The Eternalist - Claiming the Throne

Howdy folks! I'm Joe, the Eternalist, and it's time for yet another monthly dose of Legacy content. This month we're going to be discussing Throne of Eldraine from the Legacy perspective, and also talking about the results from SCG Syracuse and MagicFest Atlanta!

Throne of Eldraine is upon us, and while new sets this year have brought us a lot of craziness to the Legacy format, I'm thankful that Eldraine doesn't upend anything too badly. Let's talk about the cards that are likely to be tested and tried in legacy.

Brazen Borrower

The "Adventure" mechanic cards are all somewhat interesting design, but most of them don't scream Legacy at me. Brazen Borrower is probably the closest because it's a bounce spell that later turns into a 3/1 flier. This makes it a reasonable consideration in a Faerie-centric deck for sure.

Charming Prince

This guy is pretty charming, and the three different modes and flexibility are kind of just okay for the most part. The upside of this card is that it is a Human, and having a Flickerwisp-like effect in Legacy Humans without having to actually play Flickerwisp is not that bad at all. I could definitely see this work its way into that list.

Deafening Silence

This is a card that people have been clamoring over it seems. Many decry this as the death of Storm, but I don't really think that is accurate at all. I liken this card and its hype to Damping Sphere and how playable that card ended up. While 1 CMC is a lot less than 2 CMC, this card still doesn't really provide enough disruption that it can't be dealt with, and is worse than Ethersworn Canonist which sees no real play at the moment. I feel like this will see some measure of play as people start to figure out that Storm doesn't really care about this (and will be able to get rid of it to go off) or that certain fringe combo decks will get eaten by it (Mystic Forge combo seems pretty bad against this obviously, as does Bomberman). But those decks won't be as prevalent so therefore this card will just end up at the bottom of the "Oh there's three Storm players at my local this week?" sideboard card bin.

In short: No, sir. I don't like it.

Drown in the Loch

As if we weren't drowning in interaction already, this card is worth a look as modal spells are so flexible. I could see some decks slotting this in as a modal kill/counterspell, but I could just as easily see it eventually ending up on the cutting room floor.

Emry, Lurker of the Loch

This card intrigues me a ton, and there are obvious ways to abuse it in a Mono-Blue Bomberman style deck with Lion's Eye Diamond and ways to untap it. That's going to require something like Jeskai Ascendancy (which would be really hella cool since it also draws through your deck at the same time) or Paradox Engine. This setup's a little cheaper than Auriok Salvagers, but strictly a value play if you don't. Regardless, I like the design of this card a bunch and I look forward to seeing it do some things.

Fires of Invention

I don't know what this card does with this ability that might make it seem that good, but giving the ability to cast free spells even if it's only limited to two spells on your turn is always worth a look somewhere.

Hushbringer

I'm not going to lie, the art on this card is creepy as all get out, but the card itself is pretty interesting. If this was only a Torpor Orb variant creature it would be worse, but the fact that it also shuts off "dies" triggers is also fairly interesting.

Irencrag Feat

When I first saw this card my immediate thought was "SEVEN MANA CASTS GOBLIN CHARBELCHER AND ACTIVATES!"

That is all I will be saying about this card. Thanks for coming to my Belcher Talk.

Irencrag Pyromancer

This card is neat from the design standpoint that quite often there's more than one draw per turn in Legacy, from cantrips like Ponder/Brainstorm/Preordain to even cards like Sylvan Library triggering it. A Lightning Bolt practically every turn is not a bad rate, especially for a creature that doesn't die to a single Bolt anyways.

Mystic Sanctuary

Another card that's got people in a tizzy, and I have to admit, I'm much higher on this card in Legacy than I am in other formats like Vintage, because of the presence of Legacy Miracles. With Miracles having migrated more towards a basic-heavy type deck with Back to Basics it is very likely that this entering the battlefield untapped is something that can happen often. This allows you to set up Counterbalance, fetch and put a Terminus on top of your library to cast, either at instant speed during your opponent's turn with a draw spell or on your turn's draw step. You can also just value-rebuy Force of Will if you need it. This offers many possibilities, and will be an interesting card to test in these shells.

Once Upon a Time

This card is intriguing and almost guaranteed to never see play in anything remotely fair. It finding cards like Tinder Wall or Elvish Spirit Guide/Simian Spirit Guide is pretty solid, and in decks like Manaless Dredge, this finds interaction during opponents' upkeep like Faerie Macabre to hit a Reanimator or a Dredger in addition to being pitchable to Force of Vigor.

Questing Beast

This is an obligatory Nic Fit card for me, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. The biggest thing this card has riding on it is the fact that it lets your entire board swing through unpreventable combat damage (meaning literally every creature you have can likely kill True-Name Nemesis when attacking). Questing Beast also kills a Planeswalker at the same time as putting a clock on the opponent. The fact that it has Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Haste at the same time for 4 CMC is icing on the cake, and I have a feeling I'll see people testing it in these Green Sun's Zenith shells.

Stonecoil Serpent

This card has some intriguing text on it, and in Legacy has the potential to revive the Steel Stompy archetype, since this can be infinitely better than a card like Hangarback Walker. Having Reach and Trample is already pretty groovy, but also having Protection from Multicolored means that it can swing past Baleful Strix, and is a much cheaper mana investment than the XX creatures like Hangarback.

Vantress Gargoyle

This is definitely an interesting card, but how often this card is turned on is going to really define how good it is. Even just being turned on to block is pretty strong for a 2 mana 5/4 flier. I will be curious to follow this card. It might be one of the better aggressive cards in the set.

SCG Syracuse Legacy Open

 
Moving on from Throne of Eldraine we come to talking about some of the recent large Legacy event results, notably SCG Syracuse! This event boasted some interesting lists in the top tables, so let's take a peek at how this broke down.

Top 8 - SCG Syracuse Legacy Open

1. Aiden Brier - 4C Control
2. Blaise Koehler - Storm (ANT)
3. Jonathan Orr - 4C Loam
4. Ed Demicco - U/R Delver
5. Charles Azuelos - Elves
6. Zach Allen - Jeskai Mentor
7. Tariq Patel - Hogaak
8. Cain Rianhard - Naya Loam

This was a great Top 8 to see, especially with the appearances of Elves. Elves as of late has been hit pretty hard by the upswing of Wrenn and Six and Plague Engineer in the format, so it's pretty cool to see it do well here.

In the end it was Aiden Brier who took the event on 4C Control, demolishing Blaise Koehler on Storm in the finals. This was a bit of a rough match to watch for me, as I can greatly appreciate the art and skill it takes to play Storm well, and to see the Game 1 go as it did (with a Kolaghan's Command essentially removing Blaise's path to victory) was very heartbreaking.

The real story of this event however was the rise of Tariq Patel on Hogaak. Mostly adapted from Modern variants, Hogaak is a pseudo combo deck that uses cards such as Stitcher's Supplier and Altar of Dementia to combo off and either mill the opponent out of their deck or make so many Zombie tokens off Bridge from Below that it's impossible for opponents to win.

Hogaak - Tariq Patel | 7th Place - SCG Syracuse

4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
4 Stitcher's Supplier
3 Gravecrawler
4 Vengevine
4 Bloodghast
4 Marsh Flats
4 Hedron Crab
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Bridge from Below
3 Carrion Feeder
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Careful Study
2 Swamp
4 Altar of Dementia
3 Bayou
3 Underground Sea

2 Veil of Summer
3 Force of Vigor
2 Assassin's Trophy
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Duress

This deck is very cool to see, as it is very powerful once it gets off the ground.

While the Top 8 looked pretty decent, the rest of the event showed just how fair Legacy overall has gotten. Delver decks made up a large percentage of the field, and Jeskai Mentor (playing cards like Arcum's Astrolabe) also made up a decent amount of the field. Depths decks were well represented, but the huge target on the back of dedicated Depths strategies is what allowed variants like Naya Loam and 4C Loam to do as well as they did.

In addition, Mystic Forge Combo, Bomberman, and even RUG Infect showed up in Day 2. In fact, Aaron Barich placed 11th on RUG Infect.

RUG Infect - Aaron Barich | 11th Place - SCG Syracuse

1 Waterlogged Grove
2 Wrenn and Six
2 Become Immense
4 Blighted Agent
4 Glistener Elf
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Spell Pierce
2 Vines of Vastwood
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Ponder
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Invigorate
2 Crop Rotation
2 Wasteland
3 Force of Will
1 Pendelhaven
1 Taiga
3 Tropical Island
2 Berserk

3 Veil of Summer
2 Force of Vigor
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dead
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Submerge
1 Force of Will
1 Pyroblast
1 Karakas
1 Blue Elemental Blast

This is a pretty cool list, especially with cards like Wrenn and Six to recur Inkmoth Nexus. Very powerful take on this archetype, for sure.

It was a lot of fun however to see the stream for this event, as watching Legacy on stream always is. Solid commentary by Cedric Phillips and Patrick Sullivan, who always kill it on camera, helped make it great.

Magic Fest Atlanta

 
MF Atlanta was unfortunately, not streamed, so there was essentially no real coverage of the event outside of guerilla Top 8 coverage provided by none other than Anuraag Das, who took it upon himself to live tweet the Top 8 matches play by play as he watched. Big thanks to Anuraag for his service, however I wish that we had been able to watch streaming coverage of this event.

That being said, at the end of the event it was none other than the Master of Legacy Storm himself Cyrus Corman-Gill who took it down. Ending the Swiss rounds at an impressive 13-1-1, Cyrus quickly dominated through the Top 8, facing down RUG Delver in the finals piloted by Austin Blackner.

I don't have to tell you that it was a really powerful moment for Cyrus to win an event like this. Cyrus is one of the most outspoken and information-generous community members and is one of Storm's strongest pilots. I'm also thankful to call him a friend, having met him at SCG Con this past year amidst online correspondence as well. This is a win he really deserved, having worked so hard to obtain. When people mention GP Winners, there are GP Winners, and then there are "GP Winners." Cyrus definitely deserved this, having put in the work and the skill necessary to take this event all the way to the top.

Let's take a look at Cyrus' list:

One of the big important things to note is the presence of the card Veil of Summer in the sideboard. This card is absolutely 1000% impressive, especially in the Storm decks and even moreso in the mirror matches.

Congrats to Cyrus on his accomplishment. It's been a long time coming, and now things can only go up from here.

In addition to Cyrus, the Top 8 of this event (in no particular order) was as follows:

1. Cyrus Corman-Gill - Storm (ANT)
2. Austin Blackner - RUG Delver
3. Ben Stecher - Burn
4. Shin Tomizawa - GB Depths
5. Daniel Espinoza - GB Depths
6. Jarvis Yu - RUG Delver
7. Collin Rountree - Jeskai Mentor
8. Tariq Patel - Hogaak

Again, Tariq Patel continues to impress by placing in such a high profile event with Legacy Hogaak. This deck has legs and it definitely deserves to see more play. Congrats to Tariq on such a high profile finish.

In addition to that, sneaking into the semifinals was Ben Stecher on Legacy Burn!

I have to admit that it is pretty goshdarn cool to see Burn in the semifinals of a Legacy GP. Congrats Ben!

The Spice Corner

 
The Spice Corner this month has a few interesting decklists to look at as always, so let's get right into the thick of things!

First off we have a neat take on BUG Nic Fit, utilizing Snow Basics and Ice-Fang Coatl from Modern Horizons!

BUG Nic Fit - PhReSHTinGZ | 5-0 Legacy League

4 Assassin's Trophy
2 Bayou
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Eternal Witness
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Ice-Fang Coatl
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
3 Thoughtseize
1 Thragtusk
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
2 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Veteran Explorer

2 Duress
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Liliana's Triumph
1 Pernicious Deed
2 Plague Engineer
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Submerge
1 Tireless Tracker

Placing 14th in the SCG Legacy Classic in Syracuse is a deck that refuses to die and now has access to Wrenn and Six in Jund!

Legacy Jund - Dylan Elder | 14th Place SCG Syracuse Legacy Classic

3 Abrupt Decay
1 Assassin's Trophy
2 Badlands
2 Bayou
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Dark Depths
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Elvish Reclaimer
1 Forest
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Hymn to Tourach
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Kolaghan's Command
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Nurturing Peatland
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Swamp
1 Sylvan Library
1 Taiga
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Thespian's Stage
3 Thoughtseize
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Wrenn and Six

1 Ancient Grudge
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Collective Brutality
1 Liliana's Triumph
2 Plague Engineer
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Umezawa's Jitte

Goblins splashing white and blue? Well, yes, for Unsettled Mariner!

Goblins - MarceloSca | 5-0 Legacy League

4 Aether Vial
2 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Badlands
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Chrome Mox
1 Fiery Islet
2 Goblin Chieftain
2 Goblin Cratermaker
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Trashmaster
1 Goblin Warchief
2 Karakas
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Mogg Fanatic
4 Munitions Expert
1 Pashalik Mons
2 Rishadan Port
1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Unsettled Mariner
4 Wasteland

1 Chalice of the Void
2 Damping Sphere
3 Mindbreak Trap
2 Pithing Needle
2 Plague Engineer
2 Pyrokinesis
3 Relic of Progenitus

Finally, Unsettled Mariner makes a secondary Tribal appearance in the form of Meathooks (aka Slivers)

Meathooks - danielnunes | 5-0 Legacy League

4 Aether Vial
3 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Cloudshredder Sliver
4 Crystalline Sliver
4 Force of Will
4 Galerider Sliver
4 Hibernation Sliver
2 Karakas
2 Muscle Sliver
3 Mutavault
1 Plated Sliver
4 Predatory Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Sliver Hive
4 Striking Sliver
4 Unclaimed Territory
2 Unsettled Mariner

3 Chalice of the Void
2 Containment Priest
2 Dismember
2 Force of Negation
2 Harmonic Sliver
4 Leyline of the Void

Wrapping Up

 
That's all the time we have this month folks! Are there any other cards you think I missed in my set review of Throne of Eldraine? Let me know what you think!

At the end of this month is the US Legacy Champs at Eternal Weekend! While I can't make it out to Eternal Weekend this year, rest assured that I will be taking some time next month to talk about this event. It's an exciting time for Legacy, after all!

As always, you can reach me on Twitter, Twitch, and Patreon! If you enjoy what I do, please consider taking a moment to throw me a follow or a sub to help me out! Every little bit helps! I am also always around the Cardsphere and /r/MTGLegacy Discord servers if you'd like to chat!

Until next time, may all your Magic be ETERNAL!