Top 10 most feared creatures in Legacy

[(nameless one)]

Alright, The title should explain it all. What is Legacy's top 10 most feared creatures?

Without any doubt, Tarmogoyf is number 1, but what about the last remaining 9 spots? I am trying to prove something. Although I cannot post what I am trying to prove right away, I will post it later on when theres is enough data around it.

Discuss.

[kkoie]

1 - Tarmogoyf obviously
2 - Tombstalker - he comes out a lot faster than people realize and is quite the clock. I put him above Iona and Prog. because I think he is easier to cast. the other two usually need some way of cheating them into play.
3 - Iona - She causes a lot of decks a lot of anguish if she hits the table.
4 - Progenitus - A very fast clock.
5 - Dark Confidant - due to the amount of card advantage he provides. If not answered soon, he usually spells doom for the opponent.

[Goaswerfraiejen]

If the criterion for inclusion is fear/worry/concern then Tarmogoyf doesn't make it on my list because it's easy to deal with, and my decks tend to run their own. Instead, I would include creatures that are difficult for me to deal with, creatures that can cause me real problems when they hit the board. Thus: Progenitus, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Tombstalker, Phyrexian Dreadnought, etc.

[jawa]

1 - Goblin Lackey
2 - Tarmogoyf
3 - Tombstalker
4 - Dark Confidant
5 - Progenitus
6 - Iona
7 - Lord of Atlantis
8 - Wild Nacatl
9 - Stoneforge Mystic
10 - SQUEEEeee

[emidln]

1) Emrakul
2) Iona
3) Progenitus
4) Phyrexian Dreadnought
5) Tarmogoyf.

Some claim that there are others creatures in this format. After careful examination, I've concluded that they are mistaken.

P.S. If you're not afraid of Emrakul, you've yet to have it Show & Tell'd into play against you.

[Bahamuth]

1) Emrakul
2) Iona
3) Progenitus
4) Phyrexian Dreadnought
5) Tarmogoyf.

Some claim that there are others creatures in this format. After careful examination, I've concluded that they are mistaken.

P.S. If you're not afraid of Emrakul, you've yet to have it Show & Tell'd into play against you.

6) Cannonist
7) Vendillion Clique
8) Gaddock Teeg
9) Meddling Mage
10) Rhox War Monk

[zalachan]

Maybe also worth mentioning are:
Magus of the Moon,
Goblin Ringleader ("fear" would be exaggeration, but i still hate it),
Faerie Macabre;
Not exactly on power with "finishers" up there, but they have their own superpowers:)

[Arrowni]

In their own right Gaddock Teth, Goblin Lackey and Magus of the Moon should be in that list.

[Skeggi]

Tarmogoyf isn't feared, Tarmogoyf is taken into account and dealt with. Creatures like Iona, Progenitus and Ringleader are alot harder to deal with.

[Angelfire]

1. Goyf - Best creature in Magic.
2. Goblin Lackey - Deal with him or lose to unstoppable tempo.
3. Dark Confidant - Best card advantage engine in Legacy.
4. Grim Lavamancer - He rapes a ton of creatures and goes to the dome like a champ.
5. Magus of the Moon - Straight up beats certain decks and definitely has that fear factor.
6. Tombstalker - Hes huge and flies and costs 2-4 mana.
7. Rhox War Monk - As a red player, I fear this guy a lot.
8. Painter's Servant - I still say "oh shit" whenever he hits the board.
9. Gaddock Teeg - Certain decks get raped by him.
10. Mother of Runes - An underplayed card and people hate to face her.

[jazzykat]

Magus of the Moon.

[caiomarcos]

Tarmogoyf isn't feared, Tarmogoyf is taken into account and dealt with. Creatures like Iona, Progenitus and Ringleader are alot harder to deal with.

Tarmogoyf is feared. The one card that have won most games in the last 2 years has to be feared. When not dealt with it just wins, like Jitte, but Jitte is no a creature, and Goyf is a 2 drop unlike Progenitus or whatever.

That being said, here is my list:

Tarmogoyf
Tombstalker
Dark Confidant
Progenitus
Goblin Ringleader
Wild Nacatl
Goblin Lackey
Painter's Servant
Phyrexian Dreadnought
Rhox War Monk

Obviously that list is defined not only by how powerful those creatures are, but also by the meta I play in. I never face Iona, so at least by now I fear her not.

[Nessaja]

1. Goblin Lackey
2. Tarmogoyf
3. Wild Nacatl
4. Dark Confidant
5. Progenitus
6. Iona
7. Blazing Archon

[Phoenix Ignition]

Based on ease of play and must answer-ness.

1. Goblin Lackey
2. Progenitus
3. Dark Confidant
4. Iona
5. Inkwell Leviathan
6. Zur, the Enchanter
7. Mother of Runes
8. Tarmogoyf
9. Abyssal Persecutor
10. Magus of the Moon

Honorable mentions:
Xantid Swarm
Nomads en-Kor (shit always hits the fan with a deck that plays him)
Magus of the Tabernacle
Stoneforge Mystic

[godryk]

If we are talking about feared creatures, I'm pretty sure that right now we have a clear couple in the highest positions:

1- Progenitus
2 - Iona

At least in Spain, Bant Progenitus decks have increased in popularity in post GP metagame, while it wasn't precisely rare in the previous months. Everybody runs some kind of Progenitus hate: Llawan, Wash Out, Circle of Protection XX, etc. Iona is also pretty popular, specially since the rise of Reanimator after the Grand Prix, and comes down faster than Progenitus most of time, making prices of cards like Karakas, Loyal Retainers or Entomb rise to stupid levels. So I'm pretty sure that, at least in our country, these are the most feared creatures. People doesn't fear Tarmogoyf as much as those while it's an overall better creature.

The next feared creatures could be:

3 - Tarmogoyf
4 - Dark Confidant
5 - Lord of Atlantis
6 - Golgari Grave-Troll
7 - Wild Nacatl
8 - Lackey
9 - Rhox War Monk
10 - Tombstalker

I don't count creature tokens, as Bridge from Below zombies or Bitterblossom faeries, which I personally fear much more than most of the creatures above. However, we all know it really depends on what you're playing. Do you play islands? Then Lord of Atlantis rises positions. Do you play Zoo? Then you may even throw Fireblast to Rhox War Monk.

[Vacrix]

The question is, feared according to whom? As an SI pilot:

Top 5:
1. Iona, Shield of Emeria (can't go off)
2. Ethersworn Cannonist (can't go off)
3. Gaddock Teeg (can't play win con)
4. Phyrexian Dreadnought (2 turn clock, also threatens stifle and FoW)
5. Tarmogoyf

[SpeedOfDark]

effect: OMGWTF??!
1. emrakul
2. progenitus
3. iona
4. inkwell
5. dreadnought

effect: ah... shit.
1. lackey
2. ravenger
3. grim lavamancer
4. tarmogoyf
5. dark confidant

[ktkenshinx]

A lot of the creatures on these previous lists are just not feared. Just because a creature is powerful or good does not make it feared. Rhox War Monk is an excellent example of this. a 3 CMC 3/4 lifelink is a powerful card, but no one flips out and cries when he hits play. The same goes for Goyf, albeit for a different reason. He is an expected threat and an obvious one. He has no evasion, no trample, and no protection. He is damn good, yes, but he is not scary.

The following creatures are terrifying dudes that you do not want to face down. When you see them, you react immediately. You do not sigh and say "Damn. Goyf is dumb." You immediately throw down a FoW. You blurt out "SHIT. Where's the damn Swords!?". You forfeit in despair. These are scary creatures, not just good ones.

I have used the following criteria for most feared card. I have rated them all in terms of stars, 5 being the most feared in this category.
a) Cost: CMC, the cost of cheating it into play, and number of cards needed.
b) Vulnerabilities: How vulnerable is it to the opponent.
c) Win Potential: Can it win the game on its own? To what extent does it help win the game?

We can debate these three criteria, but I am using them to determine my list.

1. Progenitus
a) * * * Costs 4 mana, available on turn 3 in the decks that use it. 4 mana is a bit on the expensive side in Legacy, however. You also need 2 cards to get it into play, a green creature and the NO.
b) * * * * * Essentially none. Unless NO gets countered, Progenitus is going to be immune to virtually every spell in Legacy except for Diabolic Edict and Gatekeeper.
c) * * * * * Progenitus is the ultimate 2 turn creature clock. He is relentless and virtually unstoppable. Moreover, the turn he comes into play, few opponents will attack into him, unless they have serious creature advantage. This makes Progenitus a beast of epic proportions, and a terrifying card to hit play.

2. Iona, Shield of Emeria
a) * * * * * Costs anywhere between 2 and 3 mana to get into play, either with Entomb/Study and Reanimate/Exhume. 2 cards at 2 mana is almost as scary as it gets.
b) * * * * Iona must name White in a number of matchups to grant Swords immunity. 7 toughness puts her out of burn range, and even most block/burn combat tricks. Against decks that run sacrifice effects, naming black is probably game over anyway. Iona also suffers from graveyard vulnerabilities. Crypt and Relic can slow a Reanimator player long enough for the opponent to come up with an answer.
c) * * * * Some decks can win through an Iona: Dredge, Countertop variants, Team America, Lands, etc. Other decks either automatically lose, or come inches away from death: MBC, ANT, Goblins, Merfolk, WW, etc. Iona also shuts down enough of most decks that these decks are unlikely to recover. This "I Win" quality pushes Iona over the edge in scariness.

3. Putrid Imp
a) * * * * * One mana and one card for the Dredge engine. Dredge uses this hyper-efficient engine for a reason.
b) * * PImp is highly vulnerable to everything. That said, PImp is almost guaranteed to get FoW'd, Dazed, Swords'd, Fired, Bolted, Needled, etc. in the first turn. He's a giant hate magnet, and because so much hate gets aimed at him right away, he emerges as a highly feared card. Moreover, he needs to be dealt with IMMEDIATELY. Not in two turns. Not in three. If PImp doesn't get blown away within a turn, Dredge can get out of control.
c) * * * * * Dredge needs a discard outlet on the first 2 turns to reliably do anything. If PImp can stick around for 1 turn, if not 2, Dredge is off to the races and the most broken deck in Legacy is guaranteed to achieve a win.

4. Inkwell Leviathan
a) * * * * * Just like Iona. 2 cards at 2 mana.
b) * * * * * Like Progenitus, Virtually unkillable. Shroud and 11 Toughness is just too much for any deck to deal with.
c) * * * 1/2. Inkwell really loses out to Progenitus in the killing department. Against decks with Islands, he's a 3 turn clock, and he's at his best. Against decks without Islands, however, he's barely a 5 turn clock, assuming that the opponent is chumping at least twice. Islandwalk conditionality aside, Inkwell is a monster. The only reason he is below Iona is because he does not have the "Oops. I win" factor that the angel does have.

5. Phyrexian Dreadnought
a) * * * * * Like Iona, but even scarier in card requirements. 2 mana, 2 cards, and no graveyard involved. This is a blazing fast opening, especially when backed up on turn 3 by Countertop and FoW.
b) * * * Unlike Iona and Progenitus, Dreadnought is a bit more vulnerable. Because Dreadnought can be exiled courtesy of Swords, the Phyrexian beater is not higher on the list; too many decks run Swords for Dreadnought to be an essentially safe play. MBCs sacrifice effects also get rid of it, as do bounce spells. Countertop also represents a major vulnerability to the Nought. CMC 1 is the most common CMC in the deck, so a Dreadnought player will need to get around any opposing Countertops if he is to play his win condition.
c) * * * * You can chump Dreadnought a little bit, which is absolutely relevant if you are Fish (high toughness Merfolks can buy you an extra turn) or are using Goyf (this can buy you 2 turns). That said, 12/12 trample is a serious threat that must immediately be answered.

6. Argothian Enchantress
a) * * * 2 mana for the untargetable, main engine of a combo deck? Sounds as powerful as it actually is. The reason this star rating is so low is that Enchantress actually doesn't do anything on her own. You need to play all sorts of other enchantments for her to matter. That makes her overall "cost" a lot higher than the 2 CMC might indicate, bringing her overall ranking down.
b) * * * * Shroud is awesome, make no mistake. But that one toughness can be problematic. Firespout is definitely a Legacy presence, and the lack of toughness can be a problem in surviving the falling embers. With the exception of this low toughness, Enchantress is definitely hard to kill, suffering from only countermagic vulnerabilities. CMC 2 is also a problem owing to Countertop.
c) * * * * Obviously Enchantress wins the game, but not in its own right. Clever countermagic and disruption can slow the Enchantress player's march to victory, even if the babe is in play. Because of this dependency on other cards, Enchantress is lower on the list than some might think.

7. Painter's Servant
a) * * * * Servant is a measly 3 mana part of a win-the-game combo. The other part is a ridiculous 1 mana, which means that the Painter deck has major win potential on turn 3 (or earlier depending on the draw).
b) * * Servant is pretty darn vulnerable. He has no protection and no shroud. His toughness stops only Fire/Ice and Magma Jets. He can get countered, discarded, exiled, firespouted, bolted, and any number of horrible fates. Servant, however, sort of protects himself in tandem with Elemental Blasts and Pyroblasts. This prevents him from achieving a * rating.
c) * * * * With Grindstone, Servant wins the game. Even without Grindstone, Servant can totally shut down the opponent. Yes, he is useless on his own, but it does not take too many cards to get him up and running. This makes Servant a righteously feared card.

8. Tombstalker
a) * * * * 2 mana and 5 cards in the graveyard. Tombstalker doesn't hit play too early, but when he comes out on turn 4 or 5, he is ready to smash some people.
b) * * * Tombstalker is pretty vanilla, as far as these scary creatures get. The standard host of removal and disruption stops him dead in his tracks. The 5 toughness and flying, however, goes a long way. It means that most burn spells won't faze the monster. It also means that combat tricks, whether with Vial or with backup burn spells, are not going to get rid of the demon.
c) * * * One word: Flying. It might strike people as odd that Tombstalker is on this list but Goyf is not. Goyf can be chumpblocked for turns on end, especially against aggro decks. Few Legacy decks run any serious amount of flyers, which means Stalker can smash face virtually unimpeded.

9. Magus of the Moon
a) * * * * 3 mana. No other cards needed. Quite a bargain for the ultimate shutter-downer of Legacy.
b) * * Magus is a vulnerable dude. The only reason that he does not have one * is because he tends to shut down the opponent's mana base, making it harder for them to remove him. If, however, the opponent has a Plains in play, or his playing burn, Magus's 2 toughness becomes a joke, and he is likely to get removed within a turn of him hitting play.
c) * * * Magus does not win the game on his own. Sure, he can beat for 2 a turn for a 10 turn clock, but that is not his purpose. Magus shuts down an opponent long enough for you to get your own deck up and running in lockdown mode (See Stax) or in beatdown mode (See Dragon Stompy).

10. Goblin Lackey
a) * * * * * 1 mana and no other cards makes Lackey the most undercosted threat on this list.
b) * On the other hand, 1 toughness and no protection makes Lackey the most comically vulnerable threat on this list. Anything and everything can kill a Lackey, and it often will.
c) * * * Lackey also does not outright win the game. His power is hand dependent, and all the gains that a Lackey makes can be undone by a timely Firespout or additional removal.

HONORABLE MENTION:
11. Nomads en-Kor/Cephalid Illusionist
a) * * * * * I put these two together because they are equally terrifying when they hit the battlefield. 1 mana and 2 mana respectively for an instant win; serious and scary business.
b) * Like Lackey, both of these guys suffer from major vulnerabilities. Unlike Lackey, their overall strategy also succumbs to graveyard hate. This makes them terrifying but also extremely weak in the face of hate. You also need both of these feeble guys to win the game, effectively doubling the deck's vulnerabilities. As such, they are #10 on this list.
c) * * * * That all being said, if everything goes according to plan, you are guaranteed to win the game when they hit play simultaneously. The only thing you need to worry about is graveyard hate; even countermagic and bounce are taken out of the picture in the face of flashbacked Therapy.

There you have it, my list of the top 10 most feared creatures in magic.

-ktkenshinx-

PS; Before I end, I wish to focus on a few creatures that keep appearing in people's lists. These creatures are GOOD but not FEARED, and the distinction must be clear.

1. Dark Confidant
Awesome card that gets some nice card advantage. Confidant is also absurdly vulnerable. Unlike Lackey/Servant/Illusionist/Nomads, however, he does very little to win the game on his own. Lackey may be hand dependent, but Confidant is topdeck dependent. He does nothing to accelerate you, and in the aggro matchup, he might even be a liability. Even with Top shenanigans, Confidant is a bit too slow to really be feared.

2. Lord of Atlantis
Lord almost made the list, and would have if more decks consistently played Islands. But the bottom line is simple; Lord does little to help you against decks not running Islands. The +1/+1 bonus is awesome, but let's face it; islandwalk is the real winning ability on the Lord. If that ability is rendered irrelevant, then Lord plummets in fearfulness.

[puppektion]

How did nobody mention Qasali Pridemage? This creature single-handedly changed so much in the format. He makes you win goyf wars, zoo now has another way to eat dreadnought, enchantress pieces, painter's servant, etc.

[Vacrix]

Sure Qasali Pridemage is influential but he's only scary to certain players. At least I'm not going to shit MY pants when it comes down. A stax player would have a completely different reaction. Theres a reason nobody plays stax anymore. When Pridemage hit the scene, those guys had to start bringing extra pants to every round.