Legacy Deck Tech: Revamped Enchantress

Video about Legacy Enchantress Deck!

Top Legacy Decks at Worlds 2007

These decks finished with records of 4-1 or better during the Legacy format of the 2007 World Championships.

Top Legacy Decks

Legacy Format Analysis and Breakdown at Worlds

Much has been said about the addition of Legacy to the Worlds competition formats this year. Were the pros going to take things seriously? Would they create some new decks unseen before on the competitive circuit? Would they take the lazy road and simply spruce up an Extended deck, or scramble for whatever they could find on site? The answer, as it turned out, was a little bit of all of the above. Let's take a look at how the archetypes broke down on the day:

Threshold: 76
Goblins: 34
Cephalid Breakfast: 26
Landstill: 24
Dredge: 24
PT Junk: 16
Charbelcher: 15
Survival: 14
Stax: 14
Dragon Stompy: 11
Affinity: 11
38-43 Lands: 9
White-Blue-Black: 8
Aggro Loam: 7
Enchantress: 7
Solidarity: 6
Black-White: 6
3Deuce: 6
Counter Goyf: 5
Black-Blue-Green: 5
Slivers / Meathooks: 3
Black Splash Green: 3
Aluren: 3
Monoblack Aggro: 2
Mono-Blue Control: 2
The Perfect Storm: 2
Iggy Pop: 2
Rifter: 2
White Weenie: 1
Life: 1
StifleNaught: 1
Sea Stompy: 1
Stompy: 1
Other: 10

Threshold overwhelmingly fielded the most players for the five rounds of Friday play though there were hardly two identical versions of the deck to be found. Some players ran traditional blue-green builds, eschewing splashes to solidify their manabase and protect it from Wasteland. Others opted to splash white for things like Mystic Enforcer, Swords to Plowshares, and Meddling Mage and still others opted to use red for Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice.

Not surprisingly, Goblins played second fiddle to the eponymous Tarmogoyf decks, fielding 34 players. The boggart precursors have been a mainstay on the Legacy circuit for some time and saw some professional success earlier this season when Owen Turtenwald used them to place second at the Legacy Grand Prix in Columbus in May. Of course there has been an important change in the format since then: Tarmogoyf has entered the arena, and with it the dominance of Goblins has tapered off somewhat. Even Turtenwald was concerned about the deck's Threshold matchup, opting to run Affinity for the weekend.

While Grand Prix–Columbus is the only other professional-level Legacy tournament we have to look at for results this year, it seems the Legacy Championships at GenCon–Indianapolis actually had the most impact on the current format, almost certainly due to the fact Columbus was played before the Mirage rare Flash was banned. The innovation from the GenCon Top 8 seen most often throughout the weekend was the combination of Sensei's Divining Top and Counterbalance. Because of the aggressive nature of the format, decks must interact on the first, second, and third turns or face being irrelevant. Because of that fact many decks feature a high concentration of cards with the same converted mana cost, and a Top keeping rotating one-, two-, and three-drops on a player's deck with Counterbalance in play can completely lock out an opponent.

Of course, that's not the only impact from the GenCon championships. You may recall the Cephalid Breakfast list young Jesse Hatfield marched to the Top 8 of that event; while the archetype was a known entity going into that tournament Jesse was the player who managed to have the most success with it, and apparently the professional community took note. A surprising 26 copies of the deck showed up to play for World Championships fame and glory, making it the third most popular archetype on the weekend.

That's not to say the pros weren't up for innovating a bit themselves. A contingent of French players showed up with a mono-red deck intent on making big plays via Moxes and two-mana lands like Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, usually in the form of disruptive spells like Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void, or either Blood Moon effect (Magus of and the original enchantment) before powering into larger threats like Arc-Slogger. They even utilized rituals like Seething Song to make sure their overpowered cards hit the table quickly.

Olivier Ruel’s Dragon Stompy
Main Deck
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
11 Mountain
4 Arc-Slogger
4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
3 Seething Song
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Trinisphere
3 Umezawa's Jitte
21 other spells
Sideboard
4 Powder Keg
3 Pyroblast
1 Pyrokinesis
2 Rorix Bladewing
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Trinisphere

On the other side of the Atlantic the American grouping of Gabe Walls and Mike Hron were busy at work on a deck of their own design, though they weren't using Mountains in it. Instead they set out to abuse the recently unbanned Replenish with the plethora of enchantments available in the format. City of Solitude could shut off their opponent's counterspells, Ground Seal could severely disrupt strategies based on abusing the graveyard, and Elephant Grass, Moat, and Solitary Confinement disrupted creature strategies.

Gabe Walls Enchantress
Main Deck
1 Bayou
7 Forest
3 Plains
3 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Serra's Sanctum
1 Taiga
4 Windswept Heath
4 Argothian Enchantress
1 Aura of Silence
3 City of Solitude
4 Elephant Grass
4 Enchantress's Presence
2 Exploration
2 Ground Seal
2 Moat
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Replenish
1 Sacred Ground
1 Sacred Mesa
2 Solitary Confinement
3 Sterling Grove
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Words of War
Sideboard
3 Choke
1 City of Solitude
2 Karmic Justice
2 Krosan Grip
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Thoughtseize

While initially met with grumbles from the pros used to playing only Extended and Block Constructed formats at Worlds, Legacy turned out to be a great format for the event. Players buckled down to find edges just as they do for other formats and their innovations are sure to be felt in the Legacy community at large. Will we see a return to the format at next year's World Championships? You'll have to check back in to magicthegathering.com in twelve months to find out...

by Bill Start wizards.com

Legacy Tournament Top 3

Metagame:
Aggro Decks
4 Faerie Stompy
3 RW Goblins
3 Burn
2 Goyf Sligh
Aggro Loam
Tribal Zoo
Death & Taxes
Berserk Stompy
RG Land Destruction
RB Chalice Aggro feat. Wildfire
UGR StifleNought (aggroish build)
Dragon Stompy

AggroControll Decks
3 Baseruption (aka "Tarmobalance")
2 Gbw Survival
2 GWB Rock-ish
UGR Threshold
UG Threshold
RGB Survival Advantage
4c Sliver Survival
4c Countersliver
Deadguy Ale
Land Ho! (Assault/Loam)

Controll Decks
2 UB StifleNought (1 feat. Hunted Horror)
UW Landstill
Mighty Quinn (Mono-White Control)
Enchantress
43land
Rifter
UW Trinket Fish
Mono-U Control
Angel Stax

Combo Decks
2 Aluren
Cephalid Breakfast
Iggy Pop ("Fetchland Tendrils")
Ichorid
CRET Belcher
Glimpse/Kobolds

Top1:
URG GroGoyf
Main Deck:
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
3 Wasteland
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Nimble Mongoose
2 Quirion Dryad
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Tarfire
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
3 Mental Note
4 Ponder
3 Spell Snare
2 Stifle
1 Divert
Sideboard:
2 Divert
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Krosan Grip
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Red Elemental Blast

Top2:
TarmoBalance
Main Deck:
4 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
4 Meddling Mage
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Counterbalance
4 Daze
4 Swords to Plowshares
Sideboard:
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Vindicate
2 Vedalken Shackles
3 Extirpate
4 Pithing Needle

Top3:
UW Landstill
Main Deck:
1 Academy Ruins
4 Plains
4 Island
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Flooded Strand
1 Wasteland
4 Tundra
1 Ajani Goldmane
4 Standstill
3 Wrath of God
3 Stifle
2 Decree of Justice
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Leak
2 Fact or Fiction
2 Humility
1 Pulse of the Fields
2 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Crucible of Worlds
Sideboard:
1 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Orim's Chant
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Tormod's Crypt
4 Pithing Needle
1 Stifle
1 Wasteland

Reanimating the reanimated re-animator By Geoffrey Sheldon-Anderson

Kye has thrown down the gauntlet. So here I am the worst possible person to write an article picking it up and slapping him back in the face with it. That will teach him for throwing down a chain mail glove Any way I thought about what kind of article I should write and I decided to do one of those deck primer articles, with a difference. So anyway enough of me babbling on in the boring and inane intro, time for the boring and inane primer.


The evil ones mono black re-animator

(Who didn’t see that coming?)


Well lets start of with the deck list shall we or maybe not, maybe you should just guess the deck list and try and figure out what I run and you know what it would just be easier to post the deck list.



12 Swamp
4 Tainted Field
2 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Peat Bog
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

21 Land

2 Undead Gladiator
1 Akroma, Angle of Wrath
1 Angel of Despair
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Bringer of the Black Dawn
1 Laquatas' Champion
1 Razia, Boros Archangel
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Visara the Dreadful

10 Creatures

4 Buried Alive
4 Dark Ritual
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Exhume
4 Zombify
3 Dimir Machinations
3 Funeral Charm
3 Shred Memory

29 Other spells


Now I guess its time to explain the card choices. I warn you all now this is very in depth stuff.


LAND

SWAMP
See told you I was going in depth. Anyway swamp taps for black enough said.


TAINTED FIELD

Ahh, the first questionable card choice. Well if you don’t see the synergy with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth then get your seeing eye dog to lead you to it. Also helpful for those stalled games were a stupid leyline of the void is in play. How you ask? Well it allows me to play some of my big bombs like Akroma and AoD.


TERRAMORPHIC EXPANSE

Hmmm why would I have this in a mono coloured deck? Could it be used to thin the deck out, I think it might just do that.


PEAT BOG

This was in here since the first build and I just can’t think of anything I would rather have in that land slot.


SHIZO, DEATH’S STOREHOUSE

Fear on Akroma, need I say more?


URBORG, TOMB OF YAWGMOTH

It’s got Yawgmoth in the name so you know it’s good. Also allows expanses to tap for mana which is always good


CREATURES

UNDEAD GLADIATOR

What can’t this glass cannon do? He beats for 3 draws me cards and is a discard outlet to boot. He just screams draw more cards then your opponent whilst filling your graveyard.


AKROMA, ANGEL OF WRATH

Flying, First Strike, Trample, Haste, Protection from Red, Protection from Black, Attacking does not cause Akroma, Angel of Wrath to tap. 6/6. There needs be no more said on the topic.


ANGEL OF DESPAIR

A 5/5 flyer that vindicates when it hits the board hell yeah!


BOGARDAN HELLKITE

A 5/5 flyer that shoots 5 damage into the face of something or someone. Seems like a good choice to me.


BRINGER OF THE BLACK DAWN

I am starting to get a little tired of the ground pounder. Even with the vampiric tutor every upkeep, it’s starting to feel a little tired.


LAQUATAS’ CHAMPION

6/3 regenerator that says When I enter play kill me instantly or you lose.


RAZIA, BOROS ARCHANGEL

Another 6/3 but this one happens to have haste, vigilance, flying, and a nice little redirection ability to throw off the opponents combat math.


SIMIC SKY SWALLOWER

6/6 flying trampling Sean Connery from the untouchables. Only massive firepower can drop him.


VISARA THE DREADFUL

Another 5/5 flyer, this time we are looking at a continuous creature killing machine.


OTHER SPELLS

BURIED ALIVE

Deck Thinning I hear can be good; it allows me to have a better chance of drawing something good. Not to mention putting 3 big beaters into the graveyard is a good thing in this deck.


DARK RITUAL

Lets do the math here B = BBB. Anyone who did maths in primary school knows that doesn’t work. But I'm not going to be telling wizards that there math skills need improvement.


DIABOLIC EDICT

Target player SACRIFICES a creature. Very important for those annoying times when somehow, just somehow there is a darksteel colossus on the other side of the board.


EXHUME

2 mana for a completely unbalanced reanimation spell for both people. Assuming they have a creature in the yard in the first place.


ZOMBIFY

Yeah it sucks and needs to be replaced with necromancy.


DIMIR MACHINATIONS

3 CC + Transmute = Tutor for Buried Alive and Necromancy (when I get them)


FUNERAL CHARM

This is actually an interesting card in my book. 1 mana for instant speed discard is good not to mention the fact that it also works as a kill spell or a pump spell or as a way of giving evasion.


SHRED MEMORY

2 CC transmuter so I can get exhume and edict also comes in handy when dealing with another deck that likes the yard or if you just had to go and put a decent creature in the yard.


MOVING ON

Ok so now that we have covered the card choices maybe we should do some more primer type things like match breakdowns or something.

Actually no we won’t. Instead of telling you why you would play this I will instead tell you when to play this.

Re-animator is the kind of deck that can be good in the right hands and environment. It needs a player who knows how to exploit the interactions in the deck to his advantage. Not to mention this won’t be winning any major tournaments any time soon. This is the kind of deck you take to place where most of the power cards in legacy are owned by only one or two people. Where the chances of facing them in the first 2 or 3 rounds is small. Against an environment where everyone is running Force of Will and other powerful cards forget this and run something with more bite. This is just a fun deck that happens to have won most of the tourneys it’s been played in.

One thing about re-animator that you need to know is what makes a keepable hand. 2 land minimum and a reanimation spell is keepable. Don’t bother with any other hand unless it has 4 Dark Ritual, 2 land, Shred Memory and Dimir Machinations. Even then I would not keep that hand. And seeing as how that is 8 cards I don’t see anyone getting that opening hand anyway.

Now once you have your opening hand this is how the deck works. Bury Akroma, Razia and Hellkite first. Then reanimate Akroma and smash. If they kill her then bring out Razia. If they don’t bring back Hellkite and deal that last bit of damage without having to enter combat. I have actually had a couple of games where I have managed to kill 3rd turn beause of an awesome opening hand. Some of them have been first turn Akroma 3rd turn Hellkite and some have been 2nd turn Akroma and Razia. That’s not to say that will happen every game but it does occasionally happen.

Now at this point I bet you are all thinking why should we care? Well my eternal rating is probably higher then yours (1711). At least if you live in NSW (6th). Now why is it higher then yours? Well Re-animator and knowing where to play it. Now I should probably give a run down on match ups but guess what, legacy is a format where the top decks make up less of the meta at your average tourney then actual food content in Maccas. So instead I shall know tell you about some of the most memorable matches I have had with re-animator.


Last Round SGC Dual Force tournament

Vs Petr Joura

This is one of the most memorable for not only being the second round that re-animator would win but also for the laid back way that we flipped a coin before each match to see if we could predict the winner. The coin flipped in my favour 2-1 and that’s how it went down. Although I would not go doing this at a tourney again as it could be seen as randomly determining the winner but we did play the games to the best of our ability, and besides we weren’t exactly in contention for top 8. Petr came away with the coveted wooden spoon.


Legacy tournament Dubbo 07/01/07

Round 1

Vs Josh Ronan

This is one of my more memorable matches. As the funniest thing to ever happen to me in a game happened it was quite frustrating at the time. I mulliganed to 4 and kept the same non land hand I had been getting all along. The funny bit is that neither I nor my opponent really got to do anything for quite a few turns. I managed to stock my hand and start to fill my graveyard before getting my first land. In the end he won that match when he top decked his final combo piece and just went off. Although he did this at the last possible moment as he was dead on my next turn. I got my revenge by winning the round.


Round 2

Vs Daniel Micallef

Me and Daniel have been mates since yr 5 or 6 so we go way back. This was the first time he had shown up to a magic tournament in quite some time so we both had fun facing each other. Anyway the best part of this match was that he managed to knock me down to 2 life on his first turn. I came back with a first turn Akroma and he couldn’t get a trampler or any burn to deal those last two points to me


Round 5

Vs Mr D.

Easily the funniest start to a round ever. As usual did the small talk and asked how Mr D had gone today. Found out he was playing up as I was undefeated at this point and he had lost a round. So I turn to Angus our TO, better known around here as Dubbo_mtg, and ask him who else is undefeated at this point? Turns out no one, I can safely ID into first. I of course offer it to Mr D and he says nah he wants to play. I found out why within seconds. As he had built his deck specifically to defeat me, and beat me it did. But in the end after tie breakers I still ended the day in 1st place


Dubbo Vintage 20/05/07

Tourney 2 Round 2

Vs Josh Ronan

Hey Dubbo has vintage tournaments. It only took about 4 months of me begging Angus for it so I could use Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Vampiric Tutor, Necropotence, Mana Vault, and Channel. Lo and behold I end up 2nd in the first tourney. He ran a second tournament and what was easily the most overpowered first turn play all day cost me the match. Swamp, Dark Ritual, Mana Vault, Lotus Petal, Yawgmoth’s Bargain. 15 cards later I have almost all my land and a few other cards that aren’t going to help. Although I did finish 3rd this time.

Legacy Report

This time we gathered 15 people, and hence 4 round, top 4. So 3-1 is no longer guaranteed hit in the top, not the most pleasant news;)
This time I decided to test some cards, namely the small white Splash, in the end played such a sheet of:
/ / Lands
2 [B] Taiga
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
1 [TSB] Pendelhaven
1 [UNH] Mountain
8 [UNH] Forest
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [B] Savannah
1 [UNH] Plains
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle

/ / Creatures
4 [ON] Ravenous Baloth
4 [CHK] Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 [TO] Basking Rootwalla
1 [ON] Goblin Pyromancer
1 [DIS] Loaming Shaman
1 [DS] Viridian Zealot
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
1 [JU] Anger
1 [JU] Genesis
1 [MM] Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 [UD] Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 [6E] Uktabi Orangutan
1 [PS] Flametongue Kavu
1 [FUT] Magus of the Moon
1 [ON] Goblin Sharpshooter
1 [SOK] Kataki, War's Wage

/ / Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
3 [LG] Sylvan Library
4 [EX] Survival of the Fittest

/ / Sideboard
SB: 1 [TSB] Spike Feeder
SB: 4 [U] Swords to Plowshares
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [EX] Price of Progress
SB: 3 [TE] Choke

Indeed testing white decision came very suddenly, first in December with the opposing many artifacts, so kataki appeared immediately in the absence of the MD and secondly fantasy, and as a consequence of slots in Swords of Plowshares in SB. Now to the tournament…

1 Tour Ezgy with its hellish deck on the course and perpetual snow Cthulhu: D
It must be said that at the last tournament, I lost that match 1-2, so the special joy of pairings not received. However, all of which proved better.
In the first game, I imagine distributed Survival of the Fittest and put it fairly quickly. At the next turn kataki appeared on the table, which gave me a much needed victory for the time and get on, I had to trample down faster than a snow man)
In 2 game Ezh sided "hates" very much that there could well affect its combo, he received the entire Height, namely: Leyline of the Void, Pithing Needle, Silent Arbiter, but combo is not. Since "hate" somehow coped, again via verses and had to kill the opp.
1-0
2 Tour Dmitry Nikitin RGbw Life from the loam
Matchup is not very pleasant, the Dima substance of my almost always more, and yet there are still assault and dreams to me too late…
In the first game Dima had mulled to 5 on Quick, I will leave 7. 5 card probably too little and I quickly Hanley first game. In the second game were no more mulls. First Tarmogoyf Dima receives Swords to Plowshares, but they are still 2, then Devastating Dreams at 4 and I go to hell. In the third game, I left not a bad hand with the Sylvan Library, aptly put it at 2 move, but with topdeka anything you want for the entire party did not receive, moved from Terravore, it seems.
1-1
After two rounds of 3 points and now to fall into the top have to win another 2 ballot, and hope for good standings.
3 Tour Alexander Petrenko UV
At first I have a reliable hand with "Survilade", it is was not countered, but Alexandra had Silver Knight under Sword of Fire and Ice. I already at 11, to do something I played Uktabi Orangutan and fortunately it was not countered. Then all became very interesting to not have a second Alexander Silver Knight, then all my living creatures die from double block of knights. Decided to kill one attack, the attack was at 28.
The first game is long and we had only 15 minutes for the second.
Details do not remember the second game, but at 6-7 during the Exalted Angel suggested me for Oman, I at the time was 3 substance, and I attacked on 9, then I would have won the flight, but on the next turn Cataclysm I have to stay Ravenous Baloth against the same angel, I have no flight Hanley.… No, 5 moves and Alexander do not manage to kill me.
2-1
4 Tour Jetro 43land.dec
Cube I, as always, and has already lost the first progress realized that here I would be extremely difficult for TV Land Exploration… land Manabond and 3 land from the hand, I also left a potentially strong hand with 1 land pair Basking Rootwalla, Survival of the Fittest, and something else. However, with topdeka land was not visible, and kicked me Jetro Treetop Village and Mishra's Factory, in the end zapinal.
The second game, I have again 1 land, AEther Vial, Sakura-Tribe Elder, 2 Price of Progress. During the party, I topdekayu Magus of the Moon, put, but it gets Firebolt. So price will win, as it was conceived. Meantime, a Jetro already 5 lands at the end during the Price of Progress, in its turn another.
In the third, I finally passed a 2 land in the hands start, Chalice of the Void and something else. At 2 during chalis put at 1, then raised the Magus of the Moon, is to find land. The next topdek brought Wooded Foothills, Magus appeared on the table. After a couple of turns, I won upinav creatures.
3-1, 9 points and the chance to top. After 4 rounds of the Nikitin 12, and another 4 people with 9 points, a fall outside the top, to my Fortunately, I was not.
Top 4 Intro UGrw Growth
Matchap very pleasant.
The only time in the tournament I won cubes, began with AEther Vial, further Survival of the Fittest, but alternately received 2 Pithing Needle on the vial and verses, respectively, on my hands were Uktabi Orangutan and Magus of the Moon, I have decided to break down the needle vial, delivered with magusa Viala, this Growth slowed somewhat. Magusa killed Fire / Ice billing, I set chalis at 2, almost leshiv vinkondishenov Intro, but the killing was quite nothing, because survival is not worked as well topdek suschestv.V not bring me this time methodically kicked Nimble Mongoose, conveyed to 5 hits, well, a win brought me Sakura-Tribe Elder and Squee, Goblin Nabob with prokachkoy of Pendelhaven.
In the afternoon, I passed a 2 Choke, otkontrili first, not second, and he won voobschem-to me to the party.
Final Dmitry Nikitin
In the first game Dime passed all that needs to be: Seismic Assault, Life from the Loam, and Terravore Devastating Dreams, lost fairly quickly.
The second game long, it was initially advantage of the Dima, but longer than the last game, the better to me. Genesis began work by raising the opposing any substance and in a little while Dima give up.
As result third game is not interesting, Dima had mana screw at 2 Oman, at its 3 progress, I put Magus of the Moon, leaving its green source within several moves Dima has not found land and surrendered, though he was on the arm for all victory. 2-1.

Play Legacy:)