My two thoughts I've had on the deck so far (with only really doing some solitaire with the deck) are:
1. Adding in a Grave Titan as the top end, Pod the Thragtusk into Grave Titan which makes 0 CMC tokens to start the Birthing Pod chain again. It's something I've seen BUG Pod do in Legacy before and Grave Titan is another sweet card that ends the game in two or three swings.
2. Aside from Deathrite Shaman the deck doesn't use it's own graveyard very much. People in my meta have been talking a lot about Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and since our deck is mostly creatures he might be a good way to get them back once they've been sacrificed to Birthing Pod.
Much like when Pack Rat dominated standard, the second I saw Siege Rhino tearing it up I have wanted to try it in legacy.
Also with the banning of Birthing Pod in Modern, Legacy has become the last place to play it in a constructed format (for the most part).
All that being said I really like the list you have so far and will be finishing putting it together soon and testing it at the weekly legacy events in my area.
"How in the hell did you just contract twice in a row? You drew 8 cards? .Ragequits.
A couple guys at my shop have been bringing standard decks from past standards in magic history and I've been playing ProsBloom and it's still just so great to play.
So yeah, Rector into Omniscience would be really tight with both of the combo pieces in hand
(with intuition and all the cantrips it shouldn't be hard to get both by the time you trigger rector, even easier to get after!)
Lol Yawgmoth's Bargain being unbanned would be big for reasons way better than this deck.
Will definitely try going with this Esper build you are suggesting.
On second thought though, humility AND rest in peace both turn off the academy rector plan so maybe not those cards in the board specifically, but either way... the board gets way better when we go Esper colors.
So you'd go Esper colors and put in the Cabal Therapy and Academy Rector interaction.
There's lots of room in the mana base so I don't see that being impossible to do.
Just throw in a couple duals and some fetches I guess?
Earlier this year I was reading one of Carsten Kotters articles on some legacy brews that were showing up in different metas across the world. While all of them were pretty interesting (I even saw a Parfait style list!) I came across one that really caught my eye. New Donate Illusions.
I'm sure most people are familiar with the combo of Illusions of Grandeur and Donate, it dominated extended for a long time especially when Necropotence was a legal card. Someone has been working on a legacy port of the deck, the draw engine replacing Necro is a combination of Snapcaster Mage and Accumulated Knowledge, which I was doubtful of at first but having played a couple games on Cockatrice I can say is actually a pretty strong drawing engine. I've been playing with the same list that was posted in the article but was hoping to get some suggestions for changes on the forums. Obviously the deck is extremely vulnerable to a well timed Red Elemental Blast but tries to mitigate problems like that by playing Chalice of the Void and also having almost every card in the deck being pitchable to Force of Will. Sapphire Medallion may seem cute but as a turn 1 play off an Ancient Tomb it can let you get a lot of setup done on turn 2, especially with the help of Chrome Mox. I think the Sideboard could also use some reworking, any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
When you are making a deck like this, something I keep in mind is... if the deck is so easily crippled by graveyard hate, why not just play a combo graveyard deck with more consistency? That being said, I enjoy tortured existence and veteran explorer a lot, take a look at the "Nightmare Effect" list on this forum for some ideas.
I got the link to work (but only if I copy and paste it). Thanks for sharing that thread I'm about to give it a read right now!
I'll definitely take a look at Harmonize and Night's Whisper. I think Infernal Contract is still good because you can use it to draw a ton and hopefully you are winning the turn you pay half of your life.
Do you have a sideboard for this list yet? I'm thinking about taking it to my weekly legacy event tonight.
My two thoughts I've had on the deck so far (with only really doing some solitaire with the deck) are:
1. Adding in a Grave Titan as the top end, Pod the Thragtusk into Grave Titan which makes 0 CMC tokens to start the Birthing Pod chain again. It's something I've seen BUG Pod do in Legacy before and Grave Titan is another sweet card that ends the game in two or three swings.
2. Aside from Deathrite Shaman the deck doesn't use it's own graveyard very much. People in my meta have been talking a lot about Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and since our deck is mostly creatures he might be a good way to get them back once they've been sacrificed to Birthing Pod.
Any thoughts on those?
Also with the banning of Birthing Pod in Modern, Legacy has become the last place to play it in a constructed format (for the most part).
All that being said I really like the list you have so far and will be finishing putting it together soon and testing it at the weekly legacy events in my area.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for the list!
A couple guys at my shop have been bringing standard decks from past standards in magic history and I've been playing ProsBloom and it's still just so great to play.
(with intuition and all the cantrips it shouldn't be hard to get both by the time you trigger rector, even easier to get after!)
Lol Yawgmoth's Bargain being unbanned would be big for reasons way better than this deck.
Cards like Humility, Rest In Peace, Supreme Verdict etc.
Will definitely try going with this Esper build you are suggesting.
On second thought though, humility AND rest in peace both turn off the academy rector plan so maybe not those cards in the board specifically, but either way... the board gets way better when we go Esper colors.
Still not that solid at building sensible mana bases.
There's lots of room in the mana base so I don't see that being impossible to do.
Just throw in a couple duals and some fetches I guess?
3 Snapcaster Mage
Lands (16)
12 Island
4 Ancient Tomb
Spells (41)
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Sapphire Medallion
4 Illusions of Grandeur
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
4 Impulse
4 Intuition
4 Thirst For Knowledge
4 Donate
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Echoing Truth
4 Flusterstorm
4 Surgical Extraction
2 Wipe Away
I'm sure most people are familiar with the combo of Illusions of Grandeur and Donate, it dominated extended for a long time especially when Necropotence was a legal card. Someone has been working on a legacy port of the deck, the draw engine replacing Necro is a combination of Snapcaster Mage and Accumulated Knowledge, which I was doubtful of at first but having played a couple games on Cockatrice I can say is actually a pretty strong drawing engine. I've been playing with the same list that was posted in the article but was hoping to get some suggestions for changes on the forums. Obviously the deck is extremely vulnerable to a well timed Red Elemental Blast but tries to mitigate problems like that by playing Chalice of the Void and also having almost every card in the deck being pitchable to Force of Will. Sapphire Medallion may seem cute but as a turn 1 play off an Ancient Tomb it can let you get a lot of setup done on turn 2, especially with the help of Chrome Mox. I think the Sideboard could also use some reworking, any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I'll definitely take a look at Harmonize and Night's Whisper. I think Infernal Contract is still good because you can use it to draw a ton and hopefully you are winning the turn you pay half of your life.
Thanks again!
Have a Lion's Eye Diamond in play.
Cast your Demonfire, in response sacrifice your Lion's Eye Diamond discarding your hand. You are now Hellbent.
I believe TES or Spanish Inquisition does this exact play but with Infernal Tutor.