I've always had a fascination with decks that were a little off the beaten path. Not to say I haven't played my fair share of tier one decks, because I have. I took Splinter Twin into the Modern Festival this Summer and I even got my start in Legacy with UWR Delver back when it sailed to the very tippy top with the help from Treasure Cruise. But lately my attention has been devoted to the lesser played, lesser known archetypes. I feel there is a huge advantage in playing these underdogs, too.

When I speak of these dark horses I am mostly referring to what I call "Wasteland" type decks. Sure, a ton of decks in Legacy run Wasteland so maybe I should call them something different. Maybe "Chalice" decks, even though BUG Delver doesn't actually have any Chalice of the Void in it?

I digress. The point I'm trying to make is if someone asked me today, right here right now, what deck they should play in a daily event, I would tell them to choose a Wasteland deck. If they have a hankering to Force opponents' spells and Brainstorm their way to victory then my answer would be BUG Delver. If they would rather punish blue decks then I'd suggest Sylvan Plug. Nothing screams, "I hate blue!" more than Plug. Seriously, I can't recommend this deck enough. As long as you enjoy denying opponents their one mana cantrips and Islands, Sylvan Plug should be right up your alley!

There are a lot of reasons why I believe playing the underdog is a good strategy. For one, opponents aren't as prepared for you as they are against the tier one decks. Flying under their radar means you don't have to deal with hate cards post-sideboard. There are some rare instances where a sideboard card meant for one deck can also pull double duty and be used against you, as well. One such flexible card that comes to mind is Pithing Needle, but there's no getting around that so forget about it. The second main reason why I recommend playing the underdog is the free wins you can steal. Turn one Chalice of the Void is the real deal and so is a turn one Thoughtseize. I cannot recall how many games I snuck away with because of Chalice or a main deck Choke. In a format like Legacy, where the majority is playing blue, you won't find many instances where Choke is a dead card sitting in your hand.

The best underrated decks are MUD, Sylvan Plug, and BUG Delver. The first two are great at locking your opponent out. Wasteland and Trinisphere can provide you with a soft lock while the heavy hitters, Choke and Chalice of the Void, will completely shut them out of the game. In fact, both MUD and Plug have many ways of sustaining a lock. Thanks to the power of Kuldotha Forgemaster we can retrieve just about anything in MUD's library given the particular situation you may find yourself in. If they're relying on defeating you with things like burn spells and Delvers then Platinum Emperion can really throw a wrench in their works. Also a spicy card to search for against decks like OmniTell or Reanimator is Ensnaring Bridge. Sylvan Plug can really use anything because it's a deck that's chock full of situational spells, from Karakas and Deathrite Shaman to the neat little combo consisting of Spike Weaver + Kalonian Hydra.

BUG Delver is a 180° from Plug and MUD. It does not try to lock opponents out of the game. But that doesn't mean it can't sometimes. It has plenty of cards in its sideboard that can shut some rivals out. Grafdigger's Cage for those players who love to play the necromancer, an Illness in the Ranks for people relying on their Young Pyromancers or Monastery Mentors to see them across the finish line, a single Arcane Laboratory against ANT and even OmniTell, and two Pithing Needles thrown in the side for good measure.

BUG Delver attempts to achieve victory through tempo, counters, and a sprinkling of discard spells. Instead of locking them out with enchantments and artifacts it tries to put them in top-deck mode with Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, and sometimes Liliana of the Veil. This may not seem as potent as Grixis decks that harness the power of Cabal Therapy and Gitaxian Probe but it will still get you there. It also does a good job countering their rushed removal for your Delver of Secrets with Daze and Spell Pierce. Sometimes I even think I hurt the decks over all game plan when I replaced Liliana of the Veil for Dig Through Time. I'm thinking I should tinker a little bit with the sideboard and try to find a spot for her somewhere in there.

Playing the underdog can be risky and some of these fringe decks just won't cut it. I like steering clear of decks that may not be tier one but can still get hated out because everyone seems to have answers for it. Reanimator is one such deck. Sure, the free wins are there to snatch up but it's too much of a glass cannon for my taste. I tested it out in a couple dailies and I could never get away from the graveyard hate. It's very similar to Burn and Affinity in Modern. No matter how popular/unpopular those decks are in a given metagame, nobody is dumb enough to eschew their lifegain and artifact destruction from their sideboard. The same is true for graveyard shenanigans in Legacy. Dredge is hardly played Online but everyone knows they can't beat it unless they're packing some spells that deal with graveyards. Unfortunately, the same things that destroy Dredge can also destroy Reanimator. For your opponent, it's like killing two birds with one stone. They can deal with two different archetypes (three if you count Cabal Therapy type decks) with the same exact spells while also saving space in their sideboard for other things. And for you, it's just bad news.

BUG Delver Vs. Jeskai Stoneblade

Not much to say about this match. A pretty straight forward one if you ask me. I believe I played it pretty well without any mistakes. One thing I do want to note is how devastating Blood Moon is against BUG Delver. Holy Moly is it good. My biggest gripe about BUG is definitely its manabase. Not only will you find yourself in some awkward situations concerning Hymn to Tourach when all you have to work with is Tropical Island and Underground Sea with no fetchlands or Deathrite Shaman to be seen, but not running any basics makes you a prime target for decks running Blood Moon and Wasteland. It would be nice if we could jam a couple basics in here but our spells are very greedy and I just don't think it would be possible.

Sylvan Plug Vs. Infect

This is exactly why Mox Diamond is part of Sylvan Plug's arsenal. It not only does a terrific job of mana fixing, it also allows a turn one Chalice of the Void, completely shutting out some decks before they even get a chance to do anything on their first turn, as you witnessed in game one of this match. I did make some errors, such as double blocking Glistener Elf when his play was right in front of me. I've seen Pendelhaven before, I've even played with it in my Edric, Spymaster of Trest Commander deck. I've seen it so many times I actually quit reading what it does, which was my downfall. My mind was set that it only buffed a 1/1 for +1/+1 and during that game you could not have convinced me otherwise. Even though the mistake didn't really hurt me and it didn't change the outcome of the match, it's still a valuable lesson. Before making a play, double check and be 100% positive that nothing within your control will backfire on you. Sometimes ignoring things that you can't play around is smart, but I didn't have to double block when Pendelhaven was staring back at me, begging to be zoomed in upon.

Sylvan Plug Vs. RUG Delver

This is my favorite match to watch out of this current batch of videos. My opponent really didn't stand much of a chance it seemed, and he fell right into the classic trap of being ambushed by a Dryad Arbor via fetch. Here's a question for you. Should you always play around the Dryad or just when you see a basic Forest along with a Verdant Catacombs or Windswept Heath? After all, how many decks run basic Forests and how many of those same decks also run Dryad Arbor? Honestly, I don't know, but I'd wager it's more than you would think. However, what I do know is that if my only out to winning is Nimble Mongoose and he is currently a 1/1, I would've played a little more cautiously. At least until I got threshold online, which would've happened eventually.

MUD Vs. ANT

Now, I know I've seen MentalMisstep before but I can't remember if it was in Vintage or just another Legacy event. I'm guessing with a name like that it's more than likely the former. Anyways, a fine match. I love playing against an absurd deck like ANT when I'm playing one of these underdog type decks because all three can dominate against combo. MUD and Plug with Chalice, Lodestone Golem, Trinisphere, and BUG Delver with its multitude of discard spells, counters, and Arcane Laboratory. I mean, c'mon, when their deck is fully capable of winning on turn two I don't feel bad when I lock them out on turn one then proceed to grind them into the dirt with the big baddie Golem.