Hello. New to the MtG Salvation community, and I was hoping to get some advice from legacy players.
I've recently been thinking about putting together a legacy deck. Let's say Unlimited to Seventh Edition and everything inbetween, although I'm not sure how far back legacy would technically go. The theme of the deck is mono green. I'm trying to emphasize creatures that have low mana cost but can still quickly mow through opponent blocks - i.e. creatures with abilities like "destroy all non-wall blockers at the end of combat."
I'm not sure if Web really makes up for the lack of flying defense. I had considered something like Giant Spiders or Canopy Spiders, but I don't want to replace any of my creatures with Infect.
Thanks. I was trying to figure out how other posters were doing that. I went ahead and linked all of the cards in my original post. I've also made a few changes to my line up after doing more research, namely the addition of Vitalize. (and still taking into consideration Katabatic Winds versus Web)
Do you want this deck to be competitive, or would you just be playing it casually?
Casual. I don't do any competitive play - just friends and local groups.
Also, I'm trying to keep this within a slim budget of ~$30.
I thought about swapping the Cockatrices for something with a less hefty cost. Treetop Scout perhaps, on the gamble that my opponent doesn't have any creatures with Flying. I might also want to throw in a Lumbering Satyr for global Forestwalk. Creatures with Forestwalk tend to have higher mana costs on their own.
So what I'm looking for is cheap creatures that can get past blocks, or can aggravate opponents with poison counters or added damage.
Okay, it sounds like there are a lot of things you want your deck to do. The first step to making it better would be to focus it down. Narrow your strategy to one thing. Do you want to use poison counters? Do you want cheap, evasive creatures combined with pump spells? DO you want to take advantage of deathtouch? Figure out which specific direction you want to take and we can move from there. I can already tell you, however, that there are many cards (very cheap cards) that do everything you are trying to do, but better. What this means is that unless you specifically don't want to stop using the cards you have shown us, whatever strategy you decide to focus on will be using a list of almost entirely different cards. Whether or not you are okay with that, lets at least decide on what to focus on, and we can move on from there.
Narrow your strategy to one thing. Do you want to use poison counters? Do you want cheap, evasive creatures combined with pump spells?
I guess the theme I'm going for is "I'm about to hit you with a dozen poison counters, and there ain't ***** you can do to block me." So I've been trying to balance out ways to get around my opponent's blocks and move in with my Infect creatures.
DO you want to take advantage of deathtouch?
Was Deathtouch available in pre-modern sets? Some of my modern sets are actually based on Deathtouch. Since I'm setting out to build a legacy (up to Seventh Edition?) deck here, I didn't think Deathtouch would be a possibility. At least, I don't recall seeing it on anything in Seventh Edition or earlier. I decided to give more consideration to poison counters instead.
I can already tell you, however, that there are many cards (very cheap cards) that do everything you are trying to do, but better.
I'm not deadset on the creatures I've picked, by any means. I've just been going over databases and shuffling together whatever appealed to me. As far as I'm concerned, we can redo the entire deck.
Thanks for your suggestions so far. I'm very interested in whatever ideas you may have.
I think you might be confused as to what the Legacy format is? Legacy is an eternal format in which you can play any card, from any set, as long as it is not banned. This means you can play anything from Alpha, all the way to the current set. Were you limiting yourself to unlimited-7th as a fun limitation, or because you thought you had to? Either way, deathouch was around in older sets, it just wasn't called deathtouch. Lowland Basilisk is an example, but it looks like you alreayd knew about him and similar cards.
I guess before I go throwing ideas out I'll see what you say about your unlimited-7th limitation. I may have misunderstood your original post and what kind of deck you are trying to make.
I think you might be confused as to what the Legacy format is?
Apparently so! I thought legacy = retro. This is actually why I joined the boards. I was looking to put together a deck from retro-style cards, before MtG started adopting modern card borders and condensing a lot of abilities into keywords.
For reference, what I mean by retro versus modern styles:
I think this particular card's property is supposed to be given the Reach keyword in even more recent printings.
Were you limiting yourself to unlimited-7th as a fun limitation, or because you thought you had to?
Anything that follows the classic border style. I'm thinking the more modern style was adopted around Eighth Edition, but I'm not sure.
Okay, well that changes things! A lot of what I said still stands, though. You want to bring some focus to your deck. You can try to focus on infect creatures, but that might be difficult, considering there are only 2, and you have both of them listed. I think, personally, that a deathtouch approach would be more viable and fun. I remember a long time ago looking at the combo of Venom and Taunting Elf. Such a combo might be fun to build around. The cousin to this would be Lure + Lowland Basilisk. Thoughts?
A lot of what I said still stands, though. You want to bring some focus to your deck.
Poison counters are the focus, but like you pointed out, there aren't many classic creatures with Infect, so the idea is to supplement them with creatures that can mow down opponent blockers, thus making my opponent more vulnerable to whatever poison counters I can muster.
Bear in mind that these creatures can drop up to two poison counters at a time, and I'll have eight instances of them in my library.
(And there are only two creatures with Infect? I wonder if there are any others lurking around in some classic expansion that we might have overlooked...)
I remember a long time ago looking at the combo of Venom and Taunting Elf.
This sounds like an interesting strategy, although there isn't a lot of toughness to go around with Taunting Elves.
I could replace some of my spells with Venom, but I'm not sure what to sacrifice. Aspect of Wolf and similar buffs are probably superfluous since I have Deathtouch left to right.
So how about this:
CREATURE
————————————————————————————————————————————————— Nafs Asp x4
Extra damage directed at my opponent, assuming my Deathtouch creatures wipe up blockers quickly enough Treetop Scout x4
More block bypassing, provided there are few or no flyers Lowland Basilisk x4
Deathtouch Sabertooth Cobra x4
Poison counters Cockatrice x4
More Deathtouch, but sort of costly (and could double as a decent blocker, I guess) Marsh Viper x4
More poison counters
ENCHANT
————————————————————————————————————————————————— Venom x4
For even more Deathtouch goodness Web x4
In case there are any pesky flyers out there, and the +0/2 might help with blocking
I have about 6 free cards to assign. So maybe some mana supplement spells, or buffs? I'm not sure I see any point in buffs since I can Deathtouch everything. Maybe I could try to buff toughness for better blocking, but Web should help with that.
I wonder if I could throw Living Lands somewhere in there as well, and then enchant said lands with Venom. Heh. I wouldn't want to risk losing mana to blocking though.
Are there any other enchantments similar to Venom to consider? I haven't seen any enchantments for additional poison counters, but maybe those exist somewhere.
The additional poison counters do exist, but only in post 8th. I wouldn't really use venom. I think I would stick to your basilisk plan and use tempting licid instead. After you force all the blocks, before damage is dealt, just pay green to end the effect and you've wrathed their board. If you're interested in venom effects, there is venomous fangs to consider. You already have cockatrice, but sylvan basilisk and thicket basilisk also fit this description. Indeed, they are better for they don't fly, allowing you to wrath all of their creatures.
I've recently been thinking about putting together a legacy deck. Let's say Unlimited to Seventh Edition and everything inbetween, although I'm not sure how far back legacy would technically go. The theme of the deck is mono green. I'm trying to emphasize creatures that have low mana cost but can still quickly mow through opponent blocks - i.e. creatures with abilities like "destroy all non-wall blockers at the end of combat."
Here's my build so far:
CREATURE
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Nafs Asp x4
Treetop Scout x4
Lowland Basilisk x4
Sabertooth Cobra x4
Marsh Viper x4
Rhox x4
Barishi x1
Lumbering Satyr x1
(One too many creatures, maybe?)
SORCERY
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Rampant Growth x1
Titania's Boon x1
ENCHANT
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Aspect of Wolf x4
Familiar Ground x1
Maybe: Katabatic Winds, per osieorb18's suggestion
INSTANT
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Early Harvest x1
Web x4
LAND
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Havenwood Battleground x4
Forest x18
I'm not sure if Web really makes up for the lack of flying defense. I had considered something like Giant Spiders or Canopy Spiders, but I don't want to replace any of my creatures with Infect.
Any thoughts?
You may wish to auto-card the card names in your post, to help people read your list ([card][/card]).
As for deck choices: How about replacing the Webs with Katabatic Winds, Spidersilk Armor, or Blizzard (and Snow-Covered Forests)?
Thanks. I was trying to figure out how other posters were doing that. I went ahead and linked all of the cards in my original post. I've also made a few changes to my line up after doing more research, namely the addition of Vitalize. (and still taking into consideration Katabatic Winds versus Web)
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Casual. I don't do any competitive play - just friends and local groups.
Also, I'm trying to keep this within a slim budget of ~$30.
I thought about swapping the Cockatrices for something with a less hefty cost. Treetop Scout perhaps, on the gamble that my opponent doesn't have any creatures with Flying. I might also want to throw in a Lumbering Satyr for global Forestwalk. Creatures with Forestwalk tend to have higher mana costs on their own.
So what I'm looking for is cheap creatures that can get past blocks, or can aggravate opponents with poison counters or added damage.
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Getting Started in Legacy and Legacy Budget Primer 5!
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I guess the theme I'm going for is "I'm about to hit you with a dozen poison counters, and there ain't ***** you can do to block me." So I've been trying to balance out ways to get around my opponent's blocks and move in with my Infect creatures.
Was Deathtouch available in pre-modern sets? Some of my modern sets are actually based on Deathtouch. Since I'm setting out to build a legacy (up to Seventh Edition?) deck here, I didn't think Deathtouch would be a possibility. At least, I don't recall seeing it on anything in Seventh Edition or earlier. I decided to give more consideration to poison counters instead.
I'm not deadset on the creatures I've picked, by any means. I've just been going over databases and shuffling together whatever appealed to me. As far as I'm concerned, we can redo the entire deck.
Thanks for your suggestions so far. I'm very interested in whatever ideas you may have.
I guess before I go throwing ideas out I'll see what you say about your unlimited-7th limitation. I may have misunderstood your original post and what kind of deck you are trying to make.
Like Squandered Resources on Facebook for updates on article releases, deck lists, and more!
Getting Started in Legacy and Legacy Budget Primer 5!
Special thanks to Bornnover for the banner used in those articles.
Apparently so! I thought legacy = retro. This is actually why I joined the boards. I was looking to put together a deck from retro-style cards, before MtG started adopting modern card borders and condensing a lot of abilities into keywords.
For reference, what I mean by retro versus modern styles:
I think this particular card's property is supposed to be given the Reach keyword in even more recent printings.
Anything that follows the classic border style. I'm thinking the more modern style was adopted around Eighth Edition, but I'm not sure.
Like Squandered Resources on Facebook for updates on article releases, deck lists, and more!
Getting Started in Legacy and Legacy Budget Primer 5!
Special thanks to Bornnover for the banner used in those articles.
Poison counters are the focus, but like you pointed out, there aren't many classic creatures with Infect, so the idea is to supplement them with creatures that can mow down opponent blockers, thus making my opponent more vulnerable to whatever poison counters I can muster.
Bear in mind that these creatures can drop up to two poison counters at a time, and I'll have eight instances of them in my library.
(And there are only two creatures with Infect? I wonder if there are any others lurking around in some classic expansion that we might have overlooked...)
This sounds like an interesting strategy, although there isn't a lot of toughness to go around with Taunting Elves.
I could replace some of my spells with Venom, but I'm not sure what to sacrifice. Aspect of Wolf and similar buffs are probably superfluous since I have Deathtouch left to right.
So how about this:
CREATURE
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Nafs Asp x4
Extra damage directed at my opponent, assuming my Deathtouch creatures wipe up blockers quickly enough
Treetop Scout x4
More block bypassing, provided there are few or no flyers
Lowland Basilisk x4
Deathtouch
Sabertooth Cobra x4
Poison counters
Cockatrice x4
More Deathtouch, but sort of costly (and could double as a decent blocker, I guess)
Marsh Viper x4
More poison counters
ENCHANT
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Venom x4
For even more Deathtouch goodness
Web x4
In case there are any pesky flyers out there, and the +0/2 might help with blocking
LAND
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Havenwood Battleground x4
Forest x18 (or more?)
I have about 6 free cards to assign. So maybe some mana supplement spells, or buffs? I'm not sure I see any point in buffs since I can Deathtouch everything. Maybe I could try to buff toughness for better blocking, but Web should help with that.
I wonder if I could throw Living Lands somewhere in there as well, and then enchant said lands with Venom. Heh. I wouldn't want to risk losing mana to blocking though.
Are there any other enchantments similar to Venom to consider? I haven't seen any enchantments for additional poison counters, but maybe those exist somewhere.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!