[Discussion] Top 10 staples of Legacy at this time.

[Shugyosha]

Can't this question be answered empirically? Gather decklists from tournaments, and tally the totals, consolidating multiple cards (fetches, dual, Goblins) if you feel like it. Is there any workable definition of staples which doesn't boil down to "most popular cards"? (other than, of course, small metal contraptions used to secure sheets of paper together)

This has been done by several sources. Ancient Memory Convention for example: http://f18.aaa.livedoor.jp/~nameless...MC_26th_E.html (scroll down)

If you take out all lands which are obviously needed to always play a tier 1 deck (so I think Nightmare posted the best list of staples) the list for this single tourney comes down to:

01:Swords to Plowshares
02:Dark Confidant
03:Duress
04:Mogg Fanatic
05:Tarmogoyf
06:Pithing Needle
07:Tormod's Crypt
08:Umezawa's Jitte
09:Chalice of the Void
10:Chrome Mox

Alright what's missing:
(11:Lightning Bolt)
(12:Force of Will)

42 participants and only 4 Goblin decks as far as I can see, so Lackey & Piledriver are further down the list.

You all know that just one tournament is not representative but you'll see the similarities to the lists posted here.

[gmorakis]

I was bored, so I compiled and tallied all the responses in this thread to get a sense of what the legacy community believes on average are the most important cards in the format. Listed below are only the cards which received multiple votes. 24 other cards had 1 vote each, so I didn't include those. A few explanations are necessary: every time someone mentioned multiple specific duals or fetches, I only added 1 to the respective category. Also, any time "goblins" were mentioned I counted that as 1 for Goblin Lackey, because it is the most relevant card. Hopefully these exceptions didn't skew the results too badly.

Force of Will 32
Fetchlands 30
Brainstorm 28
Dual Lands 28
Swords to Plowshares 27
Tarmogoyf 18
Lion's Eye Diamond 15
Empty the Warrens 14
Goblin Lackey 14
Wasteland 14
Duress 12
Aether Vial 10
Dark Ritual 10
Chalice of the Void 9
Lightning Bolt 9
Pithing Needle 9
Stifle 8
Burning Wish 7
Dark Confidant 7
Engineered Explosives 7
Pernicious Deed 5
Umezawa's Jitte 4
Cabal Therapy 3
Chrome Mox 3
Daze 3
Krosan Grip 3
Life from the Loam 3
Pyroclasm 3
Tendrils of Agony 3
Tormod's Crypt 3
Lotus Petal 2
Meddling Mage 2