Legacy: The Format's best decks Tier List

Good morning Good afternoon Good night! Let's take a look at the subject and while we wait for The Brother's War, I'm going to review the Legacy Metagame about who's boss and who's being beaten at the moment.

This is a subjective analysis, but I use information from sites like mtgtop8, mtgmeta.io, mtggoldfish and mtgdecks.net to form my current tier list.

UR Delver

Needless to say, Delver (and its Delverless version, in part) is by far the king of the format.

Despite Wizards turning a blind eye to the problem, based on League numbers, which have a more casual bias (the only plausible explanation for saying that the deck is only 9% of the Metagame – a compilation of the 4 sites listed above indicates something around of 17.5%), there is no direct competitor for the deck.

The core of Force of Will, Brainstorm, Ponder, Daze and Wasteland have been carrying the deck for years, regardless of which threats are the most efficient at the time. Eyes are currently on Dragon's Rage Channeler and Murktide Regent, but the deck has gone through the bans of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dreadhorde Arcanist, the decommissioning of Young Pyromancer and True-name Nemesis and has been the driving force of the format for years and nothing indicates that it will fall without direct changes.

Red Prison

Another traditional deck of the format (and my favorite), unlike the Overlord above, it has fluctuated a lot in quality over the years.

Recently, it gained new tools and has positioned itself very well, since it is somewhat good against Delver and some popular decks in the format simply loses to Blood Moon and/or Chalice of the Void. The additions of Fury, Unlicensed Hearse, and especially Fable of the Mirror-breaker, made the deck much more consistent and a force to be reckoned with.

- Deck Tech + Sideboard Guide

Reanimator

Super-explosive and very resilient for a combo deck, Reanimator is another deck that's been around since Legacy is Legacy, going through several versions, but with basically one goal: to get Griselbrand into play as soon as possible.

The addition of Grief (do you see a pattern? Moden Horizons II's Incarnations are simply absurd) was the missing piece for the deck to move up a few steps in the tiers. Don't leave home without your graveyard hate!

- Decklist

Death & Taxes

Whether 60 or 80 cards, Death and Taxes remains an extremely popular deck in the format and arguably the best archetype to make use of Aether Vial.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben attacks the format as efficiently as few cards can and Stoneforge Mystic is still capable of carrying the game on her own. And, guess what, it was also contemplated with an Incarnation! Solitude is not common in 60-card lists, but is a staple in the Yorion, Sky Nomad variants.

- Decklist

- Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide - Death and Taxes

4 Color Control

In addition to Incarnations, another MH2 card that shook up the format was Prismatic Ending, which fits in the various versions of UW-based Control (Miracles, Bant, Jeskai, Mentor, etc.).

The current most popular version makes use of Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. These 2 extra colors also allow the deck to have access to cards like Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, Endurance (now, we're just missing the blue Incarnation to close the Royal Straight Flush!) and Expressive Iteration, in addition to Red Blasts (Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast).

With answers to everything and virtually unlimited access to cards once its engine kicks in, it's the current best Control deck in the format.

Doomsday

This deck could be in the tier above, as it's definitely one of the strongest archetypes in Legacy. However, its presence in the format is limited by two factors: Delver is a super-tricky matchup and the deck is perhaps the most difficult deck to master in the entire format.

But in the hands of an experienced player, it's lethal – just look at the amount of Top 8s it features in.

- Decklist

8-Cast

A relatively new deck in the format, it exploded onto the scene with the addition of Kappa Cannoneer.

As the format adapted to its triumphal arrival loading its sideboards with artifact sweepers, the deck lost some space, but is still among the best.

- Decklist

- Deck Tech and Sideboard guide - 8-Cast

Elves

Is it aggro? Is it combo? By abusing Gaea's Cradle like no other deck can, Elves have started running Elvish Reclaimer as a way to more consistently find their best card in their deck.

Allosaurus Shepherd is another absurd card in the list, especially with the latest increase in Chalice of the Void at the format

- Decklist

- Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Naya Depths

There are many ways to unfreeze Marit Lage from the depths, such as Turbo Depths lists or even Mono Black. But the version that has recently gained traction is the Naya list with, you guessed it, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes!

In addition to being a card capable of winning the game by itself, it still has the option of throwing the token generated by Dark Depths in the face of the helpless opponent.

Lands

There is merit to the rise of the Lands deck: it is one of the few archetypes that can trample UR Delver. This makes it a valid option in targets with a greater presence of the threat, but less interesting in the presence of combo decks.

- Decklist

Painter

A deck with about 7 to 8 Red Blasts (Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast) in the main deck has everything to shine in a format dominated by blue decks. The entry of Fable of the Mirror-breaker was great in this archetype, as it basically does everything the deck needs: it puts artifacts in the graveyard for recursion with Goblin Welder and Goblin Engineer, creates Treasure tokens to fuel that same recursion and still generates an extra threat with the danger that is an active Reflection of Kiki-Jiki. Deck on the rise, stay tuned!

Jeskai Control

4C Control without Minsc & Boo, no Uro, no Endurance. No surprise that it's declining.

- Decklist

Storm

It's worth a little what was said about Doomsday. It is an extremely dangerous deck, suffers against Delver and is very difficult to master. However, it is more vulnerable against Red Prison and other all-in combos, as you don't have the Force of Will defense on the draw.

- Decklist

Sneak and Show

The sunset of a giant! Once one of Legacy's dominant forces, SnS is at a tricky point in its trajectory: Pyroblast in main decks, Aether Spellbomb tutored by Urza's Saga and an overwhelming presence of tricky matchups. Life is no longer easy for those who want to cheat Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play.

- Decklist

Death's Shadow

The deck that has the audacity to bring Shocklands into the Dual Lands universe! It's another that suffers from too many Explosions targeting Delver.

- Decklist

Oops, All Spells

The most all-in deck in the format has gotten a lot more robust since the combo was simplified by the existence of Thassa's Oracle and gained access to 8 “lands” (Turntimber Symbiosis and Agadeem's Awakening).

It is an extremely lethal deck but still very disrespected, as many players turn their noses up at this concept. A bit more consistency and we would have a big problem within the format.

That's it folks, by my conclusions based on what I found on these sites, all these archetypes represent about 70% of the format, that is, there is plenty of space for all the kinds of deck in Legacy, although I still think Delver still strangles a lot of possible innovation.

Thanks for reading!