Introduction

Welcome back to another article of mine!

Today we’re going to take a look at the results from Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma, which had capped out at 2000 Legacy players. This event was the last major Legacy event for this year and due to the fact that it’s also been the first Grand Prix since Dig Through Time left Legacy, it will most likely be the starting point for further engagement with Legacy in this new era.

First we will be looking at which decks have made it through to the second day of competition and what that tells us about the metagame before we move on to what I consider the most important decks of this weekend that made it into the Top 8 and/or the Top 32.

So which decks made it through the tough and traditionally unbelievably diverse field of day 1? These are the ones that scored a representational score of over 5 percent.

And what can we learn from this?

Lesson 1: Shardless BUG is not an anti-Miracles deck.

What I mean by this statement is not that Shardless BUG has a bad match-up against Miracles, it’s that the innate notion that I’ve heard over and over again, which is that Shardless BUG is there to win against Miracles, is wrong at several levels.

First and foremost, Shardless BUG doesn’t have a perfect match-up against Miracles. It does have a slightly positive one but it’s not like 12-Post. Secondly, if the sole purpose of Shardless BUG was to be counteract the popularity of Miracles, it’d mean that it has failed its own goal as the anti-deck was more prevalent than the target itself.

I think it’s important to get away from the understanding that Shardless BUG is there because it’s good against Miracles and move towards the comprehension that this deck is not only placing well in certain scenarios but is indeed a mainstay in this format as of now.

With over 13% of players piloting this deck on Sunday it has not only surpassed Miracles as the heir to the throne, it saw it’s Day 2 popularity rise from 3% at GP Lille to over 13% at GP Seattle. This increase is due to many factors, such as the banning of Dig Through Time but the one thing that appears to be obvious is that this deck is indeed here to stay.

Not as a predator for a certain deck or metagame, but as a pillar of the format.

There aren’t too many variants to build this deck but I prefer the version that MTG Mint Cards' very own Sui Xin as he forgoes the maindecked discard spells completely and therefore plays to his strengths and relies on dealing with the problematic combo match-ups in the postboard games.

Shardless Sultai (Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 - Top 8) Legacy by Xin Sui Buy This Deck

Mainboard (60)



Bayou

2 Creeping Tar Pit

1 Forest

1 Misty Rainforest

4 Polluted Delta

1 Swamp

2 Tropical Island

3 Underground Sea

4 Verdant Catacombs

3 Wasteland

22 land



2 Baleful Strix

4 Deathrite Shaman

4 Shardless Agent

4 Tarmogoyf

14 creature



22 land14 creature Abrupt Decay

4 Ancestral Vision

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

3 Liliana of the Veil

1 Maelstrom Pulse

1 Sylvan Library

1 Toxic Deluge

24 other spells



24 other spells Sideboard (15)



2 Disfigure

2 Engineered Plague

2 Flusterstorm

1 Grafdigger's Cage

1 Nihil Spellbomb

1 Null Rod

1 Pithing Needle

3 Thoughtseize

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Sower of Temptation

15 cards



15 cards

Shardless BUG is a deck that we haven’t seen in quite a time and I don’t feel comfortable talking about it in a few hundred words. Let me know if you’d be interested in a standalone article on this deck.

Lesson 2: Delver of Secrets won’t go away any time soon.

When you’re looking at this chart it may appear just as if Delver was a popular but not especially prevalent deck. But this couldn’t be further from the truth, as a simple addition of RUG, BUG and Grixis Delver equates to 18.8% of the field of Day2. And even though the hyperbole that one in five players was playing Delver of Secrets might be a little far-fetched here due to innate differences between the individual concepts of Delver it is still an enticing way to phrase it that way.

Delver of Secrets deck have shown to be able to flourish in any kind of metagame. When Treasure Cruise was around it was Delver that was able to wield said card which lead to the oppression by UR Delver. During the Dig Through Time era one could play what I considered the best Delver variant I had ever played, which you can read about here, which was BURG.

And even now there’s no sign of this development slowing down, quite the contrary.

And once again we have four different variants of Delver doing well. The traditional duo of Canadian Threshold and Team America may not have made Top8 but is well represented in the Top 32. Grixis Delver however made it to the finals, marking another mistake that I made when anticipating this metagame. I expected Grixis Delver to be outclassed by most other Delver variants and I have to admit that I am surprised to see this deck doing so well. Gary Wongs BURG deck also got labelled as “Grixis” but I think that it does in fact resemble a 4-Color Delver deck rather than a Grixis deck that splashed Green just for Deathrite Shaman as Abrupt Decay is a maindecked card.





The choice which Delver deck to pick up is largely dependent upon the expected metagame but as this is a factor that is rather hard to anticipate at a certain level it might just come down to the old principle of Legacy: “Play what you know.” Which is exactly what fellow European Hans Jacob Goddik did when he flew to Seattle to play the deck he’s been playing for ages now. And that was Team America, to a Top 32 finish no less.

On a big scale, however, there were no mind-blowing revelations or changes that were reflected in the Top 8 or the Top 32. Legacy has widened up after quite some time of Delve induced self-inflicted constriction. There are more decks out there that aren’t just “barely playable” but are indeed “viable” options for any given tournament.

Seeing Elves, Lands and Death and Taxes represented in the list above doesn’t just satisfy non-blue aficionados but also those who were drooling over more strategic diversity. These three decks aren’t only non-blue but also occupy certain wedges of the strategic metagame that are their own. I, for one, am happy to see so many different decks doing so well. But more on that later when we’ll be taking a look at the most interesting deck in the Top8.

Legacy has settled itself in a very stable manner which opens up a lot of room for tweaking and brewing while also rewarding good strategical play. To me it looks like Legacy is in the best state it’s been in in a while and I cannot wait to try and come up with something new.

A Closer Look at the Lists: Lands



Now let’s take a look at some individual decks, players or archetypes that stood out to me when looking at the Top 8 and Top 32 lists.

The first and most obvious candidate is the champion of this Grand Prix, Jarvis Yu. I’m personally very happy for Jarvis as he was finally able to Top 8 a GP, and not just any, but a Legacy one while also winning the whole tournament, going on a very nice 3-0 (6-0) winning spree in the elimination rounds themselves.

Lands (Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 - 1st) Legacy by Jarvis Yu Buy This Deck

Mainboard (60)



Dark Depths

1 Forest

1 Glacial Chasm

4 Grove of the Burnwillows

3 Maze of Ith

1 Riftstone Portal

4 Rishadan Port

2 Taiga

1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

4 Thespian's Stage

2 Tranquil Thicket

2 Verdant Catacombs

4 Wasteland

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

35 land



0 creature



35 land0 creature Crop Rotation

4 Exploration

4 Gamble

4 Life from the Loam

1 Manabond

4 Mox Diamond

4 Punishing Fire

25 other spells



25 other spells Sideboard (15)



1 Bojuka Bog

2 Chalice of the Void

2 Choke

1 Karakas

4 Krosan Grip

1 Molten Vortex

4 Sphere of Resistance

15 cards



15 cards

His deck of choice was a GR Lands, a deck that I, personally, underestimated in the past.

When you look at the “Lands” archetype you can divide it into two rather distinct variations. On the one side you have what was originally known as 43Lands. It’s a GRU(W/B) colored control deck that utilized Punishing Fire and Grove of the Burnwillows alongside Engineered Explosives and Academy Ruins to gain control over the game. Most of the pieces were found by Intuition and there also was a lock element to the deck in the form of maindecked artefacts just as Chalice of the Void. Winning was just a minor matter which you kind of did at some point in the future. Maybe.

Thespian's Stage, however, changed the deck quite drastically, which resulted in Jarvis’ deck, also known as Combo Lands (in contrary to Control Lands). It enabled the deck to “go off” pretty fast in conjunction with Dark Depths. This resulted in GR Lands as having 4 Gamble and 4 Crop Rotation as well as the playset of the combo parts in conjunction with 4 Life from the Loam may as well be just as good as it sounds.





The deck sacrificed some of its controlling power but was still able to retain Maze of Ith and Punishing Fire as mechanism to control the battlefield, and in a metagame with Delver of Secrets this may be all you need while threatening an unexpectedly fast combo kill potential. Delver variants and midrange decks just as Shardless BUG are naturally good match-ups for this deck whereas combo can be pretty brutal at times and the Miracles match-up is incredibly swingey, which can lead to some very nasty blowouts in either direction.

The deck itself wasn’t only well positioned in a metagame filled with Delver and Shardless BUG that was also lower on combo and Miracles but was also in the hands of a master of his craft and I’m therefore not really surprised to see Jarvis take the trophy.

A Closer Look at the Lists: Miracles





Secondly, there is Miracles. I have to admit that I wasn’t only very happy to see Miracles do well, but also the way these decks were constructed made me rather happy. All of them were pretty close to what I consider to be the optimal way to build Miracles in the current metagame. If you want to learn more about this very topic, check out my article from two weeks ago.

The fact that Miracles has Top 8ed another Grand Prix in the hands of Brian DeMars marks the 5th Grand Prix in a row where Miracles is present in the Top8, starting with Grand Prix Paris in 2014. This isn’t just a testament to any particular list but also to the overall strength that Miracles possesses in all its different forms and sizes throughout a multitude of different metagames.

Jeskai Miracles (Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 - Top 4) Legacy by Brian DeMars Buy This Deck

Mainboard (60)



Arid Mesa

4 Flooded Strand

4 Island

2 Plains

4 Scalding Tarn

3 Tundra

2 Volcanic Island

21 land



2 Monastery Mentor

2 Snapcaster Mage

4 creature



21 land4 creature Brainstorm

1 Council's Judgment

4 Counterbalance

2 Counterspell

1 Entreat the Angels

4 Force of Will

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Ponder

4 Sensei's Divining Top

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Terminus

35 other spells



35 other spells Sideboard (15)



2 Blood Moon

2 Flusterstorm

3 Pyroblast

2 Rest in Peace

1 Vendilion Clique

2 Wear // Tear

2 Containment Priest

1 Izzet Staticaster

15 cards



15 cards

It’s also important to note that the most anticipated deck last weekend was Miracles. One couldn’t just go into this tournament, hoping to dodge Miracles. This also meant that everybody has been packing as much hate as possible while also opting for decks that aren’t terrible in a Miracles metagame. And still Miracles succeeded.

While it may be totally reasonable to assume that Miracles may continuously fall behind in popularity compared to the Delver macro-archetype and/or Shardless BUG I’d be hard pressed to imagine a metagame where the success of Miracles will be coming to an end any time soon. With the shifted focus towards other decks it might even be the case that Miracles will be overly successful at the next major event. I wouldn’t be surprised.

A Closer Look at the Lists: Aluren

But now it’s time for the real hero of this story to shine: Martin Goldman-Kirst. He made Top 8 at a Legacy Grand Prix, which in itself is already great. What magnifies this, however, is the deck that he did it with. He didn’t play Sharldess BUG or Miracles and also didn’t opt to play a variant of Delver or any of the Storm or Show and Tell combo decks. He battled it out with Aluren.

Aluren (Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 - Top 8) Legacy by Martin Goldman-Kirst Buy This Deck

Mainboard (60)



Bayou

2 Forest

1 Island

4 Misty Rainforest

2 Polluted Delta

1 Swamp

1 Taiga

2 Tropical Island

1 Underground Sea

4 Verdant Catacombs

1 Volrath's Stronghold

20 land



4 Baleful Strix

1 Cavern Harpy

4 Deathrite Shaman

2 Dream Stalker

1 Eternal Witness

4 Imperial Recruiter

1 Parasitic Strix

1 Reclamation Sage

4 Shardless Agent

22 creature



20 land22 creature Abrupt Decay

4 Aluren

4 Brainstorm

4 Cabal Therapy

1 Sylvan Library

2 Thoughtseize

18 other spells



18 other spells Sideboard (15)



1 Abrupt Decay

2 Carpet of Flowers

1 Force of Will

1 Krosan Grip

1 Null Rod

2 Swan Song

1 Thoughtseize

2 Toxic Deluge

1 Bone Shredder

1 Minister of Pain

2 Scavenging Ooze

15 cards



15 cards

The fact that I got to write this sentence still baffles my mind. When I’m telling people that Legacy is wide open and you can play any deck and win I’m not lying. But I’m also not thinking about Top8ing a Grand Prix with Aluren. This isn’t only a presentation of Martins playskill but also of his extensive knowledge of both his deck and the Legacy format as a whole. Expect a stand-alone article in the new future where I’ll be joined by Martin himself.





One thing that noticeable is the distinct lack of traditional combo decks. There is just one Reanimator in the hands of Chase Hansen that made it to the Top 8, followed by one Sneak Attack and one ANT in the Top 32. And while there is Burn, Infect and Elves I’d argue that these decks are hybrids and do not exclusively fall under the combo category. Same with Lands, despite the fact that Combo Lands is a suitable name of it, it’s still a Lands deck that tries to reach control of the game before “comboing” off.

A Closer Look at the Lists: Reanimator

Reanimator (Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 - Top 4) Legacy by Chase Hansen Buy This Deck

Mainboard (60)



Badlands

4 Polluted Delta

1 Swamp

2 Tropical Island

4 Underground Sea

4 Verdant Catacombs

17 land



1 Archetype of Endurance

1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

3 Griselbrand

4 Hapless Researcher

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy // Jace, Telepath Unbound

1 Tidespout Tyrant

12 creature



17 land12 creature Animate Dead

4 Brainstorm

4 Careful Study

4 Entomb

4 Exhume

4 Force of Will

3 Izzet Charm

2 Misdirection

4 Reanimate

31 other spells



31 other spells Sideboard (15)



3 Abrupt Decay

1 Darkblast

2 Duress

1 Echoing Truth

1 Golgari Charm

1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur

2 Pithing Needle

1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

2 Thoughtseize

1 Snapcaster Mage

15 cards



15 cards

This general shortcoming in traditional combo comes as quite of a surprise to me as these three decks had a Day 2 appearance of between 4 and 5%. And while these decks don’t really have a natural enemy among the top decks it appears just as if the non-combo decks were too prepared. I still wouldn’t write these decks off, especially Storm, as I considered Storm a very good choice for this weekend but I might have to re-think that at some point.





Chase Hansen, however, brought a couple of new things to the table that might very well be upgrades to the well-known stock list. The fact that he plays a playset of Hapless Researcher should tell you something about the card itself. When I last tested Reanimator I had a single copy of that card in my deck, but having one card is a drastically different message than having a full playset. This card doesn’t just grant this deck more discard outlets, it also buys the deck some life, which can sometimes be essential. Archetype of Endurance is a great card I’ve never seen in Reanimator before and seems to be a great card when dealing with the mono-white menace called Death and Taxes.

But he didn’t just splash Green to the obligatory UB base in order to play Abrupt Decay but also splashed red in order to cast Izzet Charm, an insanely versatile card. This deck can actually use all three modes as it can deal with Deathrite Shaman, counter opposing cards like Counterbalance while also providing for more discard outlets. I have to admit that I really like this list and might give this a try at some point in the future.

Going Forward

So, how should one move on from here? As mentioned before, this Grand Prix didn’t really feature an unexpected metagame shift or new deck that could be adopted by the masses to force a big change. But the fact that Shardless BUG was the most popular deck on Sunday may be a sign that we are in the process of a slow change when it comes to the king of the format. I do see a lot of potential for this metagame to further develop in many different ways.

The distinct lack of combo at this event and the good showing of Shardless BUG may be adhesive and an influx in combo would most likely balance that out to some extent as Shardless BUG has been traditionally weak to Combo.

If you’ve ever looked for a time to brew something up it’s today. The format is as open as you can wish for and there’s nothing too oppressing present at the current metagame. It’s also quite a time until we get to participate in the next big tournament so now’s literally the best time to start and explore new ways. That’s at least what I’ll be doing for the time being.

But to be honest with you, we all know what we should be playing. It’s Aluren.

I hope you enjoyed this short overview of Grand Prix Seattle. Did you participate at the Grand Prix itself? Let me know how you did!

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