Swans rob the Hole of Fame

[Wargoos]

Hello and welcome out there!

First off I wanna say, that I did NOT take ANY notes, which can result in some mazy reproductions of the games.
So I played today at the Hole of Fame, Dresden - the local gameshop in dresden.
Dresden is actually a great location for type2 players - Legacy , uhm, not that much.
Anyways, the players are all very competetive in their main formats and know how to roll.
Also everyone is playing well-developed legacy decks which also lines out in the deck arrangement of today.
Here is the deck-breakout of the day:
(Just listing the important decks)
- GoyfSligh
- Dream Halls
- ANT-Combo
- Merfolk
- Bant Aggro/Survial/CB-Top Variants
- 3 and 4coloured Landstill
- Enchantress

Before we got to the matches, here is the list I played:

Team L.A.#Doom_Swans
MD:
creatures [12]:
1 Eternal Witness
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Swans of Bryn Argoll
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Trinket Mage

Instant [19]:
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Chain of Plasma
1 Lightning Storm

Artifact [5]:
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantment [4]:
4 Counterbalance

Lands [20]:
4 Flooded Strand
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Island
1 Forest
3 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
60 cards

SB:
1 SUMMONING TRAP (TECH)
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Blood Moon
1 Trygon Predator
2 Krosan Grip
3 Firespout
1 Pithing needle

Round 1 vs. Thomas (CB-Bant)
Thomas is a known fella. He plays quite successive in various formats and has a good magic-IQ.
Anyways, I have the maturity-advantage (haha - that's a good one, right)
and go quite relaxed into the match.

Match1.
I have first round top , second round counterbalance.
My life records shows I took some dmg through my own fetches and forces but won on good SEVENTEEEEN life.

Board:
+2 Blood Moon
+3 RBlasts
+1 SUMMONING TRAP
-2 Daze
-2 Bolt
-1 Swan
-1 Chain

Match2.
He goes first and fetches nonbasics all the time.
Eventually I can drop a blood moon with counterbackup and him fetching for a plains in response. Awesome - I win!
Not.
His RWM beat's me 4 turns because I cannot find a solution (just drawing lands for 4 turns - bleh) and can just get rid of him by playing a clique in response to his attack and bolting the Monk.
But Thomas finds a green and drops a qasali pridemage wich shows my anus through my anus.

Match3.
My record says I win this at SEVENTEEN life.
Well T1 Top, T2 CB with some daze and fow backup is good I hear.
The finisher was goyf, pranking Thomas in 4 turns.


2-1
1-0-0

Well, a decent start by beating one of the champs I assume.

Round 2 vs. Frank with Goyfsligh

Uhm, Frank just has one Legacy deck and I played him on some tourneys before. It's always an advantage to know some guys with the same nerdy hobby as oneself.

Match1.
I cannot find the lock, and he beats me heavy.
He sends one of my goyf's into exile and I fail to find other beater.
Just before I can get the lock online he double-POP's me for a total of 12 dmg. I had 12 life so, well done mate.

Match2.
I have the fast CBLock and can get rid of his pridemage.
Short story short - I win via the swancombo.

Match3.
This time it's a dmg race.
I drop Swan turn4 (without cblock but with fow backup) and combo on turn5, with him trying to exile the swan in response which is of course denied by the sheer force of my will. Harhar!

4-2
2-0-0

The second taste of success and it is sweet still.

Round 3 vs. Alex with 4c Landstill
Alex seems to have drunk a bit too much coffee lately.
He is a bit hyperactive and moves his hands with squirrelish(wtf) quickness.

Match1
This one was very close.
I can beat him fast to 3 life when he starts to chain standstills and I start to draw just lands.
He wins on 2 life by beatdowning me to 0 with 2 mishra's factories after I can disable a wished pulse of the fields.
I even HAD the burn on my hand, but he dust bowled me for some turns and left me completely without red mana. (all sources gone :()

Match2
He plays turn 2 standstill with mishra on table.
I play turn 3 Blood Moon with force backup.

Match3
This one was close, too.
I had the winbutton-Blood Moon, but he had an active EE on 3, so I couldn't play my win card and had to race him with cliques.
He eventually misplayed on some parts as he later told me and I won on 6 life with my sweet cliques.
I loveded you faeries, I loveded you.

6-3
3-0-0

I am unbeatable after the third round?!
Somethings really wrong, I smelled bad karma coming up, so I decided to lose the next round.

Round 4 vs. Johannes with ENCHANTRESS

Johannes is a not so expierienced player, who plays decent but makes then and some stupid mistakes.
Well, he is young and has the potential and I took this serious.

Match1.
My records say I loose the first match by conceiding to a horde of enchantmens and me drawing blanks for some round on SEVENTEEN life.

Match2.
I have the fast cblock and win this.

Match3.
I get the early counterbalance online (without the top though) and eventually drop a clique at the end of his draw-phase.
I look at his hand: land, land, Ench. Presence x2 and O-Ring.
Since I am a bit afraid that I might not have the cc3 spell on top I take the O-Ring.
He draw's a card taps 3 and plays O-Ring.
Hey karma, how's the weather in asshole town? Good?
Of course he takes away my counterbalance, plays his presences and get's the solitary confinement while having 15 life.
FFS! I have a clique and a goyf in play, 3 lands in hand and the lightning storm.
I could deal him 14 dmg! If he had just fetched and not get the confinement...
Meh. I take it like a man and proceed loosing because he draws a replenish and trashes the battlefield with his enchantments.
I know I have lost, but want to play it out.
He has his winoption in play (red words) a confinement and my cb, goyf and clique O-ringed.
I draw - MO'FUCKIN EXPLOSIVES.
FUCK YEAH.
But no.
I am missing ONE land (after my landdrop of the turn) because he has a aura of silence.
Ah, still good weather in asshole town, karma? I see...

Well yeah, so I lose because I get killed with words of war.
At least I die in battle.
Like all honorable men.

7-5
3-1-0

Round 5 vs Martin
ID


Top8.

So I heard first price is 3 byes for the gp in madrid?
Awesome.

Round 1 vs. Paul with Armageddon Staxx
Well, I know what he is playing, since I did a little sneaky research after the 2nd round and am not amused.
I don't think this matchup is any good but oh well, the goddess of luck does not like me that much. Unfortunately, she is a sister of the goddess of fortune too :(
Anyways, let's get on.

Paul seems to not be very content with his hand and mulls.
And again.
And again.
And again.
I was like oO and he was like Oo.
He takes it like a man and plays with 3 handcards.
Two goyfs have a party dancing on his entrails.

Match 2.
I get raped by Elspeth.
Seriously, how good is that card.
I had 3!!!! Goyfs. ( 2 were hit by an O-Ring [I don't like the card anymore]) and the last one just lost the damage race against a flying mine worker.
WTF. A flying mine worker?!
That is not very honorable.
It's a game involving a ton of mighty spells and cunning magic, with dragons breeding in their holes and yetis dancing on the mountains. AND HE KILLS ME WITH A FLYING MINE WORKER?!
Ok. I'm cool.

Match 3.
You know what's cool?
Yeah, a tarmogoyf's cool.
The opp. not drawing any land and getting his crucible countered after his OWN armageddon is cool.
Shooting away chump-blockers is cool.
Winning with a single tarmogoyf going the distance is PRICELESS.

(9-6)

Halffinals
Vs. Frank with GoyfSligh

Ah, it's the guy from Round 2. So no need for introductions here.
Off we go into the roil!
DADADADADADADADADA.

Match 1.
I have the CB-Lock on 15 life and win it sovereign by beating him with a clique for 9 turns.

Match 2.
He mulls once, starts off with a Nacatl T1, an Ape and blitz T2 and an Qasali T3.
I have T2 Goyf and T3 Firespout and goyf wins it, with him wasting two handcards to try to get the goyf away (helix + blast lol) but I can counter the blast and just take the win into the tight grip of my manly hands.

Final:
Vs. Thomas, yes the guy from round 1, told'ya he's good, did I?
He tell's me he has the tickets for madrid already and sine I have exams around that date ( :( ) I just conceide and give him the win.
Not being a dick is always cool.
In my case it rewards me with a foil Scalding Tarn and a mindbreak Trap for the second place.


Props:
-The Hole of Fame - awesome owner, with whom you can go drinking beer all night
- Thomas for being a damn successive magic-cunt
- Swan-Combo for performing good, despite being despised as a bad deck.
- Card-Broker who sell me 5 Ghostly Prison and a Mother of Runes for 1€

Slops:
- Fat Cook (a friend ) for showing up but not playing because he is afraid to loose his buyes oO
- Enchantress for being a roque dildo forced up manly asses
- Taking the wrong binder with you when you're hot for trading


That's it guys, thanks for reading, have a good night, over and out.

[Kangaxx]

Not conceding doesn't make you a dick.

[sauce]

is 4 tops really necessary with 2 trinket mage?
i almost want to run firespout main in this deck :D

[Jaynel]

Very entertaining report! I'd also be curious about your thoughts on Firespout main. It draws you three (and sweeps the board) with a Swans in play, and can be set to miss your Cliques pretty easily. Doesn't seem too bad.

Also, how were Eternal Witness and Trinket Mage?

[Wargoos]

is 4 tops really necessary with 2 trinket mage?
i almost want to run firespout main in this deck :D

Yeah, you always always want to have a top! That thing is so good.
Trinket Mage is there so that you can have virtually 6 Tops! I lost 2 games just because the top was missing for the cblock and won a lot more because top helped me to find hard needed lands or solutions.
I'll never go down with with the top number.
Firespout md seems very alluring.
But look at the matchups they're good in.
Goblins, Merfolk and Zoo.
You already have a 50%+ mu against those.
I don't see firespout like the way to beat those but A way to help beating those. Also - the md is very tight as is, and I don't know, what I would what to cut for it :S

Very entertaining report! I'd also be curious about your thoughts on Firespout main. It draws you three (and sweeps the board) with a Swans in play, and can be set to miss your Cliques pretty easily. Doesn't seem too bad.

Also, how were Eternal Witness and Trinket Mage?

Thanks!
I actually did the firespout trick with swans in play and it won me the game asap. But as I said, I really rather win via Chain , or use the bolts as recalls.
But you can test them md , I just can't say more, because I never did :D
Maybe it's personal preference , since this deck isn't really tier1.

Trinket Mage is great md. I was always happy to draw it. It shuffles your library, gets up your cc3 count, searches for Top or EE.
I also was very happy with the number of them md.
It's just right.
Eternal Witness was there for testing and - it was bad.
Yeah, like really bad.
I boarded it out always and could never play it since getting double G is pretty hard.
Cliques on the other side were great.
I would play more than 2 if they weren't legendary ,but oh well.
Maybe here's one firespout spot.

Deck performed VERY consistend and I was very happy I decided against Canadian Thresh and played this.
I felt confided in all of my matchups all day.

[MMogg]

is 4 tops really necessary with 2 trinket mage?
i almost want to run firespout main in this deck :D

But just in this report alone he mentioned dropping a turn one SDT (followed by turn two CB), which I doubt he'd be able to do consistently with fewer copies. If you notice the sideboard has three singleton artifacts and mainboard EE, so I guess the Mages are for finding those.

Edit: EaD, what is the Swans combo?
Edit II: is it repeatedly Chain the Swans and then use Lightning Storm? Sounds so cheesy.

[Wargoos]

Edit: EaD, what is the Swans combo?
Edit II: is it repeatedly Chain the Swans and then use Lightning Storm? Sounds so cheesy.

Exactly that's it.
Also ur bolts turn into ancestral recalls with a swan in play.

[1rakete]

I also attended the tourney today 3-2 (2-3 as i conceded Staxx to Top 8) playing merfolk.

My report:

I really didnt like the start of this day as I was on a party yesterday in the evening and today in the morning and we had some action with the boyfriend of a very pricky girl there who destroyed the coat of a friend with her cigarette.

I stood up way to late and was pissed because I had an good idea for an MonoU-Deck with Dreadnaughts and Vendillion Cliques but not the time to build it. So I grabbed Merfolk, which was already sleeved, took some cards for switch with me (I was not sure about Stifle, because as Ead already noticed, the decks in Dresden are well-developed but just 50 % of them are normal T1 or T2.). I then decided to play the following list:

MD:

3 Waketrasher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Aether Vial
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Standstill
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
2 Umezawas Jitte
2 Echoing Truth
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
12 Island

SB:

3 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Spell Pierce
2 Ravenous Trap
4 Pyroblast
3 Relic of Progenitus


Round 1: Philipp with B/W Deadguy, he wins the roll

Game 1:

He is able to destroy my hand heavily but he just gets no beater on the board. Then, I am able to get a guy and a Mutavault on the board and bring down Standstill. He has multiple Hymns but I am somehow able to chain Standstills and Silvergil Adepts. So he gets just overwhelmed by card advantage.

+ Threads - 1 Waketrasher and ??

Game 2:

He thoughtseizes me Turn 1 and I show him some lands and random folks. He takes a merfolk and I ripp vial from the top. I then get hit by multiple hymns and thoughtseizes but again he does not have much pressure. We dont do much for some turns, he then gets knight of the orchid and we race eachother. I have vault and some lords which get mostly killed asap with vindicate and stuff. Then, I am somehow able to get down a standstill. I draw into multiple threads and kira and they seal down the game for me.

Notes:

- I was really lucky with chaining Standstills somehow both games.
- I would definitly have lost one of the games (cant remember anymore) if I would have not played Jitte myself (which is also (2 colorless, destroy target jitte ;)).



Round 2: Johannes with Enchantress, he wins the roll

I didnt know him well so I thought he might be a random dude with a bad deck as I usually know all players who might attend such a tourney with a competetive deck. Those thoughts directly lead to loss in game 1...

... because I kept Mutavault 2x, 2 Force, Standstill, random folk (Adept I think). I need one Island or a Vial from the top and I assumed that should be the win. As this is 16 outs I decided to keep. He just got there with enchanctress effects round 2,3 and 4. Vial round 7 and Island round 8 is just coming to late...

- 2 Jitte, - 1 Curse Catcher

+ 3 Spell Pierce

Game 2:

I just get there with wasting a scrubland with sprawl on it and wasting his sanctum. He doesnt draw enough land afterwards and I can win the game easily.

Game 3:

I keep 3 Lands, force, Adept, LoA, echoing truth. I can beat him to 4 but then he has moat with groove. He just had a very nice draw while I flooded heavily (9 lands). When he gets down a second groove I just scoop them up.


Round 3: Steffen with Dreamhalls, he wins the roll

Game1:

I have a good opening hand but I draw Jitte and no lords so I cant force enought dmg through. He can play Halls on turn 5 with 2 mana floating. Cant win vs his conflux and Forcebackup with 2 Daze and 1 Curse catcher. Would a Jitte have been a Stifle, I would have won this.

Game 2:

He mulligans to 5 and 2 Spell Pierce and 1 Daze is to much for him.

Game 3:

He thoughtseizes first turn and takes Standstill over Daze and Spell Pierce. So I assume he has no Show and Tell. I can get some pressure on the board and he is never coming through my counters.


Round 4: WOLLE with merfolk, he wins the dice roll

Game 1:

I have Jitte and he doesnt (also no counter).

Game 2:

He has 2 Jitte and I have 1 ;-)

Game 3:

I just screw Sideboarding. I assume the right decision is:

- Kira
- Standstill
+ 3 Threads and 2 Spell Pierce or 1 Pierce and 1 Kira

I did something like + 3 Threads and ??? (no - Standstill).

I get down standstill on a stalled board and he just wastes my vaults and gets there with own vaults.

Just embaressing. :(


Round 5: Paul with White Staxx

I just concede because I

a) am not 100 % sure about flying to Madrid.

b) have to less knowledge about legacy. So if I fly, I would play an autopilotdeck and as I dont have concenctration issues usually, it would not matter to me if I would play -2 rounds (having 1 rating bye probably).

In test games I just win 4-1. Echoing Truh > Ghostly prison ;)


Props:

- EaD for winning as he was the player with most legacy knowledge at the tourney today (probably except fat cook ;-D but he didnt play).
- Having made some good experiences about merfolk. If I will play this deck again, probably with this build:

2 Waketrasher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Aether Vial
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Standstill
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
3 Stifle
2 Jitte
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
12 Island

SB:

Not sure about this.

- Thomas for winning the byes. He is actually a nice guy and with him going to Madrid the odds I will fly increased a lot.

Slops:

- My bad draw vs enchantress, I normaly consider this a good matchup.
- My really bad plays vs Wolle. I need to train mirror.

[jazzykat]

Cool report, piratey if I might add. Be careful now Swans will be going for $50 on ebay after you won with them!

So what made you play this deck over one of the more envogue countertop archetypes?

[Wargoos]

Report

Wow, another player from dresden on TheSource?!
That's neat, I hope Legacy will become more popular down here and thank you very much for your good impressions off me , since I think I appear to be rather a dick than a nice person.
I also read your report and am liking your Merfolk list, but would try to sneak some sovereigns maindeck. Just loved them against zoo.

@merkwürdige:

Don't be afraid, I did not won - just took the second place. Swans will stay low
Also tourney was rather small but I don't exactly know how many people - 5 rounds is about ~24, right?

Why picking up the deck?
Well I had the thought for the first time after a big legacy event in dülmen (around 90 player) in which I played Canadian Threshold (as usual) and got defeated by some rogue decks and my own deck.
I wanted to play something more consistend with the ability not to just scoop against the surging Combo Doomsday ANT lists that were coming up and that means you have to play countertop.
I tested around for some time with various lists and came to the forgotten Swan lists.
A deck that abuses Countertop and has a nice combofinish?
Now that sounds good.
You play just 3colored, which makes you resilient against landhate and you still just crush zoo because you either:
- lock them out with cb (which got more unlikely with the printing of pridemage)
- buy enough time and win via combo
- go in the usual aggro-control Thresh manner and win it with goyfs and forces

So you get the advantage against the recent two most fearful deck to beats. That sounds good, doesn't it?
Also control isn't that hard because you can play just blood moons in the side and punish them for going 4c (supreme blue, nassif top an all). Means you get good sideboard options.
You get a very consistent deck overall.
At least, that were the thoughts when I picked up the deck.
I know, I sound a bit exaggerative on some points, but I think the thoughts aren't that devious at all.

This deck is a very good choice for all who like to play those kind of decks and it rewards good players highly.
And I am not that good of a player myself.
Average maybe but I know a lot of better players than myself.

[Jeff Kruchkow]

So whats the reasoning between running the Conflagrate package and Lightning Storm?

[wmagzoo7]

I haven't played the deck in Legacy at all, but from what I know in Extended, Conflagrate is better than Lightning Storm. My reason for saying this is that Lightning Storm opens you up to randomly losing for no reason at all if they have lands in their hand. Also, Lightning Storm is a completely dead card in your hand whereas Conflagrate can be discarded and then later used to win the game without needing Eternal Witness. Lastly, costing 1 less is important too. How do you feasibly win the turn you go nuts with Chain of Plasma? Seems like 2-3 Simian Spirit Guide would be useful if you wanted to win the turn you combo off. All in all, grats on the split, deck seems fun and interesting.

[chokin]

I haven't played the deck in Legacy at all, but from what I know in Extended, Conflagrate is better than Lightning Storm. My reason for saying this is that Lightning Storm opens you up to randomly losing for no reason at all if they have lands in their hand. Also, Lightning Storm is a completely dead card in your hand whereas Conflagrate can be discarded and then later used to win the game without needing Eternal Witness. Lastly, costing 1 less is important too. How do you feasibly win the turn you go nuts with Chain of Plasma? Seems like 2-3 Simian Spirit Guide would be useful if you wanted to win the turn you combo off. All in all, grats on the split, deck seems fun and interesting.

Or you know, you could use the last copy of Chain to Bolt them, swing with Swans and put them to at least 13. You still have other Bolts in had too so you can hit them even more, but I think you'll have more than 5 lands to redirect to them in case they have some.

EDIT: Also, Conflagrate can be removed from the graveyard in response to the copy of Chain.

[wmagzoo7]

Or you know, you could use the last copy of Chain to Bolt them, swing with Swans and put them to at least 13. You still have other Bolts in had too so you can hit them even more, but I think you'll have more than 5 lands to redirect to them in case they have some.

EDIT: Also, Conflagrate can be removed from the graveyard in response to the copy of Chain.

I guess I could be wrong, but I'm just following the lead of Luis Scott Vargas who chose Conflagrate over Lightning Storm when he went undefeated in Extended with Swans. Sure it was not the same exact deck by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like his advice on what to play (based on what he did play) is more useful than my or your pros and cons of the card.

[PaRa]

nice report Ead!

It's just awesome to see other people doing well with the deck!

I used to run only 3 top and no trinket mages but 2 firespout main and one in the side. Firespout won me several games but i must admit that a more reliable CB/top lock should have done the job as well. Not being able to lock your opp before trying to combo out is not a great idea with the deck..

i rather prefer to run Lightning Storm over Conflagrate just because it is not dependent on your GY. With so much dredge and loam running around everyone's board is packed by GY hate. Furthermore you have your cantrips and top to avoid drawing a dead card earlier in the game.

[Wargoos]

I haven't played the deck in Legacy at all, but from what I know in Extended, Conflagrate is better than Lightning Storm. My reason for saying this is that Lightning Storm opens you up to randomly losing for no reason at all if they have lands in their hand. Also, Lightning Storm is a completely dead card in your hand whereas Conflagrate can be discarded and then later used to win the game without needing Eternal Witness. Lastly, costing 1 less is important too. How do you feasibly win the turn you go nuts with Chain of Plasma? Seems like 2-3 Simian Spirit Guide would be useful if you wanted to win the turn you combo off. All in all, grats on the split, deck seems fun and interesting.

There were some responses, but here are my thoughts on conflagrate vs. storm:
- Conflagrate is gy dependant - this is a big manko

- When you drop swan, you already have 4 mana. You chain the swan the following turn, get your library into hand drop a land and thus get your 3 mana to play the storm.
-> This makes conflagrate costing less unimportant since you will have the 5 mana for the combo finish.

When you Lightning storm the opp you have your whole library in hand. You have more than 10 lands in hand, even IF the opponent has land and can redirect it, you can hold 1-2 lands back and redirect it again ftw. Also you have all your fows and dazes in hand and are able to counter anything that could come up. Seriously loosing because you pitched all the lands you had in hand is ... stupid. 7 lands are usually the maximum necessary number you have to pitch into the storm for it to be lethal - often it's less, because you swing with the swan in the combo turn and throw the last chain-copy in your opp. face. Thats 7 dmg already.
-> loosing because opp. has 1 or 2 lands in hand by himself is unprobable.

- Lightning Storm is better on it's own. Really. I had no swancombo against enchantress in the 3rd match but I had a goyf and a clique in play, lightning storm and 3 lands in hand! So Storm could deal 9! dmg for three. If the ench guy didn't drop luckily confinement being on 15 Storm would've won me the game. I actuelly used it even once to shoot a 4/5 goyf, discard blank landcards.
Storm is awesome converting unneeded lands into dmg.
-> Lightning Storm can do stuff even outisde the combo if really needed and can be put back via Brainstorm/Fetch.
Conflagrate needs to be discarded, how would you do that?
You have to play it first to get it into your grave and this will cost you mana. Adding the flashback cost, conflagrate costs as much as L.Storm.

- This deck does NOT need eternal witness. I played it in this tourney only because I wanted to test it and it was bad. I never had to play it to win or get me something back.

Conclusive I think conflagrate is just inferior to storm because of all this points I just made.

I guess I could be wrong, but I'm just following the lead of Luis Scott Vargas who chose Conflagrate over Lightning Storm when he went undefeated in Extended with Swans. Sure it was not the same exact deck by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like his advice on what to play (based on what he did play) is more useful than my or your pros and cons of the card.

He's pro yeah but just look at the legacy lists the pros put together at deckcheck. They are HORRIBLE. LSV may be an awesome player but for the legacy meta lightning storm is the better card. Maybe it seems better to play conflagrate in a format without counterbalance and FOWS and graveyard hate in every sideboard. But in legacy all those things are more than common.

[Taurelin]

Conflagrate needs to be discarded, how would you do that?

With Chain of Plasma?

Nevertheless, I also prefer Lightning Storm, because of the points mentioned above.
+ CC3 is useful for extended CB-range
+ possible instant-win (Solidarity-style)

[Nihil Credo]

For the record, this is LSV's Swan list. I would say he was right to play Conflagrate because:

- Conflagrate being GY-dependant is actually nearly irrelevant, because you can just discard it during the resolution of the last Chain, decline to copy, retain priority, and cast it before your opponent gets a chance to react.
- Conflagrate being worse on its own is less relevant, since his deck is much more combo-oriented than Legacy version (and packs Firespout) so burning up Lightning Storm as removal would be a much rarer play.
- For the same reason, his deck is far more likely to need to deal ~15 or even more damage with just the finisher spell, making Lightning Storm more cumbersome (particularly with Loam decks in the format and seeing play).
- Conflagrate is resilient to discard spells, which saw plenty of Extended play.
- His deck packs 4 Chrome Moxes and 2 SSGs. He has a solid shot at casting Swans and Chain in the same turn and immediately following up with a finisher spell using the acceleration left in his deck. But Lightning Storm's extra mana could very well hamper this plan, if four of those sources had ended up used, discarded (TfK) or were at the bottom of his deck.
- Probably more stuff that I missed.

Most of those reasons don't apply to Legacy, where Lightning Storm's alternative uses also become more important, as pointed out above.