SCG Open Report Part 2: Legacy (12th)

Standard on Saturday was ok.  I made some money, but wasn't really satisfied.  It was time to step my game up for the Legacy portion of the weekend.

Here's the deck I played, which Amir was kind enough to let me borrow for the weekend.

Show and Tell | The Rusty Machete

10 Creatures:  
4 Progenitus
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2 Simian Spirit Guide

30 Spells:  
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
2 Intuition
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
1 Lotus Petal
1 Seething Song

20 Lands:  
4 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
1 Mountain

15 Sideboard:  
3 Blood Moon
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Firespout
3 Pyroblast
1 Pyroclasm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away

The game plan is pretty obvious.  10 Cantrips let you find combo pieces.  Intuition was only not a demonic tutor once the entire event when I couldn't get 2x Spirit Guide+Petal since 1 was already in my hand.  All the fatties are immune to Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile and kill in 2 swings (with Emrakul doing some annihilating in the process).  Progenitus is less good to sneak into play, but Sneak kills with any 2 fatties, so you can Progenitus them over the course of 2 turns if needed.  8 free counters are there for protection, just in case your opponent tries to do something relevant (they usually don't anyway).

Thankfully, less people showed up for Legacy than standard, so only 9 rounds were ahead of me.

Round 1: Vs. 5 Color Storm
Game 1, he sets up with a Chrome Mox and 2 Ponders, clearly trying to go for the kill on turn 3.  However, I was on the play, and my turn 3 involved Seething Song into Sneak Attack, and thanks to an Ancient Tomb I could attack with both a Progenitus and an Emrakul.

I board in the Blood Moons for Preordains and Seething Song

Game 2, he duresses me on 1 taking Force of Will but seeing that I have Daze and Blood Moon.  He plays Burning Wish on 2 clearly bating the Daze, so I let it resolve.  He gets Ponder.  Moon comes down on turn 2 and he never plays another spell the entire game.

1-0

Round 2: Vs. GWB Rock
Game 1: I show him Progenitus, and he tries to tell me Tarmogoyf is a good card.

I board Firespouts and Blood Moon for Dazes, a Spirit Guide, and Seething Song

Game 2: I put a Progenitus in play with another Show+Sneak+Emrakul in hand.  He has the Diabolic Edict end of turn, then hits me with a Hymn to Tourach.  He hits the show and tell and fetchland I have in hand, wastelands the Volcanic Island I have in play, and kills me with a Dark Confidant before I draw a red source to sneak is some beats.

Game 3: He has turn 1 Hymn off 2x Mox Diamond.  I brainstorm in response hiding combo pieces to assure I could kill him on turn 3.  The Hymn hits the Sneak I left in my hand along with the Volcanic Island I had in hand.  Next turn, wasteland+vindicate take out my only 2 lands, and I never draw a blue source for the rest of the game (I started the game with the 1 basic mountain in the deck in my hand).  I legitimately misplayed this game, since I should have hid the Volcanic Island I had from the Hymn instead of the Show and Tell, since I had more draw spells in hand and could have easily won if I'd just had blue mana to play a bunch of draw spells.

1-1

Round 3: Vs Enchantress.
Game 1, I Intuition for Petal and Spirit Guides on 3 before attacking for 15+all his permanents on turn 4.

I boarded in bounce spells for mana spells of some sort

Game 2, he tutors for Oblivion Ring on turn 1.  Turn 2 he plays Vexing Shusher, which puts a damper on the Force+2x Daze I have in hand.  I have Show and Tell and Emrakul in hand, but the O-ring can just immediately answer it so I don't get much value.  I formulate a plan, however.  With 2 cards left in his hand (1 being the O-ring), I ask how many cards he has.  He responds 2, and I comment that one of them is Oblivion Ring before confidently casting the show.  Since if I don't put in Emrakul, he'd be forced to O-ring his own Shusher, he chooses to instead put a Wild Growth into play.  When I put in Emrakul, he looks a little confused, untaps, and casts O-ring.  I snap force it, and he (still sounding confused) pays to make it uncounterable.  In response, I daze, he pays, and I daze again.  Blown out, he concedes.

2-1

Round 4: Vs. Mike Antrim with GW no Mangara
Its never fun to play against a fellow Get Your Game On attendee, but Mike still had a solid day making top 32 at 6-2-1

Both games are rather unexciting since I have turn 2 Show and Tell both games and he can't do anything to beat it, but that happens sometimes.

3-1

Round 5: Vs. Zoo
Game 1, I intuition on turn 2, Force of Will a Goyf, and Show him my 15/15 friend on turn 3.

I board in Firespouts and Blood Moon for Daze, Seeting Song, and a Spirit Guide

Game 2, I have Blood Moon and Sneak but only a single Progenitus for a fatty.  I should've forced a Grim Lavamancer which ended up allowing him to kill me 1 turn earlier that he should have, but I couldn't have done anything.

Back on the play, I board in Dazes for the Forces

Game 3, I show Emrakul on 2 and he scoops

4-1

Round 6: Vs. Aggro Loam.
Game 1, I Sneak Emrakul into play on turn 4 while he's busy cycling some lands and dredging Life from the Loam

Same board as round 5

Game 2, He Thoughtseizes a Show and Tell on turn 1.  I still cast Intuition for Show and Tell turn 2.  He wastelands my Ancient Tomb, then I untap and play another Tomb so I can Show him this card and Tell him that he's about to get annihilated.

5-1

Round 7: Vs. Zoo
Game 1, I mull to 5, keeping Island, Ponder, Brainstorm, Show and Tell, and Force of Will.  I Ponder on 1, whiff on mana, and shuffle.  His turn 1 play is fetch Taiga, Chain Lightning you.  I brainstorm on 2, whiffing against on lands, have Force of Will for his Goyf and Pridemage the next 2 turns, and die on approximately turn 9 with a single Island in play.

I board in Firespouts and Echoing Truth for Forces, deciding Blood Moon isn't actually good vs. Zoo

Game 2, I Firespout some guys, Daze some random creature just in case, then Intuition on 4 and attack in a rather sneaky manner on turn 5

I board out Dazes for Forces

Game 3 I firespout some early guys, and set up Intuition for Sneak Attack+Emrakul with a Spirit Guide in hand to do that last 2 damage (he's taken 3 from fetches).  Between damage from Ancient Tomb, 2 bolts, and random creature attacks, I'm at 8 when I play and activate Sneak.  He bolts me (taking me to 5, then 3 from Ancient Tomb), but he ends up with 1 card in hand and no permanents.  He untaps, fetches, and reveals the Chain Lightning he drew for the turn.  Obv

5-2

Round 8: Vs Show and Tell/Hive Mind
Game 1 he starts with nothing but Islands and blue fetches, so I guess he might be playing High Tide.  My first  Show and Tell is met with a Force of Will, which I'm ok with since I have another copy in my hand.  He also Forces and 2nd one, and Forces again when I Force back.  My 3rd Show and Tell sticks, and much to my surprise he puts Progenitus into play.  Thankfully, 15>10 and he dies

I board in Pyroblasts and Wipe Away for mana spells

Game 2 he opens on a mulligan to 5 and just a City of Traitors for mana.  I have plenty of counterspells in my hand, so we sit around for a while before I kill him with Sneak Attack and triple counter backup.

6-2

Round 9: Vs. Christian Valenti with Green and Taxes
Game 1 I daze an Aether Vial on 1, then Show and Tell Progenitus on turn 3.  He puts a Stoneforge Mystic in, getting a Jitte, and thanks to a Goyf and some Mothers of Rune he is close to racing me.  He swords his Goyf to live an extra turn, but it isn't enough.

I board Firespouts and Echoing Truth for Dazes

Game 2, I again am able to cheat a Progenitus into play, and again he tries to race with a bunch of dudes+swords for his own creatures.  He gets me down to 4, but it isn't enough

7-2

I finished in 12th place, so I didn't miss top 16 on breakers two days in a row.  Ari also top 16'd with Storm, continuing to show the power of the deck despite is lack of widespread success.

I honestly believe that Show and Tell, or something very similar, is by far the best choice for Legacy right now.  Other possibilities such as the UB combo decks (Storm and Reanimator) get to be faster and play cards like Thoughtseize, but having close to impossible to win matchups such as counterbalance make the decks less appealing.  Other options such as the Burn Zoo deck I played in the recent Mox tournament are great at beating all the fair decks, but are weak to well built combo decks.  Counterbalance is likely the best control deck, but still has rough matchups in Goblins and Merfolk.
Show and Tell is not close to a "fair" deck, but is resilient to most commonly played combo hate.  The creatures are nearly impossible to remove unlike those in reanimator, and the combo itself dodges counterbalance relatively well.  The list can likely be improved to be made more consistent, with the first thing I'd recommend being the addition of the 3rd Intuition over the Seething Song.  The ritual is only good for killing with Sneak Attack, and having the random 1 in the deck doesn't do enough.  In addition, 4 Volcanic Island only makes Wasteland better against you, and 1 can be cut for any blue fetchland without much loss.  The lone mountain wasn't great, but you don't lose much by having it so it can stay for now.  Lastly, the sideboard isn't well streamlined and can easily be improved.

Here's the list I'd start with for the future:

Show Me What You Got | The Rusty Machete

11 Creatures:  
4 Emrakul
4 Progenitus
3 Simian Spirit Guide

29 Spells:  
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
3 Intuition
4 Force of Will
4 Daze

20 Lands:  
3 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
1 Mountain

15 Sideboard:  
3 Blood Moon
3 Firespout
4 Pyroblast
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
3 Trusty Machete

Spirit Guide is just better than Lotus Petal since you almost never need extra blue mana but having the creature to attack with is important along with the ability being immune to counterbalance.  4 Pyroblast are in the board since blue decks can actually interact with you.  Tormod's Crypt and Trinisphere should not be in the sideboard, since there aren't really any graveyard based decks seeing significant play and Trinisphere is a nombo with a lot of what you're trying to do along with being too slow vs. storm.  Likely, the last 3 or 4 slots in the board can either be something good against good aggro decks (1-2 Threads of Disloyalty and maybe a Pyroclasm or some other good removal spell vs. Tribal Aggro) or 3x of some good creature (Vendilion Clique comes to mind) since people should board out creature removal.  There's also possibly enough room for some transformational sideboard plan, though that seems completely unnecessary.

Stay tuned for my full analysis of Legacy sometime later this week.  I'll discuss the major strategies in the format and list every deck I think is a viable choice.