Brainstorm
Force of Will
Lion's Eye Diamond
Counterbalance
Sensei's Divining Top
Tarmogoyf
Phyrexian Dreadnaught
Goblin Lackey
Standstill
Natural Order
Legacy coverage =/= actual matchups that you are paired against.
I could go into detail with my previous matchups that I've personally experienced at large events over the last couple of years, but since I haven't played in one since October 2017, let's use the only tournament report that I see in the Tournament Reports section of the forum from GP Seattle 2018, from user Sparkii. His matchups were:
DNT
Turbo Depths
Miracles
Esper DNT
Aluren
Eldrazi
Junk-fit
Grixis Control
TES
Grixis Delver
Czech Pile
Moon Stompy
Soldier Stompy
Turbo Depths
Elves
That's not Grixis Delver and Czech Pile matchups every round.
Yes, this is a single example. This sample size is way too small to be an accurate representation of the diversity of matchups. However, my own personal experiences at larger events have been similar in the diversity of matchups I've had.
This whole "every game is a Grixis Delver or Czech Pile matchup" is superfluous and incorrect. Quit blowing things out of proportion. Those are two good decks, but they aren't the only decks you'll run into.
Pretending like every game plays out the same because most decks are playing cantrips and there is a good bit of card overlap between decks is wrong. Acting like every game is on autopilot when you have cantrips is also wrong. Most of the time, there are many different decision trees to make every single turn. Matches don't play out the same way every single time. If that was how it worked, we wouldn't keep seeing the same pros doing well time and again, and there wouldn't be players going 0-2 drop with those decks. Even with cantrips, there is still variance.
/end rant
Yes.
Because it all feels the same and that's not fun. I mean I can show up with Stax and make others lives miserable, that's fun, so I do that. You will likely beat my deck because it's bad, but I am going to make sure you regret paying money to play against me. Because watching people grit their teeth in place of masturbating with cantrips is as close to fun as I can find in this shadow of what once was a great format.
Legacy has gone from a place where I could enjoy myself to a place I were I reminisce. It's also become a place that people go to the bathroom after the game and scream "Fuck!" really loudly. (It happens) Because no, Legacy is not fun, but it was and I miss that.
100% this ^^
It's not a "deck" and it's not even a "color" for me, it's just Brainstorm; I was fine with treasure cruise and dig through time.
Would dig and cruise have been banned if Brainstorm was already banned? Two more victims sacrificed for the "pillar" of Legacy.
It's always brainstorm: it's no other card, it's no other deck, it's no specific color and it's no specific strategy.
#don't be a shill for brainstorm
Except my friend Michael Coyle has done pretty well playing his Metalworker Stax deck, and made Top 32 at an SCG Open last year with it, so I don’t buy that argument. If you like playing Prison decks, guess what? They're still viable. Moon Stompy has been putting up Top 8 results lately, no?
If you think every matchup feels the same, it's probably because of your local meta. When was the last time you played at a large event where all of your matchups felt the same?
You've expressed that you are a Lands and Stax player, many times. What is it that you miss exactly? Stax is as viable now as it's always been in Legacy... it's not really gotten any better or worse in relation to everything else since I started playing Legacy in 2006. Last time I checked, Lands just made Top 8 at a GP and is one of the best decks in the format. What are you complaining about exactly?
What is so miserable now that wasn't miserable before? What timeframe is "before" to you? You're argument sounds like people are just now starting to play cantrips and you dislike playing against cantrips? News flash dude, cantrips have been a cornerstone of Legacy since it's inception. Solidarity and Threshold were two of the three major pillars of the format from 2005 and onward, and both played a bunch of cantrips. New and better decks have replaced those, obviously, but what has changed? 13 years later, people are still casting cantrips. Why is this all of a sudden a problem for you now? Why wasn't it a problem for you "back when"?
It mostly seems like people miss the old Merfolk, Zoo, Maverick, Goblins metagame. I'm not really sure why, but okay. And it's not like you can't play those decks these days. Goblins made Day 2 at the GP and Maverick made Top 8. Regardless, I personally like the current metagame better than the tons of creature pile matchups, but I digress. By the way, the reason those decks aren't as viable these days has more to do with how much faster and powerful the combo decks of the format have become than it does with the fair blew stew getting better tools. If you want to return to fair creature decks, you need to start banning cards like Show and Tell, Griselbrand/Emrakul, Thespian's Stage, and Tendrils of Agony... not Deathrite Shaman and True-Name Nemesis.
I miss Goblins. Lands is viable, I love it, it's totally pimped and it's my baby. Stax is not a viable deck. One top finish last year does not a viable deck make, nor was that my argument. Stax is fun, I don't play it to win I play with with Sadistic glee. Stax can stay bad for all I care, while it's making Delver players miserable I don't care that it's bad.
Last big event I play at was about two months ago. 70% of the room was some form of combo (Not normal) and I got smashed. Some someone sold me a snack pack at half price because he had to close early so that was a good day for me.
My issue with Legacy is that if I sit down from someone playing Delver, Grixis, 4c, SnT, ANT, Miracles, ect your game plan is the same. You win condition is not and people will argue nuance but I am past that, your all doing the same shit with the same goal. Play the same core cards that do the same core thing with the same core outcome.
Now sure, your going to say SnT and ANT aren't the same deck, argue nuance, but I'm talking about "Tap Island, fiddle myself until I find what I need, shuffle my library." They all do it, it's boring and I'm well past pretending to think anything will change.
These days I show up to play their game. If your going to masturate in public I'm happy to play the role of catholic dad and put a dampener on your fun.
Edit;
Just to point out something, in case anyone misunderstood. I'm not arguing for or against a ban here. My preference is officially untouchable. Regardless of any metric or argument I can make it doesn't matter. So right now, your asking questions and I am answering them. Explaining why I feel like I do. I have no intention of talking about what I want to change because that's no longer relevant, the die has been cast.
On the bright side, there was some closure given to the main topic and for that I am actually very thankful. Legacy is being looked after for those of us who play it with no wish to grow the format, sadly I dont know myself how much longer I will play it. My work roster has changed, I only do nights now and waking up 3 hours early to go and play something I am honestly not enjoying is a tough ask. Knowing nothing will change only quickens my already diminishing enjoyment in this format and at some point games locally will stop firing as the old guard moves away. The local population has already been split over store ownership changes, another stupid reality of this game.
I really honestly miss what we had. All I have ever done was to hold some part of that as it has slipped away like water in my fingertips. I miss the teenager who in 2004 was bitching about not owning Sharpshooter and was desperatly cracking packs to find one. That part of me, it's gone and since then I have watched the soul of Legacy go too.
No, I don't enjoy Legacy as much as I did and now going in takes more effort than ever. I have to travel 4 hours (2 each way) to play. I was willing to do that. I have put in real time and effort, I have really loved this, I have really cared for and about this. But now it's official, the worst part of this format is protected and I can't bring myself to care any more.
I have played once in the last month while watching on my discord more and more people say they will never finish Lands. (Tabernacle buy outs) So now the joy I had, talking to new players and walking them though what I have learnt over years of playing my deck is now a dying light of joy that has flickered out too.
There is nothing left in Legacy that is good. The format is mismanaged, the Reserves list is killing decks and the format is straining under the weight of those who see it as a stock market. And I say this all while owning a deck where the cheapest non foil card in it is Drop of Honey. It's not like I haven't invested myself into this.
I'm just sad, so when you ask are people really disatisfied I guess I just feel driven to answer. Because yes, I do, and that really hurts my soul.
Well, Dice_Box, I can't argue with any of that. It sounds like you've burned yourself out of Magic in general, and I'm not really sure that there is a solution for that other than quitting for an extended period of time.
Really though, this is something that happens in life. Things that we once were passionate about start becoming dull over time. I've increasingly felt this way about video games. VR reignited my passion for a while, but the quality of current VR games has me back to a waning interest in video games again.
At any rate, hopefully you can find something new to be passionate about... because not having anything that excites oneself makes life extremely boring and miserable.
Sorry for getting this thread way off topic.
#bandeathriteshaman
It seems like you are reading into my post things that I did not say. All I said is that it's not tautological that:
[Top N most played spells in their average 1--4 quantities] = [The N spells in the 1--4 quantities that appear in the most played deck].
For this to be true about any given format is not guaranteed. Someone said it was, so I gave a counterexample. I did not say whether it's good or bad, and I didn't commit the fallacy that you correctly debunked previously (about whether you should play Brainstorm) and are now debunking with more attitude while quoting me.
@Dicebox Yes the reserved list is trash but don't conflate that with everything else
"The format is mismanaged" "The worst part of this format is protected" are not objective statements
I agree with Hanni that it sounds like you're just burned out / bored
"Legacy is being looked after for those of us who play it with no wish to grow the format"
If this is referring to the RL then I obviously agree but if you're talking about BR announcements it seems like a pretty big leap of faith to believe that banning BS/DRS would cause a significant influx of players
No wish to grow was about the tweet that they manage Legacy and Vintage for the players that play it.
Aaron Forsythe.Very true, but at this point, Vintage and Legacy are managed ~100% for the people that do play it.
As for objective statements, haha ha... I was never claiming to be objective, I was answering a question on if anyone was dissatisfied. At no point was I seeking to claim objectivity. Read the whole post. Haha.
The only correct answer is to ban everything until Astral Slide is viable again. But since that ain't happening the format is just basically fucked forever.
/troll
(but yeah, why the fuck is there not a format where Slide is legal and playable? Seriously, put it in Modern already wotc)
There is, have a look: http://mtgtop8.com/archetype?a=642&meta=124&f=PEA
I agree with much of what Dice said. Many people in our area are burned out on it and only come to hang out with others, half of us don't even like legacy right now. I just continue playing despite knowing that the format is too far gone
Dice_Box, don’t lose track of your magic buddies as you fade from tournament play. There are others who feel as you do. But I just don’t think what drew you to this game will ever go away, and nothing else is good enough to permanently keep you from it.
I’m almost entirely out of competitive play, but my core group of about six players all still brew. We get together a few times a month for Legacy and commander, and we have a mini meta with all the features of a real scene. Magic nirvana. There are others. If you ever find yourself in south Florida, gimme a shout. We will deal you in for the night.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
"Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason."
"Governing is too important to be left to people as silly as politicians."
"Politicians were mostly people who'd had too little morals and ethics to stay lawyers."
Thank the gods all I want to do is Storm. Apparently we're officially green-lit for the forseeable future, whatever that's worth....
All Spells Primer under construction: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e...Tl7utWpLo0/pub
PM me if you want to contribute!
But where do you draw the line in that case? Why even have a ban list in that case? If you get your toys, I want to get mine too, give me workshop and you keep on casting brainstorms for 3. Don't worry, I am sure the format will adapt...
I fully agree with and feel like Dice. Legacy became boring and utterly stale, at least for people that thought Legacy wasn't Brainstorm-the-format. I was one of those people thinking Legacy was about playing different engines from all over Magic's history: goblins, elves, fish, loam, rituals, bob, metalworker, affinity, mana denial, dredge and sure cantrips and a lot of other stuff. The problem these days is that cantrips are simply the only viable thing to do, maybe together with loaming. Isn't it insane that even something like Bob is outclassed these days? But that's on me, I thought this format had more to offer than just dicking around with cantrips.
To be honest, I don't even know if a Brainstorm ban would actually save legacy. Incredibly stupid stuff like TNN and Leo is also too damaging for a more varied and open playing field. I played Goblins up until the point TNN got released. People thought that hiding behind DRS or Stoneforge would save them but if you knew your deck and match-ups well, you could take a tournament with Goblins. TNN changed this, not only does it stonewall Goblins and utterly destroys them with equipement, the most damaging thing TNN did was making people put crap like Golgari Charm and friends in their sideboards which happen to be pretty good against a random bunch of 1/1's...
The way I interpret this (and I assume you agree with this interpretation) is that they aren't banning Brainstorm, because 'managing legacy for the players that play it' means 'appealing to the people who already like legacy' meaning 'the people who like Brainstorm'.
I will quote you again:
If "no wish to grow the format" means "won't ban Brainstorm", how does banning Brainstorm grow the format?"Legacy is being looked after for those of us who play it with no wish to grow the format"
- Nobody who can't afford to buy in currently will suddenly be able to with that change
- Eventually people will figure out the best deck again and everybody will go back to square 1 of complaining. Even if you achieve this holy mecca of 'all random strategies are viable' people will just go and play modern instead because it already is that, and it's cheaper
- People who like Brainstorm could/will leave
With e.g. the Shops discussion you can point to the fact that it warps the format in a way that emphasizes the matchup and lessens the impact of gameplay decisions:
- Shops is the default best deck
- Stock blue deck is probably unfavoured vs Shops
- You can tune your blue deck to be more favoured to beat shops e.g. by replacing cards like Mental Misstep
- The more adjustments like this you make to your blue deck the worse it becomes in the blue mirrors
- A significant (unhealthy) aspect of the metagame becomes 'I prepared to face X deck but I only played against Y'
You could make the same arguments about Chalice decks in legacy, and I would, except the effect isn't as pronounced because those decks aren't as good as vintage Shops
I believe that to grow the format Wiz has to make more diverisification in deckbuilding and deck strategies.
To cut the conversation, a good way to grow is to make aggro viable again
To do this they have to:
- Print good creature (good rapport cc strenght, and good ability) not blue.
- Slow down of at least 1 turn the efficiency of control\tempo strategies (to permit creature to swing and to play creature with cc > 2)
First Option: Print good creatures
Th last good creatures printed to sprint the race are ..... DELVER and TNN that are Blue. This is pretty stupid, because good creature should be green, or red, not blue. Was a big error. Like printing a green cantrip or counterspell, better than blue existing ones.
Also Wiz printed Eldrazi, that is another pretty stupid move, because You could do the same with existing colors. But at least You have an aggro deck (very unconistant).
The problem is: if WIZ print cheap cc creature they will fit in blue shell deck, generating another aggro\blue deck, that is not what the meta need to grow. The meta needs aggro deck. Player loves aggro deck.
ABout the second option Slow down of at least 1 turn the efficiency of control\tempo strategies
I think that banning brainstorm is a good way to keep control deck a little out of card selection. Nowadays control deck can choose with a lot of cantrips what to draw. The old keeper in T1 draws a lot to control, and was full of tutors to chose the solution. Now the same in legacy, the card selection permitted by ponder\brainstorm\azcanta\Jace\preordain is too much. Infact sometimes also UGx deck does not play Sylvan Library, that was an house for card selection for years (and a good reason to play green) now is no more efficient.
At the same time banning Brainstorm slow down combo decks, for te same reason of card selection.
This is why i think that banning brainstorm is good for legacy -> slow down the format and permit aggro deck to exist.
How do you keep decks "out of card selection" if they simply play Preordain+Ponder+Probe? How is that card selection less superior to anything other colors can provide in terms of card selection?
Most of the meta these days is keen on dropping DRS T1 or T2 after double cantripping anyways. How does replacing Brainstorm with Preordain change that? All you do is bringing various clunky combo decks down a tier with next to zero effect on the already dominating decks in the format.
www.theepicstorm.com - Your Source for The Epic Storm - Articles, Reports, Decktech and more!
Join us at Facebook!
There are currently 298 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 298 guests)