This Week in Legacy: The Ride Never Ends
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 touch base on some of the things last weekend from San Diego Comic Con, as well as a brief look at the current Legacy format. In addition, we've got some Challenges from this past week.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
San Diego A-Go-Go
I know that we did set reviews for Edge of Eternities this past week, and while the set is just releasing this week, the fact that San Diego Comic Con was over the weekend gave Wizards a chance to do what they do best, and that's show off more new Magic cards.
That's right, we're never getting off the spoiler season ride! Spider-Man is here.
While I am loathe to consider the fact that we're spoiling a new set all over the place while the previous set isn't even released, I do think a big portion of that was push to have that for San Diego because of how big San Diego Comic Con is and how much things like Spider-Man matter to that audience.
There are certainly a bunch of cards that were shown, and I didn't see a bunch of things that felt too insane for formats like Legacy yet. I will note that there's a subset of this set with the code SPE which is Spider-Man Eternal, and those cards are only legal in older formats, not Standard. However, in that I saw mostly the Welcome Deck cards, which were intentionally underpowered.
That being said, there were a few cards to touch on just from a high-level standpoint. I'm not going to dive into each one individually because I don't think we need to, but yeah there are some cards here or there.
It's not a lot, but it is interesting to get a sense of what this set is going to be about. We'll be doing a full set review after spoiler season like always.
Legacy Metagame Check-In
It's also a good time to check in on Legacy! This data set goes back to the end of March with the bannings that occurred then. You can find this sheet here and the H2H sheet here (warning: the H2H loads SLOWLY).
Let's see from a graphical overview where we are.
I think it's no surprise that Dimir Reanimator is just absolutely one of the best decks in the Legacy format, and it's currently sitting at around close to 15% of the metagame, with also a 56.3% non-mirror win rate. It seems like quite a win rate and all, and I do think that this deck is definitely an issue. It seems to just have one of the highest metagame shares plus one of the more consistent win rates and doing all of this with a target on its back. It's quite disturbing.
Both Izzet and Dimir Tempo are roughly around the 50-51% win rate mark, and both seem rather fine. Oops as a deck has been rather contentious but its win rate has dipped substantially to the 49-50% range. I really do not think this deck is problematic right now. It is interesting to see Lands sitting at around a 57-58% win rate, but I do believe that deck is very good right now and seems fine.
Let's look at some H2H data. I've managed to get this updated through the last three months (and working on adding July so I can do this ongoing) but I filtered this down to only decks with 100 copies or more.
In the decks that have at least 100 copies, Dimir Reanimator has a positive win rate against every other non-mirror deck except Lands (which is a 42.31% win rate). This is wild. Reanimator is simply crushing the format it seems right now.
I will also point out that Oops has a bunch of rough matchups, including Dimir Tempo/Reanimator and Lands. In fact, the Lands matchup for this deck is absurdly bad at a 26.67% win rate. I really don't think this deck is pushing on the format like initially was thought.
I will continue to put the spotlight on Lands, though. The deck has a positive win rate against virtually every deck in this cutoff outside of a bad Sneak and Show matchup. I do think more people should be playing this deck; it is one of the better decks in Legacy right now.
I am not super thrilled with Legacy at the moment and where it is at, but I am hoping that things will get better, and I am curious how Edge of Eternities will shake out the format.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/23/2025
The first Challenge event of the week was the Wednesday event. This event had 43 players thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
There was a spread of decks that all had the same number of copies, but Dimir Reanimator's win rate was exceptional. Surprisingly enough so was Eldrazi's. Oops All Spells was popular here, but its win rate was awful.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Eldrazi | 1st | Capitano_CL |
| Dimir Reanimator | 2nd | Munchlax446 |
| Red Stompy | 3rd | novaschin22 |
| Izzet Tempo | 4th | DrPP |
| Dimir Reanimator | 5th | harmonywoods |
| Eldrazi | 6th | albertoSD |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 7th | leandru |
| Red Stompy | 8th | _Chamytinho_ |
Fairly interesting Top 8. At the end of the event, it was Eldrazi that won.
Fairly straightforward and aggressive. Eldrazi Linebreaker seems to be the predominant threat of choice, and we get to see Reality Smasher again!
In Second Place we had Dimir Reanimator.
This is very much what we expect out of this shell. No real shockers here.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/25/2025
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 47 players 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 popular deck of the event and it also had a really strong win rate. Mystic Forge as well had a great win rate.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | 1st | karatedom |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 2nd | Selfeisek |
| Izzet Tempo | 3rd | Joyfulwaffle |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | slaxx |
| Red Stompy | 5th | choutin |
| Dimir Reanimator | 6th | Just_Roll |
| Mystic Forge Combo | 7th | Neopolis |
| Dimir Tempo | 8th | ecobaronen |
Lot of Dimir Reanimator, and it won the event.
As we've noted, having at least one main deck graveyard hate makes a lot of sense, because of mirror matches. Wild still to see.
In Second Place we had Mystic Forge.
This deck continues to have a presence even without Vexing Bauble is incredible. I do think it is largely because the format is so fast, and it can pull off some really quick wins.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/26/2025
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 58 players 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 popular deck of the event, and despite a Top 8 appearance, it had a poor win rate. Nadu Midrange Combo and Sneak and Show did well.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Tempo | 1st | oosunq |
| Sneak and Show | 2nd | JPA93 |
| Nadu Midrange Combo | 3rd | CorvOscuro92 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | Galaxy_Impact |
| Lands | 5th | Xenowan |
| Nadu Midrange Combo | 6th | Ark4n |
| Stoneblade | 7th | zNoodz |
| Sneak and Show | 8th | snoopy-magic |
Very interesting Top 8. At the end of the event it was Izzet Tempo that won.
Okay, this is a very reasonable built. I like the addition of Preordain because when you're trying to trigger Cori-Steel Cutter, having a bunch of cantrips does a really good job of it. Stifle is also super cool here.
In Second Place we had Sneak and Show.
One copy of Mistrise Village is kind of sweet. Also, a second one in the sideboard. Seems pretty cool.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/27/2025 - 1
The fourth Challenge event of the week was the first Sunday event. This event had 44 players thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Reanimator again was the most popular deck but its overall win rate wasn't great for its two Top 8s. Red Stompy did fantastic, as did Jeskai Control.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Jeskai Control | 1st | jibeta |
| Red Stompy | 2nd | kanican |
| Red Stompy | 3rd | Andy_Over |
| Dimir Reanimator | 4th | lia2022 |
| Red Stompy | 5th | fuya |
| Lands | 6th | DeathWrongShaman420 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 7th | bernardocssa |
| Esper Vial | 8th | iKhada |
Lot of Red Stompy here. At the end of the event though it was Jeskai Control that won.
Thundertrap Trainer is so much better than I think people fully realize in this current format, and if the format even remotely slows down a bunch, it will be even better. I'd be excited to see what that looks like, I love that card.
In Second Place, we had Red Stompy.
Now that Urza's Saga and Blood Moon is just a big old buff, they can be best friends forever. It's beautiful, man.
Legacy Challenge 32 7/27/2025 - 2
The final Challenge event of the week was the second Sunday event. This event had 69 players 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 popular deck of this event and its win rate was really good. No other deck quite had a win rate like this one did.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Dredge | 1st | MahfuzVanGogh |
| Lands | 2nd | slaxx |
| Dimir Reanimator | 3rd | wefoldforfood |
| Sneak and Show | 4th | JPA93 |
| Dimir Reanimator | 5th | otakkun |
| Dimir Reanimator | 6th | Dreddybajs |
| Eldrazi | 7th | WadeB |
| Mono Black Reanimator | 8th | Magic_Dads71522 |
Despite the fact that Dimir had a really good win rate, it didn't win the event. Dredge did!
Oh heck, Satoru Dredge with Thassa's Oracle is super sweet. Being able to blow open games with Anger and Zombies is super cool too, but being able to win on the spot is superb.
In Second Place we had Lands.
This is a solid deck right now, and it's definitely one I would be playing and learning more of.
Around the Web
- The Eternal Glory Podcast has a new episode on building a Legacy scene. Check it out here.
- The Legacy Archive is taking Legacy to space. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
Now that Leagues are posted throughout the week, let's find some Spice!
LORD OF THE BEACH.
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!
