Legacy:
Sensei’s Divining Top is banned.
Some people got stoked, some hyped, some mad and some others just sad. But everyone was shocked.
The ban will bring a lot of changes to the entire format. There are professionals for reading a format and predicting (sorry for that) what will come. I am not any kind of professional but I do how to play a certain deck. Definetly not the most known, but maybe the most succesfull paper-magic-player in europe who hoofed with elves in 2016. So there are my thoughts about the changes who effect the deck:
​
1# TNN decks will rise.
With this, it´s also possible that Leovold will show up in more lists. People will consider Umezawas Jitte as a better card than it is now, because of 2# and 3#.
2# Elves will rise.
People will consider elves as a better deck than before, because Terminus is not played anymore and 3#.
3# Creature based decks will rise.
People will consider elves as a better deck than before, because Terminus is not played anymore and they love to play fatties. They want to test the old zoo decks, Maverick...... when your opponent plays a creature, maybe you should just play a bigger one.
4# Spell based combodecks (like ANT, TES, Doomsday (not ;-)) and SneakShow and Omniscience) and Lands will profit too. The MU versus Creature based decks is really good. There is one less heavy-counter MU. People using their SB slots for 5#, because of 1#, 2# and 3#.
5# Massremoval will rise.
Because it´s necessary now (1#, 2#, 3#)
In one week there is probaply the biggest Legacy tournament in europe this year. After 448 players in Paris, they expect up to 500 participants in Frankfurt. The changes are real. We all have to think about our decks. Especially the sideboards will change. My Sidebaord will change like this:
Sideboard Eternal Weekend 20017:
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Abrupt Decay (I will cut one, because Iusually don´t like the 4th copy against most of the decks)
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Nissa, Vital Force (I will cut Nissa to make place a big guy called Progenitus)
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thoughtseize
2 Surgical Extraction
​
Sideboard after Sensei´s ban:
3 Abrupt Decay 1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Cabal Therapy (best discard against spell-based combo. Sometimes killing it. twice)
3 Thoughtseize
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Progenitus
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Pithing Needle or Meek Stone
I can also imagine chainging my mainboard. So:
A 4th Natural Order might be good call and then just going straight. No silverbullets. Just 4 offs + 1 Reclamation Sage. Another thought was to try the new Vizier of the Menagerie. If Matches getting grindy, Vizier of the Menagerie could be a badass-grinding-station. Let´s try it.
​
Cavern of Souls is also going to watchlist:
1 or 2 or nothing? I tend to kick them since the only reason to still play them might be Chalice of the void. But casting the Visionary or Behemoth safe is a huge deal in a lot of games. It will probably decline but I will hold on it for a while.
My overall conclusion is to play it straight forward with a lot of high impact cards against Combo in the Sideboard and a Progenitus against the fair ones. I pumped this thoughts out of my mind so sorry if you build your deck after this article and then loosing to Death and Taxes next week.
​
What I learned in the last pretournament report from a guy who wrote:
„Don´t play elves (in Paris) unless you are Julian Knab“ – you can´t be right. there are always 2 other guys who top8 it anyway ;-)
​
Tell me what you think about my thoughts and don´t bother to proof me wrong.
​
Jan Lenger