I Just Don't Know About Legacy

I’m still trying to figure out this Legacy format. It seems to be the ultimate paradox. On the one hand it doesn’t give a crap, but on the other hand, Legacy is very careful and precise. Oh, wait. That’s ninjas.

Seriously, though, coming from a Vintage perspective, Legacy is a completely different animal.

By taking out the powerful spells, Legacy puts a much higher value on creatures and the red zone than Vintage does. Hence the best known decks (if not the most played decks) are Goblins and some blue-green combination of Threshold with Werebears, Nimble Mongooses, and some control creatures and spells. Lots of other decks are viable, though, most of which run the aggro spectrum from pure aggro Goblins, to aggro control BW Pikula, to aggro combo Survival and Aluren.

The combo decks are powerful but are nowhere near as powerful as their Vintage counterparts. I don’t have a lot of experienced with or against them, but their speed can decrease in the creature-based format and their protection seems sketchy, so playing any kind of control can give them fits.

IGGy Pop is totally unique, though; I’ll say more on that later.

Now that I think about it, I realize I don’t know anything about control in Legacy. I think the purest control deck is Landstill, but even that has to be tuned to combat creatures first with board sweepers like Damnation and Nevinyrral’s Disk. Beyond that, I don’t know.

My opinion, though—and remember this is coming from a Vintage player—is that Legacy would be a lot of fun if it wasn’t for Goblins.

Playing creatures is fun.

Swinging in for the win is awesome.

Synergy is great.

However, when the best deck at those things is a block deck from three years ago plus a few cards that help you cheat mana, it’s stupid.

One of the first things you hear about Legacy is that every deck needs to be able to answer Goblin Lackey or aim to ignore the deck completely with combo.

My feeling is that Lackey’s not even the problem. Lackey is a terrible topdeck, and even on the board, once the Goblin player’s hand is empty, Lackey does nothing. The real threats in Goblins are [Ringleader] and Matron. [Ringleader] is Fact or Fiction and Matron is Demonic Tutor; because of them, Goblins plays like combo. If Goblins ever merits restrictions, it should be those two cards.

However, since the popularity of the little red men is apparently dropping for now, we might not see that kind of adjustment. I suppose GP Columbus will write the execution orders.

So anyway, I’m knowingly skipping a Magic tournament in my own backyard tomorrow. There’s a Legacy tournament at the Soldiery. I’m sorry I didn’t post anything about it sooner, but here it is anyway:

It’s sanctioned—so bring your DCI number and all your cards.

Entry is $15

Where:
The Soldiery
4256 N. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43214

When: April 1, 2007

Prizes will be based upon attendance, but $200 is guaranteed to be given out, among the top 4 places.

Registration starts at 12:30. Tournament begins at 1pm sharp.
Tournament will probably run until around 8-9 p.m.
Trip to Thurman's Cafe will be provided at player's expense.

Magic is Magic, and Magic is fun, but I do have a legitimate excuse as my mom will be in town. Oh well. Next time for sure.

Anyway, back to Legacy…

It’s really a fun format except that every other deck is like Fish. This teaches me something about myself as a Magic player, I think.

I like playing Vintage because you get to see crazy things happen:

Player 1: I crack Lotus and play Dark Ritual and play Yawgmoth’s Bargain.
Player 2: Force.
Player 1: Force.
Player 2: Okay!
Player 1: Draw a bunch of cards, play a bunch of cards, Tendrils for, like, infinite.
Player 2: Stifle!
Crowd: Whoa!
Player 1: Aww, Chub Toads.

Playing Fish in Vintage lets me sort of be an outside observer to Vintage. I get to play the same game, but my strategies are completely different from the average player. They’re still good strategies, but they’re just a bit off the norm. Note that this is why I play UB Fish instead of the better known and more successful UW builds; I want to do things my way.

To do that in Legacy, I’d have to play combo, and that’s just weird.

And that’s where I am now. Legacy is a fun format to play most of the time, but it’s not Vintage so I don’t feel that attachment to it. Don’t try to drag me in with the pro tour stuff either—I’m in Magic for the fun of it, I can’t afford the time to be competitive.

I’ll make it out to more tournaments in the future so I can see how things go. I’m sure I’ll have a better opinion on it after a while. It really is pretty entertaining. Raw Magic, very creature based and action-packed.

Plus, I should get Dave to hold some tourneys at the Hero Zone. I bet they’d be a hit.