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    [Primer/Deck] Stax



    If you like strategies that take the ultimate control of the board, utterly locking your opponent out of the game, or just slowing the gamestate down enough to steal a win, going with what is known sometimes as a prison deck, or resource denial strategy, then Stax is the deck to play, while there are different variants of Stax, Mud or stompy stax that gets out a large creature after controlling the game state enough, or the extreme that is Mono white stax, or Prison Stax that is one of the more successful, giving key access to prison strategies such as more taxing effects & land destruction.

    Please note: This is about Stax decks that have more of a focus on things like Smokestack, Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void etc, whether it's Colorless or White, for decks that focus more on MUD aggro, Metalworker combo, Forgemaster, etc, go here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-(Metalworker)

    1) Playing Stax
    2) Successful decklists & trends
    3) Card choices
    3a) Maindeck
    3b) Sideboard
    4) Price guide
    5) Awesome links
    6) Previous Stax thread
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...rmageddon-Stax special thanks to Machinus
    7) 20 match ups

    1) Playing Stax:
    Version 1: Prison Stax strategies:
    Your goal is to completely lock out the opponent, kill conditions in this deck are minimal, the only reason they even exhist is because you still can't actually win until the opponent is killed somehow, therefore, 2 for 1 kill conditions are the way to go, Mishra's Factory doubles as a 2/2 animation creature & a land for mana, & Magus of the Tabernacle doubles as a 2/6 that can also block, & puts out a taxing effect on opposing creatures, making it perfectly synergetic with the rest of your deck, Magus was practically built for a deck like this. If you're running the most extreme version of Prison Stax, sometimes referred to as Dutch Stax, you'll also be running the expensive Legacy staple Moat, combined with Humility it is a lock out against any/all creature based strategies, & most all decks in Legacy kill with creatures save for some combo decks.

    Version 2: Stompy/Mud Stax strategies:
    Your goal isn't so much to completely lock out the opponent, but to slow them down just enough so that you can stall them, before dropping something like Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Hero of Bladehold or Baneslayer Angel to take them down for the kill while they are severly impacted by your lock out, taxing, & resource disrupting strategy. Destroying all lands in play with one of your kill conditions out is sometimes a 100% win if it resolves, especially with stuff out like Trinisphere. If you are running MUD Stax, then you'll be colorless, and your creatures will be things like Lodestone Golem & Wurmcoil Engine, Metalworker is another card you'll see in some MUD stax builds, since it produces mana based on artifacts in hand, & you'll have so many.

    Starting hand: Whatever your primary strategy is, you will want some sort of acceleration in your opening hand, whether it's a Mox Diamond, Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors. A general rule is this, you want to have 3 mana or more for your turn 2, since most of your deck is 3-4 drops. Another thing to take into consideration is on the play, turn 1 Chalice of the Void for 1, or even dropping a turn 1 Trinisphere after playing a Sol land (Tomb or Traitors) & the Mox.

    Early game: The first thing you will do once you have a keepable hand is what any deck does, drop your lands, and start playing something, the first things that will likely come down are your Trinisphere's & Chalice's as noted above, but in addition, you also have access to Crucible of Worlds. If it's Prison Stax, additionally Ghostly Prison against creature based strategies, basically the first parts of the game you will get yourself setting up, getting out stuff that slows the opponent down.

    Mid game: This is where things like Smokestack, Armageddon come into play, after getting down some lock out pieces, further cement the game state by restarting the game essentially with permanent disruption or even straight for land destruction. If you are stompy or MUD Stax you can then start dropping threats here, Wurmcoil Engine is especially effective against aggro strategies in that it's so hard to answer (Swords to Plowshares being the one exception) & can gain your life back that you've lost against an opposing, fast aggro strategy. As far as other creatures like Baneslayer Angel & Hero of Bladehold if you're running them, they can start to come down here as well, & if it's more Prison Stax, Magus of the Tabernacle, or even trying to complete the Moat/Humility combo if you have the pieces required in hand.

    Late game: This is where you will "finish them" in most builds, though the Stompy versions can kill during the mid game if starting out with a smooth hand. In either case. While starting to take them down, your disruption will take things even further, after getting out things like Smokestack & ticking it up accordingly, if you have a Chalice of the Void at 1 in play, cast the next one for 2 counters on it, further cutting the opponent off from doing much since most legacy decks are filled with cards in the 1 & 2 converted mana cost ratio.
    ~Stompy: After getting your permanents into play that slow the opponent down as much as you can, you'll cast your creatures & start swinging, keeping the opponent slowed enough that they cannot recover as you eat at their life total, Hero of Bladehold is especially effective here as it swings for 7 at a minimum, makes threats, then even more damage comes across the following turn until you kill them.
    ~MUD: Similar to Stompy versions of Stax, once you've disrupted the game state enough, you will drop your artifact creatures like Wurmcoil Engine or Lodestone Golem and be swinging for huge chunks of their life total, while further cementing them out of the game with your disruption that you continue to draw.
    ~Prison: This version is the slowest, at a maximum you'll only start out swinging for 2 a turn, whether it's Magus of the Tabernacle or Mishra's Factory until you draw into more of them, or do 20 damage over the course of 10 combat steps, however, this version of Stax is so focused on controlling the board state with so many taxing effects & lockout strategies, once you're in a position where you're swinging for 2 a turn & you have control, your opponent will almost never recover & is as good as dead, it's just making it actually happen on the Life counter.

    History: Stax type strategies have been around in different versions in Legacy for years, but one of the most common more recent strategies has been white/prison stax, focusing on a prison strategy that locks the opponent out of the game with what some would call, the ultimate form of control. For those most recent versions, we'll go back to the end of 2009 with a 1st place at the open series in Philadelphia.

    2) Successful decklists & trends: from here http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/decklists/ & http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/for...=Legacy&page=1
    2009:
    1st place - Brian Peters - SCG Philadelphia (147 players) prison stax

    2010:
    11th place - Alex Kenny - SCG Seattle (191 players) prison stax
    4th place - Hannes Knabe-Paulsen - Sommermercadiade 2010 (134 players) prison stax
    6th place - Mori Tushi - Japan Legacy Championships (174 players) prison stax

    2011:
    13th place - Zack Strait - SCG St Louis (277 players) prison stax with stompy elements

    2012:
    5th place - Hannes Knabe-paulsen - Iserlohner Magic-Treff (68 players) prison stax
    3rd place - Carson Long - SCG Dallas (174 players) artifact stax
    9th place - Matt Keefer - SCG Providence (247 players) U/B
    29th place - Christopher Yip - SCG Seattle (187 players) B/W stax
    15th place - Jacob Lombas - SCG New Orleans (92 players) prison w/out land destruction

    2013:
    5th place - Alessandro Fabricatore - MLL#12-Milano, MI (74 players) prison stax

    2014:
    15th place - Scott Muir - SCG Columbus (342 players)

    2015:
    37th place - Joshua Taylor - SCG Philadelphia (566 players) prison w/out land destruction

    3) Card choices:

    3a) Maindeck: The prison Stax setup:
    Taxing effects:
    Magus of the Tabernacle (4) 1 of your kill conditions, synergy with land destruction & other taxing effects against creatures.
    Ghostly Prison (4) synergy with land destruction & other taxing effects against creatures.
    Stalling effects:
    Trinisphere (4) synergy with land destruction & other taxing effects.
    Chalice of the Void (4) a metagame card, your deck is almost built around it, most of Legacy's spells cost 1-3 mana while your deck starts at the 3 mana curve.
    Tangle wire non traditional seen in fewer lists, has some synergy with taxing effects.
    Can hit any permanent:
    Oblivion Ring (4) one of your only ways to hit artifacts/enchantments/planeswalker's directly as removal.
    Smokestack (4) synergy with much of the deck, & the namesake of the deck being called Stax.
    Land Destruction:
    Armageddon (4) synergy with taxing effects & trinisphere especially.
    Wasteland (4) synergy & abuseable with Crucible of worlds against most decks.
    Other advantage:
    Crucible of Worlds (4) synergy with Mox Diamond, Land destruction, sac'ing to Smokestack.
    Scroll rack non traditional seen in fewer lists.
    White mana sources:
    Plains (4) sometimes 3, sometimes 5.
    Flagstones of Trokair (4) synergy with Armageddon & Smokestack.
    Mana excel:
    Mox Diamond (4) synergy with Crucible of Worlds, helps get out Trinisphere/Chalice of the Void as early as turn 1.
    Ancient Tomb (4) helps get out Trinisphere/Chalice of the Void as early as turn 1.
    City of Traitors (4) helps get out Trinisphere/Chalice of the Void as early as turn 1.
    Other lands:
    Mishra's Factory (4) 1 of your kill conditions.
    Nomad Stadium non traditional
    Kor Haven non traditional
    Karakas non traditional
    Maze of Ith non traditional

    Other Stax strategies:
    Stompy Stax: (more threats)
    Baneslayer Angel (2-3) kill condition.
    Elspeth, Knight-Errant (1-2) kill condition with a bonus if it 'ultimates'.
    Hero of Bladehold (3) kill condition.
    Stoneforge Mystic non traditional tutor for equipments.
    Batterskull non traditional kill condition & lifegain against aggro decks.
    Dutch Stax: ($$$ money stax $$$)
    Enlightened Tutor non traditional tutor, though uncommonly seen with Chalice of the Void in the deck.
    Humility (4) half of the moat/humility combo.
    Moat (4) the other half of the moat/humility combo.
    The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale synergy with taxing effects against creatures.
    MUD Stax: (colorless)
    Lodestone Golem (4) taxing effect against non artifact spells & a kill condition.
    Wurmcoil Engine (3-4) a very effective kill condition that's also great against aggro strategies with it's lifelink & split token reanimation upon death.
    Metalworker (3-4) potentially produces alot of mana from hand in full artifact MUD Stax builds. Can also give combo option with Staff of Domination if your version runs that setup, though it's seen in more aggressive MUD decks that don't run Stax.
    Grim Monolith (4) mana acceleration.
    Darksteel Citadel indestructible artifact land.
    Phyrexian Metamorph (1 in the Carson Long list) can copy any artifact/creature in play.
    Steel Hellkite (1 in the Carson Long list) kill condition & potential removal.

    These are less common, but still noted as having some success in the past based on the history of higher placings of Stax decks:
    Splashing green:
    Savannah w/g land.
    Horizon Canopy synergy with Crucible of worlds as recurring card draw.
    Planeswalker Stax: (blue/black)
    Jace, the Mind Sculptor card advantage, potential kill condition, creature bounce, & can help prevent opponents from topdecking good stuff.
    Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas card advantage, potential kill condition, perfect in a deck with enough artifacts.
    Force of Will Legacy staple, counterspell disruption.
    Intuition instant speed tutor, as long as there's 3 copies in deck.
    The Abyss creature removal, sacrifice effect every turn.
    Engineered Explosives potential sweeper against multiple permanents based on converted mana cost.
    Chrome Mox mana acceleration.
    Academy Ruins synergy with Intuition, Smokestack, or anything that goes to the graveyard.
    Tolaria West can tutor for Engineered Explosives
    Island
    Underground Sea
    Polluted Delta
    Pox Stax: (black/white)
    Smallpox disruption in the form of discard, land, & creature removal.
    Liliana of the Veil disruption in the form of recurring discard & creature removal.
    Damnation sweeper against creature based strategies.
    Hymn to Tourach 2 for 1 discard, card advantage on your end.
    Lingering Souls blockers early, kill condition later, or both.
    Vindicate destroy any permanent that is a problem, & is targetable of course.
    Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    Marsh Flats
    Scrubland

    3b) Sideboard:
    ~Graveyard hate:
    Tormod's Crypt 0 cast mass graveyard removal.
    Grafdigger's Cage 1 cast that "neutralizes" the graveyard, but also affects things like Green Sun's Zenith.
    Relic of Progenitus 1 cast mass graveyard removal that cantrips.
    Leyline of the Void "free" mass graveyard removal that continues until answered.
    Faerie Macabre "free" graveyard targeting removal & uncounterable.
    ~Removal:
    Oblivion Ring when not in the maindeck, at a minimum in the sideboard.
    Wrath of God great against creature based strategies.
    Powder Keg great against multiples of lower converted mana cost permanents from the opponent.
    Pithing Needle great against planeswalkers, equipments, or other annoying activations from other permanents.
    Phyrexian Revoker a Pithing Needle with legs that can even target mana activations.
    ~Combo hate:
    Mindbreak Trap "free" against combo, essentially storm combo decks in paticular.
    Rule of Law 1 spell a turn, also great against storm combo especially.
    Ethersworn Canonist 1 spell a turn, same as Rule of Law.
    Leyline of Sanctity also works against discard/burn strategies.
    ~Artifact, Enchantment hate:
    Aura of Silence doubles as both a Disenchant & a taxing effect against artifacts & enchantments.
    ~Additional taxing effects:
    Suppression Field great against lots of fetchlands & creature activations.
    Defense Grid very good against counterspell strategies.
    ~Other:
    Karmic Justice protection against artifact/enchantment hate against you.
    Sphere of Law for opposing burn strategies.
    Ensnaring Bridge great to bring in against decks that try to drop bombs, like Natural Order or Show and Tell strategies.

    4) Price guide of more common Stax cards: As of March 2013 (For the most current prices, click on the link of each card) High-Mid-Low according to http://magiccards.info/ & http://magic.tcgplayer.com/all_magic_sets.asp
    $50.00+ average:
    Moat $330.10 $296.30 $257.03
    The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale $359.98 $321.24 $295.00

    $20.00 to $50.00:
    Wasteland $55.95 $49.62 $41.95
    City of Traitors $36.03 $29.79 $26.99
    Mox Diamond $42.33 $30.43 $23.40
    Crucible of Worlds $29.98 $24.06 $21.50
    Elspeth, Knight-Errant $27.98 $23.30 $19.95
    Grim Monolith $26.47 $22.00 $19.31

    $10.00 to $20.00:
    Baneslayer Angel $17.99 $14.01 $11.59
    Humility $15.99 $14.16 $11.80
    Metalworker $20.59 $12.30 $8.50
    Leyline of Sanctity $17.98 $12.52 $9.95

    $5.00 to $10.00:
    Wurmcoil Engine $12.95 $10.36 $8.96
    Smokestack $12.45 $8.20 $6.73
    Chalice of the Void $10.95 $9.11 $6.48
    Ancient Tomb $27.66 $9.53 $7.41
    Flagstones of Trokair $9.98 $5.95 $4.95
    Ethersworn Canonist $10.99 $9.50 $8.00
    Ensnaring Bridge $7.49 $5.73 $4.49

    $2.00 to $5.00:
    Armageddon $7.47 $4.99 $3.70
    Hero of Bladehold $9.20 $4.84 $3.66
    Tangle wire $5.98 $4.75 $3.75
    Phyrexian Metamorph $7.99 $3.62 $2.89
    Trinisphere $4.45 $3.72 $2.95
    Ghostly Prison $4.49 $3.32 $1.69
    Mishra's Factory $4.04 $2.86 $1.75
    Powder Keg $5.15 $2.65 $1.40
    Mindbreak Trap $7.98 $4.18 $2.85
    Karmic Justice $4.98 $3.55 $2.81

    $1.00 to $2.00:
    Darksteel Citadel $1.98 $1.55 $1.19
    Aura of Silence $2.04 $1.21 $0.94
    Defense Grid $2.35 $1.45 $1.05

    $1.00 or less average:
    Magus of the Tabernacle $1.98 $0.51 $0.15
    Oblivion Ring $1.04 $0.53 $0.20
    Lodestone Golem $2.01 $0.79 $0.43
    Steel Hellkite $1.98 $0.95 $0.46
    Tormod's Crypt $1.02 $0.47 $0.14
    Pithing Needle $2.05 $0.81 $0.43
    Phyrexian Revoker $1.98 $0.71 $0.37
    Suppression Field $0.75 $0.27 $0.08

    Plains $129.98(Guru) $5.07(Unhinged) $4.47(Unglued) $3.99(Beta) $1.00(Zendikar) $0.03(Basic)


    5) Awesome Links: In relation to Stax & Legacy
    Price trends of Singles:
    http://www.mtgprice.com/sets/Urzas_Saga/Smokestack

    Stax articles/reports/etc:
    2012:
    http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...r_stax_wi.html Deck Tech, Planeswalker Stax, from SCG Providence (Matt Keefer)
    2011:
    http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...stax_with.html Deck Tech. Prison Stax, from SCG St Louis (Caleb Durward)

    Stax decklist sources:
    Starcitygames.com Stax decklists
    http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/tip...&format=Legacy

    Legacy metagame:
    http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/decklists/
    http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/for...=Legacy&page=1
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...(started-2012)

    For more on Dutch Stax: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...eck-Dutch-Stax
    For -non stax- MUD decks that focus more on aggression & things like Metalworker: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-(Metalworker)

    6) The previous Stax thread: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...rmageddon-Stax by Machinus Special thanks to them, & to everyone that helped fill the thread over the past 6 years.
    Last edited by feline; 11-23-2015 at 10:39 AM. Reason: Update
    Primary legacy deck High Tide primer

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