The Way of the Melee - Eternal Championships with 5 questions for Roland Chang

[kabal]

This article posted today on MTG.com, The Way of the Melee, touches on Eternal Championships with 5 questions for Roland Chang

Below is one of the questions that was asked.

5. What are the five most powerful cards in Legacy?

RC: In no particular order: Force of Will, Brainstorm, Goblin Lackey, Swords to Plowshares, Replenish.

Do you agree? For the most apart I would, except I would replace Replenish with Tarmogofy.

What would your top 5 look like?

[zulander]

Brainstorm, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf, Goblin Lackey, Empty the Warrens.

[LGD]

LED should probably be the card in the Replenish slot, though a solid argument could be made for tha 'goyf.

[FoolofaTook]

Brainstorm, Empty the Warrens, Chalice of the Void and Burning Wish are the easy ones. Nothing jumped out at me as the clearly broken fifth. Umezawa's Jitte and Aether Vial are both right there. Force of Will didn't make the cut because Storm dismembers its effectiveness. No creatures made the cut because there are so many different ways to get rid of them that it really cuts their overall strength. 27 creatures is strong, Tarmogoyf is plow bait.

[zulander]

No creatures made the cut because there are so many different ways to get rid of them that it really cuts their overall strength.

That's a horrible argument. There's a ton of hand disruption that gets rid of the cards you listed, yet you still suggest that chalice of the void is one of the five most powerful cards in legacy? Are you kidding me? I guess to each their own...

[Jander78]

LED should probably be the card in the Replenish slot, though a solid argument could be made for tha 'goyf.

I would agree with this. Replenish is strong, but it doesn't have a presence at all.

[Machinus]

Watch out for Meandeck Replenish.

[FoolofaTook]

That's a horrible argument. There's a ton of hand disruption that gets rid of the cards you listed, yet you still suggest that chalice of the void is one of the five most powerful cards in legacy? Are you kidding me? I guess to each their own...

Chalice for 1 on turn 1 does half the job of beating half the decks in the format. That's something that no creature can do. If the average deck had 8 ways to stop turn 1 Chalice or immediately remove it then it would be a different question.

The Legacy meta is in pretty good shape right now because creatures have real validity in determining who wins game in the tier1 matchups. That still does not make any creature that can land in the first few turns determinative of the outcome in the way that a spell like Chalice can be. Duress to pull Chalice doesn't mean anything if the other player goes first. Force of Will will stop it if it's not backed by counters, but then again that's also true of any creature.

[Bane of the Living]

Do you agree? For the most apart I would, except I would replace Replenish with Tarmogofy.

What would your top 5 look like?

LOL@ Replenish. Who cares what he thinks, he plays U/G Madness!!
Avoid unnecessarily sarcastic comments like this. It makes you look like an ignorant dick. - Zilla

My top 5 would be..

Force of Will
Goblin Lackey
Chalice of the Void
Empty the Warrens
Lions Eye Diamond

[kirdape3]

He wins with U/G Madness.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

"Most powerful card" doesn't equal "most powerful strategy/deck".

But at any rate, LED definitely belongs in there. I'd also have a hard time putting Brainstorm and FoW and StP on there if by "powerful" we actually mean "game-winning". They're insanely versatile and efficient, but not immediately game-breaking like Lackey, Replenish, LED and the 'Goyf.

[noobslayer]

LED, Burning Wish, Tarmogoyf, Goblin Lackey, Empty the Warrens.

[Jak]

I think it is saying something when 3 cards people are saying are in the top 5 are all found in the same deck.

[URABAHN]

He wins with U/G Madness.

Not since the 2006 Legacy Championships he hasn't. Last time I looked, there was this deck called "Red Death" that stopped U/G Madness from making Top 8 last time Roland played it. Anyone remember the guy who won that match ?

[kirdape3]

For Roland, who doesn't play all that often, that's like a two tournament not-top 8 streak in Legacy :p.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Whatev. U/G is still a pretty solid deck, Goblins aside. Even that's not unwinnable.

[from Cairo]

I think it is saying something when 3 cards people are saying are in the top 5 are all found in the same deck.

I'm not even sure what deck you're referring to. People throwing out LED, Burning Wish, Brainstorm, Empty the Warrens... TES? Brainstorm, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf, sometimes Swords to Plowshares... Threshold? Brainstorm, Force of Will, Swords to Plowshares... Landstill? Lackey and Aether Vial were mentioned, Chalice as well which is on the SB... Goblins? Brainstorm, Force of Will, and Aether Vial again... Cephlid Breakfast?

It would make sense that top decks are using top cards! My guess as to what it is saying is that people have figured out putting good cards together is better than putting bad ones together.

As for Top 5: Force of Will, Cabal Therapy, Swords to Plowshares, Goblin Lackey, Lion's Eye Diamond in my opinion.

[TrialByFire]

Top 5 format warping cards on a power level standpoint with reasoning (in no particular order):

Tarmogoyf: If you like the broccolli, you play this card. If you don't, you better have a way to kill it. Nuff said.

Lion's Eye Diamond: 3 mana for the price of casting a Burning Wish or a hellbent Demonic Tutor. Enabling a combo deck near you.

Brainstorm: The most efficient card drawing spell in the format.

Swords to Plowshares: The most efficient creature removal spell in the format. If you deck loses when they send one of your creatures farming, you need a new deck.

Goblin Lackey: Single handedly the scariest first turn play in the format. Deal with it or get run over by the red men.

there it is folks