Legacy is an all-powerful format where the vast majority of cards throughout Magic’s history are legal. There are tons of strong decks to choose from, but you need a robust gameplan to compete. Unsurprisingly, in a format ruled by dual lands, most decks require you to shell out a lot of money to play. This can make it difficult to get involved.
However, there are exceptions. In fact, over the weekend, Simon Kamerow managed to win the NRG series $2,500 Legacy Trial with a mono-red burn deck that’s absurdly cheap! Besting a field dominated by Reanimator is an impressive feat for burn, so let’s dive in and see what the deck has going in its favor.
Modern Burn Overlap
One thing you’ll probably notice when looking at this decklist is that it has a lot in common with Modern burn. Many of the cards overlap.
The entire creature section is made up of Modern burn staples. Monastery Swiftspear and Goblin Guide are your best options. While Goblin Guide does have a notable downside, this archetype is all about efficiency and pushing damage, and Goblin Guide delivers on both accounts. A couple copies of Eidolon of the Great Revel round things out, giving you extra reach.
All three of these creatures threaten to pile on damage if left unchecked. Even if your opponent has removal, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get a hit in with your Hasty threat or deal your opponent two damage with Eidolon’s triggered ability.
The rest of the deck is chock full of burn spells. Unsurprisingly, Lightning Bolt makes an appearance. Lava Spike, Skewer the Critics, Rift Bolt and Boltwave join the party, too. Lava Spike and Boltwave may not be able to kill creatures, but your primary goal is to get your opponent’s life total down to 0 in a flash. As such, you’d much rather play Lava Spike and Boltwave over more flexible but more expensive options.
Legacy Additions
Where things get more interesting is when you include additions that are not Modern legal. Chain Lightning is one of three strong upgrades and is as close to Lightning Bolt as you’re going to get. The inclusion of Chain Lightning means you have eight ways to kill a problematic one-drop like Guide of Souls on turn one and stop yourself from falling far behind.
The other two Legacy additions are huge difference makers. The first of these is Price of Progress. Price of Progress is a messed-up card. All it takes is your opponent having two nonbasic lands in play and you’re getting your money’s worth. As games go long, topdecking Price of Progress threatens to win you games no other card would.
This card actually has a lot of interesting play to it. In some games, you’ll want to wait on Price of Progress to get as much damage as possible out of the potent instant. You want to do your best to avoid getting it hit by Daze or Force of Will.
Notably, your opponent can also use their copies of Wasteland to blow up their own nonbasic lands so that they take significantly less damage. As such, setting up the best possible Price of Progress takes some work.
The final maindeck addition is Fireblast. Casting Fireblast is costly. Fortunately, sacrificing two lands won’t matter if the opponent loses the game when it resolves. Fireblast leads to your most explosive draws since it requires no mana to cast.
Budget For the Win
Burn has long been a low tier option in Legacy. It has a simple gameplan that is easily exploitable. This deck’s excellent performance this weekend goes to show that if players aren’t prepared, you may have a window to take advantage.
This decklist lines up surprisingly well versus Dimir Reanimator, the most popular deck in the format. As good as getting Archon of Cruelty into play can be, paying eight life with Reanimate to do so is tough when your life total is under duress. Thoughtseize is quite mediocre in the matchup, and Wasteland does absolutely nothing against this 18 basic Mountain manabase. Add in a few pieces of graveyard hate to the sideboard, and things get even easier.
Given that burn is not on peoples’ radars, you won’t find many life gain elements in the sideboards of other strategies. You are immune to Blood Moon effects out of Moon Stompy, and Price of Progress lines up well against Nadu, Winged Wisdom shells.
Many players are fired up after this deck’s win this weekend, and for good reason. The only card that costs over $10 in the whole deck is Mindbreak Trap in the sideboard! Seeing a Legacy deck that’s cheaper than tier one Standard decks succeed in a high-powered environment is awesome.
There are definitely weaknesses to mono-red burn. Without access to Force of Will, you’re vulnerable to fast combo archetypes such as Oops! All Spells or Storm in game one.
Still, you at least have access to strong sideboard cards to help. Perhaps mono-red burn will gain more traction following this win. We’ll just have to wait and see how players respond and adapt.
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