Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. This week, Standard brewers are excitedly trying the hottest new Duskmourn: House of Horror cards, Pioneer experts are preparing for their upcoming Regional Championships, and Modern players are testing their mettle at Regional Championship Qualifiers. While these Constructed formats often take the competitive limelight with their paths to the Pro Tour, there's also an exciting time coming up for fans of even more powerful Magic.
Legacy and Vintage proudly showcase the entirety of Magic's card history, and they are featured at the upcoming 2024 Eternal Weekends. There are three in total, each hosted in different regions by different organizers:
Eternal Weekends are the premier annual events for Magic's eternal formats, each with unique prizes. Players can compete for sweet promos, as well as the glory of being dubbed the Legacy or Vintage Champion. Further details are available on the organizers' pages.
In Legacy and Vintage, gameplay is engaging and complex, and newly released cards have to compete with 30 years of Magic's most powerful cards. So, their metagames tend to change slowly. The formats were recently shaken up by the August 26, 2024 banned and restricted announcement. Grief was banned in Legacy and Urza's Saga and Vexing Bauble were restricted in Vintage. To give an impression of what to expect in the post-B&R metagame at the Eternal Weekends, today's article will provide a metagame snapshot and an early indication of the top decks to defeat.
Legacy is a nonrotating format that allows tournament-legal cards from all Magic sets throughout the game's entire history, except for cards on the banned list. To learn more, I analyzed all Magic Online decklists and all Melee decklists with positive records from scheduled Legacy events held since the ban of Grief. I also considered the Top 8 decklists from the 386-player 4Seasons Legacy Tournament and the 112-player, qualification-only European Legacy Masters. The most-played cards from these decks show what Legacy is all about.
Brainstorm 598924 413790 Ponder 662376 662351 413586Most of these format-defining cards have dominated Legacy for decades, as they provide amazing card selection or efficient disruption. Psychic Frog, a newcomer from Modern Horizons 3, has become fairly ubiquitous as well. The Frog can discard a creature to be reanimated, act as a growing threat, be pitched Force of Will, serve as an alternate win condition for combo decks, or just grind for card advantage. That's a lot of value for a two-drop, making it the premier threat in the format. Other heavily played new cards include Consign to Memory; Vexing Bauble; Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student; and Kozilek's Command, but none of them get close to the Frog's numbers.
To better understand the shape of the metagame, I awarded a number of points to each deck equal to its net wins (i.e., its number of match wins minus losses). Each archetype's share of total net wins can then be interpreted as its share of the winner's metagame, combining popularity and performance into a single metric. The breakdown is provided in the table below, where each archetype name hyperlinks to a well-performing, representative decklist.
The "Other" category included Selesnya Depths, Sneak and Show, Lands, Oops, All Spells, Dredge, and more.
Before the Grief ban, the winner's metagame was dominated by Dimir Reanimator decks, which were capable of evoking and returning Grief as early as turn one. These decks held an incredible 36.7% of the winner's metagame. After the banning of Grief, Dimir Reanimator remains the most prominent archetype, but it has been weakened and is far less dominant than before. So, we're beginning to see more format diversity.
Meanwhile, now that Grief can no longer tear hands apart, combo decks like Painter, Bant Nadu, and Doomsday are facing less disruption, and they've risen in popularity. To improve our understanding, let's take a closer look at the top five deck archetypes in the post-ban metagame.
4 Reanimate4 Entomb4 Underground Sea4 Psychic Frog4 Polluted Delta4 Brainstorm4 Force of Will4 Ponder4 Troll of Khazad-dûm3 Animate Dead3 Daze3 Wasteland2 Thoughtseize2 Undercity Sewers2 Fatal Push2 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier1 Archon of Cruelty1 Brazen Borrower1 Swamp1 Island1 Flooded Strand1 Misty Rainforest3 Barrowgoyf3 Consign to Memory2 Brazen Borrower2 Fatal Push2 Orcish Bowmasters1 Force of Negation1 Toxic Deluge1 Harbinger of the SeasEven after the Grief ban, Dimir Reanimator remains a force to be reckoned with. It basically stuck with the same shell, replacing Grief with Thoughtseize; Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student; or other cards that support a "fairer" game plan. The archetype then took 1st, 2nd, and 4th place at the European Legacy Masters.
Congratulations to @NimblestM, your 2024 European Legacy Masters Champion!
Thank you all for joining us today. We hope you had a great time playing and/or watching #ELM2024. Top8 lists and VODs will be posted later this week.
And of course a big thanks to our amazing sponsors! pic.twitter.com/Q0wBp7lChZ
— European Legacy Masters (@EULegacyMasters) September 7, 2024
The deck's main game plan is to bin Archon of Cruelty or Atraxa, Grand Unifier with Entomb and recur it with Reanimate or Animate Dead. Alternatively, a swampcycling Troll of Khazad-dûm can turn into an impossible-to-block 6/5 as early as turn two. You can also discard an Archon or Atraxa with Psychic Frog or Thoughtseize. This reanimation plan is wrapped in an interactive shell that uses Daze and Force of Will to force through your own haymakers or stop the opponent's threats.
The essential new main deck additions from Modern Horizons 3 are Psychic Frog and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, both of which can single-handedly win the game, especially when supported by countermagic, discard, removal, and Wasteland. When opponents board in anti-graveyard effects, a single Psychic Frog backed up with several pieces of interaction can still cross the finish line.
Nevertheless, it's worth having graveyard hate in your Legacy sideboard right now. Indeed, well over 20% of the field in total uses the card Reanimate, including more combo-oriented Golgari versions with Dance of the Dead and classic Rakdos versions with Faithless Looting. These versions lose out on blue's card selection, permission, and Frogs. Despite that, their presence reinforces the importance of Faerie Macabre, Surgical Extraction, and Leyline of the Void. In the current Legacy metagame, it's wise to respect Reanimator decks by including several graveyard hate cards in your sideboard.
4 Chalice of the Void4 Thought-Knot Seer4 Ancient Tomb4 Cavern of Souls4 Eldrazi Temple4 Kozilek's Command4 Sowing Mycospawn4 Wasteland4 Glaring Fleshraker4 Lotus Petal3 Eye of Ugin3 Devourer of Destiny3 It That Heralds the End2 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth2 Once Upon a Time2 The One Ring1 Blast Zone1 Nulldrifter1 Gaea's Cradle1 Wastes1 City of Traitors4 Faerie Macabre3 Wastescape Battlemage3 Dismember3 Mindbreak Trap2 Null Rod Mono-Green Eldrazi got an enormous boost from Modern Horizons 3. The archetype already had several two-mana lands in the form of Ancient Tomb, Eldrazi Temple, and Eye of Ugin, but when you add Glaring Fleshraker and It That Heralds the End, it's possible to sculpt even more powerful opening hands. For example, these decks can cast Devourer of Destiny or an enormous Kozilek's Command as early as turn two. Alternatively, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and Eye of Ugin lead into a turn-two Sowing Mycospawn, allowing you to fetch Eldrazi Temple and speed further ahead.
With Chalice of the Void, Wasteland, and Thought-Knot Seer as disruption, this deck combines a fast clock with powerful interaction. There are also more aggressive Temur versions with Eldrazi Linebreaker, Nulldrifter, and Secluded Courtyard to support the mana requirements. Overall, more than 12% of the field uses Eldrazi Temple to rapidly outmuscle the opponent with these eldritch abominations.
4 Nethergoyf4 Daze4 Brainstorm4 Force of Will4 Ponder4 Wasteland4 Fatal Push4 Polluted Delta4 Psychic Frog4 Underground Sea3 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student2 Brazen Borrower2 Orcish Bowmasters2 Nihil Spellbomb2 Murktide Regent1 Island1 Swamp1 Scalding Tarn1 Undercity Sewers1 Mishra's Bauble1 Bloodstained Mire1 Thoughtseize1 Flooded Strand1 Misty Rainforest3 Consign to Memory2 Force of Negation2 Harbinger of the Seas1 Surgical Extraction1 Hydroblast1 Unlicensed Hearse1 Dismember1 Null Rod1 Toxic Deluge1 Go for the Throat1 Engineered ExplosivesDimir Midrange features a similar core as Dimir Reanimator, except that it uses Nethergoyf, Murktide Regent, and Orcish Bowmasters instead of the reanimation package. So, by sacrificing power, the deck gains resilience and consistency, running the strongest individual cards in the format. The lack of Entomb also frees up room for additional disruption in the form of main deck copies of Fatal Push and Nihil Spellbomb. Fatal Push in particular is one of the best answers to the format's new menace—Psychic Frog.
There are also Grixis versions with Dragon's Rage Channeler and Lightning Bolt, as well as Sultai versions that run Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Witherbloom Command. The original dual lands make splashes like these easy to enable. However, they make you more vulnerable to Wasteland, and there's already enough power in this Dimir list. In any case, over 16% of the field was on a Psychic Frog deck that uses a midrange plan rather than Reanimate or Doomsday.
9 Mountain4 Goblin Engineer4 Ancient Tomb4 Painter's Servant4 Urza's Saga4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker4 Goblin Welder3 Vexing Bauble3 Pyroblast3 Red Elemental Blast2 Great Furnace2 Grindstone2 City of Traitors2 Simian Spirit Guide2 Lightning Bolt2 Fury1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine1 Lotus Petal1 Soul-Guide Lantern1 Chaos Defiler1 Ensnaring Bridge1 Arena of Glory3 Magus of the Moon3 Faerie Macabre2 Blood Moon2 Fury1 Pithing Needle1 Abrade1 Pyroblast1 Ensnaring Bridge1 Mindbreak Trap Painter is a combo deck based around the two-card combo of Painter's Servant and Grindstone. Painter's Servant turns all cards into the same color, which means that a single Grindstone activation will mill the entire opponent's library. For consistency, either card can be grabbed with Goblin Engineer, while Urza's Saga acts as extra copies of Grindstone.
As Force of Will is the most-played card in Legacy, the list uses Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast in the main deck to prevent the opponent from stopping the combo. Even against non-blue decks, the blasts can be enabled by Painter's Servant's color-changing ability.
From Modern Horizons 3, Vexing Bauble lines up well against Force of Will, Daze, Lotus Petal, and other Legacy staples. Moreover, it's never dead because you can always draw a card, making it an excellent addition to the deck. A more inconspicuous addition is Arena of Glory, which can give haste to Goblin Engineer out of nowhere, speeding up the kill. But above all, Painter gained from the removal of Grief from the format, as its combo plan was always weak to discard. It has risen to 7.4% of the metagame as a result.
4 Llanowar Elves4 Springheart Nantuko4 Gaea's Cradle4 Windswept Heath4 Nomads en-Kor4 Allosaurus Shepherd4 Quirion Ranger4 Green Sun's Zenith4 Chord of Calling4 Nadu, Winged Wisdom3 Noble Hierarch3 Tropical Island3 Misty Rainforest2 Savannah1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn1 Boseiju, Who Endures1 Birchlore Rangers1 Dryad Arbor1 Elvish Herder1 Sylvan Safekeeper1 Endurance1 Delighted Halfling1 Snow-Covered Forest4 Faerie Macabre4 Swords to Plowshares2 Deafening Silence2 Mindbreak Trap1 Collector Ouphe1 Harbinger of the Seas1 Force of VigorNadu, Winged Wisdom dominated Modern due to its synergies with zero-mana ways to target your own creatures, and it's also making waves in Legacy. Modern decks used Shuko or Outrider en-Kor, but Nomads en-Kor is an even better option in Legacy. Each land put onto the battlefield by Nadu triggers Springheart Nantuko, creating another 1/1 creature that can get targeted by Nomads en-Kor twice. Once you get that going, you can easily draw your entire deck, tap Gaea's Cradle for mana, and cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for the win.
Bant Nadu decks in Legacy come in many variations. For example, there are various lists that marry Nadu with the classic Cephalid Breakfast plan of Cephalid Illusionist, Shuko, and Narcomoeba. The more novel and more prominent versions have incorporated Nadu into an Elves shell. That version has been gaining traction in the metagame, and it was favored by my aggregation algorithm, producing the list shown above.
Traditionally, Elves decks may have relied on Glimpse of Nature, but that was vulnerable to Orcish Bowmasters. Nadu circumvents Bowmasters while having great synergy with Quirion Ranger's targeting ability. Moreover, Allosaurus Shepherd forces Nadu right through countermagic. The two game plans mesh well together, and we shouldn't forget that with the right Gaea's Cradle draw, Allosaurus Shepherd can turn Llanowar Elves and Quirion Ranger into lethal attackers by turn three. Having ways to win games that don't involve Nadu is sweet, making for an awesome build overall.
Over the past few months, the biggest changes to Legacy have been the addition of Modern Horizons 3 and the ban of Grief. However, Bloomburrow has also introduced several new cards. The most-played new Bloomburrow card is Keen-Eyed Curator, which has been adopted by various Green Sun's Zenith decks as an anti-graveyard silver bullet. Yet the second-most-played card, Iridescent Vinelasher, enabled a brand-new archetype—Golgari Landfall.
3 Bayou1 Bojuka Bog1 Boseiju, Who Endures1 Dryad Arbor4 Elvish Reclaimer1 Expedition Map4 Fatal Push1 Forest3 Freestrider Lookout2 Gaea's Cradle4 Iridescent Vinelasher1 Lavaspur Boots3 Life from the Loam1 Maze of Ith2 Misty Rainforest4 Mox Diamond1 Shadowspear4 Springheart Nantuko2 Talon Gates of Madara1 Underground Mortuary4 Urza's Saga2 Verdant Catacombs4 Wasteland4 Wight of the Reliquary2 Windswept Heath1 Wooded Foothills2 Dismember2 Endurance1 Haywire Mite2 Orcish Bowmasters1 Scrabbling Claws3 Surgical Extraction4 ThoughtseizeSpringheart Nantuko and Wight of the Reliquary from Modern Horizons 3 already made waves in Cradle Control—Andrea Mengucci's favorite—but they also work wonders in any deck that leverages the landfall mechanic even further. In the above-shown decklist, which Flossed took it to a 2nd-place finish at a Magic Online Challenge, the highlight is the interaction between Iridescent Vinelasher, Freestrider Lookout, and fetch lands.
When you play a fetch land, Iridescent Vinelasher commits a crime, allowing Freestrider Lookout to put another land onto the battlefield. This nets another damage and, if you control Springheart Nantuko, a 1/1 Insect. On your opponent's turn, you crack your fetch land and set off the same chain of triggers once again. This synergy can quickly overpower your opponent, especially when Freestrider Lookout hits Wasteland to disrupt them.
It's an interesting approach, and I love seeing players find success with innovative card choices. I also look forward to seeing the impact of the upcoming Duskmourn expansion at the Eternal Weekends. From this new set, there is plenty of hype for Metamorphosis Fanatic, which could excel in miracle-based reanimation decks. At the same time, the new Ghost Vacuum could answer such strategies, slotting perfectly into Urza's Saga decks that can easily ramp towards six mana and that want to commit crimes every turn. Golgari Landfall might be an ideal home.
Vintage is a nonrotating format that allows almost every card in the history of the game. In addition to a banned list, which includes cards that feature ante or dexterity mechanics, Vintage also has a restricted list. Cards on the restricted list are limited to a single copy per deck. The restricted list includes some of the most powerful cards from Magic's history, such as the iconic Power Nine.
Black Lotus 489948 Mox Sapphire Mox Jet Mox Ruby Mox Emerald Ancestral Recall Time Walk TimetwisterTo provide a metagame snapshot, I analyzed all Magic Online decklists from scheduled Vintage events held since the restriction of Urza's Saga and Vexing Bauble. I also added the Top 8 decklists from the 4Seasons Vintage Tournament and the Emperor of Vintage tournament in Osaka. Using the same weighting methodology as for Legacy, we get the following winner's metagame.
The "Other" category included Jeskai Breach, Grixis Midrange, Jeskai Control, Affinity Shops, Orzhov Cats, Tinker Saga, Mono-Red Prison, and more.
Compared to my Vintage metagame snapshot in August 2023, made before the release of Modern Horizons 3 and the restriction of Urza's Saga, there are several notable differences. First, due to the introduction of Psychic Frog, Esper Control and Dimir Control have supplanted Jeskai Control. Second, after the restriction of Urza's Saga, Tinker Saga ticked down, while Jewel Shops retained its power. Third, Dredge has become more popular than HollowVine. Finally, Mono-White Initiative ticked down a bit, though it remains popular.
All in all, Magic doesn't get more high powered than Vintage. Games can end quickly, turn-one kills are more than possible. There's a long list of fast combos that can run away with Vintage games.
- You can use Tinker to fetch Time Vault, use Urza's Saga to grab Manifold Key, and combine the artifacts to take infinite turns.
- You can play Doomsday to craft a combination of card draw, free mana, permission, and Thassa's Oracle, put them on top, and win on the next turn.
- You can use Underworld Breach plus Brain Freeze to recast Black Lotus and Brain Freeze multiple times, eventually milling your opponent after your storm count gets high enough.
- You can play a Paradoxical Outcome that returns five Moxen and Mana Vault, effectively turning into a double Ancestral Recall plus a Black Lotus.
- You can activate Bazaar of Baghdad to discard three Vengevine, follow up with two copies of Hollow One, and pass the turn with 20 power on the battlefield.
- You can combine Mishra's Workshop and several mana rocks to play Coveted Jewel on turn one, allowing you to run away with the game.
- You can use Show and Tell to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier onto the battlefield, dominating the game from turn one.
Clearly, Vintage is not a fair format, which is why the seven most-played cards provide ways to interact with all of these powerful combo cards, lands, and graveyard engines.
Force of Will Wasteland Leyline of the Void Force of Negation Underground Sea Psychic Frog Ancient TombIn the most powerful format in Magic, you need answers to prevent your opponent from winning on turn one or turn two. That's where Force of Will, Wasteland, and Leyline of the Void come in and balance things out, although the Leyline is mostly found in sideboards. Note that this list of most-played cards is based on sheer quantities, so it doesn't include restricted cards like Black Lotus or Ancestral Recall, nor does it feature deck-defining, narrow cards like Mishra's Workshop or Bazaar of Baghdad. But make no mistake: these cards are all pillars of the format as well.
In any case, it's quite telling that, amongst all of this power, a Frog has appeared. Based on the current Vintage and Legacy metagame, Psychic Frog is clearly one of the best creatures of all time. To see it in action, let's take a closer look at the top five deck archetypes in the post-restriction metagame.
4 Orcish Bowmasters4 Psychic Frog4 Force of Will4 Wasteland3 Force of Negation3 Swords to Plowshares3 Underground Sea3 Tundra3 Lórien Revealed2 Misty Rainforest2 Scalding Tarn2 Mishra's Bauble2 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade1 Flusterstorm1 Mental Misstep1 Ancestral Recall1 Brainstorm1 Mox Sapphire1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Jet1 Black Lotus1 Time Walk1 Demonic Tutor1 Strip Mine1 Dig Through Time1 Treasure Cruise1 Gitaxian Probe1 Spell Pierce1 Flooded Strand1 Polluted Delta1 Ponder1 Urza's Saga1 Soul-Guide Lantern1 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student4 Containment Priest2 Consign to Memory1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale1 Swords to Plowshares1 Soul-Guide Lantern1 Long Goodbye1 Flusterstorm1 Yixlid Jailer1 Tormod's Crypt1 Null RodEsper Control, at 14.2% of the winner's metagame, could also be called Esper Frog, Esper Midrange, or Esper Lurrus. The deck uses Force of Negation, Force of Will, and Swords to Plowshares to keep fast combo strategies in check before ultimately locking up the game with card advantage–generating creatures. Several blue selection spells help find the right answers, and I find it hilarious that despite the unrestricting of Ponder, the aggregate list runs exactly one copy.
Earlier this year, many of these decks used Urza's Saga as a win condition that could fetch the game-winning combo of Time Vault or Manifold Key. After the restriction of Urza's Saga, that element has largely been removed. Now, you typically win the game with creatures like Orcish Bowmasters and Psychic Frog. Lurrus of the Dream-Den can return these creatures or recast Mishra's Bauble turn after turn, providing the deck with a long-game inevitability.
4 Mishra's Bauble4 Orcish Bowmasters4 Psychic Frog4 Force of Will4 Polluted Delta4 Underground Sea4 Wasteland3 Force of Negation3 Fatal Push3 Spell Pierce2 Ponder1 Mox Pearl1 Daze1 Black Lotus1 Mox Jet1 Mox Sapphire1 Brainstorm1 Ancestral Recall1 Mental Misstep1 Treasure Cruise1 Demonic Tutor1 Time Walk1 Gitaxian Probe1 Urza's Saga1 Island1 Strip Mine1 Timetwister1 Dig Through Time1 Swamp1 Flooded Strand1 Undercity Sewers1 Soul-Guide Lantern3 Consign to Memory3 Tormod's Crypt2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale2 Soul Rend2 Mindbreak Trap1 Fatal Push1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den1 Steel SabotageDimir Control is very similar to the Esper version, and at 15.1% of the winner's metagame, it's even more popular. Instead of Swords to Plowshares and Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, the deck runs additional copies of Mishra's Bauble, Fatal Push, and Spell Pierce. Due to its focus on only two colors, it is less vulnerable to Wasteland.
In the sideboard, I want to point out Consign to Memory as another strong Modern Horizons 3 addition, especially in a format where you can counter Black Lotus.
4 Serum Powder4 Golgari Thug4 Grief4 Hollow One4 Ichorid4 Narcomoeba4 Shambling Shell4 Stinkweed Imp4 Noxious Revival4 Bazaar of Baghdad4 Creeping Chill4 Prized Amalgam4 Force of Will3 Silversmote Ghoul2 Force of Negation1 Golgari Grave-Troll1 Mental Misstep1 Chalice of the Void4 Sickening Shoal4 Force of Vigor4 Leyline of the Void2 Wasteland1 Strip MineDredge, at 13.3% of the metagame, is the most prominent graveyard-based deck in the current Vintage metagame. Through the aggressive use of Serum Powder and the London mulligan rule, the probability of starting the game with Bazaar of Baghdad in your opening hand is higher than 99%. Bazaar single-handedly powers the entire strategy without requiring any mana.
Ideally, you draw and discard Stinkweed Imp or Golgari Grave-Troll, making future Bazaar of Baghdad activations even more powerful. With a second Bazaar, you can basically put your entire deck into your graveyard in two turns. Creeping Chill drains the opponent, and Narcomoeba and Ichorid as your assault force to win the game. In turn, these creatures bring back Prized Amalgam, pressuring the opponent even more. Meanwhile, even though the deck will never add any mana, it can use Grief and Force of Will as manaless disruption.
4 Witch Enchanter4 Ancient Tomb4 Anointed Peacekeeper4 Archon of Emeria4 Chrome Mox4 Seasoned Dungeoneer4 Wasteland4 White Plume Adventurer4 Cavern of Souls4 Chancellor of the Annex3 March of Otherworldly Light2 Plains2 Solitude1 Mox Emerald1 Lotus Petal1 Mox Ruby1 Black Lotus1 Karakas1 Mana Crypt1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Sapphire1 Strip Mine1 Vexing Bauble1 Trinisphere1 Chalice of the Void4 Containment Priest4 Leyline of the Void3 Archon of Absolution2 Swords to Plowshares2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell ValeMono-White Initiative, at 11.7% of the winner's metagame, combines disruption and aggression. First, it reveals Chancellor of the Annex and uses a bunch of fast mana to ramp into creatures like Anointed Peacekeeper or Archon of Emeria, preventing opponents from pulling off fast combo wins. Meanwhile, March of Otherworldly Light can answer their Psychic Frog or take out Moxen to slow down the opponent.
Soon after, White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer come down, taking The Initiative and venturing into the Undercity. As the deck runs more creatures than normal, opponents often have a hard time damaging you in combat to take back the initiative. As you keep venturing into the Undercity every turn, a fast clock arises—it's two +1/+1 counters on the next upkeep, followed by 5 life loss on the turn after. The deck has been a major part of the Vintage metagame for over a year, and it recently gained Witch Enchanter from Modern Horizons 3, adding more interaction without having to sacrifice any spell slots.
4 Phyrexian Metamorph4 Coveted Jewel4 The One Ring4 Paradoxical Outcome4 Force of Will4 Sink into Stupor4 Mishra's Workshop4 Ancient Tomb3 Grim Monolith1 Vexing Bauble1 Time Vault1 Time Walk1 Karn, the Great Creator1 Otawara, Soaring City1 Trinisphere1 Mana Vault1 Black Lotus1 Mox Emerald1 Mox Jet1 Mox Pearl1 Mox Ruby1 Mox Sapphire1 Sol Ring1 Mana Crypt1 Manifold Key1 Ancestral Recall1 Tinker1 Urza's Saga1 Tolarian Academy1 Voltaic Key1 Island1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge1 City of Traitors1 Mystic Forge3 Argentum Masticore2 Hurkyl's Recall2 Dismember2 Wurmcoil Engine2 Hullbreacher2 Defense Grid1 Archive Trap1 Mycosynth LatticeJewel Shops, at 11.3% of the winner's metagame, includes more mana rocks than pretty much any other deck in Vintage, and it uses the broken Tinker and Tolarian Academy to their full potential. The name of the deck stems from the ability of Mishra's Workshop to ramp into Coveted Jewel, which draws cards and adds more mana. You can then copy it over and over with Phyrexian Metamorph, bounce it with Paradoxical Outcome, and draw your entire deck in a single turn. Eventually, Time Vault and Manifold Key give infinite turns, and Karn, the Great Creator wins the game.
From Modern Horizons 3, the deck gained Sink into Stupor, which improved its monocolor mana base and gave an answer to Null Rod. It's an incredible piece of interaction. Even though the restriction of Urza's Saga has weakened Jewel Shops' main backup plan, it remains a powerful strategy, and it rounds out my selection of decks to defeat at the Vintage portion of the 2024 Eternal Weekends.
Throughout Magic's long and rich competitive history, the World Championship has always been the crown jewel of organized play, and the upcoming event at MagicCon: Las Vegas will be one to celebrate. As Corbin Hosler and I count down the weeks leading up to Magic World Championship 30 at MagicCon: Las Vegas in late October, each week I'm taking a look at a great deck from a past Magic World Championship.
In October 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Magic World Championship XXVII was the first and only edition that was played remotely on MTG Arena. The field of sixteen competitors featured Japan's Yuta Takahashi, who unfortunately started off the tournament with a 0-3 record in draft. This meant that he had to win every single Standard match to remain in contention. And that's exactly what he did. Takahashi stayed focused, rattled off eleven straight match wins, and claimed the title. Yatta!
1 Spikefield Hazard4 Dragon's Fire4 Memory Deluge1 Negate7 Island2 Divide by Zero4 Expressive Iteration4 Riverglide Pathway1 Prismari Command3 Frostboil Snarl4 Goldspan Dragon1 Fading Hope3 Alrund's Epiphany4 Smoldering Egg2 Hall of Storm Giants4 Mountain4 Shatterskull Smashing1 Dissipate2 Thundering Rebuke3 Jwari Disruption1 Saw It Coming1 Fading Hope1 Environmental Sciences4 Malevolent Hermit1 Heated Debate3 Burning Hands2 Cinderclasm1 Prismari Command1 Mascot Exhibition1 Test of Talents The most-played card at Magic World Championship XXVII was Alrund's Epiphany—the premier endgame spell in the Standard format at the time. It was usually flanked by Expressive Iteration, providing incredible card advantage to the strategy. The World Championship competitors either played these cards or chose an aggro deck based around Esika's Chariot or Luminarch Aspirant.
Goldspan Dragon 534939 Dragon's FireTakahashi's winning Izzet Dragons deck could use its burn, countermagic, and bounce spells to handle early aggression and eventually turn the corner with Smoldering Egg and Goldspan Dragon. These 4/4 Dragons provided a fast clock, and Goldspan Dragon added a substantial mana boost along the way.
Interestingly, only two of the sixteen World Championship players put Goldspan Dragon in their main deck, and both of them made it to the Grand Finals. As the tournament showed, an essential part of deck building is analyzing metagame trends and then selecting the right threats that line up well against the metagame. At Magic World Championship XXVII, Wrenn and Seven was on a decline, making it the perfect moment for Goldspan Dragon to shine. The Dragon was used to great effect by champion Yuta Takahahi and finalist Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, who would later clinch the title in 2023.
503648Takahashi's winning list also contained Alrund's Epiphany, but its game plan didn't focus on it. This was in stark contrast to the more prominent creatureless Epiphany decks that aimed to copy it with Galvanic Iteration. With his flexible creature-based win conditions, Takahashi had a strategic edge at a time where the metagame was moving towards countermagic like Test of Talents.
Moreover, he leveraged the power of transformation by frequently boarding out Alrund's Epiphany. It was a clever move when opponents would often target the expensive sorcery with cheap countermagic post-board. When you can make post-board games revolve around something else than your opponent is expecting, then you'll hold an advantage and can reap the rewards. Thanks to his well-positioned deck and expert play, Takahashi was rewarded by having his likeness featured on Faerie Mastermind.
Yuta Takahashi, Magic World Champion XXVII.
The upcoming Magic World Championship 30 features Standard and Duskmourn Draft, with $1,000,000 in prizing up for grabs. It will be an awesome celebration of competitive Magic and the stories it creates, so don't miss it on October 25–27, 2024. Even if you aren't at MagicCon: Las Vegas to see the action unfold from the sidelines in person, all three days of the event will be broadcast live on twitch.tv/magic as well as on the Play MTG YouTube channel!