Legacy: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Review

Yee Haw! We finally have the full spoilers of Oko's wild west - officially, it's called "Outlaws of Thunder Junction", but I prefer my version! Based on western movies and the American frontier in the 19th century, this set will show us the band of outlaws (the most famous in MTG lore!) that Oko gathered to raid the Fomori Vault and steal its countless riches.

Usually, Standard-legal sets don't affect Legacy much; only one or two cards are relevant to some archetypes. Outlaws seems to be an exception, though, considering its apparent power level is quite high, and it brought us many new cards and mechanics that are relevant to other formats.

But, let's get to the point: let's analyze the cards that can, actually, be relevant in Legacy!

Outlaws of Thunder Junction brought us several new mechanics, 4 in total, which is quite above the average in the most recent sets. The Desert land-type also returned, and the cards that interact with this type. These are the new abilities in this set:

Plot

Several cards in this set have this ability and a cost. This means you will be able to pay this cost and exile the card in question. The card you exiled will be considered Plotted. While it is considered so, you'll be able to, in any turn after the turn it was exiled, to play it without paying its mana cost (additional costs still apply), as long as it is a situation in which you'd be able to play a sorcery.

In practice, you'll be able to pay an alternative cost to play a card later on, usually in situations in which you'll be able to protect it better or, in some cases, use other effects the card may have when it is Plotted.

This set also brought us cards that can exile other cards and grant them the Plotted status. This allows the owner of the card exiled to play it without paying its mana cost in a later turn, in the same way we described above.

Committing a Crime

We have a new concept in Outlaws: Committing a Crime! Any time you target, with some spell or ability, an opponent or anything they control (permanents, spells, hand, deck, or graveyard), you'll have Committed a Crime on that turn.

Several cards have effects that interact with or depend on you having Committed a Crime, be it by giving you a bonus or triggering abilities when this condition is met. Effects that don't target anything, even if they impact your opponent negatively, don't count as "Committing a Crime". If the spell or ability responsible for this is countered, it will still count as if you had Committed a Crime.

Saddle

Saddle is a variation of the Crew mechanic, which is found in vehicles. Just like a Crew card, cards with this new ability have a numeric value on them - you can tap a number of creatures with power equal or higher than this value. If you do, these cards are considered Saddled, and will have abilities which will be triggered if these creatures attack while they are considered Saddled.

However, unlike Crew, Saddled creatures are still creatures even if this ability isn't activated. Another difference is that this ability can only be activated as a sorcery.

Spree

Spells with Spree are modal spells: each mode will cost additional mana. You can choose one or more of the options available, as long as you pay the costs of each option. You also can't choose the same effect twice and can't choose none of the effects.

Regardless of how many options you choose, the mana value of the card in question will be considered its original value for effects like Chalice of the Void or Minor Misstep.

Outlaw

In addition to the new mechanics, we have a new group of creature types: Outlaws! The cards that refer to this group include the following creature types: Assassin, Mercenary, Pirate, Rogue, and Warlock.

Aven Interrupter

Its triggered ability exiles a target spell (note: this goes over effects like "can't be countered"), and it can't be played that turn. This means your opponent will have to play it another time. Besides this, because of this card's second ability, the card you Plotted will also cost 2 extra mana.

This ability is relevant not only to tax the card that you exiled, but also because it affects important interactions in Legacy, such as Cascade (Crashing Footfalls), Escape (Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath), Flashback (Dread Return), red effects that exile and make playable the top cards in your deck (Light Up the Stage or Questing Druid's adventure), and even unusual tools like Dauthi Voidwalker's activated ability. So, there is, therefore, more utility built in this 3 mana flying 2/2 than just its "exile spell" effect.

Finally, I'd like to highlight that, often, this exile will become permanent. For instance, if you target a counter effect, players won't be able to use the card you Plotted to counter others, as it needs to be played at sorcery speed. When you target cards with X as their cost, your opponent won't be able to pay this cost when they play that card from their exile, and X will be equal to 0.

Bovine Intervention

This instant removal is flexible, and it can save you some slots in your sideboard.

Final Showdown

Its final cost is quite expensive, but it is a relatively flexible card, be it to disable important creatures for a turn or to protect one creature. Eventually, being able to access an instant board removal without having to resort to Teferi, Time Raveler is a luxury that can interest some Control lists.

High Noon

A hate card against decks that try to play several spells per turn usually already sees play in Legacy, such as Archon of Emeria, Ethersworn Canonist, and Deafening Silence. So, there's space for High Noon to see play.

As it is an enchantment, it is harder to answer it, and it can always finish your opponent with its 5 points of damage.

Archmage’s Newt

The corrected version of the now-banned Dreadhorde Arcanist has one advantage: we can use it to pay for Force of Will's cost. It is definitely worse than the card it will be compared to, as it needs to deal combat damage to give Flashback to a target spell, and you also need to pay its mana cost if it isn't Saddled. Still, it is a card advantage engine that Izzet Delver lists haven't used since Dreadhorde Arcanist was banned. It is, potentially, this set's "sleeper card".

Duelist of the Mind

This World Champion card could deal a lot of damage with evasion. It is another card that looks like the type of card Delver would use: it deals a lot of damage after a simple Brainstorm, filters cards (and gains +1 power) when you destroy lands with Wasteland or removes enemies with Lightning Bolt, and also interacts well with your key cards - Dragon's Rage Channeler and Murktide Regent - when you fill your graveyard.

Fblthp, Lost on the Range

In decks with many 0-cost cards, Fblthp will be able to Plot an obscene number of cards at once. As we have, in Legacy, decks with many 0-cost cards, I can see a future for it.

Geralf, the Fleshwright

Geralf can be compared to Monastery Mentor a card that is good enough to play in Legacy. I believe it might have similar purposes in some control decks, and might also serve as an alternative win condition for combo decks that can play several spells at once.

Cons: it doesn't create tokens/prowess triggers with the first spell you play, and Geralf itself isn't buffed with the spells.

Jace Reawakened

When the new Jace was revealed, I saw two remarks about him: "4 mana Planeswalkers aren't good enough for Legacy" (referring to the fact we can't play him before turn 4), and "a Planeswalker that doesn't protect itself isn't worth it".

Both points can be rebutted by the fact that, as he only costs 2 mana, if he enters play on turn 4, you'll potentially still have 2 manas both to protect him and develop your game plan, unlike, for instance, Jace, the Mind Sculptor - if you use his -2 ability to protect him, you can't move forward with your plan. Besides this, as he only costs 2 mana, this Jace can enter play more easily even in games in which your opponents attack your mana with Wasteland, or in which you have to play around Daze, or in games which you simply don't get the lands you need.

What stands out the most about this new Jace version is the combination between his second ability and Valki, God of Lies: when you Plot this card, on the next turn you can play Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor for 0 mana. But even Plotting cards like Teferi, Time Raveler or Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath will already represent some mana gain.

Simulacrum Synthesizer

A deck like 8-Cast can easily play Kappa Cannoneer or Thought Monitor to create constructs from the artifact above. It is an option.

Black

Harvester of Misery

If there's something Troll of Khazad-dûm taught us, it is to not underestimate creatures that can easily go to the graveyard, have useful effects, and can be Reanimated later.

One of Scaminator's weak spots nowadays is its lack of removals. Harvester deals with a lot, and its activated ability can't be countered through traditional means. When it enters play, is Reanimated, or even summoned - 5 mana isn't too expensive - it also clears the board of small creatures. It is a great tool for a deck that is already the strongest deck in Legacy.

Insatiable Avarice

Drawing 3 cards for 3 mana isn't something we find in Legacy every day - Painful Truths has popped up in a few decks, but it requires an investment in several colors.

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This card was created to refill, basically, Monoblack lists, and we have a deck like this in Legacy which will probably be interested in this card. Its first mode is a bonus for when you have an extra mana lying around - but don't be mistaken, what's interesting for us is its second mode.

Pitiless Carnage

This card was designed to be Plotted and played during a combo turn, sacrificing all your lands and whatever else you have on the board to get more cards. It gets bonus points from me because its artwork was created by Richard Kane Fergusson, my favorite MTG artist!

Rush of Dread

This card forms a combo with Bloodletter of Aclazotz that kills your opponent instantaneously. It costs 9 mana, so it should only be happening in decks that can go around the cost of these spells.

Red

Highway Robbery

We've seen cards similar to this one that have rarely seen play in Legacy. The most significant difference between them and this one is that this one brings us the option to sacrifice a land with Plot. This combination is particularly interesting with City of Traitors: you exile this spell, the next turn you get the mana from City of Traitors, play Highway Robbery for 0 mana, sacrifice the land that would die anyway, and play another land.

Return the Favor

This is a very versatile card whose greatest dream is to copy Tendrils of Agony's triggered ability.

Stingerback Terror

A common question in Red Prison forums is: "why is it called Dragon Stompy?" The answer is that, in a very, very distant past, when this deck came along, its main threat was Rakdos Pit Dragon. This card disappeared, but the name stuck.

Well, it might be called Dragon Stompy again because the creature above costs exactly what we want it to cost to Plot it from a Sol Land (Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors) and a red source. As a bonus, this plays around Daze.

Green

Smuggler’s Surprise

This card, to be useful, needs a lot of mana and a deck with several big creatures. 12-Post generates a lot of mana, has big creatures, and wants to play them at the end of your opponent's turn. It's worth highlighting that, if this spell is countered at the end of your opponent's turn, creatures that were already in your hand will get a window to enter play as soon as you untap your lands.

Gold

Assimilation Aegis

This equipment offers us the option of using Stoneforge Mystic to tutor removals. Its second ability might even be useful, depending on what you exiled, but it isn't the reason why we'll consider adding this card to our decks.

Satoru, the Infiltrator

Recently, I wrote an article about this card. I think it has potential in decks like Ninjas, Dredge and decks with Grief. If you'd like to hear more about it, click here.

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Pest Control

Ok, I believe this card is the most relevant card for Legacy in this entire set. Pest Control is what we call a "game changer": those cards that change the state of the game completely.

Its mana cost is too cheap for what it does. Hidetsugu Consumes All's first chapter does the same for 3 mana, but the difference between 2 and 3 mana is brutal in Legacy.

This spell destroys most of Delver's threats, the entire artifact base in Stompy decks and 8-Cast decks, obliterates boards of Elves, Mothers and Aether Vial. And, if by any chance you're facing a deck that doesn't have anything you'd like to destroy, it simply Cycles. 5 out of 5 for this card.

Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher

Human. Ok. Boros. Ok. Mana value that is compatible with Sol Lands. Ok. It gives us access to cards in a deck that is always thirsty for them? Ok. Boros Initiative might be this Rancher's new home.

Form a Posse

No, this card doesn't have the slightest chance of seeing play. I just decided to add it to this article so we can grasp just how absurd Forth Eorlingas! is.

Artifact

Lavaspur Boots

This is a Lightning Greaves that Urza's Saga can get for you. You can even equip it to the token you create on the turn the Saga reaches its third chapter and dies!

Lost Jitte

Speaking of Urza's Saga, this is another cool option - it is a rusty version of Umezawa's Jitte.

Sword of Wealth and Power

Any time a new Sword of - insert something here - and - insert something here - is released, we must always consider if it can become a tool for Stoneforge Mystic.

Land

Fomori Vault

Though I think it is too slow, this card can get us cards way down in our decks in archetypes like 8-Cast.

Final Words

Like I said, Outlaws of Thunder Junction brought us several cards to play in Legacy. Pest Control, in particular, should change this format significantly, considering nowadays you can find a lot of Chrome Mox and Chalice of the Void everywhere.

Delver decks will have 2 interesting cards to test out. Aven Interrupter is my favorite card in this set, and I want to test it as soon as it is available. In general, it was a nice surprise to find this power level in a Standard-legal set.

What do you think, did I miss anything?

See you next time!