This Week in Legacy: Here There Be Dragons, Part 2
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 finishing up our set review of Tarkir: Dragonstorm now that the full set is available. In addition we've got our first look at post-Troll/Mycospawn ban with some Challenges.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Tarkir Tarkir Part II
We now have the full spoiler for Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and there is a few cards we need to discuss that we missed in our initial part one review. Let's see what else is good for Legacy!
Taigam, Master Opportunist
There is something sort of neat over turning any spell into a future copy. Since this says "spell" and not "instant or sorcery" you can do weird stuff like Brainstorm and then Orcish Bowmasters to get a second copy of Bowmasters for later down the line. It's a bit telegraphed but the cool things you can do with it is kind of sweet.
Strategic Betrayal
If this card had been an Instant, it would be a pretty sweet edict + graveyard interaction. Alas.
Magmatic Hellkite
Red Stompy has certainly had some threats at four mana. This seems pretty beefy with flying and the fact that it destroys nonbasics is pretty sweet. Turning off the basic for a turn with a stun counter is really slick, and in a pinch if you need to, you can throw this after combat with Bombardiers.
Kin-Tree Severance
Another possible Beans-style card that could be interesting in bigger games. Getting rid of any permanent is neat, but making this cost three with Beans in play is sweet.
Songcrafter Mage
I don't fully believe this card is all that good, especially at three mana in three different colors. The effect is interesting and strong, as it's kind of like Flashback, but Snapcaster hasn't been playable in a long time either so I don't think a three mana Snapcaster is.
Mistrise Village
This is the card I missed last week, but it's fine because I really wanted to devote some time to it. This is probably the card that ends up seeing more Legacy play than any other I have to imagine. I know some people have argued this seems like a worse Boseiju, Who Shelters All, but I think this is even better than that card by a lot. First off, it taps for blue. That alone is really insane. The second condition here is that not only does it tap for blue, but it doesn't cost life to use. In addition, the prospect of this entering untapped is very high given that the decks you probably want to put this in are playing either Volcanic Island or Tropical Island (or sometimes both). Dual lands in general cheapen the downside of ETB'ing tapped in general.
In addition, the text on its ability, while yes adding this land and another blue to the cost of that spell, makes ANY spell uncounterable. Not just instants or sorceries, but ANY SPELL. This is absolutely huge in a number of ways. Imagine being able to jam things like Sneak Attack into play uncounterably, or bait your opponent to make your own Force of Will uncounterable with a play. Imagine making a Planeswalker uncounterable like Teferi. The possibilities for this are pretty high.
The downside of this card is obviously that it's just a Land and not typed, so you do have to have this in hand and can't easily fetch for it (outside of like... Crop Rotation). It can be aggressively attacked with things like Blood Moon, Wasteland, and of course applying pressure to the opponent so they lose the game before it is relevant.
But heck, I do think this card will see play and people will test it, especially in decks that previously did play some amount of Boseiju. It has some very real text and I think it will be strong. Do I think it will be overpowering? I actually doubt it. There's a lot of strong limiting factors to the card overall, and I doubt you're playing a full playset ever of these things, but it is a very strong effect.
Legacy Challenge 32 4/2/2025
The first regular Challenge 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.
Both Omni-Tell and Red Stompy were very popular here, with both doing well enough. Omni had a slightly less than 50% win rate despite having one Top 8 finish. Izzet Tempo looked very good here, and the two copies of Dimir Reanimator that showed up appeared to do rather poorly.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Tempo | 1st | i_b_TRUE |
| Gruul Stompy | 2nd | morenoHARDCORE |
| Esper Control | 3rd | harmonywoods |
| Omni-Tell | 4th | GinkoHS |
| Red Stompy | 5th | KoolooLimpah |
| Jeskai Control | 6th | hermanomlg |
| Nadu Midrange Combo | 7th | Capitano_CL |
| Grixis Tempo | 8th | PM_Boltface |
Fairly diverse Top 8. Some Combo and some Tempo, even some Control. At the end of the event it was Izzet Tempo that won.
Delver being first out of the gate to win a Challenge really isn't surprising. It's a good defacto fallback deck for people who have good fundamentals with the format to win games with. I can't say much about this particular list other than the fact that we'll obviously see any real meaningful change to how the deck is built for the metagame as time goes on.
In Second Place we had Gruul Stompy.
An Ancient Tomb deck that also plays Initiative creatures and The One Ring also isn't much of a surprise either. Seems quite good to attack the format aggressively with for one of the early post-ban events. The Emrakul in the sideboard may look weird, but when people are playing both Painter and Omni-Tell it's pretty reasonable.
Also in this Top 8 we had Esper Control.
This is a neat list. Teferi and Kaito both seem quite good, and two copies of Stock Up is really great. I have to imagine this is just a really good card going forward and if you can play it in any capacity you definitely should be.
Legacy Challenge 32 4/4/2025
The second regular Challenge of the week was the Friday 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.
As we will see, the outlying performance of Oops really took it all the way to the top, but this also just happened to be one of the only events the entire weekend that really had this kind of penetration by the deck in this capacity. I do think this is a deck players can beat if they really want to, but having to devote a ton of slots to it isn't too fun. But still, it's one event in the first week of the new format. Let's let the format breathe a bit before going nuts over it.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Oops! All Spells | 1st | GengsKhan |
| Oops! All Spells | 2nd | MeninooNey |
| Oops! All Spells | 3rd | Manny- |
| Grixis Control | 4th | JamesKisau |
| Mono Black Reanimator | 5th | TheGrimLavamancer |
| Omni-Tell | 6th | Shadowz2005 |
| Sneak and Show | 7th | snoopy-magic |
| Death and Taxes - W (Yorion) | 8th | JohnDoe397 |
As noted, Oops had a strong showing here, with the first three decks being Oops. We can look at both the winner and runner-up in the same breath.
Mostly the same overall, with the winner having a Lotleth Giant as a post sideboard win condition, while the Second Place list only has the Charbelcher juke. The Progenitus also is a nod to Painter/Omni, of course.
Also in this Top 8 we had Grixis Control.
This pilot is well known for piloting pretty much nothing but Grixis Control, so it's always cool to see specialists' efforts pay off. It's a solid looking list overall. I really like the Nimble Obstructionist here.
Legacy Challenge 32 4/5/2025
The third regular Challenge of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 51 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 Tempo was the most popular deck here, and it's win rate was very good overall. Blue Painter also did very well. Izzet Tempo seemed to have some issues here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Painter | 1st | _Joseba_ |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | Lavaridge |
| Red Painter | 3rd | kanican |
| Dimir Tempo | 4th | ReformedPaolo |
| Sneak and Show | 5th | JPA93 |
| Death and Taxes - BW (Yorion) | 6th | Yoshiwata |
| Red Painter | 7th | wallofspikes |
| Black Stompy | 8th | Antarctica |
Number of different things here, but the end of the event was decided by Blue Painter.
This is a solid looking list. Blue Painter stands to gain a lot in the post ban world, leveraging new cards like Stock Up very well. Tamiyo also seems solid in this build. Being able to recur a Stock Up seems pretty gross.
In Second Place we had Dimir Tempo.
Very straightforward deck here. The split on Tamiyo and Nethergoyf is interesting. Dimir certainly has enough good threats that it can be a solid tempo option for the format alongside Izzet.
Further down the Top 8 we had Sneak and Show.
Speaking of Stock Up, this is another deck I think has so many things to gain from playing the card. Being able to find the cards you need is huge.
Legacy Challenge 32 4/6/2025 - 1
The fourth regular Challenge of the week was the first Sunday event. This event had 50 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 Oops and Red Stompy tied for most played, but both had less than 50% win rate, despite a Top 8 appearance by Oops. Beanstalk decks looked good here, as did Dimir Tempo and Doomsday.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Black Stompy | 1st | MathiasHardStyle |
| Doomsday | 2nd | Eureka22422 |
| Oops! All Spells | 3rd | choutin |
| Blue Painter | 4th | HouseOfManaMTG |
| Stiflenought | 5th | Hammafist |
| The EPIC Storm | 6th | dsnavely13 |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | _INF_ |
| Sneak and Show | 8th | medvedev |
Fairly diverse Top 8 here. At the end of the event it was Black Stompy that won.
This is a pretty sweet list. I haven't seen this deck in a hot minute, but it's cool that it's no longer trying to hinge on Beseech the Mirror but just instead on a bunch of threats that are all really good.
In Second Place we had Doomsday.
Return of the Tempo Doomsday build! Also, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries just giving the deck another way to win besides Oracle is sweet. I love the sideboard juke here of just boarding into full on Dimir Tempo with Barrowgoyfs.
Further down the Top 8 we had the EPIC Storm.
I always love looking at these lists and seeing what little wish target exists in this deck. Approach of the Second Sun is certainly a wild one. I can dig it.
Legacy Challenge 32 4/6/2025 - 2
The final regular Challenge of the week was the second Sunday event. This event had 75 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 Tempo was by far the most popular deck, and it's win rate was super good. Omni-Tell also looked good here. Red Stompy and Blue Painter both seemed to have some big issues here.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Tempo | 1st | SureThing |
| The EPIC Gamble | 2nd | TonyScapone |
| Black Midrange | 3rd | grymn |
| Beanstalk Control (Non-Yorion) | 4th | ScreenwriterNY |
| Dimir Tempo | 5th | bless_von |
| Cephalid Breakfast | 6th | TrbnN |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | Cazuza |
| Black Stompy | 8th | karatedom |
This looks like a fairly reasonable Top 8, with a bit of Dimir Tempo. This was the deck that won the event as well.
This list is harder on the Nethergoyf than cards like Baleful Strix, which I like quite a bit. Having almost eight one drop threats is nice.
In Second Place we had the EPIC Gamble.
Kind of a neat list. Tony is fairly famous for these kinds of decks in general, and this one in particular is his longest running project. It's a very powerful deck, that's for sure.
Also in this Top 8 we had Beanstalk Control.
4C Beans is kind of cool, and seeing Stock Up is neat. I do expect this will change when Rakshasa's Bargain becomes available though, just because that card triggers Beanstalk.
Legacy Showcase Qualifier 4/6/2025
This past weekend was also the Legacy Showcase Qualifier event. This is an invitation only event, where a place to compete is earned either by having placed in a Top 8 of a Showcase Challenge throughout the Premier Play Season or by winning one of the Last Chance Qualifiers throughout last week. This event in all had 30 players who were qualified, thanks to the MTGO site. The winner of the Showcase Qualifier earns an invitation to the MTGO Champions Showcase (usually known as the MOCS) and an upcoming tabletop Pro Tour.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Omni-Tell was the most popular deck of the event, which is intriguing. It's overall win rate was atrocious, though. I feel like the deck is good in more open metagames than the smaller closed metagame that these Showcase Qualifiers tend to be. Cephalid Breakfast looked very good here, putting 2/3 of its pilots into the Top 8, and Nadu Midrange also looked good.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Nadu Midrange Combo | 1st | NathanOfTheGiltLeaf |
| Cephalid Breakfast | 2nd | Xerk |
| Cepahlid Breakfast | 3rd | L4rss0n |
| Sneak and Show | 4th | JPA93 |
| Grixis Tempo | 5th | duke12 |
| Red Stompy | 6th | Rulleboren |
| Mono Green Cloudpost | 7th | TrueFuturism |
| Landa | 8th | Sprouts |
Realistically this is a nice looking Top 8. At the end of the event it was Nadu that won.
I'm going to note now that you can't really infer much from these Showcase Qualifiers. People try to do so all the time, but it's not really a thing you can do with these events. I've already seen some people crying about Nadu winning this event. It's not some indicator of future metagame, it's an invite only event where players who specialize will have a chance to shine. This list is nice. I love seeing stuff like Malevolent Rumble. I think more decks in green should be playing that card. It's so strong.
In Second Place we had Cephalid Breakfast.
Breakfast as a combo/control hybrid also seemed like quite a good pick for this kind of metagame, especially if you are very good at the deck and understand its intricacies, as is often the case with players who end up in this event and choose a deck like this. There's some very interesting deckbuilding going on here, from the Veil of Summer in the sideboard to also having stuff like Tamiyo and Teferi in the sideboard as well. It's a pretty firm reminder of how players tend to deckbuild for these kinds of events, often making decisions based on what they know other people are likely to play (since the list of players who qualify for these events is public).
Further down the Top 8 we had Cloudpost.
Primeval Titan coming back is kind of sweet. It's also very interesting to see some effects like Karn's Sylex in the main deck. It does shut off Force of Will, and one thing you do have to expect from this kind of metagame is that there will be plenty of blue decks to work around.
My Video of the Week
I posted another edition of "What Does This Deck Do?" this past week, focusing on Legacy Omni-Tell. Check it out!
Around the Web
- The Eternal Glory Podcast has some ban reactions. Check it out here.
- Ecobaronen has some Breakfast coaching with L4rss0n and hARAIN. Check it out here.
- MahfuzVanGogh is unleashing the best Troll. Check it out here.
- StrassDaddy is pushing some new Legacy metagame. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
BASKING BROODSCALE.
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!
