I've been trying to make legends work since Dominaria hit but with all the gods running around in Amonkhet standard it was not to be, but now there is another chance to make this hit hard since the metagame is highly creature based so a midrange deck that's resilient can do quite well.
I took it to Standard showdown yesterday and went 2-1 in my first ever tournament with this deck. I lost to Selesnya tokens although I have a good match up against that deck but he got 3 God draws for 3 turns in a row to ruin the 3rd game for me.
Without further ado here's the decklist as played yesterday:
So, the sideboard is kind of funky, and it needs changing but this event was my first one playing this deck, and also playing live in over a couple of months (I usually play on Arena these days not at the lgs) so I didn't know what to expect in terms of the metagame.
A little bit about the one-ofs, basically I only have 1 Aurelia which I pulled from a pack and I don't want to spend money on getting a 2nd one, and it's the same with the 1 Sacred foundry, of course, it'd be beneficial having a playset but I don't want to pay $7/each for the other three right now. As for 1 Traxos and 1 Etali they are just there to add more creatures that can hit hard and are a must kill for the opponent the turn they come into play basically.
There is also no Lyra Dawnbringer because I don't own any and I'm not even sure this deck can support 5 casting cost creatures. I mean the spells need to be cast and so everything is at 4 mana or less except for Etali but that is a one of only.
Short tourney report;
Round 1 vs. R/B aggro
I was able to kill a few of his creatures in the first game and then win. In the second game I got rocked quite fast before I can recover but in the third game I was able to get down Danisha holding the blackblade and that pretty much sealed the game.
Round 2 vs. G/W/U Selesnya tokens
In the first game I was able to clear the board a couple of times then win by casting Verix bladewing with kicker and fly over his army. In the second game I kept a 2 land hand and didn't draw any lands for the first 3 turns so I got beat. In the third game I was doing well, but he took 3 of my creatures out of the game in consecutive turns while I was holding Urza's ruinous blast to wipe his board, so if he didn't take any of the 3 creatures I cast I would've been able to wipe his board and have a good chance at winning the game. He took out the first creature with Deputy of Detention and the next two creatures with Conclave Tribunaland so I lost that game. I feel like this deck is a good match-up for me since I have so many cards to kill tokens and mass creatures, but it didn't work out.
Round 3 vs. B/U Dimir midrange
I won the first game because he mulled to 6 and kept a one land hand and he didn't draw a second land until turn 3-4 but it was too late by then. I lost the second game quickly since he rocked me by killing my creatures and then flying over for the win. I won the third game by having turn 2 Knight of grace out and turn 3 Tajic, he cast Hostage Taker and took Tajic, on my next turn I cast Shalai and hit with the knight of grace again and on his turn he tapped out for the eldest reborn to which I sacced my knight of grace. On my turn I drew deafening clarion and showed him and he scooped, he was at 6 life, I'd cast clarion, kill his hostage taker, get back my tajic and proceed to attack with it and shalai so it was game over.
I was pleasantly surprised to beat R/B aggro but not so happy to lose to Tokens.dec but such is life.
I like this deck because of the different interactions, and if you get Blackblade out then the opp has to be afraid of any creature that hits play since it'll get really big holding the sword. I especially like the Tajic and Shalai combo since they protect each other, so they can only die to mass removal spells, or to bounce of Shalai and then kill Tajic, but aside from that they're untouchable.
I will change the sideboard a bit but one note is that Knight of Grace is really good against aggro since they have to kill it with burn otherwise they can't attack much and also great against Dimir as well, for obvious reasons.
Let me know what you think, it's not a tier 1 deck but with some adjustments and with the metagame being creature based this deck can kick some serious ass!
Decks with legends as the main theme are always interesting. I don't even play Standard, but still had fun reading the post.
You could certainly make adjustments to metagame your lgs. I think not being a tier 1 means people won't be expecting your deck, so there's a little element of surprise.
Is there a game where the large 6 cmc dino did something useful. Maybe that slot could be used for another cheaper cmc legendary creature?
Decks with legends as the main theme are always interesting. I don't even play Standard, but still had fun reading the post.
You could certainly make adjustments to metagame your lgs. I think not being a tier 1 means people won't be expecting your deck, so there's a little element of surprise.
Is there a game where the large 6 cmc dino did something useful. Maybe that slot could be used for another cheaper cmc legendary creature?
Actually, Etali came out against R/B aggro when he was mana screwed of Black mana, and I managed to attack once with it and play one of his creatures as a blocker on my side and of course hit him for 6.
Although the deck has 17 creatures it's not an aggro deck, it's midrange so I don't start attacking usually until turn 4 or turn 5 or later, the first few turns are spent defending by killing the opp's creatures.
As for the surprise, I'm pretty sure my opponents didn't know what the hell I was playing, maybe knights because of Danitha, but when I did get the sword out on turn 2 they probably got confused a lot.
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Yeah, noticed that it is a midrange deck. I play midrange too, although in modern.
Are there decks in standard that bring out plenty of 1/1's? If there's none, I think Fight with Fire could be better than first eruption. Could also be a finisher if you draw it late game.
Yup the G/W deck makes 1/1 tokens, as well as the mono-white deck as well. That's why I need to have a lot of mass removal spells in the deck, since my deck doesn't do much before turn 4 anyway, I might as well wipe the board.
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"May he who is without mana cast the first spell!"
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I've been trying to make legends work since Dominaria hit but with all the gods running around in Amonkhet standard it was not to be, but now there is another chance to make this hit hard since the metagame is highly creature based so a midrange deck that's resilient can do quite well.
I took it to Standard showdown yesterday and went 2-1 in my first ever tournament with this deck. I lost to Selesnya tokens although I have a good match up against that deck but he got 3 God draws for 3 turns in a row to ruin the 3rd game for me.
Without further ado here's the decklist as played yesterday:
4 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
3 Verix Bladewing
2 Tajic, Legion's Edge
2 Captain Lannery Storm
1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
1 Etali, Primal Storm
1 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
1 Jaya's Immolating Inferno
2 The First Eruption
2 Blackblade Reforged
3 Settle the wreckage
3 Deafening Clarion
3 Urza's Ruinous Blast
4 Justice Strike
9 Plain
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Clifftop Retreat
2 Citywide Bust
2 Cleansing Nova
3 Lightning Mare
2 Ixalan's Binding
1 Jaya Ballard
4 Knight of Grace
1 Helm of the Host
So, the sideboard is kind of funky, and it needs changing but this event was my first one playing this deck, and also playing live in over a couple of months (I usually play on Arena these days not at the lgs) so I didn't know what to expect in terms of the metagame.
A little bit about the one-ofs, basically I only have 1 Aurelia which I pulled from a pack and I don't want to spend money on getting a 2nd one, and it's the same with the 1 Sacred foundry, of course, it'd be beneficial having a playset but I don't want to pay $7/each for the other three right now. As for 1 Traxos and 1 Etali they are just there to add more creatures that can hit hard and are a must kill for the opponent the turn they come into play basically.
There is also no Lyra Dawnbringer because I don't own any and I'm not even sure this deck can support 5 casting cost creatures. I mean the spells need to be cast and so everything is at 4 mana or less except for Etali but that is a one of only.
Short tourney report;
Round 1 vs. R/B aggro
I was able to kill a few of his creatures in the first game and then win. In the second game I got rocked quite fast before I can recover but in the third game I was able to get down Danisha holding the blackblade and that pretty much sealed the game.
Round 2 vs. G/W/U Selesnya tokens
In the first game I was able to clear the board a couple of times then win by casting Verix bladewing with kicker and fly over his army. In the second game I kept a 2 land hand and didn't draw any lands for the first 3 turns so I got beat. In the third game I was doing well, but he took 3 of my creatures out of the game in consecutive turns while I was holding Urza's ruinous blast to wipe his board, so if he didn't take any of the 3 creatures I cast I would've been able to wipe his board and have a good chance at winning the game. He took out the first creature with Deputy of Detention and the next two creatures with Conclave Tribunaland so I lost that game. I feel like this deck is a good match-up for me since I have so many cards to kill tokens and mass creatures, but it didn't work out.
Round 3 vs. B/U Dimir midrange
I won the first game because he mulled to 6 and kept a one land hand and he didn't draw a second land until turn 3-4 but it was too late by then. I lost the second game quickly since he rocked me by killing my creatures and then flying over for the win. I won the third game by having turn 2 Knight of grace out and turn 3 Tajic, he cast Hostage Taker and took Tajic, on my next turn I cast Shalai and hit with the knight of grace again and on his turn he tapped out for the eldest reborn to which I sacced my knight of grace. On my turn I drew deafening clarion and showed him and he scooped, he was at 6 life, I'd cast clarion, kill his hostage taker, get back my tajic and proceed to attack with it and shalai so it was game over.
I was pleasantly surprised to beat R/B aggro but not so happy to lose to Tokens.dec but such is life.
I like this deck because of the different interactions, and if you get Blackblade out then the opp has to be afraid of any creature that hits play since it'll get really big holding the sword. I especially like the Tajic and Shalai combo since they protect each other, so they can only die to mass removal spells, or to bounce of Shalai and then kill Tajic, but aside from that they're untouchable.
I will change the sideboard a bit but one note is that Knight of Grace is really good against aggro since they have to kill it with burn otherwise they can't attack much and also great against Dimir as well, for obvious reasons.
Let me know what you think, it's not a tier 1 deck but with some adjustments and with the metagame being creature based this deck can kick some serious ass!
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
You could certainly make adjustments to metagame your lgs. I think not being a tier 1 means people won't be expecting your deck, so there's a little element of surprise.
Is there a game where the large 6 cmc dino did something useful. Maybe that slot could be used for another cheaper cmc legendary creature?
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Actually, Etali came out against R/B aggro when he was mana screwed of Black mana, and I managed to attack once with it and play one of his creatures as a blocker on my side and of course hit him for 6.
Although the deck has 17 creatures it's not an aggro deck, it's midrange so I don't start attacking usually until turn 4 or turn 5 or later, the first few turns are spent defending by killing the opp's creatures.
As for the surprise, I'm pretty sure my opponents didn't know what the hell I was playing, maybe knights because of Danitha, but when I did get the sword out on turn 2 they probably got confused a lot.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Are there decks in standard that bring out plenty of 1/1's? If there's none, I think Fight with Fire could be better than first eruption. Could also be a finisher if you draw it late game.
Nexus MTG News // Nexus - Magic Art Gallery // MTG Dual Land Color Ratios Analyzer // MTG Card Drawing Odds Calculator
Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle