[Casual] Legacy Battle of Wits (again!)

[RThomas-]

Hello there,

Whenever I want to play Magic but take a break from all of the regular same-old Legacy decks, I open MWS and play with Battle of Wits. The deck is obviously not even a marginal contender, but I have more fun playing around with it than with any other deck. I have played it in some online matches and against friends and had a few interesting, close games. I hope there are others out there that have screwed around with Battle of Wits as well.

Other, older threads on Battle of Wits in Legacy are here and here.

I made a couple different versions of this deck but the one I have the most fun with uses Fauna Shaman, Birthing Pod, and utility men. I enjoyed how various different combos like Natural Order and Academy Rector fall nicely in to place. I'm not sure which tutors and board control items are the best and there are probably a few replacements in order.


// Lands
4 Wasteland
2 Volcanic Island
1 Scrubland
3 Tundra
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Island
3 Tropical Island
2 Bayou
2 Plateau
4 Taiga
4 Savannah
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Karakas
2 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Temple Garden
4 Stirring Wildwood
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Arid Mesa
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Badlands
1 Underground Sea
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Maze of Ith
1 Gaea's Cradle

// Creatures
1 Meddling Mage
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Veteran Explorer
3 Academy Rector
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Eternal Witness
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Mother of Runes
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Progenitus
1 Shriekmaw
1 Ingot Chewer
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Viscera Seer
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Flametongue Kavu

// Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Ajani Vengeant
4 Birthing Pod
3 Natural Order
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Worldly Tutor
4 Burning Wish
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Living Wish
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Battle of Wits
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Batterskull
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Intuition
4 Enlightened Tutor

// Sideboard
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Meddling Mage
1 Academy Rector
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Natural Order
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Gilded Drake
1 Kami of Ancient Law
1 Vindicate
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Rough/Tumble
1 Bribery
1 Viashino Heretic


I thought that since relying upon control would be difficult in terms of consistently good hands, the deck should let go against a fast deck and clog up space against slower ones. I haven't tried things like Show and Tell, Dark Confidant, Trinket Mage, or Gifts Ungiven yet so that's next. Hopefully there's someone else out there that has given the deck a whirl.

Thanks for looking!

[HammafistRoob]

Absolute win. Definitely need 4 of the following though.
Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Serum Visions.

[screwluse]

I am sleeving up my old Battle of Wits deck this fall at the request of a friend. I wrote a source article on it here. This list is awesome though. Might be some room for Chord of Calling here?