Spoiler Highlight: Ugin, Eye of the Storms in Legacy!

Hello, Legacy community! We've left Aetherdrift and headed straight into another spoiler season for another set (which is basically half our lives at this point) - Tarkir: Dragonstorm. This time, we'll start with a card that could heavily affect our dear format!

After the War of the Spark, our favorite colorless Planeswalker essentially disappeared, but Tarkir brought good, old Ugin back into the spotlight again. It seems like our dear Spirit Dragon spent that time in the gym, as this new version is quite strong. I usually say that, in Legacy, when a card costs more than 4 mana, it better win the game on its own, and that's definitely true for this Ugin, which can carry the entire match on his back. Seven mana might seem like a truckload of mana in terms of investment, but there are a few Legacy decks that can pay for it and enjoy his presence a little bit too much. Let's take a look at what he can do for us.

Unlike other Planeswalkers in the market, this new Ugin will affect the board even if your opponents counter him, considering his ability triggers when you cast him. So, even if your opponent hits him with a Force of Will or Daze, he'll exile something. The only effective answers for him that see play in this format are Stifle and Consign to Memory. So, you'll invest 7 mana on him, but he will 100% obliterate a colored permanent from existence. In a certain way, this Ugin already passes the first "Planeswalker viability check": he can protect himself.

Ok, you cast Ugin and put him on the stack, exiled a permanent, and your opponent didn't counter him. What now?

The next ability is also unusually not a Loyalty ability, but another triggered ability. Each new colorless spell you cast lets you exile another target colored permanent. If only there were a lot of colorless spells in Legacy… (I'm looking at you, Lotus Petal, Kozilek's Command, Mox Opal, etc…)

Once in play, no colored permanent will be safe because Ugin will become a real exile machine. Aggressive decks will have a very narrow window to try to push damage when Ugin resolves - after that, as soon as he is untapped, all colored permanents on their board might disappear at once. There is no Pithing Needle or Disruptor Flute that can save them, or any effective answers to stop this threat once it's active.

His ability is extremely effective against any deck that relies on board presence as well as colors. Ironically, Eldrazi lists will come out relatively unscathed after a battle with this Planeswalker. It's this ability that can make him oppressive in far too many matches.

Moving on to his Loyalty abilities. Ugin already comes into play with a massive 7 Loyalty counters, just to start, and his first, very traditional, ability also gives you more of these counters and creates some card advantage. In this case, you'll purely and simply draw cards while you gain life, which is a lot of help whenever you need to stabilize. It's nothing special, but it already puts Ugin closer to his Ultimate by 2 turns.

His second ability lets him not only accelerate later turns, but also lets you cast more colorless spells, and, as such, trigger his Exile ability more times, and all that on the same turn you cast him. A standard turn could look like this: Ugin > exile something > 3 mana > Glaring Fleshraker > exile another thing.

Finally, his ultimate. We usually say that these abilities win the game on the spot, but that's often just talk. In Ugin's case, his ultimate actually does win the game on the spot. In some decks, you might simply summon Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, get an extra turn, and that will be enough.

Other decks will stack Glaring Fleshraker and other colorless spells and drain the opponent's life all at once. There is no need to arm-twist the entire list just to use Ugin's ultimate to end the game, as he already should see play with cards that do this. And, as he protects himself well, getting enough Loyalty to activate his third ability shouldn't be too complicated.

Ok, Ugin can do all of this, but, still, he still costs 7 mana, so what's the chance he'll actually see play in a format as efficient as Legacy? Apparently, there are, yes, many people that will be interested in this powerful Planeswalker, and I can imagine at least 3 already existing archetypes that could get a lot from this Dragon.

The first idea is adding him to an Eldrazi list, as both the end of the mana curve and an out for things like Blood Moon. As Eldrazi lists now play Grim Monolith, playing Ugin earlier than usual won't be too difficult. He'll come in play, remove a threat, and, if he resolves, he should remove the opponent right afterward.

In this deck, his ultimate will win the game with Glaring Fleshraker. Considering current lists, Ugin will compete for a slot with Devourer of Destiny. Though this 7-mana Eldrazi has a super relevant early game ability and should cost less with Eye of Ugin and Eldrazi Temple, it'll impact the game much less than Ugin himself. He'll be able to exile a lot more than just the one card Devourer does.

The next deck that could use Ugin well is Forge. This deck not only has tools to put him in play earlier, but also has answers against cards like Collector Ouphe or Blood Moon. He is also an alternative win condition and lets you play even if the opponent tries to lock you down with a Null Rod. This deck can also destroy the entire board on the same turn Ugin comes into play, and basically create an unwinnable game state for many opponents.

Finally, the deck I believe will want 4 copies of the new Ugin is Cloudpost Ramp. In this list, he'll basically be an updated version of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. His ultimate ability will win the game with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.

But, Eltinho, and if I draw Emrakul? Then, either you discard it when you fill your hand with The One Ring, or you take advantage of Ugin's extra mana to get to 15 mana. In any case, Ramp will get a great tool to actually enjoy the mana advantage it creates, and should get a lot from this new addition.

Ugin, Eye of the Storms has a lot of potential in Legacy. In fact, lately this format has found space for more aggressive Tempo decks like Delver or Dimir Aggro, which basically have no answer if Ugin actually comes into play. They do have a few ways to stop you from resolving it, though, so keep that in mind.

The archetype that should be glad to see Ugin seeing play in Legacy is the Eldrazi archetype, as it is naturally immune to this exile engine. Usually, a spell that costs so much mana wouldn't make us so anxious, but Ugin is definitely not a common spell (of course it isn't, it is a Mythic). Unlike Aetherdrift, Tarkir should bring us a lot that can actually affect Legacy, and Ugin is truly just the icing on the cake.

What did you think of this card? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!