Vintage Avant-Garde – Looking Local: Wednesday Night Legacy

In 2010, the popularity of the Legacy format continued to not only thrive, but also to grow by leaps and bounds. On the one hand, Legacy’s ascent
seems to be related to the fact that it has received the support of large-scale tournament venues—particularly, the StarCityGames.com Open Series
and also in the form of multiple Grand Prix tournaments. It’s certainly true that a good barometer of a format’s health is high attendance at
marquee events, but perhaps an even better indicator of format popularity is to see how well tournaments draw at the local level.

Legacy’s rise to popularity started at the grassroots level at hobby and game stores, gained a tremendous local following, and thus grew into a
format that literally needed, perhaps demanded, large-scale tournament support to facilitate the format’s growing and
enthusiastic population.

In this article, I’m going to pay homage to the humble roots of Legacy by going back to the genesis of the whole thing—I’m going to cover a
local Wednesday night Legacy tournament at the local hobby store “Get Your Game On” in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The store hosts a sanctioned
Legacy tournament every Wednesday evening that regularly draws 25-35 local Legacy enthusiasts to compete for “Eternal Glory.”

Local tournaments are always an interesting locus to examine in a format like Legacy for a plethora of reasons. Firstly, local or regional metagames
are always at least slightly different from what one would expect at a large-scale event like a SCG Open—sometimes they can even be warped by
what individuals expect even a few of the stronger players to be shuffling up on any given day.

More importantly than focusing on metagame drift or skew, perhaps the most vital thing we might learn about Legacy by looking at a local event is
emergent technology. Many times, players will experiment with rogue decks or technology at the smaller local tournaments in order to get some real-life
testing to see if their brew or tech works and is worthy of an include at a Grand Prix or Legacy Open.

In this article, I’m going to feature a match from the tournament from each round, as well as include the decklists that each player piloted.

So, with that being said—let’s see some matches:

Round 1: Ghandi Jagasia (Zoo) vs. Brandon Nagley (Goblins)

Round one sets up an interesting match with local ringer Ghandi Jagasia facing off against Brandon Nagley. The two shuffle up, and Ghandi wins the die
roll and elects to be on the play.

Game One:

Both players keep their hands. Ghandi starts the action off by playing Wooded Foothills, fetching a Taiga and playing Wild Nacatl.

On Brandon’s turn, he answers back with a Mountain followed by a Goblin Lackey and then passes.

Ghandi fetches a Plateau with a Windswept Heath and then casts Chain Lightning to kill the Goblin Lackey. With the path cleared, he attacks uncontested
with Wild Nacatl dropping Brandon to 17.

On Brandon’s turn, he can’t find a second land and is forced to pass the turn without adding anything to the battlefield and passes the
action back to his opponent.

On Ghandi’s turn, he adds a Steppe Lynx to the battlefield and swings with his Wild Nacatl. At the end of the turn a Tarfire from Brandon sends
the Lynx to the graveyard.

Brandon again misses his land drop on his turn and has no play. On Ghandi’s next turn he beats again with the Nacatl and drops a Knight of the
Reliquary—with the writing basically on the wall Brandon concedes.

Ghandi leads 1-0.

Game Two:

Brandon, who is now on the play, takes a mulligan to six and starts out with a Mountain.

Ghandi answers back by fetching a Plateau and casting a Grim Lavamancer that meets a quick fiery death to an end of turn Tarfire.

On Brandon’s turn he adds a second Mountain to the battlefield and passes.

Ghandi plays Treetop Village into play tapped and casts a second Lavamancer.

Brandon plays a third Mountain and casts Blood Moon, and in response Ghandi scowls.

Ghandi has no play on his next turn except for an attack for one with his Lavamancer.

Brandon plays a forth land, and then casts Goblin Warchief followed by a now hasty Goblin Lackey and then enters into his attack step. The two gobos
connect and the Goblin Lackey trigger puts a Siege-Gang Commander onto the battlefield.

Ghandi plays an Arid Mesa (aka Mountain) and goes into the tank for a moment. He decides to activate his Grim Lavamancer to dome Brandon. After the
doming has commenced Ghandi casts Volcanic Fallout killing all of the creatures on the board.

Both players play “Draw-go” for a turn apiece, before Brandon top-decks Goblin Matron, which searches for a Tuktuk the Explorer. Since he
doesn’t have enough mana to cast it, he passes the turn.

Ghandi draws and plays a Windswept Heath and passes the turn.

Brandon plays Tuktuk the Explorer and attacks for two. Brandon casts Goblin Grenade Sacrificing his Tuktuk to dome Ghandi, and for his trouble he gets
a 5/5.

Ghandi still has no plays on his turn—as he appears to be completely locked out of the game by Brandon’s Blood Moon.

Brandon tries to alpha strike with his 5/5 token and the Goblin Matron, but Ghandi still has a trick or two left up his sleeve; he bolts the token and
then casts Volcanic Fallout to kill both attackers away everything. However, Ghandi’s next turn is less than productive as he can’t cast
any of his spells because of the Moon.

Brandon’s deck yields another Tuktuk, The Explorer and the beats are on.

Ghandi, unable to cast his spells because of the Blood Moon draws, checks his hand, and says: “I’ve seen enough,” and they move on to
game three.

Match tied up at 1-1

Game Three:

Ghandi is on the play and keeps his opening seven, while Brandon is forced to Paris down to six cards on the draw.

Ghandi leads with Taiga into Wild Nacatl.

Brandon plays Mountain and casts Mogg Fanatic.

Ghandi plays a Wooded Foothills and searches for a Plateau. He taps both lands to cast Qasali Pridemage and then attacks with Wild Nacatl which because
of the Pridemage’s Exalted trigger is 4/4. Brandon falls to 16 life.

Brandon adds a second Mountain and casts a Mogg War Marshal.

Ghandi doesn’t play a land pre-combat and elects to attack with his Pridemage and Nacatl. Brandon blocks the Nacatl with the War Marshal and
takes two, dropping to 14. Post-combat Ghandi plays a Wooded Foothills and cast Tarmogoyf.

Brandon plays a Mountain and cycles Gempalm Incinerator to kill the Tarmogoyf. He then attacks with one of his Goblin tokens. After combat Brandon
casts Goblin Grenade, sacrificing the tapped token to deal five to Ghandi, knocking him down to 13.

Ghandi attacks with Pridemage and Nacatl. Brandon blocks with Fanatic on the Nacatl and sacrifices it to do one to Ghandi. Ghandi then plays a Grim
Lavamancer and passes.

Brandon plays Tuktuk the Explorer and passes, leaving it back on defense.

On Ghandi’s turn he makes an attack with Nacatl and Pridemage. Brandon blocks both with Tuktuk and a token, and gets a 5/5 token from the slain
Explorer. Post-combat, Ghandi plays Steppe Lynx and still has an uncracked fetchland still on the board.

Brandon attacks with the 5/5 token and Ghandi chump blocks with the Steppe Lynx. On Brandon’s end step, Ghandi activates Grim Lavamancer to deal
two to Brandon.

Ghandi attacks with uncontested Wild Nacatl and Pridemage, which drops Brandon’s life total to five. A Grim Lavamancer activation brings Brandon
to 3 life and a Lightning Helix finishes him off.

Ghandi defeats Brandon 2-1.

Round 2: Mark Biller (BUG Tempo) vs. Jon Wasko (Storm Combo)

Some of you may have heard of Mark Biller—he’s an old-time Vintage player from way back in the day (like five years ago…). He won
Vintage Champs and has long since retired from Magic. Anyways, we met up for a drink earlier in the afternoon, and I mentioned the article, that I
wasn’t playing because I was going to be writing, and that I had a BUG Tempo deck full of exactly the type of cards he usually enjoys playing.
Long story short, Mark couldn’t resist playing Brainstorm and Force of Will in a tournament for free (buying in off my store credit), which is
one of the cool things about random local events—you never know who is going to randomly drop in to battle.

Game One:

Both players joke about not cracking under the pressure of a “feature match” while they are shuffling up and roll to see who is on the
play. Mark wins the roll.

Both players keep their opening seven.

Mark leads off with Underground Sea and fires off a Thoughtseize. Jon reveals Gemstone Mine, Gemstone Mine, City of Brass, Brainstorm, Ponder, Dark
Ritual, and Thoughtseize. Mark takes Thoughtseize.

Jon plays Gemstone Mine and casts a Ponder and elects to shuffle his deck instead of leaving any on top—then passes.

On Mark’s second turn he plays Tropical Island and casts a Dark Confidant before passing the turn.

Jon plays a second Gemstone Mine and casts a Brainstorm and thinks for a moment while resolving the one-mana blue instant, then passes the turn.

Mark’s Dark Confidant reveals a Spell Pierce and then goes into the attack zone. In the second main phase, Mark casts Preordain. He decides he
likes both cards and then plays Misty Rainforest before passing.

On Jon’s turn, he plays Ponder off the Gemstone Mine, which Mark allows and then plays a Polluted Delta. He then uses another Gemstone Mine to
cast Dark Ritual. In response, Mark cracks his Misty Rainforest to fetch out an Underground Sea. Underground Sea taps to cast Spell Pierce which
counters Dark Ritual. Jon keeps up the pressure fetching out his own Underground Sea and casting a second Dark Ritual—which is met with a second
Spell Pierce from Biller. Out of mana, Jon is forced to end his turn without inflicting much damage.

Mark reveals Vendilion Clique to Dark Confidant and attacks with his Dark Confidant. Second main phase, he plays a Polluted Delta and fetches a
Tropical Island and taps out for Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Jace resolves, and Mark uses the powerful planeswalker to Brainstorm and passes.

The next turn Jon leads off in his main phase by casting a Rite of Flame. Mark considers his options for a moment before Force of Willing the mana
spell. Jon then casts two Lotus Petals and casts Empty the Warrens with four storm. Mark, annoyed at himself for not Dazing the Lotus Petal opts to
Daze one of the storm copies so Jon will get only 8 Goblins instead of 10.

On Mark’s turn, Bob flips Tarmogoyf, which he casts; he then uses Jace to bounce one of Jon’s tokens and passes.

On Jon’s turn, he attacks with seven tokens which are met by blocks from Bob and Goyf. From the attack Mark drops to four life.

On Mark’s turn he again uses his Jace to bounce a token. He then casts a Birds of Paradise and Vendilion Cliques targeting himself to shuffle
away a Daze.

On Jon’s turn, he has no plays and passes the turn.

Sensing that the tide might be changing, Mark uses his Jace to Brainstorm. After the Jacestorm, he casts Preordain and ships the two cards he sees to
the bottom to draw a fresh one. He then casts Dark Confidant. Finally he attacks with Vendilion Clique and passes.

On Jon’s turn, he has no plays. On Jon’s end step, Mark casts Brainstorm.

Life totals are Mark is at 4, and Jon is at 11.

Mark reveals Wasteland to Dark Confidant and again attacks with Clique dropping Jon’s life total to 8. Mark plays Wasteland and a second copy of
Birds of Paradise, followed by a second copy of Tarmogoyf. After casting his creatures, Mark then plays and uses Wasteland to strip away Jon’s
Underground Sea. It seems to have been a productive turn.

On Jon’s turn he casts Burning Wish using his City of Brass and depleting his last Gemstone Mine counter and drops to 7 life in the process. Mark
casts Force of Will on the Wish pitching another Force of Will dropping to 3.

Mark reveals yet another Wasteland to his Bob. In his main phase he Brainstorms again with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. He plays Wasteland and attacks. He
sends in two Goyfs and a Clique. Jon chumps with two Goblins, before conceding the match.

Mark leads (1-0)

Game Two:

Jon Wasco studies his seven cards for a moment before deciding they are not good enough to keep, and then indicates that he is taking a mulligan. Mark
elects to keep his opening seven. After taking six Jon once again comes up short and is forced to Paris down to a five-card hand.

Jon has no play on his first turn and passes, ouch.

On Mark’s turn he plays a Verdant Catacomb, fetching up an Underground Sea, and fires off Thoughtseize.

Mark sees: Lotus Petal, Orim’s Chant, Chrome Mox, Tendrils, and Brainstorm.

Mark takes the Tendrils of Agony and passes.

Jon plays a Lotus Petal and passes.

Mark plays another Thoughtseize. Jon sacrifices Lotus Petal to Brainstorm in response. Mark takes a Burning Wish. Then plays a Wasteland.

Both players play “draw-go” for a really long time, but Mark is able to keep Jon’s ability to go off under control through a slew of
well-timed Thoughtseizes and Extirpates that were functionally Thoughtseizes. What ended up happening was that Mark couldn’t draw a green mana
source for about seven consecutive turns and only had one Underground Sea to make plays with. Eventually Mark drew a Tropical Island and used it to
cast Tarmogoyf which he used to end the game exactly on the fifth turn of turns.

Mark wins 2-0

Round 3: Jason Golembiewski (The Rock) vs. Drew Baxter (B/W Agro)

Drew wins the die roll and both players keep their seven card starters.

Drew leads off with Swamp and plays Inquisition of Kozilek. The Inquisition reveals Jason’s hand to be:

Cabal Therapy, Pernicious Deed, Sun Titan, Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, and Eternal Witness. The Witness is binned and the turn
ends.

Jason plays Verdant Catacombs and fetches out a Bayou and fires off his own hand disruption spell, Cabal Therapy, which names Hymn to Tourach.

Drew’s hand is: Wasteland, Spectral Lynx, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Stoneforge Mystic, and Dark Confidant. No Hymn to Tourach, so the Therapy fails.

Drew plays a Wasteland and drops a Dark Confidant on his turn.

Jason plays a second Verdant Catacombs and fetches for Swamp. After fetching Jason casts Sakura Tribe Elder.

Drew reveals Aether Vial to Bob. On his main phases he plays Wasteland and casts the Vial and passes. Jason elects not to sacrifice the elder.

On Jason’s turn he attacks with the Tribe Elder and then plays a Marsh Flats. The Flats finds a Savannah to cast a freshly drawn Eternal Witness,
which in turn returns the other Eternal Witness. Then Jason sacrifices the Witness to flashback Cabal Therapy to knock the Spectral Lynx out of
Drew’s hand.

On Drew’s upkeep his Bob reveals a Swamp and his Aether Vial charges up to one counter. Drew has no plays in main phase one, Dark Confidant
attacks for two, and Wasteland destroys Savannah. Drew plays a Swamp in his second main and uses his other Wasteland to destroy Jason’s Bayou. On
Drew’s end step Sakura Tribe Elder gets sacrificed to find a Forest into play tapped.

On Jason’s turn a new Marsh Flats enters play and finds Plains. Jason then taps out to cast Pernicious Deed, and passes.

On Drew’s turn the Aether Vial goes up to two and Dark Confidant reveals another Aether Vial. Drew attacks with his Confidant, plays a Wasteland
and passes.

On Jason’s turn he casts Cabal Therapy and in response Drew considers his options for a moment before letting it resolve. Jason names Stoneforge
Mystic which he knows is in Drew’s hand. After Therapy resolves he blows up the Deed for two destroying Vial and Bob.

On Drew’s turn he casts Aether Vial and passes.

Jason has no plays on his turn.

Drew puts Vial up to 1.

Jason plays a Swamp.

Drew puts Vial up to 2. On his turn, he Inquisitions of Kozilek away an Eternal Witness.

Jason finally draws a second green source, Bayou, and uses it to cast the second Witness in his hand—which returns Pernicious Deed. Jason then
flashes back Therapy with the Witness. In response to Therapy Drew Vials down a Jotun Grunt. Jason names and hits Tidehollow Sculler.

Drew pays the Grunt’s upkeep and leaves Vial at 2. He then attacks with Grunt dropping Jason to 12 and passes the turn.

On Jason’s turn he replays the Deed that Witness had brought back the turn before and passes with two mana up.

Once again Grunt’s upkeep is paid and Vial remains on two during Drew’s upkeep. Grunt charges into the red zone for four more damage
dropping Jason to 8 life. No more plays follow from Drew and on his end step Jason activates Pernicious Deed paying two killing Drew’s Vial and
Grunt.

On Jason’s turn he Thoughtseizes Drew seeing: Swords to Plowshares, Stoneforge Mystic, Jotun Grunt, Gatekeeper of Malakir. He chooses to take
Swords to Plowshares and drops to two life and one card in hand before passing the turn.

On Drew’s turn he plays another Jotun Grunt.

On Jason’s turn he taps out to cast Sun Titan retrieving Pernicious Deed—but is dead to the Gatekeeper of Malakir in Drew’s hand that
he can cast on the following turn to allow Jotun Grunt to swing on through.

Interestingly enough, the Grunt’s upkeep had shuffled all of Jason’s Eternal Witnesses back into his deck—whereas if that
hadn’t happened he would have been able to Sun Titan back a Witness to sacrifice to the Gatekeeper and possibly win.

Drew wins.

Game Two:

Jason is on the play and both players elect to keep their openers.

Jason uses Marsh Flats to fetch out a Swamp and taps it to cast Thoughtseize.

Drew’s hand is: Wasteland, Urborg, Aether Vial, Swords to Plowshares, Extirpate, Tidehollow Sculler, and Tidehollow Sculler. Jason chooses Aether
Vial and passes.

Drew opens up with Urborg—and comments that Jason’s Swamp is now a Swamp.

Jason plays a Bayou and plays Cabal Therapy hitting both of Drew’s Tidehollow Scullers. Jason then plays another Cabal Therapy and takes
Drew’s Swords to Plowshares. At the end of Jason’s Turn Drew casts Extirpate targeting Cabal Therapy.

Drew plays Wasteland and passes.

On Jason’s turn he casts Sakura Tribe Elder. Then plays Verdant Catacombs fetching a Forest and plays a Sensei’s Diving Top.

On Drew’s turn he plays Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author] and passes.

On Jason’s turn Sakura Tribe Elder attacks. Second main phase Jason spins his Top and taps it to draw playing Kitchen Finks.

Top is replayed and Tribe Elder and Finks both attack.

On Drew’s Turn he casts Swords on the Finks and passes.

On Jason’s turn he casts Eternal Witness and gets back a Verdant Catacombs. Then he attacks with the Sakura Tribe Elder.

On Drew’s turn he casts Dark Confidant and then Wastelands Jason’s Bayou. Jason exclaims: “I know what you are trying to do…
Not let me get to Titan Mana!”

On Jason’s turn the beats continue but nothing new is added to the board.

On Drew’s turn he Swords to Plowshares the Eternal Witness.

On Drew’s turn he attacks with Elder and plays another Elder.

On Drew’s turn no plays. Jason has plays on Drew’s end step: Catacombs for Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]. Then Tops. Then fetches for another Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]. He then
sacrifices both Tribe Elders to search out Forest and Plains.

Jason untaps plays Sun Titan which gets back the freshly dead Sakura Tribe Elder. Game over—wah, wah, wah, waaaaaaah.

Jason wins.

Game Three:

Drew is on the play once again.

Drew leads off with Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author] and passes.

Jason fetches for a Swamp and casts Cabal Therapy naming Dark Confidant.

Tidehollow Sculler, Extirpate, Extirpate, Urborg, Wasteland, Plains. At the end of the turn Extirpate predictably takes out Jason’s Cabal
Therapy. Jason’s hand was: Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author], Swords, Eternal Witness, Savannah, Kitchen Finks, Forest.

Drew draws for the turn and plays Plains during his turn and passes.

Jason plays Forest and passes.

Drew plays Wasteland and casts Tidehollow Skull he drew off the top. The Sculler strips away Swords to Plowshares from Jason’s hand.

Jason peels another Swords to Plowshares, and plays his Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author], then uses the instant on the Tidehollow Sculler. Drew’s Wasteland destroys
Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author] and it passes back to Drew.

Drew plays Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and passes.

Jason plays Savannah and casts Kitchen Finks going to 21 life and passes.

Drew casts Wasteland and uses it to bin Jason’s Savannah. He then plays a Tidehollow Sculler seeing: Marsh Flats, Witness, Finks and Swords. He
takes Swords.

On Jason’s turn Finks attacks and is blocked with Sculler. Both trade, but with the Persist trigger on the stack Drew Extirpates
Finks—stopping its return to the battlefield. Second main-phase Jason plays Marsh Flats and gets a Bayou and casts Witness. The Witness brings
back Swords to Plowshares and the turn is over.

On Drew’s turn he plays Inquisition of Kozilek and takes Pernicious Deed.

Jason’s turn he attacks with Witness and plays a Verdant Catacombs.

On Drew’s turn he casts Aether Vial and passes.

On Jason’s turn he attacks Drew down to 18 with Witness and passes.

Drew has no plays on his turn.

Witness continues the beats down to 16, 14, 12, as both players do nothing else but play lands. Finally Drew rips a Swords to plowshares and uses it to
kill the Witness.

Jason peels a second Witness which brings back a Deed—as time is called in the round.

Time is called in the round and it is pretty clear neither player can actually win and the game ends in a tie.

Tie (1-1)

Round 4: Vivek Soi (Goblins) vs. Trevor Grish (Zoo)

Both players shuffle up knowing that the winner will lock up Top 8 and the loser will not make it. Trevor wins the die roll and elects to take the
play.

Trevor keeps his opening seven, and Vivek thinks hard and decides not to keep his—he reveals Goblin Lackey and Siege-Gang Commander before
shuffling them away in hopes of a better six. Trevor knows what Vivek is playing, so not much information is lost by showing. Vivek likes his six and
keeps.

On the first turn Trevor Windswept Heaths for a Savannah and uses it to quickly cast Mother of Ruins and passes.

Vivek leads with Mountain into Aether Vial before passing.

Trevor’s second turn sees him drop to 18 off of a Wooded Foothills activation to snag a Taiga from his deck which is used to dump two Wild
Nacatls onto the board.

On Vivek’s turn a Bloodstained Mire fetches Swamp. He then casts a Warren Weirding that hits a Nacatl.

Trevor plays Wasteland which has no targets since Vivek has Mountain and Swamp in play. The Nacatl beats in for three, and then Trevor taps out to cast
Sword of Light and Shadow.

Vivek plays Bloodstained Mire and powers his Vial up to two.

On Trevor’s turn he equips his Sword of Light and Shadow to his Wild Kitty and attacks. Vivek Vials in a Mogg War Marshal and blocks the Nacatl
with the Marshal and gains a token by way of its death.

Vivek powers Vial up to three, and plays a Port. He then attacks with a Goblin token. The Mother declines to block.

During Trevor’s upkeep Port taps down a Savannah leaving Trevor with only a Wasteland and a Savannah. Nacatl attacks and is blocked by a Goblin
Token. Trevor plays Plains. Trevor then taps out to play Knight of the Reliquary. Vivek end of turn Vials down a Goblin Matron—which tutors up a
Goblin Ringleader.

On Vivek’s turn Vial predictably goes up to four counters. Vivek Vials down his Ringleader which nets him a Siege-Gang Commander and another Mogg
War Marshal. He casts the War Marshal and passes his turn.

No Rishadan Port activation on Trevor’s upkeep allows him full use of his mana during his turn. Trevor plays Wooded Foothills and goes into the
tank for a moment before entering his attack step. He taps Mother to give his Nacatl wearing the Sword of Light and Shadow protection from red. Vivek
responds to the Mother’s ability by cycling Gempalm Incinerator with five Goblins in play targeting the 5/5 Nacatl. Trevor responds to
Vivek’s Incinerator by casting Lightning Helix on Goblin Ringleader, making the Gempalm’s ability only deal four damage. The Nacatl swings
in and gets back three life as well as a Nacatl.

On Vivek’s turn, Vial goes up to five and Siege-Gang enters the battlefield. A token gets sacrificed to kill the tapped Mother of Runes. At the
end of the turn Trevor fetches, casts Path to Exiles on the Siege-Gang Commander, activates Knight of the Reliquary to find a fetch land, and then
fetches again. Knight is now +5/+5, and is a 7/7.

Trevor untaps and considers his lines of attack. “You have seven guys!” He comments looking at Vivek’s 7 tiny Goblins. He then
attacks with his entire team. Two Nacatls (one with a Sword) and a Knight. Vivek chumps the two big ones and drops to seven life.

On Vivek’s turn he casts Warren Weirding which kills a Nacatl. Next he casts Goblin Warchief and moves to his attack step, sending three tokens
and the Chief into the red zone and leaving two tokens and a Matron back. Trevor’s life total drops to 17. After that he has no more plays and
passes. Trevor attacks with his 7/7 Knight and the Sword wielding Nacatl, which are both chumped. He then passes.

On Vivek’s turn, he casts Goblin Lackey and Goblin Chieftain and attacks Trevor down to 10, being sure to leave back ample blockers in case
Trevor has two removal spells to force through his lethal fatties.

On Trevor’s turn he rips the best possible card, Umezawa’s Jitte, and equips it to the Nacatl and attacks. A Token chumps the kitty, but the
Jitte gets two counters.

Vivek has no plays on his turn and passes—Trevor has end of turn tricks, as it bolts down the Chieftain and Jitte’s down a Lackey leaving
Vivek with only two chump blockers.

Trevor swings in and Vivek has no choice but to double chump—thus complicating his Jitte problem. To make things even worse Kird Ape joined the
fray and picked up the Jitte.

Vivek draws for his turn but is completely dominated by the huge monsters that will demand blocks for the rest of the game and the active and
overpowering Umezawa’s Jitte. Trevor wins.

Trevor leads (1-0)

Before the game starts, Vivek asks for “One time the Goblin nut draw!” as the two are shuffling up for the second game. Time is a big
factor in this game, as there are only 12 minutes left in the round and in order for Vivek to make top eight he needs to take two games from Trevor in
twelve—a steep challenge no doubt.

Vivek opts to take the play and looks at his opening seven and quickly keeps. Trevor is not so fortunate and is forced to take a mulligan, but likes
his six on the draw.

Vivek opens up with Mountain-go, while Trevor fetches up a Taiga and uses it to cast a Kird Ape on his first turn.

Vivek has a second land but no play on two.

Trevor fetches again falling to 18 life, this time finding a Savannah, which casts Umezawa’s Jitte. Second main phase Trevor casts Umezawa’s Jitte.

Vivek again has no play on three.

Jitte gets equipped to the lone creature on the board, Kird Ape, which swings in putting two counters onto the powerful legendary equipment.

On Vivek’s turn he fetches up a basic Swamp and Warren Weirding aways (say that three times fast) the lone Ape. He is done after that.

Trevor finally draws a third land and uses it to cast another Ape, and then a Tarmogoyf.

Vivek finds a forth land, Badlands, and uses it to cast Tuktuk Scrapper, which kills the Jitte. Trevor gains four life in response and Vivek passes
tapped out.

Trevor’s turn he fetches for a Plains, and checks to see how big Goyf is—it’s a 5/6, Creature, Land, Tribal, Artifact, Land, Sorcery.
The team charges in and the Scrapper chumps Goyf—Vivek drops to 12 life. A second Tarmogoyf hits the battlefield on Trevor’s side.

On Vivek’s turn he plays Goblin Warchief and Goblin Sharpshooter and passes the turn.

Trevor Helixes Sharpshooter, then Bolts Warchief, and attacks for lethal.

Trevor wins 2-0.

Top Eight

1.      Ghandi Jagasia (Zoo) vs. Michael Antrim (Aggro Loam)

2.      The one guy who didn’t want to be part of the article (Landstill) vs. Jay Bennett (B/W Control)

3.      Trevor Grish (Zoo) vs. Jason Golembiewski (The Rock)

4.      Mark Biller (B/U/G Tempo) vs. Jacob Marek (Enchantress)

Top Eight Quarterfinals

Mark Biller (BUG TEMPO) vs. Jacob Marek (Enchantress)

Mark Biller wins the die roll and elects to be on the play.

Mark opens up with Tropical Island and Birds of Paradise.

Jacob cracks a Windswept Heath and gets a Forest and enchants it with Wild Growth.

Mark casts Preordain off of his Tropical Island and leaves both cards on top. Next he plays Swamp and passes the turn.

On Jacob’s turn he plays Savannah and casts a Utopia Sprawl on his already Enchanted Forest. He names White. He then taps his forest for GGW and
casts Sterling Grove with one green floating. Mark allows it to resolve. Jacob then casts another Utopia Sprawl on his forest, names green, and passes
with three cards left in hand.

On Mark’s turn he plays Misty Rainforest and passes the turn.

After Jacob draws for his turn Mark flashes in a Vendilion Clique which sees: Enchantress Presence, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Sterling Grove and
Serra’s Sanctum. Jacob plays Serra’s Sanctum and taps it to cast Sigil of the Empty Throne, which resolves. He then casts Sterling Grove
making an Angel Token, and Utopia Sprawl making an Angel Token, and passes with two angels in play.

Mark concedes.

Jacob leads 1-0

Game two:

Mark is on the play and keeps his opening seven cards while Jacob opts to take a mulligan. The six don’t appear any better—and Jacob drops
down to five. A lucky break for Mark.

Mark opens up with a fetchland finding Tropical Island and uses it to cast Preordain, he likes both of the cards on top and passes.

Jacob plays Forest and passes.

Mark plays Swamp and casts Dark Confidant.

Jacob plays Forest.

Mark reveals Brainstorm to Dark Confidant and then attacks with the Wizard for two. He adds Underground Sea and Nihil Spellbomb to his board.

Jacob plays a third Forest and passes.

Mark reveals Underground Sea to Bob. Attacks Jacob down to 16 with Confidant and plays Verdant Catacombs.

Jacob plays Enchantress Presence, which is countered by Mark’s Spell Pierce.

Mark reveals Wasteland on his upkeep. Dark Confidant attacks Jacob’s life total down to 14. He then plays Verdant Catacombs and casts Jace, the
Mind Sculptor—opting to Brainstorm. Next he fetches for an Underground Sea and Thoughtseizes. He takes Jacobs only spell, Wild
Growth—leaving him with three lands in hand.

Jacob plays Forest and passes.

Mark reveals Polluted Delta to Bob. Jacob falls down to 12. Mark adds Tarmogoyf to the mix, and Brainstorms with Jace.

Jacob plays another Forest.

Mark, thanks to Jace, reveals yet another land to Bob. Goyf and Bob hit Jacob. Jace gets Brainy-stormy, and the turn ends.

Jacob says “Are you a Moat?” as he flips his top card over… “Nope.” So, we move on to a third and final game.

Game three:

This game was actually pretty awesome to watch, well played on both sides and tightly contested.

Jacob and his Enchantress deck are on the play, and both players keep their opening seven.

Jacob fetches out a Forest and plays Wild Growth.

Mark plays Underground Sea and passes.

Jacob plays Forest and plays an Argothian Enchantress. Mark plays Force of Will pitching a Brainstorm.

Mark plays Bayou and plays a Nihil Spellbomb and then passes.

Jacob plays Serra’s Sanctum and casts Enchantresses Presence, and has no more plays after that.

Mark Wastelands the Serra’s Sanctum and Jacob taps it in response to Enlightened Tutor for a second Enchantress Presence.

Jacob casts the second Presence. Mark uses his Spellbomb to draw a card in response and remove Jacob’s graveyard from the game. Then he
Brainstorms. Presence resolves and Jacob draws a card.

On Mark’s turn he plays Polluted Delta and uses it to search out a Tropical Island. Next he Preordains, scrying away both cards. Next he plays
Tarmogoyf, and passes.

Jacob has no plays on his turn as he is cut off from white mana.

Mark’s Tarmogoyf attacks Jacob down to 14.  Mark casts Preordain leaving both on top and casts Dark Confidant.

Jacob peels a Savannah and casts Solitary Confinement, draws two cards from his double Presence and passes.

Mark reveals Brainstorm to his Dark Confidant. Main phase he casts his Brainstorm.  Next he plays Misty Rainforest and fetches out a Tropical
Island. He next plays Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Brainstorms, and passes.

Jacob discards and pays for confinement. On his turn he casts Sterling Grove, Elephant Grass, Utopia Sprawl, and Utopia Sprawl—drawing 8 cards
from his Enchantress Presences!

Mark reveals Polluted Delta to Dark Confidant. Next he Brainstorms with his Jace the Mind Sculptor, then plays another land, and adds a second Dark
Confidant to the board and is forced to pass the turn.

On Jacob’s turn he chooses not to pay for Elephant Grass, but does pay for Solitary Confinement. In his main phase he plays Sigil of the Empty
Throne, which gets countered by a Force of Will from Mark pitching a Jace. Jacob’s next play is Words of War. Then he passes. Mark fetches at the
end of Jacob’s turn.

Mark’s pair of Dark Confidants reveals a Spell Pierce and a Nihil Spellbomb. During his turn Mark Brainstorms with his Jace, the Mind Sculptor
desperately looking for a Pernicious Deed to crawl back into the game. He finds one. Mark plays Pernicious Deed, and blows it up for three destroying
all of Jacob’s Enchantments. To top it off, he plays Wasteland and taps it for a mana and then to complete the comeback casts a Nihil Spellbomb
with an Underground Sea up to protect himself from a possible Replenish.

Jacob goes into the tank. He plays Enchantress Presence, Wild Growth, Mirri’s Guile, Utopia Sprawl, and passes.

On Mark’s turn he chooses the Brainstorm option of Jace for the fourth consecutive turn. Mark plays a Thoughtseize which sees: Sterling Grove,
Elephant Grass, Moat, Solitary Confinement, and Argothian Enchantress. He takes the Enchantress. Then Krosan Grips the Enchantress Presence. Lastly, he
plays Misty Rainforest, and passes.

Jacob Mirri’s Guiles on his upkeep, and after he has drawn Mark Vendilion Cliques him. Jacob has drawn Replenish. Mark takes Sterling Grove.
 Jacob plays Replenish which is met with Nihil Spellbomb + pay a black to draw a card. Jacob plays Moat and passes the turn back to Mark.

Vendilion Clique attacks Jacob down to 12. Mark keeps Jace busy, once again using it to Brainstorm, and then passes the turn.

On Jacob’s turn he casts two Elephant Grass and passes, leaving him with just two cards left in hand.

Mark pays four to attack Jacob with his Clique down to 9 through two Elephant Grasses, then during his second main phase he uses Jace, the Mind
Sculptor to once again Brainstorm. By the way, now the sixth time Mark has Brainstormed with Jace.

Jacob pays for both of his Elephant Grass, but has no further plays.

Mark mixes things up this time by Brainstorming (seven times Brainstorm with Jace) before attacking with his Clique—nonetheless the result is the
same the Clique connects and Jacob falls to 6.

Jacob continues to pay for his Elephant Grasses. On his turn he casts Sterling Grove, which Mark Force of Wills.

Mark Thoughtseizes Jacob, taking his Solitary Confinement. Then he attacks with his Clique knocking Jacob down to 3. After the attack is over he once
again uses Jace, the Mind Sculptor to Brainstorm.  

Jacob does not pay for Elephant Grass, does not draw a Replenish, and concedes.  

In the end, the top four elected to prize split the prize pool, as it was going on eleven o’clock and two more rounds would have kept people at
the store for another two hours.

Three of the players who made top four were people that I had done feature matches on during the Swiss rounds: obviously Mark with BUG Tempo, but also
Ghandi Jagasia with Zoo and Trevor Grish with Zoo—the other deck that made top four was “guy who didn’t want to be part of the
article” with Landstill.

All in all, it was a fun and relaxing evening at the game store—and I would definitely say that everybody who attended the event had a pretty
excellent time. I’d like to thank Get Your Game On for having me at their store and letting me Get My Legacy Coverage On. Also, I’d like to
thank all of the players at the event that shared their deck lists with me and let me watch their matches at the event.

One of the best things about Magic is hanging out with cool people and just playing some cards for a couple of hours on some random weeknight. Local
Legacy tournaments are clearly a great place to accomplish such a thing. Hope you enjoyed the article and maybe I’ll see you around at the game
store for some Legacy next week.

Cheers,

Brian DeMars