Maybe Delver isn’t quite your speed? Maybe you’re concerned with slowing the game down? Maybe you’d rather be playing some methodical Magic? This week, I’ll show you how to carve your way into arguably the best control deck in Legacy: Miracles.

It’s no secret that Miracles is one of the most historically dominant decks the format has seen. With cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Back to Basics, and Snapcaster Mage, you might think that the deck is too expensive to treat yourself to. Well, with a UR Delver list that we got to last time, it’ll only take around $1,000 and 6 months to get yourself a stock Jeskai Miracles list.

Month 0 – $1,950

Using UR Delver

Our UR Delver list from last time sets ourselves up for a lot of branching out; 3 Color Delver shells, Sneak and Show, and Grixis Death Shadow are just some of the decks you’re able to build into. I don’t think the deck actually costs almost $2,000, but that’s what MTGGoldfish says. It shouldn’t cost you that much unless you’re buying near mint duals and forces and the like, but I’m not going to get into it here, so click this link if you’d like to go back and read how to get here from Burn.

Month 1 – $150-175

Building our Collection

No List Changes

ALSO BUY – 3 Snapcaster Mage

What was Wizards thinking? Snapcaster Mage is one of the most powerful creatures to ever have been printed. He’ll provide any spell in our deck with effectively 3 extra copies, so his utility should not be understated. However, I’ve said no list changes, because Delver decks and Snapcaster decks don’t necessarily breathe the same breath, so I recommend holding off on shoving these in your list until we’re actually ready to sleeve up Miracles.

Also, if you don’t know the story about Snapcaster Mage and the other “Magic Invitational” cards, I suggest you give it a read. It’s really interesting to think that one of the best players in the world could make a busted card if they just played kitchen table formats for 16 rounds.

Month 2 – $150-200

It’s Cold at the Top

No List Changes

ALSO BUY – 1 Tundra

Not much to say here; we don’t have near enough cards yet to play with Tundra, but it’s something we should get as soon as possible. Be ready to shop around for the most damaged version that won’t fall apart, and you’ll save yourself a ton of money.

Month 3 – $175-200

“Are We There Yet?”

+2 Island, +3 Plains, +2 Flooded Strand, +2 Monastery Mentor, +2 Containment Priest, +4 Swords to Plowshares, +2 Counterspell, +2 Predict, +3 Terminus, +4 Accumulated Knowledge, +1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

-2 Bloodstained Mire, -2 Wasteland, -1 Polluted Delta, -2 Mountain, -1 Forked Bolt, -4 Chain Lightning, -3 Stormchaser Mage, -4 Delver of Secrets, -4 Monastery Swiftspear, -2 Soul-Scar Mage, -2 Lightning Bolt, -2 Risk Factor, -1 Tormod’s Crypt, -1 Grafdigger’s Cage

Yes. Yes we are. With these edits, plus the cards that you bought and so patiently haven’t played with yet, you’re now ready to play an Aggro Miracles list. Starting this month, you’ll cantrip all over your opponents using Accumulated Knowledge and Predict, and set up some board control with Swords and Terminus + Jace. However, don’t let the typical Miracle lists fool you; even playing with the Counterspell and Jace isn’t going to do enough for you to win the game by control alone with this group of cards, so you’ll have to rely on riding the coattails of Monastery Mentor and Price of Progress, as well as your sideboard cards in Grim Lavamancer and Sulfuric Vortex to get the job done vs fair decks.

Your only sideboard moves this month are the pair of Containment Priest, and that’s because you can’t use Grafdigger’s Cage and Tormod’s Crypt anymore to help out your Sneak and Show / graveyard matchups.

Month 4 – $175-225

Changing How we Play

+1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +1 Flusterstorm, +2 Counterbalance, +1 Pyroblast, +1 Back to Basics, +1 Council’s Judgement

-1 Lightning Bolt, -3 Price of Progress, -1 Spell Pierce, -2 Pyrostatic Pillar

And with that, we’re only 3 lands away from having our finished mainboard! Playing with Counterbalance means you’re trying to play more hard control, so adding another Jace and some good counterspells in place of your aggro cards will certainly help out this venture – not to mention having an out to hard-to-deal-with cards like True-Name Nemesis in the main, you should feel like you’re playing a more typical Miracles list this month.

Month 5 – $150-200

Another One Bites the Dust

+1 Tundra

-1 Plains

You’re in the home stretch, so this is as good a time as any to tell you why I chose Jeskai Miracles over Pure Blue-White. I did this for two reasons: it’s easier to add one color to a deck than to add one and remove another, and because I think that Counterbalance Miracles is in a pretty good spot at the moment. If you delve deeper into the different types of Miracles, the most impressive version of the deck a few months ago was Back to Basics Miracles, achieving success off the backs of greedy manabases fueled by Deathrite Shaman. However, after DRS got kicked to the curb, it seems the format has slowly started to adapt to Back to Basics. I’m not saying that the card isn’t good, but I’d rather be playing Counterbalance in the main right now.

Month 6 – $100-150

Do You Believe in Miracles?

+2 Flooded Strand, +1 Back to Basics, +2 Wear//Tear, +1 Flusterstorm, +2 Supreme Verdict

-2 Polluted Delta, -1 Grim Lavamancer, -1 Sulfuric Vortex, -1 Price of Progress, -2 Smash to Smithereens, -1 Pyroclasm

There you have it – one of the most feared and revered control decks in the format, sleeved up and ready to go to your next event. The only weird choice here is the mainboard Lightning Bolt. The slot is pretty flex, with options like Portent, Path to Exile, and Spell Snare showing up here. Feel free to cherry pick any one of these, or any sensible 1 mana spell, to sleeve up as your 75th card.

Next time, we’ll tackle some Delver shells, and then we’ll be off to another archetype to build and upgrade towards. What would you like to see us go to? Visit my twitter here to vote on my pinned tweet, or leave your suggestions in the comments.

Also, I never imagined these articles would be so well received; you are helping me spread the word that Legacy isn’t inconceivable to build based on price, so thank you for supporting and sharing.

Daniel Darity

@theking8426