This Week in Legacy: The Best Deck in Legacy

by Ewlandon // Aug 23, 2019

After a few weeks of seeing patterns and results it is becoming more and more clear that the Legacy metagame has finally settled into a place that I feel comfortable discussing what is actually good and potentially the best deck in Legacy. That being said, there is not a best deck in Legacy. However, there are decks that are the best for different archetypes or game plans.



Combo: Reanimator

I would have probably said that Reanimator was the best combo deck at any point in the last two years but I think it is finally positioned in a place that not many people would disagree with me. We are seeing Reanimator finally putting up consistent results each week including two copies in the Star City Games Team Open this week and one in the MTGO Challenge.

I must note this is not exactly how I would build the deck, however, it would be disingenuous to not use the list that put up the best results in a large tournament this week. The core of any Black-Red Reanimator deck is based on comboing out a Griselbrand very early, then using the card draw to bury your opponent with discard and a wall of unbeatable creatures. The deck is incredibly consistent and fast but has a very difficult time against certain cards that interact with the graveyard.

There are four missing Rotting Regisaur from this sideboard which I assume are there as a way to beat Leyline of the Void, one of the most difficult graveyard hate cards for Reanimator to beat. I've always overloaded on cards that destroy Leyline of the Void rather than playing a plan-B. I would be interested to hear from Collins Mullen how this 3-mana dinosaur fared against those pesky Leylines.

Tempo: RUG Delver

Due to the power of Wrenn and Six it has become apparent that Delver of Secrets decks should be playing the 2-mana planeswalker. RUG colors are not missing too many tools that the 4-color decks had but they have a much more stable manabase. I know a lot of people have been tuning the deck and I think the best build is still unknown. It was no surprise to me to see that Noah Walker found himself in the Top 8 of the Star City Games Team Open with RUG Delver.

This deck does Delver of Secrets tempo stuff very well despite playing lots of 2-mana threats. Daze, Spell Snare, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, Force of Negation, and Wasteland all do an excellent job of creating tempo to help Delver of Secrets put unreal pressure on the opponent. The 2-mana threats, Wrenn and Six, Tarmogoyf, and Dreadhorde Arcanist, are all so incredibly powerful that Delver of Secrets doesn't need to cross the finish line in order to win most games.

I expect to see this deck continue to evolve but likely is the best Delver strategy going forward.

Prison: Mono-Red Stompy

This deck not only has access to an additional "prison" card with its Blood Moon effects, it also leverages its Chalice of the void draws with the ability to put an incredible amount of pressure on the opponent.

As we have seen over the past few weeks, there are many different threat packages available to Mono-Red prison. The fact that the deck can so easily adapt its threats while still leveraging Blood Moon and Chalice of the Void makes it even more potent. The thing that makes this deck the most powerful prison deck in Legacy right now is that those threats and "prison" pieces line up very well against RUG Delver and Reanimator.

Control: Blue-White Stoneblade

Ok, I guess I do not think people should be playing control decks in Legacy right now. That being said, I think mid-range Blue-White Stoneblade is the best deck that will take the control roll in most match ups.

The reason this deck will often take the control roll is due to its plethora of counter magic and removal. Planeswalkers and Stoneforge Mystic ensure they do not fall behind on card advantage. The reason it is the best at this roll right now is because it can also be proactive when it needs to. It has incredibly strong cards against RUG Delver, Reanimator, and Golgari-Dark Depths, which is the final deck I will discuss. It is also very good at ignoring most of the "prison" aspects of Mono-Red Stompy.

Delver decks have a very hard time with Stoneforge Mystic equipment. Blue-White Blade has such a dense package of removal and counters that it can get to the part of the game where Stoneforge Mystic takes over.

Against Reanimator, the density of counters can help leverage sideboard cards and other difficult cards for Reanimator, such as Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Narset, Parter of Veils.

For Mono-Red Stompy, Blue-White Blade plays so many basic lands and threats that largely ignore Chalice of the Void. Also, with access to answers to almost every threat Mono-Red might cast, Blue-White Blade is one deck that Mono-Red would love to avoid.

Jund-Style Attrition: Golgari Depths

This deck might be considered a combo deck but I have decided to put it in its own category because it appears to be one of the best decks in the format right now and it isn't your typical combo deck.

With seven discard spells and four Abrupt Decay, along with its ability to win with nothing but lands, this deck does a really good job at playing the attrition role that JUND decks are known for.

JUND decks would often use discard spells and removal to get into a position where both players need to top deck in order to make game actions. JUND would then use lands such as Raging Ravine to attack life totals as both players are looking for something off the top. It would also use cards like Dark Confidant and Bloodbraid Elf to help with card advantage in this attrition plan. This game plan tends to be too slow to be effective in Legacy.

Golgari Depths uses their lands to create a one-shot kill with Merit Lage. This gives the deck its combo aspect and its ability to play two roles since sometimes the deck simply creates the 20/20 attacker so quickly that it wins without really needing to attrition the opponent.

So, call it a JUND deck or call it a combo deck, this is the best deck in Legacy if you want to play Dark Confidant and lots of discard spells.

Sorry none of the tribes get any love this week. I think most are still playable but in the current Legacy metagame none of them are positioned to be the best choice.

Eric Landon, or “ewlandon,” is a long-time Magic and Legacy enthusiast. He is a full-time Magic streamer and Mythic Championship hopeful (hopeful to qualify someday).

You can find his schedule on https://twitter.com/Ewlandon1 or catch him live on Twitch at twitch.tv/ewlandon. He is also a co-host of Everyday Eternal, a regular Legacy podcast that can be found on most podcast platforms.