Why do you feel that BUG Delver isn't a contender? I think it's one of the best decks in the format; Miracles might be "better" but it also seems like one of the most daunting decks to play if you're inexperienced. You're comfortable with a tier-1 deck, so that's probably your best option.
^ How often do you bring in your sideboard? Is it a thing you only do against certain decks, or only in game 2 or game 3, or what? I've never attempted a transformational sideboard with this deck
I typically side in for game 2, and also game 3 if I don't see much grave hate in game 2. There's a lot of grave hate around here, and I've found a transformational board to be more effective than trying to play around it.
I need to pick up a Trop and Bayou in order to maximize Shaman's effectiveness, though.
Seems interesting. I'll probably play some Legacy side events at GPLA this weekend so maybe I'll try it out there
Sometimes I wonder if Delver and Snapcaster should have been red and if True-Name should have been black or white
delver seems blue to me
snapcaster red
TNN is white/green!
Delver I could see going either way. I agree it feels a bit more blue, but I don't think anyone would balk if it had been red
with TNN being black or white I guess I'm thinking of the mechanics of the card as like a vendetta or a punishment... feels kind of Orzhov to me. either way, I don't think both Delver and TNN should also double as FoW fuel
I like green mainly for Decay since I think it catches most of the relevant hate. Maybe Krosan Grip is good since it also catches Leyline of the Void, but DRS is obviously a more common problem and this is a very mana-light deck. I dunno if Xantid Swarm is as useful for us as it is for Storm since Reanimator doesn't need to "go for it" within a single turn like they do. I haven't played the deck in a while but I'm probably gonna just sleeve up the one that got 2nd at SCGNJ soon (1 Bayou and 1 Trop main, 3 Decay in the side)
^ How often do you bring in your sideboard? Is it a thing you only do against certain decks, or only in game 2 or game 3, or what? I've never attempted a transformational sideboard with this deck
Are you gonna run Clever Impersonator from Khans, or do you prefer Metamorph just because it's easier to cast? I pulled an Impersonator at the prerelease and I like that it can target any nonland permanent.
What do you guys think of the positioning of this deck right now? I've been out of Legacy for a few months and wanting to get back in, and it's still the only deck I have built, but I see way less of it in top 8s. Are all the Uxx Delver decks just too much to deal with? I've been considering trading the pieces for another deck but wanted to hear some other opinions first
I think the thing with Brainstorm, and why its ubiquity is OK, is that "Brainstorming" is not an archetype. It's not a strategy. When Survival was ubiquitous, that was one particular type of deck that was rampant. There were various permutations sure, but they were all based around a particular use of SotF, a particular strategy. Brainstorm doesn't really dictate anything on its own. It's just a card that assists a multitude of strategies, archetypes as varied as Delver, Storm, Miracle Control, and Show and Tell. Those decks have NOTHING in common except they share utility cards like Bstorm and (most of them) FoW, but at the end of the day they are completely different strategies.
I view Brainstorm as more akin to FoW and Wasteland. None of those three cards determines a certain "type" of deck, but they are just good cards that help a wider variety of strategies be viable. If it weren't for Brainstorm smoothing out people's draws and granting digging/consistency, then who knows, combo might not even be a thing. I think banning Brainstorm would eliminate more archetypes than it would cultivate new ones.
Also what are your thoughts on Envelop, Spell Syphon, and Swan Song? I noticed they aren't in your list. I feel like most of the big things I care about are Sorceries (i.e. board wipes), so Envelop is often an all-star, but it is a tad narrow. Spell Syphon is usually at least a Mana Leak, but I guess there are times when it's a Force Spike for 2. Swan Song is great but giving any opponent a blocker is obviously not what we want to be doing, but I guess that depends on who's getting the blocker/how many people are at your table. I have a playgroup of like 5, so one guy having a flyer is usually fine with 4 other people to attack. But all three are kind of flex cards for me
I might also cut Daze if I'm also cutting Winter Orb/Tangle Wire/Erayo. I feel like it's substantially worse when I'm not choking people's resources.
I've been playing and loving this exact decklist for a while now, but my meta is just my friends and I, and I've realized Winter Orb, Tangle Wire, and Erayo are just making things not fun for the rest of the table. Would you recommend anything to replace them with? Maybe just some more landwalkers like Grayscaled Gharial or Willow Dryad for more redundancy? Or maybe additional wincons (e.g. Triumph of the Horde)
This is a card I've always wanted to break. I love green combo engines, but it seems like they are almost all either too powerful for Legacy (Oath, Survival, Druid) or maybe a little too slow, which is my fear with this card, but who knows. It seems to me that in an UG shell with both counterspell protection and mana acceleration you might be able to get it online, and with stuff like Swan Song, Forbidden Orchard, and Hunted Phantasm you could ensure the trigger. Then tutor up something like Mikaeus/ Triskelion and win. Instinctually this does sound kind of EDH-y to me, but I'm wondering if anyone has thought of any ways, similar to my idea or totally different, to make this card a good combo engine in Legacy
a third color
Seems interesting. I'll probably play some Legacy side events at GPLA this weekend so maybe I'll try it out there
Delver I could see going either way. I agree it feels a bit more blue, but I don't think anyone would balk if it had been red
with TNN being black or white I guess I'm thinking of the mechanics of the card as like a vendetta or a punishment... feels kind of Orzhov to me. either way, I don't think both Delver and TNN should also double as FoW fuel
I view Brainstorm as more akin to FoW and Wasteland. None of those three cards determines a certain "type" of deck, but they are just good cards that help a wider variety of strategies be viable. If it weren't for Brainstorm smoothing out people's draws and granting digging/consistency, then who knows, combo might not even be a thing. I think banning Brainstorm would eliminate more archetypes than it would cultivate new ones.
I might also cut Daze if I'm also cutting Winter Orb/Tangle Wire/Erayo. I feel like it's substantially worse when I'm not choking people's resources.