Legacy: Naya Initiative - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! The life of an MTG player is like being in a waiting room forever... This time, I'm writing this article as we wait for the highly expected November 10th banlist update as well as the Avatar: The Last Airbender set, which will come out on November 21st.

While we sit and wait for things to happen, why don't we take a look at a few interesting things that have popped up in the format lately? Even more considering they could be the next steps for this format if the next banlist update does change it up?

Well, after a good while in limbo (in Legacy - in Vintage this strategy has been soaring quite high), a few Initiative lists have recently begun popping up. This time, it is a Naya version. After all, why play 4 or 8 Initiative cards if you can use the full kit with 12?

Today, we'll explore the list "kozz27" used to get into the top 4 in a Magic Online Challenge 32, battling 43 players on their way there. A short time later, they also got 9th in another Challenge 32 with 45 players, playing nearly the same list.

Naya Initiative is quite straightforward: you'll get 4 mana and throw an Initiative creature on the board, preferably on turn 1. Even if the opponent manages to remove it, the Emblem will keep going into the Dungeon. You'll have a million ways to accelerate and do this: Spirit Guides, Lotus Petals, and, in this list in particular, Chrome Moxes and Sol Lands (Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors).

If you can't put "plan A" in motion, you'll have a few Prison elements. Chalice of the Void, Magus of the Moon, and Trinisphere will lock down the game until you can go back to your original plan. This list also plays the best red creature for Stompy lists: Broadside Bombardiers. This card costs exactly the 2 colorless mana from Sol Lands, is evasive enough to regain control of the dungeon, and its activated ability can deal enough damage to mimic a Mike Tyson punch to your poor opponent's face.

The most significant difference from this list to the Naya lists we used to play (besides the Chrome Moxes) is that "kozz27" decided to play Chancellor of the Annex instead of Once Upon a Time. This does make it less consistent, but it opens a way for you to resolve your turn-1 cards relatively freely when you start playing. It also disrupts explosive first turns when you start drawing. On top of it all, this list plays a lot of white cards, which is relevant for the Solitude in the sideboard. They're also easy exile targets for Chrome Mox.

Naya is interesting if you enjoy Stompy lists. It focuses less on Prison than Red Stompy, but it can make things quite complicated for the opponent on the first turn more often. I'm personally a fan of Initiative and the "minigame". Sometimes, you just want to play something more "straight to the point".

Like any traditional Stompy list, your opening hand is critical. This is twice as important for this list, which plays an impressive amount of single-use acceleration. Basically, you'll only keep hands that don't put an Initiative card in play on turn 1 if they can play a Prison piece on turn 1 so you can go into the Dungeon on the following turn.

Let's see a few examples:

It doesn't have acceleration, so no can do. Verdict: you should mulligan it.

This hand is risky. You could find a reason to keep it, but I wouldn't. It can play Chalice on turn 1 but needs acceleration to not lose instantly on turn 2. One Wasteland, and your day is ruined. Verdict: you should mulligan it, unless you like living dangerously.

You should keep hands like these, but keep in mind it does have a few problems. It can't play Adventurer on 1 protected by Cavern of Souls or Magus on turn 1. In any case, you already have Initiative on turn 1 and can wait to play it on turn 2, protected, if you know you're facing a deck with counters, but not Wasteland. Verdict: you should keep it.

This is the hand we want. It can play Initiative on turn 1, protected by Cavern of Souls, which already finds the land to play Magus of the Moon on turn 2. Verdict: you should keep it.

This deck doesn't play cantrips and struggles to make colored mana for noncreature spells, so this sideboard won't be as straightforward as the main deck.

Faerie Macabre is an option against graveyards. The lists with Once Upon a Time could use the broader Endurance because they had enough fuel.

Archon of Emeria is an answer against combos with several spells and is also another white card for the next card, Solitude. This card, in turn, is a removal you can play with the weird mana base this deck plays.

Finally, the last card we'll mention is also quite broad: Disruptor Flute. It both stops the activated abilities on The One Ring or Nomads en-Kor and delays Show and Tell or Doomsday.

Other options you can use on this sideboard are Clarion Conqueror, Collector Ouphe, Dismember, Force of Vigor, Touch the Spirit Realm, Trinisphere, and Unlicensed Hearse.

Dimir Reanimator

One of the reasons Initiative decks lost space is how dominant Reanimator lists are. It is utterly pathetic when they force you to discard your Dungeon explorer, then reanimate it. So, don't be fooled: this opponent is quite challenging.

Post-side, you'll remove these "risky" cards, and Seasoned Dungeoneer stays so you still have a reasonable amount of white cards.

In:

Out:

Izzet Aggro

Chalice of the Void is excellent against them, and Magus of the Moon disrupts and delays or prevents Murktide Regent from coming into play. On the other side, they can get Initiative back relatively easily. You don't really have anything specific to play against them: you'll only remove Trinisphere because it is too risky against Wasteland.

In:

Out:

Forge

In game 1, you'll have to put enough pressure on them to kill them by turn 3 (Initiative on 1, Broadside Bombardiers + the third step in the Dungeon, Trap!).

Magus of the Moon is helpful against explosive hands, but Chalice of the Void, as contradictory as it seems, isn't fantastic: for 0, it will disrupt you more than the opponent, and, for 1, it might even lock down Manifold Key, but it doesn't stop their game plan for good. That's why you'll swap them for more effective cards. You still need to find space, though, so Undermountain Adventurer comes out. Your other Initiative cards put a lot more pressure on them.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

Both your deck and the opponent's deck play a pile of dead cards, and usually whoever draws less of them comes out on top. They can regain control of the Dungeon with some great cards, like Broadside Bombardiers and Fury. Post-side, you'll remove as many of these useless cards as possible.

In:

Out:

Cephalid Breakfast

Your best chance is being completely aggressive and praying they don't have their combo or that Magus/Chalice can disrupt them enough. As you'll need to add a lot of cards post-side, and they can play really well around Chancellor, it will come out.

In:

Out:

Initiative is one of my favorite mechanics, and Boros Initiative has certainly given me a lot of joy. Seeing a version of it performing well definitely brings a smile to my face. Let's see if it can find some space after the next banlist update or the next set.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!