Spoiler Highlight: Nova Hellkite and Devastating Onslaught in Legacy!

Greetings, Legacy community! We've just left the Final Fantasy universe and were unceremoniously thrown into Edge of Eternities, directly into outer space, no less!

This new set is themed after galactic science fiction and is nearly among us. In particular, two new cards in it have stood out to me because they have some potential for one of the most popular archetypes in Legacy: Nova Hellkite and Devastating Onslaught, which are interesting options for Red Stompy. Let's see how this deck can use these new cards.

When the first version of what we consider Red Stompy today came out, we played a finisher that doesn't make any sense nowadays: Rakdos Pit Dragon. As a result, it was called Dragon Stompy instead. Well, the years have passed and no Dragon ever saw play in this list again, though it did play threats like Legion Warboss, Laelia, the Blade Reforged, and Goblin Rabblemaster until it got to the current Broadside Bombardiers and Pyrogoyf.

Is it time to use a Dragon in this list once again?

Nova Hellkite is an expensive threat, as it costs 5 mana, but it can enter play and attack for 3 mana and standby for future plays, which shows some potential. Yet, this alone wouldn't justify using it: first, we need to consider the current context. And the current context is that Broadside Bombardiers is just absurd and will deal a ton of damage to our poor opponents alongside Hellkite.

For 3 mana, this Dragon will threaten 11 damage alongside your Goblins, and that's a lot of pressure! By the way, it can (though it's just a small possibility) end the game on turn 2: first, play Broadside Bombardiers on turn 1 (Sol Land + Chrome Mox or Simian Spirit Guide). Attack, Evoke Fury, and sacrifice the Elemental to throw 7 damage at your opponent. Then, on turn 2, Warp Nova Hellkite, attack with all you got, and throw the Dragon on them to deal another 7 damage to them.

One of the most common complaints I hear about this deck is that it struggles to end games. This, in turn, often gives time for the opponent to come back into the game even if they just have a few lock pieces in play. This Dragon is a flexible threat on its own and dangerously lethal alongside Bombardiers, which could fix this issue.

Its second ability isn't as effective considering Orcish Bowmasters have pushed most /1 creatures out of the format, but it is still great against a few targets, so it's still useful. Namely, it's great against pre-Delirium Dragon's Rage Channeler, untransformed Delver of Secrets, Noble Hierarch, the aforementioned Orcs, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Mother of Runes, and a few others.

You can also use it with Fury to kill bigger things. This is definitely not why you should use this card, but it is a nice bonus that will make a difference once or twice.

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of transforming and then activating Fable of the Mirror-Breaker's creature side with Red Stompy knows how lethal it is. Particularly with creatures like Pyrogoyf, Broadside Bombardiers, and even Caves of Chaos Adventurer or Goblin Rabblemaster. A copy of these cards with haste (despite temporary) usually ends games or nearly ends them.

However, none of that was ever enough to make a card like Molten Duplication see play... So why would it be different with Devastating Onslaught?

Because, my dear friends, an extra copy makes a huge difference when it is a copy of Pyrogoyf, Broadside Bombardiers, or Fury. Onslaught might be useful for 3 mana, but, for 5 mana onwards, it will end the game on the spot if it resolves. Copying a Pyrogoyf results in 6 triggers in all, 18 damage if they're only a 3/4, and 24 damage if they have +1 power. They also enter play and attack straight away.

This card is also quite decent with Broadside Bombardiers. It results in 6 damage through attacks, 10 damage when you throw the copies at your opponent's face, and at least 2 more damage when you sacrifice a Chrome Mox or Treasure token. You can deal even more damage if you have something more expensive.

Obviously, that's a pretty big "if". To make all of this work, your opponent can't destroy your target creature as an answer. Furthermore, this spell still costs 5 or more mana and needs to resolve in a meta full of Wasteland and Daze.

I mentioned above how Red Stompy struggles to finish games. Devastating Onslaught is an alternative that does exactly that. Just like a few combo pieces, it is a dead card if you draw it in the wrong time, but can be devastating if you topdeck it against an unprepared opponent. I believe one copy of it could find space in a few lists because of the element of surprise.

Obviously, the first list that could play these two cards and that we must discuss is Red Stompy. Since the Saga rule change introduced in Final Fantasy, this list unsurprisingly started to play Urza's Saga. By the way, by popular demand, I'll discuss this list in my next article or so. We'll bring you a full guide on the new version that plays the Saga.

In this deck, you'll use these two new cards as we mentioned above: Nova Hellkite is an extra threat that goes really well with Broadside Bombardiers and is quite respectable on its own, body-wise. A single, sly copy of Devastating Onslaught will catch unprepared opponents off-guard and open the way for an avalanche of Pyrogoyf copies with haste.

Another idea is to use Devastating Onslaught with Sneak Attack in the Mono Red version. This archetype hasn't done much recently, but putting a monster as well as a few extra copies of it in play for 1 mana is still a fun idea.

Edge of Eternities has been positively surprising. So far, I've seen more than a few interesting cards that could see play in Legacy. These two cards, for instance, could find a lot of space in Red Stompy.

Next week, the entire set will be revealed, so we'll take a closer look at everything that may impact Legacy.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!