[Free Article] So Many Insane Plays: The Parameters of Land Tax in Legacy

[Smmenen]

In this article I canvass the options for abusing Land Tax in Legacy, set out the possibilities and limitations, and suggest two lists at the end.

http://www.eternal-central.com/?p=2873

Enjoy!

Stephen

[4eak]

Your parfait list looks fun and not awful (it isn't necessarily going to be tier 2 even, but there are perhaps metagames where it will perform well). I think it is madness to have Chant, E-tutor, but not a single Isochron Scepter in the list.


peace,
4eak

[Smmenen]

Good point. I had considered Scepter, but failed to mention it in my review. You will find mention of it in the archival materials tho, I think. Thanks for reading.

[(nameless one)]

I hope you do a podcast (big fan by the way) on how to play Parfait properly. I keep encountering people on Cockatrice trying to play it but do it wrong.

Look forward on what you have in store for the archetype.

[Smmenen]

Not even remotely surprised.

I am surprised that more people are talking about my deck though. It's pretty awesome.

[boneclub24]

I tested the Mono-White Parfait you listed just for fun, and it's pretty decent actually.

[Nekrataal]

What the article fails to explain imho is the issue that on the one hand you what to have a lot of activations from Land Tax which requires having less lands in play while on the other hand control decks are mana hungry beasts that want 4+ Manasources in play to cast the big spells like Humililty, Moat, Win Condition As most Legacy Decks operate fine with 2 or 3 Mana the article does not cover how to actually get multiple activations as expected. Maybe I fail to see how that can be achieved except a single activation early game.

If you think further and add cards that force the opponent to put down more lands (Taxing Effekt like Spheres or Thalias) or rebuild his mana base from scratch (Armageddon) you end up probably with more Land Tax activations but in such a deck you will likely want to run CotV.

[Smmenen]

The better way to control that, if you find it to be an issue, is Zuran Orb, which ensures you always can activate Land Tax.

[mulder]

How about Entreat the Angels as a win condition?

[Smmenen]

Sure, why not? the Win condition's primary relevance is that you want something to win the game quickly once you've locked the game up. It could be almost anything that's white and satisfies that critiera. Artifacts or Enchantments are preferred because they can be recurred with Argivian Find.

[funyun45]

Sure, why not? the Win condition's primary relevance is that you want something to win the game quickly once you've locked the game up. It could be almost anything that's white and satisfies that critiera. Artifacts or Enchantments are preferred because they can be recurred with Argivian Find.

I think Entreat the Angels should be considered the win con of choice, given that it's certainly proved itself in Miracle Control, and this deck, with Scroll Rack, is able to make the most of the card's power and efficiency.

[Vacrix]

Nice article man. I enjoyed it. Land Tax was one of those things I knew wasn't going to break the format or be particularly relevant until someone bothered to come up with something playable, so I opted out of even thinking of potential combinations.

However.. Path to Exile looks like it compliments Land Tax really well. Exile a creature, and potentially activate Land Tax as well. In Cron's list you have it listed at STP/PtE. I think it should probably be PtE considering that the deck lacks Wasteland so you aren't really worried about them finding basics. Granted, it does make Spell Pierce and Daze a bit weaker, but if they sandbag your Land Tax then they are more effective anyway.

The weak point in this build, though, seems to be the protection suite; if they sandbag your Land Tax then Pierce and Daze are more effective. If they don't, though, then you need to land Scroll Rack, Jace, Brainstorm, etc. to take advantage of having those extra 3 lands; however, if they are playing lands then Pierce and Daze become less effective. Also, you open yourself up to the same kind of soft-countermagic by trying to stay behind on a land. It doesn't look like its easy to play.


Stuff I thought of that might work well in this sort of build:

Chain of Vapor - Bounce stuff, sac lands to get under your opponents number, then activate Land Tax and replenish your resources.
Jotun Grunt - Synergizes with stuff that sends lands to the yard like Chain of Vapor or Zuran Orb.
Trade Routes - With Land Tax, this allows you to activate it, or discard the lands in your hand to draw cards. Its the same cost as Scroll Rack but you'll have to sink more mana into it. On the upside, Scroll Rack can't activate the Land Tax; you have to already be behind in lands.
Vengeful Dreams - Exile your opponents team. Might be a decent Terminus 2.0

[lavafrogg]

Why would a land tax deck ever want to play 4 lands and get to Jace mana? That seems completely backwards from the point of the deck. As a land taxing player I think you would be terrified when you watched so many legacy decks sit on 2 lands for the majority of the game and still be perfectly happy leaving land tax/scroll racks dead in your hand/on board.

Humility, Oblivion Ring, Charbelcher see like they would benefit from hitting your land drops every turn ala Quinn.

[(nameless one)]

This is why I believe Trinisphere + City of Traitors/Crystal Vein belongs in a deck with Scroll Rack + Land Tax.

Parfait ain't what it used to be. There are decks that run on 2 lands, free spells, Vial, Rituals, mana artifacts and creatures. Trinisphere deals with decks that run on 2 lands free spells and Rituals. Some mana artifacts and creatures get slowed down by Trinisphere. Worst case scenario they run more lands and have your Tax/Rack engine active digging through your library for answers.

[Nekrataal]

The better way to control that, if you find it to be an issue, is Zuran Orb, which ensures you always can activate Land Tax.

Sure, that can be done. However just assuming the opponent operates on two lands you can get Land Tax activations but no win condition on the board. So at some point you want lands in play ... a lot of lands ... I don't see yet where the point in time is to switch from activating Land Tax a lot too playing lands to e.g. play a reasonable big Entreat the Angels or Batterskull.

This is why I believe Trinisphere + City of Traitors/Crystal Vein belongs in a deck with Scroll Rack + Land Tax.

Parfait ain't what it used to be. There are decks that run on 2 lands, free spells, Vial, Rituals, mana artifacts and creatures. Trinisphere deals with decks that run on 2 lands free spells and Rituals. Some mana artifacts and creatures get slowed down by Trinisphere. Worst case scenario they run more lands and have your Tax/Rack engine active digging through your library for answers.

I rather see that Stax like shell to work with Land Tax but then ... old Stax + Tax seems rather week. So an new idea I am not capable of coming up with is needed ...

[edgarps22]

That would also depend on the amount of Mox Diamonds you have seen, and other mana sources like that, if anything, once the deck uses its engine once or twice, it might not need it again. You could simply start dropping lands, dump out your control, then if you need more, Orb away to activate Tax again and keep going. I could see this being very consistent at the very least, not Tier 1, not yet, but certainly worth a shot.

[Finn]

The solution to all of Land Tax's problems is called Greater Gargadon. Well, that card and entirely new format that is not a good two turns too fast for any reasonable strategy Land Tax provides.

Seriously about the gargadon though. That one and Devastating Dreams. Smennen must have been stoned to forget that one in his review.

[Aernil]

In the limited testing I have done so far, I always either sat on a Tax that wouldnt activate (because the opponent just stopped playing land), or I had a bunch of tax triggers and struggled to play something meaningful with the low landcount.

I think no matter what your wincon is, artifact mana seems to be a choice you have to take.
Atm I'm testing something like

24 Lands
4 Mox Diamond
3 Mox Opal
3-4 [Fieldmist/Firewild/Mistvein/Veinfire/Wildfield] Borderpost

4 Land Tax
4 Scrollrack

Thats more than half of the deck dedicated to mana and/or card advantage, enormously limiting the choices for the rest of the deck.

[DrJones]

In the limited testing I have done so far, I always either sat on a Tax that wouldnt activate (because the opponent just stopped playing land)

If your opponent doesn't need to play lands regardless of you having a land tax in play, you are doing it wrong.

[Aernil]

If your opponent doesn't need to play lands regardless of you having a land tax in play, you are doing it wrong.

Obviously that is true, but I was pointing out that deckspace is very limited for any lockpieces and wincon you might play, if you want to be able to reliably play them.
While Trinisphere also is the best lockpiece in combination with Tax, leaves the deck with a ~20 slots for other lockpieces and wincons.
You basically HAVE to have a very compact kill thats also very resistent vs hate.