Jason's MTG Deck Notes

Hello! My name is Jason and I'm a Legacy player and tournament organizer from Arizona. In this blog I'll post random decklists (mostly Legacy) that pop into my head. I make no claim that the decks are competitive, but I find them to be fun thought experiments (especially budget ones). If you actually are interested in buying into or playing one of these decks, contact me on Twitter at @mtgtwin1 and I'll tune it with you to make sure we can get it right within your budget and competitive level! Also feel free to ask me anything, especially Legacy related. I love talking about Legacy! Follow me on Twitter: @mtgtwin1 Check out my Magic: the Gathering site (mainly catering to Arizona folk): AZMagicPlayers

[mtgdeckblog]

Aetherworks Marvel in Legacy

Been awhile since I posted here. Wonder if it would work? As usual, list is untested. I just don’t know how consistent it would be to get six energy so I erred on the side of caution by including more cards that generate energy like Aether Theorist and Dynavolt Tower, but they may not be necessary.

Creatures - 7 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 3 Aether Theorist

Spells - 32 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 2 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Woodweaver's Puzzleknot 4 Aetherworks Marvel 4 Show and Tell 4 Force of Will 2 Sensei's Divining Top 2 Dynavolt Tower 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands - 21 4 Aether Hub 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Tropical Island 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Scalding Tarn 1 Forest 2 Island

[mtgdeckblog]

Clues in Legacy

Clues plus Smokestack or Tangle Wire is an intriguing, if cute, interaction in Legacy. Throw in the fact that saccing a Clue to Smokestack (should) trigger all of the “whenever you sacrifice a clue” clause in many Shadows Over Innistrad cards, we’re talking about a lot of value. Tireless Tracker seems like the best card to generate clues, so I took a little page out of the Sylvan Plug lists for something similar:

Creatures - 11 4 Tireless Tracker 2 Obstinate Baloth 1 Deathrite Shaman 1 The Gitrog Monster 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth 1 Courser of Kruphix 1 Reclamation Sage

Spells - 26 4 Green Sun's Zenith 2 Mox Diamond 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Smokestack 3 Tangle Wire 2 Crucible of Worlds 4 Abrupt Decay 2 Life from the Loam 1 Sylvan Library

Lands - 23 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Windswept Heath 3 Forest 1 Swamp 4 Bayou 4 Ancient Tomb 2 Wasteland 1 Dryad Arbor

Sacrificing Clues to Smokestack triggers Tireless Tracker, sacrificing lands to Smokestack triggers The Gitrog Monster, Titania, Courser helps you hit land drops...etc etc. A ton of value going on in this deck!

[mtgdeckblog]

Thought-Knot Stax

Eldrazi decks are all the new rage for Modern and Legacy. However, rather than going all-in on the Eldrazi theme, I wonder if we try to slot in the most disruptive of the Eldrazi (Thought-Knot Seer) into Stax.

Creatures - 13 4 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Thought-Knot Seer 4 Lodestone Golem 1 Phyrexian Metamorph Spells - 23 4 Mox Diamond 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Trinisphere 3 Crucible of Worlds 3 Smokestack 3 Ratchet Bomb 2 Dismember Lands - 24 4 Ancient Tomb 4 City of Traitors 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Wasteland 2 Buried Ruin 2 Horizon Canopy 2 Wastes 2 Rishadan Port 

It’s possible that the Eldrazi deck is just better due to its explosiveness. But Thought-Knot Seer is a solid card I expect to see moving forward in 12-Post lists, MUD, or any deck featuring Ancient Tomb.

[mtgdeckblog]

23rd at SCG Regionals with Naya Burn

Creatures - 17 4 Wild Nacatl 4 Goblin Guide 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 1 Grim Lavamancer

Spells - 23 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Lava Spike 4 Rift Bolt 4 Searing Blaze 4 Atarka's Command 3 Boros Charm

Lands 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Wooded Foothills 2 Arid Mesa 3 Copperline Gorge 3 Sacred Foundry 2 Stomping Ground

Sideboard 3 Destructive Revelry 3 Path to Exile 3 Deflecting Palm 3 Kor Firewalker 2 Molten Rain 1 Exquisite Firecraft

Not really a very interesting tournament - what Burn deck is? But it got the job done and I can’t complain.

Round 1 - UWR Geist - Win 2-1

Round 2 - UR Delver - Win 2-1

Round 3 - Merfolk - Win 2-1

Round 4 - Little Zoo - Lose 1-2

Round 5 - UWR Geist - Win 2-0

Round 6 - Junk - Lose 1-2

Round 7 - Tron - Win 2-0

Round 8 - Tron - Win 2-0

Round 9 - Burn - ID to guarantee Top 32

I had not played against Tron with Burn before, but I did not realize how bad of a matchup it was for them. I steamrolled both Tron matches in about 15-20 minutes collectively. I didn’t see Wurmcoil Engine at all though, but I saw Karn Liberated do...nothing.

Overall, the deck is fine - it shocks itself a lot though and that was problematic in the Merfolk & Little Zoo matchups especially. I added the Wild Nacatls at the last minute and I think it was a good addition - it gave the deck another good one drop, though it did make the mana a little more awkward.

[mtgdeckblog]

Top 8 PPTQ with Mar-doo-doo

So yes, I am still playing Mardu. Still don’t want to shell out for the Jaces (despite loving how the Jeskai decks look like how they play out, I can’t bring myself to buy Jaces given how few events I can actually play these days). Finally, after a poor showing with Mardu Green...Dragons (don’t ask) last weekend, I decided to finally cut the Dragons from my deck in favor of cards that actually are better by themselves.

Creatures - 15 4 Soulfire Grand Master 2 Hangarback Walker 1 Eldrazi Displacer 3 Thought-Knot Seer 3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar Spells - 19 4 Fiery Impulse 4 Crackling Doom 2 Painful Truths 2 Kolaghan's Command 1 Mardu Charm 1 Roast 1 Read the Bones 1 Murderous Cut 1 Ruinous Path 1 Utter End 1 Chandra, Flamecaller Lands - 26 4 Nomad Outpost 2 Needle Spires 3 Shambling Vent 4 Bloodstained Mire 3 Mountain 1 Swamp 1 Smoldering Marsh 3 Caves of Koilos 4 Battlefield Forge 1 Blighted Fen Sideboard 2 Flaying Tendrils 2 Outpost Siege 2 Infinite Obliteration 2 Hallowed Moonlight 2 Self-Inflicted Wound 2 Duress 2 Arashin Cleric 1 Transgress the Mind

As much as I wanted to play Mardu Green (with Siege Rhinos), I hated the mana last week so I decided that back to straight Mardu would be right for me. Removing the Thunderbreak Regents made room for Thought-Knot Seer - which was perfect with the painland manabase. I ended up cutting the 2 Haven of the Spirit Dragons (which were colorless sources for Thought-Knot also) for two more colorless sources - a 4th Battlefield Forge and a Blighted Fen.

Thought-Knot Seers were great. I loved them all day. A Vendilion Clique that hits hard and also doesn’t die to every removal spell underneath the sun was absolutely great.  The Eldrazi Displacer was also fantastic, allowing me to lock a GR Eldrazi player with Thought-Knot, and also blinking Goblin Dark-Dwellers was awesome too.

Chandra was also fantastic - she pretty much does everything. She’s versatile - in aggro she’s a sweeper but against control she turns dead cards into live ones (ideally), or clocks them. I would not mind playing a second, though maybe if I need an extra slot I’d play Linvala.

Mardu Charm was great too. One was the right number for this card, but the versatility of the card was awesome - especially with Goblin Dark-Dwellers, since it basically makes Dark-Dwellers into a Thought-Knot, Pia & Kiraan, or Flametongue Kavu based on the situation.

Here are the rounds I played (there were 50 or so players present)

Round 1: Mardu Green - 2-1 WIN

Round 2: Jeskai Black - 2-1 WIN

Round 3: 4c Rally - 1-1-1 DRAW

Round 4: GR Eldrazi - 1-2 LOSS

Round 5: BW Tokens - 2-0 WIN

Round 6: Atarka Red - 2-1 WIN

Top 8: Esper Dragons - 1-2 LOSS

I probably need to play a Kalitas in place of a Hallowed Moonlight; in fact, the sideboard probably needs some work but I was very happy with the maindeck. It’s a shame that this PPTQ is the last one I’ll be able to play in for awhile.

[mtgdeckblog]

UR Atarka Delver

Sometimes I wonder how aggressive Delver shells can really be. This one seems intriguing:

Creatures - 14 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Monastery Swiftspear 3 Stormchaser Mage 3 Young Pyromancer Spells - 29 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 2 Preordain 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Force of Will 2 Atarka's Command 2 Become Immense 2 Gut Shot 1 Mutagenic Growth Lands - 17 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Volcanic Island 3 Tropical Island 1 Island 1 Mountain

A bunch of free spells to help pump prowess & Pyromancer tokens, then either Atarka’s Command or Become Immense the opponent out of the game. 

[mtgdeckblog]

Geist Zoo

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big fan of Zoo. I spent a little time last year working on Hatebear Zoo, but here’s another take on Zoo as well - splashing blue for Geist of Saint Traft.

Creatures - 24 4 Wild Nacatl 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Geist of Saint Traft 3 Bloodbraid Elf 3 Qasali Pridemage 2 Ghor-Clan Rampager Spells - 14 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Path to Exile 2 Sylvan Library 2 Hammer of Porphoros 2 Domri Rade Lands - 22 4 Wooded Foothills 4 Windswept Heath 3 Arid Mesa 3 Taiga 2 Plateau 1 Savannah 1 Tropical Island 1 Volcanic Island 1 Tundra 1 Forest 1 Karakas

Not exactly unique, since it was a Modern deck before, but I think Bloodbraid Elf -> Geist of Saint Traft is a pretty insane cascade (especially with Hammer of Porphoros in play. Hammer of Porphoros also gives the deck game against Miracles, and splashing a bit of blue can also give the deck counterspells in the sideboard against combo decks.

Thoughts on Zoo in Legacy?

[mtgdeckblog]

Legacy Brewfest Deck #3: Young Frankenstein

Legacy Brewfest Post Here

Deck #3: Young Frankenstein

Creatures - 12 4 Young Pyromancer 4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 3 Griselbrand 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Spells - 2 4 Brainstorm 3 Ponder 3 Gitaxian Probe 4 Force of Will 4 Entomb 4 Reanimate 3 Exhume 3 Cabal Therapy 2 Lightning Bolt 1 Dread Return Lands - 17 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Polluted Delta 3 Volcanic Island 3 Underground Sea 1 Badlands 1 Swamp 1 Island 1 Mountain Sideboard 3 Pyroblast 1 Izzet Staticaster 1 Flusterstorm 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Pithing Needle 2 Vendilion Clique 2 Thoughtseize 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria 1 Ashen Rider

Overview

This isn’t exactly a brew. I wrote about it here and a couple of SCG Grinders played an older version of it. I simply updated it for a new card: Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy.

It’s a great card! I would not be surprised to see this card see more play in Legacy, especially those decks that are land-light enough to not play the Mind Sculptor.

The obvious synergy with the Reanimator package is a discard outlet for the reanimate target. But there’s also a sweet interaction with Jace - and that’s the interaction with Entomb. You can use the Entomb as a tutor for Jace’s flashback, such as grabbing a Bolt to kill your opponent or problematic creature. With Young Pyromancer, you can even use Entomb as a reanimate spell! Yes, the one-of Dread Return. And you thought only Dredge would play that card!

Results

I lent this deck out for the Brewfest. I did test it at other times though. Death and Taxes seemed problematic from what I saw.

Thoughts

The dual threat nature of this deck can really catch people off guard. It looks like a Grixis Delver deck sometimes, but then it just reanimates a Griselbrand and kills you that way. Or it can look like a Reanimator deck and your opponent feels safe behind their Deathrite Shamans, then you just play Young Pyromancer and flood the board with tokens. Sometimes they are forced to use their Deathrite Shaman for mana to fight the Pyromancer menace, then that leaves it open to reanimate a fatty. It’s really a solid game plan and Jace tied the deck together. He gives you a lot of versatility with your cards and helps both game plans.

I think this deck has potential, but a couple of changes might be needed.

Since the deck is trying to be fast, fetching basics tend to slow the deck down a lot, especially since you need double black a lot of the time (Entomb + Reanimate same turn). More blue cards might be necessary to make Force of Will better. Also, another discard outlet would be nice (preferably a card that allows you to discard/reanimate same turn, like Careful Study).

[mtgdeckblog]

Atarka Affinity

Atarka’s Command has seen play in Standard and Modern, but there aren’t a whole lot of places for it in Legacy. Here’s a possible attempt at it:

Creatures - 22 4 Signal Pest 4 Memnite 4 Ornithopter 4 Vault Skirge 2 Etched Champion 4 Arcbound Ravager Spells - 22 4 Springleaf Drum 4 Mox Opal 4 Cranial Plating 4 Atarka's Command 4 Kuldotha Rebirth 2 Galvanic Blast Lands - 16 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Glimmervoid or Mana Confluence 4 Tree of Tales 4 Great Furnace

Kuldotha Red was a thing in Standard back in the day, so adding that card in plus Atarka’s Command in Affinity seems pretty cool. Signal Pest has always been a great card in Affinity, so adding an additional anthem effect in Atarka’s Command is pretty cool. Plus you get the reach of Galvanic Blast too.

You also fall prey to fewer artifact destruction effects if you go this way. Ancient Grudge may ruin going all in on Cranial Plating, but it sure as hell won’t stop Atarka’s Command that well. It also helps combat the Batterskull problem a little bit, since you can stop them from gaining life when blocking.

[mtgdeckblog]

Legacy Brewfest Deck #2: Black Beatdown

Legacy Brewfest Post Here

Deck #2: Black Beatdown (no I don’t have a better name for this)

Creatures - 17 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Phyrexian Obliterator 4 Desecration Demon 3 Gurmag Angler 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang Spells - 22 3 Thoughtseize 4 Hymn to Tourach 1 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Dark Ritual 3 Phyrexian Arena 3 Liliana of the Veil 4 Abrupt Decay 1 Murderous Cut 1 Maelstrom Pulse Lands - 19 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Polluted Delta 1 Bloodstained Mire 4 Swamp 3 Bayou 3 Wasteland Sideboard 2 Toxic Deluge 2 Duress 2 Pithing Needle 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Umezawa's Jitte 2 Disfigure 1 Engineered Plague 1 Life from the Loam 1 Darkblast

Overview

This deck originally started off as a budget deck design (see the list here), but I decided not to be restricted by the budget, so I went a little deeper on the green for Abrupt Decay. Dark Ritual was also added to make the deck more explosive.

Yes, Wasteland is in the deck despite Phyrexian Obliterator. With Dark Ritual and Deathrite Shaman, I felt that getting four black may not be all that difficult.

Results

Unfortunately I didn’t play this deck the whole time (lent out to a couple of people). Either way, the deck is relatively easy to play. Disrupt your opponent, drop a beater, then win.

Storm: 2-1

Miracles: 1-2

UW Stoneblade: 2-0

BUG Delver: ??? (played a lot of games, I think this was about even)

Thoughts

I actually thought this deck was pretty good. It was like a slightly faster version of Jund, but missing land drops hurt a lot (especially since the curve is higher than Jund). Liliana was also very good against this deck.

I initially thought that the deck couldn’t run Dark Confidant because of the delve creatures, but perhaps it’s worth revisiting? I mean, some decks ran Tombstalker with Dark Confidant before. We are running a higher curve though. I’m not sure about this though.

Again, a weakness of the deck seemed to be a topdecked Tarmogoyf. Sure, my creatures were often better than a Tarmogoyf, but being more expensive to cast made it tough to keep up sometimes. Some Tarmogoyfs in this deck may not be a bad idea either, but then what’s the reason to play this over a deck like Jund or Shardless BUG? 

The issue of brewing in Legacy is that there is almost always a better reason to play an established deck. This deck may be better against Blood Moon and Burn than Shardless BUG or Jund but are those really convincing reasons? It’s certainly fun to brew though :)

[mtgdeckblog]

B/W Eldrazi

I saw this article by Frank Lepore and it got me thinking about porting the BR Eldrazi deck into Legacy.

I like the Modern deck quite a bit, at least in theory. Maindeck graveyard hate is pretty nice, plus eeking out all of the value. Also, a 5 drop that puts 1/1 guys into play no matter if it resolves is also kinda neat.

So what would a Legacy version look like? Here’s my initial list:

Creatures - 18 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Wasteland Strangler 4 Blight Herder 4 Oblivion Sower 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Spells - 20 4 Relic of Progenitus 3 Thoughtseize 1 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Nihil Spellbomb 4 Swords to Plowshares 3 Pithing Needle 1 All is Dust 2 Sensei's Divining Top Lands - 22 4 Marsh Flats 3 Verdant Catacombs 4 Eldrazi Temple 4 Cavern of Souls 2 Scrubland 1 Savannah 2 Bayou 2 Eye of Ugin

Deathrite Shaman has to be the neatest interaction with the processors. Exile a land, put it back for Deathrite to use again!

Swords to Plowshares has to be a pretty good reason to play white, since it’s a great removal spell but also fuels processing. The Pithing Needle and Sensei’s Divining Tops are iffy but I felt that Needle may be necessary versus Wastelands, and Sensei’s Divining Tops gives the deck valued card selection (though Sylvan Library may be good here too). To hedge against Wasteland, it may be necessary to just not play any basics at all - it also makes the mana better, which is pretty necessary when lands like Eldrazi Temple and Cavern of Souls can’t cast Deathrite Shaman, Swords to Plowshares, or Thoughtseize. The inclusion of these colorless lands is also the reason not play Abrupt Decay since the mana requirements may be too much.

At an initial look at the metagame, I’d imagine the Miracles matchup can’t be all that awful, considering Cavern of Souls and also Blight Herder produce guys regardless of resolving or not. Combo seems bad but can likely be solved in the sideboard. Wasteland Strangler kills a lot of small guys and also dodges Mother of Runes. Tarmogoyf is neutered with 4 Swords to Plowshares, 4 Relic of Progenitus, and Nihil Spellbomb. 

All in all, it’s an attempt at making an Eldrazi deck that isn’t just the giant Eldrazi. Maybe I’ll take this to our next Brewfest.

[mtgdeckblog]

Legacy Brewfest Deck #1: Junk Tokens

Brewfest Post Here

Here is the first deck I brought to the Brewfest: Junk Tokens.

Deck #1: Junk Tokens

Creatures - 8 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Stoneforge Mystic

Spells - 28 4 Mox Diamond 4 Bitterblossom 4 Cabal Therapy 2 Swords to Plowshares 4 Lingering Souls 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 2 Painful Truths 2 Abrupt Decay 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Intangible Virtue 1 Umezawa's Jitte 1 Batterskull

Lands - 24 4 Marsh Flats 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Windswept Heath 1 Fetid Heath 1 Gavony Township 3 Scrubland 2 Swamp 2 Plains 2 Bayou 2 Savannah 1 Karakas

Sideboard - 15 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Hymn to Tourach 2 Ethersworn Canonist 1 Containment Priest 1 Pithing Needle 2 Trinisphere 2 Zealous Persecution 2 Choke

Overview

It’s almost a port of the BW Tokens deck from Modern, though it didn’t start out that way. The idea is simple - accelerate out into tokens, then grind out your opponent using either the planeswalkers, Stoneforge Mystic, or even a card like Gavony Township.

Deathrite Shaman and Mox Diamond help you accelerate into the mid game faster, Painful Truths is good to help refill your hand.

Results

RUG Delver: 1-2

RUG Delver: 2-1

Jund: 2-1

Burn: 0-2

BUG Delver: 2-0

Thoughts

If there’s one thing that’s painfully obvious from testing, it’s that raw efficiency in Legacy can’t be overstated. I may have been 3-2 from the results (which honestly is great for a brew), but I could tell that the deck felt woefully underpowered.

Yeah, Lingering Souls is great when you can get the 4 spirits out and Bitterblossom is a great turn 2 play, but sometimes it just does not compare to a 3/4 Tarmogoyf hitting the board on turn 3 or 4. Or a Delver backed up by countermagic. You need a lot more work for these cards to match the same impact level, i.e., Stoneforge Mystic resolving and letting you equip Jitte, or resolving a Sorin and plussing. But resolving the tokens AND these supplemental cards? That’s asking a lot in a format where three mana can get you an Emrakul or five mana can get you Past in Flames into rituals.

What I’m saying is that the deck is too fair. I think it could have game against Miracles (unfortunately didn’t test against that), but at the same time, I didn’t test against any combo decks either. As the only interaction in the maindeck with combo decks is Cabal Therapy, I suspect the matchup isn’t all that great.

I think the solution for the combo decks is probably playing Chalice of the Void over Cabal Therapies. Though it does rule out Deathrite Shaman and Swords to Plowshares also, we could probably add in some more anthem effects and Abrupt Decays.

Tarmogoyf was an absolute beating in this matchup. If you don’t have a removal spell for the Goyf, then your Bitterblossom tokens or Lingering Soul tokens are often relegated to chump block duty...not exactly the recipe for a winning game when you need to make sure your tokens survive to win.

What changes do you think you’d want to make to this deck?

[mtgdeckblog]

Splinter Twin in Legacy

At Eternal Weekend, this Splinter Twin deck made Top 8:

In his tournament report, you’ll notice that the deck operated like a Jeskai Stoneblade deck that happened to win with Splinter Twin instead of Stoneforge Mystic.

Well, this decklist managed to Top 4 the SCG Legacy Premier IQ in Denver.

This...is a little different. But the idea is actually pretty similar. Lock your opponent out with Chalice of the Void and Blood Moon and then combo them out.

Stompy/Prison shells have always been an interesting bunch in Legacy. The initial decklist often starts out like this:

4 Ancient Tomb

X City of Traitors

4 Chalice of the Void

4 Blood Moon/Trinisphere

4 Mox Diamond/Chrome Mox

And the rest is up to you. Once you resolve a lock piece, pretty much anything can be used to win. Back in the day, Factories in the White Stax lists was a win condition. Rakdos Pit-Dragon was a win condition too. These days, you’ll most likely see Goblin Rabblemaster or Emrakul beating face. But Twin is certainly a different take on the deck and does allow you to play Force of Will.

I think I’d take the list in this direction:

Creatures - 11 4 Deceiver Exarch 3 Pestermite 3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace the Mind Sculptor 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker Spells - 26 4 Mox Diamond 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Blood Moon 4 Splinter Twin 4 Force of Will 4 Impulse 2 Misdirection Lands - 23 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Ancient Tomb 2 City of Traitors 4 Volcanic Island 4 Island 1 Mountain

First of all, while Brainstorm can be pitched to Force of Will, it’s still a little awkward to draw it with Chalice in play, so I’ve ditched it to max out on Impulse and add some Jace. Which Jace though, I’m not sure. Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy is much better on an average draw (and also when a Blood Moon is turn 1′d), but there isn’t a whole lot to flash back. Double blue might be tough for Jace the Mind Sculptor. I would need to test to see.

I don’t want to say that Twin is solidly a Legacy combo yet, but now we’ve seen that two different versions of Twin can be competitive in Legacy. Where do you see the Twin combo in Legacy?

[mtgdeckblog]

Legacy Brewfest!

When I was playing in weekly Legacy events regularly, I loved to try to play a different deck each week (barring any upcoming large Legacy events). I think I played something like 17 or 18 different decks. However, I ended up stopping because that involved a lot of work in getting some of the fringe cards...and sometimes, spending some amount of money or finding someone to borrow cards from isn’t really worth the effort for a $5, 4 round tournament.

Enter the Brewfest.

The idea is simple: bring your brew to the event and jam it against Legacy’s finest. Proxies are allowed, because why spend money on these brews when they aren’t tested yet? It’s essentially a wide open playtesting session for players to get together. Sure, Cockatrice, Magic Workstation, XMage and other free solutions exist too, but you can certainly reap some benefits by playtesting locally (and also not deal with the random ragequitters of these online programs). Plus, playing against an actual gauntlet rather than an assortment of random decks online is nice. While sure, there may not be time to go through the entire gauntlet, having the opportunity to test against various Legacy decks was something that we haven’t really had on a widespread level here in Arizona, unless you have a consistent Legacy playgroup.

It’s also a little different than just everyone bringing a brew and jamming it against each other’s brews. What kind of information can you really derive out of an event like that when you are never going to play against that many brews in a real tournament?

The event was relatively successful. We had probably 20-25 players come in and out that night. A couple people brought brews. A little less than I had hoped, but sometimes schedules get in the way. It’s an idea worth trying in the future though.

As for myself, I proxied up a couple of ideas. Some ideas I’ve posted here on this blog, some I have not. In the coming blog posts, I’ll outline the decks I brought, my initial thoughts when developing the decklist and what I thought after playing it.

If anyone has run or been to a similar event like this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If anyone is interested in running an event, I’d love to help out.

Let me know!

[mtgdeckblog]

#MarduGuy Strikes Back

So this Gerry Thompson article was pretty amusing: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/31766_The-Life-And-Times-Of-Mardu-Guy.html

If you don’t have SCG Premium, the relevant parts are really this:

Mardu excited me for a bunch of strategic reasons, but the real reason was Mardu Guy. Every other tournament, there seems to be some random guy in Top 8 playing Mardu. It's just a deck that is never respected but does well frequently, despite the pilot being of unknown quantity and the decklist being suspect.

"You're right, it could be you! The only difference is you played! Use promo code "MARDUGUY" for 12 byes into Top 8!"

-Josh Cho, upon hearing the theory behind Mardu Guy

Several of my losses in high profile tournaments last season were at the hands of Mardu. I probably lost to that color combination more than any other. There's a lot of power in Mardu, and I thought we could build the deck to beat both G/W Megamorph and Jeskai. Past those two, what's left? Atarka Red (or R/G Landfall if you prefer) and the various flavors of Esper? Once thing I learned from testing was that I liked having the combination of Duress, Painful Truths, and Radiant Flames because it made defeating the polar ends of the spectrum much easier.

So what deck have I picked up this Standard season? Well yeah, Mardu. With Jace being the price it is, and Nissa not helping either, I figured that taking the Mardu shell I played to Top 8 of Regionals last Standard season would be the best way for me to compete:

Creatures - 18 4 Hangarback Walker 4 Soulfire Grand Master 2 Seeker of the Way 4 Thunderbreak Regent 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar 2 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury Spells - 16 4 Draconic Roar 4 Crackling Doom 2 Wild Slash 1 Ruinous Path 1 Murderous Cut 1 Kolaghan's Command 1 Utter End 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker Lands - 26 4 Nomad Outpost 3 Windscarred Crag 2 Shambling Vent 4 Bloodstained Mire 3 Caves of Koilos 3 Battlefield Forge 3 Mountain 1 Swamp 1 Smoldering Mire 2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon Sideboard 3 Radiant Flames 2 Outpost Siege 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited 1 Painful Truth 2 Surge of Righteousness 1 Crux of Fate 1 Self Inflicted Wound 1 Tragic Arrogance 3 Duress

Pia and Kiran Nalaar was by far the most interesting choice in the decklist. And they performed greatly. Nothing like your opponent untapping, drawing a card, then realizing they’re dead to a bunch of Thopters swinging then being flung for lethal.

I didn’t really have a chance to test this list all that much but it goldfished nicely so whatever. I almost feel obligated to play in PPTQs, given I don’t have anything more important to do, so even if this list is untested, let’s just go ahead and throw it into the fire, right?

Better lucky than good is my motto anyway.

Matches:

Round 1: GW Megamorph: 2-0

Round 2: UB Aristocrats: 2-1

Round 3: Esper Control: 1-2

Round 4: UB Aristocrats: 2-0

Round 5: Abzan Blue: 0-2

Round 6: RG Landfall: 2-0

Round 7: Atarka Red: 2-1

After a 3-2 start, I contemplated dropping from the event. With 75 players, how likely was I to win out then squeak in on breakers? With ASU checking out of the football game, I figured that I might as well play it out. Even if I don’t make Top 8, at least the prizes are extended to Top 16. 

I ended up winning out, and somehow my breakers were good enough (and the two X-1-1 players ahead of me lost), I managed to squeak into the Top 8 at 8th place!

I quickly lost 0-2 to the eventual winner. Sure, losing in Top 8 sucks (and not even making Top 4 per the usual), but after not expecting to make Top 8 at all? I’ll take it. I am #MarduGuy, after all.

[mtgdeckblog]

Mizzix Mastery in Legacy

This Commander card has potential to be an enabler in Legacy. Four mana is a lot, but isn’t completely unreasonable.

A possible (rough) list:

Creatures - 8 4 Jace, Vyrn's Prodigy 4 Simian Spirit Guide

Spells - 33 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Careful Study 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Force of Will 4 Enter the Infinite 4 Mizzix's Mastery 4 Lotus Petal 1 Lightning Storm or Lab Maniac

Lands - 19 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Volcanic Island 4 City of Traitors 3 Island

It’s possible that Mizzix Mastery is just a sideboard card for the Omni-Burning Wish versions for the discard/grindy matchups (or something), but hey, maybe it would be good as a combo deck by itself!

[mtgdeckblog]

Grixis Control in Legacy post-DTT

Grixis Control is dead. Arguably, Dig Through Time was the lynchpin to the deck, allowing it to grind through opponents much like Ancestral Vision does for Shardless BUG. So is there a way to revive it? I’m not sure, but perhaps reviving an old fringe archetype with a new goodie may be a good way?

Creatures - 11 4 Young Pyromancer 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy 2 Griselbrand 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Spells - 31 4 Brainstorm 2 Ponder 3 Gitaxian Probe 4 Force of Will 4 Entomb 4 Reanimate 3 Exhume 4 Cabal Therapy 3 Lightning Bolt

Lands - 18 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Polluted Delta 3 Volcanic Island 3 Underground Sea 1 Badlands 1 Swamp 1 Island 1 Mountain

Young Frankenstein was a fringe deck on the Open Series, mostly played by SCG writers Todd Anderson and Glenn Jones I believe. Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy seems like a pretty good card for the archetype, as the front side is a good discard outlet and the backside can help out with generating some card advantage.

What’s interesting about this deck is that you can play a similar Grixis Control deck with the whole Young Pyromancer/Bolt/Cabal Therapy style, but rather than refilling to keep it going, you can end the game with 3/3 tokens or a 7/7 lifelinker.

You also get some sweet interactions with Jace like, activate -> draw & discard Griselbrand, flip Jace, cast Entomb, putting Reanimate into your GY, then flashing back Reanimate with Jace to reanimate Griselbrand. It’s possible that Dread Return could be a singleton in the deck so you can Entomb + flashback if you have enough tokens.