Legacy has several wonderful fringe decks that I feel like just don’t see enough play. While everyone is familiar with most of the delver variants, Shardless Bug, and Miracles; there many other decks that you probably rarely ever see. Today I want to introduce you to a few of these decks—some of my old favorites—and help find them a new home.
Dead Guy Ale
Do you like death and taxes but the idea of playing a mono-white deck bores you? Dead Guy Ale is your deck. The deck is a JUNK variant of the traditional build also running great cards such as Tidehollow Sculler and Abrupt Decay alongside traditional death and taxes pieces like Stoneforge Mystic and Wasteland. I played the deck for a few months after I decided it was time to give Mudpost a break and it was a wonderful transition deck for me. The deck is challenging and interactive without being overwhelming to a player who isn’t used to playing that style.
Jund
You know what’s better than casting Tamogoyf? Casting Tarmogyf for free. Jund is a deck that sees a lot of Modern play but not very much Legacy play. Legacy gives Jund a lot of fun toys, however, including Bloodbraid Elf and Deathrite Shaman. I love this deck for the same reason I love it in Modern: it’s a combo of great removal and strong creatures. Who can say no to that?
Affinity
Speaking of decks that are great in Modern but don’t see much Legacy play, I love Affinity. It was the first deck that I ever played when I finally showed up to Legacy—and it was the deck that I was playing when I met Aaron, who played Astral Slide. The deck tries to aggro out their opponent by dropping a lot of small cheap artifact creatures and then playing Cranial Plating and Master of Etherium to go big. Then there is Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas to finish out the game when the ground gets stalled. I love the aggro style of this deck and am sad it doesn’t see more play.
Stax
This deck is a beast to play against no matter which one of the many variants you’re facing. It uses high powered cards—Smokestack, Chains of Mephistopheles, Moat, and Tanglewire—to keep the opponent locked down. The deck can be a challenge to play against since it’s really about locking your opponent out until you can do something. Aaron plays this deck occasionally and I really enjoy watching it.
Mudpost
Last but not least, my great love, Mudpost. There are SO many different variations of this deck that are all drastically different. It really breaks my heart that more people aren’t interested in this deck. Nothing feels better than casting a Metalworker turn one and following it up with a big stompy creature such as a Wurmcoil Engine, a Sundering Titan or a Myr Battlesphere. The deck is underloved and I hope to see more people playing it in the future.
None of these decks are going to instantly start making top 8s anytime soon but I enjoy them all immensely. Lately no matter where I play I feel like I’m playing against the exact same four or five lists and it gets old. I know it’s not easy to be able to switch up Legacy decks but I’m surprised by how many people netdeck in a format with so many options. I hope at least one of you becomes interested in one of these great decks. Let me know if you pick one of them up!
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH or Standard if she’s desperate.