Legacy Metagame Analysis - January 2025

Hello, my dear Legacy friends! As of the writing of this article, its been a month since Psychic Frog and Vexing Bauble were banned. Thus, we can now see which direction the format is headed.

The first observation is that the format has become more diverse than it was in when we last analyzed it, even though the same deck is still at the top of the tierlist, although much less oppressive than it was before the bans.

Another important thing was the return of the Red Delvers – Temur, Grixis and Izzet –, who had disappeared due to the low effectiveness of Lightning Bolt on a Frog Meta. Furthermore, the departure of Vexing Bauble annihilated the presence of the Forge deck in the format, but opened the doors for another equally or more problematic deck to grow in presence: Oops! All Spells.

Lastly, although it hasn't quite dominated Legacy, Nadu, Winged Wisdom still has a huge influence on the decks listed below. Let's look at how the tiers are arranged, remembering that the numbers are based on analyzes from several other statistics sites to create combined data.

Reanimator – 11,49%

So, you're telling me that they banned the most important card in the deck and it still remains first place? In our analysis, Reanimator had a 17% presence – on some sites, the metric exceeded 20% before the ban. The thing is, Entomb is still the best unbanned tutor in the format and the numbers indicate that.

But now the deck is much more one-dimensional and, therefore, much more susceptible to graveyard hate. Another factor that helps the deck is that the number of answers in the main deck, such as Ghost Vacuum and Unlicensed Hearse, have decreased in presence.

Red Stompy – 9,02%

Another deck that saw some pieces get banned, Red just replaced Baubles with Chalice of the Void and moved on as if nothing had happened. Blood Moon still wins games on its own and the Sundering Eruption/Shatterskull Smashing duo helps a lot to maintain the consistency of Fury and Chrome Mox.

There is also a variant that came all the way from 2019 and brought Karn, the Great Creator out of retirement, with good results.

Eldrazi Stompy – 8,17%

The colorless threat remains strong in the upper tiers. Glaring Fleshraker and Kozilek's Command are still two of the strongest cards in Modern Horizons 3 and basically form the backbone of this deck. Its weakness against Blood Moon, however, puts a halt on its development.

Temur Delver – 7,68%

We talked about it in our last article, Temur took a sabbatical away from the spotlight while the Frog was running the show. Now it's back with a vengeance and has retook its position as Legacy's main Tempo deck.

Cephalid Breakfast – 6,31%

It wouldn't be a Tier 1 without Nadu, Winged Wisdom, would it? While the focus is still on the combo between Nomads en-Kor or Shuko with Cephalid Illusionist, MH3's terrifying bird provides an alternative game plan that threatens to engulf the opponent under a barrage of triggered abilities.

Oops! All Spells – 5,80%

If Temur Delver was the big winner after the bans, Oops was a solid second place. Without having to worry anymore about Vexing Bauble and with an increase in consistency due to MH3's MDFC (Boggart Trawler, Sink into Stupor, etc.), the deck went from petdeck status to the top of Tier 2. It's really popular on Magic Online, where it is seen as an easy deck to play several leagues in a row, since games are very quick.

Its high numbers raise a warning sign, as it presents a game pattern that inhibits the presence of decks without Force of Will, which are easy prey for the turn 1 combo in games where they're on the draw.

Painter – 5,03%

Although it still remains one of the most consistent combos in Legacy, it's undeniable that Painter used to thrive in a Frog format because it uses multiple Blasts (Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast) in the main deck. With the growth of Red Stompy and Eldrazi, this is an angle that loses effectiveness.

Sneak and Show – 4,20%

Speaking of the growth of Red and Eldrazi, Show and Tell decks were low, especially because Reanimator is such a difficult matchup, but they are experts at crushing Stompy. There is no deck that gives me more nightmares as a Red player than this one.

Dimir Aggro – 4,14%

The second nest deck on the pre-ban list, Dimir suffered from Frog's departure, but still found ways to remain relevant in the format.

Nadu Midrange – 2,95%

The deck in which the Nadu combo doesn't end the game right away... but it makes the opponent wish it did. In this deck, the bird is a value engine in what appears to be the shell of good old Uro Control.

Grixis Delver – 2,88%

Grixis trades the consistency of Izzet Delver and Dimir Aggro to have the best of both worlds. Overall, it has done better than Izzet, but worse than Dimir.

Storm – 2,61%

The different versions of Storm are grouped here – TES, ANT, Necro… What matters is making a million spells for the Tendrils of Agony count to be lethal. Another deck that is very happy with the Vexing Bauble's exit.

Stiflenought – 2,39%

Did I mention the 1 mana 12/12 today? Stiflenought is the deck for those who want to play control, but don't want to see the game drag on for 300 turns. Coincidentally, Stifle, Dress Down and Doorkeeper Thrull are very effective against a lot of other decks as well.

Death and Taxes – 1,99%

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain except Death, Taxes, and Death and Taxes.” As one of the most efficient and, relatively, cheapest decks in Legacy, D&T is a perennial presence in the format.

Lands – 1,92%

On the one hand, Lands looks favorably on the growth of its favorite prey: Delver. On the other hand, did I mention that the 2nd deck on the list plays with 4 to 8 Blood Moon effects? And that Oops and other combos rose in tiers? It's a very polarized deck, being excellent in one local meta and completely miserable in another.

Jeskai – 1,76%

Surprisingly, Jeskai took over as the best 100% Control deck in the format. Unfortunately, that means it's right in the middle of Tier 3. The current Meta has not been welcoming to Control decks.

Nadu Elfos – 1,75%

Didn't think I would find this archetype so far down, but I believe that part of its statistics are mixed with the Nadu Mid on some of the sites, which would explain the low percentage. Either way, after the Frog ban, decks with Black turned to the next broken creature on-color: Orcish Bowmasters. This is not good news for this archetype.

Doomsday – 1,70%

The rise of the Delver Variants did not represent good news for Legacy's most hardcore combo.

Bant/4Color Control – 1,29%

Honestly, this one took me by surprise. I knew that Control was on a downward trend, but Uro decks being less popular than Jeskai was not on my bucket list.

Cloudpost Ramp – 1,21%

The problem with Cloudpost Ramp is that several Tier 1 decks have very problematic threats for the deck: Blood Moon, Sowing Mycospawn, Wasteland. It's still fun to make so much mana that even the game next to you ends up using it, but life isn't easy!

Izzet Delver – 1,10%

The last of the Delver decks to appear on the list. It used to be the preferred variant, but since the banning of Expressive Iteration, players have found more success in other color combinations.

Forge Combo – 1,10%

We talked about the upwards, so let's talk about the downwards. Honestly, I didn't think the deck would plummet this hard, but it seems Defense Grid doesn't do nearly the job that Vexing Bauble did for the deck, and that doesn't even take into account the splash damage against other decks, especially Storm or Oops.

The combo is still strong, but much more vulnerable.

Ninjas – 1,06%

Another deck that I didn't expect to see on the list, but apparently it came riding the wave of Tempo decks and managed to show some popularity.

Sultai Beans – 0,99%

For those who want to play Murktide Regent, but don't want to be aggressive about it.

Monoblack – 0,96%

Although it was never the same after the Grief ban, Monoblack has recovered recently and is another budget option for Legacy.

Grull/Boros Initiative – 0,93%

My favorite deck has seen better days. The difference is that Red Stompy plays very similar to it, but is much more consistent. But if you see me at any Legacy table, you can be sure I'll have the Eorlingas by my side!

8-Cast – 0,91%

Another archetype that has been super powerful in the past, but now is just a shadow of its former self.

In the previous analysis, although we saw lots of decks, Tier 1 and 2 were very concentrated. Now we have a more spread out percentage among the other decks. My gloomy prediction for Nadu was not confirmed to the degree I feared, although the card still casts a shadow on the format, not to mention the problematic gameplay, especially in tabletop tournaments.

Another worrying factor is the significant amount of Oops, a deck that ends up demanding extra attention and can literally turn games into a coin flip: decks without turn 0 interaction that pair against it on the draw could lose games 1 and 3 without even playing a single card. The deck still loses enough games to itself as it is inherently inconsistent, but it is a reminder of what the existence of Thassa’s Oracle creates: today it is very easy to end the game with an empty deck.

These ramblings aside, the format seems healthy enough at this point. Let's see if, with the new sets, if things stay on track. Today I'll end here, I hope you enjoyed it, a big hug and see you next time!