The Planeswalker's Stronghold

This month I had the unexpected opportunity to travel to Roanoke for a Legacy GPT. Recent set releases had a lot of new ideas floating around my head, but I really hadn't played enough over the last few months to evaluate such changes. I ended this small tournament day with a 2-3 record, having scooped a team member into the top8 in the last round. (Congrats to Jeff to winning the GPT!, good luck in the GP.) It became really clear that even my possible 3-2 finish for the day, my deck had become under-matched, and really needed to be brought up to date. Let the work begin! My prior list can be found here , the only difference being that a fourth Goyf replaced the fourth Lavamancer. I began by pulling the Grave package, and replacing it with a more traditional Zoo utility lineup. I'm not sure this is the correct call, but the surprise value of the Grove Package has run it's course on the local level, so it's time to at least test other options. -4 Grove of the Burnwill...

Lucky number 13 in the series! It was brought to my attention that I have not been writing much recently. This is mostly due to personal distractions, and there really hasn't been much going on in the front of the house. So I'll take a minute to catch you all up on whats been going on behind the scenes. I've been working a massive trade through CFB, netting a pair of Goyfs, a FoW, a Wasteland, a LED, and a few odds and ends. I was also able to pick up a 3rd Goyf trading in a dual land. I hated to trade away the land, but it was a 20% and a card I needed. I have also been able to pick up several pieces of foil for the deck, including a Pridemage, a full set of foil textless Lightning Bolts, and a 2nd Nacatl. If things go as planned, I'll be able to foil one of my Arid Mesas next week. I've also made a minor tweak to my list. I have found that Invigorate only reaches max utility when I have a Kavu on the board, other times it's only a mediocre combat trick. I de...

So I decided to take my fully powered list to the SciFi Weekly Legacy event, and see what happens. The new prize structure was just too much to pass up. This is the final list I used for the event. Creatures: Kavu Predator x4 Kird Ape x4 Tarmogoyf x4 Qasali Pridemage x4 Wild Nacatl x4 Grim Lavamancer x3 Spells: Invigorate x3 Lightning Bolt x4 Sylvan Library x2 Swords to Plowshares x3 Punishing Fire x3 Umezawa's Jitte x2 Land: Arid Mesa x4 Grove of the Burnwillows x4 Plateau x3 Savannah x2 T-A-I-G-A x2 Windswept Heath Wooded Foothills Forest, Mountain, Plains 1 each. Sideboard Pithing Needle x4 Tormad's Crypt x2 Relic of Progenitus x3 Krosen Grip x2 Pyroclasm x3 Wind Shards I really like this list, and it just hammers home how good Goyf is for this deck. Wing Shards seems like on-color tech against Progenitus, which appears to be a growing segment of the meta, both local and regional. I may be running a bit to much graveyard hate, but with Reanim...

Sunday in Richmond was really a great time. I went 2-2 drop, which honestly was better then I had expected. I was able to do some real trading, picking up a promo Jitte, my last two dual lands, and my last two fetch lands. Now I have a one of set of duals, and fetches. I also picked up a pair of textless Lightning Bolts, and about a dozen other cards from my shopping list. Oh and there was tournament also! Going in there were certain match ups which I simply new were not good ones. CounterTop Progenitus was one of those match ups, and there it was across the table from me in round one. Game one all I could do was cross my fingers and race. I got lucky, and got him as low as 10, despite a Warmonk on the board, before he was able to resolve a late game Progenitus. Game two, I brought in the side board tech, and used my main list Kavu's for a surprise factor, which I road for the win. Game three was a different matter, on turn two I was looking across at 2 lands and a hierarch. I ha...

So here I sit, with under 24 hours till the big event in Richmond. I've been watching the Standard coverage for today's 5K, and the player total just kept climbing! 561, that is a bit scary, since many of these players may stay for the Legacy event, and it may be much bigger then I anticipated. More players, means more random decks, and less effective sideboards. Oh well, not much I can do at this point. I did make a couple of last minute adjustments this week. I've been testing -1 Grove, +Wooded Foothills all week. My final call is to keep the list the way it is, but I need to get on the ball and pile shuffle every time. I refuse to lose games and matches because I fail to shuffle. After all the prep work I've put in, that would just be stupid. I spent a large portion of my time this week testing against CounterTop, in an attempt to nail down my sideboard. Turns out Shusher is just not getting the job done. There is simply to much spot removal, to try and ride this g...

So with less then a week before the Richmond Legacy 5k, I've finalized my main list, and working on the side board. I was able to trade into a pair of Stoneforger Mystics last week, and have been testing different options between that and Jitte. While I still want to get a second copy of Jitte for a number of reasons, I have found that one each of Jitte, and one Mystic is the best option for this weekend. With this in mind, I will be running the following list; Creatures: Kavu Predator x4 Kird Ape x4 Tarmogoyf x4 (Woolly Thoctar x3) Qasali Pridemage x4 Wild Nacatl x4 Grim Lavamancer x3 (x4 on the "B" team) Stoneforge Mystic Spells: Invigorate x3 Lightning Bolt x4 Sylvan Library x2 Swords to Plowshares x3 Punishing Fire x3 Umezawa's Jitte Land: Arid Mesa x4 Grove of the Burnwillows x4 Plateau x3 (Sacred Foundry x2) Savannah x2 (Temple Garden) Tiaga x2 (Stomping Ground) Windswept Heath Wooded Foothills Forest, Mountain, Plains 1 each. The rea...

I was able to line up sponsor ship for SciFi Genre's weekly Legacy event on the 17th. I am going to have to play the "B" team, since I won't have Goyfs for the event. I've been playing the list that way all week, so I can have a good feel for that mode, and I've been able to draw several conclusion in the process. First off, and please excuse this observation, but damn this list has gotten good, if I do say so myself. Secondly, the "B" team is pretty good in it's own right, and actually (slightly) improves one of my worst match ups, CounterTop-Goyf. I also found that while I have no sideboard support, my unique build gives me a very strong mirror match up. It  even stands up well against other Zoo decks after boarding. I especially like Zoo players that use Lightning Helix against me, making Kavu bigger if it can survive the blast.. This mirror match up is going to continue to be of increasing importance as my list evolves. Zoo is an entry lev...

With the Starcity Games Legacy 5K coming up in Richmond on February 28, 2010 , I am nearly certain I will be able to attend. It's really a question of how many Worldwake launch related events I will attend. Honestly, I'm more then happy to sacrifice launch events for the wealth of experience I expect to gain from a Legacy 5K. The really good news is I've been able to make significant strides in my build through trade efforts, and have not needed to invest any new cash. I was able to trade in to 2 Grim Lavamancers, and a second Sacred Foundry (not foil, but what are you going to do?). I've also been able to borrow to additional Grim Lavamancers for the moment, but I am uncertain how long I'll be able to hold on to them. It would be nice if I could retain use of them through the 5K, but we will just have to see. Lastly, and most importantly, I've been able to tentatively borrow a set of Goyfs  from a team  mate who will not be attending the event. With this in min...

Wow, talk about unexpected! If you a regular reader in this corner of the multiverse, you probably already know that I made the decision to set a zero magic budget for 2010. With this decision, I had accepted that I would simply not be able to enter all the events I may want to, and that I'd have to compromise some to have others. This fact, and my recently Goyf-less state, led me to the decision to forgo Sunday Legacy events this month, and have funds to enter some of the Worldwake Pre/release events at the turn of the month. I opted to go on Sunday because I still wanted to do what I could to support the Legacy movement, and maybe I'd be able to get in a test game or two between rounds. As it happened 11 other players came out for the event, and I ended up getting sponsored into the event, so as to keep the number of players even. I scrambled to remove the proxies from my deck, and thanks to everyone that gave me use of resources on the fly. The list I ended up with is listed...

So I have been able to do a bit of testing since my last revision , but no actual events. I've really been underwhelmed with both Knight of the Reliquary, and Ranger of Eos. I think these may have real value in Standard/Extended version of the deck, but for Legacy I just feel like they are dead cards in my hand, only really being cast when I'm desperate. For this reason, I'm going to cut it, but it brings up the same old problem, of what to use to fill the spot? I've beat this horse to death, and just haven't been able to find a good answer for this.  I've spent some time this week, going over my notes from past deck development efforts, in preparation for Extended conversion discussion. I think I may have found just the thing, a card M.Nash and I help bring to the spot light during the Timespiral period, in a little deck I called Gobladon. I'm going to fill that slot with Greater Gargadon. What you're cutting a 3 drop for being to slow, and replacin...

So I had to call a couple of audibles on Sunday morning just prior to the first SciFi Genre Sanctioned Legacy Event. I ended up with the following list, and sideboard. The most recent changes (from my prior development) are in italics . Creatures: Kavu Predator x4 Kird Ape x4 Knight of the Reliquary x2 Qasali Pridemage x4 Wild Nacatl x4 Tarmogoyf x4 Ranger of Eos Spells: Invigorate x3 Lightning Bolt x4 Sensei's Divining Top x2 Swords to Plowshares x3 Punishing Fire x3 Umezawa's Jitte Land: Arid Mesa x3 Horizon Canopy Ghost Quarter Grove of the Burnwillows x4 Plateau Sacred Foundry Savannah Stomping Ground Temple Garden Terramorphic Expanse Tiaga Windswept Heath Wooded Foothills Forest, Mountain, Plains 1 each. Sideboard: Gaea's Blessing Relic of Progenitus x2 Tormod's Crypt x2 Red Elemental Blast x2 Firespout x3 Vexing Shusher x4 Choke The event went really well, and we were able to sanction the very first time with 11 playe...

Since last we spoke, I have had a pretty remarkable run of trades. I've been able to pick up a full set of Groves (I actually had one! Who knew?), a Windswept Heath, had an Invigorate donated to the cause. (Good looking out Crispy), a Ghost Quarter, and picked up two Arid Mesa from JD. Not only did this allow me to reduce the size of my shopping list, but the unexpected Mesas allowed me to drop the Horizon Canopy and Reflecting Pool from my deck. These were both suboptimal cards for me, primarily because they don't have basic land types. The last few weeks of testing have really driven home to me just how critical domain components are to my deck. The Arid Mesas has driven my domain concentration from 55% to 64%. Since roughly 1/4 of my deck cares about domain qualities, this should translate into a few more wins, and greater deck consistency. While I'm on the subject of my land base, I really have to say that the land destruction sub-theme has been very underwhelming to th...

So I've decided to go with the following land base. I know it really is not optimal, but it is the best thing I can do with my budget at the moment. Arid Mesa Ghost Quarter x3 Grove of the Burnwillows x4 Horizon Canopy Plateau Reflecting Pool Sacred Foundry Savannah Stomping Ground Temple Garden Tiaga Wasteland Windswept Heath Wooded Foothills Forest, Mountain, Plains 1 each. Now it's time to reality check the other contents of the decks. First off, I can't field Goys, they are simply not in the budget this year, and probably not next year either, I'm just going to have to do with out them. Secondly, I don't own Sylvan Library, but I don have Sesei's Divining top, so I'm going to give that a try. Next, I only own one Jitte, but I am planning on getting a second next year, but in the interim, I'm going to have to try something else. SInce I have put a land destruction suite in my manabase, I am going to up my Knight of the Reliquary...

A couple of quick record keeping issues. First off, I'm proud to announce that our little community effort here, continues to push forward, with just under 1000 unique hits per month, for the 3rd month running. While Grimjack continues his perspective on 5-color as a format, and Zendikar joins the card pool, I took a slightly different roads with a couple of comedic entries this month. All of of these efforts well received. Repack continues to be well received as a format, with many new and returning folks being drawn to this wildly unique alternative. The repack card pool continues to grow, and we are on the verge of bringing the repack process entirely under local control. Our communities EDH obsession seems to have been abated for the moment, with a new interest in the Legacy format. I contribute this shift to 3 primary factors. First, Jedi Jed's preparations for Gencon, have run their course. Secondly, Blake's relocation to ECU, and the local Judge community's socia...