This Week in Legacy: The Legacy Round Table - "Return of the Pink Pony Club" Edition
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of This Week in Legacy! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week it's the return of the Round Table! I didn't do a single one of these in 2025, so I think it's a good time to bring them back! I took last week off due to some sickness on my end (coupled with the fact that I got slammed with weather), but I am feeling lots better. In addition to that, I've got a few housekeeping bits and Challenges to talk about from last week.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
The Legacy Round Table - "Return of the Pink Pony Club" Edition
So I had some thoughts recently on some things I wanted to do more of in 2026, and one of those things that I really missed doing in 2025 was Round Tables. I had thought about it for a hot minute during 2025, but the format was under a lot of turmoil that for the most part Round Tables would be pretty out of date. I also wanted to explore preparing for some ideas of how to do these a little better formatting-wise. I kind of hope I was able to do so with this, but we'll see. It might just be a pretty big work in progress to keep refining. If you like the formatting change here, please let me know in the comments. I'd like to keep trying to find ways to make these easier to parse.
To make a few things clear here though: these Round Tables have always been meant to bring together a bunch of different opinions and those opinions belong to the folks involved in them. I do not filter these opinions. In the past, I've gotten flak for that, but I'm going to super transparent here that I don't intend to start doing that now.
So... let's meet our friends!
| Name | Occupationals | Social Media |
|---|---|---|
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BeExcellent |
YouTube Content Creator | YouTube |
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Harmony Woods |
MTGO Competitor | |
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Michel De Jong |
Bazaar of Boxes Staff | |
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Michael Depa (SquidODoom) |
MTGO Competitor Future YouTuber |
YouTube |
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Douges |
Twitch Streamer Owner of GreenSunsZenith.com |
Link Tree |
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Jasmine |
Repeat BCDL Top 8 Competitor BCDL winner |
N/A |
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Michael Mapson |
Podcaster Co-Host of The Eternal Witnesses MTGO Competitor |
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Sahar Mirhadi |
Content Creator Initiative Enjoyer |
Link Tree |
This is a pretty solid looking list of folks! So let's get right into the questions!
#1 - What are your current thoughts on the Legacy format? Are you having fun? Is the format healthy?
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The meta feels super healthy. It's interesting that the problem cards (Tamiyo, The One Ring) aren't even that heavily played. Sometimes I can get through an entire league without facing one of them. I'm having a lot of fun. Any meta where a $500 black midrange deck can trophy is a pretty reasonable one IMHO.
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I think the format is really good, and I think it's a great format for both people who want to attack the metagame and people who want to play the "best deck" and tune it to perfection. If you want to attack the metagame, the current top dog in Dimir is very attackable - the classical strategy of going a little bigger works both if you want to play a deck very much like Dimir (this is probably why a lot of the lists have moved away from Nethergoyf for slightly bigger threats) and a more traditional "control" deck like Esper (which I still think is incredibly underplayed). We can also somewhat see this in Affinity, which I think rose up largely due to beating Dimir (though again, I'm no expert on that topic). I also think Dimir, as a top deck, is still kind of raw-looking from my perspective. Obviously I don't know everything, but I suspect a lot of optimization could happen within that shell. I think Oops as a second deck is something that a lot of people are probably going to object to, but I think if you bring sufficient hate it's going to be fine. It's a bit like the classical example of Dredge in Modern - it comes up when people disrespect it. Once people remember what hate to play (in this case, Grafdigger's Cage for most blue decks), it ends up being fine. Currently people are mostly either playing the wrong hate (Surgical has middling effectiveness, depending on the variant) or not respecting it at all. Personally I don't currently have graveyard hate in my sideboard (though maybe I should), and am covering it through a combination of Force of Negation, Consign to Memory, Dress Down, and Clarion Conqueror. Notably, all the pivots, with the exception of the creature pivot (which is often detectable, and is anyway pretty easy to beat) get naturally beat by this assemblage of cards I want versus Oops's main plan anyway. Basically I think Legacy is perfect and fun and healthy. I think it's fair to say this is probably the most balanced format I've ever played in. |
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I would say today's Legacy format is quite healthy. There's more rock-paper-scissors taking place than we've had throughout these recent years and the format seems to be somewhat self-correcting on a weekly and monthly basis, especially compared to a while ago. There's a ton of decks you can play, all very viable ones. I'm currently personally less invested due to focusing more on the TO and coverage side of the format, so I can't really comment too much on the 'fun side' of it. |
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I've actually not had a ton of time to play as much Legacy as I have in the past, but that's not due to the format itself. That's due to being a new parent and a new job this year. When I have had time to play a Challenge or fire up some leagues I have been impressed by the diversity of the matchup spreads. There is a healthy metagame with a wide variety of paths to victory. I feel like there are tools to combat every strategy that exists in current legacy and that's a sign of a healthy metagame. |
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Look, I don’t feel too embarrassed when casting Knight of the Reliquary, so that typically puts me in tune with where the format is at. At the top of the metagame, there are some really powerful archetypes; however, I wouldn’t consider any of them an “S-tier” deck.
When you look at Challenge data, you can see a pretty diverse spread of decks. Yes, UB or UR show up more than others, but I don’t think those types of decks being powerful is an unhealthy signal. I mean, come on, if Mardu Midrange is making multiple Top 8 appearances in Challenges, I think we’re on the right path. |
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It's relatively fun, I'm happy with it I think things are still pretty open ended and there is a lot of experimentation yet to be done with the format. It's interesting how we still have a shifting meta and many things that aren't the top played decks still feel very viable. I've been enjoying seeing the rise of Beanstalk Control and the Stoneblade lists as well. There has been more flexibility in testing without the boogeyman of Reanimator policing the format. |
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I don't think the formats perfect but I am having fun. There seems to be a lot of combo at the moment, making it a bit difficult to play non blue decks, at least in leagues. But if you look at the results there's enough variety and the game play when you don't die on turn one/two is pretty good. |
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So I took a brief break after Eternal Weekend Europe for the holidays, but since I have been back, it has been enjoyable. I am enjoying playing my trusted ancient tomb decks, and whilst I am not grinding as much as my peers, I am having fun. Looking at Metagame Monday by ecobaronen and MTG Goldfish, it seems the format is in a healthy place. I think Oops and Fast combo is something to keep an eye on, especially with the recent printing of Hexing Squelcher, but that may also figure itself out. I also think having a Tempo deck at the top of the format is a sign of a healthy format overall. |
#2 - What changes would you make to the current format (bans/unbans) and why?
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For purely fun-factor reasons, if I were in charge I'd ban Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, The One Ring, and Undercity Informer.
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I think there's no changes you need to make, but a few that you could make and have it make sense. I think the main unbans I would be considering would be Grief, Troll of Khazad-dum, and Earthcraft. All three are probably not going to be a big problem in the metagame, and could probably be unbanned and it be fine. Troll and Grief in particular would make Mono-Black Midrange a lot better which is an interesting deck to me and probably even right now deserves more play and work on it. I think it's reasonable to want to keep this metagame the way that it is, and not reenable Dimir Scam with Dimir already showing it could be a top deck or risk an unban of an older card.
Basically, don't ban anything maybe unban something if you want, but not a big deal. |
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I don't feel any changes are really necessary. There's an argument to be made for banning Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student / Seasoned Scholar, but am slightly hesitant because I feel that card is the glue that keeps tempo/midrange blue decks relevant in today's climate. A ton of new, very powerful cards have been printed over the last two years or so; the power level of the format has continued to rise. I would be worried that non-hyper-aggressive fair blue decks would fall too far behind in comparison. There's an argument to be made for crippling or entirely gutting Oops! All Spells due to its resiliency, play patterns and adaptability, but I don't want Legacy to devolve into a solely anchored tempo/midrange-vs.-Stompy-fest and find there's quite a bit of elegance to the deck and its place in the format as a whole. |
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Other than Tamiyo, there is nothing I feel is too egregious going on that is not able to exist within the confines of Legacy. Tamiyo does too much for too little investment. For simply playing Blue in Legacy you get a card advantage engine, late game inevitability and an evasive creature (even if it doesn't actually do damage). My personal gripe that doesn't actually factor into my feelings of it being bannable is that it invalidates Empty the Warrens which is historically a way to improve tempo matchups for storm decks. Tamiyo is yet another card that has proven itself over the line in the Daze+Wasteland shell and thus must die for the sins of the shell. Within the context of cards/archetypes that frequently come up: While Oops! again has a reasonably high meta percentage and generally has play patterns that a lot of people don't enjoy. Legacy is a competitive format, and fun is a zero sum game in 1v1 Magic. If Oops starts taking up such a % that it suppresses attendance, then yes, Ban 1 or both of the wincons as Legacy needs to thrive. That said I can understand rancid play patterns of it. I tend to play fast combo decks myself, if I was still on fair decks I would likely feel very different. The One Ring has never been a bannable card in Legacy, it is a broken value engine, but there are a lot of those that exist, it's a reasonable card at Legacy's power level. Unbans though? Most of the Banned List is cards restricted in Vintage and while they are different formats none of those seem particularly safe. Removing those and the Ante cards? Well lets look at the obvious unbans that i'd make:
So simply put ban Tamiyo, Unban Bargain, Twist, and Drain.
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I feel like now is not the time to be chopping and changing the format, and that more time should be given to the current metagame. When I look at page one of MTGGoldfish’s Legacy metagame breakdown, it would surprise me to see any of the decks in the top 16–20 consistently winning a Challenge.
As a Maverick player, the more mature and well-understood a metagame is, the better. With that in mind, I’ll admit I might have some bias when it comes to this question. Is Gaddock Teeg better positioned than Collector Ouphe? Do I have more time to set up graveyard hate, allowing Keen-Eyed Curator to be played over Endurance numbers three or four? I do think there are cards on most people’s watchlists, such as Tamiyo or The One Ring, but right now I’m enjoying the format as it is and wouldn’t change a thing. |
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Unban Survival of the Fittest, I still think the card isn't good enough for 2026 magic, and it was the pet card that got me into legacy. I think it would spawn a few decks but it's a far cry from the powerlevel of mtg these days, especially with the more effective answers in every format.
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I've been screaming it for years. Please, please, please to let us try Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Zirda, the Dawnwaker with the new companion rule. They might still be too good but let us find out. I also think Oops should be banned. I don't think it does anything good for the format.
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I would look for some unbans to give people new toys to experiment with. I know folks may advocate for a Tamiyo ban or something from Oops, but honestly, I think that may be shortsighted right now, unless you want to remove that experience from the format. That is a broader question about the format's philosophy. I can empathise with players who engage with Magic Online leagues and see three Oops players, but like with every deck, it ebbs and flows week on week. I also think the meta share numbers are conducive to no changes in terms of bans in the upcoming B&R announcement. |
#3 - What is your current favorite card in Legacy?
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Wasteland. It's a deceptively high-skill card, and you can play it any deck (though I'm not even playing it in my current Beans lists). I suspect Modern would benefit immensely from adding Wasteland as well. There should be consequences for players who overly rely on non-basic lands.
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Stock Up. I think it's really underrated as a control engine, despite being established as a powerful card in Show and Tell and other blue combo decks. With Mystic Sanctuary, it can be very good at pulling ahead and mitigating flood. It's basically the core of the Esper list I have been working on for a while.
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Pest Control; highly underrated. Really high ceiling, very reasonable floor.
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A bit boring of an answer I'm sure but Hexing Squelcher. Combo deserves tools too. I love that is protected coming in, and while it doesn't stop consign, it's upside is better than Punk's in most cases.
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Choke.
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Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd is a lot of fun as a threat and CA engine so it's exciting to see different brews around the card. Been trying out some of those brews myself and looking forward to trying out the Meteor Sword Stoneblade lists.
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I really enjoy playing Pinnacle Emissary. Unfortunately it's pretty bad into Tamiyo, but it's very satisfying to put a bunch of artifacts in play.
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Glaring Fleshraker mostly of what silly combos you can do with it in colourless decks.
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#4 - What's on your wish list for Legacy in 2026?
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Additional fair value-oriented creatures. Aang, Swift Savior and Badgermole Cub are great additions to the format.
As a control gamer, I'd also like better answers to Eldrazi-style cast triggers. Maybe a force of will card that stops triggered abilities. Consign simply isn't good enough IMHO. |
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I wouldn't mind some tasteful role players like Badgermole Cub or Cori-Steel Cutter, but otherwise I don't have anything on the wish list. I guess 'more people playing and working on Esper Control' is the closest thing to a wish I would like fulfilled.
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Sweet new playable cards, innovation, community bolstering and continued communication in regard to our format from WotC. |
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There’s been a resurgence in the Australian Legacy community. We have Australian 7-Point Highlander, an eternal singleton format that’s taken the country by storm (no, seriously — Storm is a great deck in the format), but I’d love to see more Legacy players and more side events at our larger tournaments around the country. For now? Getting consistent numbers back in my local scene so that, even if one or two key players aren’t there, it still fires for four rounds of the greatest format in Magic. |
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Besides a survival unban? TBH it's mostly negative. I've grown exhausted with Universes Beyond with the Marvel stuff and really just don't want a good Legacy playable to come from any UB sets. I used to be fine with the ones that were at least "MTG Fantasy adjacent" but I'm just tired of all of them at this point. |
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Please see my ban/unban answer. I'd also like to see more large Legacy events. I'm very jealous of the ELM series and 4 seasons over in Europe. I know there's been some talk of making similar circuits here in the States and I would be thrilled if that happens. |
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Exploring ways to play paper Legacy at a competitive level is important. Understand the philosophy behind the format and how it's curated to prevent a single top deck from dominating for 18 months. Additionally, all paper events should be proxy-friendly, provided they are not held at a WPN store. Making the format inclusive and welcoming for all without barriers. |
#5 - What is your most 'unhinged' take on Legacy?
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If Wizards isn't going to repeal the Reserve List, then they need to hurry up and print Legendary dual lands or snow dual lands or something to that gets the price of dual lands under control. I'd love for more Legacy decks to be buildable for less than $1,000. I love my FBB duals as much as anyone, but I'm a 45 year old American with disposable income and a very understanding spouse. You don't see many students at Legacy weeklies because it's so cost prohibitive, and that's a shame. Affordable duals would make a huge difference. Until then I'll keep brewing no Reserve List decks, but they are frankly a lot less powerful, and you're unilaterally handicapping yourself by not playing duals. |
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Stock Up is a better control engine (in conjunction with Mystic Sanctuary) than Up the Beanstalk. |
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Signed Legacy cards increase your win rate by 13.37%! No, in all seriousness: Every single Legacy event, across the world - none excluded, should be proxy-friendly if we want to continue to get folks invested in our lil' niche circle. The ones that'll get hooked will buy cards eventually anyways, but not if we keep our doors closed. |
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Daze is no longer needed to police the format. Daze actually inhibits format diversity, and is the source of most recent bans. The moment WOTC printed Force of Negation, Daze lost its actual utility. Now, I know Daze will not be banned. It's a format defining card and it makes up part of the defining strategy of the format as it exists. Banning Daze would risk an exodus of players, which I do not want. I just really wish people would stop pretending that Daze is a safety valve, a protector, a necessary evil.
Daze is the bad guy and it's not actually stopping the combo decks, it's suppressing Tier 2 and and Tier 3 strategies and other fun brews. The "Vexing Bauble showed us a format without Daze" take is just farcical. Bauble showed that allowing a togglable, shut off permission as it exists in Legacy so that you can cash in for card draw, and turn on your own permission/free spells when it benefits you...is a terrible idea, nothing more. Void Mirror has existed since MH2 and has seen fringe play at best (granted it stops both counters and the decks that would want to use it in most cases). |
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Not too unhinged, but I’d love to see a reprinting of the Collector’s Edition set and a rule change that makes gold-bordered cards legal in all eternal formats.
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The format would benefit from "seasons" where cards on the banlist are tested for a couple months. Both to actually test but also to vent the frustrations people have with the banlist. |
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Again, unban Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Tamiyo is good but also much worse than people say. |
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Legacy is just as fun to play now as it was during the so-called "golden era" of the format. Players just simply crave the nostalgia of the past. |
Housekeeping Bits - Oops Follow up and the Reddit Effect
So I just wanted to toss out some housekeeping bits on some recent articles. I did get some feedback on the last article discussing Oops lists, laying out some of the various differences in the different lists that exist, so I'm going to list those below here.
- Beseech Jukes - Generally, Duress is present in addition to Thoughtseize and Pact of Negation, leading to all in on Beseech/Belcher post-board
- Creature Jukes - Usually has Unmask instead of Pact of Negation
- Choutin builds - Usually is not playing Thoughtseize and is generally on Once Upon a Time. This list tends to look much different than most builds, and is more centered around its namesake pilot than anything.
- Turbo GB (No Juke) - Summoner's Pact, Pact of Negation, and usually only two Thoughtseize in the main deck. Usually this version has cards in the sideboard to directly interact with hate and no juke.
- Turbo GB (Smog Juke) - Summoner's Pact, Unmask, and typically under four copies of Pact of Negation. This usually boards into the Chain of Smog/Witherbloom Apprentice juke.
- Yorion Oops - I think identifying this one is pretty obvious, since your opponent has to reveal Yorion.
Of course, there are often pilots who will mix jukes or mix plans and it can get muddy to determine what is what, but hopefully some of this information can help people in identifying the various lists and what to expect from the deck. Credit for this feedback goes to /r/NathanLipetz, thank you for the extra information!
Finally, some other housekeeping bits to mention is that this will in fact be the last article I post to Reddit for a while. 2025 was a bit of an experiment in returning to posting to Reddit, and the conclusion I've come to with that is that it really doesn't move much of the needle for my views on the articles, and adds on an extra layer of work for me to need to post in places. I'm already tossing links in a few places, and it just happens to be the easiest of the platforms to stop posting it to.
I don't have any real concern with people who want to post the links to these to Reddit going forward, that's totally fine. I'm also just usually consistently worried of running afoul of Reddit spam policies. I have tried to use it as a way to engage with people on there, but the reality of it is that I'm stretched pretty thin and can't even do that. Part of my goals for 2026 is to try to not stretch myself as thin on literally every little thing (something I am sure I will be able to manage, right? right?!), so at the end of the day it's just one more thing off my plate.
Legacy Challenge 32 1/28/2026
The first Challenge event of the week was the Wednesday 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 data sheet here.
Dimir Tempo was fairly well played at 9 copies overall, and its non mirror win rate sat at around 54-55% which is pretty good. Oops was also very popular here and despite having a really good finish its overall non-mirror win rate sat at 46.15%. Everything else above the cutoff had either a slightly positive or below positive win rate.
One thing to call out that I think is rather important for these Challenges and going forward is the first week of Lorwyn Eclipsed and a lot of people playing around with Hexing Squelcher. This is a card that I was initially pretty low on, and while I still sort of am low on it, I am seeing it in a lot of various lists and not just combo decks. I think the card does have some ability to be good in a wide range of strategies than just combo, which does make it rather interesting (or infuriating depending on which end of the spectrum you fall on). That being said, new cards that look good are always tried like this in great quantities until people either land on the card's future. Whether this means Squelcher will stick or not is up in the air because it will definitely require lots of gameplay to fully grasp its impact on the format, but the card could end up having a powerful impact on Legacy as a format.
With that said, let's look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Oops! All Spells | 1st | xDingusKhan |
| Red Stompy | 2nd | _Batutinha_ |
| Affinity Stompy | 3rd | RPSbonjwa |
| Dimir Tempo | 4th | fingers1991 |
| Beanstalk Control (Non-Yorion) | 5th | iBeRagingDaiy |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | haveaboavida |
| Dimir Tempo | 7th | makaaaa |
| Red Stompy | 8th | SiL3nTGoaT |
There was a fair bit of Tempo in this Top 8, but also a lot of Ancient Tomb. At the end of the event it was Oops that won.
So in the same breath as having a discussion on how to identify lists, this particular one has both a bit of a creature juke (in the form of Rotting Regisaur and the Goblin Charbelcher juke. Against decks that are often trimming some form of removal, the big creature plan lets you deploy a few 7/6s to close out the game quickly, while the Charbelcher juke lets you board into a combo kill that the opponent may not have the adequate ability to manage. It's definitely clever.
In Second Place we had Red Stompy.
Our first glance at Hexing Squelcher and it just so happens to be in a Stompy list. What I like about this card here is that it makes all of your high impact spells always stick, and multiples of the card in play is incredibly strong. Stacking Ward of Pay 2 life with more than one of these in play is crazy good.
Also in the Top 8 we had Affinity Stompy.
This is a deck I want to sit down and play around with at some point, and now that I've got some local monthlies to go to I think I might end up proxying this and seeing how I like it.
Legacy Challenge 32 1/30/2026
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday 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.
Doomsday was the most-played deck of the event, which is pretty interesting. It's overall non-mirror win rate sat at around 51.72%. Secondly, D&T was well played, and it had a solid non-mirror win rate of 52.94%. Dimir Tempo had one of the best win rates overall of the decks above the cutoff, sitting at a 67.86% non-mirror win rate. Oops did not have a good performance either here, despite a Top 8 appearance.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Mardu Energy | 1st | Mav40121 |
| Dimir Tempo | 2nd | TheMagePower |
| Dimir Tempo | 3rd | Lord_Beerus |
| Doomsday | 4th | Eureka22422 |
| Izzet Tempo | 5th | PekkaChu |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | kentaro_hokori |
| Sneak and Show | 7th | TheGrimLavamancer |
| Oops! All Spells | 8th | choutin |
Good amount of Tempo, mixed in with some combo and Aggro. At the end of the event it was Mardu Energy that won.
Hexing Squelcher in this kind of deck is exactly what I expected to see. Giving your whole team Ward of Pay 2 life, and being able to double up or triple up on that effect is very good when all your creatures are individually powerful threats.
In Second Place we had Dimir Tempo.
One thing I think may happen for Dimir, especially if Hexing Squelcher remains super popular the deck may need to adjust to possibly include some form of mass removal (which it theoretically could do to mop up the kind of creatures that Squelcher is generally protecting) in order to keep Squelcher decks off balance and to get around Ward. Barrowgoyf is a great threat versus those decks though, so it may just end up be going up to four post-board for these kinds of strategies. Still, Fatal Push feels pretty anemic versus Squelcher decks especially if they can land more than one Squelcher.
Also in this Top 8 we had Doomsday.
If you're a deck that can readily adopt Tamiyo as a plan, I think it's just an absolutely great idea to do so. Doomsday is no exception to this. Having Tamiyo as both a primary and backup plan is really good. You can deploy Tamiyo and make your opponent think you're Dimir Tempo and then out of nowhere cast Doomsday and win the game. You can even juke out of the Doomsday plan entirely and move into full Tempo with stuff like Barrowgoyf and Brazen Borrower.
Legacy Challenge 32 1/31/2026
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 48 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 played deck yet again of the event, but despite having a Top 8 appearance the deck's overall performance was heavily tanked with a non-mirror win rate of 36.11%. Of the decks above the cutoff, Mardu Energy had a strong win rate at a 68% non-mirror win rate. Oops also did not do well in this event, boasting a 33.33% non-mirror win rate.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Doomsday | 1st | ford0076 |
| Mardu Energy | 2nd | Selfeisek |
| Naya Stompy | 3rd | kozz27 |
| Izzet Tempo | 4th | azmyk1231 |
| Stoneblade | 5th | katuo079595 |
| Lands | 6th | Fuzzy_Meow |
| Yorion Orzhov Energy | 7th | Trohck |
| Dimir Tempo | 8th | RIDDLE0423 |
This is a pretty diverse Top 8. At the end of the event, it was Doomsday that won.
This list is also doing the Tempo thing with some varying of numbers on the creatures, including one Barrowgoyf in the main and splitting some numbers on Murktide. It's really just tweaking the numbers and the math aspect of drawing and digging for certain cards you might want Game one over wanting to rely to juke into in post-board games.
In Second Place, we had Mardu Energy.
No Hexing Squelcher in this particular list, looking much more like how we've seen the deck over the past few months. I really do enjoy the fact that people managed to figure out the Mardu shell, and that there's a really good Mardu aggro deck that exists in Legacy. I know some people have pretty strong feelings about the Energy core and how Modern Horizons 3 spoke it into existence by basically printing most of the cards for it, but I think that the shell really didn't come into its own in Legacy until Voice of Victory was printed. That card alone has really made this deck seem very strong as both an enabler for combat damage and sacrificial bodies to Therapy/Goblin Bombardment, but also as protection.
Further down the Top 8 we have YORION ORZHOV ENERGY.
Okay I see you Trohck. This list is pretty dope. Instead of wanting the Vials for a D&T build, we're just ditching those for straight up value with the Energy core and stuff like Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. I can dig it.
Legacy Challenge 32 2/1/2026
The final Challenge event of the week was the Sunday event. This event had 71 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 again the most played deck of the event by a lot of copies (13 total!) and while it did put two copies into the Top 8, the overall non-mirror win rate was around 44.26%. Izzet Tempo had the best win rate of the bunch around 69.57% non-mirror. D&T also did very well here. Oops had a less than 50% win rate, around 44% non-mirror.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Tempo | 1st | wiky |
| Eldrazi | 2nd | ryugha |
| Red Painter | 3rd | Light_Walker |
| Dimir Tempo | 4th | EmperorOppai |
| Cradle Control | 5th | oosunq |
| Dimir Tempo | 6th | parkss |
| Death and Taxes - BW (Yorion) | 7th | Akaleth |
| Sneak and Show | 8th | JPA93 |
This is a pretty reasonable Top 8. At the end of the event, it was Izzet Tempo that won.
Three Hexing Squelcher in the main is certainly something to see. This list really just wants to win every counter-war and keep its threats protected via the Ward. It's kind of interesting, but I don't know if it will stick. It is first week of trying new cards after all and a lot of decks are going to jam the card in to see how it goes. I'd be curious to see how often Squelcher really did its thing in this Challenge.
In Second Place we had Eldrazi.
Ooh. I love Broadside Bombardiers and having it here seems like a really interesting concept. A lot of Eldrazi have some pretty competitive costs that make the damage from being thrown by a Bombardiers pretty back-breaking. Swinging in for five with a Reality Smasher and then chucking it for seven damage seems really good.
Further down the Top 8 we had Cradle Control.
New card Formidable Speaker here. It seems really interesting as a one-of because you can Zenith for it, but being able to drop a card you don't need in order to get a creature that you want is strong. This looks to be a bit of a one-time effect here though, because I don't see a way to blink the card. Being able to untap permanents like mana dorks as well is sweet, but I think that's less of a thing than the Survival effect.
Around the Web
- Fenruscloud has a video on Moonshadow. Check it out here.
- Douges has a video on Maverick in 2026. Check it out here.
- TueLikesTempo has a video on Izzet Tempo with Hexing Squelcher. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
Aluren with new card Formidable Speaker!
UNSTOPPABLE SLASHA.
What I Played This Week
Bringing this back a little, just to kind of keep track of various things I've been playing. My local store, in coordination with some folks in the community, have been running local monthlies again that are proxy-friendly. I went out this past weekend, actually, and played some paper Legacy. I did end up 2-3 on the five rounds, with a little rust in the bucket (but also my deck just straight refusing to function in some later rounds) playing Coveted Jewel Combo (a list I found from a Challenge win that TonyScapone had done).
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!
