Okay, so I know a lot of people have been wondering what sort of ideas I've been tossing around for a new Gate list, and while I have been away from the deck for a time, I have been avidly following its discussion as well as evaluation the meta as it stands today. In order for this deck to be competitive, we need to be able to beat the most prolific decks in the format, or the "Big Three" as I'd like to call them:

1. Four-Color Counterbalance.
2. Goblins.
3. Merfolk.

While I certainly could have included Combo in the discussion, this archetype has traditionally had difficulties dealing with Combo for a while now. We can address those issues as well as updating what appears to be an obsolete method of thinking once Survival of the Fittest became banned, which is to say, more methodical is always more effective. With Aether Vial at the forefront of Legacy, we need to get right in there and understand why it might now be okay to run Dark Ritual in some variants of this archetype. We can't afford to be narrow-minded here and need to come to terms with the fact that The Gate as of February 17th, 2011 is not the same deck it was five or six months ago.

What I'd like to start off first by talking about specifically is Dark Ritual and why we might need it to compensate for the explosive starts the format is now undergoing. I know we've been talking forever about completely nixing it from our minds and remembering that it only allows for explosive starts and acts as a "filler-for-draw" later in the game.

Okay, we accept that. But is it really as dead as we think it is here?

I guess it depends on what sort of premise we are using going forward with this archetype. All of us know that sickening feeling when that bastard Aether Vial hits the table on your opponent's play turn one. There is little we can do about it...except match it. But we don't necessarily need Dark Ritual. We could also try something else...

In hindsight, it is conceivable we can try and use Aether Vial as a means to get around Counterbalance and allow for explosive starts early in the game without needing to tap out our resources and progressively wait until we get blown out by the hasty Red Men swinging in for lethal before we know it. Those are the days that are upon us once again and we need to act accordingly. With that being said, here is a start from my vantage point to increase the speed of The Gate, without necessarily blowing out future draws:

Aether Vial.

Aether Vial is the best card in Legacy right now, hands down. There is little any deck can do to stop it once it hits the table, and the confusion it causes to open the game will leave an opponent uncertain how to handle it once it goes online. The only card to be affected by this inclusion would be Gatekeeper of Malakir, but he still has a home here as being an integral piece of removal with a body to boot.

Before continuing, how does everyone feel about Vial and or Ritual in The Gate in today's meta?