; in fact, the first few times I tried playing it, its win ratio was pretty poor. However, Aluren is not very intuitive or easy to play. What eventually convinced me of Aluren’s merit is that my gradual improvement with it seemed to directly translate into wins. Never did it seem like Aluren lost many games to anything but my play mistakes. After making two Top 8 finishes with the deck in large tournaments, this is still true. I feel like perfect play would have gotten me into the semifinals of both events.

Threshold has also been impressive, although that never surprises us. Jesse finished in the Top 8 of Day 2 of The Mana Leak Open 2 with our new list, and virtually the same list carried me to a Top 8 berth just this weekend at Kadilak’s Dual Land Draft III.

MZ: I’ve been quite impressed with both Sensei’s Divining Top and Counterbalance in Threshold. We were initially concerned that Top might be too mana-intensive for the deck, particularly against Goblins, but it’s proven itself to be a great addition. It isn’t more difficult to support than the cantrip engine, and it gives the deck a much stronger late game. This actually helps a great deal against Goblins, and is crucial against any control deck. Adding Counterbalance gives the deck a permanent and easy to protect source of card advantage, which it can usually take advantage of against anything with enough one or two mana spells, which seems to be most decks in the format.

OF: The Epic Storm also impressed us, as it incorporates Empty the Warrens very well, and has several key advantages over IGGy Pop. However, some very preliminary experience with the more recent CRET Belcher list (listed above), as well as Brian Diefendorf’s first/second-place split at Kadilak’s DLD III with the deck, suggests that Belcher may be the format’s best fast combo deck, if not for Hulk Flash.

We’ve also been testing Red Death along with its creator, Anwar Ahmad, and his persistence with the deck has turned it into a real contender. Particularly, recent additions to the deck’s sideboard have finally managed to address the Goblins match, and to such a degree that I would strongly consider playing Red Death when preparing for a tournament.

MZ: We’ve done a little testing with CounterSliver as well, and it has strong potential. It seems less consistent than Threshold because it can’t run as much draw and it requires multiple creatures in play for it to be any good. But with a good draw it can create an extremely favorable board position rather quickly. Unless facing mass removal, it may have a better late game given that each creature makes the others better and the deck can eventually win in one or two turns with Winged Sliver. It’s similar to Threshold, but somewhat better against Goblins because of these factors and somewhat worse against combo and control because of its weaker draw engine, inability to generate a quick clock without multiple creatures, and vulnerability to mass removal.

“Of these, which have been unimpressive?”
OF: Personally, I’ve loved Faerie Stompy (FS) ever since Eldariel first posted it, and I’ve loved playing it since I had the chance to sleeve it up (Jesse has been less enthusiastic). Unfortunately, our experience with the deck in testing and in local tournaments has led us both to believe it just isn’t consistent enough to seriously consider for a major tournament. FS with a good draw can give almost any deck in the format a run for its money, but managing such a draw twice in three games, let alone over many rounds, is often too much to ask of the deck. Mulliganing into oblivion and losing to your own manabase are both incredibly frustrating ways to lose games of Magic, and the most prevalent deck in the format (Goblins) preys on inconsistency all too well.

CAL, Aggro-Loam, and similar decks have also disappointed us. Considering the success they have enjoyed in Extended, I won’t deny the power of Life from the Loam or most of the cards enabled by it. The problem is that decks utilizing these tools are by and large rather slow (by Legacy standards), and fairly inconsistent, due to very much wanting an opening hand with Life from the Loam. They are also hit pretty hard by graveyard hate, which makes them seem worse than Friggorid.

MZ: We’ve also worked on various aggro decks such as Zoo and Mono-Green Stompy, but they have been largely unimpressive. Zoo performed decently against Goblins and Threshold, but even the lists that tested best for us were not much better than 50/50 against either. Given that the deck is also going to be fighting an uphill battle against any combo deck, I can’t really recommend it.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
OF: Honestly, if the GP were tomorrow, I’d play the Protean Hulk–Flash combo, in some form. I haven’t really tested it that much, but I’d still play it. Threshold is about the only other choice I would seriously consider, in light of Hulk Flash. Before that, Aluren, Red Death, and CRET Belcher would have also been on the list.

MZ: I think the answer to that question might simply be Hulk Flash in a few days. Without any serious testing with it, however, I’d probably play Threshold. I’m not sure what the best Threshold list will be for the GP, but if I had to make a decision tomorrow, I would probably take our latest list and tweak it to have answers to Flash (at the very least by including Stifle in the board).

"Any parting wisdom or the GP or the format?"
OF: The Hulk Flash combo was brought to our attention via a friend at a GPT in Roanoke while we were at Kadilak’s DLD III on April 28th. That night, somebody in our group proxied up a rough build of the deck and started tearing through Goblins, Solidarity, and even Threshold. I won’t say anything more based on that limited data, but anyone going to the GP needs to be aware of this rather late development. Oh, and good luck to everyone who is going.

MZ: Before Hulk Flash, I would have stressed that Goblins is almost sure to be the most important match-up by far, and that anyone going to the GP should be extremely comfortable with their Goblins match-up. I think that advice may still hold true, but it’s very possible that the best way to have a comfortable Goblins match-up is to simply play Hulk Flash. If that deck truly is degenerate (which seems likely), it will be very interesting to see how popular it becomes by the GP.

So far, changes to the Legacy metagame have been slow or nonexistent. The recent developments in fast combo decks are probably among the most significant in a long period of time, but their numbers in tournaments have fallen short of what many have expected. Hulk Flash, however, threatens to completely dwarf previous developments. This deck actually has the potential to overtake Goblins in popularity, or push aggro-control to that level by its presence. It will be very interesting to see how Legacy players react to this new threat.

#6 Adam Barnello (“Mr. Nightmare”)

Adam Barnello, more prominently known as “Mr. Nightmare” around the Internet lives in Syracuse, New York and has made it to the finals of The Mana Leak Open I with White-Splash Threshold and had a Top 8 finish at The Mana Clash, a two-part tournament featuring a Legacy event and Vintage event together.

"What have you been testing lately?"
Most of my testing has revolved around Chalice of the Void decks, as I think the current metagame is ripe for Chalice. Between the uprising of combo, the low mana curves of aggro-control, and the lack of non-goblins aggro decks, Chalice for one or two hits a significant portion of the field. I’ve also put a lot of time into testing TES (The Epic Storm), as well as U/B Landstill (Duck Hunt), Aluren, and B/r Suicide (Red Death).

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
Survival has shown to be exceptionally strong in a metagame comprised of mostly aggro-control. What was most surprising to me was the adaptability of the deck for the combo match-up, which I expected to be a rout. Particularly, the decks splashing Black for maindeck Cabal Therapy, with Mesmeric Fiend and Duress post-board have a decent game against the combo decks I’ve tested. Another Survival build being worked on by my team has both a white and blue splash, which allows for maindeck Meddling Mages to battle the otherwise marginal combo match, and stop opposing mass removal spells.

Faerie Stompy has also been strong in testing, although it’s possibly the most draw-dependant deck I’ve ever played. I often find myself mulliganing down to five with it, and while it has excellent five card hands, I’d much rather keep seven. The build we’re testing splashes red for Flametongue Kavu, which is a card I’m particularly obsessed with right now, I think it’s amazing in the current metagame.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
I’ve tested out some pretty terrible decks, but most were so bad I had to stop playing them immediately. I tested a Sensei’s Divining Top / Locket of Yesterdays deck utilizing Artificer’s Intuition as a Survival-Like tutor engine. That sucked. I’ve played every incarnation of Stax I could find, and given up on the archetype; and the list goes on.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
I think its obvious to anyone who pays attention to the format that Hulk Flash is the deck to play. I don’t believe that this format has ever seen a deck as powerful, consistent, and fast as this one; and it would take a lot of convincing for me to play anything else.

The real question is which build to play. There are a few different kill choices, and a few other options, like the Green splash or not, and what disruption / protection package to run. I recently made Top 8 at GPT with a build I consider strictly inferior to the one I’m running now, but the power level of the combo itself is so high, it really doesn’t matter.

If for some crazy reason I decided not to play Flash, my second choice would be Landstill. Strangely enough, without this combo debacle, it would have been the deck I played anyway. It has a surprisingly excellent game against Flash (well, as good as any deck could expect to have), and has a good deal of success beating the rest of the relevant decks that it can expect to face. Fish has some trouble with it, and the decks that prey on Fish have to dedicate so much to keeping up with Flash that they often have trouble with Landstill too. I’d probably play the following build:

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
If you can’t beat Flash, play it. If you can’t get the cards for it in time, expect to lose to it. If you play Flash, figure out how to win the mirror.

You know, two weeks ago, I raved how excellent the format was, how open and exciting it was to play in a format where basically anything could win. I’m sad to see such a change happen at such an important time for the format. But right now, I look forward to seeing the impact of the new Bustedness, and I’m strangely eager to see what the GP will look like. Perhaps we’re all wrong. Perhaps we’ll find out on the 20th that Hulk Flash wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. A big part of me hopes so. Either way, this GP should be exciting.

#7 Anwar Ahmad (“AnwarA101”)

Anwar is another Legacy player from Northern Virginia (NoVA). He is credited with inventing and developing “Red Death,” Red/Black Suicide variant that you can read about in one of Machinus’ articles. His recent Top 8s in the format include making the quarterfinals of the SCG Duel for Duals III (Day Two); another at the GAGG Legacy tournament in Geneseo, NY in February 2007; and most recently on Day 1 of the Mana Leak Open II in March. All of these placements were made with his signature deck.

"What have you been testing lately?"
We spend a lot of time testing decks as a group here in Northern Virginia. The decks we test are all over the map, but my recent testing has been with Faerie Stompy, The Epic Storm (TES), CRET Belcher, Red Death, and most recently, Hulk Flash.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
I like the explosive nature of CRET Belcher, but after testing it against Landstill it seemed poor against a board control deck with counters and board sweepers. The deck just plans on going off turn 1 whether by Goblin Charbelcher or Empty the Warrens. The problem with that strategy, against Landstill, is that your Belcher can get Forced or your Empty the Warrens tokens can be taken out by Engineered Explosives, Engineered Plague, Wrath of God, or Damnation. Empty the Warrens is stronger against other blue decks like Threshold or Solidarity as having a ten or more goblin tokens, especially on turn 1, will often be game, because these decks usually lack a maindeck sweeper effect.

Faerie Stompy was surprisingly strong, as I had very little experience with deck before I acquired my Sea Drakes recently. Chalice of the Void is such a powerful card, especially when you can play it on your first turn. Not only does it deny your opponent his play that turn, but it can generate massive card advantage as your opponent may be playing multiple spells at one mana such as Threshold or Solidarity or at zero against The Epic Storm, IGGy Pop, and Belcher.

Since the Hulk Flash combo is so new, my testing with it is limited, but its power is undeniable. I would go so far as to say it looks to be broken in the sense that it seems to have an advantage against almost all of the decks currently in the format. The easy mana requirements (two mana to cast Flash) and needing only two cards in hand to win makes the combo fast and compact, allowing the rest of the deck to be tutors and protection. Unlike Belcher, which commits all of its resources to its combo, Hulk Flash has the luxury of playing both tutors and protection spells.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
I’m not very fond of Landstill. While I haven’t tested it directly, I have tested against it. It takes too long for it to win and it just spends too much time not doing anything. Fact or Fiction does generate card advantage but only very slowly. Standstill is conditional, especially with Aether Vial prevalent in the format. While it seems strong against non-Solidarity combo decks, I’m not convinced it’s particularly strong against Goblins.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
I would play Red Death, (see link above). I believe the deck is very good and I enjoy playing it. The two reasons are somewhat linked in my mind. I can’t do well with a deck that I don’t enjoy. I’ve played decks before that I didn’t particularly care for but I thought that they were good metagame choices and never did well. My belief is that I simply couldn’t do well with those decks because I lacked the confidence and enthusiasm that is required to play consistently well in a long tournament. It’s hard enough to play against opponents who are trying to beat you, but not believing in your deck is a burden too much to bear, at least for me.

My only reservation about playing Red Death at the GP is the introduction of Hulk Flash into the format. The warping effect of Hulk Flash can’t be fully known just yet, but I believe that it will be a dominant force at Columbus. Red Death as it currently exists doesn’t seem ready for it. Sinkhole is especially poor against a deck that needs only two mana to play its combo. Also, the sideboard doesn’t include any cards that are particularly good against the deck currently. If I don’t play Red Death, I’m not sure what I would play.

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
I don’t want to pretend that I have all the answers because I don’t. My advice for the Grand Prix would be to play a deck that you like and understand. You are bound to play against a deck you haven’t seen before and in those circumstances you will need to know your deck and how it can deal with different situations. Lastly, take a deep breath and have fun, this is a game after all. I hope to see you all in Columbus.

#8 Dan Spero (“Bardo”)

Yes, despite the fact that I live in the Pacific Northwest, far from the real tournament centers of the format (Northern Virginia, upstate New York, Southern California) I somehow made it onto the All Star roster myself. I’d like to think this has to do with my impressive 23-4-1 tournament record in 2006, all documented in long and winding tournament reports, that I achieved dominating the local Portland scene with U/G/w Threshold (mostly) and once each with U/B/g Psychatog (February) and Gro-A-Tog (September).

Let me just change around the POV for these questions and answer accordingly:

"What have I been testing lately?"
Mainly the decks that I covered in my Legacy Deck Bazaar article: Gro-a-Tog, U/G/w Threshold, U/B/g Landstill (Vorosh Control), The Trinket Mage Deck (since abandoned), and R/W/g Zoo (ditto). I’ve also been testing a white-splash Faerie Stompy list with Meddling Mage and Pride of the Clouds and a version of Chalice Affinity that splashes black for Disciple of the Vault in the maindeck and Cabal Therapy and Engineered Plague in the sideboard.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
The U/B/g Landstill has been testing phenomenally, solely on the back of Chalice of the Void, Vedalken Shackles, and Pernicious Deed – which together make for a monster deck. I’ve done a lot of tinkering with the deck since my Deck Bazaar article and have tested maindeck Sylvan Scrying, Crop Rotation and The Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale. Out of Future Sight, I’m tickled by Tolaria West, since it can find Pendrell Vale, Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void, Academy Ruins, Wasteland, a Factory, etc. while not breaking Standstill. The thing could be a bomb. In the worst case, it’s a bad Island with some gorgeous art.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
As brilliant as it looks on paper, I’ve been unimpressed with the Chalice Affinity list, Mono-Blue or with the Black splash. It gets some explosive starts, but a lot of the time it will empty its hand and be left with a board of mediocrity. Maybe I’m playing it wrong, because the deck looks great on paper, but it hasn’t panned out in a “This deck kicks ass!” sort of way, in my experience.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would I take and why would I choose it?"
I’d definitely take my signature deck, Threshold, which I know and love so well. Unfortunately, Tarmogoyf won’t be legal until the Grand Prix is over, so Werebear remains for now.

The anti-Goblins plan is still up in the air. Check out my Deck Bazaar article for alternatives, such as Honorable Passage, which is going to be worth a good story when you redirect damage from a massive Piledriver assault. For now, I’m back to Chill after being disappointed with Absolute Law. I’ll just hope that the Protean Hulk decks beat a path through Goblins for me. Actually, with its maindeck Meddling Magi and Stifles, Hulk Flash is one of the reasons to play Threshold at GP: Columbus – if you can dodge the graveyard hate. Admittedly, that’s a pretty big “if.” I’ve tested against a number of different builds and definitely have a winning record against the thing. Just watch out for ESG being played for mana in response to Daze. That is the veritable definition of a complete and utter bummer.

Spell Snare is my latest bit of tech and works admirable in taming Flash’s annoying cards (Flash, Lim-Dul’s Vault, Daze, etc.), being pure gold in the difficult B/W Confidant match (Hymn, Sinkhole, Confidant, Shade, Withered Wretch, etc.) and ranging from serviceable to good in the mirror and against Fish.

Another deck I built specifically for the Grand Prix is my recent redevelopment of Psychatog, a deck I’ve been tinkering with for the last eighteen months in Legacy.

The maindeck is straight U/B, but the Tropical Islands give it access to Berserk and Naturalize with Cunning Wish and Pernicious Deed in your sideboard games. A set of Engineered Plagues are ran in the main to fight off Goblins, Empty the Warrens tokens, Slivers, etc. Chalice of the Void makes it into yet another one of my decks, with Ancient Tomb to help power the thing out on your first turn. Tomb is also helpful in accelerating Shackles and Plague into play and for allowing you to cast Cunning Wish and Intuition earlier than usual. Diamond and Chrome Mox were also considered, though Tomb is not a source of card disadvantage and sticks around after you nuke the board with Deed. However, the ideas of battling through a sea of Leylines of the Void, maindeck or otherwise, makes me wonder just how viable Tog will be in the graveyard-hostile GP environment. It might be best to shelve this thing for the next couple of weeks.

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
Get a good night’s sleep, have plenty of bottled water on hand and pack loads of fresh fruit and high-protein snacks. Above all, have fun and don’t be a jerk.

#9 Jack Elgin (InfamousBearAssassin)

Jack, a.k.a. the InfamousBearAssassin on the Internet, is very well-known to the Legacy community at large, for good or ill. He’s had a few respectable Top 8 finishes with his own homebrewed control decks. Last year, Jack also won an Extended PTQ with his Helldozer Control deck (Train Wreck). Jack is also known for his creative deck construction: Rabid Wombat (a Mono-White control deck); Truffle Shuffle (B/G/w control), which Matt Abold took to the quarterfinals at the 2006 Legacy Worlds tournament; and the aforementioned Train Wreck, among others.

"What have you been testing lately?"
A bunch of stuff that became largely irrelevant when Flash got un-errata’d. I’m currently perfecting my own list for Protean Hulk–Flash–dubbed, of course, “Jack Flash”–although I’m not planning on playing it myself at the GP. It might be more efficient to play a hate deck, and U/B Fish has shown good results while being viable against most of the rest of the field. I’ve also been trying to tweak Landstill and various board control decks to be relevant–which is possible, but very difficult. Mono-Black Control with a heavy discard suite and Shadow of Doubt may be almost viable, and probably crushes Fish, as does U/B/G control with Pernicious Deed, discard and counters.

Jack posted his version of the Hulk Flash combo the other day:

Jack explains his version of the combo:

1. Cast Flash into Protean Hulk. Hulk trigger goes on the stack.

2. Put Carrion Feeder, Benevolent Bodyguard, and Body Snatcher into play. This protects you from Swords to Plowshares.

3. If you drew Karmic Guide or Kiki-Jiki, now you discard them to Body Snatcher. Otherwise you sacrifice Body Snatcher with the comes-into-play trigger on the stack, returning Protean Hulk.

4. Sacrifice Protean Hulk to Carrion Feeder. Go get Karmic Guide.

5. Karmic Guide returns Protean Hulk to play. Sacrifice the long-suffering Hulk to Carrion Feeder. Go get Kiki-Jiki

6. Have Kiki-Jiki target Karmic Guide. With the ability on the stack, but before it resolves, sacrifice Kiki-Jiki to Carrion Feeder.

7. Have the copy of Karmic Guide return Kiki-Jiki to play. Repeat the last two steps ad nauseam, until you have a billion 2/2 hasted flying Karmic Guides.

8. Savor the fruits of victory.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
With the hope of an emergency banning of Flash now out of the question, I’d say Landstill was the most underrated deck. Assuming that Flash remains legal, it will easily be the most dominant deck in the metagame, fighting even decks dedicated to hating it fairly well.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
TES, Goblins, Red Death. While promising in the old metagame, none of them are really able to compete with the speed and resiliency of Flash.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
Probably a build of U/B/g board control designed to hate on Flash; because I’m a die-hard romantic.

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
Try to beat the decks that hate on Hulk Flash, as well as beating the versions of Hulk-Flash that hate on decks that hate on Hulk Flash. But make sure that in doing this you don’t end up just losing to Hulk Flash.

Also, play either Blue or Black, preferably both.

#10 Nick Trudeau (nickvo$)

Nick Trudeau, a long-time member of Team BHWC, has impressive Legacy credentials: placing fourth at GenCon 2006 with BHWC Landstill, taking a Top 8 slot at StarCityGames.com Duel 4 Duals IV Day 1 in October 2006 (and 9th on Day 2 of that event), and placing 27th at Grand Prix: Philadelphia (November 2005).

"What have you been testing lately?"
My testing gauntlet for Columbus is as follows: Goblins, Threshold, Fish, B/x aggro decks (B/W Pikula, B/r Red Death), TES and IGGY Pop, Aluren, W/x aggro, G/R/b Survival and Enchantress.

"Of these decks, which has been most impressive, especially surprisingly so?"
The two decks I have been most impressed by are Threshold and Aluren. Threshold is amazingly resilient when played correctly and I find it winning match-ups that most people assume are losses, even in the face of multiple hate cards.

Aluren is the deck I have been most surprised by, reminding me of what Solidarity once was, in the sense that it can ignore most decks’ strategy, Force of Will one spell, and then combo out in a single turn. Oh, and Cabal Therapy is busted with Intuition.

"Which has been unimpressive?"
Angel Stompy has proven to be the least impressive. I wouldn’t categorize it as unplayable, I simply find that it doesn’t do anything amazing, nor can it prevent its opponents from doing something busted. It does seem to stomp most aggro though.

"If GP: Columbus were tomorrow, which deck would you take and why would you choose it?"
At present, I would probably lean towards Aluren, despite the fact that I’ve only been playing it for a month or so. It seems to have a great control package, and the sideboard I’ve been playing makes me feel unhampered by hate. Plus, winning in a single turn is definitely the way to go, none of that "glacial" speed winning (e.g. Landstill).

"Any parting wisdom on the GP or the format?"
I find the things players neglect the most are the things not related to Magic. Eat breakfast. Bring snacks. Sleep well. When I have done these things I always find myself going far deeper into tournaments than when I do not.

Passing thoughts on the Grand Prix and of Hulk Flash

To say that the emergence of Hulk Flash as an apparent heir to the “best deck” throne has created ripples and polarized the Legacy community is a mild understatement. I can’t recall seeing anything like it, other than the separation of the Vintage restricted list from Type 1.5 nearly three years ago, which was a shock to the community. When all is said and done in the next four days, we can begin to analyze the effect of Hulk Flash on Legacy and discover if we overreacted on this one or if the combo properly deserved the hype and attention it’s received.

I will say for certain that the deck is beatable. Maybe it’s just my predilection for playing and building decks that have an inherent strategic advantage over filthy combo decks, but my win percentages against a few HF variants in the past couple of weeks have been strong.

As Peter Jahn mentioned in his article last week, Meddling Mage is an enormous annoyance to the combo, as he is to most combo decks. Meddling Mage obviously doesn’t win you the game by itself, but he does have three important tactical effects once in play: 1) he demands that the combo deck divert resources away from its own selfish nature to find answers; 2) he buys you time to keep swinging with your other creatures and to draw into more disruption; and 3) he’s a clock in and of himself. Sure, Hulk Flash will be running some form of bounce or removal, but it still needs to find these cards and resolve them in time. Being forced to do so under heavy board pressure puts the combo deck in an awkward position of needing its pieces for its own ends and to interact with its opponent.

Leylines of the Void will be out in full force, as it effectively turns the combo off on turn 0, and Legacy has at its disposal the most efficient disruption in the history of the game. From the Jahn article, the results from the Ultimate Extended Tournament revealed that the non-interactive decks were eliminated in the early rounds. So, we’ll see and all, and I’m very curious what the format is going to look like after the Protean Hulk debacle, but I don’t think the sky is falling. Getting back to Leyline, playing a deck that has no reliance on its graveyard as a strategic resource would certainly not hurt. Something like a well-tuned two or three color Fish deck is not a bad place to start, such as the updated HanniFish:

The question remains, assuming that Flash remains Legacy-legal post-June 1, is whether Legacy will turn into a Rock-Paper-Scissor format; whereby the aggro-control decks (paper) beats combo (rock) but loses to aggro (scissor); aggro (scissor) beats aggro-control (paper) but loses to combo (rock); and where combo (rock) beats aggro (scissor), but loses to aggro-control (paper).

To all that are going, have fun. Finally, I extend many, many thanks to everyone who helped me put this article together.

Ciao.

Dan Spero
"Bardo" around the Internet
"Bardo Trout" in the SCG Forums
Team Reflection