Legacy: Yorion Troll's Shadow - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Again, I bring salutations straight from the Shadows, my Legacy friends! Today, we'll discuss an old friend who has gotten a new face due to many new toys which were brought by Sauron and his friends. Today, we'll talk about Death's Shadow!

Usually, one of the main barriers new players face when getting into Legacy are Dual Lands, so the search for competitive decks which can play without them has always been a priority. Regarding that area, decks such as Death & Taxes, Red Prison, Maverick, Burn, and many typals (Humans, Slivers, Merfolk, for instance) conquered space in the format.

To this group, we can include the Death's Shadow deck, which, contrary to the broad rule that you only swap Dual Lands for Shock Lands when your budget doesn't allow it, actively used Watery Grave to its favor, attacking its own health total to amply the destructive power of the Black Avatar. Yes, nowadays most lists (this one included) also use Underground Sea, but if there is a deck that allows for more leniency when letting go of Duals, that is the one.

But, coming back to today's list, it has been a while since Reanimate found its space in some lists of that archetype as a way of both granting Shadow a second life, and as an opportunity of stealing some big creature from your opponent. There even existed the possibility of reanimating a Murktide Regent, only for that health loss to make Death's Shadow lethal.

Then, the Lord of the Rings set comes into the scene when a highly unusual common card starts appearing in lists of this archetype: Troll of Khazad-dûm! For just one mana, our Troll friend finds a land for you, shuffles the deck (important interaction with Brainstorm and Ponder) and, most importantly, it already stays in your graveyard prettily, just waiting to be the target of a Reanimate.

It is a very interesting alternative plan, and it doesn't require you to build a whole deck around it, as is the case for Reanimator. The Troll is basically unblockable, so it puts a very fast clock on your opponent, and the loss of 6 health points grows the threat of a future Death's Shadow.

And that isn't the only reason which has brought the Troll from Mordor to this deck: this is a deck with access to black mana, and this format is Legacy, so obviously this list will have Orcish Bowmasters. I said this before and will continue to say it for a good time: this is the most influential card from the set in this format, and Shadow doesn't sacrifice almost anything to include them in the list.

Besides them, another card that this deck uses is Fact or Fiction's younger brother: Sauron's Ransom. This new instant has been conquering space in Dimir base decks as an efficient way of refilling cards in your hand, particularly if played at the end of your opponent's turn, and which isn't affected by the Orcs' triggered ability!

Finally, we have a new thing coming directly from Commander decks: The Black Gate. This land not only advances your plan of ending your own health points, but it also provides evasion for a Shadow or an Orc Army token to finish your opponent.

The list presented below has much more of a Control trait than regular lists and, to fit all that, it brings Yorion Sky Nomad as a Companion, which affects the deck's redundancy, but it offers access to a very strong card in the 5-mana Serpent Bird. Even more so because of this, having extra plans of attack, as is the case for the Troll, helps the 80-card deck to have ways to pressure the opponent.

Otherwise, we find good and old friends from the traditional lists, such as Thoughtseize, Baleful Strix, Murktide Regent, Daze, Snuff Out, Brazen Borrower and Dress Down, besides the basic 'build-your-own-blue-deck' kit: Brainstorm, Ponder and Force of Will.

As this is a deck more leaned towards Control and not only a combo which is thirsty for pieces, there is a variety of initial hands that can be kept with this deck. Basically, hands with few lands, cantrips and some defense tools (counters, discards or removals) are the ones that will interest you.

A hand with the Troll and Reanimate is quite interesting, if we remember that, except Stifle, which almost doesn't see play today, the Troll's ability can't be countered, so a hand with 1 land and 1 Troll is practically a 2-land hand. Hands which are heavy with Death's Shadow and Murktide Regent, which won't be played that early, can be returned if there aren't any other ways of putting you in the game, such as Brainstorm, for instance.

Hand examples:

Though this one has 2 0-cost counters, this hand only has 1 land and no way of looking for more. Shadow and Regent are dead cards early on. Verdict: Mulligan!

This is a risky hand, but it develops well if you draw one more land and Ransom on 3. As you have plays on turn 2 (Orc, always remembering to Delta first, so you don't expose Wasteland) and FoWs protection, you can risk it, particularly if you're drawing first. Verdict: Keep, but risky.

This one doesn't bring much action, but it is a hand that will delay your opponent's hand a lot with discards and the Wastelands while you search for something to do - even if that means pulling Yorion from the Sideboard. The Troll guarantees your second land after you've spent your colorless lands, and you still have a Dress Down to cycle eventually. Verdict: Safe keep, but slow.

It's always worth remembering that one of the problems with an 80-card deck is that the sideboard tends to impact less due to the size of the deck lowering the chances of drawing the cards added. That being said, the described Sideboard below tries to hit the many Artifact decks floating around (Null Rod and Powder Keg), graveyard decks (Surgical Extraction) and the nightmare deck for us, which is Blood Moon (Hydroblast).

The rest of the cards are just extra removals to deal with decks you'll need to go for friction. Besides the listed cards, common options of sideboard for that archetype are Counterbalance, Court of Cunning, Grafdigger's Cage, Palantír of Orthanc and Tourach, Dread Cantor.

UR/Grixis Delver

You need to be careful with your health points here, because they'll have many ways of forcing damage through your defenses. Against Grixis, it will be a true Orc festival with each of you trying to ambush the other one's draws.

As this ends up being a friction game, post side you'll get rid of Forces to add more direct removals. Hydroblast isn't fantastic, but it is useful to make the pressure from Dragon's Rage Channeler lighter, save you from a savvy Lightning Bolt, counter your red counterparts, and, not usually, but there are some crazy players bringing it, saving you from Blood Moon.

In:

Out:

Reanimator

Keep in mind that they're not the only ones with access to Reanimate! Discards will be exchanged by both decks, and you'll try to hold off their reanimation spells. If you can, you'll try to revive some of their creatures; otherwise it is always nice to have a Brazen Borrower or a Dress Down ready, so you aren't swallowed whole by Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Archon of Cruelty. Dauthi Voidwalker is fantastic in this game. After Game 1, the Snuff Outs and the Fatal Pushs come out, as they don't kill anything, so more effective answers can come in.

In:

Out:

8-Cast

They have Chalice of the Void, which, if resolved for 1, will be a great problem for you. Besides that, if the turtle Kappa Cannoneer is played early in the game, it is quite hard to be removed without the help of Dress Down.

Your sideboard plan is to resolve a Null Rod, as this will lock down almost their entire game plan. And, though it seems a bit weird to add Powder Keg alongside Rod, the reason is that it is a secondary reason in case the Rods don't show up. The advantage of using Keg instead of Ratchet Bomb or The Filigree Sylex is that this artifact also explodes artifact lands such as Seat of the Synod.

In:

Out:

Stompy (Red Prison, RG, RW e W Initiative)

The lists with red are much more dangerous due to the threats Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon, but any of these decks is a problem because of Chalice of the Void, and other Prison cards (Archon of Emeria, Trinisphere, Boromir, Warden of the Tower, Anointed Peacekeeper). To make matters worse, this is the one opponent against which Orcs do very little.

Against lists with white, Solitude and Swords to Plowshares can ruin the match of Death's Shadow if they hit any other creature, so, be careful when exposing more than one of your dudes when playing. Sometimes, after controlling the board, the advance of The Initiative Card // Undercity Card can continue to cause problems, so don't discard the possibility of using Reanimate in some Initiative activator to steal control for yourself. Coming from the sideboard, Powder Keg is useful as an answer to Chalice of the Void, which will eventually take down some Chrome Mox too.

In (against red lists):

Out:

In (against non-red lists):

Out:

Sneak n’ Show

The enemy here is very alike Reanimator: if you can discard some non-Emrakul creature, your Reanimates can win the game by themselves. Dress Down is an interesting card to reveal in Show and Tell, because your static ability deletes Atraxa, Grand Unifier's and Archon of Cruelty's triggered abilities. They bring Defense Grid from the Sideboard, which can be a big problem, so be careful!

In:

Out:

This is the end of another article! I confess I was surprised to see Troll appear in competitive lists, but it is a good thing, so we learn how to value unseen effects. Its blue counterpart, Lórien Revealed, already started appearing both in Pauper and Modern.

See you next time!