This weekend marks marks the second Star City Games Invitational of the year, which means that all of the Legacy Opens for season two have been played. That means that it’s time, once again, to reflect on the trends in the (North American) Legacy metagame! If you’ve read these articles before, feel free to skip the indented copypasta, below (here are links to other articles where I explained this exercise):
“We will assign each archetype two points for finishing 9th-16th, three points for 5th-8th, four points for 3rd-4th, five points for 2nd, and six points for 1st, then average out the data from the events to arrive at what the expected metagame should look like.”
The method described above was developed by Frank Karsten for analyzing the “winner’s circle” metagame. These results are meant to show the likeliness of seeing a given archetype at the top tables. I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that they can safely forget about the plethora of decks that exist in this great format and assume that they will be playing against nothing but Delver and Show and Tell decks, because it is not uncommon to see some pretty wacky shit in the first couple of rounds (or the later rounds if you have fallen below x-3).
For our data, I aggregated the results from each SCG Legacy Open during the time period we’re looking at.
Ok, results time!
| Archetype | K-Score | Last Season K | Change | T-Score | T/K | |
| 1 | BUG Delver | 10.17% | 5.53% | +4.63% | 9.45% | 0.9294 |
| 1 | RUG Delver | 10.17% | 5.74% | +4.42% | 10.88% | 1.0699 |
| 3 | Miracles | 7.09% | 4.89% | +2.20% | 6.00% | 0.8463 |
| 4 | Esper Deathblade | 6.38% | 5.74% | +0.64% | 6.49% | 1.0174 |
| 5 | Elves | 6.15% | 5.11% | +1.04% | 6.53% | 1.0617 |
| 6 | UWR Delver | 5.91% | 13.19% | -7.28% | 5.29% | 0.8946 |
| 7 | Sneak and Show | 5.44% | 5.53% | -0.09% | 4.97% | 0.9140 |
| 8 | Death and Taxes | 5.20% | 5.32% | -0.12% | 5.68% | 1.0929 |
| 9 | ANT | 3.78% | 3.40% | +0.38% | 3.59% | 0.9487 |
| 10 | BURG Delver | 2.84% | 0.00% | +2.84% | 2.62% | 0.9235 |
| 10 | Shardless BUG | 2.84% | 2.13% | +0.71% | 3.06% | 1.0802 |
| 12 | High Tide | 2.60% | 0.43% | +2.17% | 2.73% | 1.0502 |
| 12 | Rw Painter | 2.60% | 2.34% | +0.26% | 2.73% | 1.0502 |
| 14 | Maverick | 2.36% | 0.64% | +1.73% | 2.60% | 1.1015 |
| 15 | Burn | 2.13% | 0.43% | +1.70% | 2.45% | 1.1493 |
| 16 | Merfolk | 1.89% | 0.00% | +1.89% | 2.22% | 1.1754 |
| 16 | UR Delver | 1.89% | 4.26% | -2.36% | 1.91% | 1.0075 |
| 18 | BUG Control | 1.65% | 0.43% | +1.23% | 1.32% | 0.7964 |
| 18 | Deadguy Ale | 1.65% | 1.28% | +0.38% | 1.52% | 0.9211 |
| 20 | Manaless Dredge | 1.42% | 0.43% | +0.99% | 1.43% | 1.0075 |
| 20 | 12 Post | 1.42% | 0.85% | +0.57% | 1.52% | 1.0746 |
| 20 | Belcher | 1.42% | 2.77% | -1.35% | 1.65% | 1.1642 |
| 20 | Reanimator | 1.42% | 5.53% | -4.11% | 1.52% | 1.0746 |
| 24 | UR Painter | 1.18% | 0.00% | +1.18% | 1.27% | 1.0746 |
| 24 | Esper Stoneblade | 1.18% | 4.26% | -3.07% | 1.51% | 1.2761 |
| 24 | Punishing Jund | 1.18% | 6.60% | -5.41% | 0.98% | 0.8328 |
| 27 | MUD | 0.95% | 0.43% | +0.52% | 0.92% | 0.9739 |
| 27 | Dredge | 0.95% | 0.00% | +0.95% | 1.14% | 1.2090 |
| 27 | Lands | 0.95% | 2.34% | -1.39% | 0.83% | 0.8731 |
| 30 | BUG Natural Order | 0.71% | 0.00% | +0.71% | 0.86% | 1.2090 |
| 30 | UG Infect | 0.71% | 0.85% | -0.14% | 0.86% | 1.2090 |
| 32 | Five-color Delver | 0.47% | 0.00% | +0.47% | 0.51% | 1.0746 |
| 33 | Affinity | 0.47% | 0.00% | +0.47% | 0.35% | 0.7388 |
| 34 | UB Tezzeret | 0.47% | 0.00% | +0.47% | 0.41% | 0.8731 |
| 34 | UWR Stoneblade | 0.47% | 0.00% | +0.47% | 0.32% | 0.6716 |
| 34 | Bant Edric | 0.47% | 0.00% | +0.47% | 0.57% | 1.2090 |
| 34 | TES | 0.47% | 0.43% | +0.05% | 0.35% | 0.7388 |
| 34 | Omni-Tell | 0.47% | 0.43% | +0.05% | 0.38% | 0.8060 |
| 34 | Goblins | 0.47% | 2.55% | -2.08% | 0.57% | 1.2090 |
And after condensing some of these archetypes down to macroarchetypes:
| Archetype | K-Score | Last Season K | Change | T-Score | T/K | |
| 1 | Delver Tempo | 31.44% | 31.70% | -0.26% | 30.64% | 0.9746 |
| 2 | UWx Blade | 8.04% | 8.72% | -0.69% | 8.32% | 1.0351 |
| 3 | Aether Vial Aggro | 7.57% | 5.74% | +1.82% | 8.48% | 1.1208 |
| 4 | Miracles | 7.09% | 4.68% | +2.41% | 6.00% | 0.8463 |
| 5 | Elves | 6.15% | 4.47% | +1.68% | 6.53% | 1.0617 |
| 6 | Show and Tell Combo | 5.91% | 7.02% | -1.11% | 5.35% | 0.9054 |
| 7 | Other | 5.20% | 4.26% | +0.95% | 5.49% | 1.0563 |
| 8 | BUG Midrange | 4.49% | 3.62% | +0.87% | 4.38% | 0.9756 |
| 9 | Storm Combo | 4.26% | 4.26% | +0.00% | 3.94% | 0.9254 |
| 10 | Graveyard Combo | 3.78% | 6.60% | -2.81% | 4.10% | 1.0830 |
| 10 | Painter | 3.78% | 2.98% | +0.80% | 4.00% | 1.0578 |
| 12 | High Tide | 2.60% | 0.43% | +2.17% | 2.73% | 1.0502 |
| 13 | Maverick | 2.36% | 0.43% | +1.94% | 2.60% | 1.1015 |
| 14 | Burn | 2.13% | 0.43% | +1.70% | 2.45% | 1.1493 |
| 15 | Deadguy Ale | 1.65% | 1.49% | +0.17% | 1.52% | 0.9211 |
| 16 | Belcher | 1.42% | 1.49% | -0.07% | 1.65% | 1.1642 |
| 17 | Jund | 1.18% | 5.74% | -4.56% | 0.98% | 0.8328 |
| 18 | Lands | 0.95% | 5.96% | -5.01% | 0.83% | 0.8731 |
What conclusions can we draw from the above two tables? As was the case last season, it’s Delver’s world, and we’re all still just living in it. Interestingly, though, UWR has fallen significantly out of favor, though it seems that those players didn’t quit flipping Delver’s, altogether; as a macro archetype, Delver Tempo is largely unchanged, so it’s almost as though RUG and BUG, finishing in a tie for first, absorbed many of the players who felt the Stoneforge and Delver don’t belong together, anymore. Well.. ok, except that one crazy cat who played FIVE-Color Delver!
Another observation: look at that drop-off on Reanimator! We can hardly call this a surprise, though. Last season, Reanimator, and graveyard-based combo was all the (non-Delver) rage. The thing about graveyard-reliant decks, though, is that when they get good, everyone remembers to bring their hate. Then the graveyard decks begin to succumb to the hate, and players decide that their time would be better-spent bringing a different deck. So then, nobody is playing with their graveyard, anymore, and everyone says to themselves, “Well, I guess it’s safe to leave this hate at home, rather than leave it to uselessly fill my sideboard!” And then people decide that it’s safe to start reanimating again, and the cycle repeats. It appears that Lands may have also taken a beating in the splash-damage, here, as they don’t particularly enjoy cards like Rest in Peace.
Miracles continues to grow in popularity, after its coming-out party at the Grand Prix. While I did not make a distinction between the two, the archetype has splintered into two distinct factions. On one hand, we have the disciples of Joe Lossett, with the legendary creatures and maindeck REBs (though these aren’t universally adopted), and on the other side, we have the Euro lists, which typically run Ponder, more Snapcasters, and often, one less (three) Counterbalance. Perhaps it might be worth distinguishing American vs Euro Miracles, in the future, but I think that there is a bit of cross-pollination, and it could turn into a hairy exercise. RiP-Helm has all but disappeared, outside of the sideboard of one lone Miracles pilot.
High Tide has seen an uptick, but I think that might just be because Feline Longmore, who you might consider as the Joe Lossett of the archetype, has been attending more Opens; she is responsible for three of the archetype’s four showings.
It seems that all but one lonesome Esper Stoneblade player have come to the consensus that putting Deathrite Shaman into the deck is the right idea.
Based on the top three macro archetypes, one could reasonably conclude that the key cards to the format are Delver, Deathrite, Stoneforge, Force of Will, and Wasteland. Oh, and Brainstorm.
And now for a few lists that caught my eye that I thought were spicy/unique, or just old/underrepresented archetypes that everyone might not be totally aware exists! With the exception of two, these all come from the “other” category of macro archetypes.
Affinity
by Matt Johnston
Result: 11th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 4/6/2014
| Creatures (26) 4 Arcbound Ravager 4 Frogmite 3 Master of Etherium 4 Memnite 4 Vault Skirge 2 Atog 3 Disciple of the Vault 2 Stoneforge Mystic | Lands (15) 3 Ancient Den 4 Great Furnace 4 Seat of the Synod 4 Vault of Whispers Spells (19) 3 Aether Vial 3 Cranial Plating 3 Springleaf Drum 2 Fling 3 Mox Opal 1 Umezawa’s Jitte 4 Thoughtcast Sideboard (15) 1 Cranial Plating 1 Pithing Needle 3 Thorn of Amethyst 2 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Ethersworn Canonist 2 Ashen Rider 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mindbreak Trap 1 Ravenous Trap 2 Surgical Extraction |
Have you always wished you could play Legacy, but thought you couldn’t afford it? Do you have a Modern Affinity deck? Guess what? With a few easy updates, you can play the greatest format ever! Admittedly, I thought I was going to be looking at a somewhat different list as I copy-pasted this. There is another version that I like more that runs Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, where you often have an extremely large (read: lethal) ultimate, just one turn after he hits the table. This version has added Stoneforge to find your Cranial Platings (or Jitte), along with the combo of Disciple of the Vault + sac outlet (along with Ravager, we get good old Atog; style points for that!), which can quickly drain your opponent out. You may think to yourself that this is a pretty flimsy strategy that can easily be hated out, and you wouldn’t be incorrect, but the thing is, this deck is so sparsely played, that you will rarely run into the correct hate; it’s not like Modern, where the little robots have a giant target on them.
BUG Natural Order
by Eli Kassis
Result: 8th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 5/25/2014
Apologies to my roommate, Charles, who lost an on-camera win-and-in to this list, to the most insane series of topdecks ever, but I just had to highlight this spiciness. Shardless BUG has long since taught us the value of the Planechase creatures. This list combines them with a few great utility creatures, and ties the whole thing together with the potential to combo kill. Add in a number of disruptive elements, in the form of discard and countermagic, and you have yourself a pretty solid deck. Wanna know what I love about this deck that the other popular Natural Order deck in the format lacks? Brainstorm. For those that watched the finals of last weekend’s Legacy opening, with the Elves player getting stuck with Progenitus in his opening grip, you know what I’m talking about. Oh, one other thing that I didn’t mention: Edric. But more on him, later!
Bant Edric (Noble Fish)
by Matthew Szabo
Result: 9th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 5/25/2014
MTGO players (and watchers) will quickly recognize this as Bahra’s Noble Fish deck. I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of playing against it in the finals of a Daily a few weeks back, and I can attest that it is quite a powerful little number. Edric is absolutely terrifying every time he comes down. The list has eight evasive creatures that play well with him. Two True-Names are obvious choices, but the other six are split between four Judge’s Familiar and two Looter il-Kor. Talk about going deep! The list also runs the Daze–Wasteland disruption package to keep the opponent’s game small.
UB Tezzeret
Peter Zhang
11th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 4/20/2014
Joe Lossett may best be known for Miracles, but earlier this year, he spent some time working on the existing Tezzerator archetype. The major characteristics of his list that many of the Tezz lists of the time were not running included BIG Tezz (the Seeker) and Transmute Artifact. For comparison to a more traditional Tezz list, see Dylan Hiester’s brilliant report from Denver. Having played this list, myself, I can attest that it is a TON of fun. I would say that about a list where you get to play Jaces and Tezzes on turn two, though. Those familiar with my disdain for creatures would also expect me to love a list like this, where you get to brickwall the opposition with Ensnaring Bridge and Strix.
Painted Stone
Arthur Reynolds
2nd Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 5/11/2014
| Creatures (8) 4 Painter’s Servant 4 Goblin Welder | Lands (21) 3 Great Furnace 4 Seat of the Synod 1 Island 1 Mountain 4 Ancient Tomb 1 Arid Mesa 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Volcanic Island Spells (31) 4 Grindstone 1 Lion’s Eye Diamond 1 Sensei’s Divining Top 1 Tormod’s Crypt 4 Brainstorm 2 Flusterstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Intuition 2 Pyroblast 4 Red Elemental Blast 3 Mox Opal 1 Transmute Artifact Sideboard (15) 1 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Tormod’s Crypt 2 Chain of Vapor 3 Misdirection 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Swan Song 3 Llawan, Cephalid Empress |
In recent memory, the Painter deck to enjoy the most success has been the Mono-Red (which have recently adopted a white splash) Blood Moon variety, but once upon a time, UR Painter was the most popular variant. I just wanted to highlight this as an alternative way to mill out someone’s library. While you lose the ability to have a solid beatdown plan with a bunch of pesky one and two-power dudes swinging under a Moon, you can set up your combo-kill with greater consistency. In addition to four copies of each combo piece, with an active Welder on board, Intuition can put the whole combo together.
5-color Deathblade
Travis Bryant
15th Place at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open on 5/11/2014
| Creatures (14) 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Delver of Secrets 2 Snapcaster Mage 3 Stoneforge Mystic 1 True-Name Nemesis | Lands (19) 4 Flooded Strand 4 Polluted Delta 1 Tropical Island 2 Tundra 2 Underground Sea 2 Volcanic Island 4 Wasteland Spells (27) 1 Batterskull 1 Sword of Fire and Ice 4 Brainstorm 3 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Spell Pierce 3 Stifle 2 Swords to Plowshares 3 Ponder Sideboard (15) 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Grim Lavamancer 1 Ancient Grudge 2 Blue Elemental Blast 1 Fire 1 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Spell Pierce 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Swords to Plowshares 1 Umezawa’s Jitte |
Somewhere, some crazy person was sitting there, thinking to themselves, “You know, Esper Deathblade and BURG Delver aren’t quite as greedy as I want to be,” and that’s how the above list came to be. At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself. On closer inspection, it appears that Travis fused BURG Delver and UWR Delver, replacing the Pyromancer package of the latter with the Stoneblade package (and a pair of Plows) of the former. I know the last thing we need is more Delver decks, but this is a pretty cool spin on the archetype!