Despite MTG Foundations having been out for almost two months and no new premier sets have joined the party yet, Standard has seen some intriguing metagame shifts in recent weeks. One of the most interesting developments has been the rise of the Esper Pixie shell.
This value-centric strategy features a slew of hyper-efficient creatures and enchantments. The emergence of this deck has forced players to adapt even further. One such example of this is the rise in popularity of Wilf-Leaf Liege.
Wilf-Leaf Liege is a unique card with a handful of strong abilities, but it has more important applications now that Esper Pixie is a dominant force in Standard. In fact, well-known MTG content creator d00mwake finished day one of the 1400+ player Magic Spotlight Series main event in Atlanta with an amazing 9-0 record, boasting a playset of Wilt-Leaf Liege in his deck! So, it’s only fair we highlight the elite Elf Knight and the powerful Selesnya deck it shines in.
A Go-Wide Payoff
Wilt-Leaf Liege is a strong card with a bit of an awkward mana cost. Part of the reason it hasn’t been seeing too much play in Standard up to this point is that Selesnya aggro hadn’t made a ton of noise until recently. This Selesnya shell, however, is a perfect home for the card.
As a 4/4, Wilt-Leaf Liege survives versus most removal spells out of the red aggressive decks. From there, the buff it provides to your squad makes it easier to close games. This deck is built to go wide, making Wilt Leaf Liege’s power-boosting ability that much more threatening.
After building out your board with Pawpatch Recruit and Overlord of the Mistmoors, Wilt-Leaf Liege serves as the perfect follow-up to put the nail in the coffin. It also pairs nicely with Seraphic Steed. Not only does Seraphic Steed attack as a 4/4 in combat, making it much more likely it will survive, but Wilt-Leaf Liege conveniently has just enough power to Saddle up Seraphic Steed by itself.
A Metagame Choice
Beyond the card’s natural role in Selesnya, we mentioned that Wilt-Leaf Liege has been seeing increased play with the rise of Esper Pixie. This is in large part because of Wilt-Leaf Liege’s final ability. If your opponent ever causes you to discard it, you instead get to put it directly into play for free.
This makes the card a slam dunk against Hopeless Nightmare. One of the strongest lines of play the Esper deck has is to cast Hopeless Nightmare, then bounce it with cards like Nurturing Pixie and replay it repeatedly. In most cases, this quickly drains the opponent of their resources and life total. The thing is, Wilf-Leaf Liege can completely turn the tables in your favor.
All you have to do is choose to discard Wilt-Leaf Liege when Hopeless Nightmare enters, and you get a free 4/4. Nowhere to Run, one of the Esper deck’s premium removal spells, doesn’t even take care of the issue. Some strategies have started adopting Wilt-Leaf Liege as sideboard tech for the matchup, even if hard-casting it is difficult.
It’s cool to see yet another MTG Foundations reprint play a major role in shaping Standard. This serves as a reminder to always keep adapting to the ebbs and flows of the metagame in front of you.
