but it seems like i have a very bad matchup against zoo...
is there anything i could put in my sideboard that could make my matchup against zoo a bit less painfull?
Hi guys, I was just wondering since I really suck with sideboard strategy if you guys could clarify something for me? Wouldn't the deck benefit from Enlightened Tutors in the board? You could run more diverse grave hate, add a singleton Ghostly Prison vs aggro decks, Null Rod to deal with affinity, Phyrexian Metamorph to deal with Emrakul/Progenitus and much more. And it can obviously serve to fetch your equipments.
And secondly, since I'm unable to test the hive mind match up, does this deck really stand a good chance against it? Looks like Angel's Grace could make that match extremely favourable for us.
I'm pretty sure Null Rod will make you unable to do anything.
Hive Mind is winnable; you just need to have a strong hand and attack their hand and mana very quickly.
Hey all,
My name is Tom Leger, and last weekend I piloted a B/W deck to 1st place at a Jupiter Games NELC qualifier. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jupiter Games, their Legacy tournament series is considered by many to be the premier scene for eternal magic on the entire east coast. The metagame is diverse, and powerful – James Rynkiewicz, winner of GP Providence, and Eli Kassis, who has multiple SCG open top 8s, were both in attendance with their respective testing groups.
A little about myself – I just got back into playing magic this year in December of 2010. I was fortunate to live in an area with a great group of legacy enthusiasts (Zirath, especially, has been an invaluable resource to me, as I’m sure he has been to you guys during his time on these forums). I decided about 4 months ago that Legacy would be my focus, but trying to jump in to a format as broad and complex as that one was a real challenge, and before I get to my tournament report I feel compelled to publicly thank everyone in Ithaca (shout out to Ning, Amin, Larry, Henry, Timur, Phil, and Doc!) for all the hours of testing and answering my incessant questions.
Here is my decklist.
Some notes on the deck before I get to the matches: I have been piloting B/W for essentially the entirety of my competitive legacy experience, and came to this list through extensive testing. Yes, I have access to 4 thoughtseizes, and yes, I know many of the pros play Cabal Therapy in this deck, but this configuration has proven to be the most consistant and powerful version, at least from my experience. The singleton godless shrine is a fetch target, and actually needed as a 6th non-moxen white source – I paid 4 life for it on the day, but it’s inclusion single-handedly won me a game, and I wouldn’t leave home without one. To anyone who says 4 Bitterblossom is too many, I hope the tournament report below can begin to convince you how insane the card is and that we would play 5 if we could. Elspeth generally fills the roll as bitterblossoms 5-6, as a token/card advantage engine that is difficult to deal with by traditional removal. I can address any additional questions you guys have about particular card choice or number, just send me a message through MTGS.
Round 1 – Aggro Bant
His deck was the tempo version of Bant, very similar to the list that won GP providence. I didn’t see a force of will from him in the match.
Game 1 was a close one, and we traded punches for close to 30 minutes. An early bitterblossom from me kept the game going long enough to eventually grind him out. Over the course of the game I drew 2 stoneforges and a Jitte naturally. He used both his maindeck pridemages to destroy my batterskull and Sword, leaving bitterblossom untouched. As soon as he cast GSZ for 2 and got a goyf instead of a pridemage, I knew the coast was clear and slammed Jitte (after a sculler to check his hand) and won the game from there.
Maindecking sword of body and mind has to be correct in the current meta – I used to run war and peace, and didn’t miss it in a single game 1 all day.
Sideboard: +3 Perish +1 Manriki-Gusari +1 Darkblast +2 Tidehollow Sculler +1 Relic of Progenitus
-3 Vindicate -1 STP -2 Thoughtseize -1 Bitterblossom -1 Gatekeeper
Game 2 was much less close. Despite him having an active sylvan library on turn 2 and having insane card filtering through the entire game, I had a brutal opener of turn 1 mox, sculler and turn 2 gatekeeper kicked (killing his turn 2 SFM for batterskull). The tempo I generated allowed me to remove his threats at my leisure and wait for Elspeth to mop things up.
1-0
Round 2 – Dredge
Game 1 I got smashed, but got some important information. My opponent was playing mana dredge with FKZ as a DR target and Lion’s Eye Diamonds.
Sideboarding: +4 Leyline of the void, +1 Relic of Progenitus +2 Phrexian Revoker +1 Darkblast +2 Sculler --4 Hymn to Tourach, -3 Vindicate -2 Bitterblossom -1 Elspeth
Game 2 I mulled to 6 and started the game with 2 Leylines on the battlefield, which he told me later he had literally no outs to.
Game 3 was more of the same as I mulled to leyline and he mulled to a hand that could beat a leyline, keeping with no dredgers but a turn 1 chain of vapor. Unfortunately for my opponent, he didn’t draw a dredger for another 5 turns, but which time I had a SFM and batterskull out and a leyline back in play.
2-0
Round 3 – NO RUG
I had actually seen my opponent playing in the previous round, so I knew when I saw my opener of mox, swamp, fetch, stoneforge, bitterblossom x3 that I was in good shape. I went turn 1 bitterblossom, removing bitterblossom. He Forced, removing progenitus from the game (!). I played turn 2 bitterblossom, turn 3 stoneforge for Jitte, and his vendillion cliques and goyfs got crushed by my swarm of faeries. As a side note, he cliqued himself twice this game, both times shipping Natural Order.
Sideboarding: +3 Perish +2 Sculler +1 Darkblast -2 Bitterblossom -3 Vindicate -1 Swords to Plowshares
I know it must look weird that I’m boarding out 2 bitterblossom after it crushed him game 1, but games 2&3 they are much more prepared for it, and I don’t want to draw 2 against a deck with as much burn as NO RUG. Siding in Revokers may be correct, but I didn’t see any grim lavamancers from him in game 1 and naming hierarch has never seemed like enough value to warrant an inclusion.
Game 2 was close, and frankly I simply outdrew him at the end of the match. I started hitting him with a Sworded SFM, and despite milling twenty cards he couldn’t find the other ancient grudge that he needed. NO RUG has proven to be a very strong matchup for B/W through my experience, as our discard, spot removal, sacrifice effects, and equipment are all difficult for their game plan. Also, Darkblast is insane.
3-0
Round 4 – Sneak Attack
My friend and ride to the tournament Henry and I were both 3-0 at this point, and as luck would have it we saw our names paired together. Happy at least that one of us would be 4-0 and have a real shot at top8, we sat down across each other with complete knowledge of each others’ decks. Henry is the most experienced Magic player of my local gaming group, having been playing “since all these duals were only a buck”, as he reminds us whenever we gape at his expansive collection. Despite access to whatever mana base he might need, Henry decided to ‘go back to Magic kindergarten’ and sleeve up some basic mountains. He was on a mono-red Sneak Attack/Through the Breach/Pyromancy deck that featured Blightsteel Colossus and Emrakul, among other fatties.
Game 1 I made sure to mulligan to turn 1 disruption. He was 1 card away from a turn 1 kill with Blightsteel, and would have got me with it turn 2 if I hadn’t had the turn 1 sculler. It turned into pretty long game, with him using Pyromancy to nuke all my threats while I desperately tried to keep my life total above 15 and him without many cards in hand to go off. I had the option to send his early Wurmcoil farming, but decided to save my STP for my own germ in case I needed an emergency life boost. Dark Confidant drew me into Elspeth, and my flying batterskull eventually took him down.
Sideboarding: +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 War/Peace -3 Gatekeeper -2 Bitterblossom
After sideboarding the matchup is heavily in my favor, as Henry’s deck really needs every card it can get and discard or a revoker on Sneak Attack can really set back his plan. I don’t really remember this game, but I think it involved singing his cards away to Tourach.
4-0
Round 5 – vs. Tony with Belcher
He killed me on turn 1 both games. Yay. Tony was really lucky in this tournament, as he never played against a deck with Force of Wills all day.
For reference, my sideboarding was +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 War/Peace -4 Bitterblossom -1 Gatekeeper
4-1
Round 6 – Esper Stoneblade
Coverage can be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16622066
I made a mistake in game 1 when I drew the second Vindicate and went after his batterskull instead of his sword. He simply bounced it to his hand :(. It actually ended up working out for me, because the lost tempo let me finally get back into the game, but I’m sure destroying his sword was the correct play. This is one of those games when the true power of bitterblossom is on display, and all aspiring B/W players should watch this entire match, as well as the finals, because U/W stoneblade is one of the most popular decks right now, and one that we are well equipped (no pun intended) to beat.
My Sideboarding was +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 Manriki-Gusari -3 Gatekeeper -2 Inquisition of Kozilek
5-1
Round 7 – Intentional Draw
5-1-1
Quarterfinals – vs. Eli Kassis with U/W Stoneblade
My emotions were all over the place going into this match. Eli is the owner of Jupiter Games, a fantastic player who is known around the country, and has one of the most intimidating decks in the world (Japanese foils of literally every card). I had just made my first competitive top 8, I knew I was leaving with 100 bucks in my pocket, and was intimidated like you wouldn’t believe. I got myself psyched up by convincing myself I had nothing to lose – this had already been a great tournament for me, and I had tested and played against U/W plenty of times. I knew this matchup would be a grind, and
winning it would prove that I could play with the best.
Then I won the die roll.
I can’t stress how important that was in this match. I honestly don’t remember who won the die roll in most of my other matches, but this one was literally worth 500 bucks. I play turn 1 inquisition and see a hand of: Jace, SFM, STP, Standstill, 3 lands. That hand crushes me on the play, but knowing I can nab his STP and slam my own stoneforge before he’s able to play standstill made all the difference in this match. I eventually killed him by getting in a couple hits with Body and Mind and eating him with wolves.
Sideboarding: The same as round 6
He won game 2 with timely Wrath of Gods and sideboarded Disenchants to keep me from ever gaining a board presence, and mopped me up with Jace.
Game 3 was one of the tensest games I’ve ever played. He dropped a turn 2 Stoneforge, and I responded with Hymn. He had 4 cards in hand – I had a 50/50 chance of hitting the batterskull (his only one). Tourach was pleased, and the deadly artifact hit the bin. We then both missed our third land drop for the next three turns, which each consisted of me deploying key threat but him peeling the counterspell for every one. Finally we both regained our mana footing, but he was one turn too late, as he couldn’t play and protect his Jace from my small army of SFM, Bob, and a sculler which had stolen his Wrath. I had a key turn in this game when I chose to vial in my Sword of Body/Mind and attack with it rather than deploy my bitterblossom. He was forced to use his last disenchant (I had nabbed the other with an inquisition) on the sword, which cleared the way for bitterblossom to come down next turn and take the game over. When he finally extended the hand, it finally hit me – I had a shot to win this whole thing.
Semifinals – Tony with Belcher (again!)
Coverage can be found here http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16625746
Game 1: It turns out ¬a SFM turn 2 on the draw beats 8 1/1s on the play. Go figure. This is some great coverage, as the guys commentating cannot believe that I’m actually going to win this one. Do the math, boys!
Sideboarding: Same as round 5
Game 2: 14 goblins on the play is just a little too much. This guy had the combo literally every game I played against him.
Game 3: I thoughtseized away his wincon, Sang hymns the next turn, and just tried to crush him asap. He had 2 manamorphose on his last turn, and if either one had hit a belcher I was just dead. You don’t see it on the coverage, but I literally bow my head and pray, right there on the table. He doesn’t get there.
Finals – Kyle with U/W Stoneforge
Coverage can be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16627281
It’s a long, 3-game series that showcases what both decks can do. I’ll leave it to the coverage team to analyze my play here – all I know is that we were both exhausted, happy to split the cash, and playing all out for that trophy.
Sorry if this report ran a little long – it’s my first one. Any comments or questions are more than welcome. I hope you guys can find this coverage interesting and helpful. This is without question my deck of choice right now – not because of price barrier or familiarity, but because in a world dominated by NO RUG and U/W, I feel like I’m bringing the perfect tools to bring my opposition down. Wish me luck as I try to repeat next month!
Always go the extra mile.
EDH
:symb::symg:Skullbriar, the Walking Grave:symb::symg:
:symb::symw::symg: Teneb, the Harvester:symb::symw::symg:
:symg::symw:Rhys, the Redeemed:symg::symw:
I think that list is quite bizarre. AEther Vial? Seriously? He runs 15 dudes! And then he gets rid of any chance to play mana denial... strange.
Tom: Thanks for the report and awesome job! Bitter is quite insane indeed, and I have no objections to going to 4. I agree about the 6th white source, though I personally make up for that by playing a 2nd Plains. I'll try out a Shrine.
The one reservation I have for your list is the decrease in discard. I find discard is a very effective tool vs a variety of decks, especially the top decks at the moment, UW StoneBlade, NO RUG, and Hivemind. The jump to 3 Gatekeeper surprised me, and I notice you take some or all out very frequently. Would you choose to play 3 again?
A note on NO: I feel a lot of decks run 0-1 md, but play another 2-3 on the sb.
Cabal has been good for me personally, but I also feel it is a much more skill intensive and meta game choice. I have no problems with dropping one for a Thoughtseize in an unknown meta.
I made 27th, was 15th going into the last round I PSYOPed myself in the Zoo match with Pat Cox, which is still a bad MU I don't care what anybody says. You can read about how he smashed my face in 10 minutes on the SCG site. I don't think it would've mattered much anyway since he had exactly the kind of hands that Zoo wants to get every time, and top decked 3 land in a row after he missed his second land drop and I Wasted his first :/ If somebody reads the write up and asks why I didn't grab Batterskull with my SFM in game 1 I'm going to say all sorts of nasty things about your intelligence and your mother. The only other possibly correct choice there was to grab Jitte.
I played terribly against Merfolk in round 7, didn't help that he had 3 Stifle's in the first game! The third game he played a turn 2 Coralhelm Commander, I edicted it. He played a T3 CC, I Vindicated it. He played a turn 4 CC, I lost after he dropped 2 more lords. I punted the match by equipping Mariki-Gusari, he was playing Jitte's and Phantasmal image to copy my SFM, on a wolf token to try to trade with a Reejery instead of just equipping the stupid SoBaM to it.
In the last round I played against Merfolk again, mulliganned and he lorded out on me game on. Game 2 I kept a hand with 2 Swamps, 2 TS, BB, Hymn, and Ghostly Prison. Got beat to almost to death by multiple Mutavaults before I finally drew a feth to play Ghostly Prison. Then I died to my own BB. It wasn't a game for either of us really and it was a heartbreaking way to end a day that started 5-0.
I beat:
Esperblade 2-1
Painterstone 2-0
Mirror 2-1, Mulled to 5 game two. He was on the play and I got Hymned on the second turn and I got to keep my land, SFM, BB, and a land, life was good. I drew Vindicate, played a land and BB then got Hymned again. I lost that one.
RB that looked similar and had Jitte but obvioulsy no SFM. He kept a shaky mana hand and we both traded T1 TS for the opponents BB. He ended up with a Jitte and got two counters on it before I killed every creature he played before he could swing with it again. I won. He mulled to and I dismembered his hand and wasted all his colored sources for an easy win.
Reanimator. He countered my T2 BB. I drew another and attempted again, it got countered too. I drew a third and laughed as it turned into yet another Hymn. I draw all my equipment and grab Batterskull with my SFM. I equip everything and win despite milling him 10. I figure I can get rid of reanimate spells with the mill and win the next turn. It worked. T1 He dumps an Inkwell and Elesh Norn into the yard. I take make him discard some more and take a Force with Sculler. He reanimates Elesh to get his Force back for his only card left. I bait it with something then StP Elesh. I win despite casting Extirpate on his only reanimation target, Inkwell, in response to Entomb because I thought it was actually exhume!
The more I play with Chrome Mox the less I like it.
I feel the versatility offered by the Wastelands as well as the stronger mana base makes BW the better choice in the current meta. If only we could make a mana base with more basics in BWr, so we could use Magus of the Moon like UWr does...
bwr is sweet but a lot more susceptible to the other guy's wastelands
running three colors is asking for trouble against like a third of the field.
it is very tempting though.
On a different note, this other bw deck to top 16 in richmond is running 4 mainboard smallpox: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=40377
i've been testing that list with -1 dark ritual -2 gerrards verdict and +1 jitte +2 bitterblossom and i've been extremely impressed thus far.
in my testing thus far it has increased my win percentage vs. NORug by a huge margin, and given me a better win percentage vs zoo as well.
Do you guys think BW is strictly better than BW(r)? I like the Lavamancer+Collar is nice. Plus Lightning Bolts. And the REBS are nice off the board.
I tried Bwr for funsies at a local tournament and was less than impressed. REB is cool and Lavamancer can be handy but it feels like the deck does even less to end the game.
The weaker manabase is definitely an issue as well. When asked what they remembered about that tournament someone said "Tim sat around with no lands for half his games!" While that's a slight exaggeration, I'd say it's much more accurate than it ever should be.
OK, so now the next question, why isn't one of the moxes ran? A T1 Mystic/Blossom/Hymn/Bob seems really strong. Also would allow for you to dodge wasteland hate.
OK, so now the next question, why isn't one of the moxes ran? A T1 Mystic/Blossom/Hymn/Bob seems really strong. Also would allow for you to dodge wasteland hate.
Where are they not? If you look at my last 3 lists (27th at SCG Richmond, 15th SCG Baltimore and 5th at an SCG IQ) they all ran 2-3 Chrome Mox. I still don't like it though.
Chrome Mox is always good except when it's not. As dumb as that sounds, it holds some truth, yeah the dream of dropping a turn 1 Bob or BBlossom or Hymn is AWESOME, but it's SUCH a bad topdeck. Like, worse than a land, unless you are considering the fact that it makes your opponent wonder. I took this deck to a 23 player legacy tournament tonight and went 4-1 with it, and my list ran 2 Chrome Mox, and I was happy with that number. Also, the more I played, the more I wished that I could run more Tidehollow Scullers. He is an equipment carrier, a Thoughtseize (albeit temporary) and a 2/2 all in one. All in all, I was VERY please with the deck and went...
2-0 against U/R Painters Servant/Grindstone combo
0-2 against U/W control
2-1 against Dredge
2-1 against U/W merfolk
2-1 against mono U merfolk
Excellent deck, fun to play, and can have some really explosive plays.
I dont like chrome mox.
it is card-disadvantage. You allready run 20-22 lands. That should be more then enough.
In my list i run 21, and last sunday at the tournament (where i finished 3-4 (actually 3-2-1 (the last game i scooped because my last opponent could win a booster, and i couldnt win anything anymore, and the game before that one i lost in the extra turns because i forgot to equip my mystic with a war and peace so it couldt be pathed)) i have never had problems with my mana. no manascrew, once manaflood (but thats normal i guess). So adding 2-3 extra manasources (so removing some playables) and having to remove a playable card to make to make that card usefull isnt what i call a good thing. How often is it important to play a turn 2 spell on turn 1? how often does it matter that you cast bob turn 2 instead of turn 1? I can understand a Hymn, but the rest?
Honestly, even if it is card disadvantage, it is resistant to wasteland, and this deck makes up for by playing so many 2 for ones. Hymn, Stoneforge, Bob, BBlossom. Everything we play is some form of card advantage that I think we can afford to play 2 card disadvantage spells
I think it might depend on the list actually. I have 13 discard spells, so I have any number of great openings, from plain Hymn, to thoughtseize+Cabal. If you get them to discard 2 on the first turn your in solid shape. I think that Bob or SFM on turn 1 is slightly better than T2, but can be much better if your facing off against NO RUG, Merfolk, or any other Daze deck. If we are talking about things to cast after opening land, Mox, on the play, than its worth noting that even if Bob or SFM gets forced, its still a 2-for-one.
Avid B/W player here. For me, it seems like B/W's power lies in its ability to stay constantly one step ahead of your opponent through hand/land disruption, and win with not only card advantage off bob/gatekeeper/BB/hymn but also tempo plays like ritual/mox/stoneforge.
With an eye towards the tempo side of things, why not play hymn and mental misstep? Misstep does loads of work here- brainstorm is painfully good vs seize/Inq, and spellsnare is SUCH a beating. Also still works against everything everyone else plays it for (vial, zoo, mana dredge, plow etc). Basically it allows you to get to that "one step ahead" place right off the bat, even on the draw. It's obviously bad in some matches, but in those rare cases they make a wonderful side-out.
I play dark ritual in my list because doing things like t1 ritual, seize, bob/blossom/hymn is just bonkers. It's not even as bad a topdeck as one might think given the amount of tricks it can pull mid game like the 'ol 3 mana jitte/sword play/equip with 2/3 land, respectively.
I tried Dark Rit, but I found that it either tricked you into thinking you can totally keep a one land hand with a hymn, as well as preferring the staying power of the moxes.
I'm not suggesting mox should be cut- i like a 2/3 split on mox/ritual. Being tempted into keeping one land hands isn't really a downside of the card... you just don't do that unless you also have a mox or your hand is something like fetch/rit/seize/bob/misstep/stoneforge/hymn, and then only maybe depending on play/draw and if you know whether or not your opponent plays wasteland.
Even if you don't like ritual, misstep is a powerful spell we can add to our disruptive suite.
Although I have barely any experience with the deck or Chrome Mox used outside of combo, I'm going to chime in here to say something about Moxen I've picked up from playing Dark Horizons with Mox Diamond.
Legacy is unfair quite simply. With the advent of Mental Misstep, it's gotten more fair overall what with everything slowing down, but it's still Legacy. By lose definition, your deck is either doing something unfair, stopping the unfair, or racing the unfair. Moxen let you race. Yes, they are card disadvantage. Yes, they are a horrible topdeck. Yes, they are barely better than a land. In the end though, they give a competitive edge to an otherwise fair deck. If Confidant, Blossom, Stoneforge, Hymn and all the other 2CC in here are so good, why wouldn't a first turn one be better?
Now, upon the could-be-gas downside, I'll ask this of those who've not played with Moxen a lot: How often do you side them out? It took me a while to realize that myself, but the very first question you should ask yourself when it comes time to sideboad is if the matchup is unfair enough that you want and/or need the speed. Siding out mana sources might be a little odd, but it's merely an accelerant, nothing more. Against something quick like Affinity or Storm, you'll certainly want them in there so that your hand disruption might be able to rip out enough fast enough.
On the other side, against something like UW Stoneblade... just no. Get that card disadvantage thing out and bring in something better. All in all, I probably side out my 3x Mox Diamond in almost a full third of my games, if not more than that. Although such a often occurrence gives question to when it's in there, I ask this next: What's the hardest deck for you to beat with this one? Fast, unfair things you want to hit the ground running against and probably don't want to be counting on winning G2/G3 against.
Granted, I will note that my use of Mox Diamond has seen exclusive play with Sensei's Divining Top and multitudes of shuffle effects allowing me to suppress them as well as Diamond's ability to just discard itself to pump Goyfs if it can't pump Knights gives additional benefit to it's use in my experience. With such, I much prefer 3 as my number of choice as it increases the odds of having one in the opener despite the dead draws they could be later on.
Just some thoughts to chime in on there, ignore me if the play difference between Diamond and Chrome trinkets is vaster than I suspect.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing: Legacy: BWG Dark Horizons UWB Esper Stoneblade GUB Lands BGB (Pact) Spanish Inquisition
EDH: BGWKarador, Spirit Warmage
basically with a very low curve you don't really need to play the amount of land mox diamond wants you to play, and therefore have more business in your deck. Also, you can sometimes keep a hand with one land and a chrome, but not with the diamond.
Ah! Well, that makes a ton of sense actually. I actually run like 18 lands and 2 moxes, but have been hitting the amount of lands I need pretty consistently, in addition to keeping one land hands with chrome.
I think you're right though, the ability to keep a one land hand with chrome makes it much better.
4x Stoneforge mystic
3x Vampire nighthawk
2x Gatekeeper of malakir
1x batterskull
1x sword of war and peace
1x jitte
3x Sensei's divining top
4x thoughtseize
2x inquisition of kozilek
4x hymn to tourach
4x vindicate
4x swords to plowshares
4x scrubland
4x marsh flats
3x plains
6x swamp
4x wasteland
4x kataki, war's wage
2x perish
1x samurai of the pale curtain
4x engineered plague
4x leyline of the void
but it seems like i have a very bad matchup against zoo...
is there anything i could put in my sideboard that could make my matchup against zoo a bit less painfull?
Thank you for Heroes of the Plane Studios for this awesome sig.
Legacy:
Shardlessless BUG (active)
Shardless BUG (retired)
UW Stoneblade (retired)
Maveric (retired)
Thopters (retired)
Dark Horizons (retired)
Dreadstill (retired)
Armageddon Staxx (retired)
- You think it is over, but Ibraman has just begun...
- When it rains, women get wet.
I'm pretty sure Null Rod will make you unable to do anything.
Hive Mind is winnable; you just need to have a strong hand and attack their hand and mana very quickly.
My name is Tom Leger, and last weekend I piloted a B/W deck to 1st place at a Jupiter Games NELC qualifier. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jupiter Games, their Legacy tournament series is considered by many to be the premier scene for eternal magic on the entire east coast. The metagame is diverse, and powerful – James Rynkiewicz, winner of GP Providence, and Eli Kassis, who has multiple SCG open top 8s, were both in attendance with their respective testing groups.
A little about myself – I just got back into playing magic this year in December of 2010. I was fortunate to live in an area with a great group of legacy enthusiasts (Zirath, especially, has been an invaluable resource to me, as I’m sure he has been to you guys during his time on these forums). I decided about 4 months ago that Legacy would be my focus, but trying to jump in to a format as broad and complex as that one was a real challenge, and before I get to my tournament report I feel compelled to publicly thank everyone in Ithaca (shout out to Ning, Amin, Larry, Henry, Timur, Phil, and Doc!) for all the hours of testing and answering my incessant questions.
Here is my decklist.
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Bitterblossom
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Vindicate
3 Chrome Mox
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
4 Scrubland
4 Marsh Flats
3 Wateland
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Godless Shrine
4 Swamp
1 Plains
Sideboard:
3 Perish
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Darkblast
1 Relic of Progentius
Some notes on the deck before I get to the matches: I have been piloting B/W for essentially the entirety of my competitive legacy experience, and came to this list through extensive testing. Yes, I have access to 4 thoughtseizes, and yes, I know many of the pros play Cabal Therapy in this deck, but this configuration has proven to be the most consistant and powerful version, at least from my experience. The singleton godless shrine is a fetch target, and actually needed as a 6th non-moxen white source – I paid 4 life for it on the day, but it’s inclusion single-handedly won me a game, and I wouldn’t leave home without one. To anyone who says 4 Bitterblossom is too many, I hope the tournament report below can begin to convince you how insane the card is and that we would play 5 if we could. Elspeth generally fills the roll as bitterblossoms 5-6, as a token/card advantage engine that is difficult to deal with by traditional removal. I can address any additional questions you guys have about particular card choice or number, just send me a message through MTGS.
Matches can be seen on the Jupiter Games website (narrated by, among others, Adam Barnello of Legacy and Channelfireball fame). http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jupiter-games-legacy-series#utm_campaign=sales.jupitergamesonline.com&utm_source=4187256&utm_medium=social
I’m featured in Round 6, the Semis, and the Finals.
Round 1 – Aggro Bant
His deck was the tempo version of Bant, very similar to the list that won GP providence. I didn’t see a force of will from him in the match.
Game 1 was a close one, and we traded punches for close to 30 minutes. An early bitterblossom from me kept the game going long enough to eventually grind him out. Over the course of the game I drew 2 stoneforges and a Jitte naturally. He used both his maindeck pridemages to destroy my batterskull and Sword, leaving bitterblossom untouched. As soon as he cast GSZ for 2 and got a goyf instead of a pridemage, I knew the coast was clear and slammed Jitte (after a sculler to check his hand) and won the game from there.
Maindecking sword of body and mind has to be correct in the current meta – I used to run war and peace, and didn’t miss it in a single game 1 all day.
Sideboard: +3 Perish +1 Manriki-Gusari +1 Darkblast +2 Tidehollow Sculler +1 Relic of Progenitus
-3 Vindicate -1 STP -2 Thoughtseize -1 Bitterblossom -1 Gatekeeper
Game 2 was much less close. Despite him having an active sylvan library on turn 2 and having insane card filtering through the entire game, I had a brutal opener of turn 1 mox, sculler and turn 2 gatekeeper kicked (killing his turn 2 SFM for batterskull). The tempo I generated allowed me to remove his threats at my leisure and wait for Elspeth to mop things up.
1-0
Round 2 – Dredge
Game 1 I got smashed, but got some important information. My opponent was playing mana dredge with FKZ as a DR target and Lion’s Eye Diamonds.
Sideboarding: +4 Leyline of the void, +1 Relic of Progenitus +2 Phrexian Revoker +1 Darkblast +2 Sculler --4 Hymn to Tourach, -3 Vindicate -2 Bitterblossom -1 Elspeth
Game 2 I mulled to 6 and started the game with 2 Leylines on the battlefield, which he told me later he had literally no outs to.
Game 3 was more of the same as I mulled to leyline and he mulled to a hand that could beat a leyline, keeping with no dredgers but a turn 1 chain of vapor. Unfortunately for my opponent, he didn’t draw a dredger for another 5 turns, but which time I had a SFM and batterskull out and a leyline back in play.
2-0
Round 3 – NO RUG
I had actually seen my opponent playing in the previous round, so I knew when I saw my opener of mox, swamp, fetch, stoneforge, bitterblossom x3 that I was in good shape. I went turn 1 bitterblossom, removing bitterblossom. He Forced, removing progenitus from the game (!). I played turn 2 bitterblossom, turn 3 stoneforge for Jitte, and his vendillion cliques and goyfs got crushed by my swarm of faeries. As a side note, he cliqued himself twice this game, both times shipping Natural Order.
Sideboarding: +3 Perish +2 Sculler +1 Darkblast -2 Bitterblossom -3 Vindicate -1 Swords to Plowshares
I know it must look weird that I’m boarding out 2 bitterblossom after it crushed him game 1, but games 2&3 they are much more prepared for it, and I don’t want to draw 2 against a deck with as much burn as NO RUG. Siding in Revokers may be correct, but I didn’t see any grim lavamancers from him in game 1 and naming hierarch has never seemed like enough value to warrant an inclusion.
Game 2 was close, and frankly I simply outdrew him at the end of the match. I started hitting him with a Sworded SFM, and despite milling twenty cards he couldn’t find the other ancient grudge that he needed. NO RUG has proven to be a very strong matchup for B/W through my experience, as our discard, spot removal, sacrifice effects, and equipment are all difficult for their game plan. Also, Darkblast is insane.
3-0
Round 4 – Sneak Attack
My friend and ride to the tournament Henry and I were both 3-0 at this point, and as luck would have it we saw our names paired together. Happy at least that one of us would be 4-0 and have a real shot at top8, we sat down across each other with complete knowledge of each others’ decks. Henry is the most experienced Magic player of my local gaming group, having been playing “since all these duals were only a buck”, as he reminds us whenever we gape at his expansive collection. Despite access to whatever mana base he might need, Henry decided to ‘go back to Magic kindergarten’ and sleeve up some basic mountains. He was on a mono-red Sneak Attack/Through the Breach/Pyromancy deck that featured Blightsteel Colossus and Emrakul, among other fatties.
Game 1 I made sure to mulligan to turn 1 disruption. He was 1 card away from a turn 1 kill with Blightsteel, and would have got me with it turn 2 if I hadn’t had the turn 1 sculler. It turned into pretty long game, with him using Pyromancy to nuke all my threats while I desperately tried to keep my life total above 15 and him without many cards in hand to go off. I had the option to send his early Wurmcoil farming, but decided to save my STP for my own germ in case I needed an emergency life boost. Dark Confidant drew me into Elspeth, and my flying batterskull eventually took him down.
Sideboarding: +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 War/Peace -3 Gatekeeper -2 Bitterblossom
After sideboarding the matchup is heavily in my favor, as Henry’s deck really needs every card it can get and discard or a revoker on Sneak Attack can really set back his plan. I don’t really remember this game, but I think it involved singing his cards away to Tourach.
4-0
Round 5 – vs. Tony with Belcher
He killed me on turn 1 both games. Yay. Tony was really lucky in this tournament, as he never played against a deck with Force of Wills all day.
For reference, my sideboarding was +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 War/Peace -4 Bitterblossom -1 Gatekeeper
4-1
Round 6 – Esper Stoneblade
Coverage can be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16622066
I made a mistake in game 1 when I drew the second Vindicate and went after his batterskull instead of his sword. He simply bounced it to his hand :(. It actually ended up working out for me, because the lost tempo let me finally get back into the game, but I’m sure destroying his sword was the correct play. This is one of those games when the true power of bitterblossom is on display, and all aspiring B/W players should watch this entire match, as well as the finals, because U/W stoneblade is one of the most popular decks right now, and one that we are well equipped (no pun intended) to beat.
My Sideboarding was +2 Sculler +2 Revoker +1 Manriki-Gusari -3 Gatekeeper -2 Inquisition of Kozilek
5-1
Round 7 – Intentional Draw
5-1-1
Quarterfinals – vs. Eli Kassis with U/W Stoneblade
My emotions were all over the place going into this match. Eli is the owner of Jupiter Games, a fantastic player who is known around the country, and has one of the most intimidating decks in the world (Japanese foils of literally every card). I had just made my first competitive top 8, I knew I was leaving with 100 bucks in my pocket, and was intimidated like you wouldn’t believe. I got myself psyched up by convincing myself I had nothing to lose – this had already been a great tournament for me, and I had tested and played against U/W plenty of times. I knew this matchup would be a grind, and
winning it would prove that I could play with the best.
Then I won the die roll.
I can’t stress how important that was in this match. I honestly don’t remember who won the die roll in most of my other matches, but this one was literally worth 500 bucks. I play turn 1 inquisition and see a hand of: Jace, SFM, STP, Standstill, 3 lands. That hand crushes me on the play, but knowing I can nab his STP and slam my own stoneforge before he’s able to play standstill made all the difference in this match. I eventually killed him by getting in a couple hits with Body and Mind and eating him with wolves.
Sideboarding: The same as round 6
He won game 2 with timely Wrath of Gods and sideboarded Disenchants to keep me from ever gaining a board presence, and mopped me up with Jace.
Game 3 was one of the tensest games I’ve ever played. He dropped a turn 2 Stoneforge, and I responded with Hymn. He had 4 cards in hand – I had a 50/50 chance of hitting the batterskull (his only one). Tourach was pleased, and the deadly artifact hit the bin. We then both missed our third land drop for the next three turns, which each consisted of me deploying key threat but him peeling the counterspell for every one. Finally we both regained our mana footing, but he was one turn too late, as he couldn’t play and protect his Jace from my small army of SFM, Bob, and a sculler which had stolen his Wrath. I had a key turn in this game when I chose to vial in my Sword of Body/Mind and attack with it rather than deploy my bitterblossom. He was forced to use his last disenchant (I had nabbed the other with an inquisition) on the sword, which cleared the way for bitterblossom to come down next turn and take the game over. When he finally extended the hand, it finally hit me – I had a shot to win this whole thing.
Semifinals – Tony with Belcher (again!)
Coverage can be found here http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16625746
Game 1: It turns out ¬a SFM turn 2 on the draw beats 8 1/1s on the play. Go figure. This is some great coverage, as the guys commentating cannot believe that I’m actually going to win this one. Do the math, boys!
Sideboarding: Same as round 5
Game 2: 14 goblins on the play is just a little too much. This guy had the combo literally every game I played against him.
Game 3: I thoughtseized away his wincon, Sang hymns the next turn, and just tried to crush him asap. He had 2 manamorphose on his last turn, and if either one had hit a belcher I was just dead. You don’t see it on the coverage, but I literally bow my head and pray, right there on the table. He doesn’t get there.
Finals – Kyle with U/W Stoneforge
Coverage can be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16627281
It’s a long, 3-game series that showcases what both decks can do. I’ll leave it to the coverage team to analyze my play here – all I know is that we were both exhausted, happy to split the cash, and playing all out for that trophy.
Sorry if this report ran a little long – it’s my first one. Any comments or questions are more than welcome. I hope you guys can find this coverage interesting and helpful. This is without question my deck of choice right now – not because of price barrier or familiarity, but because in a world dominated by NO RUG and U/W, I feel like I’m bringing the perfect tools to bring my opposition down. Wish me luck as I try to repeat next month!
Always go the extra mile.
It cannot murder the lie
Nor establish the truth
Legacy
:symb:B/W Stoneblade:symw:
:symg::symb::symw:The Rock:symg::symb::symw:
:symw:Death & Taxes:symw:
EDH
:symb::symg:Skullbriar, the Walking Grave:symb::symg:
:symb::symw::symg: Teneb, the Harvester:symb::symw::symg:
:symg::symw:Rhys, the Redeemed:symg::symw:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=40373
he runs 2 batterskulls and no swords
also he is doing path instead of stp and running 2 ghost quaters
Legacy:
UGRB 4 color cascade
EDH/Commander:
BWG Teneb, the Harvester
Tom: Thanks for the report and awesome job! Bitter is quite insane indeed, and I have no objections to going to 4. I agree about the 6th white source, though I personally make up for that by playing a 2nd Plains. I'll try out a Shrine.
The one reservation I have for your list is the decrease in discard. I find discard is a very effective tool vs a variety of decks, especially the top decks at the moment, UW StoneBlade, NO RUG, and Hivemind. The jump to 3 Gatekeeper surprised me, and I notice you take some or all out very frequently. Would you choose to play 3 again?
A note on NO: I feel a lot of decks run 0-1 md, but play another 2-3 on the sb.
Cabal has been good for me personally, but I also feel it is a much more skill intensive and meta game choice. I have no problems with dropping one for a Thoughtseize in an unknown meta.
I'm off to update the OP
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Bitterblossom
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Body and Mind
2 Chrome Mox
1 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Vindicate
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Polluted Delta
4 Scrubland
1 Fetid Heath
3 Wasteland
5 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Gatekeeper of Malkir
1 Manriki Gusari
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Basalisk Collar
2 Perish
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Extirpate
I made 27th, was 15th going into the last round I PSYOPed myself in the Zoo match with Pat Cox, which is still a bad MU I don't care what anybody says. You can read about how he smashed my face in 10 minutes on the SCG site. I don't think it would've mattered much anyway since he had exactly the kind of hands that Zoo wants to get every time, and top decked 3 land in a row after he missed his second land drop and I Wasted his first :/ If somebody reads the write up and asks why I didn't grab Batterskull with my SFM in game 1 I'm going to say all sorts of nasty things about your intelligence and your mother. The only other possibly correct choice there was to grab Jitte.
I played terribly against Merfolk in round 7, didn't help that he had 3 Stifle's in the first game! The third game he played a turn 2 Coralhelm Commander, I edicted it. He played a T3 CC, I Vindicated it. He played a turn 4 CC, I lost after he dropped 2 more lords. I punted the match by equipping Mariki-Gusari, he was playing Jitte's and Phantasmal image to copy my SFM, on a wolf token to try to trade with a Reejery instead of just equipping the stupid SoBaM to it.
In the last round I played against Merfolk again, mulliganned and he lorded out on me game on. Game 2 I kept a hand with 2 Swamps, 2 TS, BB, Hymn, and Ghostly Prison. Got beat to almost to death by multiple Mutavaults before I finally drew a feth to play Ghostly Prison. Then I died to my own BB. It wasn't a game for either of us really and it was a heartbreaking way to end a day that started 5-0.
I beat:
Esperblade 2-1
Painterstone 2-0
Mirror 2-1, Mulled to 5 game two. He was on the play and I got Hymned on the second turn and I got to keep my land, SFM, BB, and a land, life was good. I drew Vindicate, played a land and BB then got Hymned again. I lost that one.
RB that looked similar and had Jitte but obvioulsy no SFM. He kept a shaky mana hand and we both traded T1 TS for the opponents BB. He ended up with a Jitte and got two counters on it before I killed every creature he played before he could swing with it again. I won. He mulled to and I dismembered his hand and wasted all his colored sources for an easy win.
Reanimator. He countered my T2 BB. I drew another and attempted again, it got countered too. I drew a third and laughed as it turned into yet another Hymn. I draw all my equipment and grab Batterskull with my SFM. I equip everything and win despite milling him 10. I figure I can get rid of reanimate spells with the mill and win the next turn. It worked. T1 He dumps an Inkwell and Elesh Norn into the yard. I take make him discard some more and take a Force with Sculler. He reanimates Elesh to get his Force back for his only card left. I bait it with something then StP Elesh. I win despite casting Extirpate on his only reanimation target, Inkwell, in response to Entomb because I thought it was actually exhume!
The more I play with Chrome Mox the less I like it.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
running three colors is asking for trouble against like a third of the field.
it is very tempting though.
On a different note, this other bw deck to top 16 in richmond is running 4 mainboard smallpox: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=40377
i've been testing that list with -1 dark ritual -2 gerrards verdict and +1 jitte +2 bitterblossom and i've been extremely impressed thus far.
in my testing thus far it has increased my win percentage vs. NORug by a huge margin, and given me a better win percentage vs zoo as well.
Legacy:
UGRB 4 color cascade
EDH/Commander:
BWG Teneb, the Harvester
I tried Bwr for funsies at a local tournament and was less than impressed. REB is cool and Lavamancer can be handy but it feels like the deck does even less to end the game.
The weaker manabase is definitely an issue as well. When asked what they remembered about that tournament someone said "Tim sat around with no lands for half his games!" While that's a slight exaggeration, I'd say it's much more accurate than it ever should be.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
Where are they not? If you look at my last 3 lists (27th at SCG Richmond, 15th SCG Baltimore and 5th at an SCG IQ) they all ran 2-3 Chrome Mox. I still don't like it though.
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
2-0 against U/R Painters Servant/Grindstone combo
0-2 against U/W control
2-1 against Dredge
2-1 against U/W merfolk
2-1 against mono U merfolk
Excellent deck, fun to play, and can have some really explosive plays.
Hey look I have a page of alters!
Level 1 Judge!
Modern
- Merfolk UR
Legacy
- Stoneblade BW
EDH
- BUOona, Queen of the FaeBU
- BRWKaalia, the VastWRB
- WURZedruuRUW
Sale Thread!
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it is card-disadvantage. You allready run 20-22 lands. That should be more then enough.
In my list i run 21, and last sunday at the tournament (where i finished 3-4 (actually 3-2-1 (the last game i scooped because my last opponent could win a booster, and i couldnt win anything anymore, and the game before that one i lost in the extra turns because i forgot to equip my mystic with a war and peace so it couldt be pathed)) i have never had problems with my mana. no manascrew, once manaflood (but thats normal i guess). So adding 2-3 extra manasources (so removing some playables) and having to remove a playable card to make to make that card usefull isnt what i call a good thing. How often is it important to play a turn 2 spell on turn 1? how often does it matter that you cast bob turn 2 instead of turn 1? I can understand a Hymn, but the rest?
Thank you for Heroes of the Plane Studios for this awesome sig.
Legacy:
Shardlessless BUG (active)
Shardless BUG (retired)
UW Stoneblade (retired)
Maveric (retired)
Thopters (retired)
Dark Horizons (retired)
Dreadstill (retired)
Armageddon Staxx (retired)
- You think it is over, but Ibraman has just begun...
- When it rains, women get wet.
Hey look I have a page of alters!
Level 1 Judge!
Modern
- Merfolk UR
Legacy
- Stoneblade BW
EDH
- BUOona, Queen of the FaeBU
- BRWKaalia, the VastWRB
- WURZedruuRUW
Sale Thread!
CHARGIN' MAH TRADE THREAD
Level 1 Judge
Currently Playing:
W Death and Taxes
BGR ScapeWish Nic Fit
BGR Punishing Nic Fit
With an eye towards the tempo side of things, why not play hymn and mental misstep? Misstep does loads of work here- brainstorm is painfully good vs seize/Inq, and spellsnare is SUCH a beating. Also still works against everything everyone else plays it for (vial, zoo, mana dredge, plow etc). Basically it allows you to get to that "one step ahead" place right off the bat, even on the draw. It's obviously bad in some matches, but in those rare cases they make a wonderful side-out.
I play dark ritual in my list because doing things like t1 ritual, seize, bob/blossom/hymn is just bonkers. It's not even as bad a topdeck as one might think given the amount of tricks it can pull mid game like the 'ol 3 mana jitte/sword play/equip with 2/3 land, respectively.
Hey look I have a page of alters!
Level 1 Judge!
Modern
- Merfolk UR
Legacy
- Stoneblade BW
EDH
- BUOona, Queen of the FaeBU
- BRWKaalia, the VastWRB
- WURZedruuRUW
Sale Thread!
CHARGIN' MAH TRADE THREAD
Even if you don't like ritual, misstep is a powerful spell we can add to our disruptive suite.
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Dark Confidant
2 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Gatekeeper of Malikir
3 Bitterblossom
3 Chrome Mox
1 Elspeth, the Knight-Errand
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Vindicate
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
4 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Wasteland
2 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Ghostly Prison
3 Disenchant
1 Manriki-quasari
3 Extirpate
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
Legacy is unfair quite simply. With the advent of Mental Misstep, it's gotten more fair overall what with everything slowing down, but it's still Legacy. By lose definition, your deck is either doing something unfair, stopping the unfair, or racing the unfair. Moxen let you race. Yes, they are card disadvantage. Yes, they are a horrible topdeck. Yes, they are barely better than a land. In the end though, they give a competitive edge to an otherwise fair deck. If Confidant, Blossom, Stoneforge, Hymn and all the other 2CC in here are so good, why wouldn't a first turn one be better?
Now, upon the could-be-gas downside, I'll ask this of those who've not played with Moxen a lot: How often do you side them out? It took me a while to realize that myself, but the very first question you should ask yourself when it comes time to sideboad is if the matchup is unfair enough that you want and/or need the speed. Siding out mana sources might be a little odd, but it's merely an accelerant, nothing more. Against something quick like Affinity or Storm, you'll certainly want them in there so that your hand disruption might be able to rip out enough fast enough.
On the other side, against something like UW Stoneblade... just no. Get that card disadvantage thing out and bring in something better. All in all, I probably side out my 3x Mox Diamond in almost a full third of my games, if not more than that. Although such a often occurrence gives question to when it's in there, I ask this next: What's the hardest deck for you to beat with this one? Fast, unfair things you want to hit the ground running against and probably don't want to be counting on winning G2/G3 against.
Granted, I will note that my use of Mox Diamond has seen exclusive play with Sensei's Divining Top and multitudes of shuffle effects allowing me to suppress them as well as Diamond's ability to just discard itself to pump Goyfs if it can't pump Knights gives additional benefit to it's use in my experience. With such, I much prefer 3 as my number of choice as it increases the odds of having one in the opener despite the dead draws they could be later on.
Just some thoughts to chime in on there, ignore me if the play difference between Diamond and Chrome trinkets is vaster than I suspect.
BWG Dark Horizons
UWB Esper Stoneblade
GUB Lands
BGB (Pact) Spanish Inquisition
EDH:
BGW Karador, Spirit Warmage
I think you're right though, the ability to keep a one land hand with chrome makes it much better.
Hey look I have a page of alters!
Level 1 Judge!
Modern
- Merfolk UR
Legacy
- Stoneblade BW
EDH
- BUOona, Queen of the FaeBU
- BRWKaalia, the VastWRB
- WURZedruuRUW
Sale Thread!
CHARGIN' MAH TRADE THREAD