This Week in Legacy: NAYA!
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 all about Naya Initiative decks in Legacy! In addition to that we've got some Challenges to look at from this past week, one of which was a Showcase Challenge.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
NAYA!
One interesting thing as of late that I've seen is that we've been getting a fair number of Naya Initiative decks showing up in not just Legacy leagues, but also doing really well in Challenges. These decks are heavily creature-based usually, leaning not just on the Initiative creatures but also on the various free Elemental creatures that exist like Fury, Endurance, and Solitude. Let's look at a list.
What really helps this deck is the massive amount of solid creatures that it has gotten over the past few years. At one point these decks existed to play effects like Swords to Plowshares and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, but now effects like Broadside Bombardiers, Archon of Emeria, and friends all make this deck extremely powerful. What really helps is many of these effects all play into the color at one pip, which still makes things like Simian Spirit Guide and Elvish Spirit Guide still good.
The real core of the deck though is the Initiative threats. As it turns out, playing a whole bunch of these cards is still really good in a world where Dimir Reanimator is pretty good, and the fact that we've continually seen this deck showing up is a good sign that this is a deck that is probably really good. It's always exciting to see things like this for me where people can find holes in the metagame even if the metagame feels pretty bad.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/2/2025
The first Challenge event of the week was the Wednesday 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 datasheet here.
Dimir Reanimator was the most popular deck of the event (a trend we will see all weekend here) and it had a very strong win rate. Naya Stompy and Mono Black Reanimator both did very well, while Oops did quite poorly.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Tempo | 1st | JUJUBEAN__2004 |
| Grixis Control | 2nd | _Shatun_ |
| Naya Stompy | 3rd | LasVegasChaos |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | VicenteStrange |
| Dimir Reanimator | 5th | Raydan |
| Dimir Reanimator | 6th | KadettiKersantti |
| Dimir Reanimator | 7th | Munchlax446 |
| Lands | 8th | Sprouts |
Lots of Dimir Reanimator in the Top 8, but at the end of the event, it was Izzet Tempo that won.
No Cori-Steel Cutters here, but more traditional Delver with Questing Druid! The Portent is also cool here. Seems like a neat list.
In Second Place we had Grixis Control.
Thundertrap Trainer is a super cool card in this deck, especially since it interacts well with Flame of Anor and Tamiyo/Snapcaster. Really cool list for sure.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/4/2025
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 53 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the datasheet here.
Surprise! Dimir Reanimator was again the most popular deck, and it rode closer to the 50% line, but it was still very good here. Red Stompy did well, as did Dimir Tempo.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Red Stompy | 1st | PunishingWaterfalls |
| Dimir Reanimator | 2nd | gusti99 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 3rd | Munchlax446 |
| Red Painter | 4th | boyxiaoliu |
| Naya Stompy | 5th | kozz27 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 6th | Ozymandias17 |
| Doomsday | 7th | wonderPreaux |
| Dimir Reanimator | 8th | 2plus2isfive |
A lot of Dimir Reanimator here as well. At the end of the event it was Red Stompy that won.
The rules change to Sagas and how ability loss affects them is on full display here with six Moon effects and Urza's Saga. It's a little gross how you can get to Chapter 2 with Saga and then Moon it and then keep making Constructs forever.
In Second Place we had Dimir Reanimator.
This is generally what we've come to expect out of this deck. Murktide is a really solid tempo game plan when your opponent is trying to interact with things specifically with targeted hate or with cards like Grafdigger's Cage.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/5/2025
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday 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 datasheet here.
Dimir Reanimator was again the most popular deck, and its win rate was through the roof and miles above every other deck. Insane.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | 1st | habsburger |
| Jeskai Control | 2nd | viktor_von_muerte |
| Omni-Tell | 3rd | FynnOfBlood |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | kyataoka |
| Dimir Reanimtor | 5th | Munchlax446 |
| Sneak and Show | 6th | snoopy-magic |
| Red Stompy | 7th | alopcas |
| Doomsday | 8th | clan |
Still more Dimir Reanimator. Almost as if the deck is really good. Oh, and it also won this event.
Main deck Nihil Spellbomb being such a nod to the mirror match in metagames where this deck is going to be heavily present is really solid from a deckbuilding exercise but sort of rancid from a metagame perspective.
In Second Place we had Jeskai Control.
I think as long as Tamiyo specifically is around, Wizard synergy is going to be really good and that makes Flame of Anor even better I feel.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/6/2025 - 1
The fourth Challenge event of the week was the first Sunday event. This event had 36 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the datasheet here.
Dimir Reanimator was the most popular deck here as well, and its win rate was really good too. Mystic Forge also looked great, as did Red Stompy.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Eldrazi | 1st | MdvWin |
| Dimir Reanimator | 2nd | Munchlax446 |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 3rd | Srogers90 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | OSCA66 |
| Beanstalk Control (Yorion) | 5th | fredmcfred |
| Izzet Tempo | 6th | fatumi |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | EmperorOppai |
| Dimir Reanimator | 8th | lia2022 |
Still quite a bit of Dimir Reanimator. However, at the end of the event, it was Eldrazi that won.
This deck definitely dropped off a bunch after Sowing Mycospawn was banned. This is certainly an interesting list, especially with getting a single copy of Sire of Seven Deaths.
In Second Place we had Dimir Reanimator.
No main deck hate this go around, but this is also a fairly stock-looking list.
Legacy Showcase Challenge 7/6/2025
The last event of the weekend was the Legacy Showcase Challenge. This is a Premier Play event that requires Qualification Points to enter. The Top 8 of this event are invited to the Showcase Qualifier event at the end of the Season, which then results in a path to the Regional Championship/Pro Tour and the MOCS. This event had 258 players, which is pretty solid.
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 by over 20+ decks over the next played decks of Izzet Tempo and Red Stompy. The win rate for Dimir was good at around 52-53% non-mirror win rate, and its to be expected with it being such a large range of the field.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | 1st | Skpchino |
| Izzet Tempo | 2nd | Boland |
| Natural Order | 3rd | Stryfo |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | Ozymandias17 |
| Dimir Tempo | 5th | JakeTMS |
| Lands | 6th | Didackith |
| Death and Taxes - BW (Yorion) | 7th | adamwasmo |
| Dimir Reanimator | 8th | KadettiKersantti |
Most of this Top 8 is pretty cool, and then there's three Dimir Reanimator. At the end of the event, it was Reanimator that won.
This is also a fairly stock list that does rightfully include the main deck graveyard hate. With Reanimator having been 20% of this metagame it really makes the most sense.
In Second Place we had Izzet Tempo.
It's interesting seeing only two copies of Murktide, but Cori-Steel Cutter really is just a powerful card. Main deck Stifle is really cool too.
Around the Web
- PunishingWaterfalls has a video on the Red Stompy Challenge win. Check it out here.
- StrassDaddy has Knights and Wights. Check it out here.
- JamesKisau has a Grixis Control league. Check it out here.
- Brian Coval has an Oops league that really showcases the deck. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Let's review what was super spicy this past week!
I would be remiss if I did not point out the super hot deck that Stryfo made Top 4 of the Showcase Challenge with. This is a real beauty.
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 Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon! In addition I'm always around the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the /r/MTGLegacy Discord Server and subreddit.
Until next time!
