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Legacy: Big Red Prison - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

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Red Stompy already has a solid spot in Legacy, but that doesn't mean we can't experiment with it. Let's discuss this version of the deck, which brings an old friend from the past - Karn, the Great Creator.

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Table of contents

  1. > Introduction
  2. > Deckbuilding
  3. > Mulligan
  4. > Building the Sideboard
  5. > Sideboard Guide
    1. Dimir Reanimator
    2. Blue Aggro (Temur, Grixis, Izzet, and Dimir)
    3. Eldrazi Aggro
    4. Red Stompy
    5. Nadu Breakfast
  6. > Final Words

Introduction

Greetings, Legacy community, how are you? Today, let's reconnect with an old friend, but not the list most players are used to. This is OG Red Prison, a version that looked into the past and brought back Karn, the Great Creator so it could face this format after the latest bans with a new perspective.

Karn, the Great Creator
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Red Stompy (which has many names - Red Prison, Moon Stompy, and, the one I hate the most, Dragon Stompy) was rising before the latest bans, but then one of its main cards was booted off - Vexing Bauble. What nearly everyone did was simply fill that empty slot with the one card that always occupied it until Bauble replaced it: Chalice of the Void. Time went on and it is still a tier-1 deck.

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However, one of the most prominent Legacy players, SiL3nTGoaT, picked a different path. They went heavier, strayed away from "lock" cards (just 2 Blood Moon), and added more acceleration - 4 Lotus Petal. The most significant difference was Karn, the Great Creator, however.

Did it work? Well, they won 1 MTGO Challenge 32, and 1 Super Qualifier with this list, so I think the results speak for themselves!

Deckbuilding

When SiL3nTGoaT built this deck, they broke a few preestablished rules for this archetype, like only bringing 2 Blood Moon when traditional lists typically bring 6 to 8 with Magus of the Moon. They also decided to ignore other lock pieces, like Chalice of the Void or Trinisphere, though Karn, the Great Creator can work as one against certain decks.

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Another difference is the high number of 4-drops - Caves of Chaos Adventurer and Karn, the Great Creator as well as the ever-present The One Ring and Pyrogoyf. This might seem risky against decks with Daze, but often wins wars of attrition against other Stompys.

To handle all of these 4-cost cards, this list also plays 31 sources of mana instead of the traditional 28, but it makes up for that with 4 Lotus Petal. This means you'll most likely be able to stick one of these 4-drops on turn 1 or turn 2.

The rest of the list are the standard 4 copies of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Broadside Bombardiers, and Fury. It also plays a mana base that can accelerate all of this - 8 Sol Lands (Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors), 4 Chrome Mox and 4 Simian Spirit Guide, besides the 8 MDFC (Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption), which make Fury and Mox a lot more consistent. Then, of course, we have basic mountains and 1 Gemstone Caverns, which can work as your 5th Mox when your opponent starts playing.

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Mulligan

As usual for Stompy decks, considering you don't play cards like Brainstorm or Ponder, your Mulligan is crucial. Hands that can't play anything on turn 1 are only viable if their turn 2 is really explosive, and, even then, it depends.

Don't be afraid to mulligan aggressively with this deck because you'll have enough resources to get your investments back, and some threats will dominate the game entirely if you put them in play early. Karn, the Great Creator or Caves of Chaos Adventurer on turn 1, for instance, make up for smaller hands after you mulligan once or twice.

Hand examples:

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If you're drawing first, you'll need to mulligan this hand because it is too slow. If you're playing first, you can find a reason to keep it if you also know your opponent's deck. A Fable on turn 2 with Fury as protection can carry the game, so you can keep it against Mirror or control lists, but you can't risk it against decks with Wasteland. It is also vulnerable against combos. Verdict: mulligan, with a few exceptions.

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This hand is a bit slow if you're playing first, but you can keep it in the same situations as above because it puts Fable in play on turn 2. However, if you're drawing first, this hand puts Fable in play on turn 1, not to mention the cards it might draw. Verdict: keep if you're drawing first, mulligan if you're playing first, with a few exceptions.

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While this hand has a few too many lands (not uncommon for a deck with 31 sources of mana), it can put The One Ring in play on turn 2 safely (out of Wasteland's reach) and also has enough mana to play Bombardiers once it's your turn again. Verdict: keep, but it's nothing outstanding.

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This is the hand you want! It puts Fable in play on turn 1 (if you're drawing first, you can even exile something better with Chrome Mox), and then it can put a 4-cost in play on turn 2. Verdict: easy keep.

Building the Sideboard

This deck plays Karn, the Great Creator, so most of its sideboard is his powerful toolbox:

- Mycosynth Lattice ends the game with Karn (all permanents, including your opponent's lands, will turn into artifacts, and, therefore, won't create mana);

- Liquimetal Coating, with Karn, destroys an enemy land per turn. Coating turns a target land into an artifact, and Karn's ability turns that artifact land into a 0/0 creature that will die instantly;

- Tormod's Crypt answer graveyards;

- Trinisphere answers combos;

- Ensnaring Bridge answers big swarms of creatures;

- Cursed Mirror is a bit more complicated. First, you can use it to copy one of your creatures to create more value. Caves of Chaos Adventurer, Pyrogoyf, and even Broadside Bombardiers, for instance, can be lethal with haste. Secondly, you can use it to copy an enemy monster - is that an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn that your opponent played with Show and Tell, or a reanimated Archon of Cruelty? It would be a pity if you copied it and gave it haste…

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The rest of it, the non-Karn part, is 4 Leyline of the Void (the best answer against graveyards when you have to consider Oops All Spells), a pair of Blasts to deal with an infinity of blue decks, and 2 Fiery Confluence. Confluence will be a wide answer to artifacts and other large boards with numerous small creatures.

Sideboard Guide

Dimir Reanimator

Your Blood Moon will definitely disrupt the game, but your opponent can play around it with Troll of Khazad-dûm.

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Karn, the Great Creator is the ace up your sleeve: if you put it in play before they reanimate something, it makes sure you have Tormod's Crypt to prevent them from doing so. If they do reanimate something before you can put it in play, he can find Ensnaring Bridge for you so you can prevent attacks, or Cursed Mirror to balance the board.

Post-side, we won't have many great targets for Fury on the enemy side, but your opponents can reanimate it and use it against you, which will be quite dangerous. Caves of Chaos Adventurer, on the other hand, is useful, but also dangerous if your opponent reanimates it.

In:

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Out:

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Blue Aggro (Temur, Grixis, Izzet, and Dimir)

This should be a difficult opponent because your plan is to put in play many 4-cost cards without any protection (like Cavern of Souls), and this deck has Wasteland and Daze.

The Temur and Izzet versions can somewhat ignore Blood Moon, but it can still lock down their mana with Sundering Eruption, considering they often use only 1 basic Island.

There is an argument for using Leyline of the Void against them, as it disables Murktide Regent and Nethergoyf, and makes Dragon's Rage Channeler less problematic. But this approach is a bit risky because it might force you to keep mediocre hands just because of the Leyline. And this might not even work if they have Delver of Secrets and Questing Druid. I've used this strategy before, but I let it go when they started using Questing Druid because they got more threats that simply ignore Leyline.

In:

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Out:

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Eldrazi Aggro

This version doesn't beat Eldrazi as easily because it only plays 2 Blood Moon. In any case, Ensnaring Bridge is still quite effective, despite not winning the game on the spot as it used to because Glaring Fleshraker exists.

If you hide behind your bridge, kill their Fleshrakers with Fury and Pyrogoyf, and advance through Caves of Chaos Adventurer's dungeon, you'll carve a valid path to victory.

In:

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Out:

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Red Stompy

Their mana curve is a bit lower, but they play 8 cards or more that are simply useless against you (4 Chalice of the Void, 4 Blood Moon, and all the Magus of the Moon they're using), while you only play 2 Moon.

Karn, the Great Creator, besides finding the right answers for you, locks down their Chrome Mox.

In general, our list plays more action in the mirror than the standard list, but, in practice, whoever draws less dead cards in this matchup wins.

In:

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Out:

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Nadu Breakfast

Karn, the Great Creator locks down their combo with Shuko, but they can still use Nomads en-Kor freely. I won't lie: game 1 will be incredibly hard, and, if they set up their combo early on, there isn't much you can do.

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Your pre-side plan is to stop their combo with Karn, Tormod's Crypt or Trinisphere.

Post-side, you'll have more answers, but this is still not an opponent you'd like to face.

In:

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Out:

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Final Words

Red Stompy has easily earned a spot among the best decks in Legacy, and this version wants to win the mirror to come out on top. I must confess Karn, the Great Creator is one of my favorite planeswalkers, and the Red version that used him a few years ago was the most fun version I ever played. Seeing this version being successful again makes me very happy.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!