So there are a couple of things I would like to draw everyone’s attention to that, for one reason or another, have not been discussed yet. I don’t know if everyone has already discussed these topics in other places or if they’re of such low priority that no one has bothered to think about them but I hope that by talking about them now, we can get some discussion going.
I for one am preparing for GP Chiba in November and I have this feeling that the legacy metagame is in for a big change or, at the very least, a lot more variety. I have been looking at all of my decks during my testing and I can’t help but feel that miracles is by far the best positioned for the impending GP. Still, I can’t help but think that the list I am playing is inadequate and that I need to do more testing.
That being said, right now the biggest things on my mind are the current state of the legacy metagame, the new cards that have been or are about to be released and the possible shift in metagame that might take place.
I believe it was the Spike Feed podcast that said it on their show last week that legacy seems to be stagnant. The reason they brought up was the overall lack of big legacy tournaments with large purses and how people are not incentivized to try new things. This may or may not be correct since they seem to mostly play online and not at shops. While I do think they are correct on their assessment of the stagnation of the current legacy scene being flooded with storm, miracles, lands and grixis delver, I don’t think it’s going to stay that way for much longer.
I have been noticing a steady increase in articles that illustrate strange brews that seem to be bending convention. Along with these articles I have also seen a plethora of new cards that are entering the legacy pool that don’t fit into current archetypes and will more than likely bend deck builders in new directions.
Cards that we have discussed like recruiter of the guard and sanctum prelate I think are just the tip of the iceberg. These two cards fit into Death and Taxes and have been showing up in low but steadily increasing numbers. They are also starting to see play in White Eldrazi lists, which have been reassigned from Vintage and, according to those who have been testing with the deck, seem to holding their own. This article from Thraban University shows one builder’s thought process as he tinkers with the deck.
http://www.thrabenuniversity.com/?p=494
New Thalia seems to be front and center in these decks and could make her a more common sight across from us at the table. These lists, if they became popular would seem to be a bit of a challenge for miracles to overcome. While we started to run Engineered Explosives to help fight against the eldrazi menace, would it still work for these decks if our fetches came into play tapped?
Some cards that weren’t discussed however (or I might have missed it), such as Leovold, Emissary of Trest, seem like they would be very difficult to fight against. He would make the long game against shardless that much harder if they were to gain card advantage for every creature we send farming. Other decks that might try to run him however might strain our terminuses. Recently this article from MTG Goldfish seems to be showing off a new resurgence of midrange stoneblade decks. The second to last of which (Bant Stoneblade by David Courson) runs two Leovold, four TNNs and one Sanctum Prelate in the sideboard.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles...oneblade-decks
So far all of these cards I’ve covered are all creatures which means that they have the ability to get around our countermagic through the use of cavern of souls and aether vial.
Other cards that I have been looking at are not creatures however. So far Kaya, Ghost Assassin and Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast have not seen any play in the legacy meta. Both of these cards do unique and interesting things. Kaya creates extreme amounts of card advantage with her -2 (opponent discards and you draw) and unlike most planeswalkers, her minus ability can be used indefinitely.
Daretti’s use of artifacts seems fairly innocuous but when built around he could create a combo deck of some sort. His -1 also interacts with our game plan of counter top lock. Thinking about him brings me to think about the new 3 mana planeswalker from Kaladesh, Saheeli Rai. An artifact combo deck based around Saheeli Rai, Daretti and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas seems like something that someone might try to build even if it turned out to be less then competitive.
I only bring these cards up because planeswalkers generally have been an incredibly difficult thing for Miracles to deal with. When Jace was the most common planeswalker in legacy, we added some Pyroblasts and called it a day. But if we had to deal with a new superfriends archetype, would the few Vendilion Cliques cover us?
Two more new planeswalkers have been spoiled that could change legacy dramatically. The new four-ability Chandra, Torch of Defiance seems pretty strong. She might even find her way into the sideboards of miracles decks. I like how the first plus one ability gains card advantage and how the damage it generates could be redirected to a planeswalker that is giving us trouble. It’s probably more cute than good though and two red mana make it really difficult to cast.
Nissa, Vital Force was also spoiled and while she has no possibility of going into miracles but she seems to be very likely to see play in legacy. Her plus one protects quite easily and she ultimates after one turn. Moreover, her ultimate provides unstoppable card advantage for the rest. I see her as going into midrange decks that can afford to go long and want the late game card advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this go into a Bant Stoneblade shell.
Anyway, this surge of new creatures and planeswalkers make me think that the meta is going to look very different from here on out. I think that all of these cards are worth looking at and analyzing. I hope that this post spurs conversation and that you found it enjoyable.
