Yesterday I talked about my Prime Speaker Bant list.  With that list, that is what I will play in Baltimore.  Now I will talk about something that I am truly getting excited about.  Legacy is a format I never thought I would be involved in.  Its expensive, and unpredictable.  The more I talk about it and the more I play it, the more I enjoy it because of its unpredictability.  There are many decks out there and I will talk about the two decks I am looking at. The first deck is a maverick style deck.



3 Aether Vial
4 thalia
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 dryad militant
3 stoneforge mystic
2 scavenging ooze
1 qasali pridemage
1 batterskull
1 umezawa's jitte
1 gaddock teeg
4 judge's familiar
4 swords to plowshares
1 oblivion ring
3 green sun zenith
3 imposing sovereign
2 Dryad Arbor
4 wasteland
2 karakas
1 cavern of souls
1 eiganjo castle
6 plains
5 forest
1 sejiri steepe
60 total
1 sword of fire and ice
2 rest in peace
2 skylasher
2 ghostly prison
2 loxodon smiter
2 ethersworn catonist
2 aven mindcensor
2 creeping corosion
15 Total


This deck is called taxed maverick.  We are looking at a deck that abuses creatures such as judges familiar and thalia early game.  And then finishing with stoneforge package and Knight of the reliquary.  You are able to use Karakas for the sneak and show decks, Combo has to go through judges familiar and thalia.  Key removal is there mainboard as well as ethersworn catonist for elves. I have to thank Dustin Beam in talking about sejiri steepe as this seems like a strong card to stop removal as well as protection for an alpha kill.    This seems like a solid deck choice currently.

The second deck I am eyeing is: 



1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Metalworker
3 Sundering Titan
3 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Karn Liberated
4 Chalice of the void
3 Grim Monolith
3 expedition map
2 Staff of nin
1 Trinisphere
2 ethersword catonist
36
4 Ancient Tomb
4 plains
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 vesuva
3 wasteland
1 eye of ugin
24
Sideboard
3 Ensnaring bridge
2 ratchet bomb
2 spine of ish sah
3 phyrexian revoker
1 platinum angel
2 spellskite
2 all is dust


This deck brings my inner timmy.  Post is an amazing deck that can bring out threats by turn 3.  I adapted the mud (artifacts) to it because it gives more threats to get you to the later turns for either blightsteel or emrakul. But it also gives you a chance to use kudultha forgemaster to get whatever card you want.  Also All is dust is a card right now!  Another card I like to really look into is chalice of the void.  running a four of and one trinisphere  blocks early game to give you time to play your threats.  Sneak and show is a deck that this deck can contend with because you play similar threats and use their card against them.  Game one elves seem a little strong for this deck pre board (minus catonist and chalice) but ratchet bomb helps out alot.  

These two decks are what I am looking at on the legacy side of things.... Who is ready to playtest?
 
So I stayed home this weekend and watched the Star City Games Invitational: Las Vegas.  For those who are not aware of the invitational, it is a 3 day 16 round to top 8.  8 Rounds of Standard and 8 Rounds of Legacy, which puts you to the test regarding two diverse formats.  This is a sort of "best of both worlds" scenario.  This is going to be a two part story so I can go more in depth of Standard and Legacy tournament play.  Today will be about standard current meta and what I will be playing to combat it.

Max Brown- 1st Place Mono Black Devotion
Creatures (17)

4 Desecration Demon
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Pack Rat
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
Lands (26)

19 Swamp
4 Mutavault
3 Temple of Deceit
Spells (17)

4 Underworld Connections
4 Devour Flesh
4 Hero's Downfall
1 Pharika's Cure
4 Thoughtseize
Sideboard

3 Lifebane Zombie
4 Dark Betrayal
1 Doom Blade
3 Pharika's Cure
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Duress

First let me congratulate Max Brown for being the SCG invitational champion.  Max Brown was able to beat the odds with his two decks: (Omni-tell) and (Mono Black Devotion).  Mono Black Devotion is a mid-range deck that uses solid 3 drops including night veil specter and underworld connections. Everyone's favorite card thoughtsieze and grey merchant as well as Desecration demon being a solid finisher.  

Another deck I want to talk about is a little more aggro:
Thea Steele 3rd Place R/W Devotion

Creatures (26)

4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
Planeswalkers (1)

1 Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (25)

12 Mountain
1 Boros Guildgate
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Spells (8)

3 Chained to the Rocks
2 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Mizzium Mortars
Sideboard

2 Assemble the Legion
1 Chained to the Rocks
4 Boros Charm
3 Warleader's Helix
2 Wear
3 Anger of the Gods

This deck is definately aggro with the a secondary finisher being purphoros.  One of the most solid choices and the main part of the success of the deck is baby t-maw.  Stormbreath dragon takes care of the air and with the pro white helps against many decks.

Mono-Blue Devotion- Gregory Hatch 2nd place
Creatures (28)

4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Master of Waves
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
Planeswalkers (1)

1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Lands (24)

20 Island
4 Mutavault
Spells (7)

2 Domestication
3 Rapid Hybridization
2 Bident of Thassa
Sideboard

3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Domestication
2 Essence Scatter
4 Gainsay
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Jace, Memory Adept

Mono- blue is similar to mono-black in regards to the curve, but with Thassa and master of waves, them two can get the job done with night veil specter.  

The last deck I wanna talk about is.

Creatures (3)

1 Aetherling
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Planeswalkers (6)

2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
Lands (26)

4 Island
2 Plains
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
4 Watery Grave
Spells (25)

4 Detention Sphere
4 Azorius Charm
2 Devour Flesh
2 Dissolve
2 Hero's Downfall
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Syncopate
1 Merciless Eviction
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Thoughtseize
Sideboard

2 Pithing Needle
1 Trading Post
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2 Fiendslayer Paladin
2 Sin Collector
3 Doom Blade
1 Gainsay
2 Negate
1 Glare of Heresy

This is a good control deck that utilizes the best of blood baron and Elspeth as win conditions.  Jace is the glue that digs and takes care of all aggro decks.  Shaheen Sooroni is a master of esper and this deck shows the power of esper control in the current meta.

These are the decks that you are guaranteed to see at any high level tournament you go to.  So the question is: how do you prepare?  You can do one of two things in the preparation of your next big standard event.  You can try to beat the decks listed above? or join one of the well oiled machines.  So which one do I like? Answer: NONE.  The control deck seems the most likely to have any interaction and for people that know me know I like to deck-build, so I'm going to show you the deck I am working on to combat those 4 horseman.  

Test Deck
Tony Tracy- Prime Speaker Bant
4 sylvan caryatid
3 loxodon smiter
3 fleecemane lion
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Voice of Resergence
2 trostani
2 polukranos
3 archangel of thune
2 prime speaker zegana
3 sphinx's revelation
3 advent of the wurm
3 Detention Sphere
2 pit fight
36 Total


4 temple garden
4 Breeding Pool
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Mystery
4 forest
4 plains

24 Total

Sideboard
2 Elspeth
2 Supreme Verdict
2 rootbound defences
2 sundeering growth
2 mistcutter hydra
1 Plummet
1 angel of serenity
1 jace, architect
2 skylasher
15 total


I am going to go into the reasons I picked these cards for each matchup.
Against Mono Black

Voice of resurgence and fleecemane lion are two cards that are seeing little to no love currently. With mono blacks many one for ones, those two cards can tear apart their one for ones.  Smiter is a beautiful card against thought sieze.  And a card that a colleague of mine brought up Pit fight.  Brandon Shifflett talked about pit fight as a removal spell since my creatures are going to be bigger than theirs.  Game two and three is even worse for them as I would bring in the plummet, the skylashers and the angel of serenity.  

Against Mono Blue.  
We go with the same reason why we go against mono black.  We would keep the detention spheres ready for master of waves and Thassa, while we let our creatures do the rest for us.  Game two and three we bring in miscutter hydra and skylasher to make it a little bit easier.  

Against Red/White Devotion.  
They are faster but we are bigger.  Turn three/four if they haven't killed us we should be able to turn tables.  We gain life in this deck with trostani, archangel of thune, and sphinx revelation. once we are online with those, we should be good to go.  Game two and three I would bring in the verdicts, and Jace for sure to give a little more control.

Against Esper
Esper control is a deck we are meant to beat.  Voice and Fleecemane lion are here for the supreme verdicts, with emphasis on fleecemane lion.  Once that creature gets monstrous, it is hard or esper to dominate.  We have as much card draw as they do so we should be able to keep up and we have advent and polukranos to go against blood baron.

Prime Speaker haven't gotten much love lately because of the meta.  But with this deck and not worrying about the devotion mechanic, I believe we may be on to something. With the raw power that green brings to the table along with the synergy white and blue brings, makes this deck a possible contender.  

Next time I will be talking about the legacy meta and what I am planning to do to contend.  January 25-26 is SCG Baltimore and I will be there ready to battle!

    Author

    I am a passionate magic player that aspires to be on the pro tour.  My recent achievements are: 1 Star City Invitational Qualifier finalist. 1 Star City Invitational Qualifier top 8. 3 Win a box tournament 1st place finishes.  Top 16 in States.  

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