The MKM Series in Toulouse happened just a few days ago, and with it the Legacy main event. Over a hundred people showed up to play in the tournament, making it a fairly large event. Out of all these people, only eight were left for the elimination rounds, and while there’s a lot to say about each individual decklist, first I want to take a look at what the top 8 itself looked like. Without further ado…

Grixis Delver

UWR Control

Four Color Delver

Grixis Aggro

UWR Control

Aggro Loam

BUG Control

MUD

Interestingly enough we see zero copies of Miracles in the top 8, despite the deck making up thirteen percent of the metagame, and twice as much as the second most played deck; ANT (a complete metagame breakdown can be found on their website). Both Four Color Delver and Aggro Loam (we really need a better name for that deck) however continued to impress, making a showing in yet another larger legacy event. This is just one event, and we should be careful not to read too much into these results. Still, when two decks keep consistently putting up top 8 finishes, that’s a sign that something’s going on. Right now Legacy is evolving, and we are witnessing the process.

While Miracles failed to impress this time, there was still plenty of control decks to be seen in the top 8, and lots of innovation. Miracles has long been the go-to control deck of the format, and it’s nice to see that there are other options. Let’s dive in and take closer look, starting with the winning list; UWR Control by Miguel Alcoriza.

Alcoriza Miguel – UWR Control

This deck features sixteen pieces of library manipulation, eleven pieces of counter magic, seven removal spells and twenty lands, alongside two copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, three Snapcaster Mage and one Secure the Wastes as its win conditions.

Game one this deck has a lot of disruption, but no real clock or soft lock to put pressure on the combo decks. That changes quickly after sideboarding though, when the full four copies of Meddling Mage and two copies of Vendilion Clique are brought in to give you another angle of attack.

Rather than Terminus, this deck plays Supreme verdict, as the aforementioned miracle is less exciting when you don’t have Sensei’s Divining Top in your deck. What’s more interesting is the inclusion of the second Council’s Judgement. With both Aggro Loam and Four Color Delver on the rise, the decision to run a second copy makes a lot of sense, as it gives you more outs to some of the troublesome permanents seen in those decks, namely Sylvan Library and Chalice of the Void. With two copies of Council’s Judgement and a single Spell Snare, you should have a decent shot at combating those cards.

The biggest eyebrow-raiser in this deck is certainly the singleton Secure the Wastes, a card rarely seen in Legacy. As far as big spells go however it serves as a nice supplement for Entreat the Angels that also happens to work quite well with Snapcaster Mage. As a matter of fact, Secure the Wastes has many uses. You can play it on turn two to trade with an opposing Dark Confidant, or use it to hold off a Tarmogoyf later in the game, while simultaneously getting in for several points of damage every turn. It also deals excellently with Young Pyromancer, negating the value they would normally get from having a single card produce multiple bodies.

Next up we have Paul Ridoux and his MUD deck

Ridoux Paul – MUD

Paul’s list seems to be a fairly stock MUD lists, with no really unconventional card choices. It has been established by now that Ugin, the Spirit Dragon deserves a spot in this deck, as the card has continuously  proven its worth. Time will tell if Orb of Warding will replace Witchbane Orb in the sideboard going forward. It does cost an extra mana, but having a card that deals with both Tendrils of Agony and Empty the Warrens seems sweet.

Chalice of the Void is very well positioned right now, and MUD is definitely one of the better decks to take advantage of that. If you expect a lot of blue decks, perhaps it’s time you consider MUD.

The next deck on our list is Gabriel Deloison’s Grixis Delver deck, featuring a few gems of its own. I present to you…

Deloison Gabriel – Grixis Delver

Gabriel piloted his Grixis Delver list to a top 4 finish. Sadly this list is missing four cards, but seeing as there are only fourteen lands, I have an idea as to what the missing slots may be. Anyway, the card that catches my eye here is the one maindeck Kolaghan’s Command. Kolaghan’s Command is a highly versatile spell indeed, but normally the mana cost would be detrimental for its chances of being included in a deck like this. Grixis Delver does have a lot of trouble playing against Chalice of the Void, and in fact I beat the deck twice on the back of that card at GP Lille. It could be that the one Kolaghan’s Command is a concession to Chalice of the Void as a miser’s answer that is maindeckable thanks to still being live in other matchups.

The next thing to note is that there are only two copies of Cabal Therapy in the entire 75. In my experience with Grixis decks, their ability to completely rip a hand apart with Gitaxian Probe + Cabal Therapy has been one of its major strengths, which makes the decision to cut down on therapies seem questionable. With Gabriel opting to play Gurmag Angler and True-Name Nemesis, shaving a Gitaxian Probe and a Young Pyromancer however, the power level of Cabal Therapy goes down. Compared to its controlling counterpart, the Grixis Delver deck is a bit lacking in terms of staying power, so having a card like True-Name Nemesis to mitigate that weakness is definitely appealing. I’m not sure I agree with the way this deck is built, but I can definitely see where Gabriel is coming from.

Next up we have an interesting take on BUG Control, a deck that hasn’t been seeing too much play lately. Let’s take a look at what Carles Minion brought to the table!

Minion Carles – BUG

This deck aims to trade one for one with the opponent and then land a planeswalker to run away with the game. It has a lot of the traditional elements of BUG Control; discard spells, countermagic and removal. The singleton Spell Pierce looks a bit out of place in a deck that’s looking to go this long, but is very efficient early on, and can be made live later in the game thanks to Life from the Loam + Wasteland.

The anti synergy of Tarmogoyf and Innocent Blood is a little unfortunate, but having a creature that can stand in the way of opposing critters as well as live through Toxic Deluge can be quite valuable. This way your opponent will have to add more creatures to the table if they are to attack past your blocker, making your sweeper even better. Tasigur takes this one step further, as he survives Pernicious Deed in addition to Toxic Deluge.

After sideboard you have the option of adding even more creatures in the form of Scavenging Ooze and Vendilion Clique, enabling you to take a more proactive stance versus the combo decks, and potentially other control decks as well.

Game one versus combo your best bet is to get a Liliana of the Veil into play to keep their hand in check. A combination of hand disruption and permission should be enough to get there.

These BUG Control decks have a certain draw to them. It seems as if every card they draw has an impact on the game. There is very little ‘air’ in a deck like this, and the power level of each individual card is very high.

Rodriguez Pozo Javier – 4C Delver

This is the stock Four Color Delver list. The deck has been making top 8 after top 8, placing very well in larger legacy tournaments lately. While these lists are very much alike, there are a few things to note about this one. First is the decision to play the 3-1 split between Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster Mage and the 19:th land over the maindeck Red Elemental Blast. This is the version that was taken to a top 8 at GP Lille by Petr Sochurek. Playing a 3-1 split makes sense when you don’t want to overload on Tarmogoyf, and because Snapcaster Mage is the more mana hungry card you want the extra land. Most of the time you will be flashing back a one mana spell, but every now and then you need a Dig Through Time or Abrupt Decay with your Snapcaster Mage, which is when the importance of the additional mana source becomes especially apparent.

In the sideboard we see a couple of interesting card choices that differ a bit from what we’re used to. Javier opted to go with a Grafdigger’s Cage and a Surgical Extraction over the two copies of Nihil Spellbomb that Petr Sochurek had in his sideboard. Surgical Extraction is quite strong with Snapcaster Mage, although not quite as good as when paired with discard spells. It also happens to be much better against Punishing Fire, a popular inclusion in Aggro Loam (or should I say Punishing Blue?) that can single handedly deal with almost all of your threats. Grafdigger’s Cage is great against Elves! and dedicated graveyard decks, and doesn’t mess with your Tarmogoyfs. I can definitely respect the decision to go with the more powerful card, even if it’s not as good against the top decks. Legacy is a diverse format, and stepping into a tournament you are likely to face a variety of decks.

Sulfuric Vortex is an interesting choice. Traditionally strong against Miracles it might seem like a sound decision, seeing as how that deck is currently very popular. To cast Sulfuric Vortex however you need double red, and unless you have a Deathrite Shaman that is a serious stretch if you also want to be playing Tarmogoyf and Abrupt Decay. Sulfuric Vortex does have some utility against Batterskull, but I’d much rather have access to Ancient Grudge in my sideboard. Especially now that many Miracles players have adopted Monastery Mentor, making them far better at taking a proactive stance and racing the enchantment, I would be hesitant to include Sulfuric Vortex outside of Burn.

Gonzalez Ruben – Grixis Aggro

This deck is listed as Grixis Aggro, and to be honest I don’t really see why. While it is certainly capable of coming out of the gates quickly with an army of Young Pyromancer tokens or an early Tasigur, the Golden Fang, it should be even better suited for games that go long. All your cards are very powerful and your answers are very efficient. The low land count and high density of cantrips means you will most likely be getting a steady stream of gas, and should provide you with both card quality advantage and virtual card advantage. Dig Through Time is also a beast going long, and this is one of the best Dig Through Time decks in the format. It is Grixis Control.

I finally picked up this deck a few days ago after having had my eyes on it for quite some time, and was super impressed with how consistently powerful it felt. There have been a few different variations of this deck going around, with the main difference being whether they play Deathrite Shaman or not. At first glance this might seem like just any other Grixis Control list, but there are a couple of interesting decisions here that I want to take a closer look at. First up we have the choice of removal spells. Four copies of Lightning Bolt is a given, but after that things start to get more interesting.

A singleton Murderous Cut was a common inclusion for a while, since it deals with most creatures for a small cost and this deck fills the graveyard so easily anyway. There are two main problems with Murderous Cut however, and they’re the reason I would stay away from the card right now. For starters, it is a lot worse on turn one, and having this in hand as your only removal spell when your opponent deploys a turn one Mother of Runes or Goblin Lackey is not a spot I want to be in. Secondly, while having enough feeding delve may not be a problem in a vacuum, you have to account for the fact that you also want to be chaining Dig Through Times. Other versions of this deck have had four additional cantrips, and sometimes even Thought Scour. Once you move away from those however, Murderous Cut gets a lot worse.

Forked Bolt is a card I like quite a bit, especially if you’re expecting a lot of Young Pyromancer mirrors. The problem is that it fails to shore up any of your weaknesses. You already have an answer to smaller creatures in Lightning Bolt. What you’re missing is a way to deal with all the Tarmogoyfs, Gurmag Anglers and Knight of the Reliquaries your opponent might throw at you, and Forked Bolt doesn’t help with any of that.

When I played this deck I had Terminate, and it’s a card I would play again. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done. It does have the same problem as Murderous Cut with it being unable to answer a turn one play on the draw, but gets better as the game goes on. In a deck that is built to trade one for one it is essential that your removal spells do what they’re supposed to. Because of the low land count however you also need them to be efficient in order to not fall behind on tempo early on. This is why I think Terminate is a better fit for the sideboard, as games usually slow down a bit after board.

Next up we have the counter magic. When I played this deck it had three copies of Counterspell and a lone Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Ruben’s version has two Pyroblast effects and an additional copy of Jace. This can easily be explained by the fact that my metagame is less blue, with more creature decks seeing play, making Counterspell preferable over Pyroblast. Pyroblast also happens to be more narrow, and three copies feels a bit much, which means you get to fit in another Jace instead.

Romero Vilardell Adria – Jeskai Control

Ah, another innovative UWR Control list! It is very similar to the winning list, and even has the signature Secure the Wastes, only this time it’s in the sideboard. The fact that both decks made it to the top 8 is for me reason enough to at least have a closer look at the archetype. That will have to wait for another time though, as for now we’re going to examine the differences between the two lists.

Adria plays three additional removal spells (the two Lightning Bolts and the one-of Pyroclasm) where the other list had a second Pyroblast, a Spell Snare, and the fourth Dig Through Time. Eight pieces of dedicated creature removal might be too much, but when I play a deck like this I always want to have an answer ready for my opponent’s creatures. If you have to spend your cantrips looking for a removal spell you might find yourself shuffling away otherwise good cards or keeping bad Ponders just because you desperately need to answer their threat, and that is a recipe for failure. I’d much rather play it safe and not skimp on the removal. Having a second sweeper also takes a lot of the pressure off when facing an army of Young Pyromancer tokens, and Pyroclasm is a much more efficient answer than Secure the Wastes.

Having shaved some of the counter magic, Adria’s list is weaker to combo. To compensate for this, the singleton Secure the Wastes has been replaced with a Vendilion Clique, serving as both disruption and a victory condition.

Aside from Storm, Spell Snare also has a lot of utility against various problematic permanents, such as Counterbalance and Chalice of the Void. Having split the two copies of Flusterstorm in order to fit in a Spell Pierce ensures you still have as many ways to deal with these cards.

Chhen Patrick – Loam

This is essentially the exact same list that we’ve seen repeatedly doing well in tournaments lately. The only change that has been made here was to replace the second copy of Barren Moor with a second Tranquil Thicket. Tranquil Thicket seems stronger in general, whereas Barren Moor helps cast Liliana of the Veil, and also works very well alongside Life from the Loam and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

This deck just keeps performing extremely well over and over again. It’s time we recognise its place among the best decks in Legacy.

As for me, the journey outside my comfort zone has been great. I’ve kept my promise, trying new things in Legacy and playing better decks. So far I have tried both Grixis Control and Omnitell, going 4-0 and 3-1 respectively. My confidence as a player has been renewed, and I couldn’t be more excited to keep working on the format, exploring new ideas. There’s a WMCQ coming up, where I’ll be playing Mono Red, so for the time being most of my energy is directed towards learning the ropes in Standard.

Once the WMCQ is over however it’s all about Legacy, as the first season of our legacy league is coming to an end. Sixteen players will be competing for the title of Stockholm Legacy Champion, hundreds of dollars in legacy staples, and a handmade playmat by @PG_Alterations.

Until next time,

Sandro Rajalin

Grand Prix Lille was two weeks ago, and before I get to the story of how my own trip went, I want to talk about the Grand Prix itself, what performed well, and what that means for Legacy.

Looking at the top 8, we see two Miracles decks facing off against each other in the finals, with the eventual champion of the event, Claudio Bonanni, piloting a list with both Monastery Mentor and Daze, much like Kazuya Murakami’s list from his top 8 at GP Kyoto earlier this year.

Miracles by Claudio Bonanni, 1st place at GP Lille

Creatures

4 Monastery Mentor

2 Snapcaster Mage

Spells

4 Ponder

4 Brainstorm

4 Sensei’s Divining Top

4 Counterbalance

3 Daze

2 Pyroblast

1 Counterspell

4 Force of Will

3 Swords to Plowshares

3 Terminus

2 Dig Through Time

Lands

2 Arid Mesa

3 Scalding Tarn

4 Flooded Strand

4 Island

1 Plains

3 Volcanic Island

3 Tundra

Sideboard

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Disenchant

1 Wear // Tear

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Surgical Extraction

1 Rest in Peace

1 Pyroclasm

2 Flusterstorm

2 Vendilion Clique

2 Ethersworn Canonist

1 Blood Moon

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 

Monastery Mentor allows the deck to take a proactive stance when needed, especially when it is backed up by Daze. Daze also gives you more ways to fight decks like Omnitell, and significantly increasing your chances of winning the counter war on the turn two Counterbalance in the mirror match. On the other hand, having these cards in your deck does have its drawbacks, such as making your opponent’s Terminus more live, or drawing a Daze on turn seventeen. Still, the upsides are very much real, especially so when you considering the surprise factor, and how much better a card like Daze gets when your opponents don’t expect you to have it.

Backing up a bit we see a top 8 that looks as follows.

• Miracles
• Miracles
• Infect
• Aggro Loam
• 4 Color Delver
• 4 Color Delver
• Lands
• Aggro Loam

Here we see that several archetypes managed to put multiple copies in the top 8. Miracles has been largely accepted as the default best deck for a while now, and it had no problems living up to its reputation this time. Interestingly enough though, both Four Color Delver and Aggro Loam, the breakout decks from Prague Eternal, saw two players finishing in the top 8, suggesting that they may more than just ‘good decks’, but actual contenders for the title of ‘the deck to beat’. For the time being, that honor remains with Miracles, but it is refreshing to see more archetypes doing so well.

Four Color Delver by Thomas Van Der Paelt

Main Deck

4 Delver of Secrets

4 Deathrite Shaman

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Ponder

4 Brainstorm

3 Spell Pierce

4 Daze

4 Force of Will

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Abrupt Decay

1 Red Elemental Blast

3 Dig Through Time

1 Sylvan Library

3 Wasteland

1 Scalding Tarn

4 Polluted Delta

4 Flooded Strand

2 Volcanic Island

2 Underground Sea

2 Tropical Island

Sideboard

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Abrupt Decay

1 Grafdigger’s Cage

1 Nihil Spellbomb

2 Submerge

2 Golgari Charm

2 Flusterstorm

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Pithing Needle

1 Dread of Night

1 Ancient Grudge

1 Pyroblast

Four Color Delver by Petr Sochurek

Main Deck

4 Delver of Secrets

4 Deathrite Shaman

3 Tarmogoyf

1 Snapcaster Mage

 4 Ponder

4 Brainstorm

3 Spell Pierce

4 Daze

4 Force of Will

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Abrupt Decay

3 Dig Through Time

1 Sylvan Library

3 Wasteland

4 Flooded Strand

2 Polluted Delta

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Scalding Tarn

2 Tropical Island

2 Volcanic Island

2 Underground Sea

Sideboard

1 Sylvan Library

1 Wasteland

2 Nihil Spellbomb

3 Red Elemental Blast

2 Flusterstorm

2 Dismember

1 Golgari Charm

1 Forked Bolt

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Ancient Grudge

The two Four Color Delver lists from the top 8 of GP Lille share 58 out of 60 cards (not accounting for different fetchlands), and Pets Sochurek’s maindeck is identical to the one Tomás Már made the top 8 of Prague Eternal with.

Back then we had multiple versions of the deck. Here we see both players playing a more streamlined mana base. We see both players opting for Tarmogoyf over True-Name Nemesis, and Spell Pierce over Thoughtseize. It seems we are getting to a consensus for the what the stock list of Four Color Delver should look like.

Broadening our scope to the top 16 we see multiple copies of both Storm and Omnitell falling just short of top 8. I think this is in part due to more people finally having figured out how to combat Omnitell. Still, the two decks did account for nearly a third of the top 16, and they are definitely forces to be reckoned with. Notice how two out of three Storm players in the top 16 opted to go with the additional kill conditions and business spells, each packing two copies of Tendrils of Agony and a single Empty the Warrens, as well as the second Past in Flames. Enabling the natural combo more often seems like a most excellent idea when your opponents plan to fight you with countermagic, and I like this idea a lot.

There is more innovation to be found in this top 16, such as three copies of Sulfur Elemental out of Martin Vonasek’s Storm sideboard, and Lukas Blohon playing Monastery Mentor over Young Pyromancer in his Omnitell sideboard. Overall though, the top tables at Grand Prix Lille showcased a perfect example of beautiful deck construction; tweaking good decks to beat the opposition while not getting cute doing so.

Going forward I expect both Four Color Delver and Aggro Loam to be considered a force to be reckoned with. At this point they have been putting up consistent results over two larger tournaments. When you have a deck that is powerful, consistent and proactive, that is a recipe for success, and now we have two.

I’ll be interested to see how the metagame will adapt to these newcomers among tier 1 decks. The banned and restricted announcement brought no changes, so we won’t see that shaking up the meta game for at least a while. For now though, two new and powerful contenders have joined the scene, and the rest of the format in turn will have to adapt.

I am also very curious as to what the evolution of Miracles is going to look like. Carsten Kotter has been experimenting with a list completely foregoing Swords to Plowshares in the maindeck in favor of more countermagic and library manipulation to make you better positioned in the mirror, as well as against the combo decks. Claudio Bonnani’s list featured Daze and Monastery Mentor, whereas Olivier Ruel was on a more traditional list.

As for how my own tournament went, I ended up going 4-4, drop with Goblins. Despite my poor record however ö I still had a great time in Lille. I got to eat good food and socialize with my friends. I got to meet many other legacy players and talk to them about the format. I met with GoboLord, who has written the opening post on the Goblins thread and is one of the best and most dedicated Goblins players in the world today, and we had a long and informative discussion, sharing our thoughts about the deck with one another. I got to play some very memorable games, and if you want to know more in detail how my matches went, be sure to keep an eye out on the Goblins thread.

I was happy with how I played and I had a decent list. I can’t complain about my draws or my matchups, nor about the quality of my opponents’ draws, and still I only managed to put up a mediocre result. This has made me realize what I’ve been fighting to disprove for so long; if I want to consistently put up great results in Legacy, Goblins isn’t the way to go. I still love the deck and I’m still confident it can put up good results (hat’s off to Aston Ramsden’s 152:nd place finish), but it’s time for me to start working on something else. I will still keep playing Goblins at my local legacy weekly tournaments. The deck is my baby after all and I love working on the puzzle that is tuning it, but by the time GP Seattle comes around I will be playing something else. I’ve made my decision and accepted what I need to do. Now I have a lot of catching up to do. In the meantime, does anybody have a deck I can borrow on Magic: Online? I have to get to work on Legacy.

Grand Prix Lille is coming up and we’re doing our best to figure out the metagame in order to get an advantage. The hope is that by making accurate predictions we will be better able to construct our decks to beat what other people are bringing to the tournament. While metagames vary depending on your location, it’s clear that the two most popular decks are Miracles and Omnitell. Both decks play a lot of library manipulation and are highly consistent as a result. Omnitell in particular is centered around this advantage, with stock lists rocking a full sixteen cantrips alongside both Dig Through Time and Cunning Wish. Rounding out the ‘decks to beat’ section over at ‘The Source’ we have Team America, Blade Control, Grixis Control and Death & Taxes. This doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the decks that will see the most play at GP Lille (although I’m confident both Miracles and Omnitell will be highly represented). For this reason I’m more interested in looking at the recurring themes – the shared characteristics between these decks – than I am at targeting specific decks (with Miracles and Omnitell being the exceptions). This article is a list of cards that are well positioned in today’s metagame, similar to what Carsten Kotter has done in the past. Some of these cards are all around well positioned against the current metagame, whereas some are strong in specific strategies, where they solve a particular problem for the deck.

Relic of Progenitus

Looking at the top decks at the moment, they all utilize the graveyard to some extent. Dig Through Time has proven to be one of the strongest cards in Legacy, and BUG Delver and Shardless BUG still have Tarmogoyf. During the Treasure Cruise era a number of people experimented with graveyard hate to fight the powerful, new Ancestral Recall. I was never a fan of this as that would often require you to play slower cards, losing tempo to the very aggressive Viking Funeral deck. Dig Through Time however is a different animal, making for a slower metagame.

The other issue I would normally have with using graveyard hate to fight delve spells is that you’re playing a card that deals with only a few of theirs, and only if you draw it before they can deploy them. Relic of Progenitus neatly circumvents this problem by requiring a very low investment. A one mana card that also cantrips is one that you will almost never be unhappy to have in your hand.I prefer Relic over Nihil Spellbomb for its ability to keep the graveyard empty, which is what you want in drawn-out games versus a Dig Through Time deck.

The main reason Relic doesn’t see more play at the moment is that not every strategy can realistically afford to include it. Many decks take advantage of their own graveyards and can’t afford to pop Relic to blow it up. In addition to this Relic is also often a low power card that doesn’t win you the game, making it difficult to fit into the decks that are already skimping on victory conditions in favor of library manipulation as they would rather play more copies of Ponder or Preordain. In the decks where it does fit however I’m always happy to have it in my opening hand. If you’re on Goblins, Merfolks, Death & Taxes I would strongly recommend this card.

Ethersworn Canonist

With Omnitell taking over as the number one combo deck of the format we must also adapt to these changes, making sure we have the most effective disruption. Omnitell is a combo deck that is both highly consistent and highly resilient, especially to more traditional means of fighting combo, such as Thoughtseize and Force of Will. While they do have ways to deal with permanents through the power of their Cunning Wish sideboards, it is a much more awkward task for a deck that is used to things always running smoothly. Ethersworn Canonist slots nicely into existing creature strategies, particularly Death & Taxes, but there are other cards that will accomplish the same thing for you. Eidolon of Rhetoric is the more expensive option, but it survives cards like Massacre. The mana cost isn’t too much of a drawback against Omnitell either, as it’s usually safer to put it into play off of Show and Tell than risk it getting countered.

If you’re on a Reanimator strategy or something similar I would go with Iona, Shield of Emeria as she already fits so nicely into your own game plan. Trinisphere is quite strong in many of the decks designed to beat up on fair decks, such as Pox, Food Chain and MUD, and is often even stronger than Ethersworn Canonist against Omnitell due to them being able to cast spells on your turn as well. Rule of Law and Arcane Laboratory do not see much play at the moment, but they fulfill a similar role.

Vendilion Clique

Vendilion Clique provides both instant speed disruption and a clock, making it ideal for decks with little need to tap out on their own turn, such as Miracles. It also happens to be very well positioned against the format’s top two decks. You can cast Vendilion Clique in response to a miracle trigger or during their end step to make sure the coast is clear for you to resolve a powerful spell on your own turn. Casting it in response to a Show and Tell and stripping away their Omniscience is the dream, as you will not only have dealt with one of their combo pieces, but they will have wasted another, as well as a turn’s worth of mana.

There are so many tricks you can do with a Vendilion Clique that the potential for outmaneuvering maneuvers that will quickly cripple their plan is high. The best part is that it’s by nature a proactive card, meaning it’s very much live even when the ability doesn’t add much value! Did I mention it does a pretty good job at carrying an Umezawa’s Jitte?

Krosan Grip

Krosan Grip answers Sensei’s Divining Top, Counterbalance and Omniscience, as well as various equipments and powerful one-ofs, such as Sylvan Library. Krosan Grip doesn’t go into as many decks as Disenchant would, but it’s particularly strong when the decks you want it against all have the ability to counter it, flip a top, or bounce a Batterskull. Just keep in mind that Counterbalance will still trigger and counter it if they have a three on top.

If you don’t feel like keeping three mana up at all times you could go with Seal of Cleansing or Seal of Primordium instead. Put one into play off of Show and Tell and you will be able to respond to their Cunning Wish Dig Through Time by blowing up their Omniscience, forcing them back to square one. As for creature decks I would strongly consider maindecking two to three copies of Qasali Pridemage, as it’s already a powerful threat on its own. Golgari Charm is an elegant option for black green players as it also answers their sideboard plan of Young Pyromancer.

Slaughter Games

This is one of those cards that if you resolve it against Mono Blue Omnitell it will almost certainly win you the game. A powerful effect indeed, hence why it’s priced at four mana. Four mana is a lot in Legacy, and since Omnitell can easily go off before turn four, I’d usually stick to other hate. However, for slower decks that normally pose a poor combo matchup this type of ‘I-win-the-game-spell’ is precisely the type of card you need, especially if you’re able to reach four mana earlier than normal, slow your opponent down for a turn, or both. Just take a look at Niklas Kronberger’s Abzan Loam list that claimed first place at Prague Eternal last week.

[deck title=Abzan Loam by Niklas Kronberger, 1st place at Prague Eternal]
[Creatures]
1 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dark Confidant
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
[/creatures]
[Noncreature Spells]
4 Mox Diamond
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Sylvan Library
2 Life from the Loam
3 Punishing Fire
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Liliana of the Veil
[/noncreature spells]
[lands]
2 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Forest
3 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
1 Tranquil Thicket
2 Barren Moor
1 Dryad Arbor
[/lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Slaughter Games
2 Choke
1 Reclamation  Sage
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Golgari Charm
2 Thoughtseize
3 Leyline of the Void
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

The deck plays cards like Deathrite Shaman, Green Sun’s Zenith and Mox Diamond to ramp its mana, alongside powerful disruption in the form of Thoughtseize and Chalice of the Void (among other cards). Versus fair, blue decks that skimp on action cards in favor of cantrips being able to snipe their best cards can prove to be a great advantage. Miracles is a lot less scary when you no longer have to fear Entreat the Angels for example. This is why many Goblins players have adopted Earwig Squad as a one-of, myself included. Storm opponents scoop when their namesake cards are taken away. Stoneforge Mystic turns into a mere Squire when you take away their equipments. Another option is to play Slaughter Games as a Burning Wish target, effectively granting you access to multiple copies even in game one.

This weekend I will be participating in the Scandinavian Open in Malmö, Sweden. My last big tournament before GP Lille. You can catch the stream over at twitch.tv/svmtv and hopefully see me doing battle in the top 8. If you happen to be at the tournament site, be sure to stop by my friend who makes amazing alters. She will be taking commissions on site, and I strongly encourage you to check out her Facebook page; MTG Alterations & Art by P.G. Berg