What makes legacy so fast?

[blacklotus3636]

This question grew out of the question: what cards define legacy?
I noticed that almost every card people use and think of as format defining is usually 2 mana or less with a few in the 3 mana range and above. There are alot of cards I would like to play that cost a little more but they too often prove too slow for legacy and I`m trying to figure out why. Any ideas are appreciated

[Akuma]

Well with a card pool from the last 15 years or so, people will tend to gravitate to the cards that are the best. No need to pay 4 mana for a 5/5 when you can pay 2 mana for a 5/6. The same thing would apply to all other spells. That is just the nature of the eternal formats.

[Alfred]

Basically the reason why the format is so fast and reliant on <=2 mana cards, is that there is a very high concentration of powerful cards that cost 2 or less mana, as circular as that sounds. You're playing in a world of Swords to Plowshares, Force of Will and Tarmogoyf. If you spend any more mana than that on a card, you risk losing massive amounts of tempo to one of these cards. Like, imagine your opponent played a Tarmogoyf, and you used a Mortify on it. If you used three lands that you played naturally, you just lost a bit of tempo. If you cast your Craw Wurm, and someone Force of Will's it, you just lost a ton of tempo.

Secondly, it's just in the nature of magic to move towards cheaper, more efficient threats and answers. Paying less for more is what every deck wants. Paying 3 for a Dark Banishing is ridiculous if you have Swords to Plowshares available. Paying 4 for Ernham Djinn is ridiculous when you have Tarmogoyf available. In Legacy you just have an assload of cards, so decks tend towards the most efficient threats and answers mana-wise.

[DrJones]

Lands that come into play untapped.

[FoolofaTook]

What makes Legacy fast is an abundance of 1cc and 2cc cards that have a singularly powerful effect on the game state, assuming they are in a deck built to abuse them, or that are completely overwhelming in effect if played early in combination with another card.

Permanents that qualify:

Aether Vial
Goblin Lackey
Sensei's Divining Top
Phyrexian Dreadnought
Counterbalance
Tarmogoyf
Standstill
Dark Confidant

Then throw in the 1cc and 2cc instants and sorceries that qualify:

Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Burning Wish
Life from the Loam

And you create the need for fast solutions to deal with the above:

Force of Will
Daze
Spell Snare
Swords to Plowshares
Engineered Explosives
Tormod's Crypt

It's pure Darwinism. Fast threats create the need for fast solutions and everything else kind of fills in the gaps, where it can find a niche to survive.