It is truly bizarre how the recent successes of Red decks in Standard seems to be porting over to Legacy. While this is very far from a new deck and also not unheard of to win in Legacy, it is not one of the dominant strategies. What it is though is a strategy which has been the identity of Red decks over the last twenty years through the history of magic. It is simple in design but requires the skill of a practiced mage in order to bring it to victory. But the framework of Legacy Burn is often the same as it uses only the very best of the best that Red has to offer.
While the Legacy Burn has more then twice as many instant or sorceries spells then non-land permanents there are some very deadly ones that are showcased here. The first is what has been dubbed as the best red creature printed with Goblin Guide as not only a source of hasty beats but also provides some valuable information about what’s coming up for the opponent. We also find Grim Lavamancer which with a mass of cheap spells and some fetchlands will often find the fuel for its fire from the graveyard to close out the opponent very quickly. The other creature in the deck is relative newcomer Eidolon of the Great Revel which is so deadly given the spells in the format generally all fall under three mana and therefore even to try and remove him is going to cause the opponent to feel the burn in the process. There is also a pair of Sulfuric Vortex which are most especially needed against lifegain otherwise you’d be entirely blown out by a simple Batterskull and the extra damage each turn is gravy. Then we get into the spells which fall into one of three categories: Burn, Burn or Burn !!! You have all the three points for one mana all-stars with the classic Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Rift Bolt and Lava Spike. Against any decks running creatures it’s not hard to trigger Landfall on Searing Blaze to not only blast the creature but also dome the player for an additional three. With so many decks running dual lands and other non-basics Price of Progress can easily count for anywhere between four to eight damage which will end games very quickly. And as a very efficient finishing move you’re able to sacrifice some Mountains instead of paying for Fireblast to burn up those last remaining points of life and fry up your opponent.
The best part of Legacy Burn is that you’re able to pull it together so affordably as the only real cost comes from the fetchlands which are certainly not the same as loading up on dual lands. While it may not be storming out a combo or cheating out a fattie, it is still a fun and efficient deck that is very useful as an entry point into Legacy. I would highly recommend this deck if you are looking to dip your toe into the Legacy pool for a taste as you’ll be spending a fraction of what the other decks cost. And definitely have a good time with this deck and use it as a way to learn what you like about the formats other decks.
With Gatecrash still fresh out of the pack there are already new decks starting to pop up. We see the aggro meta starting to form with decks like Jund, Boros and Mono Red climbing to the top of this weekends Open series.
Boros Reckoner: This was the big card of the weekend. Reckoner is turning into one of most the sought after rares from Gatecrash. Starting at $3.99 when it was spoiled, it then went up to $9.99 at the release and is now at $14.99. It’s in the maindeck or sideboard of R/W Aggro (Boros) and Mono Red (RDW) with usually a full 4 played. Reckoner is a beast against Rakdos, usually yielding 2 for 1’s when blocking or attacking.
R/W Aggro
Andrew Schneider
3rd place SCG Standard Open
Creatures (26)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
2 Lightning Mauler
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (23)
15 Mountain
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry
Spells (11)
2 Boros Charm
1 Brimstone Volley
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
Sideboard
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Volcanic Strength
2 Boros Charm
4 Skullcrack
4 Mizzium Mortars
Mono-Red Aggro
Ryan Cruz
9th place at SCG Standard open
Creatures (28)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (22)
21 Mountain
1 Hellion Crucible
Spells (10)
4 Searing Spear
3 Skullcrack
3 Pillar of Flame
Sideboard
2 Reckless Waif
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Skullcrack
2 Thunderbolt
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Pillar of Flame
2 Traitorous Blood
1 Cavern of Souls
Experiment One: The new aggressive one-drop we see appearing in the new Jund aggro brews. Has the potential to get to a good aggressive size and once it has two counters becomes very difficult to remove without being forced to waste extra resources.
Ghor-Clan Rampager: Junds new 4-drop that doubles as an aggressive finisher using bloodrush. Giving +4/+4 and trample for RG is quite aggressively cost. I had my eye on this card for Limited already and was thinking it is good enough for standard. We see it used along side Experiment One in this Jund Aggro list.
Jund Aggro
Tyler Lindsey
Creatures (28)
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dreg Mangler
4 Experiment One
3 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hellrider
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (24)
3 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
2 Woodland Cemetery
Spells (8)
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Searing Spear
2 Tragic Slip
Sideboard
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Gruul Charm
1 Rakdos Charm
3 Skullcrack
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Rolling Temblor
Cartel Aristocrat: This is the new sacrifice engine that is being used in the Human Reanimator deck to abuse the synergy of Angel of Glory’s Rise and Fiend Hunter.
Human Reanimator
Brian Braun-Duin 2nd Place at SCG Standard Open series
4 Angel of Glory’s Rise
4 Cartel Aristocrat
1 Cathedral Sanctifier
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
Lands (23)
1 Blood Crypt
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Godless Shrine
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Temple Garden
4 Woodland Cemetery
Spells (20)
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Faithless Looting
4 Farseek
4 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
Sideboard
3 Cathedral Sanctifier
2 Purify the Grave
3 Ray of Revelation
4 Appetite for Brains
3 Slaughter Games
Devour Flesh: Gatecrash’s new Cruel Edict with just a splash of Swords to Plowshares. One of few answers to Geist of Saint Traft or Invisible Stalker
Esper Spirits
Eddie Walker 8th place at SCG open series
Creatures (18)
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Dungeon Geists
3 Restoration Angel
4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Lands (24)
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Watery Grave
Spells (18)
3 Blind Obedience
4 Azorius Charm
2 Devour Flesh
3 Orzhov Charm
2 Ultimate Price
4 Lingering Souls
Sideboard
2 Pithing Needle
4 Augur of Bolas
3 Detention Sphere
3 Rest in Peace
2 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price
We will be keeping a close eye on all the different formats over the next few weeks to see which Gatecrash cards get played in Standard, Modern and Legacy. We welcome all feedback and please comment on the articles if you have any thoughts. Until next time…
Greg Thibault (@gregsterism on Twitter)
