[Deck] Death and Taxes

[Stevestamopz]

@Iatee Bummer, sorry to hear it. It seemed like no DnT decks did well overall, with none making it to the top 32.

If you have a free sideboard slot, I really really recommend Pia + Kiran Nalaar for the Miracles matchup. I think a lot of people oversell how good our miracles matchup is, but that card is actually insane against them. It's like, Goblins level of good against them.

[iatee]

Yeah there's no question it's good vs miracles, I've played with it some already. My real problem is it's hard to come up with non-miracles matchups where it's reliably what you want rather than just some fun surprise tech.

[Stevestamopz]

Yeah there's no question it's good vs miracles, I've played with it some already. My real problem is it's hard to come up with non-miracles matchups where it's reliably what you want rather than just some fun surprise tech.

I agree, it isn't spectacular in any other matchup, but I feel like Miracles is popular enough of a deck (not in Australia amusingly, but elsewhere) that you should have at least 1 card in your 75 dedicated to beating them. The card is also pretty good in midrange matchup but I agree, not astounding. Also tutorable fliers etc.

[iatee]

Yeah, I think that's probably true, I'm just not 100% sure the Nalaars are the single best piece of anti-Miracle creature tech out there if that's the plan. But I have been happy to play that card multiple times now and actually regret not including it in my 75 on Saturday. I'd like to try it w/ a larger sample set of games.

[iatee]

I tried a 1 of Hokori and 1 of Pia/Kiran, and did beat my friend who is a strong Miracles pilot last night, though unfortunately won a turn before I could cast Hokori, and Pia/Kiran had to be hardcast into terminus. Still I think if we are doing one-off creatures as Miracles killers, we can totally breach 4 mana since the games go long. What are other 4 mana tutorable creatures that could wreck havoc for them?

I also beat Merfolk and Burn, where having 2 PTEs was again great, and woulda beat Infect if I had hit my 3rd land drop g3 when I had to mull on the play. (My STP was spell pierced.) Completely convinced that taking out Thalias and Maguses is right at this point.

[iatee]

My friend suggested Rakka Mar after seeing it in the MTGO legendary cube. It's not the worst idea, like Pia/Kiran it's good vs Jace (possibly better) and can be protected by Karakas. Does require hard R to activate, but that's not that hard at that point in the game.

[Figurative]

Hey guys,
I'm currently looking to get my first serious legacy deck (besides burn) and I'm thinking maybe this could be a good choice? I'm wonder how hard this deck is to pilot with very limited legacy knowledge and how good it is in the current meta? Those are the main things I'm looking for in a deck, as well as maybe future options to build from it. Thanks!

[llamaza]

Hey guys,
I'm currently looking to get my first serious legacy deck (besides burn) and I'm thinking maybe this could be a good choice? I'm wonder how hard this deck is to pilot with very limited legacy knowledge

I'm going to say impossible. The deck requires you to know your lines against every deck. It's a nickle and dime deck and you'll lose a lot of games from taking the wrong options if you don't know your deck and the opponents deck well.

If you're willing to learn the decks in Legacy - then it's a good deck.

(Although to be fair most decks in Legacy require you to learn your deck and opponents decks inside and out to win)

and how good it is in the current meta?

I think its fine in any meta (well other than an Elves meta), you need to learn your deck and tweak it to your local meta and you'll be fine.

Those are the main things I'm looking for in a deck, as well as maybe future options to build from it. Thanks!

Then this isn't the deck for you. The future options are limited - Wasteland and Swords to Plowshares are pretty much your only 'staples' (refer: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/format-st...egacy/full/all), further down you get to Stoneforge Mystic, so you're stuck moving into Stoneblade (but then you're going blue so you might as well have started with a Brainstorm deck) or Maverick.

[TokenSoldier]

@TokenSoldier: Did you test 2 Mangara, completely replacing CJ, or a 1/1 split between them as tutor target during that 3 day test?

I ran 2 CJ to guarantee drawing the card (for testing)

Here's my notes. Over the 3 days
Day 1: 11 games
Day 2: 6 games
Day 3: 4 games

Note: I haven't played enough games like this to fully evaluate things / I need more data.

In one matchup vs Mono-white D&T I pulled both CJ's and was able to hit my opponent's Jitte and SoFi - which was ideal in that game. I strongly believe mono-white is favored in the R/W matchup. I've also seen an increase in local players running Mono-white, so perhaps the deck is rising in popularity.

6 of the 21 matches were against Miracles.
Some notes here. Both cards are mediocre against Miracles (mangara and CJ) because the both cost 3 and so does Entreat. So in the late game (where either card is more likely to show up) there's a chance they can counter the spell. Obviously the upside with Mangara is the use of Vial, but this also requires an active Mom, or cutting them off of white when doing so to protect Mangara. I don't see either scenario being likely. A good miracles player is going to have a second white source eventually, and preserving Mother of Runes through Terminus and Swords to Plowshares is never guaranteed. I'm interested in testing this matchup exclusively, and I believe mangara being a creature is significantly better, though both cards are easily handled by a skilled Miracles pilot. My consensus - neither card is great against Miracles and both can be useful in the right spot.

I'm also not in favor of cutting Council's Judgment. It's really good against TNN and other obnoxious threats. It's often our only out in these spots, and more times than not I've managed to get TNN off of the board with it.

[JamesD]

How do we beat RUG delver? I played a good 10 games last night against a skilled RUG delver opponent. I am somewhat new to the deck and legacy in general, but the matchup just felt unwinnable especially post board.

The only change I had at winning was being on the play and dropping a t1 vial. If he was on the play, he just went delver, daze my first spell, blind flip delver, then drop either a 2nd delver or gofy/mongoose and a ponder or brainstorm and would just crush me.

Any advice on this matchup in particular?

[mrjumbo03]

^Honsetly, RUG is a very good matchup. The scenario you listed - the Delver, Bolt/Daze, Answer the next few things hand - would just about beat any deck in the format so don't feel too bad about it, it happens. The only real dead card in the main is Revoker; the rest are headaches for the RUG player. Post board, make sure not to over extend if you don't have to because the sweepers come in (either in the form of Rough/Tumble or Sulfur Elemental). Bring in Rest in Peace and additional removal.

[Plague Sliver]

Agree with above poster, RUG Delver is probably at least a 70-30 matchup for us both pre- and post-board. You definitely play the control role. Barring some sick hands from them (ultra fast Delver beats + all the bolts for our Thalias/Moms) you should be able to stabilize and win most games.

If I'm playing Death and Taxes, I'm hoping to play against RUG Delver every single round

[Koke_MTG]

Hey D&T players!

This weekend I played mono-white Death & Taxes into two local tournaments with 25 and 18 players respectively, the second one was a MKM Series trial. I finished 4-1 in both tournaments, losing only two rounds all weekend against Esper Stoneblade and TES ("won" me in turn 1 both games with 10 EtW tokens: easy and fast).

Here is my list (still being 62 cards ):

4 x Mother of Runes
4 x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 x Stoneforge Mystic
4 x Phyrexian Revoker
2 x Serra Avenger
4 x Flickerwisp
3 x Vryn Wingmare
3 x Mirran Crusader

4 x Aether Vial
4 x Swords to Plowshares
1 x Batterskull
1 x Sword of Fire and Ice
1 x Umezawa's Jitte

4 x Wasteland
4 x Rishadan Port
7 x Plains
3 x Flagstones of Trokair
3 x Karakas
2 x Cavern of Souls

SIDEBOARD:

2 x Council's Judgment
2 x Cataclysm
2 x Pithing Needle
2 x Containment Priest
2 x Ethersworn Canonist
1 x Ratchet Bomb
1 x Sword of War and Peace
3 x Rest in Peace

Pairings:

R1: AggroLoam: 2-1
R2: Grixis Delver: 2-0
R3: BG Dark Depths: 2-1
R4: UB Delver/Death's Shadow: 2-0
R5: Esper Stoneblade: 1-2

R1: Merfolks: 2-0
R2: Merfolks: 2-1
R3: BUG Control: 2-0
R4: TES: 0-2
R5: Deathblade: 2-1

This past weekend I finished very happy with the deck after some weeks with 3-2's in my LGS tournaments, finishing with some bad feelings. I am going to run D&T at MKM Series of course. I am really comfortable with this list but maybe need more meat against Shardless BUG and/or Stoneblade decks. Even with this, I consider this deck is really good right now because it has a decent matchup against all the actual field except Elves.

My latest addition was SoWaP. When touch the battlefield in the correct matchup win it if is not removed from the field quickly, and it is a blast in a list with 3 Mirran Crusaders...

I accept some advices or questions. I want to improve more and more with this deck because although I have been playing it for a bit more than 2 years, I do not want to miss anything, and even more with MKM Series in 10 days.

[c2232]

I accept some advices or questions. I want to improve more and more with this deck because although I have been playing it for a bit more than 2 years, I do not want to miss anything, and even more with MKM Series in 10 days.

I would suggest shaving down to 60, you could cut 1-2 of the beaters (avenger/crusader). also I have never understood the use of flagstones..... it doesn't do much and it doesn't work with rest in peace in play.

[Tylert]

I would suggest shaving down to 60, you could cut 1-2 of the beaters (avenger/crusader). also I have never understood the use of flagstones..... it doesn't do much and it doesn't work with rest in peace in play.

Flagstone of trokair combos with cataclysm.
I don't think you side in RiP vs the same decks. RiP is not that great vs Miracles? (they play snap that's all?)

[llamaza]

@Koke_MTG

Cut the deck back to 60 cards. To me that means removing 1 Phyrexian Revoker and 1 Mirran Crusader.

I don't see why you're running Flagstones - even 1 is too many for me. Similarly I'd say remove 1 Cavern of Souls - you're asking to be colour screwed with 10 colourless sources. Take out those 4 and add 4 Plains. You could consider a Horizon Canopy.

In your sideboard I would do the following (not sure if it would be considered universal):

- 1 Rest in Peace
- 1 Pithing Needle
+ 2 Enlightened Tutor (which effectively adds to your count of all artifacts/enchantments)

I don't like the Sword in the Board - and would consider something like Veteran Armorer as Dread of Night Protection (or perhaps Honor of the Pure which can be found with the Tutor).

A card I find a beating in the fair matches is Worship - if you want to give it a run.

[Julian23]

To anyone who missed it, check out Marius Hausmann's Death & Taxes article on Channel Fireball today: http://www.channelfireball.com/home/...es-deck-guide/

It's really cool to see how much more attention Legacy has gotten on CFB recently.

[Tylert]

I find his first list to be a little bit outdated.
Most of the time Vryin's wingmare is used in MW D&T those days (At least in the last successfull lists i've seen on SCG's circuit) and they completely replaced spirit of the labyrinth (That is nearly never ever good) and Brimaz.

One thing I don't like also is the absence of cavern of soul. Saying that it is a target for wasteland is not an argument. Karakas is the actual better target for wasteland. You want to waste my cavern? ok go ahead. I want to be able to bounce thalia :)

On the fact that it's a legacy article on CFB: yeah it's quite cool... I also find it funny that he has put a link leading to SCG website inside a CFB article. I guess CFB doesn't care :)

[Koke_MTG]

I don't understand why don't like Flagstones of Trokair. They are fantastic when we resolve a Cataclysm, and they are really good against Emrakul and Massacre decks. Even they are more important in my meta, in which I often can find Pox players. They can help us to filter the deck, avoiding some lands at late game... So the only problem I can find is the increment of Blood Moon decks to fight Shardless, Loam and Lands decks. This is the only reason that stop me to run the full set of Flagstones. But I don't understand people who play only a singleton, what is the reason for that? I think that this is like Vryn Wingmare: we have to bet for this plan or not. It is absourd for me to play only a singleton.

[Tylert]

I don't understand why don't like Flagstones of Trokair. They are fantastic when we resolve a Cataclysm, and they are really good against Emrakul and Massacre decks. Even they are more important in my meta, in which I often can find Pox players. They can help us to filter the deck, avoiding some lands at late game... So the only problem I can find is the increment of Blood Moon decks to fight Shardless, Loam and Lands decks. This is the only reason that stop me to run the full set of Flagstones. But I don't understand people who play only a singleton, what is the reason for that? I think that this is like Vryn Wingmare: we have to bet for this plan or not. It is absourd for me to play only a singleton.

You don't want a starting hand with more than 1 flagstone of trokair. because the second FoT you play feels like playing a land that comes into play tapped.