Next Friday at noon begins the StarCityGames Invitational in Somerset, NJ, bringing Legacy back into the spotlight.

I am qualified and I'd like to improve upon my weak Legacy finish at the last Invitational in Columbus. Prior to that event, I studied all the online Legacy content I could find. I will do the same for this event, but I haven't found any recent Legacy metagame pieces, so I have taken the opportunity to write one myself. I have looked at Magic Online data from mtggoldfish.com along with info from SCG and other events found on mtgtop8.com

UWx Miracles

Miracles holds the biggest market share of winning Magic Online decklists at over 13% of the metagame. With around an 11% share of the paper metagame, it's also very well represented in live events. Miracles was quite successful at the last SCG Invitational and it won last weekend's Legacy Open in Syracuse, and there were three copies in thee Top 8 in Dallas the weekend before, also taking home 1st place.

This deck is the true control deck of the format, and it's largely reactive. It has very versatile and powerful answers that match up well against the format, but by its controlling nature it must be carefully built and metagamed. The deck is surprisingly flexible and there' s often a surprising amount of decklist variation between players.

On the other hand, this deck uses a common core of cards: Counterbalance and Sensei's Divining Top as a proactive combo that helps it to assert control of the game, and a means to kill the opponent, whether it be aggressively with Vendilion Clique or Entreat the Angels or incidentally with Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

Here's the decklist that won the SCG Syracuse Legacy Open:

Shardless BUG

Shardless BUG is the second most popular winning Legacy deck online at around 8% of the metagame. This to Legacy as Jund is to Modern: it operates on an attrition plan, is full of card advantage that powers of large removal suite, and has suffocating a board presence with creatures like Tarmogoyf.

It's often considered a foil to Miracles, which falls prey to card advantage and disruption like Liliana of the Veil, as well as Delver decks, which is weak against creature removal and lacks its own card advantage engines.

Shardless BUG is decidedly fair compared to other decks and it can fall prey to combo decks like Sneak and Show. With a properly built maindeck and sideboard, such as the inclusion of Thoughtseize or Hymn to Tourach, it seeks to prevent unfair opponents from doing unfair things, reducing them to a pile of loose cogs.

Here's a decklist from top SCG grinder Andrew Tenjum, who recently reached Top 8 in Syracuse:

BUG Delver

Delver of Secrets // Delver of Secrets comes in many flavors, all of which are relevant and important parts of the metagame online and in paper.

BUG Delver makes up around 6% of the online metagame. It's arguable that BUG Delver has been the most successful Delver deck in SCG events in 2014.

Pairing Delver of Secrets // Delver of Secrets with Abrupt Decay gives it huge game against Miracles and their oppressive Counterbalance, along with a versatile answer to most of the format's relevant threats.

These decks tend to eschew Stifle, but some do play it, including a version that reached Top 8 in Syracuse. The deck typically plays discard like Hymn to Tourach, which generates card advantage and specifically puts incredible pressure on Miracles and combo decks like Sneak and Show.

The decklist I recommend is the one Tannon Grace used to Top 16 SCG Dallas, based off of Rich Shay's expert design:

RUG Delver

The longest running Delver deck is RUG Delver, formerly known as Canadian Threshold. It's a constant contender that regularly appears in the Top 8 of major events, and rivals the success of BUG Delver but has much more consistency in its construction. It makes up over 5% of the winning Magic Online metagame, and, by mtgtop8.com metrics, makes up around 8% of the paper Legacy metagame.

This is effectively an aggressive Fish deck that seeks to stick a threat and disrupt the opponent until they are dead. This deck seems to always use Stifle. This kills a bit quicker than the other Delver decks with Nimble Mongoose and has plenty of reach with a small burn suite highlighted by Lightning Bolt.

Here's a list that made Top 8 in SCG KC last month in the hands of grinder Matt Hoey, updated for his Top 16 in Syracuse:

UWR Delver

While currently making up less than 3% of the online metagame, UWR Delver has made major impact in the paper world. This version of Delver has been a metagame staple since last year. Owen Turtenwald won a GP with the deck, which increased its popularity, but he has since moved off the deck after poor finishes, citing creative differences.

Others still champion the deck. Ben Friedman took the deck to the Top 8 of the last SCG Invitational, and last weekend in Syracuse it made Top 8 in the hands of Jared Boettcher and Dan Jordan, the current rookie of the year and a long-time grinder with plenty of PT experience--two players to always look for at the top of the standings, alongside Theodore Jung.

The key card here is Stoneforge Mystic, and it plays some True-Name Nemesis to present a potent clock and carry equipment.

With both Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares, this deck is great against creature opponents. Opinions are split on Stifle and it's not historically popular in the deck. But as the archetype evolves, it has been gaining more popularity, so it may be a staple in the future.

Here's the list Jared Boettcher played last weekend, with Stifle:

Here's the list of Dan Jordan:

Esper Stoneblade/Deathblade

While it has largely fallen from grace, Esper Stoneblade/Deathblade is still a relevant Legacy archetype. It makes up around 3.5% of the winning online metagame and it reached Top 8 of the SCG Open in Dallas.

This deck sits somewhere between Shardless BUG and Delver decks in style, making it a very rock solid deck, but it's neither as fast and aggressive as Delver nor as capable of playing the long game as Shardless BUG. On the other hand, it's stronger against combo than Shardless BUG, and it's more resilient to removal than Delver decks.

Here's the list that reached Top 8 in Dallas:

Some versions use Deathrite Shaman to speed up the deck and make it more powerful at the expense of the manabase. Here's a list SCG grinder Justin Uppal recently used online:

Death and Taxes

This archetype is never extremely popular, but it's always a contender. It's a prison deck that hates on combo like Sneak and Show but has tools to beat decks like Miracles and Delver.Here's the list that won the SCG Open in KC:

Beyond those archetypes, the Legacy metagame picture starts to fall apart, with most of the metagame share being composed of various unfair combo decks of varying construction:

ElvesCombo a.k.a. Elfball

Elves Combo makes up a tremendous amount of the winning Magic Online metagame at nearly 8%, and comes in as the third most popular deck. This is not an extreme portion of the metagame, but it's certainly worth taking stock off. In paper, this deck makes up around 6% of the winning field according to mtgtop8.com metrics.

Elves did extremely well in major paper events prior to the last SCG Invitational, but shifts in the metagame, including the rise of bad matchup Miracles, left it poorly positioned in the metagame. How Elves fairs in the future will hinge on how prepared the field is and how many players bring the deck to action.

This deck operates as a degenerate combo deck around Glimpse of Nature, but it's capable of playing a fair game as a rush creature deck. Green Sun's Zenith provides amazing utility, while Natural Order gives it a powerful endgame and potential Plan B combo with Keeper of Progenitus.

Notably, this deck had a major addition from M15, Reclamation Sage, which is an out to Counterbalance ans improves the Miracles matchup.

Here's a list from the Top 16 of Syracuse:

Dredge

Dredge is the winningest degenerate deck online, making up 5% of the winning metagame, and it reached Top 8 of the SCG Dallas Legacy Open. This deck is minimally interactive but can consistently execute its gameplan to go over the top of opponents. It lives and dies by the opposing sideboard, floundering against dedicated hate but flourishing when unopposed. Here's a decklist from Dallas:

Storm

Various Storm decks, such as Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT) and The Epic Storm (TES), make up around 4.5% and 3% of the online metagame. Taken together they make Storm strategies the most popular combo decks.

ANT is a more stable deck with a more solid manabase and a ton of card selection, while TES plays Burning Wish and is faster and more explosive but more vulnerable to disruption.

ANT Storm reached the Top 8 of the Dallas Open and won the Prague Eternal 2014 tournament last month and is what I'd both recommend and expect to play against at live events. Here's the list from Dallas:

Sneak and Show

Once the bogey man, over the past year the entire format has shifted around this deck to the point that it may no longer even be a part of the top tier. It makes up around 5% of the mtgtop8.com paper metagame, and under half a percentage of the Magic Online metagame.

The format certainly knows how to beat it, but Sneak and Show is still hugely powerful and will easily rise back to the top if players become lax and start cutting their hate, which will start to happen as the deck falls from mind.

This deck uses namesake cards Sneak Attack or Show and Tell to cheat into play Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Disciple of Griselbrand and overpower the opponent.

Here's a list that made Top 16 in Dallas:

Burn

Burn exists in Legacy as something like a 6-card combo deck: it is largely uninteractive and seeks to throw damage at the opponent until they are dead, which usually takes around 6 cards. Legacy burn spells are powerful and many deal 4 or more damage, and creatures like Goblin Guide may deal more than their fair share.

This archetype has been reinvigorated and re-popularized with the printing of Eidolon of the Great Revel.

Here's the list that reached Top 8 at SCG Syracuse:

Wrap-Up

These dozen archetypes make up the lion's share of the Legacy metagame and paint an accurate picture of what to expect at the top tables of any competitive event. Please share in the comments any thoughts, ideas, opinions, decklists, or anything else related to Legacy.

-Adam