Monday, September 27, 2010

Scars of Mirrodin: A Comprehensive Legacy Set Review

Sorry to have fewer updates than normal for the last couple weeks, I have moved from my hometown to the great city of Ann Arbor, pushed out a big release for a project that I've been working on, and have been playing too much Ascension.  But we have a new set, and that means a set review!

Again, I will try to highlight the cards that actually pique my interest, and should you want to skip the comments on chaff, just look for the cards that stand out.

Remember, this will be taken in the context of Legacy.



WHITE:
Abuna Acolyte: What happens when you prevent 1 damage from a Wild Nacatl?  You still take 2!


Arrest: Oh shit it's the Five-O!  Which is odd, because anyone with Arrest in their deck will not be 5-0.


Auriok Edgewright:  This guy is kind of interesting - what if there were some sort of White Weenie + Equipment deck?  Where does Metalcraft fit in?  What is your ideal position when you're playing this deck?


You'd have Aether Vial on the table, sitting at 2, and you'd have some guy (possibly this guy) equipped.  I don't see it playing Artifact lands (but maybe you'd have to use it as an enabler) because of opening yourself unnecessarily to Wasteland.  You could have another piece of equipment, but it's never ideal to have too much equipment on the table as to avoid getting hurt by Engineered Explosives unnecessarily, or to spend too much mana equipping one guy just to be blown out by a removal spell.


This all even said, if some guy just wanted a cheap doublestriker for equipment, wouldn't you just play Kor Duelist?  But - it could be both.


Auriok Sunchaser - Okay, read everything I just said about Auriok Edgewright, except replace doublestrike with flying, Kor Duelist with Kitesail Apprentice, and you'd almost never leave Aether Vial at 1.  They go in the same deck, but evasion is usually better than doublestrike.

Dispense Justice - DISPENSE JUSTICE!  This is usually worse than Wing Shards, and Wing Shards doesn't have much of a build restriction.

Elspeth Tirel - Here's one of the big ones that needs talking about:

She costs 5 mana total, which in Legacy is a huge step up from 4.  This is a big issue - the ability to cast your Elspeth, Knight Errant on turn 4 (assuming no disruption, no 2 mana lands, no moxen) can add one blocker, whereas if this were Elspeth Tirel - you would just be stuck taking the full blunt of the attack.  Sure, this goes with every card that costs 5 versus 4, but there is no alternate cost on this spell.

A brief tour of cards that cost 5 or more without an alternate cost/cost reduction in Legacy:
Ad Nauseam
Dream Halls
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Gilded Lotus (Okay, so this one is only in one of my decks)
Regal Force
Siege-Gang Commander and Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker

This is just a quick list of things I could find, but note how niche each of these cards are.  None of them are found outside of their respective decks (Storm combo, Dream Halls, Enchantress, Wildfire, Elfball, Goblins), and none of them are control decks, where planeswalkers really shine.

So the +2 ability will be gaining 0 life off of nontoken creatures a lot of the time.

However, the -2 ability protects Elspeth Tirel incredibly well.  Which is good, because the de facto creatures in Legacy will be able to kill her from 2.

And the -5 ability is clearly powerful, combined with the -2 ability.  But I'm skeptical.  What deck wants to use the -5 ability?  Stax?  Too many lock pieces.  Counterbalance?  Too much investment into the board.  Quinn the Eskimo?  There's a bunch of enchantments.  Landstill?  This is pretty much the only place where you would be completely okay with destroying the board... but sometimes you have yourself invested in the board too!  What about Moat, Humility, and Crucible of Worlds?

I'm probably being too harsh on her, but many times where I'm considering putting Elspeth Tirel into a deck, I can see myself just putting Elspeth, Knight Errant in.

Fulgent Distraction:  I just looked up Fulgent.  This basically says "Shiny Distraction."


Ghalma's Warden:  Read the flavor text on this one - I think Ghalma the Shaper could use some better guards, if this is one of the special units.


Glimmerpoint Stag:  I was excited when I first saw this card, because it was an Elk and there was a big block of text.  Then I realized that it does the same thing as Flickerwisp, and it doesn't have evasion.  What a terrible day.

Glint Hawk:  So this is a 2/2 flyer for "1".  I currently don't know a deck in Legacy that wants to take advantage of the "drawback" on the Hawk, so this guy isn't something that you want.


Indomitable Angel - The only possible use for this angel I can think of is in Stax, where you want to make sure your artifacts don't get crushed by some random Krosan Grip.  Is it worth it over Baneslayer or Magus of the Tabernacle?  Probably not.


Kemba, Kha Regent - Nice... stats.  Again, unless some White Equipment deck surfaces - I don't see something like this seeing play.


Kemba's Skyguard - Pass.

Leonin Arbiter - This guy doesn't fit into anything directly Death and Taxes.  However, I think this prison effect is very powerful, and I will be building a deck with this guy in mind.  When I build and play that deck, I will likely write an article on it.

Loxodon Wayfarer - Get out the way!


Myrsmith - There aren't a lot of people who want to be casting a lot of spells and tacking on an additional mana just to make 1/1's.  I would actually be very surprised if people started chaining Sensei's Divining Tops together just to make Myr.

Razor Hippogriff - Hippogriffs have just been introduced as a creature type in Magic and meet the first one!  It's already the worst.  And Chameleon Colossus is already the best Hippogriff.

Revoke Existence - For those of you who are still playing Rw Goblins: Please stop.  Or at least put these Revoke Existences in the board instead of Disenchant.

Edit: This is a sorcery.  I was corrected on that at the prerelease and lost the game because of it.  Way less good.

Salvage Scout - So wait, you're telling me you're a 1/1 without any relevant abilities without being sacrificed, and then you're actually worse than Argivian Find?  Sold.


Seize the Initiative - Seize the walls of my bulk box!


Soul Parry - Nope.


Sunblast Angel - Not going to reanimate this one, sorry.


Sunspear Shikari - Unlike the other white weenie equip creatures - I just don't see this one making the cut.


Tempered Steel - This would actually make the awful Affinity creatures (Frogmite, Arcbound Worker, Ornithopter) make it on their own without Cranial Plating.  I don't think I'd want to cast it, but keep an eye on this one.


True Conviction - Truly, I will be skipping on this one.


Vigil for the Lost - I like how you can put X in this one, not limited to anything by the creature.  I also like how it costs 4 for a do-nothing enchantment.


Whitesun's Passage - Compare this to Pulse of the Fields.  Pulse of the Fields, this is not.

BLUE:

Argent Sphinx - Compare this to Rainbow Efreet.  You don't know what that one does?  That means you shouldn't know what this one does either.


Bonds of Quicksilver -  Don't even read this card.  You might get offended.


Darkslick Drake -  I would rather pay 0 mana and have a Spire Golem.


Disperse -  Go find an Into the Roil, and see which one you like better.


Dissipation Field -  Why would you want to pay 4 mana so that when they damage you they would take repercussions, when you could just pay 4 mana so they can't damage you (Moat).

Grand Architect -  I don't know how to evaluate this guy.  On one hand, I like blue creatures.  On the other hand, I've never needed a ton of mana.  Keep an eye on this guy in a Imperial Recruiter/Painter shell.  He might just give that deck a burst of mana to activate Grindstone.

Halt Order -  I've been wanting to play Exclude for a while now.  But that doesn't change it from a 3cc counterspell.

Inexorable Tide -  I have a very strong feeling that nothing will come of this card for Legacy.  The effect is very strong, but doesn't affect nearly anything in the format.


Lumingrid Drake -  This guy doesn't do anything.  And if you're bending over backwards, he will do something unimpressive.


Neurok Invisimancer -  Perhaps one of the best "not-a-word" names yet.  Invisimancer?  But I hardly know her.


Plated Seastrider - If I wanted a Giant Tortoise, I would play Giant Tortoise.  Coming soon to a deck near you!  Giant Tortoise!  (not really)


Quicksilver Gargantuan - I would rather just reanimate a bigger guy.  It would be pretty cool to get a gigantic copy of Steppe Lynx...

Riddlesmith - This is another guy I don't know how to evaluate - he has a powerful ability because you're not actually paying for it, but what to do with it?  I don't have any idea.  This one is kind of out of my comfort zone.

Scrapdiver Serpent - Look how huge this serpent is!


Screeching Silcaw - I was going to open with "I don't remember the last time I milled someone in Legacy" but I did that last week.  I milled someone last week with Oona, Queen of the Fae.


No, this doesn't validate the Silcaw.  It's still terrible.


Shape Anew - I think I would rather cast Transmute Artifact.  Tinker, this is not.


Sky-Eel School -  Don't worry.  Eels usually don't eat people.


Steady Progress - Like Inexorable Tide, I don't think this has any effect on Legacy.


Stoic Rebuttal - More 'not Counterspell' Counterspells.


Thrummingbird - Please read this article from top to bottom.  That way you can dismiss Thrummingbird.

Trinket Mage -  If you missed the boat on Trinket Mages for a quarter, then you get round two.

Turn Aside -  Rebuff the Wicked is back!  And this one pitches to Force of Will!  If Dispel doesn't see play, I'm kind of on the edge about this one.

Twisted Image -  Put these in the box of "Man, I hope Doran sees play" cards.

Man, I hope Doran sees play.

Vault Skyward - Here's the long answer:
Pack it up, pack it in
Let me begin
I came to win
Battle me that's a sin
I won't tear the sack up
Punk you'd better back up
Try and play the role and the whole crew will act up
Get up, stand up, come on!
Come on, throw your hands up
If you've got the feeling jump across the ceiling
Muggs is a funk fest, someone's talking junk
Yo, I'll bust em in the eye
And then I'll take the punks home
Feel it, funk it
Amps it are junking
And I got more rhymes than there's cops that are dunking
Donuts shop
Sure 'nuff I got props from the kids on the Hill
Plus my mom and my pops

I came to get down
I came to get down
So get out your seats and jump around
Jump around

Jump around
Jump around
Jump up Jump up and get down



Here's the short answer:  No.

Vedalken Certarch - If some blue based metalcraft deck surfaces, and they somehow need an Icy Manipulator that is searchable by Ranger of Eos, then sure!  This guy seems sufficiently annoying.  But I don't think that is happening.
Volition Reins - I think the most playable Control Magic is Threads of Disloyalty.  Someday, maybe, there will be a 2UUUU card that gains control of two creatures, or a permanent and a half, or something.  This will likely be on the sidelines forever.

BLACK:

Blackcleave Goblin - Now that we're getting into the infect cards, we should probably set aside some ground rules.  No.

Bleak Coven Vampires - This guy costs more mana than I sometimes use across the entire game when I play GoyfSligh.  Then he trades with a Wild Nacatl!

Blistergrub - Not exactly something I would designate as grub.

Carnifex Demon - I'm sure I could find something better to reanimate.

Contagious Nim - Maybe I wasn't fair to the Blackcleave Goblin, since 10 poison counters wins the game, versus 20 damage points.  So this guy?  Damagewise, he doesn't compare very well to any of the 3cc threats (expect 4 power).

Corrupted Harvester - I fail to see the upside on this guy.

Dross Hopper - This guy is bad too.  Wow.

Exsanguinate - I actually cast Consume Spirit this week.  But this one doesn't hit creatures.

Flesh Allergy - Doesn't compare well with Bone Splinters.

Fume Spitter - Mogg Fanatic, this is not.

Geth, Lord of the Vault - This one worth talking about.  I like taking dudes from the graveyard, and I like milling them.  Win-win!  After thinking a little more about this one, I think if you have a million black mana - Oona gets the job done better.

Grasp of Darkness - Replace any Last Gasps with this one, most likely.  So in other words, kind of a waste of a card.

Hand of the Praetors - Hooray.  This guy kills in 4 swings.  I think I know of a lot more creatures I'd rather play for 4 mana that does the same.

Ichor Rats - I'm pretty sure we already had a 3cc 2 power infect creature.

Instill Infection - When Afflict doesn't get the job done... this one won't either.

Memoricide - I haven't seen anyone cast Cranial Extraction in forever.

Moriok Reaver - Just in time for Coat of Arms, Human.
Necrogen Scudder - This is the magical mana cost for Dark Ritual -> Thing.  Unfortuately, this is no Negator.

Necrotic Ooze - The current combo is: Necrotic Ooze in play, Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion in the graveyard.  You activate Phyrexian Devourer's ability and determine X - if it's 2 or less, let it resolve.  If it's 3 or more, activate the Devourer's ability in response.  Remove the counters to ping your opponent.  Repeat until they die.

It's probably too cute to actually win anything, but it can be used in conjunction with Survival (costs a total of 2GGBB with a piece in hand and Survival in playto win the game), and is an instant speed combo.  So you can kill your opponent in response to them trying to kill the Devourer.

Worth picking up at least 1 copy of each (Necrotic Ooze, Triskelion, Phyrexian Devourer).

Painful Quandry - What if your opponent didn't cast any more spells, because they were dead?  That's the way I like to do it.

Painsmith - Maybe this is playable in Affinity!  Though, you're probably done casting artifact spells by this point.

Plague Stinger - I think it's fair to compare this to a 2/1 flyer, and by that - I mean don't play this card.

Psychic Miasma - This discard spell isn't Hymn to Tourach, or stretching it, Wrench Mind.  Don't like it.

Relic Putrescence - Man, maybe you'll get someone really good and put this on an Aether Vial.  Bad news: you're dead.

Skinrender -  I like this guy a lot, except Shriekmaw pretty much does the same thing this guy wants to do, doesn't suffer from being a Flametongue Kavu onto an empty board, doesn't have an alternate cost, and doesn't have fear.

Maybe I should have just compared it to Flametongue Kavu who basically isn't good enough anymore.


Skithiryx, The Luck Dragon Blight Dragon - Let me posit that you have a mostly black control deck.  What do you finish the game with?  This ends the game in 3 swings if it connects, but ignores any other things you've been doing across the game.  He can have haste, so it can be as early as 2 turns after you play him.  This doesn't sound that amazing, when you can just bash your opponent's face in instead.


Tainted Strike - It's sort of like Berserk, but this would mean you're playing non-infect creatures in your deck that wants to poison your opponent out.  But it's not a far stretch of the imagination for someone to 10 someone out of nowhere with the efficient pump spells of Legacy (Invigorate).  Invigorate + this on a Kavu Predator kills immediately, while Invigorate + Berserk only 18's them.  While I wouldn't be immediately concerned about this thing popping up - don't dismiss it as just another awful card.

RED:


Arc Trail - If it were an instant, I would be telling everyone to pick them up.  As it's a sorcery, pass on them.


Assault Strobe - The cheapest double strike enabler yet.  Wouldn't you just rather have Berserk?


Barrage Ogre - Don't think I can barrage you with enough puns to make this card good.


Blade-Tribe Berserkers - This hill giant is almost always going to be a hill giant.  Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.


Bloodshot Trainee - It wasn't good enough the first time around.


Cerebral Eruption - Don't want to read it, so many words... I mean, come on.  Red cards with a lot of text never see play.  I like my red cards like I like my women, short and to the point.


That's actually a lie.  I like tall women.  That said - where does this card have a use?  Dealing damage to a player?  Incredibly inefficient.  To creatures?  All the creatures people play have far more toughness than their converted mana cost.


Embersmith - If you didn't have to pay a mana, I'd be singing a different tune.  He might have been combo material.


Ferrovore - This beast like to snack on artifacts in the morning.  Skip him.


Flameborn Hellion - There are dozens upon dozens of creatures you should look at before picking this one.


Furnace Celebration - This falls into the "If I didn't have to pay mana, this would be amazing" category.


Galvanic Blast - Pick these up if you intend on playing Affinity.  They're almost just as good as Shrapnel Blast, and sometimes better.


Goblin Gavaleer - This guy is pretty good with Umezawa's Jitte.  But everyone and their grandma is good with Umezawa's Jitte - don't think this guy will make the cut anywhere.


Hoard-Smelter Dragon - Dragons really aren't my thing in Legacy.  And there aren't a lot of big artifacts to eat either.


Koth of the Hammer or Koth, The Hammer - This is it.  This is the one.


Okay, so I don't see this guy making the maindeck of anything anytime soon, other than Dragon Stompy.  Let's just put Dragon Stompy aside for the moment, and focus on him.


He costs 4 mana, this is somewhat doable as a top end of the curve kind of spell.  Some Zoo variants include an Elspeth, or equipment that ultimately takes up more mana than 4.


+1, Make a mountain into a beater.  Bigger than Wild Nacatl, bigger than Rhox War Monk.  This is pretty good in the grand scheme of things, though I mostly see this as a byproduct of making your way to the ultimate.


-2, Ritual.  Kind of a niche thing, but I'm sure someone will make use of it.


-5, Mountain you.  This is what I'm most excited about.  Since Koth starts at 3, this can come online 2 turns after he makes his appearance (and in most situations, this will be the case).  In Legacy, it is incredibly difficult to quickly interact with planeswalkers - it's hard to sweep the board quickly, there's not a lot of really efficient guys with evasion, if you've played against Elspeth or Jace, you know this.


So you can expect this guy to ultimate.  Then what?  You mountain your opponent to death.


My immediate idea is to put this in Zoo sideboards instead of Sulfuric Vortex, to bring in versus control decks, in Dragon Stompy, and then I've got to think about him in other places.


This guy is very exciting, and if you can get him on the cheap, do it.  At the very least, he'll be around for 2 years and you can trade him off.


Kuldotha Phoenix - Remember how I was talking about Dragon Stompy?  This guy can go in there too.  It's pretty likely that by the time it dies, you can metalcraft it.


Kuldotha Rebirth - I don't like 2-for-1ing myself to make 3 goblins.  But cheap ways of making goblins has always been a reasonable path to victory in Legacy.


Melt Terrain - Don't need more stone rains.


Molten Psyche - This is the worst Winds of Change ever.


Ogre Geargrabber - This guy really grabs my gears.


Oxidda Daredevil - How many 2/1's with a bad ability do we need to see?


Oxidda Scrapmelter - Manic Vandal and Ingot Chewer are both better than this guy.


Scoria Elemental - This guy isn't even a crocodile!


Shatter - Smash.

Spikeshot Elder - This is like a million mana.  


Tunnel Ignus - Pick these guys up while they're cheap.  This guy is one sided, he makes your Path to Exiles into also Lightning Bolts (a lot of times), and he attacks for 2.  He's basically all upside.

Expect this guy in GoyfSligh, maybe in Zoo, and let's see if something else happens.


Turn to Slag - Turn to bulk.


Vulshok Heartstoker - Heartstoking with the best of them.

GREEN:


Acid Web Spider - The new Wild Nacatl tech?  No.


Alpha Tyrannax - Where my Craw Wurms at?


Asceticism - Probably where the Craw Wurms are at.


Bellowing Tanglewurm - The bulk of good creatures are green, so this fear doesn't actually work out.


Blight Mamba - I don't know how to evaluate infect creatures, since they have to be pumped in order to really do something in Legacy.  This guy regenerates!...


Blunt the Assault - I like it when my fogs cost 1UUU and also draw a card.  Also, that fog isn't even good enough for Legacy most of the time.


Carapace Forger - Okay, this one is way better than the other metalcraft guys, in my opinion.  Consider this in Affinity, instead of Myr Enforcer.  This is part of one of the decks I'm working on - a revamped Affinity.

Carrion Call - Evaluate this as if you make 2 2/2's.  Still really not worth it.


Copperhorn Scout - Some people have suggested this one for Elfball, but I disagree.  Elves need their combat step.


Cystbearer - Also another infect guy, but this guy costs 3.  Man, I wish these guys didn't cost a million.


Engulfing Slagwurm - The problem with making gigantic guys does not lie within combat, it lies with removal.


Ezuri, Renegade Leader - I can see this guy as a 1-of in Elfball, but he performs something of the same role as Mirror Entity.


Ezuri's Archers - Doesn't trade with Tombstalker.


Ezuri's Brigade - Now we're talking about fat.  This is borderline, in artifact aggro decks, because it's just a gigantic guy - but this one has trample.  This is also making an appearance in my revamped affinity deck.


Genesis Wave - Costs too much to do things.


Liege of the Tangle - I wonder if this is a reasonable reanimation target - he will almost always connect, and he immediately threatens a kill the following turn with creature protection.


Lifesmith - Probably the worst smith.  Worse than the band The Smiths and less good than Mr. and Mrs. Smith.


Molder Beast - Why can't you be Molder Slug.  Slug, better than beast?  What a day.


Putrefax - Hits you, and you get poisoned out.  I've heard reports of people trying to use this to poison people out, and this is probably a lynchpin with acceleration.


Slice in Twain - This is a lot for a disenchant, but it does draw a card.  Don't think I'm in the market for that though.


Tangle Angler - 1/5?  No thanks.


Tel-Jilad Defiance - Cycles.


Tel-Jilad Fallen - What if you need to beat a Vedalken Shackles and need to poison your opponent out?


Then I think you need to evaluate what you're doing in Legacy.


Untamed Might - This takes something close to a billion mana to actually be wanted.


Viridian Revel - Not at all what we're looking for.


Wing Puncture - Not enough flying creatures for this to warrant this one.  If you want to kill some Vendilion Cliques, you can always Hornet Sting it...


Withstand Death - Withstand trash.


MULTICOLOR:  I mean

VENSER:


Venser, the Sojourner - This guy costs too much and doesn't do enough in Legacy.  While Koth and Elspeth were worth looking - this one is not, in my opinion.


ARTIFACT:


Accorder's Shield - According to this guy, this is incredibly bad.


Argentum Armor - Powerful effect, no good way to cheat it.


Auriok Replica - What kind of thing is this actually replicating? Bad?  Worse?


Barbed Battlegear - This equipment isn't Jitte, Sword, or Skullclamp.


Bladed Pinions - This one doesn't even pump your guy!


Chimeric Mass - Are you a man who loves your Trinket Mages?  Or Tolaria West?  Or Intuition and Academy Ruins?  It also can't be Jace'd back to your hand.  Basically, everything you want in a finisher, except that it can be Engineered Explosives'd for 0.


Chrome Steed - I had a conversation at the prerelease where I was being told that he should have been playing Steel Horse in his maindeck.  Then it was Brass Horse.  Then it was Chrome Horse.  Then it was Chrome Stallion.  Then it was Chrome Steed.


But he was right.  It should have been in his main deck.


Clone Shell - We have tons of better ways to cheat guys into play.


Contagion Clasp - This doesn't do enough, before Proliferate.  And it doesn't proliferate hard enough... I think.


Contagion Engine - Now this, this one does enough.  This requires something of Grim Monolith or Goblin Welder kind of shell.  I'll personally be picking up 1-2 of them to mess around with.


Copper Myr - What a cop out of a reprint.  I'm going to skip over the other reprint Myrs.


Corpse Cur -  I love gravediggers.  Eternal Witness is the best one though.  And this one isn't named Eternal Witness.


Culling Dais - If this thing cost 1 mana to cast, and 2 mana to activate I'm sure I'd be saying something different, but this is pretty unplayable.


Darksteel Axe - Don't want Bonesplitter.


Darksteel Juggernaut - It costing 5 instead of 4 is probably the biggest detriment to this one, because it might have been castable in Affinity as a top end spell.  Then there's the problem of being Exiled.  So, pretty awful.


Darksteel Myr - 3 mana indestructible wall.  I would rather play Wall of Denial.


Darksteel Sentinel - 6 mana indestructible wall.  I would rather play Wall of Denial.


Echo Circlet - Blocking multiple creatures isn't really what Legacy is about.  And definitely not spending a card on it.


Etched Champion - This guy is another reason to play Affinity - protection from everything but Cranial Plating is pretty much ideal and what you want for an additional threat.


Flight Spellbomb - Jump draw already has an awful card, it doesn't change that it's an artifact.


Glimmerpost - Hurray, more Locus lands.  In some other format that isn't Legacy.


Glint Hawk Idol - I was talking to someone else about how I felt this was poor set design to have this and Glint Hawk in the same set.  But hey, I'm not the one making a lot of money designing sets.


Gold Myr - See Copper Myr.


Golden Urn - This card gains life and isn't named Pulse of the Fields.


Golem Artisan - So what if you have infinite colorless mana?  This guy would suddenly look a lot more appealing, being able to kill through pretty much anything.  I don't know how many times you're looking for a way to win once you already have infinite mana, but this can be one of them.


Golem Foundry -  This isn't something that we're looking for... is it?


Golem's Heart -  This is not an answer versus Affinity.  It's not even an answer against Salvager's Combo.


Grafted Skeleton - This is no Grafted Wargear.


Grindclock - This thing is the definition of grinding my gears.


Heavy Arbalest - Look at this thing.  This thing is heavily unplayable.


Horizon Spellbomb - This costs far too much for the same thing as a Krosan Tusker's ability.


Ichorclaw Myr - This one is a lot more aggressively costed, but it's still pretty terrible.

Infiltration Lens - This is something that a couple people have been talking about.  Consider a couple regular situation with Zoo:

You have a Tarmogoyf.  They have a Tarmogoyf.  Any equipment wins you this one.

You have a Wild Nacatl.  They have a Tarmogoyf.  Pretty much any equipment wins you this one, but you could have a bonus if you draw two cards.

You have a Kird Ape.  They have a Tarmogoyf.  You can basically use this as a Skullclamp.

This card is cheap to cast, cheap to equip, it can be fetched with Stoneforge Mystic and with Trinket Mage.  It creates a lot of situations where you could either hurt them with the creature, or hurt them with the removal spells that you draw.  A quick point, is that you draw before combat damage, so you can Plow the blocking creature off of the cards that you draw.

Iron Myr - See Gold Myr.


Kuldotha Forgemaster - I'm going to rely on Transmute Artifact to give me Tinker-esque effect in Legacy.


Leaden Myr - See Iron Myr.


Liquimetal Coating - This can create some pretty cute combos with things like Gorilla Shaman, or Goblin Tinkerer, but it basically doesn't do anything on its own.


Livewire Lash - This has to compare to Umezawa's Jitte.  It doesn't.


Lux Cannon - If there's a good way to put a lot of charge counters on this thing, it will still probably be pretty mediocre.


Memnite - Man, the power creep has gone so far as to get a 1/1 for 0.  I don't actually know where that would fit in.


Mimic Vat -  This is too highly dependent on the game state.


Mindslaver - Already legal.  Doesn't look as awesome.

Molten-Tail Masticore - This guy is pretty awesome, but I don't know where he fits in yet.  Some older variants of Survival decks used Masticore to crush opposing creatures, and this guy can do just that.  I didn't intend on this being brief, but I really don't know where it goes.

Moriok Replica - It's cool that this draws a card, but why not just play the real thing?  (Night's Whisper)


Mox Opal - There will be Artifact heavy decks.  This will be the lynchpin.  This will be used.  I have a build of Affinity where this is pretty amazing, and that's just the beginning.  Extra copies can be sacrificed for profit, the legendary status will likely just be a small drawback compared to not using an extra card for Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond.


Myr Battlesphere - As I've noted at prereleases: this is just a bunch of assholes.


Myr Galvanizer -  Myrrrrr.  If you've ever met me, and talked to me about an idea that I didn't like at all: this is the sound I make when I find something distasteful to me.  Myrrrrrrr.


Myr Propagator - What's better than a 1/1 with an awful ability?  Is it two?  It's two.


Myr Reservoir - I would love to find a way to get a bunch of 1/1's back.


Necrogen Censor - This is a 3 mana spell that can't get the job done.


Necropede - This guy also has a hard time closing the deal on his own, but infect is hard for me to evaluate.


Neurok Replica - Why not use the real thing?... What's the real thing on this one?


Nihil Spellbomb - This one is for when you want to not waste cards on Tormod's Crypt-ing someone, and you can't afford to wreck your own graveyard.  This also adds in another card that will have to be named with Pithing Needle, if you want to vary your graveyard hate.

Nim Deathmantle - Have you seen how much this is to equip?


Origin Spellbomb - Not exactly an impressive effect for 2 or 3 mana.


Palladium Myr - But he ramps you into more mana!


Panic Spellbomb - Friends don't let friends play with Panic Spellbomb.


Perilous Myr - This would make a pretty perilous addition to your deck.


Platinum Emperion - This one is a little better than big Plats (note: this should be the new big Plats).  This one keeps you from losing your life in the first place, and as Smokey the bear says: "Only you can prevent forest fires."

Precursor Golem - Look how much power for how little mana!  Consider the options with Master Transmuter and Goblin Welder.  Consider this guy for future building endeavors.

Prototype Portal -  This opens up a lot of 2-for-1's, in the same way that Soul Foundry and Isochron Scepter opens up 2-for-1's.  But this imprints slightly more, so it might be worth the risk.

Ratchet Bomb - Get these.  They're very flexible, and they actually hit everything.

Razorfield Thresher - DANGER!  Keep appendages clear of front of machine.  And rear of machine.  And side of machine.  And top of machine.


Rust Tick - Just play the Razorfield Thresher.  It's strictly better.


Rusted Relic - 5/5 for 4 isn't even good enough anymore.  Just ask Juzam Djinn.


Saberclaw Golem - Someday, first strike will be attached to highly playable cards.


Semblance Anvil - The combo potential of this card is pretty high.  The card disadvantage of this card is pretty high.


Silver Myr -  See Silver Myr.  Oh wait.  See Leaden Myr.


Snapsail Glider - Snap concede.


Soliton - Check out this 3/4.  He can untap and everything.


Steel Hellkite - This is a sweet dragon, but sweet dragons tend to not see play.


Strata Scythe - This isn't named Sword of blank and blank, or Umezawa's Jitte.


Strider Harness - Again, not named Sword of blank and blank, or Umezawa's Jitte.

Sword of Body and Mind - This is named Sword of blank and blank.  The protection from Green is incredibly relevant, but the mill will likely hurt more than help.

Sylvok Lifestaff - This gains life and makes you win Tarmogoyf wars!  It's like a dream come true.


Throne of Geth - If this proliferate thing catches on, then sure.  But it's going to take a lot more than just a little proliferating to get me convinced.


Tower of Calamities - Nothing survives this one.  Oh wait, Emrakul does...


Trigon of... All of them - Don't play these.  They will get you not a lot, very slowly.


Vector Asp -  Everyone who wants to infect probably doesn't want this guy, since the additional mana investment is a lot to ask for.


Venser's Journal - Ivory Tower that goes all the way up to 7, and Spellbook is equal to 5 mana.  Awesome, right?


Vulshok Replica - The real thing isn't very good either.  Don't play either.


Wall of Tanglecord - All I can think of is the wires behind my TV.  The wires are all tangled.


Wurmcoil Engine - This is potentially part of some Welder, Transmuter, and Grim Monolith deck.  I'm sure I will find a use at some point.

LANDS:

Check out these lands.  How many lands are usually in play in Legacy?  Not many, right?

If you want to play some budget Legacy, this is a place to begin.

OVERALL:

A little disappointing considering how amazing Zendikar and Worldwake was for the format.

Cards to pick up for your build binders:

Not rare:
Auriok Edgewright, Auriok Sunchaser, Riddlesmith, Turn Aside, Galvanic Blast, Carapace Forger, Infiltration Lens, Nihil Spellbomb


Rares:
Leonin Arbiter, Necrotic Ooze, Kuldotha Phoenix, Tunnel Ignus, Chimeric Mass, Contagion Engine, Etched Champion, Precursor Golem, Ratchet Bomb




Mythics:
Koth of the Hammer, Molten-Tail Masticore, Mox Opal, Sword of Body and Mind, Wurmcoil Engine


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Platinum Emperion: does not save you from poison. Coincidence?

Gandhi said...

Not a coincidence.

However, I will buy you a soda the first time I get poisoned out in a serious Legacy tournament (over $10 buy-in).

I'll find a way.

Anonymous said...

I can't really see it happening - why waste 8 on Empyrion when you should have won the game by then? - but if it does it'll be with Tainted Strike, as you describe above.

Anonymous said...

p.s: Not much point in shipping a soda to New Zealand, is there?

Gandhi said...

Again, I will find a way. It would probably include me finding out what your local gaming store is, and PayPal to your TO.

And yeah - Platinum Emperion is likely not what you want in most situations. But when you're playing with Welder and Grim Monolith - these 6's and 8's are suddenly a lot more castable/able to be put into play.

Unknown said...

" Invisimancer? But I hardly know her."

Best. line-steal. ever.