At this point, it’s well-known just how powerful Up the Beanstalk is. The card is now banned both in Standard and in Modern and consistently shows up in a couple Pioneer archetypes. It even has what it takes to make a splash in Legacy.
While the enchantment most commonly shows up in value-oriented control decks in Legacy, players continue to find innovative ways to abuse it. In fact, yesterday, one player managed to go 5-0 in a Magic Online Legacy League with a blue tempo shell splashing for Up the Beanstalk. This is quite an unusual build that has a lot of cool synergies present.
Triggering Up the Beanstalk
In order to get the most from Up the Beanstalk in a format like Legacy, you need access to a lot of cards that you can play for cheap that still have mana value five or greater. In this deck, you’ll find a ton of cards that meet these criteria.
Obviously, Force of Will appears as a four-of. Force of Will is an extremely important tool for blue decks that allows you to fight over any problematic spell the opponent casts without investing any mana. Up the Beanstalk helps mitigate the downside of having to pitch a card to cast it for free by drawing you another card via its triggered ability.
It’s also not uncommon for Delve cards to make an appearance in Up the Beanstalk shells. This archetype opts to play Ethereal Forager over Murktide Regent which is an interesting choice. Ethereal Forager is weak to Lightning Bolt, but the upside of being able to return cantrips to your hand is strong.
Quantum Riddler is another beefy threat that makes the cut. Whether you’re casting it through its Warp cost or paying the full five mana, you’ll get your bonus from Up the Beanstalk.
Where this deck sets itself apart is with the inclusion of a playset of Temporal Mastery. Temporal Mastery has some appeal in Legacy since you can set up Miracle with Brainstorm. However, most Up the Beanstalk decks aren’t interested in this type of effect. In order to maximize Temporal Mastery, you really need to be pressuring your opponent or generating extra value with attack triggers or Planeswalkers. Fortunately, this deck checks both boxes.
Up the Beanstalk Meets Classic Tempo
As much as Up the Beanstalk encourages you to bury your opponents in card advantage, part of what gives this deck its edge and separates it from other Up the Beanstalk strategies is its classic tempo elements. You’re capable of playing a grindy game with the enchantment and Ethereal Forager, but you’re also able to close games in a flash.
This becomes apparent when you notice the full four copies of Delver of Secrets and Daze. This shell uses more than enough instants and sorceries to accommodate Delver, and the payoff is huge. A 3/2 flier for one mana is still a beating to this day. The combination of Daze and Wasteland work to protect your Delvers and help you cross the finish line.
Cantrips like Brainstorm and Ponder make it trivial to transform Delver. They also fuel Ethereal Forager. Once you have Delver or Forager online, Temporal Mastery becomes a much scarier card. You get to further cement your advantage while putting your opponent on the backfoot.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Ultimately, there are tradeoffs to constructing your deck this way and not keeping it more streamlined. One positive to incorporating Up the Beanstalk into your Delver strategy is that you have a more robust gameplan when games go long. Against slower control decks with Swords to Plowshares, your constant influx of cards my overwhelm the opponent.
At the same time, unlike traditional Up the Beanstalk decks, the presence of Delver, Daze, and Wasteland gives you a better shot at containing artifact ramp shells like Mystic Forge combo. Against combo archetypes, including Oops! All Spells, these three cards shine bright.
Given your heavy slant towards blue, you even get to make use of Back to Basics in the sideboard, which the multi-color Beanstalk builds won’t do. You’re less vulnerable to opposing copies of Wasteland as a result.
On the flip side, though, sometimes this fusion of archetypes can come back to bite you. By playing Up the Beanstalk and Delver in the same deck, Orcish Bowmasters becomes a real problem. You have little recourse once Bowmasters resolves due to your lack of removal spells. Bowmasters then makes it tough to stick Delver or Brazen Borrower in the first place, while taking advantage of Up the Beanstalk.
Your lack of removal makes it harder to keep heavy creature decks in check, too. Nadu, Winged Wisdom completely brick walls all of your Delvers and Foragers once it sticks.
Still, there’s no denying the power of Up the Beanstalk. It’ll be interesting to see if this blend catches on and makes some noise moving forward. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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