If you could only have one deck...

[JPoJohnson]

Lets say that you can only have one legacy deck from this point going forward. It's the one that you'll use for local tournaments and large tournaments. I've seen quite a few players such as Bryant Cook always adjusting TES based on expected meta and always trying to improve it or Michael Keller (although retired Dredge now) always looking for new ways to revolutionize his deck and bring it into the limelight.

I thought it would be interesting to know what one deck you would play from this point going forward and why. Power? Interest? Variety of playstyle?

[T-101]

Junk.

The power level is there. No turn 1/2 wins or fancy Brainstorms, but individual card power is strong across the board. Thoughtseize, Bob, Goyf, Stoneforge, Hymn, Library, Liliana, the list goes on.

Variety of play style is like the tag line for Junk. There a lot of different ways to build the deck. Aggro/Disruption is the baseline, but you can go for a fast clock, or Knight of the Reliquary shenanigans, or Green Sun's Zenith, or Enlightened Tutor packages, etc.

I also get a kick out of playing what folks like to call an 'honest' or 'fair' deck. You win by attacking with creatures. Sure, Bob and Stoneforge aren't the poster children for fair cards, and Goyf and Jitte were last minute R&D snafu's. But it's not like the deck is playing 15/15s that destroy you entire board for the cost of 2U, and we're not playing cards that have the word 'Storm' or 'Dredge' on them (Life from the Loam excluded).

Of all the decks I've played, or tried to play (looking at you, Doomsday), Junk is the one I happen to enjoy the most.

[bakofried]

I bought into Maverick years ago, and while the meta is really hostile, I'm still glad I did. Tons of directions to take, tons of customization, etc.

[Dice_Box]

I hate this question because it shows how far the deck has fallen. Once, I would have snap answered "Goblins" but I just can not realistically do that any more. Now I would have to say Elves. I can tinker with it, I enjoy it and it is a complex deck that gives my mind a workout. I would sit Painter next to it as my follow up choice, but if I have one deck from here on out, its going to be Elves.

RIP Goblins.

[JPoJohnson]

I hate this question because it shows how far the deck has fallen. Once, I would have snap answered "Goblins" but I just can not realistically do that any more. Now I would have to say Elves. I can tinker with it, I enjoy it and it is a complex deck that gives my mind a workout. I would sit Painter next to it as my follow up choice, but if I have one deck from here on out, its going to be Elves.

RIP Goblins.

My brother still mains goblins in legacy. It's still viable in some metas...

Personally, I find this question extremely hard to answer since I have so many different decks that I tinker around with... But I think in the end I would either go with Merfolk. I've owned a Merfolk deck of one sort or another since 2004. Played them in every format and it's what I'm most comfortable with. I find it odd now that I think about it though because I haven't actually entered my Merfolk deck into a tournament in well over a year, but there is no hesitation with which deck choice I would select (Especially odd now that we have 8 TNN I suppose haha).

[Bed Decks Palyer]

I don't own decks, I own cards, so this makes no sen...

Oh, sorry. I meant RUG Thresh. But I'm still more and more inclined that it should have been something with Savannahs, KotRs and Swords to Plows.

[Zombie]

Elves or BUG Delver for me, I think. Storm is really fun too, but if I have to play a deck for eternity I'd rather spend it casting Deathrites and Abrupt Decays.

[twndomn]

Has to be Miracles. The disciples of Lossett have been tweaking that archtype for years now.

[Sloshthedark]

Storm.... preferably ANT you may say... I prefer spells to creatures, especially because of the power creep, I really hate, I mean HATE newborder cards, I always liked fringe decks and strategies, like being in the driver seat, like challenges where experience and knowledge is rewarded and notably to be Me shaper of my destiny rather than luck... you have to LOVE the intense turns, delicate dance between the counterspells and the mindgame... basically any time I open up 7 of a different deck or even think of it and open up 7 of Ant I'm 100% happy with my choice... even small changes may affect the deck dramatically so it never get's boring... until Brainstorm get's axed there's no need to change for me... Storm just fits me perfectly in every way

basically Mtg for me is Storm and the old cards ... no highlander, modern, whatever stupidity... other deck's interest me just to know how to beat them best

[Higgs]

+1 on ANT

[keys]

This is an interesting question because I consolidated my collection fairly recently (to pay for grad school), but when I made the decision I realized that I have more of a preference for color combinations than for actual deck archetypes (although in some cases only a limited number of archetypes are supported in the meta). Specific archetypes may diminish in power or fun over the years, where as color combinations (as a principle) allow greater flexibility in terms of adapting to the meta.

In that sense, I've always been fond of Red, Blue, Green, from back when I was a kid playing different versions of R/G Stompy and Counterburn. I ended up selling everything that couldn't be used in either RUG Delver, U/R Painter, or U/R(g) Landstill.

I've played all three in every eternal format (except modern). If I had to choose just one, it would probably be RUG Delver, simply because it is so easily ported to different formats, and the power level will always be high, but anything with Lightning bolt will do, basically.

[sjmcc13]

Either ANT or Doomsday (if I am going to stick with only 1 deck, then I can expect to have the time to master it)

[lyracian]

The answer partly depends on what you mean by "one deck"; if I keep a 150 cards for Counter-top I can play Miracles, Thropters, RIP/Helm, mono-blue, Stoneforge, I have even seen a Punishing Fires list.

If you mean keep 75 cards that you will never change then Pox or D&T would be my choice.

[DarkJester]

Lets say that you can only have one legacy deck from this point going forward. It's the one that you'll use for local tournaments and large tournaments. I've seen quite a few players such as Bryant Cook always adjusting TES based on expected meta and always trying to improve it or Michael Keller (although retired Dredge now) always looking for new ways to revolutionize his deck and bring it into the limelight.

I thought it would be interesting to know what one deck you would play from this point going forward and why. Power? Interest? Variety of playstyle?

I have chosen DREDGE ( Vintage and Legacy) and sold the rest of my (non-EDH-)Stuff last year in summer. Never regretted it. Still, I need some cool new cards for a Modern-Dredge-Deck with Bridges and Moebas.

[AggroControl]

I'd probably keep Junk with enough cards to flesh out Toolbox, Disruption, Control or Loam depending on what looked ok in the meta of the moment. I can see a real argument for keeping just Death and Taxes due to it's consistency and the ability to tune it for different metas. D&T does feel a little bit more fragile than Junk to me if currently somewhat more powerful. It's more easily hated on if people want to do it.

[apple713]

Dark depths combo. It can be played as straight combo or with control or in an aggro type deck.

[Lt. Quattro]

I would have to go with / lands. Never thought I would see the day gamble was a good card.

[Purgatory]

If it was solely for tournament competitiveness, I'd probably go with RUG Delver, since it's the deck I've had most success with historically, and it is probably the deck that I feel most comfortable playing. That said, if I was to have fun with my one remaining deck, I'd go with something durdly with a nice toolbox. Flexibility means higher variance which in general leads to more fun, imho.

[mini1337s]

Bant, the midrange deck

[easysantiago]

I have chosen DREDGE ( Vintage and Legacy) and sold the rest of my (non-EDH-)Stuff last year in summer. Never regretted it. Still, I need some cool new cards for a Modern-Dredge-Deck with Bridges and Moebas.

I am with you on this one. I play variants of Manaless right now, but I am working towards Dredge in Legacy and Vintage. Because Modern is so ubiquitous, I occasionally flirt with Affinity and dual format Burn, but Dredge is the only archetype I am really interested in investing time in. If there was a bigger Legacy scene where I lived, I probably wouldn't dabble with other deck archetypes than Dredge.