T1 Island has to be the best.
The seven cardinal sins of Legacy:
1. Discuss the unbanning ofLand TaxEarthcraft.
2. Argue that banning Force of Will would make the format healthier.
3. Play Brainstorm without Fetchlands.
4. Stifle Standstill.
5. Think that Gaea's Blessing will make you Solidarity-proof.
6. Pass priority after playing Infernal Tutor.
7. Fail to playtest against Nourishing Lich (coZ iT wIlL gEt U!).
Depending on my hand, I'm generally fine with Wasteland T1. If my opponent goes dual, pass, and I dont have a 1 drop but enough lands, I'll be fine with Wasteland on his dual. Or a tap land. If they go like, Creeping Tar Pit, go (Possible Shardless BUG opener) I'm wasting the shit out of it. I agree with the BS thing though.
It seems pretty clear to me that the 5 best cards to play on turn 1 in Legacy are Deathrite Shaman, Aether Vial, Sensei's Divining Top, Delver of Secrets, and Thoughtseize. These cards carry more weight on their own than basically any other turn 1 plays in the format in my opinion and not very much else comes close. Cards like Chalice of the Void, Veteran Explorer, Dark Ritual, Entomb, Mother of Runes, and basically any cantrip are all strong in certain contexts, but there are basically no situations in the respective decks that these top 5 cards slot into that don't lend themselves to being very far ahead if you resolve these 1-drops.
I think the question for the topic headline should be rephrased to a given archetype/color, because T1 there are tons of relevant plays...
I have a question about the value of a turn 1 Top. Why is it good?
Put another way, turn 1 is the pinnacle of the game state dominated by lack of mana and board presence, but large hand size. I will call this a "tall and thin" state. As the game progresses, your hand typically gets smaller while your resource base of mana and board presence expand, giving you access to more options unless you run out of cards in hand. That is, your state is getting shorter and fatter. A good aggressive or control deck can convert its narrow start into a wider status as quickly as possible. Top seems to be actively working against that by improving the height of your hand quickly at a time in which you do not particularly need it at the expense of width. It lets you see more cards that you can't use.
It's a great card. I just question it's value on turn 1. I definitely prefer Ponder or even Brainstorm to do the job Top is doing on turn 1.
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Turn1 Top is definitely not a very strong play. It's pretty much the epitome of a weak play (in the context of the vacuum we are rating these plays in.)
The seven cardinal sins of Legacy:
1. Discuss the unbanning ofLand TaxEarthcraft.
2. Argue that banning Force of Will would make the format healthier.
3. Play Brainstorm without Fetchlands.
4. Stifle Standstill.
5. Think that Gaea's Blessing will make you Solidarity-proof.
6. Pass priority after playing Infernal Tutor.
7. Fail to playtest against Nourishing Lich (coZ iT wIlL gEt U!).
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