[Premium Article] Legacy Set Review and Updated 'Complete Legacy Checklist'

[Smmenen]

Editor's blurb:



Grand Prix: Oakland! Monday, February 8th - Worldwake is here, and its impact on Constructed is beginning to filter through. Today, Stephen Menendian looks at the Worldwake cards he believes with impact the increasingly popular Legacy format. He also updates his excellent Complete Legacy Checklist!

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/18767_So_Many_Insane_Plays_Worldwake_A_Legacy_Set_Review.html

[Aggro_zombies]

What is all this stuff about "white weenie"? There's an actual, playable deck like that? [/confused]

Disagree on Jace. Three mana is central to old Jace's playability in this format, and at four mana new Jace just doesn't compete with the other cards in that casting cost range: Elspeth and Ajani V. beat him in the planeswalker department, Wrath and Humility beat him in the control department. He might be playable in blue Stax, but that's not a real deck and even if it were, it already has Tezzeret. Four mana should really win you the game in this format (see: Natural Order).

The trump card in the Merfolk mirror is Llawan, Cephalid Empress. Nothing says "fuck you" like a one-sided Wrath of God.

Pox is a horrible, hideous deck. Persecutor does nothing to make it any less awkward to play a bad card that you have to build your entire deck around just so you can try to break the symmetry against decks that aren't aggro. Tombstalker at least doesn't randomly lose you the game.

Otherwise, good article.

EDIT: @Treasure Hunt: Intuition in 38lands.deck can be used to find triple Life from the Loam. That card is central to making 38lands work, so being able to reliably find it seems smart. Intuition can also find three specific lands (say, Maze, Chasm, Tabernacle against aggro) while Treasure Hunt finds you whatever happens to be on the top of your deck. Overall, I think the ability to find specific answers outweighs the ability to draw more cards for a deck that's essentially Life from the Loam-based combo-control.

Hunt-Scroll Rack seems better than Standstill for control decks, though. It doesn't require you to be ahead to play, which is a godsend because control decks in this format typically start out the game on the back foot every time and have to play catch-up the entire game. Scroll Rack is also pretty good with fetches, and is probably better than Standstill at finding answers to problems already on the board because it can dig deeper. Still, it's not that good, but then again, neither are control decks. So it's probably unplayable right now barring a major metagame shift.

[emidln]

The checklist probably needs 4 Carpet of Flowers. Pre-errata this card was good and beginning to see play. Post-errata, a better card against Tempo Thresh, Team America, and UGW Tempo Bant doesn't exist. Carpet now interacts favorable with Xantid Swarm (ability to work post-combat with Swarm protection) and works as a delayed ritual on the turn you cast it (if you cast it in the first main). Carpet is similarly strong against Counterbalance and serviceable against Merfolk making it perhaps the best hoser available to combo decks looking for solutions to blue decks.

[Aggro_zombies]

The checklist probably needs 4 Carpet of Flowers. Pre-errata this card was good and beginning to see play. Post-errata, a better card against Tempo Thresh, Team America, and UGW Tempo Bant doesn't exist. Carpet now interacts favorable with Xantid Swarm (ability to work post-combat with Swarm protection) and works as a delayed ritual on the turn you cast it (if you cast it in the first main). Carpet is similarly strong against Counterbalance and serviceable against Merfolk making it perhaps the best hoser available to combo decks looking for solutions to blue decks.
...but who actually plays that card? It only helps a narrow range of decks that (statistically speaking) do not do very well in the current meta, and even then those decks need to go outside of their regular color selection to run it.

Noticed Wooly Thoctar on the list. Nobody plays that card anymore as it is much worse than Knight of the Reliquary in the only deck that would consider playing it.

EDIT: Wait, if you have an active Xantid Swarm, why do you need even more mana? Your rituals won't get countered unless the other guy has Counterbalance, and if he does the mana you get from Carpet doesn't up the storm count at all, though I guess it does allow you to get your Rituals countered safely.

[alderon666]

...but who actually plays that card? It only helps a narrow range of decks that (statistically speaking) do not do very well in the current meta, and even then those decks need to go outside of their regular color selection to run it.

Noticed Wooly Thoctar on the list. Nobody plays that card anymore as it is much worse than Knight of the Reliquary in the only deck that would consider playing it.

EDIT: Wait, if you have an active Xantid Swarm, why do you need even more mana? Your rituals won't get countered unless the other guy has Counterbalance, and if he does the mana you get from Carpet doesn't up the storm count at all, though I guess it does allow you to get your Rituals countered safely.

It's mainly useful in Storm's decks sideboards.

It is good because sometimes you just don't have the rituals. Between counters and CA disadvantage from Mystical Tutors, fetches being stifled you might just end up with not enough cards to ramp up to 3BB. It makes Daze and Spell pierce somewhat of a joke and Stifling fetchlands seem like a waste of time. I have actually had players wasting their own Islands so I wouldn't get the mana.

Did I mention it adds mana of any one color? Storm decks are going 4 color most of the time sticking to an UB base and splashing green for Xantid/Carpet/Grip and white for Chant effects. Being able to add mana of any color is a huge advantage.

It's one narrow card for now. But as blue is so prevalent in the metagame it could find other homes

[DrJones]

Carpet of Flowers is a bad card. I know because I've tested it extensively. At most is a Daze target on the first turns of the game, and drawing it later than second turn is horrible, unless you have a Killer bees deck or something.

[MattH]

Carpet of Flowers is a bad card. I know because I've tested it extensively. At most is a Daze target on the first turns of the game, and drawing it later than second turn is horrible, unless you have a Killer bees deck or something.

Treasure Hunt/Scroll Rack is good, but I'm not convinced it's needed. TH/SDT is probably good enough (see this article (http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/fundamentals/16297_Innovations_Winning_The_Game_or_EV_Isnt_Everything.html)), and you want to play Tops anyway, whereas you don't really want Scroll Rack outside of Hunt.

[kicks_422]

LOL at the Carpet of Flowers haters. You just don't get how valuable it is to combo players when it resolves.

[Forbiddian]

Carpet of Flowers gives you a free dark ritual or more every turn. If you resolve it, you never have to worry about air or about your bomb spells getting 2:1d. You also perma-blank Daze, Cursecatcher, and Spell Pierce.

It's also very important against Counterbalance, since you can just put the Ad Nauseum, Doomsday, or IGG into play without needing to ramp through 0-2cc.

[morgan_coke]

Article contains small percentage of fail. Didn't see Astral Slide listed. The deck wins for me, and I'm terrible. Therefore it must be a good deck. QED.

[overseer1234]

Carpet of Flowers is also pretty nice in enchantress sideboards. It make's the agro-controll matchup e real laugh as they can almost never keep up with the tempo you gain from it.

[Kuma]

What is all this stuff about "white weenie"? There's an actual, playable deck like that? [/confused]


Yeah. (http://www.deckcheck.net/list.php?type=White+Weenie&format=Legacy)

It's also top-eighted at a couple of Meandeck Opens. It's certainly playable, if nothing else.

[Solaran_X]

What exactly is using Magosi, the Waterveil?

[Smmenen]

This article is now free

[clavio]

That pox deck isn't playing hymn to tourach duress or thoughtseize.

[DrJones]

I think Berserk should be included in that checklist, if it's meant for traders to get cards that legacy players might want to purchase.