Another old favorite once again proves it’s dominance by taking the top spot over the weekend. RUG Delver also known as Canadian Thresh is a Tempo-Control build that is packed with some of the most efficient spells from the history of Magic. Putting together a complete package of threats, disruption, draw and removal this deck can do it all. And the curve of the deck lies in a gentle slope between one and two mana, with only one at three and the five mana spell almost exclusively cast for free.
Starting with the threats the decks ideal first turn play is a Delver of Secrets with the hopes of a blind flip or an upkeep Brainstorm to start the 3 power beatdown. Alternately there is a second one drop from Nimble Mongoose which will also turn into a 3 power beater with just a few turns of casting spells or cracking fetches. What was once called the best Blue creature of all time is next with Tarmogoyf, so called because it is so efficient Blue decks would splash Green solely to cast this big bad green dude. We round out the package with a True-Name Nemesis which is a fantastic creature, but in my opinion is almost wasted outside of a Stoneforge Mystic deck. For our permission suite there is a well rounded bunch headed by Legacy staple Force of Will and Daze, both of which will often be cast free for their alternate costs, backed up by Spell Pierce and the situationaly good Spell Snare. The draw power starts with another format staple Brainstorm and Ponder with a pair of Gitaxian Probe which double to also reveal your opponents gameplan. Finally for removal there is Ponder and Chain Lightning to either remove pesky creatures or dome the opponent, and a set of Wasteland in the manabase to disrupt their mana in such a dual land dependent format.
We start with the namesake creature Delver of Secrets which is one of the best one drop creatures, when build properly into its deck. With a 28 of the cards in the deck able to Transform him from the triggered ability you’re basically a 50/50 shot to be smashing in with a ‘flying lightning bolt’ every turn. He is paired up with the very tricky True-Name Nemesis which while not unbeatable demands an answer or will make short work of your opponent. They are both supported by Legacy staple Stoneforge Mystic which has options to tutor up either a Batterskull or an Umezawa’s Jitte to speed to victory. A heavy disruption package finds full sets of Force of Will, Daze and Spell Pierce to suppress any plans the enemy may try to push forward. There is also a set of Wasteland in the manabase to try and limit their access to crucial mana. For removal we have both Swords to Plowshares to exile any creature threats and Lightning Bolt which can go either to a creature or straight to the dome to finish opponents fast. Finally there is both Brainstorm and Ponder to ensure that there is no taking the foot of the pedal once we get up to speed by streaming constant gas directly to the hand, and fetchlands in the manabase help to reset the top of the library when necessary.
BUG Delver
Javier Dominguez
1st place Grand Prix Paris 2014 Legacy
Here we have what is one of my favorite decks in Legacy. BUG Delver is a powerful and complete control package of threats, permission, discard and removal. A similar deck piloted by Laurence Moo Young at SCG Orlando last month was also able to win that tournament.
Your beatdown strategy revolves around Delver of Secrets and Tarmogoyf, two creature which can pop out early and then backed by countermagic be ridden all the way to victory. There is also the versatile Deathrite Shaman which can either control the grave against reanimate strategies or be your source of mana acceleration, and can double as a Shock every turn when it has instant/sorcery targets in the grave. As we are playing blue the deck run the standard Brainstorm and Ponder draw package which also double as ways to get your Delver flips, but we also see two Dark Confidant to ensure a constant flow of cards and a target to pull removal away from your beaters. For countermagic we see Force of Will and Daze which help to establish control over the opponent for whatever spells he’s allowed to keep. Speaking of which there is a heavy discard package starting with Thoughtseize into Hymn to Tourach and there is also Liliana of the Veil to suppress them from holding too many cards in hand. And finally we get to the removal which Liliana is also great at destroying opposing creatures and Abrupt Decay is amazing at obliterating the plethora of cheap permanents in Legacy.
RUG Delver
Taylor Scott
1st Place at StarCityGames Legacy Open on 2/9/2014
The beatdown is centered around a trio of very mana efficient creatures with Delver of Secrets, Nimble Mongoose and Tarmogoyf. All three grow much larger then they’re costed at and can quickly decimate your opponents life total. Then with a stacked control suite of Force of Will, Daze, Spell Pierce and Spell Snare almost any threat can be suppressed before it even starts threatening. You can’t have a blue deck in Legacy without the requisite draw package with Brainstorm and Ponder helping not only to dig through your deck but also to set up the top of your deck to flip Delver. The red slips into the deck with a modest amount of burn with Lightning Bolt and Forked Bolt both working to remove small pesky creatures or dome the skull to finish off the opponent. The final piece of the puzzle is the resource denial which comes primarily with Wasteland razing their mana but also the sneaky and handy Stifle which can prevent a fetch after they’ve paid a life and sacrificed it already. And it can also be used against an Emrakul or Storm trigger just to name a few.
Creatures (7)
Spells (38)
Sideboard
Since the dawn of magic a recurring theme in black decks is the necromantic flavor of reanimation. The ability to make creatures rise from the grave is a very powerful ability indeed. Over the years more and more cards have been printed on that same motif constantly improving in quality and scope. Coupled with ways to search particular creatures from your deck then either discard them to the grave or put them directly there and better more powerful creatures themselves we have an engine designed to crush opponents with relative ease.
Spells (24)
Sideboard
In conclusion to an amazing Magic weekend that showcased a finals match covering Standard, Modern and Legacy we were rewarded from Laurence by a deck which is a bit of a blast from the past. The BUG list has been no stranger in Legacy being born from a deck that was most often referred to as Team America. The game plan of the deck is to lead with heavy land and resource disruption early to then drop a fatty and ride it to victory with counter backup.
Creatures (2)
Planeswalker (4)
Spells (24)
Sideboard
Now here’s an interesting deck that’s really piqued my interest. The interaction between Dark Depths and Vampire Hexmage brought about a resurgence of Depth‘s somewhat around Zendikar but the inherent fragility of Hexmage being a spell allowed there to be some answer in countermagic. Then along comes Return to Ravnica with the interesting new Vesuva variation Thespian’s Stage to spin the power of a 20/20 flying Avatar in a new direction. Because copy effects like Vesuva trigger onto the battlefield effects it was not able to pair with Depth‘s for value but Stage is already in play so doesn’t get the tokens placed on it. Thus you are able to copy and trigger the token generating effect immediately. This is the basis for the win condition of this cool new Loam brew.
Esper mastermind and longtime magic aficionado Shaheen Soorani battled last weekend at the SCG Invitational in Las Vegas to a third place finish. Fighting through a field of 299 qualified participants he was able to slaughter most every mage who stood in his way. The Invitational, much like the Pro Tour, is a multiformat tournament requiring proficiency in both Standard and Legacy to find success. In true Soorani fashion his weapon of choice for both formats was blue, white and black control style concoctions. With the two byes he had been awarded he drudged to a final swiss record of 12-3-1, the last round an intentional bye with Thea Steele to clinch the top 8 berth. The competition was fierce with hard wins against Tom Ross, Tim Landale, Erik Smith and Jeff Hoogland. Some tough losses came at the hands of Matt Nass the last round of day 1 playing for the perfect 8-0 and against eventual winner Max Brown entering the second leg of Legacy putting Shaheen on the ropes fighting to maintain a top positioning. In the top 8 he was immediately put to the test against Brian Brawn-Duin but dispatched him easily in three games but was knocked out by Greg Hatch after a hard fought five game battle.
Planeswalkers (6)
Spells (25)
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (3)
Sideboard
