This is a variant of the classic Black & White Deadguy Ale deck. The idea behind it is to employ the strategy of card advantage and board control using hand disruption and removal, while still maintaining an aggressive potential with efficient low casting-cost creatures and token generators. It is supported by a toolbox fueled by Enlightened Tutor, allowing the deck to face a wide variety of decks in Legacy.
The deck has acceleration in the form of Chrome Mox and Deathrite Shaman. Chrome Mox lets the player power-out several must-remove 2-Drops on Turn 1, (such as Dark Confidant, Tidehollow Sculler and Bitterblossom). Both accelerators also allow for a powerful Turn 2 play of Liliana, as well as the possibility of turning a Vindicate into a Sinkhole if the situation calls for it.
Besides acting as an accelerator, Deathrite Shaman is, of course, an incredibly versatile card that works as Maindeck-hate against quite a number of decks in Legacy, especially the ones that involve Graveyard-based strategies.
Many of the cards have a converted mana cost of 2 or less. The drawback of this is that it makes this deck very susceptible to Abrupt Decay and sweepers like Pernicious Deed. Hand disruption cards like Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy and Sculler can help overcome this weakness.
Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull were in the original build. However, after much play-testing, I felt that Batterskull was a threat that was too slow and clunky. It often sat in my hand after my Mystic got killed. Umezawa's Jitte is the only piece of equipment that this deck required.
Removing Batterskull negated the need for Stoneforge Mystic. Thus, a pair of Enlightened Tutor(s) are used in its place instead, allowing the player to not only fetch the Jitte, but to also fetch an O-Ring, a Sculler, a Bitterblossom, or that essential Chrome Mox in the unfortunate event of mana-screw. Furthermore, the inclusion of Enlightened Tutor opens up the possibility of using a very diverse toolbox sideboard, providing the pilot with the ability to easily retrieve Silver Bullets against each of the many different decks of the diverse Legacy Metagame.
Another of the deck's main weaknesses, is the amount of life-loss that comes with it. The combination of Thoughtseize, Confidant, Bitterblossom and fetchlands makes it very painful, speeding things up for any aggressive deck, especially Burn. Jitte, Warmth and Circle of Protection are the main weapons against such match-ups.
