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On Sunday in the Legacy Open, only myself and Bryan Elliot played out of the Average Joes team. I convinced Bryan to run a Hypergenesis deck that made top 16 at another SCG Open (decklist here) while I went with arguably the top deck, RUG Delver. He did some minor fish bowling of the deck before he was hooked. I typically run EsperBlade but for once I chose to try something new.
I did not have much experience playing the deck but I have watched numerous matches on SCG Live and played against Bronson Magnan (GP Lincoln Champ) on MTGO running the deck so I felt comfortable. I tried some “new” tech in the board based on Bronson’s advice but I could have been trolled 
. He told me Bonfire of the Damned was the nuts in the Mirror, which I knew I would be playing quite a bit of. Typically you want 4 Submerge to have the best chance but I figured I would cut one and give it a shot. My list that I ran is below with a Match by Match analysis.
Round 1
I get paired up against the Mirror, a guy named Paul Tong. I will have to say his list was sick and definitely geared for the mirror. I was on the play and he still snuck in a Sylvan Library when I had no counters and proceeded to lay the smack down game 1. For the sideboard I brought in 3 Submerge, 1 Bonfire of the Damned and 1 Life From the Loam. What I took out was wrong. I took out 2 Thought Scour, 2 Forked Bolt and 1 Stifle (Probably should have been 3 Force of Will and 2 Forked Bolt on the play). Game 2, he Wastelands my Tropical Island that I used for a turn 1 Delver of Secrets and tries to Surgical Extraction my dual land. Because I kept in Force of Will‘s (which is bad by the way in the Mirror), I was able to stop him. Sometimes playing bad, you get lucky. Unfortunately for me my luck ran out after that as he had an answer to everything I had and resolved more threats. GG
Match: 0-2 – Overall: 0-1-0
Round 2
Of course I would get paired up to the only other Average Joe in the field Round 2, Bryan Elliot. I told him as we sat down that I did not think I was the favorite. He argued that the deck was terrible and asked how could I convince him to play such a bad deck. After shuffling and going back and forth on his deck choice we start the match with Bryan on the play. Game 1 he casts Show and Tell, I try to Daze, he removes a Simian Spirit Guide in his hand to play. Once Show and Tell resolves he puts in a Progenitus and beats me soon after. This is what I figured would happen. For the sideboard I bring in 2 Pyroblast for his Show and Tell & Force of Will‘s taking out 2 Stifle. Since I knew his decklist, I saw him bringing in 4 cards and joked about how I can beat a Trinisphere. Game 2 in my opener I had 2 Wastelands, a Fetch, Force of Will, Delver of Secrets, Tarmogoyf, and a Ponder. I draw into another Wasteland and waste 3 lands and he still has a fourth. He never gets a chance to try and cast anything meanwhile I resolve a Tarmogoyf and flip a Delver. Game 3, I have 1 Wasteland, Nimble Mongoose, Goyf, Goyf, Tropical, Force, and a Stifle. I get out Nimble Mongoose, Waste a land, draw a fetch and get both Tarmogoyf‘s in play. 2 Turns later he Cascades into Hypergenesis which I try to Force of Will but he Forces back and it resolves putting a Empyrial Archangel into play. By this time his life is low, I swing all out killing the Angel and loosing 1 Goyf. He draws, passes, and I swing for lethal. I never heard the end of how bad that deck was for the rest of the day. Tough break!
Match: 2-1 – Overall: 1-1-0
Round 3
I sit down across from Brandon Drury and I win the dice roll. He says that he remembers me from the Atlanta StarCity Open and I played his friend in Legacy. That was a tournament where I ran EsperBlade with Bitterblossom and his friend was running UW Stoneblade with Lingering Souls. If we only put our decks together before Tom Martell won… I get a turn 1 Delver and he plays a Badlands. I smile and say Goblins! He remains quite until 2 turns later I see a Raven’s Crime followed by a Life from the Loam. The jig was up, I knew then it was Aggro Loam. He didn’t have much for me as I kept him off triple red and when he did finally try to resolve a Seismic Assault, I Force of Will‘d it. With a flipped Delver and a Tarmogoyf, he sucummed to the beast that is RUG Delver for Game 1. I side out 2 Thought Scour, 1 Forked Bolt, and 3 Force of Will for 3 Tormod’s Crypt and 3 Blue Elemental Blast. Game 2 he tries to resolve a Dark Confidant on turn 2 with 2 Lands and a Mox Diamond to play around Daze and I Spell Snare it. I actually had a turn 1 play of Nimble Mongoose but had Lightning Bolt, Brainstorm, Daze and Spell Snare ready so I either wanted to counter a Loam early or a threat. I eventually got 3 Mongeese online (Bronson says more than 1 Mongoose are Mongeese…) with Threshold and win pretty easily as he tries to get a Loam Engine going. I drew into 2 Crypts so I kept his powerful engine under the RUG. Even though I went 2-0 against Brandon, I feel like this match should be in the Aggro Loam’s favor. His Loam engine beats my mana denial package, the almost unlimited shocks and his larger Countryside Crushers should roll over me and my creatures. Sometimes you just run good because of good clean livin.
Match: 2-0 – Overall: 2-1-0
Round 4
When I sat down for Round 4, I knew exactly what my opponent John Sebastian Rojas was playing. He made a funny remark and I joked about how High Tide is a tough matchup for me. He looks at me weird, asked how I knew what he is playing and I explain that he played right next to me in the previous round and I just happen to notice the Candelabra of Tawnos in play. I win the die roll and start off as good as RUG can with a Delver followed by Goyf, Goyf. Once he started to combo on turn 5 I new it was over. 3 Time Spirals later I felt the Brain Freeze that is High Tide. I side in 3 Tormod’s Crypt and 2 Pyroblast taking out 2 Forked Bolt and 3 Spell Snare. Game 2 went pretty much the same. I was looking good with a few threats and again by turn 5 he combos, killing me with Blue Sun’s Zenith for 54 when I have 46 cards in my deck. At least Bronson beat him in Round 8 with RUG.
Match: 0-2 – Overall: 2-2-0
Round 5
I look at the pairing board and see my name next to Ben Stevens. I know him from Armada Games and have played him before but never for Legacy that I can recall. We both knew it was a mirror match as we talked earlier and asked what each other was playing. I won the die roll for Game 1 and the races were off. Game 1 was actually very entertaining as we both went down in 1 life point intervals until we were both at 15 due to fetch lands mostly and maybe an unflipped Delver hit or two. We both played a Tarmogoyf and I attacked with mine as I had bolt backup. He ended up having the same and we were back to nothing in play. He jumped ahead with a flipped Delver which got the Fork after taking a few hits. I land a Nimble Mongoose with Force of Will backup and I ended up winning while being at 1 life. I side in 3 Submerge, 2 Pyroblast, 1 Life From the Loam, and 1 Trollface (aka Bonfire of the Damned) taking out 3 Force of Will, 3 Daze, and 1 Spellsnare. He lands a Delver turn 1. I Wasteland his Tropical Island. He draws, passes and eventually discards 3 cards after not drawing anymore lands. I won by RUG force.
Match: 2-0 – Overall: 3-2-0
Round 6
As my opponent Zakary Whyte sat down I recognized his face and remembered what he was playing, which was not in my favor….again. Enchantress is an almost unwinnable matchup for RUG unless they just draw absolutely horrible or keep a 1 lander with no ramp or something. I was getting my RUG on with a Nimble Mongoose and 2 Goyf’s until Solitary Confinement comes out and pulls the rug out from under me. He shows a Sigil of the Empty Throne and I pack it up. I have nothing in my sideboard for this matchup so I just pretend to side in 5 cards. Lucky for me Game 2 he kept a bad hand, 1 Land and 1 Mana enchantment which I Daze. I win pretty easily with a few threats uncontested. Game 3, with Zak on the play, he draws good, ramps ahead, gets some Enchantresses in play and lands Solitary Confinement again. I shake his hand as there is nothing I can do.
Match: 1-2 – Overall: 3-3-0
Round 7
I decided to play since there was only 150 people in the tournament and most had dropped out by this round. Even at x-4-0 I could squeak in at 63/64 so it was good expected value either way. Lucius Penn wins the dice roll and starts off with and Underground Sea and passes. Knowing this could be a range of decks I did like my opener, which was something like Tropical Island, Scalding Tarn, Delver of Secrets, Brainstorm, Force of Will, Wasteland, Lightning Bolt. I draw a Stifle and play a Delver with the Tropical Island, playing around Stifle myself. When I pass he casts Entomb which I promptly Force of Will‘d pitching Stifle. After that the coast was clear for me. He didn’t do anything else, I flipped my Delver the following turn and rode it to victory. I sided in 2 Pyroblast for Show and Tell & Force of Will and 3 Tormod’s Crypt taking out 2 Stifle and 3 Spell Snare. Game 2 Lucius plays an Underground Sea and passes. I play a fetch, crack it and in response he casts Entomb. Lucky for me I have a Force of Will, pitching a Brainstorm. I get a Tropical Island and play a Nimble Mongoose and Tormod’s Crypt. I don’t remember the next few turns that much but I know he Repealed my Crypt, cast another Entomb which I had Daze for. He Forced my Daze but I had Pyroblast, targeting his Force of Will. He got to a point where he was able to resolve a Show and Tell cheating in Inkwell Leviathan but by then I had a flipped Delver and a large Mongoose. He was at 6 Life, I had Fork Bolt and 2 flying Delver attacks.
Match: 2-0 – Overall: 4-3-0
Round 8
This was it. If I win I make money and had a fun weekend, if not then it was just a fun weekend. Chris Mahaffey and I talked about chopping which I would have done but everyone around was playing and it was the assumption that if we split we both may just split out of the money so we played. My opponent wins the dice roll and fetched up a basic Plains and passes. I play a Fetch getting Tropical Island and casting Delver of Secrets with Ponder, Daze, Lighting Bolt, Tarmogoyf, Tarmogoyf, and Fetch Land left in hand. He tried to cast a Stoneforge Mystic which I Daze. I draw Wasteland taking out his Mishra’s Factory and cast Ponder. He plays an Island and passes. I flip my Delver, attack, pass. He plays Karakas and drops another Stoneforge Mystic which resolves and he searches up an Umezawa’s Jitte. I try and Lightning Bolt it but he has Spell Pierce. Next turn he cheats Batterskull into play while he is staring down a flipped Delver, 2 Tarmogoyfs, and a Nimble Mongoose with 6 cards in my yard. He attacked with BSkull and I double blocked with my Goyfs killing the Germ token and one of my Goyfs. He lands a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, brainstorms (I thought he should have +2’d but maybe that’s just what I mostly do with it). I end up having the bolt for Stoneforge, attack Jace with my Delver and the rest at him. He had an uncracked Fetch and tries to use it but I Stifle it with the Stifle I showed him off my Delver flip 3 turns earlier. He scoops up his cards next turn. For Sideboard I brought in 1 Trollface, and 2 Pyroblast taking out 3 Daze. He is on the play again. I end up stifling a Fetch land to keep him on a basic Plains. I get a Nimble Mongoose online with the help of Thought Scour and some Fetch lands. He doesnt have much after not drawing another land for 2 turns. He lands a Stoneforge Mystic but I have Forked Bolt and a Tarmogoyf to back it up.
Match: 2-0 – Overall: 5-3-0
I finished 31st and with $100 in my pocket. My last round opponent ended up finishing 64th so he got $50! I was happy with our team this weekend and look forward to Grand Prix Atlanta: Legacy. Legacy is my favorite format, one that I wish more people in my neck of the woods played. I don’t know what I will be playing but I will be getting some testing in with my team and a few ringers on MODO (ie. Cuve and Bronson ).
Adam Arndt
MTGO: AdamRA4
When I get back I will test legacy with you all day.