Legacy - Beanstalk Leyline Control: Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Hello, my Legacy friends! January and February have passed, so it's fair to say 2024 is well under way. Let's take a look at a new addition from Murders at Karlov Manor that has taken Modern by storm, and started to show its face in Legacy: Leyline of the Guildpact.

It is relatively curious that, in my last article, I discussed "sleeper" cards, and this Leyline has gone by relatively unnoticed until players discovered its interaction with Scion of Draco.

Basically, if you start the game with this Leyline in your initial hand, Scion will be a 4/4 creature that costs 2 mana and turns all your creatures (including this very card) into weapons of destruction with Hexproof, Lifelink, First Strike, Trample, and Vigilance. It is an extremely difficult creature to answer with the most common removals in this format if Leyline of the Guildpact isn't removed from the game beforehand.

Additionally, your Leyline Binding cost only 1 mana as long as you have at least 1 land in the game.

The Leyline + Scion combination started popping up, particularly, in two archetypes: Cascade Rhinos and Beanstalk Control, which will be the version we'll discuss.

Even in this deck, there are 3 strategies that have been adopted by players: one version that goes all-in on the Domain synergy with Territorial Kavu; lists that focus more on White, with Solitude and Teferi, Time Raveler; and lists that focus more on Black, which is the one we'll discuss in this article - to access it, we have this format's force to be reckoned with, Orcish Bowmasters.

The basis of this deck is the same as Beanstalk Control's: Brainstorm, Ponder, Force of Will, Up the Beanstalk, and Swords to Plowshares. Murktide Regent, Leyline Binding, and Lórien Revealed, besides the aforementioned Force of Will and Scion of Draco, have the extra role of drawing cards with the Beanstalk.

As for the addition of Scion of Draco, it is important to remember that, even without your Leyline in play, this deck can easily play it for 2 or 4 mana. It loses the incredible pile of abilities this enchantment gives us, but it is still a 4/4 which gives Hexproof to Murktide Regent, and Lifelink to Orcish Bowmasters and its tokens.

Because of Leyline of the Guildpact, this deck's mulligan is quite different from the usual Beanstalk Control lists. As for the lists without this enchantment, it is quite viable to keep hands that don't have a specific game pattern, but will lean on cantrips (Brainstorm/Ponder) or counters to develop itself well throughout the game.

With this deck, you'll only keep hands that don't have your Leyline if you know what you're facing, or if the options you were offered were efficient to the point of allowing you to play it later.

Examples of Starting Hands:

This hand is a keeper: you already start with Leyline of the Guildpact and save the second one as fuel for Force of Will. This already puts Leyline Binding at one mana, and an eventual Scion of Draco at two. It doesn't have a lot of gas, but it has enough resources to stall the game until you can find something better. Verdict: Keep.

Scion of Draco in your initial hand without the Leyline practically already forces you to mulligan to 6, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep this hand. If Ponder was a Brainstorm, you could consider keeping it, as we'd be able to return this Dragon to our deck. However, this would only be viable if you were facing an opponent that can allow you enough space to spend a turn playing a 4-mana enchantment. Verdict: Mulligan.

This is a hand that the basic versions of this deck, without the Leyline, would keep with no hesitation. However, even without an explosive start, it is significantly strong and might be worth it, specially if you're facing a deck you know. Verdict: You can keep it if you're facing a deck you know, and you're careful about it, and it is risky to keep it in an open field. It wouldn't be wrong to mulligan this hand.

This hand is incredibly straightforward; even with only one land, 2 Ponders and a land that is immune to Wasteland should guarantee you your second mana, and, when your Dracos start going on the board, most decks will simply bend over. Verdict: Easy Keep.

For the sideboard, you can access both Force of Vigor and Force of Negation, and both can be played with extra Leyline of the Guildpact you may have.

Most cards listed in this article could form the usual line of suspects we see in cop movies if being popular in Control lists was a crime: Carpet of Flowers, Surgical Extraction, and Veil of Summer are the best options to deal with Blue decks, graveyards, and discards/counters.

The cards that stand out the most in this list are the 3 copies of Hydroblast, a clear answer to the rising popularity of Goblin decks, boosted by _____ Goblin. Null Rod completes this list as the greatest threat against artifact decks.

Other sideboard options are Doorkeeper Thrull, Dress Down, Endurance, Flusterstorm, Grafdigger’s Cage, Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, Meltdown, and Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast.

Grixis / Temur / 4C Delver

This is the match in which Scion of Draco shines. Besides an eventual Sheoldred's Edict or Pick Your Poison this artifact Dragon can't be removed, and Lifelink is a huge issue for an aggro deck.

Apart from this plan, you have efficient removals for Murktide Regent, and they don't. Be careful with cantrips and with Lórien Revealed to avoid getting hit with an Orcish Bowmasters out of nowhere.

Post-side, Force comes out because it isn't ideal for a game that can become a friction war.

In:

Out:

Reanimator / UB Scam Hybrid

Even though Swords to Plowshares is an answer to Reanimated problems, it isn't ideal to let it get to this point. In any case, Up the Beanstalk is your best way of recovering from their discard effects.

Post-side, you'll lean more on Leyline Binding to deal with whatever broke through your defenses, but you have more answers to their main plain, such as Veil of Summer to handle discard effects, and Surgical Extraction to do what it does best.

In:

Out:

Boros Initiative

This is another opponent that has been thoroughly changed by Scion of Draco: the usual Beanstalk lists struggle to deal with Initiative activators that will go into play because of Cavern of Souls.

Leyline of the Guildpact not only gives this 4/4 several abilities, but it also helps a lot against effects like Magus of the Moon, considering your basic lands can generate mana of any color even under the effect of this Moon.

Force of Will, which doesn't work against Cavern of Souls, will come out so Hydroblast can come in, which is more efficient and deal with Caves of Chaos Adventurer, Forth Eorlingas!, and even the aforementioned Magus, if they're ready to deal with your Leyline.

In:

Out:

Beanstalk Control/Leyline Control

Get ready for a drawn-out game in which basically whoever resolves more Up the Beanstalk will be the winner. It is because of this, and Carpet of Flowers as well, that we add Force of Vigor. I won't remove all copies of Plowshares because you need to have a good number of answers for Murktide Regent.

Including Veil of Summer is optional, considering you won't know if they'll also remove all their copies of Force of Will. It is a friction game, so these counters will be less efficient, but there is a logic here.

In:

Out:

Goblin Stompy

It is always important to keep in mind that removing _____ Goblin while its ability is on the stack prevents them from creating mana. They have several ways to refill their rows of attackers, such as Goblin Matron, Goblin Ringleader, and Muxus, Goblin Grandee. Nonetheless, even though, in theory, Scion of Draco is a huge defensive wall against their offensive attacks, Broadside Bombardiers gives them a way to sacrifice their creatures over Draco's Lifelink.

As they don't have any ways to draw cards efficiently, and most lists haven't been using Goblin Lackey, Orcs are less efficient. If you see the 1-mana Goblin, you can sideboard a mix of Lórien Revealed, Force of Will, Murktide Regent, and/or Ponder.

In:

Out:

This new dynamic duo with this enchantment and artifact creature has been strong in Modern, and also seems good enough for a format with a higher power level. As it is still a new deck, players haven't yet reached a consensus on whether this version is superior to the basic version. In any case, it gets points in complex matchups, such as Delver and Initiative, even if it does lose some consistency in the mirrors and against combos. The final decision will probably be out when the metagame develops a bit more.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!