New Level 3 Pro Steve Sadin rounds out his enlightening report from Worlds 2007 with a look at Legacy. He shares his thoughts on the deck that he and Zvi created for the event, plus his match walkthroughs and his ideas on the post-Worlds Legacy metagame. He also brings us a few insights on working with Zvi Mowshowitz…
Legacy at Worlds seems to be either the best or the worst thing to happen to the format, depending on who you talk to. Kevin Binswanger goes through the issues and the metagame and tries to make the case that Wizards is on the right track to a Legacy Pro Tour, as long as Legacy regulars can accept a few missteps.
With Day 2 of Worlds concentrating on the Legacy format, it was a chance for the pro community to flex their Eternal muscles. While Tiago Chan was out of contention for Top 8 glory by the time Legacy rolled around, his deck decision process and testing is worthy of our attention. Today he talks us through his Legacy preparation before moving onto the tournament proper. Enjoy!
For the final article in Zvi’s “My Worlds†Tournament Report, Zvi walks us through each of his Legacy matches in turn, sharing the highs and the lows with his usual charm and skill. With an overall record of 11-5, the Hall of Famer has officially re-caught the Magic bug, and we hope to see many more articles in the future!
We’re up to part 4… and that means Legacy preparation! Going into Worlds, Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz, aided admirably by Legacy Grand Prix winner Steve Sadin, looked to crack the format wide open. Zvi reveals all about his Legacy thought process going into the event, and shares the list that he proclaims as the Best Deck in Legacy bar none!
[Part 1 – Standard Preparation] – [Part 2 – Draft Preparation]
[Part 3 – Drafting With Zvi]
Angel Stax returns to Legacy! New cards and changes in the metagame have created an opportunity for this Control strategy to succeed. Christopher Coppola discusses some recent performances and provides an up to date decklist.
What’s going on over the pond? Doug takes a look at several large-attendance Legacy events in Europe and beyond, highlighting new decks like Doran Aggro and interesting twists on old ones like Faerie Stompy. Join him as he scours results for tech and discusses its adaptability in the American metagame. Then, pull it all together with metagame analysis that spans continents!
As this goes to electronic print we’ll have seen Standard play out at Worlds. Half of the drafting will be completed as well, leaving only one draft and five rounds of Legacy standing between us and the cut to Top 8. Legacy is an interesting beast, and one left unrecognized in the public spotlight since Flash decks did in fact break the metagame. The question has been asked repeatedly just what the differences will be when you let the “Pros” at the metagame, and we’re about to find out.
The key to success in any competitive endeavor is the Will to Win. This is a disposition of the mind to overcome obstacles, maximize incremental advantage and prevail victorious in the face of unfavorable odds. It is, in essence, a psychological mindset. A positive attitude to win comes more naturally to some people than others, but everyone has bad days and winning in the long run requires a certain mental training in this area.
I have tried to follow hunches and ideas in decks even when they are ludicrous or go against the conventional wisdom. The most frequent result is utter junk; it turns out that conventional wisdom can be pretty wise. Sometimes I get interesting results, or better yet I get some new and useful deck. The most recent and interesting experiments involved Faerie Stompy and Goblins, and I want to share some things I learned.
Christopher Coppola describes the development process of Threshold during the last few months, both due to format changes and strong new cards. He also reports on his finals split from Day 2 of the Mana Leak Open III, and introduces the new Black Threshold deck.
When in the course of deckbuilding, sometimes you end up stepping back from your project and asking why you’re even trying to make a new deck. Players get all sorts of satisfaction out of Magic, and much of that can come from tinkering with new ideas. Timmy, Johnny and Spike all get a chance to play. I admit that all three kids come play with me when I want to make something new. Do I want to play with ridiculous cards like Mindslaver, Timmy asks? Spike wants me to beat everyone in the room. But I succumb the opiate whispers of Johnny, telling me that together, we can be clever.
I decided this month I would take a stab at whittling away all the baggage that comes along with being a Legacy player, and try to take an objective view of the format. I’ve gone out to the frightening wilderness known as Friday Night Magic, in order to interview some of the local non-Eternal players, hopefully to get an appreciation of what the outsiders’ perception of the format is.
Lorwyn cards are legal now, and it seems like no one cares. Newer sets tend to have less of an impact on Legacy rather than older sets. Future Sight brought us the format sweeping Tarmogoyf, so Lorwyn is a letdown by comparison. Personally I tend to find the sets like Lorwyn more intriguing for Legacy. I’ve been going through Lorwyn looking for cards that are better than people give them credit, based on the experiences I picked up looking at other formats and judging. I also put some of the new Lorwyn cards to the test in Goblins.
Today, Chris talks about the combo season that never came, and where the Combo archetype is currently sat. He also discusses the effect this has had on Goblins and what that deck might look like post-Lorwyn.
