Legacy Deck Tech: Coveted Jewel Combo

Greetings, Legacy comrades! MTG's "wild west" set has just released, so now we can finally start cooking up decks with cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. And the deck we'll discuss today has some interesting history, besides fascinating features.

Firstly, it is the evolution of a deck that worried me quite a lot in the past because there was a real possibility it could dominate the format with a disgusting combo: it was the Paradox Engine The One Ring combo, a deck I covered ins this articles. This deck turned out to be less consistent than it seemed to be at first, and was particularly vulnerable to Null Rod. Thus, it never truly became the threat I expected. However, exactly like a Pokémon, this was just its first form, and it did, indeed, evolve.

This brings me to my second point: the interactions between cards from such different times are fascinating. We can see them with detail in Legacy (and Vintage too).

On one side, we have Copy Artifact, a card that was restricted back in distant 1994 in the old type 1 format (which eventually became Vintage). A bit later, in 1997, it was once again available to play without any restrictions, but it has since disappeared from any competitive format.

On the other side, we have a Commander card that has become one of the most important cards in Vintage. It also migrated to Legacy: Coveted Jewel. These cards (and a few others we'll discuss below) allowed this deck to evolve from a Mono-colorless into a mono-Blue list, which widened its horizons. Let's see the list:

The previous mono-artifact list focused quite heavily on the interaction between The One Ring and its multiple keys (Manifold Key and Voltaic Key). As for this one, even though it can do the same and use The Ring as a secondary source of card draw, its main goal is to abuse Coveted Jewel. Once this artifact enters play, this deck starts moving extremely fast, and creates cards and mana at an absurd pace.

Example: you play the jewel, draw 3 cards, tap it, create 3 mana, play a Copy Artifact or Phyrexian Metamorph, draw 3 cards, tap it, create 3 mana, play Transmute Artifact, swap the jewel for Paradox Engine, play a spell that costs 1 or 0, untap the jewel, get 3 mana, play Copy or Metamorph, untap the jewel, draw 3, tap it, create 6 mana... You get where this is going, right? Eventually, this deck will play an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and that's the end of the match.

Besides this, which is plan A, there's plan B, which any deck that plays a lot of artifacts is already very familiar with: Urza's Saga. Some decks simply fold to Saga on turn 1, Ancient Tomb on turn 2, and then a new toy this deck can access, Lavaspur Boots, which the Saga's third chapter will get for you so you can already attack with 2 construct tokens as early as turn 3.

Plan C is a variation of plan A - this deck uses Show and Tell as a way to play Coveted Jewel way earlier than you'd usually be able to. But it can also play Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for just 3 mana and get you an unlikely victory.

Besides all of this, this deck includes enough blue cards to access Force of Will and Force of Negation, which makes it way less vulnerable to other combo decks or Prison elements. This, in turn, makes it way easier for you to play your combo safely. Finally, the new land, Fomori Vault, offers you an uncounterable way to find the pieces of your combo, particularly when your opponent tries to mess with your hand.

Other cards that usually show up in lists of this archetype are Candy Trail, Case of the Filched Falcon, Dream’s Grip, Lórien Revealed, Misdirection, Sea Gate Restoration and The Mightstone and Weakstone.

If you're playing a combo deck, mulligan after your combo. Unlike most combos with blue in this format, you don't have Brainstorm or Ponder, so your starting hand is even more important.

Keeping hands that don't have all the pieces you need and relying on your top decks is a completely unnecessary risk! Send that hand back!

Hand examples:

The path is clear: play the island and the key on turn 1 and Show and Tell for Jewel on turn 2. Then you can access the key to create more mana and Copy Artifact to create even more mana and cards. Verdict: Easy Keep.

This hand is a trap. It has the Saga, but you can't activate it without sacrificing something. It has Force of Will, but nothing to protect, and Show and Tell, but nothing to put in play. Verdict: Mulligan.

This hand seems viable - you play the relic on turn 2, the Engine on turn 3 - but it is another trap. You can't use Force of Will with it, and it is too slow in general. Verdict: Mulligan.

This hand is quite straightforward: play the Ring on turn 2, Transmute Artifact on it on turn 3 for Coveted Jewel, and then you'll follow the plan we mentioned before and just copy the jewel forever. Verdict: Keep.

If our main deck has Force of Will, our sideboard will complement it with a full set that includes Force of Negation to deal with both other faster combos and gigantic problems like Blood Moon, Null Rod or Deafening Silence.

As for our graveyard hate, since we are not afraid of opponents Reanimating anything and don't want them to discard out answers, this deck uses Leyline of the Void to deal with graveyard decks. Leyline doesn't affect your own graveyard, so creature decks sometimes lose to their own reanimated cards even with a Leyline in play.

Wurmcoil Engine is still effective against aggressive decks. Chain of Vapor is still the best generic answer in blue to deal with all kinds of permanents, and Lodestone Golem is an alternative threat that will greatly inconvenience decks that want to do a lot of things at once.

Other sideboard options include All is Dust, Canoptek Scarab Swarm, Chalice of the Void, Culling Scales, Defense Grid, Dismember, Echoing Truth, Flusterstorm, Grafdigger’s Cage, Pithing Needle, Soul-Guide Lantern, Spatial Contortion, The Mightstone and Weakstone and Unlicensed Hearse.

Scaminator (UB Scam Hybrid)

This deck is dangerous. They'll ruin your hand, and accelerating Show and Tell is risky. Post-side, you have the Leyline to deal with their main strategy.

Keep in mind that Phyrexian Metamorph can copy their cards too, which is particularly useful to kill Archon of Cruelty.

In:

Out:

Grixis / Temur / 4C Delver

You need to be able to get the Ring or the jewel through Wasteland and Daze, which is easier said than done. Show and Tell is away to cheat out mana costs over their counter tools.

Post-sideboard, Wurmcoil Engine is brutal for them, and Lodestone Golem doesn't let them play the way they're most comfortable playing. Be careful with Meltdown.

In:

Out:

Goblin Stompy

As long as they can't get lethal with Muxus, Goblin Grandee, they don't have many ways to stop you. So, if possible, save your Force of Wills either for _____ Goblin if they don't the mana from Cavern of Souls to protect it, or for Muxus.

Be careful if they play the nameless Goblin before they play their land that turn. You have to counter it; otherwise, they may play Cavern of Souls and protect Muxus.

Post-side, be careful with Moon effects because they kill Urza's Saga. The Ring is great to buy some time.

In:

Out:

Beanstalk Control

This matchup is quite hard for them because they usually don't have enough counters to prevent the Ring or the jewel from entering play, and so you'll create even more resources to deal with them once you have these cards in play.

Post-side, Chain is useful to free some artifact that is stuck because of Leyline Binding, and start the cycle over again.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

This deck is way less vulnerable to Chalice of the Void and Trinisphere than the old list, but Blood Moon is still problematic, and they tend to have Null Rod on their side. That's why all Force of Negations you have are sided in.

You can side in Wurmcoil Engine (swap it for Metamorphs), but they are not the "auto-win" play they once were because of Broadside Bombardiers.

They have from 6 to 7 Moon effects post-side with Magus of the Moon - if they don't have Magus in their main deck already. So, your Sagas will struggle.

In:

Out:

Yeah, Coveted Jewel made the jump from Vintage to Legacy. This deck is still new, and many players aren't prepared for it. So, if you can, dust off your Copy Artifacts and get yourself a whole lot of cards!

See you next time!