[Article] Legacy's Allure - Blue Lands, Pt. 1

[hi-val]

Hi! I thought Sourcers might be interested in reading my article about a Lands! variant that's been doing well recently:

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/19123_Legacys_Allure_Deck_Tech_Blue_Lands_Part_1.html

It's a two-part article with in-play and tactical discussions next week; this article focuses on proper compositions in the deck and the many options available to builders. It's an interesting and tightly-built deck, in that one card (like Zuran Orb against Zoo) can make a huge difference in how the game plays out.

I welcome all feedback!

[Mastikor]

It's a good article. I'm planning to run Lands at a tournament in sunday, and I want to know your oppiniones about following:
-Zuran Orb over Chasm
-is Forest really necesary
-what about one-of Celestial Colonnade/Gargoyle Castle, Riftstone Portal and Cephalid Coliseum/Horizon Canopy, what is worthy?

Also, what SB would you pack for an unknown meta (let's say I expect to see some merfolk, zoo, landstill, dredge, burn, thresh...)?

[hi-val]

I love Zorb; don't like Chasm that much.

Forest is good for fighting nonbasics, but Riftstone Portal goes a long way there since it lets your lands tap for good mana under Blood Moon.

I don't like manlands a whole lot aside from Factory; usually you win with either a Mindslaver lock or beating with two Factories when your opponent has a blank board. Coliseum is a good Tolaria West target, I like it when I want to find something like a Manabond with my Tolaria West.. Thicket is better than Canopy, since it doesn't eat a land-drop.

I'd pack the sideboard I listed in the article. The last two or three cards you put in your board are really up in the air; you can even run cards like Ice Floe if you want more against Zoo! Also, I really like the concept of running a 4th Thicket on the board to bring in occasionally. There are times when it's really saucy.

[luckme10]

Is intuition really necessary anymore? How do you feel about the blue splash now that that new Realms Uncharted has just been spoiled?

[morgan_coke]

I think the main thing offered by blue isn't Intuition, it's Tolaria West, which in this deck is like... an uncounterable Demonic Tutor that recurs with Loam.

I do wonder though, why you think white is hard to splash when you've got access to Riftsone Portal, which does everything for White that it does for Green.

[sco0ter]

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages to Eternal Garden? The only key differences seem to be Crucibles/Crop Rotation instead of Loam/Manabond (still playing 1 Loam for Intuition) and a few less lands in favor for more bombs like Burning Wish, Armageddon, Smokestack, EE, ...

Most people seem to prefer Loam/Manabond instead of Crucibles/Crop. Is it just plain better?

You didn't mention Treasure Hunt in your article. Did you consider it?

I posted in the 5C Eternal Garden already, but nobody seems to care :(

Btw: Part 2 is up. Thanks!

[mchainmail]

Is intuition really necessary anymore? How do you feel about the blue splash now that that new Realms Uncharted has just been spoiled?

Realms Uncharted is terrible... describe one situation in which you want to cast Realms over Intuition, where you haven't already won the game.

[Nessaja]

I don't like your sideboard - that is, the graveyard hate you have. In my own testing I haven't seen just Crypt work, I always feel like I need to diversify. Crypt/ Fearie Macabre/Bojuka Bog/Ravenous Trap.

[undone]

My thoughts on this is that your only really bad matchup is combo and if you dedicate 8 cards its a reasonable matchup. 4 COTV is a good start but what else will you play to hate on combo? You really need more than 4 cards to beat it (tutoring them is no excuse that costs 3 mana and you are dead by that time.) Other than that I liked it but wish it had hunted for some more treasure.

[mchainmail]

My thoughts on this is that your only really bad matchup is combo and if you dedicate 8 cards its a reasonable matchup. 4 COTV is a good start but what else will you play to hate on combo? You really need more than 4 cards to beat it (tutoring them is no excuse that costs 3 mana and you are dead by that time.) Other than that I liked it but wish it had hunted for some more treasure.

I really don't think you stand a chance at beating combo regardless of the board. You just don't have a good clock to back it up, giving them all the time in the world to find a rebuild and bounce your hate, and then winning. You're really better off focusing on other matchups, imo. Also, I think 43 lands is a meta-deck, and playing it in combo-metas is bad. (Mid-atlantic area has almost no combo right now, so it is a very strong choice.)

[Skeggi]

I see no mention of All is Dust. Don't you think it would be a good card for Lands?

[Antonius]

have you ever tried running trinisphere in lands?

[Kangaxx]

I see no mention of All is Dust. Don't you think it would be a good card for Lands?

Not when you'll be destroying your own Exploration/Manabond. =/

[Vacrix]

Not when you'll be destroying your own Exploration/Manabond. =/
To be fair, you likely won't need them anymore if you already dropped enough land to cast All is Dust. At that point, the board is clear and you can start swinging for the kill.

[Anusien]

Why is All Is Dust better than Oblivion Stone?

[Julian23]

It's so much better against Enchantress and 1 mana cheaper.

[Julian23]

Karmic Justice (http://magiccards.info/query?q=karmic+justice&v=card&s=cname)

RTFC!

/edit: Oh, and don't even get me started on how Harmonic Convergence is such a narrow card in contrast to stuff like Oblivion Stone or All is Dust. So nevermind, but your input was sub-par.

[Aggro_zombies]

Karmic Justice (http://magiccards.info/query?q=karmic+justice&v=card&s=cname)

RTFC!

/edit: Oh, and don't even get me started on how Harmonic Convergence is such a narrow card in contrast to stuff like Oblivion Stone or All is Dust. So nevermind, but your input was sub-par.
Oh, right, I forgot All is Dust is a sacrifice effect. Oops.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[dahcmai]

I didn't think this was new tech to Lands decks. I've been playing Intuition, Tolaria West, and such for a while now. The Lands thread has quite a long conversation about it. That list in the article looks just like the older ones.

[hi-val]

I went through that thread several times during my research and found really sparse discussion. Am I missing something? Also, if this is an older looking list, are there newer ones to share? I'm interested!