Legacy: Azorius Meteor Stoneblade - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! As we mentioned in a previous article, our format is going through some changes, and basically any archetype has a chance to shine right now. No strategy has started to dominate the meta (yet!).

Most recently, we have seen an influx of traditional decks that had been sort of forgotten. They are now adapting and showing us what they have to offer again. One of them is Azorius Stoneblade, which was one of the main decks in Legacy back in the mid-2010s. It got a lot from a few new cards, including a new equipment card from Avatar: The Last Airbender!

Today's list got to the top 16 of a Magic Online Challenge in the hands of felix619. Forty-four other players fought for the title at this event. Stoneblade is usually a hybrid strategy that plays both tempo and control elements:

The key card in this list is Stoneforge Mystic, which acts as a tutor and acceleration because it lets us cheat out expensive equipment cards into play for just 2 mana. We usually put Kaldra Compleat into play this way, but recently we got a few new toys, like Pre-War Formalwear and Meteor Sword (from the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender set).

Unlike other equipment cards that affect permanents, Meteor Sword also hits lands, and that's huge. With cards like Wasteland and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, it can simply prevent the opponent from playing. Speaking of Phelia, this lovely pup didn't exist back when Stoneblade was on top, but it is a real threat in this list.

Phelia is wonderful with Quantum Riddler, Pre-War Formalwear and Meteor Sword, but even tutoring an extra equipment card with a Stoneforge Mystic is great. For the opponent, it resets Chalice of the Void's counters, kills tokens, and removes blockers. If it stays alive for more than one turn, your chances of winning skyrocket.

Among our last creatures, this list has what most players consider the most important card in the format: Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, besides the aforementioned Quantum Riddler. By itself, Riddler only provides card advantage, but if you play it through Warp and exile it with Phelia, it can end the game on the spot.

As for proper spells, this list plays the basic tempo kit: Force of Will, Brainstorm, and Ponder, 4 of each. As well as 4 Wastelands.

It also plays a few broader answers, such as Spell Pierce, Force of Negation, Prismatic Ending, and Consign to Memory. Consign to Memory in particular will be useful to counter parts of Quantum Riddler and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. The idea is to use it to not return the exiled permanent when we play Phelia and to not have to exile Quantum Riddler through Warp.

Finally, this list also plays the Stoneforge Mystic equipment kit: Kaldra Compleat, Pre-War Formalwear, and Meteor Sword. The last card is a copy of Back to Basics, which will stop decks that play lots of nonbasic lands.

In Legacy and MTG overall, control players are easy to find. However, many of these players also worry that their decks can't end their matches.

Hybrid Aggro-Control lists do end their matches, as an unanswered Stoneforge Mystic puts a lot of pressure on anyone. Furthermore, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd's game style, that is, "flicking" our permanents to create value is quite popular and attracts lots of players.

Decks like this one, which play cantrips (Brainstorm and Ponder) and don't have a specific game plan, usually mulligan well. You can keep a lot of hands and develop your strategies with them.

Let's see a few examples:

This hand has a lot of mana and not a lot of interaction. It does draw a lot of cards, though. If you're not facing a combo list, you can keep it. Verdict: mulligan it against combos, but overall you can keep it.

This hand is pretty bad. The mana base is bad, and ideally you want to get Kaldra Compleat with Stoneforge Mystic instead of getting it in your opening hand. You can look for better. Verdict: mulligan it.

This hand will be carried by Brainstorm, which is typical. Even the Sword, which is usually a dead card without Stoneforge Mystic, won't be an issue, as you'll send it back with your cantrips. Verdict: keep it.

This hand also essentially has "one card less" because of Kaldra, but it can put Tamiyo in play on turn 1 and Phelia on turn 2. It's like the first hand we reviewed: it's bad against combos, but okay against everything else. Verdict: mulligan it against combos, but overall keep it.

This sideboard starts by completing the Consign to Memory set, one of the best sideboard cards in Legacy: it plays well against Eldrazi, Forge, and problematic cards, such as The One Ring or Thassa's Oracle. The sideboard also plays one extra Prismatic Ending, which is quite broad.

Speaking of cards that hit a lot of things, Wrath of the Skies is fantastic. It can explode aggressive boards (like Urza's Saga's board) as well as many other boards. And, remember: it kills both tokens and the Saga itself!

Hydroblast is one of the most efficient answers against red cards, including its sister, Pyroblast. You'll also find answers to specific decks in this sideboard: Rest in Peace deals with graveyard decks, and Containment Priest deals with both Reanimator and Show and Tell.

Finally, the 2 copies of Deafening Silence will stop combo decks that want to play several spells at once.

Other options you can use are Assimilation Aegis, Batterskull, Clarion Conqueror, Disruptor Flute, Faerie Macabre, Harbinger of the Seas, Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, and Stony Silence. You can also splash red and get Pyroblast or Meltdown.

Izzet Tempo

The most important goal in this matchup is to keep Stoneforge Mystic alive, which will be a problem considering the truckload of removals and Daze this opponent plays.

"Flicking" Quantum Riddler with a Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd is a way to block enemy creatures.

Swords to Plowshares will help you deal with Murktide Regent, but, if you're facing someone who uses Cori-Steel Cutter, you'll have problems. Before you sideboard, you don't have any tools to face big boards.

Post-side, you'll have the tools to win this war of attrition, so you'll remove anything that makes you lose cards instead of getting more of them.

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Show and Tell

Be careful when you lower your defenses because they'll probably use this opportunity to try to play Show and Tell with Force of Will as backup. Playing Stoneforge Mystic on turn 2 could give them this opening. If you decide to do that anyway, tutor Meteor Sword so you can answer the opponent's key sorcery. As such, the Phelia game plan is better because of Flash.

Please note that your sideboard will look different against Sneak n'Show (Izzet) and Omni-Tell (Simic or Dimir). Swords to Plowshares won't be as impactful because it doesn't hit Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.

Against Sneak n'Show

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Against Omni-Tell

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Forge

You can't compete with how much mana your opponent will create, so you should try to use your counters on cards that reward excess mana: The One Ring, Karn, the Great Creator, and Mystic Forge.

Stoneforge Mystic can both put more pressure on them with Kaldra Compleat and deal with anything that you couldn't hit with your counters if you get Meteor Sword with it. Post-side, you'll turn this list into a control strategy, with infinite counters. But be careful with Defense Grid.

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Artifact Blue

The Pinnacle Emissary version became popular after it won the European Eternal Weekend, and it is quite difficult to face in game 1. They can explode quite quickly and your list, as we've mentioned before, struggles with wide boards.

If you can counter Emissary on turn 1, you'll be a lot better off. Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd can then exile tokens if there aren't too many of them.

Post-side, you'll get a lot more stuff to hold them off and remove a few suboptimal cards. Prismatic Ending seems good, but it doesn't deal with neither Emry, Lurker of the Loch nor Pinnacle Emissary.

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Eldrazi Stompy

Because of Cavern of Souls, your counters are not that effective, so you must answer Cavern with Wasteland. If you don't, you might be in trouble.

This opponent is incredibly difficult because they can answer your Stoneforge Mystic game plan with Thought-Knot Seer. Furthermore, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, and Prismatic Ending are basically dead cards.

Post-side, you can't do much besides getting Consign to Memory. Wrath of the Skies is quite bad, but it's better than what you'll remove.

In:

Out:

Meteor Sword seems to be made for Stoneforge Mystic: it is impossibly expensive unless you play around it, which Mystic conveniently does. Seeing an old friend getting a new chance in a new meta makes me feel good about the latest bans.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!