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
Creatures (10)
Sideboard
You really have to admire the sheer versatility of this deck. Packed with threats and answers I personally find it to be one of the true top tier lists in legacy right now. This is one of the decks that can actually capitalize on the full potential of True-Name Nemesis by providing an armory of weapons for it to wield. Stoneforge Mystic is working overtime in this build with three targets to snag in Batterskull, Umezawa’s Jitte and Sword of Fire and Ice. The sword is particularly useful in sneaking Batterskull or Snapcaster through opponents defensive True-Names. To round out the creature base there is a Vendilion Clique which just offers so much value in conjunction with Karakas and a pair of Snapcaster Mage to grind extra use out of the decks varied spells. With the Planeswalker rules how they are there’s just a pair of Jace, the Mind Sculptor which is more than adequate given he is much less vulnerable now. As with almost every blue deck in legacy there is the set of Brainstorm and a singleton Ponder to sift through the deck to find your answers. The deck is backed up with permission by a set of Force of Will and a pair of Counterspells which give some hard counters to deal with big threats. A great removal package is headlined by a full four Swords to Plowshares for creature threats and a one of Vindicate as a catchall answer with sweepers from two Supreme Verdict and an Engineered Explosives. One thought I had with having the Explosives and the equipment that there might be a one of Academy Ruins in the mana base replacing one of the Underground Sea, but it may be too much. Finally the deck is rounded out with some small disruption with two Thoughtseize and one Inquisition of Kozilek to assure some answer to random threats.
