Death and Taxes -
This deck is all about having lots of small utility creatures that makes your opponents deck much worse while you swing in with equipped creatures.
Creatures:
Mother of Runes is one of the most powerful 1-drops ever printed. She protects herself and the other creatures in this deck in combat and from removal.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben disrupts so many strategies in a format with decks trying to cast non-creature spells as efficiently as possible. Because of first strike, she can be extremely useful in combat and carrying the equipment in the deck. She can be saved with Karakas making her quite a bit harder to kill.
Stoneforge Mystic acts as a tutor for the equipment package in the deck and a way to play them cheaply while also circumventing counterspells.
Phyrexian Revoker is a versitile answer to cards like Lion's Eye Diamond, Griselbrand, Sneak Attack and Jace, the Mind Sculptor among many others. He shuts down strategies in most competitive lists.
Spirit of the Labyrinth stops the opponent from drawing through their deck from sources like Brainstorm and Treasure Cruise. Like Phyrexian Revoker, this card can be boarded out often but is useful against most legacy decks.
Flickerwisp is the creature with a hundred uses. It can save creatures in combat, reset come into play abilities or cards with counters, chain with itself, remove cards like Counterbalance, Standstill, or Chalice of the Void to clear the path for your turn. Stack it with other Flickerwisps to remove things for an entire turn. The list goes on. It is also a 3 power flier which is extremely relevant.
Spells:
Swords to Plowshares is the best removal spell in the game by quite a lot.
Aether Vial essentially gives the deck a way to play creatures so they are uncounterable and can be played at instant speed. This is particularly useful for cards that I may want to play during their turn either to respond to an action like an attack or casting of a spell I can disrupt, or I can play cards at the end of my opponents turn making them harder to remove. Also, having the ability to play Mangara of Corondor at the end of their turn means he use his ability each turn.
Umezawa's Jitte is the strongest equipment ever printed (that is still legal in legacy) and becomes even more overpowered when equipped to Mirran Crusader. Having the ability to consistently put 4 counters on Jitte, half of them between the first and second combat damage step is incredibly strong. You can use the counters to pump up the equipped creature or use the counters to deal with opponents creatures. With the rise of Young Pyromancer decks, this is even more important than before.
Sword of Fire and Ice is a strong equipment card that gives the equipped creature protection from two very popular colors in legacy that happen to also be very complimentary to Mirran Crusader. It also has the best abilities of the swords cycle, allowing for direct damage and card draw.
Batterskull is good in almost all matchups. Lifegain and vigilance are relevant against most non-combo decks.
Land:
Wasteland is a great source of mana denial especially since most decks run mostly nonbasic lands.
Rishadan Port can also serve as mana denial. It is also a great way to use up extra lands once Aether Vials are online.
Karakas has been discussed in conjunction with the cards in this deck, but it's also useful for bouncing any of your opponents legendaries.
Cavern of Souls is just another way to circumvent counterspells. Usually naming humans as the creature type.
Horizon Canopy is played mostly for the ability to draw a card at instant speed. It has gotten me out of tight spots.
Sideboard:
Containment Priest is a powerful new card that shuts down many unfair strategies like Show and Tell, Elves, and Reanimator. It also hurts this deck by making the Vials useless so you have to board in with caution. It has a great interaction with Flickerwisp to exile a creature permanently.
Ethersworn Canonist is also pretty good against unfair strategies including Elves and Storm as well as some fair strategies like UR Delver.
Aven Mindcensor is a creature that most often makes fetch lands much worse, but can also be great for any deck with tutoring abilities. This does not effect your Stoneforge Mystic.
Council's Judgment acts as additional removal in the deck. It also has the unique ability to hit cards that can't be targeted like True-Name Nemesis or Geist of Saint Traft
Cataclysm provides a good answer against decks that flood the board. Young Pyromancer decks, Elves, and Affinity are ones that come to mind.
Enlightened Tutor is probably the most flexible sideboard card. It allows 1-of sideboards to have a variety of answers to various decks. It can also help me get cards in the mainboard like Phyrexian Revoker, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Aether Vial, or any of the equipment in a pinch.
Rest in Peace is an answer to any deck that relies on the graveyard. This includes Dredge and Reanimator, as well as decks running Tarmogoyf , Deathrite Shaman, and delve cards..
Absolute Law protects against popular red removal like Lightning Bolt, Forked Bolt, or Electrickery as well as red creatures like Goblin Guide and Young Pyromancer.
Grafdigger's Cage is an alternative graveyard hate card with Rest in Peace. It does not have quite as many applications but is still a strong option
Ratchet Bomb is a useful sweeper that can get tokens, costless cards like Insectile Abberation or low cost permanents very easily.
Pithing Needle is an additional Phyrexian Revoker with a few minor changes. Although it's cheaper, it can't be vialed in. It's also harder to remove and can name lands. Revoker is definitely the choice for the main deck, but Pithing Needle is a great answer for decks running a lot of creature removal or annoying lands.
Check out my other legacy decks!
Miracles
Pox
Death and Taxes
Elves
Burn
