Legacy: Flow State Izzet Tempo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! Secrets of Strixhaven is finally here, as is a card that should shake up the format: Flow State. The comparison with Expressive Iteration is inevitable, but, if you look a bit further back, you'll notice a pattern.

Blue tempo lists have been around in Legacy since the early days, carried forward by Force of Will, Daze, Wasteland, and Ponder. But, at first, these were in fact 100% tempo decks. They "strangled" opponents quickly but struggled against anyone who was able to survive this initial assault because they eventually ran out of resources.

Nonetheless, a new trend became noticeable after Khans of Tarkir, Treasure Cruise, and Dig Through Time came along. Tempo decks got a breath of fresh air, as they could now use some very cheap card draw tools. These tools made these decks so broken that they were eventually banned. And they were replaced by other cards: Wrenn and Six, Dreadhorde Arcanist, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Expressive Iteration, Psychic Frog... Which also ended up banned.

Now, Flow State comes in, and once again we have a cheap, blue way to get back all the cards we invested in our game plan. Out of all the cards we mentioned, indeed, the most straightforward comparison is with Expressive Iteration. They're both 2-mana sorceries that give you 2 cards but aren't effective on turn 2. Iteration was more effective from turn 3 onward when you exiled a land or a 1-mana spell, and State will rarely be active on turn 2. From these turns onward, they create value in decks that usually trade cards 1-for-1.

Flow State sets itself apart from Iteration for one single reason, however: while Expressive Iteration mainly saw play in tempo decks, State can fit many other archetypes, particularly because it isn't tied to a color combination.

This card has just started seeing play, but some decks with it have already performed quite well. Let's see them.

This is an Izzet Tempo list that performed quite well at a tournament in Harehuya, one of the most important MTG stores in Japan, with 4 Flow States as well as some unusual choices.

The first thing that stands out to me is that it doesn't play Dragon's Rage Channeler and, consequently, Mishra's Bauble and Urza's Bauble. This makes some sense, as this deck prefers sorceries and instants to make Delver of Secrets and Flow State more valuable. Although, I personally believe DRC is still the best 1-mana drop for this archetype.

With all these cards missing, I confess I thought it was weird to still play Cori-Steel Cutter, as it also performs really well with the Baubles. I believe this might be because the player behind this list was still a bit uncertain about some cards due to all the recent changes. Eventually, these lists will probably lean more towards one side (Delver) or another (Cutter) and won't try to play both at the same time.

The second thing that stands out to me is an innovative decision that has been gaining space in this archetype: Stormchaser's Talent. This enchantment is a relevant threat and a way to use leftover mana in long matches. But the best thing about it is probably how it interacts with Boomerang Basics. This Avatar sorcery plays a few roles: it is another sorcery for Flow State, it removes problematic removals, and it creates a new token with Talent while it draws a card as well.

The rest of the deck is what you expect from this archetype: 4 Brainstorm, 4 Ponder, 4 Lightning Bolt, 4 Daze, and 4 Force of Will, as well as 2 Murktide Regent. As for the lands, Mystic Sanctuary stands out, as it allows you to keep refilling with Flow State, returns Boomerang Basics to you so that you can resolve something, and can even give you an extra Force of Will to make sure you win.

Flow State is the new trendy card in Legacy, and it should be quite impactful. The easiest place to play it right now is in Izzet Tempo, so if you want a competitive list that can create a lot of value with this new sorcery, this is it.

Another thing is that you can use this list as a base and adapt it to your meta and taste. Dragon's Rage Channeler, for instance, should be up for discussion whenever you build this list.

Please note that blue tempo lists play very cheap cards, mana-wise, and many cantrips (Brainstorm and Ponder), so they don't need lots of lands to work.

So, you should send back basically any land with 3 lands or more, but please keep in mind that in the late game, Wasteland is more a spell than a land. So, hands with some lands and some action (creatures or ways to draw cards) are decent on turn 1. Finally, you shouldn't keep hands that are too reactive because this is an aggressive list.

Let's see a few hands:

This hand has Ponder and Misty Rainforest into Thundering Falls, but it is too reactive. You should mulligan it.

This hand is decent. It puts pressure on the opponent on turn 1 and can find more action. You should keep it.

This hand is weird. The mana is problematic, and you can't play Murktide Regent early. I'd send it back. You should mulligan it.

You don't really want Thundering Falls in your opening hand, but this hand has resources and protection because of Daze. You should keep it.

You'll often find a wide variety of cards in Izzet Tempo sideboards, as you can use your cantrips to find them. Today's list focuses more on some of them, but it still plays basically everything you can expect to see in Legacy.

This includes Grafdigger's Cage and Surgical Extraction to deal with graveyards and Meltdown, Abrade, and Consign to Memory to deal with artifacts. Abrade is also decent against creature decks, and Consign is useful against Eldrazi and combo lists. Blasts are still the most efficient cards against your enemy colors, and Force of Negation is another 0-cost counterspell. You'll need it whenever you need to be as efficient as possible.

Dimir Tempo

Usually, Izzet struggles with Dimir because these lists are quite similar. Nonetheless, Dimir is usually better in battle, particularly if it plays Barrowgoyf, which is a real nightmare for red decks. The best game plan is to put pressure with Prowess cards and handle their bigger threats with Boomerang Basics. As for the sideboard, you'll open some space for your Blasts by removing your inefficient Force of Will.

You shouldn't get Abrade because it doesn't kill much in this matchup.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

If they resolve Show and Tell, you won't necessarily lose on the spot. You have Boomerang Basics to remove Atraxa, Grand Unifier, but you must try to stop them from playing their key cards anyway. You can win with a tempo game plan, that is, by resolving a Delver of Secrets or Stormchaser's Talent on turn 1 and using Wasteland and Daze to push them back.

In:

Out:

Boros Aggro

They'll try to make things very uncomfortable for you and force you to be the control list in this matchup. They also have lots of cheap, problematic creatures, like Guide of Souls and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah. There's not much you can do in terms of the sideboard. We'll probably have to work more on our sideboards whenever Boros Aggro is popular.

In:

Out:

Oops

There's not much we can say about this matchup, except that you must have answers for their combo on turn 1. If you manage to stop them, then you can end the game however you like. As for the sideboard, you should get more defensive cards. Force of Negation doesn't stop the combo but will protect your defensive cards from discards or removals. Consign to Memory will stop both their main combo and their plan B with Goblin Charbelcher.

In:

Out:

Azorius Blink

The key thing in this matchup is to not let them resolve Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, and make sure it dies as soon as possible. You'll have the tools to do this and still put pressure on them. So, unlike other similar opponents, you shouldn't take out your Force of Will. Murktide Regent is less efficient because they can deal with it quite efficiently.

In:

Out:

Flow State is here. This will be our topic of debate in the next months: which deck can use it better. As usual, we'll take some time to refine our lists, and we'll still try out lots of options. This list, for instance, is far from the final version, I believe, but it's a good place to start.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!