Feb FNM

On to the results from Feb, our second event. From 4 rounds and 11 players nobody made 12 as the last match to finish saw the only 3-0 lose the decider. Luckily companion didn't crash and calculators were not needed to separate the top 3 who all played each other. We thus had the following four decks on 9 points (in no particular order)
Elves (back to a glimpse version, not Elf Street shenanigans, with Natural Order package. Atraxa might be in the post, but there was a cheeky main deck Ouphe!)
Naya Depths (classic Minsc and Boo regular list)
Initiative-Stax hybrid (think white plume/archon/annointed peacekeepers/chalice as per initiative,but a different mana base with Urza's saga, 3ball, Armageddon/Ravages and Karn)
Mono Red painter (slightly old karn build)
On 6 we had, in no particular order, RW Initiative (all the initiative critters in RW, - dragon stompy with white and all the initative)
Mana dredge
UWR day's undoing Narset (running mentor but not Triumph of St Katherine)
GB Depths with smog combo
Burn
Rounding it out on 3 were
Bomberman
Storm variant with some epic gamble shenanigans (I am assured that this particlar itch has been scratched and regular TES will be back on the menu next time).
Probably the most inventive deck selections we have seen for a while. As more supplemental cards fail to make MTGO in a timely fashion I think people have been rewarded for trying out new cards in established shells- initiative was packed a long time round here before it was available online, for example. Every month Elves seems to be getting a new toy, and the meta here has stayed fresh with lots of diffrent decks represented these past few months.
Finally a shout to SWAWLQ if you are in the UK- March 4th- Bristol- proxy friendly. Here we are again for another Legacy, the second in Febuary thanks to the schedule change. Going forward these will be the last of the month. I missed our first one this month, so I was glad that we had a super competetive field with some faces we haven't seen for a while.
As ever, I will give the results in terms of decks rather than pilots. I know a lot of reports on such tournaments like to give both pilot and deck, but I have always felt that if a new to the area player walks in they can potentially look up last months' results, and more importantly that if a new to the format player turns up, borrows a deck and goes 0-4 it might be a tad offputting to have their name in lights.
On to the results. From 4 rounds and 11 players nobody made 12 as the last match to finish saw the only 3-0 lose the decider. Luckily companion didn't crash and calculators were not needed to separate the top 3 who all played each other. We thus had the following four decks on 9 points (in no particular order)
Elves (back to a glimpse version, not Elf Street shenanigans, with Natural Order package. Atraxa might be in the post, but there was a cheeky main deck Ouphe!)
Naya Depths (classic Minsc and Boo regular list)
Initiative-Stax hybrid (think white plume/archon/annointed peacekeepers/chalice as per initiative,but a different mana base with Urza's saga, 3ball, Armageddon/Ravages and Karn)
Mono Red painter (slightly old karn build)
On 6 we had, in no particular order, RW Initiative (all the initiative critters in RW, - dragon stompy with white and all the initative)
Mana dredge
UWR day's undoing Narset (running mentor but not Triumph of St Katherine)
GB Depths with smog combo
Burn
Rounding it out on 3 were
Bomberman
Storm variant with some epic gamble shenanigans (I am assured that this particlar itch has been scratched and regular TES will be back on the menu next time).
Probably the most inventive deck selections we have seen for a while. As more supplemental cards fail to make MTGO in a timely fashion I think people have been rewarded for trying out new cards in established shells- initiative was packed a long time round here before it was available online, for example. Every month Elves seems to be getting a new toy, and the meta here has stayed fresh with lots of diffrent decks represented these past few months.
Finally a shout to SWAWLQ- wina dual style events held in Bristol UK on March 4th- proxy friendly, great venue. https://swawlq.com/ for details

Last night we had a whopping 14 different archetypes, with players from Bristol to Swansea attending for monthly FNM. A fair selection of fair and unfair, blue and not blue made for an interesting night.
The decks, in no particular order, were…
RG Lands
Boros Bomberman
Boros initative
Rb Goblins
Traditional NO/Glimpse Elves with (Atraxa)
Yorion D n T
Uw Show and tell (with Omniscience, Atraxa and Teferi)
Eldrazi Stompy (OUAT green splash)
Doomsday Citadel Storm (spicey)
Cephalid Breakfast
Jeskai Day's undoing miracles (which had some mammoth games)
Naya Depths
Bant control (Worldly tutor/St Katherine) (also spicey)
White Stax
On a really hard fought night only 3 decks made a positive record, Cephalid breakfast making 4-0, with Show and tell and Elves on 9. Everyone else apart from Goblins, Depths and Bant control ended up on 6. Had the other two Swansea players turned up we could have had a perfect 16 different archetypes with Storm and Painter, and it seems that every Delver player was indisposed too. However, 14 pretty different decks doing pretty different things is still pretty good considering we are not a proxy event and the weather sucked.

Only 8 for Legacy as the Axion weekend exerted its considerable pull.
Of the 8 we actually had some deck duplication for once- 2 copies of D n T. I prepared meticulously for the event by taking excessively afternoon tea and not bringing the deck I wanted to play.
Our decks in attendance were Elves, 2 Yorion D N T, Miracles, Breakfast, Bomberman, Mono black control, and 4 colour control.
Of these Breakfast had a clean sweep for the second event in a row, with one D N T and mono B taking home a booster each for a middling 4 and two six pointers being the fair blue control decks.
I'd normally have a bit more to say but I did not catch a great deal of the matches going on for once- must have been the tea...)

Just 8 for Legacy FNM again- not sure why the numbers have dipped to single figures this month - other than half term there doesn't seem to be much on. Anyway, we had an odd spread of decks.
Miracles and UW Show and Tell were the only blue decks on display, whilst WR initiative and Dragon stompy were the chalice decks. Elves, enchantress, D n T (Yorion) and Rhinos completed the set. There were some odd matches too- some, ahem, unusual, attitudes to sideboards, which apparently are best left either (a) already in place in the starting 60 ready for the previous match played or (b) best forgotten about because you were so busy laughing at the opponent for doing (a). Much mirth ensued, their sideboards were probably still more effective than mine.
The actual positve results were Rhinos with the 9, and D N T, RW initiative and Elves on the 6. I didn't see much spicy tech, but discovered WH Smith still selling mini eggs, chocolate tech to rule any meta.

It certainly is fresh- sometimes too fresh!
I go back and record the whole data over the 18-24 months periods and post it, it is amazing how many archetypes we squueze out there. Sometimes people message me after specific lists, which I do my best to get, but by and large it is nice to see the changes over the various threads. Here is our latest June one...


Last night was Legacy once more in Cardiff, with an OK ten players. We had a severe water magic drought with remarkably few brainstorms in the room, making for an odd night where nobody made 12 points. The decks were, in no particular order......
Dragon Stompy/Red prison.
D n T Yorion (white, no splash, x2)
Bomberman
R Painter
GW lands
Uw shown and tell (teferi, Omniscience, etc)
UW control
GW enchantress (RIP/Helm)
RG Initiative
The top 3 were..... D n T x2 and Lands, all on 9. DnT - well who knew? Ok, we pretty much all did, but it is still noteworthy how well the torpor orb haters did.
From there it was 6 down to 3 for the remaining decks, on a long night with some draws and matches going to turns. If you are counting there were just 8 brainstorms in the room, each outnumbered by either sol land and equalled by aether vial. This is as low as I have ever seen it, and it isn't through lack of cards, these are the decks people want to play. Legacy, what have you done?

Those all look really cool!

redactle unlimited

They certainly are great fun. I copy these from the UK and Firestorm FB groups, with the odd alteration. Here is July's offering.

Another FNM in Cardiff, and thanks to companion wiping results and losing the paper list I am having to do this from memory. Ten players, old faces and a whopping 3 cars heading west meant no train was needed for me.
On a night where several old faces resurfaced, I spent the first hour in a car trying to explain the changes in Legacy mtg over the last few years. Initiative, Companion, Breach, W6, Ragavan, EI, MH pitch elementals and spells, On an Adventure, Thoracle, Teferi 3, Narset, Karn where to begin? That was before LOTR came up. One question I was asked- why is goyf no longer seen? Wow- where to start.
On a similar fashion, when loaning decks and playing the number of extra cards and tokens is getting ludicrous. Everything makes a token, my loan deck boxes look like Battle of wits decks, and then there are reminder cards and DFC blanks. The Ring, Initiative, On an Adventure (seriously, does anyone actually use these?), we even scrabbled around for Day/Night tracking last night. (Time) Lord knows what new zone Dr Who Commander will bring to the (D n D) party, aside from the well-known inability of any living artist to accurately draw Peter Davison. I am considering a new format where the only rule is you can read the cards and know what they do by reading the front. Not good for sumptuous looking Italian Legends, DFCs or Chains of Mephistopheles in any language. The ban list will have any card that looks like it flies but doesn't. Perhaps it needs work.

On to the decks.
BG depths with bowmasters.
Wheel Storm pact shenanigans.
Stax/W Stompy (1 karn board 1 ring)
Mono R painter
Cloudpost (with 3 copies of the one ring, as the 4th wasn't available)
Goblins (BR, not turbo)
D N T 80 (mono w)
3 year old BRg Reanimator
Death's shadow (3 Bowmasters)
UW Show and Tell (omniscience, with Palantir shenanigans)


It was one of those nights. I heard D n T win a game with the opponent on 999,999 life. Painter lost 1 turn away from the combo every game. Omniscience was down nearly a whole 50 minute match which wasn't getting won any time soon. Doing 15 to the head and drawing ten extra cards just didn't always cut it. All the matches seemed to be tight.


The well-deserved 12 points and the spoils went to BG depths.
9 points went to the 3 year old reanimator, back like an old friend who borrows stuff from your hand and doesn't give it back.
Everything else was 6, apart from poor old painter and the wheel deck in the 3 and under bracket.
Till next month.

Once again we did FNM- no proxies, no lift back to Swansea but still a fair 12 players, including some we haven't seen for a while. That is the great thing about Cardiff Legacy- the number of separate players is actually very large, meaning we see a diversity in decks and the local meta stays fresh.
This is a good example as the decks were very different to the last few months- no reanimator, no TES being the obvious ones that really affect people's sideboard choices. In no particular order we have.

Madness/Hollow one
D n T
S n T [sneak, UR],
Mono B scam,
WGB Depths,
8 cast,
Winota Initiative Forces,
RB Goblins,
"I am doing what I can in a Bowmaster world" Natural Order Fiend Artisan Elves
UW Yorion painter with some spicy combo (involving I think mind over matter). It is a Yorion build because, and I quote, "I didn't know what to cut". This one is so spicy it comes with a glass of milk.
Mono red painter
Colourless Prison

The winner on 12 was mono B scam, slightly hastily thrown together when nobody borrowed Death's Shadow. This was actually me, and I think to be fair I was slightly helped by people assuming I was on my more regular mono B control list that I tend to use for quarterlies and REL comp events.
On 9 we had Elves and Goblins, both pretty brave choices in a Bowmaster world, although it was notable that the field was lighter on bowmasters than expected. Also on 9 was sneak and show, still one of the most underrated decks in the format, and one which on a different night could have gone 4-0 given the way the last round went.
On sixes we had regular Red Painter, colourless prison, UW painter and Winota.
I think at this point it is worth noting about the format in general. Just as White Stax evolved to run more and more creatures as cards like White Plume and Archon of Emeria got printed, so other fringe control and combo lists have been forced to evolve to be more aggressive. For me a lot of this is down to better creatures but of late has been pushed further by Initiative and Monarch being printed on Legacy viable cards- effectively comes into play abilities that give insurmountable long term advantages if you can't hit them back specifically with creatures, ones that are particularly devastating when resolving early. I am not hugely comfortable with it, as Legacy was one of the few formats where you can play creatureless control decks- back and forth combat and removal just isn't one of the most fun aspects for many who play Legacy, although of course it has had its place since the days of Jund. For me, I would rather be casting Hymn to Tourach t2 than Dauthi Voidwalkers, but for as long as my opponent has the ability to turn 1 Forth Eorlingas I can't.

I do have more results given to me from Bristol proxy events this month too

Beseech storm (BUG ft IT/LED)
Mono U painter
Grixis Delver
(top 3)
And the rest

Burn
Breakfast
8 cast
TOR control
Lands
RUG cascade

And this is last months's [aug]
Once again Friday Night legacy rolled around. The return of High Tide, bought out to play by the tempting August unban. Last time I played against High Tide in an actual event I was on Parfait, about 7 years ago, I remember Orim's chanting and tutoring for Trinisphere. Those were the days. I don't think I have seen one since. I once had a collection of a hundred FE high tides, sadly it died through water damage, oh the irony. Whilst missing a few regulars we still managed a creditable 13 players.
Our decks were, in order
RW initiative- a perfect 12- not bad for a loan deck.
D N T Yorion- a fair 10- the draw was vs Nyx Fit.
RB reanimator -9 with midrange backup plan
Artisan Elves
8 Cast- finishing the 9's- a welcome sighting of an underplayed deck in these parts.
Spicy UW painter
4 C Uro control (no black)
Jokalhoops RG
Nyx Fit [enchantment only evolutionary leap version]
ANT
R painter (no bowmasters)
Initiative
High tide
So once again we are a bit light on blue control decks, and indeed control decks in general, which is kind of reflective of Legacy I guess. By my reckoning its only 4 Force of Will decks. Mtg top 8 is now >50% aggro and just 17% control, so we are not actually that far away in our meta. I suspect that as more 4cc snowball threats designed for multiplayer get printed aggro will stay dominant unless they introduce a disadvantage to going first, especially when the aggro decks are often cheaper to put together. After all, dropping down a t1 Forth Eorlingas t1 to make 2 x 2/2s and taking monarch or dropping a 4 mana initiative creature on the play is enough to beat a control deck without an opening force the vast majority of the time, and when that doesn't happen there are a whole host of 3 drops in all the colours that can spell the end pretty quickly. When you add in the ubiquitous Delver percentage, aggro seems the place to be.
Hoping to be there next month for more Legacy action.

Another FNM in Cardiff- Oct 23. Attendance was down to just eight, perhaps understandable with the festivities. Axion was also this month, though I am not sure how this affects attendance, we did have at least one attendee (and winner of one of the Legacy days) last night who made it, but I think the missing regulars were just in their Halloween socials. This being Cardiff, only four of last month’s twelve were there, which keeps it fresh. It was lovely to welcome Bristol players after a very long time, from one of the blue-est metas to one of the least.
Our decks, in random order
Doishy Dooms-daze (doomsday, with added daze to take into account the different meta)
Jeskai miracles
Reanimator (Brw)
4 colour halfling control
Nightmare on Elf street
U painter (with a tundra)
Mono B scam
RW initiative
By my count that is just 4 bowmasters, although it is hardly representative of the format.
Companion wiped the results, but I think I have these right.
Our three nine pointers were our pointy friends (which lost to scam round 3), scam (which lost the Grief off match vs Reanimator in the last round) and Reanimator (that lost to the point eared menace round 2).
On six I think Doomsdaze (which substituted two duress for additional Daze) and mono U painter, with the rest in the lower bracket.
We talked Marvel and the tentpole sets WOTC seem delighted to insert into our format/wallet/body cavity of your choice, and the general consensus was one of numbness. Not sure if that is numbness in a Pink Floyd or a Linkin Park way, but certainly nobody relishes them. People at least seemed happy with the format, and I don’t think I heard the word “ban” mentioned once. On a personal note, I can’t believe how forgiving the black scam deck is and how hard it is to sideboard against- a far cry from mono B control decks where tiny mistakes are often GG. I do think the standard lists are a black source short, though. We also talked about future quarterly plans, that sound exciting. Watch this space.

Well another FNM, last one of the year. The usual rotation of people, although the decks didn’t change as much as normal. I almost played a mono U thoughtlash thoracle list, but chickened out at the last minute as I felt I needed more practice and, besides, the lovely Doishy had turned up with actual Doomsday, and I would have felt a bit of an imposter casting Thoracle on turn 3.
When we settled down our decks were, in no particular order.
Painter
“Elves” (elf street, cradle control etc.)
Doomsday
Slow GB Depths
Mono B Scam
Initiative
Burn
Delver (UR)
Miraculous Beans

As usual we all played the usual suspects- I missed the Doomsday match *again*- I think we have played just twice in 5 years or something- which was probably a shame for me as I was hoping to grief/thoughtseize/hymn/opposition agent/bowmaster it to distraction.

The final standings had three nine pointers- Elves/cradle control, Mono B Scam, whilst everything down to three pointers on Miracles and Painter managed a firm 6.
Highlight for me was scam/elves playing a Sharazad-esque subgame of draw go for well over ten turns each, where nothing happened. Civilisations rose and fell in the time it took for either of us to do something other than draw land and un-castable search spells.
That’s probably it for 2023- it has been a blast- by my calculations we have been over 40 separate players in out events this year. Wouldn’t it be nice to get us all together at a SWAWLQ?

We had ten for “December’s” FNM tonight. A little late, but it does mean two Legacy FNMs this month. We had old faces back and a new one too. As usual I will just give the decks.
In no particular order we have
Infect (bant)
Naya Depths
RW initiative
GW sphere Lands
Elves (fiend artisan control)
Mono B scam
Beans control
Enchantress (ish-Leyline/Estrid control)
R/U delver- with zero bowmasters and main deck…..Earthquake.
R/Bw reanimator
For once I was not on the mono B scam- I had to loan the deck to a late attendee as it seemed more accessible than mono blue Thought-lash Thoracle. Serves me right for not bringing more loan decks.
The results were a clean sweep for beans control. This was also a loan deck- one of mine- and is nothing particularly spicey. Standard 5c list, for those who care it has one volc, one triome [xander’s] and one sea, and plays 1 Murktide, 1 Triumph, 1 Forth Eorlingas alongside 3 Uro, with a Leo in the board.
2-4 th all had a strong 9- Sphere lands, Reanimator, and UR delver, which was UR delver rather than URB or URG. I can inform you that Earthquake not only kills Bowmaster, but also that scourge of the format, Argothian Enchantress. Maindeck Earthquake was not on my bingo card for tonight. It wasn't even a beta one, which is just poor form....)
The rest hovered in the lower regions of 6 and below, but a good time was had by all and there were lots of tight games that I saw. Till later in the month…..)

Well back again for Legacy, Feb 2024
Nine decks in the room- in no particular order.
· 8 Cast
· Rainbow Turbo depths
· Beans
· Mono R painter
· Estrid Enchantress
· Grixis Delver
· Elves/cradle control
· GB depths
· Green Titan post
A fair spread by any standards, and we missed out on Bristol players due to flooding shutting roads and rail. I was on the enchantress- I just enjoy the Estrid’s engine, I can’t take scam any further- it is tuned - and I wanted to experiment with some draft chaff that only spicey Japanese legacy players might consider, which is what some FNMs are for. It is not often you see Colossal Skyturtle and Omen of the Sun running away with a game vs Delver, or Katilda double striking for a gazillion lifelink. Frankly, if we continue to print egregious free removal spells and multiplayer 1st turn Initiative and Monarch grabbers, enchantress won’t have long left before it is totally unplayable, so I will get it in when I can. I fully expect MH3 to be full of broken stuff whilst I can’t even get a pithing needle or fog on an enchantment.
The final standings had 3 players over 6- GB depths on a mighty 12, Elves and Painter on a sweet 9- everyone seemed to have a good time though- lots of close matches.
Some more news- the Legacy Quarterly event in Firestorm will now be preceded by a legacy FNM the night before for those staying down. Not long to go now.

Well we managed a Good Friday turnout of 9. An unusual number of islands were in the room by Cardiff’s especially dry standards.
Our decks, in no particular order

Merfolk
2 x D n T Yorion (both W)
Red Painter
Enchantress
12 Post
Infect
Rescaminator (Ubw, w for swords and a triumph in the board)
Beans control


Our evening ended with Painter sweeping all before 3 and 0. The sixes, in no particular order were rescaminator, the d n t decks and merfolk, though obviously there may have been some byes in there for some in there.
Rescaminator was the one I was most interested in- the latest hotness seems to have plan A and B. Legacy players are not in favour of bans, generally, I think it will be safe, I would not have put it together as a loan deck if I felt its days were numbered. Frankly Grief is fine in most other decks that are not Blue, it is by no means game over being Griefed t1. Grief followed by reanimation followed by Daze and then Force, well yeah that hurts, in the same way Ragavan followed by Daze followed by Force followed by Murktide once hurt. Good decks on a tempo shell do that. If they have to ban something I hope they look beyond Grief, which has given mono b decks a shot in the arm. Daze won’t get the chop due to community sentiment, though I have always found the “keeps combo in check” argument to be a bit hollow myself, my outside bet if the deck takes over is they look at entomb, one of the best tutors in the game. A few weeks ago it was the abomination that is Sticker Goblin that was the ban-talk of the town, so who knows. MH3 is round the corner.

A modest 8 meant for 3 rounds of FNM non proxy April Legacy

Our decks were as follows

Rescaminator with w splash for swords and serenity in the board
4 c beans, bant with Forth, basically.
D N T Yorion, of course
Painter mono red
4 c Yorion Estrid engine Enchantress
Grixis Delver
Merfolk (aggro, not Thoracle combo)
Cradle control elves


So I count four force of will decks, the first time in a long time that we have had 50 percent blue decks, not including the enchantress list that doesn’t actually counter anything.

Companion didn’t give me the last round standings, but our winner on 9 was 4c beans, whilst on 6 we had rescaminator, 4c Yorion enchantress and I think either mono R painter or Delver.

3 rounds saved me an expensive taxi home, and I had company on the train back too, so I could recount how I killed a Progenitus with Omen of the Forge. That sentence was not on anyone’s bingo card for the night.

Another FNM in Cardiff - 10 players, and a variety of decks with just one duplicate.

Our decks in no particular order

Echo tin fins, extremely unusual mono B, elf-street cradle, mono r painter, 2 x Yorion d n t (mono w), Yorion 4c enchantress, BG medium Depths, Sneak and show (RUg) and UGw infect

On a perfect 12 was BG depths, whilst on 9 we had Yorion 4c Enchantress and one of the d n t s.
All the rest hit 6 or 3, making for a nice evening of rounded Mtg.

We have had 3 summer Legacy FNMs in Cardiff. Numbers are naturally down a bit in summer, and like church newsletters in August I tend to break from writing them up in detail.
I do have a list of the different decks we have seen over the summer, though.

BG Depths x3
2 very different 4c controlling builds
Mono R Painter x3
Storm
W stax stompy
4c 80 Yorion Enchantress x2
D n T Yorion x2
Initiative stompy
Cloudpost
RIP helm WG enchantress
Hogaak
Initiative mono red stompy x2

We had last minute drop outs from players set to play 4 col and Scaminator too.
Two events were straight won by depths, one by 4c Yorion enchantress.

We had 7 last night for Legacy FNM- not the same as last month- but getting everyone together to get back to our double figure numbers has been hard as life gets in the way. Plenty of different players though. We had 7 last night for Legacy FNM- not the same as last month- but getting everyone together to get back to our double figure numbers has been hard as life gets in the way. Plenty of different players though. We have modern RCQs (that I am gutted to be missing) that people might have prioritised too.
One dropped to make the numbers even and eat cake/play commander.
That left six actual entrants and 3 rounds.
Normally with 4 rounds I would list all the decks and identify the positive records, but with just six I will be more specific.
On 6 points we had the “banned in EDH Nadu” Elves and Eldrazi, making its first paper appearance in Cardiff. Bloody good deck with more than one angle of attack.
On 5 it was Froginator- yes the deck finally reappears here post Grief, and for my money on MTGO at least it is probably the best thing to be doing in the format. The blue shell plus wasteland, Frog and the reanimation package remains largely untouched by the Grief ban, and those thinking that RB reanimator would return and things go back to how they were with the Grief ban haven’t been proven correct- it is 21% in the last two weeks on MTG top 8, the genie remains out of the bottle.
On 4 splitting down the middle with 1-1-1 the first of two enchantresses- 5c Yorion. Interestingly both Enchantresses drew with the Frog menace- Elephant Grass and Baubles are really rather good right now.
On 3 and below Infect! It t2 the Eldrazi deck twice, apparently, and GW Enchantress RIP helm.

8 of us for Legacy, despite missing a few regulars we continue to attract new people to the format.
Our decks in no particular order.
Bant Nadu
BG Depths
RG initiative
4 c Yorion Enchantress.
BG depths
Mystic Forge
GW enchantress
Burn
We almost had Pox, by accident as I shuffled up from the board and realised I was not shuffling 80. Using companions least makes sure you shuffle up with the right deck at FNM. It was a long week at work in my defence.
The results were a clear cut t4
Nadu made it to a perfect 9
RG initiative to 7
Burn 6
And Yorion Enchantress to a middling 4.
I think I was denied the comeback of the year by time in my decider vs RG initiative where I had mulled to 3, having drawn like a lottery winner after said mulligans. What an introduction to the format for the initiative player, their first Legacy paper event. I believed they won their first game with turn 1 Minsc and Boo. Nice way to introduce yourself. Anyone want to see my pet hamster- it’s a 4/4, no a 7/7, no a 10/10 with haste. Your turn……

Our previous results from Oct
9pt Nadu Elves
6pt Lands
6pt Stiflenaught
3pt Dai Mono Black
3pt Synthesiser Stompy
0pt Burn

results from when I was away

M

Back in Cardiff for January FNM.
A modest 7 turned out for this one. The format post bauble is very combo orientated, I have lost a fair few games in the practice rooms without getting to t1. Nadu is still with us, the increasingly badly named Dragon stompy, Oops! and Breakfast and RUG delver have all risen up the rankings whilst Forge has largely slid away. Personally I dislike where it is at with control decks so low.
Our field in no particular order was aforementioned Delver, Nadu/cradle, Breakfast, Enchantress Pile (Yorion), No-RL Mulch, Dragon stompy and Burn
Top of the shops on a perfect 9 was Enchantress pile. If you are familiar with the practice rooms and leagues you might often see 4/5c Yorion piles in the hands of Spatula and Doola, running FOW and brainstorm. This really isn’t like them, it is Force free, it looks like a Japanese list, running Humilities, Estrid’s, Moat (!) some singletons like Back to Basics, Katilda, Solitary Confinement and even crazy stuff like Alpine Moon, and actual old Enchantress’ Presence, E tutor and Sterling. The board runs stuff like Deafening Silence, normally an anti-enchantress card, and Chalice for zero just to attempt to hit those T1 LED decks. It is too slow and clicky for serious MTGO play given the clock due to cumulative upkeeps, Estrid’s and static, but just about fine in paper. Speaking of, on 6 we have Nadu, another card that really eats up the clock and has a lower percentage online than it deserves. It is only a gut feeling, but I think that whatever the “secret” best deck might be, if there is one, it may well be one of the Nadu ones. The card is just nuts, whether in Cradle piles or Breakfast, it offers so much card advantage and almost always gets value if it resolves. Our third positive 6 pointer was Breakfast. I believe this won out last post-Christmas bonus event, it is a contender for secret best deck in the format in my humble opinion, although how much of a secret it is, well that is open to question. It is really very, very good, with more lines than a zebra crossing.
Our last 6 was NO RL Mulch- an intriguing list I played against before hand. I think it had a bye R1 and didn’t see its other matches, but it looked sharp- throwing down hands and generating armies of 2/2 zombies and ridiculous ramp frighteningly early, combining with the landkill and 20/20 plan that most Lands heavy decks have. Three plans for the price of one, punishing fire tech from the dark ages, and no RL, so no Mox Diamonds.
RUG Delver, Dragon stompy, and old reliable Burn finished our 3 pointers.
Till next month.

Just 7 of us in Cardiff for Legacy FNM, although some old returnees and new faces among us. This month we had a bit of change in our usual decks. Whilst the online meta is sometimes over populated with the best combo decks, paper normally brings out fairer decks. Today it was once again combo heavy though, although not much in the way of storm style decks again (unless you count last month’s Yorion enchantress winning with storm count storm crows off of Murmuration as the wincon, we haven’t seen a deck winning with storm in months, which is rather different to online). There was a time when you would always see a storm deck here, doomsday too. Maybe they haven’t heard about the bauble ban.
In no particular order, today we had Breakfast, Elves, Mono R Painter, Delver, Dimir Reanimator, Mono Red Prison and Eldrazi.
Top of the shops was Breakfast on 9. Not a huge amount to say about this- it is a very good deck, Nadu is very good, and Thoracle is still winning games.
Painter was a clear second on 7. This wasn’t an especially radical build- a few tweaks/pet cards here and there in an established shell. Mono Red prison made it to 6 (Blood Moon is still making life unhappy for those wishing too cast spells), and Eldrazi a respctable 4. The others all pulled in at 3.

Our Friday Legacy FNMs continued pre ELM qualifier on the Saturday. We had just 8 but it was nice to see people down the night before. It was not really a case of extra practice the night before, as half the people played different versions or different decks entirely the next day. It was a chance to sit around, sling some favourites and natter about the ban list.
Our decks were
UB tempo,
RUG food chain- sweet build with infinitely big druids.
“Old” elves with Glimpse of Nature and a prayer to not run into Bowmen.
Dimir reanimator
Sneak and Show
Gwx Yorion enchantress
Red stompy (karn/3ball, not moon)
Nadu Breakfast

Top was UB tempo, 9 points from 9.
Elves RUG and S n T all finished positively, the remainder on 4 or less.

Only five hardy souls turned up for Legacy, so this will be short. I guess a few might be concentrating on Modern, which is in a good place and has an RCQ season, and although there is an unwritten rule that any Modern RCQ within 50 miles of me will be on the two dates I can’t make that quarter, I can see the attraction. Legacy has suffered a little these past couple years with a ban hammer that some think is too little, too late, with control especially under-represented in the era of pushed threats and cards from yesteryear that cheat them into play or protect them becoming better as a consequence.
Our five decks were mono white stompy (Urza’s/sol lands with new Clarion Conquorer and two spicy Ravages of war/Armageddon slots), Cephalid Breakfast, UB reanimator, Sneak and Show and Burn.
Mono W ended up 3-0, not dropping a game. In a combo heavy, tempo free environment it is well-placed as it can drop a variety of first turn disruptors and has much smoother mana these days. Breakfast and UB reanimator ended on 6,- the match of UB reanimator vs Sneak and Show was a great watch, with the others on 3.
Hoping for more next month – which might hopefully mean some promo prizes.

Seven of us in Cardiff for Legacy, an improvement on the last couple of months, and enough to qualify for prizes.
The decks present, in random order

Lands- new modern build, about the only control deck viable in the format.
UR delver- steel cutter
Burn
White stompy/prison.
Mystic Forge
UB reanimator. You know the drill.
Elves/Nadu/Breakfast. It has en kor. It has Nadu. It has Elves. It hasn’t got a Cephalid. It hasn’t got an exact name.

Now this might be the last month for UB reanimator as it is, but we have said that before and each ban has been unable to take it out to reasonable levels. I was one of the naysayers last time – I thought Troll ban would do nothing. Now I won’t use a report to push my specific ban/unban wants (except, on behalf of all six remaining Enchantress players: unban Earthcraft) , but I will say that I have done a lot of 20-50 player type events at various levels, the sort of large FNM to win a dual type things, and the most common decks I have seen are blue soup decks du jour, followed by tempo. Personally I don’t like blue soup, but right now they are unplayable, people like playing them and until they can get a format where it is very reasonable to play blue based control, I think the format will bleed numbers. I think they will hit UB and UB reanimator in some way and Oops, so if this the last UB reanimator it went out on a high; due to a result entry error, both it and Lands ended on 9, whilst everyone else won one.
Till next month.