I've been away a while, so I decided, for my return, to focus on something simple, effective, and with a decent bit of redundancy. What I need help with, however, is making sure it's up to date and tuning it for the Legacy meta these days. I've done a bit of testing so far, and it seems to do pretty well on the whole--though not so much against OmniTell yet (but I'm rusty, and not up to speed on every DTB's weaknesses.) It's straightforward and easy to pilot.
It's 61 cards, but I think that's NBD.
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Updated List:
Creatures: 19
4 Veteran Explorer
4 Ignoble Hierarch
4 Hexdrinker
1 Allosaurus Shepherd
1 Eternal Witness
1 Endurance
1 Thragtusk
1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
1 Elderscale Wurm
1 Progenitus
Spells: 23
4 Assassin's Trophy
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Sudden Edict
3 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Natural Order
2 Pernicious Deed
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Reanimate
Lands: 19
4 Bayou
4 Forest
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
3 Swamp
1 Dryad Arbor
SB: 15
4 Reclamation Sage
3 Veil of Summer
3 Endurance
3 Weather the Storm
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Bane of Progress
Card Choices
Main deck:
Veteran Explorer: In many ways, this is the deck's engine, since it feeds Cabal Therapy and Natural Order, but also helps ensure you have enough mana to do stuff. It also tends to discourage opponents from attacking, and even though you'd usually want them to attack into it, the hesitancy does buy you time to do other stuff. That said, I usually cast Hierarch T1, unless I anticipate being attacked into, e.g. by Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Goblin Lackey. Note also that you can return it to make Kogla, the Titan Ape indestructible.
Ignoble Hierarch: The deck is mana-hungry, so this is an obvious piece of on-colour acceleration. The alternative would be Birds of Paradise, and while a flying blocker can be nice, what's even nicer is exalted (especially on Hexdrinker at any level or Progenitus). If I have it in my opening hand, I almost always cast Hierarch on T1.
Hexdrinker: This is probably the deck's all-star. Although I win many games with Progenitus, I'd say I win even more on the back of a Hexdrinker. Opponents tend to underrate it as a threat, especially if they know Progenitus is lurking around. But the reality is that a 4/4 with protection from instants (and frequently exalted) is pretty tough to deal with, especially early on. And this deck usually only needs a couple of turns to turn a mid-game Hexdrinker into a mini-genitus. With steady investments, it likewise doesn't take long for a T1 or T2 Hexdrinker to reach level 8--e.g. suppose on T2 I have two lands and an Ignoble Hierarch (a common situation). That's L2 on T2, then L5 on T3 and L8 on T4 even if I don't make any more land drops; alternately, L0 on T2 and I use the two remaining mana to cast something else, L4 on T3 with one more land drop, and L8 on T4 or I cast something else and bring it to 5-6 and wait until T5 for L8. That might sound slow on paper, but in practice it hasn't been at all.
That said, the reality is that Hexdrinker will often eat removal, typically when you pump in the third mana for L3. That's OK--shit happens, and this deck tends to have one or two mana floating spare for steady levelling. You can also usually time your casting so that the opponent is tapped out and you have four mana lying around, which is a fine investment for that turn.
Allosaurus Shepherd: This singleton is there to help you cast things through Chalice of the Void or a counter-wall. Delver tends to waste removal on it, which is fine--that's one less Lightning Bolt headed to Hexdrinker, and it tends to buy you at least a turn's worth of uncountered castings. And for anything running Chalice of the Void as a primary denial strategy, it's a nasty surprise (and a game-changer for you, since Hexdrinker tends to shine in these matchups).
Eternal Witness: Excellent fetchable utility card. Soft combos with Kogla, the Titan Ape and Reanimate. Don't forget that in addition to Green Sun's Zenith, Natural Order can fetch it, too, in a pinch.
Endurance: Fetchable graveyard hate or recycling, depending on what you need. Reach is also a huge bonus against Delver.
Thragtusk: I took this lesson from Nic Fit (well, Nic Fit as it was c. 2017). Sometimes you need a little lifegain or a body which, if removed, leaves another body in place. I also found, before its inclusion, that I frequently sat around with six mana and a Green Sun's Zenith but nothing to fetch in the 4-6CMC range, and I think this is a perfect option in that range. It's useful as it ETBs, blocks or threatens well, and you don't have to worry about sacrificing it to Natural Order (in fact, in doing so you remain insulated from Sudden Death and other sacrifice effects).
Kogla, the Titan Ape: Something of a utility card. It mostly comes out via Natural Order, and it generally does so to either remove a threat or a blocker by fighting it, or to clear off an artifact or enchantment. Every once in a while, however, you can cast Cabal Therapy on yourself and then Reanimate it, which is pretty fun if rare. (I once managed this on T2 against Affinity, which sealed the deal.)
Elderscale Wurm: Also utility. This tends to come out as a last resort when you're bleeding too much life away, but it also tends to give you a huge breather--or seal the deal outright. A lot of decks these days don't have much facility for removing 7CMC creatures with a 7/7 body, especially when they've been using their targeted removal on your other stuff. Anything relying on burn for its removal, in particular, will waste a lot of momentum getting it off the table. And when it does, at least you're back at seven life! Against fair decks, many Affinity lists, and jank, in particular, this is often game over.
Progenitus: This is your obvious Natural Order target, and typically game-winning. If a game drags on you might manage to fetch it with Green Sun's Zenith, too. (I once got to ten mana with Green Sun's Zenith in hand, but never made it to eleven!) Otherwise, you can pitch it to Endurance in a pinch. It has the added niche advantage of buying you at least one turn against anything that mills, unless it mills with Leyline of the Void.
Assassin's Trophy: Your main piece of removal, it has the advantage of hitting any permanent, including lands. You won't usually use it for mana denial, given its drawback--and given your reliance on Veteran Explorer--but this tactic can work against decks which have few if any basics, or which are vulnerable to colour-screw. If you're casting it against lands, it's usually against utility lands like Urza's Saga or Thespian's Stage or threats like Dark Depths. It's just too bad you can't sometimes target yourself with it.
Cabal Therapy: Part of the engine that drives you, it gives you a sac outlet for Veteran Explorer. Every once in a while you'll start with a hand with a couple copies in it and two copies of Veteran Explorer, which makes for a very explosive T2. You do have to get good at blind Therapies, however, and at anticipating what's likely to be in your opponent's hand as the game goes on. This deck is very easy to pilot, and very forgiving, but effective use of Cabal Therapy without further support from the usual discard spells takes some knowledge, experience, and skill. Oh, and don't forget that you can use it as a sac outlet even when Chalice of the Void is in play.
Sudden Edict: Uncounterable removal is a godsend in the format these days, and this has the added bonus of hitting threats which can't be targeted. You have enough removal in the deck that it's feasible for your opponent to only have the one big baddy on the board.
Green Sun's Zenith: Its use here should be pretty obvious: it fetches up pretty much anything. Most of the time you'll ony want to cast it for 2-4 mana, since that covers most of your creatures. The most common targets, for me, are Veteran Explorer (my go-to in the early game), Eternal Witness, or Endurance. Every once in a while you want to use it to fetch Dryad Arbor (either for the mana, as a sac target for Natural Order, or to potentially absorb your opponent's Sudden Edict), or you'll have the mana to go for Thragtusk, Kogla, the Titan Ape, or Elderscale Wurm.
Natural Order: This is your main threat. When your opponent knows it's in there they're focused on it rather than Hexdrinker, and when they don't, it comes as a very nasty surprise.
Pernicious Deed: Fantastic mass-removal for the format right now. So many of the threats being played are 1CMC, and with Urza's Saga hanging around... It's also, obviously, a game-changer against Affinity. An outright ender against traditional lists with the destroyable artifact lands, a stabilizer against the more robust versions.
[cards]Abrupt Decay[cards]: Again, uncounterable removal is great in today's format. This hits much of what's floating around, so it's nice to have. I'd run one or two more, but I don't see any obvious cuts for it.
Reanimate: This singleton is a real star. I wish I had the room to run another one or two. You can target yourself with Cabal Therapy to Reanimate Thragtusk, Kogla, the Titan Ape, or Elderscale Wurm in the early game, if you're lucky with your opening hand or your draws. You can double-up with Endurance (this would be especially sick post-board if the deck had 3 copies), or chain a together a few with Eternal Witness. You can also, obviously, Reanimate something of your opponent's. Against Reanimator, you can surprise them by taking their reanimation target. If your opponent sees it, they'll probably board in graveyard hate. That's fine, graveyard hate doesn't accomplish much against you, generally speaking (although Leyline of the Void will slow you down, since it shuts down [cards]Veteran Explorer[cards]).
Wasteland: Make no mistake: this is here as a utility card rather than as part of a mana denial strategy. You can opt for mana denial against decks with few or no basics or which are vulnerable to colour-screw, but with Veteran Explorer and [cards]Assassin's Trophy[3cards], mana denial is not a very effective strategy. Wasteland is here to destroy utility lands. That said, if you hold off on casting Veteran Explorer then you can definitely start the game with an effective mana denial strategy: just be ready to pivot as soon as your opponent manages to string together 2-3 mana.
Dryad Arbor: Here primarily for being fetched with Green Sun's Zenith to help with acceleration if need be, or with Verdant Catacombs when you need something to sac to Natural Order. It mostly tends to eat a Wasteland, though.
Sideboard:
Veil of Summer: Its use is fairly obvious: it helps guard against combo, and can sub in for less useful stuff against blue or black decks.
Reclamation Sage: This is here primarily to help against OmniTell. It doesn't seal the deal, since they can play around it with a little luck or anticipation, but it helps a lot. It also shines against Affinity, where it ups our removal to ridiculous numbers.
Endurance: By far the best graveyard hate for us, and it helps against the occasional crab mill deck you see kicking around. It's also pretty sweet against UR Delver, where it does solid work blocking fliers and undermining Delve.
Weather the Storm: This is totally niche tech, but I rather like it. I bring it in against Storm (where it's harder to play around than Veil of Summer), Burn, and anything else that hopes to cast a lot of spells in a single turn.
Pernicious Deed: The third one is here for Affinity.
Bane of Progress: Here primarily against Affinity, where it's a fetchable board-clearer. Also helpful against OmniTell. Nobody expects to see it in Legacy.
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Early list(s) for historical purposes:
Creatures: 20
4 Veteran Explorer
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Hexdrinker
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Sarulf, Realm Eater
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Elderscale Wurm
1 Progenitus
Spells: 22
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Natural Order
2 Crime/Punishment
2 Snuff Out
1 Reanimate
Lands: 19
4 Bayou
4 Forest
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Dryad Arbor
SB
4 Duress
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Faerie Macabre
3 Pithing Needle
As you can see, there's a lot of removal, including mass removal. In my limited testing so far, that's been a real net plus. A couple things I wonder about, however:
- Natural Order targets: Wurm and Progenitus are great, of course. But are they optimal?
- Fleshbag Marauder: Overkill? Would I be better off running something else in that one slot, perhaps something I can fetch with Zenith? Or even Shriekmaw?
- Sarulf, Realm Eater: I like the additional mass removal, but is it overkill? Better substituted with something else that can be fetched with Zenith or Order?
- Sideboard: Totally made up on the basis of basically nothing. I don't know the meta well enough. What should a BG SB look like these days?
- Should we convert it a bit to add a Wasteland/Loam engine? I think that would dilute the focus a little too much, but it could be done.
