Legacy

Going to the Zoo: 1K Legacy Report – Top 8

NicLeblanc

by Nicholas LeBlanc

Hi, my name is Nicholas LeBlanc, a member of team Face a Face. Recently I played a local Legacy tournament; the Spellkeeper 1000$ Legacy tournament. For those who know me, my knowledge in Legacy is EXTREMELY limited (yes I would walk into Daze super often, thankfully not at the tournament) so I decided to pick an aggressive deck for this tournament, Zoo being in mind.

I discussed a bit with Robert Anderson which variant to play, and we got into a discussion, with other fellow members, about Burning-Tree Shaman. It does seem very good, but I wasn’t fond of the concept after doing some alone thinking. I knew I wasn’t playing Knight of the Reliquary, because that seems too clunky for nothing in Zoo, as you want cards that do something immediately for pressure, and having an aggressive start followed by a turn 3 Knight of the Reliquary didn’t excite me. Burning-Tree Shaman didn’t excite me due to it having a CLEAR bulls-eye on its head, and I really wanted to pack Umezawa’s Jitte in the sideboard. Sylvan Library was also a card I am not fond of but watching Rob play a few games convinced me to run it. Unfortunately, Sam had none, so that quickly became a pair of Lightning Helix, which served well that day. Mat Schmaltz told me about Goblin Guide, and Justin Richardson showed me a list, and lo and behold that list had no clunky 3 drops! I dove into that list and did some modifications.

Here is what I ran:

4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
2 Fireblast
3 Price of Progress
3 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
3 Taiga
2 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Forest

SB:
2 Children of Korlis
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Ranger of Eos
2 Krosan Grip
3 Gaddock Teeg
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Umezawa's Jitte

I can’t really give you an explanation on my sideboard choices, for I just copy and pasted it. A lot of the cards are however obvious (Ranger for attrition, Jitte for creatures, Teeg for Explosives and clunky creature-control cards, Grips for problematic artifacts and enchantments, and Faerie Macabre and Tormod’s Crypt for graveyard-based decks). The Children of Korlis are, to my understanding, for combo decks that do a large amount of damage, mainly Ad Nauseum. I saw a Zoo list that beat Ad Nauseum in the finals of a 30 player Legacy tournament and assumed he won because of that card since the rest of his board was awful for the match-up, so I ran it.

Anyways, onto the tournament report:

Round 1 vs. Zoo 2-0

Game 1 I remember playing Wild Nacatl turn 1 followed by Goblin Guide with burn back-up turn 2 against his 1/1 Loam Lion. My guys go a pretty far distance until he drops Tarmogoyf, but I have enough burn to finish him off. Game 2 is cuter as I have FOUR Goblin Guides (drawing three of them).  We hit a standstill, being his 2 Tarmogoyfs against my Goblin Guide and Tarmogoyf. Eventually I draw Path to Exile and swing with my Exalted Goyf (Qasali Pridemage on my side of the field), hoping he’ll bite and block with both his Goyfs. He does, I path his 2nd Goyf and win in a couple of turns.

Round 2 vs. Bant Mystic with Counter/Top 1-2

I vaguely remember game 1, other than the fact that I had little difficulty winning. During game 2 I realized why; he didn’t have his Counter/Top, and during that game there were Engineered Explosives, Tarmogoyfs and the Mystic package that I didn’t see game 1. I walked into Spell Pierce turn 3 which literally turned the game around as his set-up Counterbalance/Sensei’s Diving Top locked me while his lone creature,  Stoneforge Mystic and the equipped Umezawa’s Jitte went the entire way. Game 3 he handled my early Kird Ape, Force’d my Qasali Pridemage, and ran out Counterbalance and Goyf eventually on the same turn. I attempt to Path his Tarmogoyf and a blind Counterbalance revealed Brainstorm to counter it, which definitely shifted the game hardcore in his favour. A few turns later, I scoop it up.

Round 3 vs. Goblins 2-1

This match-up feels really, really straight-forward and easy. Since his guys don’t have a toughness higher than 2 (pre-Lord effects), a lot of my guys are just strictly better than his, while I just have to worry about killing a few specific guys in the match-up. With the pressure Zoo can offer, I’m not too worried about the match-up. Goblin Lackey will likely never ever connect too, which limits his explosive start. Game 1 goes just like that, as I burn his Goblin Lackey and eventual Goblin Warchief as my early drops put enough pressure on him to win game 1. Game 2 was a bit more interesting. I kept a 4 land (3 of them fetchlands) and a Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix on the draw. He stalls on one land for a few turns while I draw after using the first 3 fetches 7 lands in a row, 4 of those being fetchlands. I use the burn in my hand to fend off what I can, but he recovers from his mana issues with 2 Aether Vials ticking high enough for Warchiefs and Ringleaders to overwhelm any chance of me coming back into the game. Game 3 I have early pressure with Goblin Guide while burning out his Goblin Lackey. My opponent eventually plays Goblin Matron getting Warren Weirding, and the following turn runs out Tuk-Tuk the Explorer. The board position stalls for a bit but unaware to my opponent I’m drawing a heavy hand of burn. I have enough burn to hope he plays out his Warren Weirding targeting me so I can sacrifice my Goblin Guide and gain 2 1/1 tokens, as I am convinced he didn’t read the 2nd part of Warren Weirding carefully. Turns out he didn’t, as he casts it targeting me, and with some burn spells at end of turn (including a drawn Chain Lightning, but that was irrelevant for the outcome of the match), I win the following turn.

Round 4 vs Supreme Blue 2-0

Surprisingly enough, I don’t remember this match-up in detail, other than it finishing decently fast and, if I remember right, being ahead both games by a mile. I do remember game 2 that he looked at a lot of cards and couldn’t find the Volcanic Island to Firespout my team away, but if my general recollection serves me right, I basically played guys as early pressure (he dealt with a few of them that I remember) and I finished it off with burn. I believe game 2 I finished it with Grim Lavamancer. This match was against David Schnayer, a friend of mine, so Dave, if you remember this match fairly well, comment on the match!

Round 5 vs New Horizons 2-1

Against Steve Giannopoulus (definitely butchered that last name), and also another match-up I vaguely remember other than game 3, with the topdecked Lightning Helix and the Price of Progress I held on since my opener to finish him off against 2 6/6 Knight of the Reliquary. I remember all games came down to if I drew a burn spell in the last few turns it would decide the winner of the match, providing he didn’t have a back-up solid Counterspell (like not Daze or Spell Pierce).

Top 8 vs Bant Mystic with Counter/Top (rematch) 1-2

I won game 1 quite easily, with a few 1 drops and removal going the entire way. Game 2 I was quite ahead until he stabilized with a set-up Counterbalance/Sensei’s Divining Top and some guys. At the end, I punted when he was at 4 life and I had a lethal Price of Progress. He was literally countering anything I would play with the lock, and I also had Goblin Guide, so I should have ran out Goblin Guide to see if he would counter it with Top (hoping he doesn’t have a 1 mana card in the top 3 cards) and then run out the Price (he had no cards in hand). I ran out Price, he topped, missed, then fetched, and hit. He played a guy and Jitte and I was then out of the game. Game 3 I kept a nutty aggressive hand composing of 3 Goblin Guides and 2 Lightning Bolts as spells, and 2 fetchlands. I then drew nothing but lands out of the game after he dealt with my early game, after putting him to 7 at the end of my 3rd turn. It happens.

Overall I loved playing Zoo, and will definitely play it again at future tournaments. Finally, a Legacy deck I am comfortable with! With the changes coming July 1st the deck will definitely be more popular and powerful seeing how the combo decks got a blow with Mystical Tutor leaving.  Goblin Guide is actually pretty strong in the deck and a card I love playing with in general due to its aggressiveness. Even with the unfortunate turnout at the tournament (just 29 players), the day rekindled my desire to play Legacy (it also helps that I will be attending GP Columbus for motivation).

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