Legacy: Tifa Landfall Zoo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! I already had an article planned for this week when I saw this list, but, unfortunately, I just knew I'd have to scrap all of it. Today, we'll cover an incredibly fascinating strategy with one of the most popular characters from Final Fantasy: Tifa Lockhart!

Ever since double strike became an ability, the term "double" goes hand in hand with abrupt finishing turns. This includes creatures with double strike, cards with infect, which, in practice, treat the opponent as if they had half their life points, and creatures that can double their attack. All of these effects make spells that buff attacks twice as effective and, consequently, let us deal a truckload of damage for very little.

The infect deck we mentioned above is one of the most common ways to use these "doubling" spells, but Tifa brought us new opportunities, namely Landfall Zoo, which we'll cover today!

The list above and a few others like it have just popped up in a few Magic Online Leagues and Japanese tournaments. The main reason why Tifa Lockhart is so strong is that she is absolutely lethal in this strategy if the opponent doesn't do anything to stop her because she can beat them on turn 3 nearly all by herself. A Scale Up and playing/using a fetch land is all you need to do to set her power to 24, for instance.

Crop Rotation will easily trigger her ability multiple times, for instance. On the other side, this list also includes a few basic 0/1 creatures that gain +2/+2 with landfall (Akoum Hellhound and Steppe Lynx) as well as Scythecat Cub, which has recently found some space in Legacy.

Elvish Reclaimer (which some platforms incorrectly listed as Elvish Pioneer) does the same as Crop Rotation, and is a nice attacker on its own. Scale Up, Berserk, and Skyclave Pick-Axe buff your creatures, and Once Upon a Time is the glue that holds all of these cards together.

As this list plays several land tutors, it also plays a few lands for specific situations, such as Bojuka Bog, Sejiri Steppe, Talon Gates of Madara, and Wasteland.

When I started keeping up with Legacy more closely, in the early 2010s, Zoo was one of the best decks in the format. With time, it struggled with power creep and eventually left the meta. Now, Tifa Lockhart added a combo element to this aggressive archetype and breathed some new life into it. It hasn't been in the meta for a while, but she has made it incredible once again.

Your most important card, that is, the one you'll always want in your opening hand, is obviously Tifa Lockhart, considering she can easily win the game as early as turn 3. If you can't find her, then look for hands that can play at least 1 of the 8 landfall creatures in this list early on so you can already start putting pressure on your opponents on turn 2. Then, who knows, you might have the chance to kill them on the following turn, though you'll need more resources for this line than you'd need for Tifa.

Let's see an example:

This hand has too many lands, though some are useful in more than one way and let you deal a lot of damage throughout the first three turns. If it had a card that buffed Tifa instead of a land, you could easily keep it. Verdict: mulligan it.

This hand could beat your opponent on turn 3, but might be vulnerable if you're drawing first because it can't play anything on turn 1. Verdict: if you're playing first, keep it. If you're drawing first, mulligan it.

This hand has a great line that could deal a lot of damage already on turn 2: Windswept Heath into Savannah, then Steppe Lynx. On turn 2, equip the Pick-Axe on the Lynx, Wooded Foothills (2 triggers) into Taiga (2 triggers), then Elvish Reclaimer, which is 8! Verdict: keep it.

This is the hand you want if you can't find a Tifa. It can put Hellhound in play with two equipment cards on turn 2 and possibly trigger landfall several times with Scythecat Cub on turn 3. Verdict: keep it.

This sideboard is mostly quite straightforward: it has Faerie Macabre to deal with graveyards, Deafening Silence to deal with combos, and Force of Vigor to both stop decks like Forge and prevent things like Chalice of the Void and Blood Moon from ruining your day.

Pyroblast still has the best cost-to-benefit ratio against blue cards.

The last cards we'll mention are the ones that really stand out. Path to Exile is usually a lot worse than Swords to Plowshares, but each point of damage counts with this deck, and Plowshares is clearly a bit more punishing in this sense. That's why this list plays Path.

Finally, we have Ashen Rider and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (incorrectly listed as Emrakul, the Promised End on a few platforms), which are answers to Show and Tell. Emrakul also stops the Grindstone combo.

Dimir Reanimator

This is a race against the clock because stopping an Entomb from reanimating a creature on turn 2 is pretty hard. However, you can do it if you're playing first, have a Tifa on turn 2, and a turn-1 creature to prevent them from reanimating an Archon of Cruelty in specific. Crop Rotation into Bojuka Bog is always a viable way to stop them. Fatal Push can also undo everything you did.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

In a way, this matchup is quite similar to the one above, but they can't play around Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with Sejiri Steppe. It is pretty straightforward, in fact: you're the aggressor, so, if possible, you should kill them on turn three.

Your two sideboard creatures can steal a game here and there if your opponent plays their Show and Tell at the wrong time.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

Chalice of the Void completely counters a big part of how this deck attacks, but your Tifa Lockhart + Scythecat Cub will still be able to do something... Wait, they also use Fury and Blood Moon.

Game 1 is really quite painful, but Force of Vigor will ruin their day entirely (I should know it, I play Red Prison).

In:

Out:

Dimir Aggro

Your opponents will have to try to control you because, if they lower any of their defenses, you'll be able to deal a lot of damage. Please note that your 0/1 creatures are quite vulnerable to Orcish Bowmasters... but you can play around this with your fetch lands.

In:

Out:

Lands

Apart from Maze of Ith, which you can deal with your Wasteland, they're extremely vulnerable against your list. Even The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale won't be efficient, considering you can beat them with just 1 or 2 creatures.

You don't even need to sideboard for this game, though at times you could bring Path to Exile as an answer to Dark Depths. Swap it with 1 Bojuka Bog and 1 Once Upon a Time.

In:

Nothing.

Out:

Nothing.

I have said (and I'll say it again) that Final Fantasy was quite weak for Legacy, but Tifa Lockhart does have potential for this format. Zoo might be far from a tier-1 list, but it is fun and should give you a few interesting stories to tell - like a 1000-power Tifa or something!

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!