AuthorDoug Linn

Tuesday, June 8th – What’s beefier and more filling than a Philly cheesesteak sandwich? Sixteen hot, steamy new Legacy decklists from this weekend’s StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Philadelphia! You don’t need to fight over Pat’s or Geno’s to figure out what decks topped out this weekend. From sleek Zoo to hearty Lands, a variety of decks made the cutoff with lots of new tech and interesting innovations. Check out this week’s Legacy’s Allure for a full run-down on what to expect for your Legacy summer!

Monday, May 31st – Doomsday has always been at the fringes of Legacy, setting up precise Storm combo stacks and killing opponents with Tendrils of Agony. It retains standard storm kills with Ill-Gotten Gains and Infernal Tutors, giving it more flexibility. Now, thanks to Doomsday’s library thinning effect, players can trigger Shelldock Isle easily to cast a giant spell. What giant spell would be worthwhile to cast in Legacy? What about Emrakul, the Aeons Torn! Check out this week’s article to see how to get giant monsters and lethal storm counts in Magic’s best format!

Monday, May 24th – This week, Doug brings an interesting, original and innovative deck running Upheaval alongside some very old and powerful cards. Find out how to exploit the Stronghold classic Horn of Greed and how a Zendikar uncommon is the key to this Blue-Green deck that aims to reset the board two or three times in a game. You’ll see how the engine works, get rules information regarding how to utilize parts of the deck effectively, and suggested avenues for developing the deck in the future. Don’t miss this chance to read about how to use Upheaval, one of the most powerful cards in Magic, in one of the game’s most popular formats!

Monday, May 17th – One of the format’s oldest decks has been quietly putting up great results recently. In this week’s article, Doug looks at why Goblins is doing well and how to effectively play the deck against the top decks of the format. Find out why Goblins isn’t really an aggro deck and how it can compete with decks like Zoo in a fast, furious format. See why Goblins can contend with Reanimator, the big dog in the room, thanks to good mana denial and an incredible pile of Edict effects. Get the scoop on one of the iconic and still affordable decks in Legacy!

Wednesday, May 12th – One of the fastest and most devastating decks in Legacy, Reanimator morphs into a different animal when faced with a mirror match. With symmetrical cards like Show and Tell or Exhume, it is easy to help an opponent out while executing your game plan. In this article, Doug goes over the common card interactions and illustrates how cards like Entomb change how mirror matches are played out. Find out why you shouldn’t side out all those big monsters and why your Show and Tells depend on your Duresses, all in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Monday, May 3rd – The Legacy market for cards is increasingly driven by speculation and overnight price jumps. This week, Doug tells you his system for evaluating potential profitable cards and how you can use it to supplement your Legacy budget. Find out how to get the scoop on up and coming cards and see for yourself whether they’re hot or just hype. Packed full of real-life examples of historical card profit opportunities, this article will inform you on how to free-roll your next Legacy deck.

Monday, April 26th – Want a killer Legacy deck for under a $150? This week, Doug crunches the numbers on Dredge to find out what the most common cards are in the deck. Find out the true differences between the lists that run Lion’s Eye Diamond and those that skip it. Get the consensus best number of Dredge enablers and learn how many Dread Returns to pack in your deck. Doug assembles this information into a composite Dredge list based on the successful lists he analyzed, presenting the format’s secret budget deck in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Tuesday, April 20th – Rise of the Eldrazi has provided some truly potent monsters to cheat into play, and this week, Doug reviews the best ways to get use out of these pounders. Find out what black sorcery looks like Time Walk and how levelers will influence aggressive strategies in the format. What decks can best utilize cards like Vengevine? How do we get Emrakul, The Aeons Torn, onto the battlefield for annihilation? Find out in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Tuesday, April 13th – In the second half of his Deck Tech article on the fascinating Blue Lands strategy in Legacy, Doug looks at how to sideboard against the most popular decks in the format. While he usually brings in the same four or five cards every time, what he takes out for them might surprise you! Finds out when Lands is the aggressor and when it has to slow-roll an opponent. Consider how Rishadan Port slows down Reanimator and why Smokestack beats up on CounterTop decks. Get specific and detailed sideboarding advice, along with mulligan tips and sample hands, in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Tuesday, April 6th – This week, Doug kicks off the first half of a two-part look at Blue Lands, a recent variant of the 43 Lands archetype that’s been demonstrating excellent performance lately. In this article, see how different lands complement each other and learn whether Mindslavering an opponent is a playable strategy in Legacy. Get the lowdown on getting the most out of your tutors and how to craft an effective sideboard in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Wednesday, March 31st – This week, Doug looks into the card vaults and pulls out five cards that are underutilized or just unloved in Legacy. Get a look at a card that can stop attackers forever, one that will make all of your board sweepers better, and a card that will be a lot better with Rise of Eldrazi! All these and more in an article that promises to get you thinking about new tricks and tips when you’re building your next deck. Warning: Contains Spoilers.

Friday, March 26th – With Wizards’ change in the Reserved List last week, nearly all discussion on the Reserved List’s legitimacy was quashed and it looks like it’s set to forever effect Eternal formats. This week, Doug looks at the impact this will have on Legacy and what can be done to soften its blow. Due to the matter of bannings and unbannings has come up in discussion through official channels, Doug also considers the opportune times to change and examine the list so as to have the best impact on the format while not hampering pre-scheduled tournaments. Get this and more in this week’s policy-oriented Legacy’s Allure!

Tuesday, March 16th – This past weekend, Indianapolis showed the revival of decks that want to play more than four turns in a game, with a multitude of interesting control decks showing up at the final tables. This week, take a look at the lists that went to bat against Reanimator, Goblins, Merfolk and the other aggressive, fast decks in Legacy and see how they did it with Engineered Explosives, Thopter Foundry, Gatekeeper of Malakir and more! Also, get Doug’s pick for the hot metagame deck, a potential ringer because of a weakness in the metagame against a certain Mirrodin artifact. All this and more in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Wednesday, March 10th – Your opponent, on their first turn, casts a Dark Ritual, followed by a Thoughtseize, Entomb for Iona, Shield of Emeria, and then Reanimate. Welcome to the New Legacy, with the scariest deck of the moment being Reanimator. This week, Doug looks at how Reanimator works and the most effective lines of play for stopping the deck. Find out why you need to combine hate cards and how to get the most out of your limited sideboard space in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!

Friday, March 5th – This weekend, half a world apart from one another, Legacy players met in Richmond, Virginia and Madrid, Spain to duel in Legacy. Though the format hosts a boggling variety of decks, a miraculous thing happened – almost the same playoffs happened in both events! Check out Doug’s analysis of the newest Zoo lists, which made up a full quarter of the field, and get the story on now Natural Order is the crowned king of Threshold decks. See the hottest decks in Legacy in this week’s column!