This Week in Legacy: Five Decks for NA Eternal Weekend
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 going to be talking about decks to think about for NA Eternal Weekend upcoming in a few weeks time. In addition to that we'v got a BCDL event we missed last week from the series first event in Houston, and also a bunch of Challenge data to discuss.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Five Decks for Eternal Weekend North America
Eternal Weekend North America is fast approaching, and for those that are going, it's certainly far past time to think about a deck to play. Here's five decks that I feel will be interesting to follow at the event. This is in no particular order overall in terms of strength.
#1 - Nadu Combo
Nadu is definitely a deck I think people should be watching out for, especially in a paper tournament where the deck's issues on MTGO of clicking can be very easily mitigated. The deck's power level is quite high in Legacy, and while Nadu itself is seeing play extensively in Cephalid Breakfast, the "fair" Bant/4C Nadu builds leaning on Green Sun's Zenith are quite powerful and can be very strong in paper tournaments. Everyone in the event will be gunning for the top decks, and Nadu is generally going to be very good against the kind of hate being brought to the table more than Breakfast may be.
The big thing to keep in mind when playing this deck is to fully understand how to utilize Nadu and Nomads en-Kor and how to keep track of which creatures are used up and which ones are not yet used up. Some sort of note system or visual aid may be helpful for this, so that both players are aware of which creatures have been targeted twice in a turn and which ones are not. The other major important thing about this deck to realize is that even without the clicking issues on MTGO, this is a deck that can cause unintentional draws, even if you as the Nadu player are playing at a quick pace. This is often because of players either inexperienced to playing against the deck or players believing that they can beat the deck once Nomads and Nadu are on board.
On that side of the board when playing against Nadu, more often than not when the Nadu players has their combo on board, the game is very much functionally over. The big reason here is that the Nadu player will many times have more cards in hand than you will, and will have answers to the game at hand and whatever you may cast afterward. If this is happening in Game 1, it is best to often concede the game and move on and not waste too much time. That being said, there aren't a ton of really direct sideboard cards that beat up on Nadu as a deck. It's incredibly resilient. Cards like Grafdigger's Cage might hate out Green Sun's Zenith, but won't stop a curve of Delighted Halfling into Teferi into Nadu + Nomads. The biggest way to attack the deck is to keep Nadu out of the game entirely, usually relying on things like Pyroblast, but cards like Wrath of the Skies is also very good. In addition, while it might seem like a thing to not play in current Reanimator shells, a sideboard containing Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is certainly a thing.
#2 - Mystic Forge Combo
The Mystic Forge deck has certainly garnered a ton of improvements over the past two years. Cards like The One Ring were huge for the deck in general, bringing about a version of the deck utilizing Paradox Engine as a way to continuously untap, but it was Modern Horizons 3 that really gave this deck its bite, with effects like Glaring Fleshraker and Kozilek's Command.
This is a deck that is incredibly fast and furious to play, and it's certainly a deck that can close games out in short order, or lose in short order, but the deck's median is much better at this than it once was thanks to The One Ring. The hate against this deck is a bit more focused than a deck like Nadu. Artifact hate is plentiful and available in a lot of forms, most notably Null Rod does quite a bit against the deck if they aren't able to leverage their Urza's Saga backup game plan. Effects like Damping Sphere also can keep this deck on its toes and Wrath of the Skies destroys a good majority of the cards the deck plays in one casting (X=2 or 3 is pretty good).
Still, this is a deck to keep your eyes out for. It's very fast and very aggressive, and the game plan of spinning its wheels now has the upside of potentially killing the opponent.
#3 - Death and Taxes
We all know the saying about Death, Taxes, and White Weenie decks. D&T is an incredibly popular paper deck, and primary upside of being able to test with this deck for Eternal Weekend is rooted mainly in the fact that the deck got one of its more impactful cards finally on Magic Online in recent memory in the form of Pre-War Formalwear.
What does this mean for D&T? Well, it means that it has the ability to test its variants on MTGO now which can allow players to learn and grow there in preparation for their games at Eternal Weekend. Leaning on other new equipment like Phantom Blade from the Assassin's Creed set is also very powerful, but there's also variants playing Ajani, Nacatl Pariah and Broadside Bombardiers. I'd recommend looking to whatever folks like xJCloud, luinil, and David Lance are currently doing and go from there.
#4 - Red Stompy
This deck is included here for a lot of the primary reasons that it is just insanely powerful in Legacy right now. Its deck construction and blazing speed make it incredibly strong, thanks to cards like Broadside Bombardiers and Sundering Eruption. The biggest aspect of this deck however is just the sheer speed of how fast this decks gets on board with a lock piece like a Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon and then proceeds to demolish the opponent with threats while they try to break out of the Moon.
While this deck is incredibly strong, the deck is no longer playing effects like Chalice of the Void, which makes early turns very interesting as more often than not you can stick a threat at one mana and protect it. This deck also has the classic aspect of most Stompy decks where it simply draws the wrong half of their deck when it doesn't want to. The MDFCs help mitigate a bunch of the land draws the deck could possibly have in this scenario, but it's still something that can happen.
#5 - Stiflenought
Arguably I think Stiflenought is a really strong deck at the moment in Legacy, and while its meta share is not super well represented, it's very much a true dark horse that has the ability to surprise people. Much of the current power of the deck is leveraged in the fact that it no longer plays actual Stifle in favor of the more interesting and more flexible Consign to Memory, trading the ability to snipe fetch lands for a much more overall game plan that can address the important things like various triggered abilities that are harmful, while also allowing you to play around Chalice and also stop your Dreadnought triggers.
Put all this in a UW Tempo shell and give it cards like Doorkeeper Thrull and you've got a really hot thing cooking. The deck has no issues playing good white removal like Swords to Plowshares because its primary one mana threats are 12/12s, and their top end is a three mana 4/4 with Annihilator 1 that also draws you two cards. This is a deck to keep your eye on, because I think it could surprise people and do very well.
Buffalo Chicken Dip Legacy 15
Two weekends ago was the Buffalo Chicken Dip Legacy 15 event, held for its very first ever appearance in Texas at Asgard Games in Houston, TX. First Place for this event was a Revised Underground Sea in addition to the mini chicken trophy, and their name on the giant golden chicken trophy. You can find all of the info on BCDL over here. For its inaugural event in Texas, they had 44 players overall, which is a really great turnout! This store also looked quite spacious and very awesome to play in. Our good friend Rob Wilson sent us some pics.
You can also find all the decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Red Stompy was the most popular deck of the event, with a solid above average win rate. Eldrazi seemed to do poor-ish here, while Red Painter and Nadu both performed very well. UB Reanimator performed just under the 50% cuff overall, but it had a good finish overall.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | Player Name |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Tempo | 1st | Jacque Keener |
| Red Stompy | 2nd | Alan Beltran |
| Red Painter | 3rd | Sean Stone-Ashe |
| UB Reanimator | 4th | Quincy Huhn |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 5th | Collin Rountree |
| Red Painter | 6th | Dylan T Lerch |
| Red Stompy | 7th | Keith Sweeney |
| Grixis Control | 8th | Tom Andrews |
Quite a bit of Red Painter and Red Stompy all over this Top 8, but at the end of the event it was Jacque Keener who emerged triumphant as the first Houston, TX winner of a BCDL on Dimir Tempo.
Emperor of Bones is a super strong card in this kind of deck, where it can protect it and use it to bring back either opposing creatures or get in a good swing with one of their own for a turn. It's even better if you're taking your opponent's Metamorphosis Fanatic for sure.
Legacy Challenge 32 10/23
The first event of the week was the Wednesday event. Thanks to the data collected by the Legacy Data Collection Project, this event had 53 players.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
UB Reanimator was the most popular deck of this event, but it's win rate was lower than 50%. Red Stompy did very well, as did Dimir Tempo and Mystic Forge. Doomsday did rather poorly here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Red Stompy | 1st | Munchlax446 |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | Ale_Mtg |
| Eldrazi | 3rd | TheTunnelingCat |
| Red Stompy | 4th | PintuMtg |
| Oops! All Spells | 5th | faultedform |
| Esper Tempo | 6th | Hammafist |
| Lands | 7th | DeathWrongShaman420 |
| Omni-Tell | 8th | Marcuzinho |
Honestly this is a very interesting Top 8. At the end of the event it was Red Stompy that won.
This is certainly a very interesting list. Main deck Ghost Vacuum is super powerful currently, and this deck being able to play it because it can also throw it at targets with Broadside Bombardiers if it needs to. I also like the copy of Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre in the sideboard as a foil to Painter but also something this deck could reasonably cast. I can also see the power level of being on eight copies of Moon effects main deck, because many of the decks at the top of the format are so reliant on nonbasic lands (Eldrazi primarily) and cutting them off those colors is very good.
In Second Place we have Dimir Tempo.
I think this is a solid looking deck overall. While UB Reanimator has been a huge part of the format at the moment, stealthily it seems like Dimir Tempo is a good place to be. Shoot the Sheriff is a very interesting card here, because it destroys a good chunk of the creatures in the current format. Barrowgoyf is a card I almost consider could be main deck here, because it really is a strong card right now. Having both deathtouch and lifelink is incredibly powerful but also because it grows in size quickly.
Legacy Challenge 32 10/25
The second event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 47 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Legacy Data Collection Project.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
A big spread of decks at the top of the popularity food chain here, with Eldrazi being the best performing of them. UB Reanimator again did not do well, and I think largely it is because a lot more players are actively not playing the deck and more decks are metagaming hard against them.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| ANT | 1st | Eureka22422 |
| Eldrazi | 2nd | Jumba |
| Tin Fins | 3rd | Roodslay |
| Nadu Combo | 4th | jibeta |
| Eldrazi | 5th | _J0SE_ |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | Hammafist |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | JoyfulWaffle |
| UB Reanimator | 8th | otakkun |
Honestly not a bad Top 8 here. At the end of the event it was ANT that won.
Very old school ANT list here, even bringing it back to Past in Flames and not even going deep on Beseech the Mirror. I mean, this is so old school there's even a Peer into the Abyss in the sideboard for Burning Wish. This is insane. Knowing who the pilot here makes it even better, cuz they are a very strong Storm pilot.
In Second Place we had Eldrazi.
This is definitely what we've come to expect from the current Eldrazi stock lists. I've noted it before, but the addition of The One Ring to these decks is a very strong way for this deck to be able to gain both the protection aspect, but also being able to draw cards, which is one of Eldrazi's bigger weaknesses overall is the fact that sometimes you just draw the wrong cards, so drawing through those clumps of cards not needed for the matchup can help you get to those cards you do need.
Legacy Challenge 32 10/26
The third event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 45 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Legacy Data Collection Project.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
UB Reanimator was super popular again here, and despite a top finish they had a less than 50% win rate. Dimir Tempo again did very well, as did Doomsday and Eldrazi.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Tempo | 1st | WeareVenom |
| Merfolk | 2nd | m-boy |
| Doomsday | 3rd | clan |
| BR Reanimator | 4th | snoopy-magic |
| Eldrazi | 5th | ayukawa |
| Red Stompy | 6th | RyanWu |
| UB Reanimator | 7th | CodyYoung |
| Dimir Tempo | 8th | Kuranari-Jackpa |
Very evenly spread out Top 8 here. At the end of the event, it was Dimir Tempo that won.
The sideboards of these decks is generally what I always find the most interesting to look at. Sure there are your usual suspects, and it's interesting to not see cards like Faerie Macabre just because, but stuff like Long Goodbye and Toxic Deluge are generally interesting options to have access to. Also, Go for the Throat is another way for these decks to interact with other great creatures in the format.
In Second Place we had Merfolk.
Oh wow, what a very neat looking deck here. The big seller here for me is Floodpits Drowner. Being able to put a stun counter on something and tap it down at the same time is strong at flash speed and being able to convert that into shuffling the creature away is super interesting as well. This list looks like so much fun. Mistcaller being able to snag Reanimator targets is incredibly strong right now for sure with all the Reanimator floating about.
Legacy Challenge 32 10/27
The fourth event of the week was the Sunday 32-player event. This event had 47 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Legacy Data Collection Project.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the datasheet here.
Red Stompy was the most popular deck of the event, but its win rate was not very good. Dimir Tempo did very well here, as did UB Reanimator and Mystic Forge, but the big winner was Nadu Combo.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Nadu Combo | 1st | Capriccioso |
| UB Reanimator | 2nd | otakkun |
| Dimir Tempo | 3rd | Venom1 |
| Grixis Control | 4th | DeviousPenguin666 |
| Dimir Tempo | 5th | SkysTheLimit |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | AKvsJJ |
| BR Reanimator | 7th | Magic_Dads71522 |
| UB Reanimator | 8th | iKhada |
Quite a bit of Psychic Frog all over this Top 8, but at the end of the event it was the Bird that won.
We talked a bit about this deck earlier. This is certainly a deck that can go the distance if you have the fortitude to play it at a paper event. It's very strong and even the 4c variants with Leovold seem incredibly powerful overall. Nadu is a strong contender in current Legacy and we're starting to really see that.
In Second Place we had UB Reanimator.
Metamorphosis Fanatic has certainly proven its power level in Legacy, and its continued amount of play really shows how strong it is as a card. That being said, I think the really crazy card might just be Ghost Vacuum out of Duskmourn. The upside of the card is simply just too high in the current Legacy economy. The only rough bit here is that the card's power probably drops away pretty hard if Reanimator goes away in favor of other graveyard strategies that are hit better by cards like Tormod's Crypt and friends, but the extra ability could keep it in the running.
Legacy Challenge 64 10/27
The final event of the week was the Sunday 64 player event. This event had 68 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Legacy Data Collection Project.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
UB Reanimator was the most popular deck of the event and it's win rate was quite good here. Eldrazi seemed to have a poor win rate here, while Red Stompy and Dimir Tempo both looked great.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| ANT | 1st | hugofreitas1 |
| Lands | 2nd | Aeolus1295 |
| Dimir Tempo | 3rd | wiky |
| UB Reanimator | 4th | Galaxy_Impact |
| Doomsday | 5th | Jujkata |
| UB Reanimator | 6th | duckduckmongoose |
| UB Reanimator | 7th | termidor |
| Mono Green Cloudpost | 8th | Gustavo_Br91 |
Quite a bit of Reanimator. At the end of the event, it was ANT however that won.
So first Eureka wins an event on ANT and now someone else does?! And very much a similar deck construction too where they are on old school Past in Flames?! Very cool and I am thoroughly impressed at this. There's something here I can certainly feel it.
In Second Place we had Lands.
Leaning back off the Sphere of Resistance plan seems like a strong idea for current Lands builds. I like having not only the surveil land access but also things like Otawara and Boseiju. Cursed Totem in the sideboard is incredibly intriguing. It does shut off Psychic Frog from getting bigger or gaining flying, so there is that.
Around the Web
- Bryant Cook has a sweet Belcher league. Check it out here.
- TonyScapone has a sideboard guide on Coveted Jewel. Check it out here.
- IN RESPONSE has a new episode. Check it out here.
- Eternal Durdles is talking about the death of DELVER. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
JESKAI PAINTER.
Mardu Energy is kind of sick.
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!
