Legacy

Blue What Stoneforgfuuuu: How to get your game on!

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Inferno. It’s been quite a while and I must say it’s been too long. Unfortunately events in my personal life have kept me from writing for a while. While I won’t go into details I will just say that the last two months I would rather have been skinned alive with a filet knife than deal with what happened. That being said, let’s get into something Juicy! Over the weekend we saw the best of the best line up and take down every challenger for the coveted title of World Champion. No doubt about it, it was a blood bath, with Channel Fireball’s team leading the way into the Top 8. But I am not here to talk about that, what I want to talk about is one of the members of the USA Nationals team, and his Legacy deck. If you haven’t seen this beauty perhaps you should take a look at this video here:

This deck is just sick, and really has some serious playability to it. While Ochoa’s deck runs a little light on its land base and runs [card]Counterspell[/card] over [card]Daze[/card], the capability of the deck is intense. While it isn’t surprising to see U/W Stoneforge in Legacy, this deck runs a little different than current Stoneforge decks. This differs slightly as it lacks a full counter package, which comes back to that classic card [card]Daze[/card].

However, keeping in mind that its strength comes from another aspect, it runs [card]Spellstutter Sprite[/card] and [card]Vendilion Clique[/card]. The added bonus of creature and cycle ability gives it a much more diverse flavour. When I built the deck myself, I sacrificed 3 lands for added creatures. I personally felt this would operate better for my own needs.

My list is almost identical to Ochoa’s with the exception of the variants that I included.

[deck title=Blue-White Stoneforge]
[Creatures]
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
3 Spell Snare
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batterskull
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
4 Force of Will
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
[/Spells]
[Land]
1 Karakas
3 Wasteland
1 Riptide Laboratory
2 Mutavault
4 Flooded Strand
3 Island
4 Tundra
2 Plains
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
2 Disenchant
3 Path to Exile
2 Wrath of God
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Flusterstorm
2 Tormod’s Crypt
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

As you can see I added the [card]Daze[/card] package for the extra kick, plus it’s always good against a Force when they are tapped out those first few turns and can’t pay the extra mana.

During the testing period I played with the deck I went against quite a few different archetypes in the 6+ hours of play.

Reanimator: This match up was very favourable, considering that Reanimator really relies on dropping an Iona, or other legendary creature in the first few turns to lock you out. [card]Karakas[/card] + Crypts lock them out of their game and gives you a distinct advantage, along with their two drop reanimation spells [card]Spell Snare[/card] adds that extra bonus of chicanery, as the proverbial permission source.

Dredge: Locking Dredge out isn’t easy the first match up. In fact if they have a nut draw their first turn, which they will most likely mulligan to, it’s pretty much out of reach for you to operate effectively. I suggest dropping Crypts and to mulligan aggressively unless you have a very strong counter package your opening hand.

Burn: Burn is Burn, much like Dredge, your pre-board options will rely on your counters. Post board you will be racing them just as much but with the added bonus of your Leylines. Since you are running Blue and White, even if you don’t get the Leyline your opening hand, you still have the option to play it.

Maverick: G/W aggro is tough to deal with; they are very efficient with their mana base as well as their aggression. Keeping strong hands will benefit you. What I mean by strong hands is that pre-board most Maverick decks don’t run Artifact hate, so fetching the sword or Batterskull that second turn and dropping it out as fast as possible is great. Be prepared to take out their [card]Gaddock Teeg[/card] and their fetch sources. Be weary of the [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card] as it can screw your land fetch when it becomes more and more vital as the game progresses. Board in extra removal such as Path, Wraths, and Swords.

RUG/Canadian Thresh: Again this will be a match that will set you up for either a quick victory or a quick defeat; much like the Stoneforge deck it runs a strong counter package however with the added red and more instants and sorceries than creature to flip [card]Delver of Secrets[/card]. An added tech for a sideboard option is the inclusion of [card]Chalice of the Void[/card] which shuts down a good 2/3rds of their deck. Since my own sideboard didn’t have that option, I relied again on strong creature removal and the Leylines to prevent their burn package from hitting me. This was very positive in results. Don’t be afraid to mulligan into it, locking them out of their spells is vital for your survival because, much like Zoo decks, they are very potent in laying down the beats hard and fast before you really have anything going for you.

Storm/Combo: One word [card]Flusterstorm[/card]! I can’t say how good this card is against them, because it is ridiculous. With perhaps the exception of High Tide, who floods their mana base, [card]Flusterstorm[/card] offers up an ideal package to just irritate their motives when you pay one blue, storm pays one 10+ times. Again mulligan heavily if you have to and be patient. Let them go off, because even if they have a counter package your storm count will increase causing them to scoop. Who knew a one drop spell would be so so good against combo?

Well those were the match ups I had and suffice it to say there is more and more all the time. Be prepared for everything, counter what you need to, not what you want to. Remember that your own Snapcasters get the job done right. Got 4 lands, 2 white and 2 blue? Plus a Force backup? Swords a creature, drop the Snapcaster, protect if you need to, Swords the other one. Sure it’s giving them life, but you have denied them.

The tempo of this deck is fantastic. Games will vary and each person makes calls differently on what to keep. If you want a super fun deck to play, then I suggest trying out this version of U/W Stoneforge.

Anyways take care for now, until next time! GG

Got issues? Hate Mail? Glorious battle stories? Shoot me an email amunra666@gmail.com or get a hold of me via twitter:

@sithholocron

I’d love to hear form you all.

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