This Week in Legacy: Back in the Saddle!
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of This Week in Legacy! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're back from vacation! That's right, I'm back and I'm here to talk about a myriad of things. We're gonna talk a bit about the Legacy metagame right before this upcoming Banned and Restricted List, a topic about content creation in general, and some Challenges from last week.
I will acknowledge that since my last article was before my vacation, in that time we did receive some rules updates in regards to Sagas and losing chapter abilities. This is something that came in the Final Fantasy Release Notes, and it does have an inadvertent buff on how Urza's Saga interacts with Blood Moon. I'm not going to go too deep into this because its been two weeks since this change, but its definitely a big change.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Legacy Metagame June 2025 Review
We're a little less than two weeks away at this point until the June 30th Banned and Restricted Announcement. I figured it would be a good time to sit down and take a look at Legacy as a format and where things stand from 3/31/2025 (the last BnR) to today. The data we are using here are in the Legacy Data Collection Project's aggregate data sheet (you can find that here). This sheet is crowdsourced so it is missing a few events here or there, but since 3/31 we do have a rough sample size of 2,544 decks across that timeframe from Challenges and Showcase events.
Let's take a look at the graphical data first here.
The first big takeaway here is that there's a lot going on in Legacy right now. Tempo remains one of the most represented macro archetypes in the format, but right behind it is Combo decks broken up into various categories. If we were to combine these into a single "Combo" space (which I sort of loathe to do but it is interesting) we would be at around 1,163 decks which is roughly in between 45-46% of Legacy right now. That is certainly a lot of combo. Even if we redact Dimir Reanimator being purely a graveyard deck and lump it in with Tempo the number of Combo decks is still around 910 which is still a bit.
On the low end here, Midrange/Control decks in general are not doing very well overall and are on a much smaller portion of the format. Even lower than that is decks like Vial strategies and Aggro, and even Stompy decks overall have dipped to only 8% of the overall metagame. Legacy is definitely in a space where much of the current format is some form of a Tempo deck or a Combo deck, and many other strategies there are just fighting for a piece of pie.
What this really says to me in general is that Legacy is in a space where the format is fairly ruled by a large variety of combo decks and tempo decks, with some smattering of other decks thrown in the mix.
In terms of the subarchetypal information, Dimir Reanimator has clawed to a space where it's the most played individual subarchetype in the format again. I don't personally find this surprising, the deck's construction has really benefitted its power level and people keep finding ways to make it a viable deck despite multiple attempts to depower it. It currently sits at having a 55.8% non-mirror win rate, which is often regarded by Wizards as being in that territory of ban-worthy. The balance of this deck being both a powerful graveyard combo deck but also a tempo deck is really immense in general, and realistically the answer could be leaning on banning something like Atraxa, but I know a lot of people have also discussed Tamiyo. This is a purely what-if scenario obviously, because who knows if Wizards will recognize this deck yet again as a deck they've tried to ban cards out of 2-3 times with little effect and whether they will take action on it again in two weeks.
Right behind it is Dimir Tempo, another deck that tends to play a lot of the same/similar cards as Reanimator but just doesn't have the big monster package that Reanimator has. In general this deck is also doing really well, but not nearly as well as Reanimator is with a 52.7% non-mirror win rate. This seems fairly in line with most "good" decks of the format, and seems like a reasonable spot for this deck to actually be data-wise.
Third in line here is Oops! All Spells. I wrote a little bit about this deck last month, and frankly it does seem like this deck's prevalence in the winner's metagame has dropped quite a bit, as well as its win rate. Oops is now roughly around a 50.7% non-mirror win rate, and I think this is a much more reasonable space for this deck to be. I would like to note that the article I wrote at that time was more thought processing how Wizards may address this deck if it actually needed a ban and not really intended in such a way to promote that this deck should be banned. I feel as if there was some thoughts that I don't personally like Oops as a deck, which certainly isn't true. I'm fine with decks like this existing as long as the safety valves of the format function properly.
For Oops as it currently stands however, we've definitely seen the deck a lot less in Top 8s and Top 16s of Challenge events as time has worn on. I think a good majority of this is the fact that the metagame itself is shifting again on the deck. Different hate pieces like Grafdigger's Cage has arisen as a way to combat the deck's ability to leverage Memory's Journey as a way to beat hate (since Cage will shut off casting Journey from the graveyard) and players are seemingly figuring out these matchups better.
That being said, I'm curious to see if Wizards remains fine with leaving this deck in the format as it is, or if they touch it simply because they may touch something else that is related to a different deck (such as Dimir Reanimator). I know there's a lot of strong feelings out there about the play patterns of the deck, but the data doesn't fully suggest a course of action to be taken here. I know Wizards often likes to keep a soft touch when it comes to Legacy in general, but I almost expect them to continue to watch this deck and not ban anything.
Izzet Tempo has also risen quite a bit in popularity, but much like Dimir Tempo it sits at a pretty comfortable 52.6% non-mirror win rate. The big shift for this deck is represented by the printing of Cori-Steel Cutter and the impact overall it has had on the strategy. We're in a space yet again where Izzet Tempo is not really playing Delver of Secrets anymore with Cori-Steel Cutter having broken into the shell. Primarily this is because Delver doesn't fully jive well with the Bauble strategy that works best with Dragon's Rage Channeler and Cutter. Regardless, this is a good deck, and there is still some space out there for decks still playing Delver with Questing Druid and not Cutter.
Finally rounding out the Top 5 most represented decks of the format is Red Stompy, but the overall prevalence of this deck is actually not very good, sitting at a 47.4% non-mirror win rate. It does seem like this is a deck that has dropped a bunch in a lot of ways. A big pointer here is the presence of Barrowgoyf in a larger number of decks (specifically Dimir Tempo), as that card is very difficult for Red Stompy to clean up easily, and Deathtouch/Lifelink are hard things to work around for how big it can get. It does remain to be seen whether or not the changes to the Saga rules allowing Blood Moon to interact positively with Urza's Saga could have an impact on this deck, but whether that makes the deck better or not is in the future.
So realistically, is Legacy fine? The continued prevalence of Dimir Reanimator as a top deck of the format despite multiple bannings to take the deck back to a reasonable space is a hot topic for sure, and people have a lot of strong feelings on this. Oops as well provokes a lot of strong feelings, both for and against any banning of pieces within that deck. I have always been of the mind to allow these kinds of formats to organically solve their problems, either with card printings or metagame shifts, so I would personally not mind seeing this be a thing, as when I've had time to play Legacy as of late (outside of the vacation and stuff) I have had a fair amount of fun with the format. I somewhat expect there to be a change from Wizards, but I do expect that change could be another light touch. With the next BnR being scheduled for September (and roughly only like 2-3 weeks before Eternal Weekends), I don't know if Wizards will consider a heavier touch to ensure they don't need to touch Legacy right before those events, but who knows what will actually occur.
Regardless, I think we'll see in two weeks what will be, and we will adapt and adjust as necesary.
On Content Creation
As we often get closer to things like Banned & Restricted Announcements, I often tend to keep an eye on chatter around the format and what people think about the format, and well... I've noticed some things. I lurk in a fair number of Discords, Subreddits, etc. and one thing I've noticed come up quite a bit and frankly I'm going to be rather blunt about this the topic of what people say is "content creators screeching about the format" and the notion that content creators should be ignored or not listened to because they are "casuals with no results" or "catering to the casual community and not competitive".
I have very strong feelings about content creation in general, and how people engage with Magic as well as Legacy, and I personally believe this is one of the poorest mind sets to have in this game to believe someone's opinion isn't valid due to how they engage with the game. We all engage with Legacy in many different ways, and content creators engage with it in many many ways as well. Many content creators, myself included, create content for this format not just with the end goal of driving clicks or driving engagement, but because we love and care about this format. I spend quite a bit of time every week to come up with a topic (and I also tend to perform a lot of thought analysis type things of "what could be if this happened?" as well) because I absolutely love Legacy and by extent the Legacy community, so it truly disheartens me to see people suggest that someone isn't worth listening to because they aren't "competitive" or that their opinion is somehow less valid because they don't have enough Top 8s or accolades.
I'm going to be very real here, I personally struggle greatly with impostor syndrome. I constantly deal with feelings of being inadequate or ill-suited for what I am doing. I hate seeing these kinds of statements against anyone because I have to believe that other creators probably struggle with these feelings as well. I know in the past few months I've personally dealt with situations where I've been referred to in some rather unkind statements, and it definitely hurt to read. And I've read those same things about other creators, and it honestly just sucks to see. I work hard through these situations, trying to get myself back into spaces where these comments don't hurt my ability to continue to produce content, because it's something I truly love doing.
We all can have opinions on Legacy in addition to Magic as a whole, and those opinions regardless of your experience can be valid. And in return, we can have discussions and agree or disagree with those opinions without devolving to questioning each other's results or stuff like that. That's how a community functions best. One of the big reasons I continue to love Legacy is the heart and soul of the community that continues to be truly awesome people. The unsung heroes lending out cards for events, the folks in Discords who are simply there to provide their own raw experiences. That's what I love to see. I don't like seeing people, especially creators who often take so much time to develop and provide things more often than not for free be disparaged for simply having an opinion that differs from another.
At the end of the day, be kind to each other. It'll go a long way.
Legacy Challenge 32 6/11/2025
The first Challenge event of the week was the Wednesday event. This event had 41 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Reanimator was the most played deck of the event, and its overall win rate was very good. Dimir Tempo did slightly less than 50%, while Lands looked great.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Painter | 1st | XanaZero |
| Dimir Reanimator | 2nd | ResponsiblyStupid |
| Lands | 3rd | wizardpasta |
| Izzet Tempo | 4th | PekkaChu |
| Red Stompy | 5th | LordOfTheLeash |
| Dimir Reanimator | 6th | Ozymandias17 |
| Lands | 7th | Widepw |
| Izzet Tempo | 8th | O_danielakos |
Fair bit of a Tempo, Dimir Reanimator, and Lands. At the end of the event it was Blue Painter that won.
The cool new card here is Astrologian's Planisphere from the Final Fantasy set. This card works really well with a lot of the Wizards like Tamiyo and Emry, but also comes with a built-in creature too. With cards like Flame of Anor and Thoughtcast making drawing cards easy while also possibly triggering Planisphere more than once, you have some creatures that can get really big really fast.
In Second Place we had Dimir Reanimator.
Pretty straightforward list here. Not much in the way of frills. Tamiyo continues to prove to be a really strong card overall.
Legacy Challenge 32 6/13/2025
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 40 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Izzet Tempo was the most popular deck here and its win rate was very good. Dimir Reanimator had at least one Top 8, but its overall win rate was less than 50%. Doomsday also looked good here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Tempo | 1st | ecobaronen |
| Izzet Tempo | 2nd | Phellipe |
| Izzet Tempo | 3rd | Munchlax446 |
| Grixis Control | 4th | JamesKisau |
| Izzet Tempo | 5th | O_danielakos |
| Doomsday | 6th | Eureka22422 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 7th | Ryuho090 |
| Dimir Tempo | 8th | Srogers90 |
Lot of Tempo here, especially Izzet. The end of the event was a pair of Izzet Tempo decks. Let's look at both.
Cori-Steel Cutter has certainly continued to become a big part of this deck in the format. It's an extremely powerful card and does quite a lot for Izzet Tempo especially. Having a creature generation engine that acts a lot like Monastery Mentor without having to invest into a third color and do nothing more than cast multiple spells per turn is very strong. The play patterns for Cutter are also pretty interesting and leads to some intriguing games.
Legacy Challenge 32 6/14/2025
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 42 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Both Dimir Reanimator and Izzet Tempo were both popular, but Dimir's win rate was much better than Izzet. Red Stompy and Dimir Tempo also looked strong, as did Lands and Sneak and Show.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | 1st | Erik157751 |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | _INF_ |
| Red Stompy | 3rd | chanel-santini |
| Grixis Control | 4th | Ark4n |
| Esper Control | 5th | trunks132 |
| Red Stompy | 6th | kanican |
| Sneak and Show | 7th | snoopy-magic |
| Izzet Tempo | 8th | piao |
This is a fairly interesting Top 8. Bit of Tempo/Control and Stompy. At the end of the event it was Dimir Reanimator that won.
This is a very straightforward list as well. One thing to note however is that since Dimir Reanimator's popularity has risen again, Dauthi Voidwalker in the main deck is a big thing to deal with the mirror match, while also having some relevant text versus other decks (turning off DRC or the ability to Murktide game one, is rough).
In Second Place we had Dimir Tempo.
Another fairly straightforward list. Kaito has definitely shown that it's a super cool card in this deck though. Not a ton of removal really lines up well against Kaito most of the time, and being a creature that can't be targeted on the Kaito player's turn is super good against most common removal.
Legacy Challenge 32 6/15/2025 - 1
The fourth Challenge event of the week was the first Sunday event. This event had 45 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Reanimator was extremely popular, and its win rate was very good. Dimir Tempo had a middle of the road to just below 50% win rate. Grixis Control looked good here too as did Mystic Forge.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Ninjas | 1st | Lord_Beerus |
| Izzet Tempo | 2nd | silviawataru |
| Dimir Reanimator | 3rd | RatherBplayingMTG |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | Munchlax446 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 5th | 2plus2isfive |
| Red Stompy | 6th | choutin |
| Izzet Tempo | 7th | PekkaChu |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 8th | musasabi |
Lot of Dimir Reanimator in the Top 8, but at the end of the event it was NINJAS that won.
Very old school list here mixed with new school stuff like Kaito. I'm loving this, it looks super fun.
In Second Place we had Izzet Tempo.
There's a lot of flexibility in these lists, mainly in the number of Baubles being played and stuff like Unholy Heat. One thing to note here is the presence of True-Name Nemesis which is super interesting.
Legacy Challenge 32 6/15/2025 - 2
The final Challenge event of the week was the second Sunday event. This event had 63 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Izzet Tempo was the most played deck of the event and its win rate was right on the line of 50%. Dimir Reanimator looked very strong as did Saga Storm.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | 1st | 2plus2isfive |
| Izzet Tempo | 2nd | Skpchino |
| Nadu Midrange Combo | 3rd | NathanOfTheGiltLeaf |
| Saga Storm | 4th | Vlalutscher |
| Dimir Reanimator | 5th | Makros21 |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | elpariah |
| Izzet Tempo | 7th | parkss |
| Creative Technique | 8th | ClydeCash |
Fairly interesting Top 8. At the end of the event Dimir Reanimator was the winner.
Straightforward list here. This one is not leaning on the mirror technology of Dauthi Voidwalker, only playing them in the sideboard.
In Second Place we had Izzet Tempo.
Another exceptionally straightforward list here. We talked a bit about Grafdigger's Cage here, so that's cool to see.
Around the Web
- StrassDaddy is playing some Mardu. Check it out here.
- The Eternal Glory Podcast has a new episode. Check it out here.
- IN RESPONSE also has a new episode. Check it out here.
- MahfuzVanGogh has a video on Dack Fayden Dredge. Check it out here.
- The Bird is the Word. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
TIFA
Terra, Magical Adept in Beans is kind of neat.
YUNA OVERLORDS.
Wrapping Up
That's all the time we have this week folks! Thanks for continuing to support the column and join us next week as we continue our journey into Legacy!
As always you can reach me at all my associated links via my Link Tree! In addition I'm always around the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the MTGLegacy Discord Server.
Until next time!
