Is "Stax" a relevant deck in legacy right now?
Legacy forum
Posted on Dec. 8, 2014, 1:02 a.m. by tyforthevenom
I'm curious if it's playable right now or just plain "I hate you so much I'll play a terrible decklist that stops us both playing"
Hjaltrohir says... #3
Sorry, that's vintage. I n legacy it is played but nowhere near as much...
December 8, 2014 2:11 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #5
MUD in legacy is a better deck (IMO) as it is able to actually make threats quickly and still go the stax route for the most part. MUD did well at GP New Jersey but in general isnt as good against these delver decks. Also it has a really rough time on the draw and has to both MUD and stax have to mulligan a bunch which isnt good at high level tournaments.
December 8, 2014 2:37 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #6
Also MTG top 8 doesnt have a stax deck in legacy doing well since December of 2013
December 8, 2014 2:39 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #8
I feel that it stinks. there are no redeeming qualities of playing it over MUD. It has less of a threat density and gets smashed by a plethora of unfair decks like sneak and show, reanimator and counter spells. Plus as i already said, it straight up loses on the draw. Wasteland/crucible also isnt great right now since UR and a bunch of ther decks play basics and smokestack/tangle wire are insignificant vs pyromancers tokens.
December 8, 2014 3:45 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #9
Friend of mine got a settlement from an accident at work and decided to join me a gp lille, he's a control player but loves rogue decks, this is why I thought of Stax and asking bout it
December 8, 2014 4 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #10
he should play high tide if he can learn how to play it. otherwise i suggest just handing him death and taxes or UR delver
December 8, 2014 4:08 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #11
We're friends coz we share a extremely deep hatred for delver
December 8, 2014 4:14 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #12
well high tide is still a good option and its good right now if he can play it. same for D and T
December 8, 2014 4:22 a.m.
You don't have the mana base in Legacy to play Stax. Not only are you lacking key cards (Mox Emerald, Mishra's Workshop, Sol Ring, et al), you're also more likely to play against decks packing Stifle, Rishadan Port, and a plethora of ways to attack your mana base.
You'd be at serious risk of locking yourself out with your own Tangle Wire or Smokestack after your opponent's first Wasteland. MUD or Smallpox are much better styles of prison decks. Even Stasis would be more viable.
December 8, 2014 6:16 a.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #14
Actually MUD Stax in Legacy is running 12 Post lands as can be seen here.
It's a great deck to be running in a Delver heavy environment but can just straight up lose to combo.
December 8, 2014 7:25 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #15
I know the decklist fluffybunnypants but MUD is the name associated with Metalworker decks
December 8, 2014 7:32 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #17
Then it's not the Stax deck I saw which is literally "I hate you and i want you to know it"
December 8, 2014 7:38 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #18
He's decided to try and build mono red control... Any suggestions on creature removal/artifact tutoring for him (he plans to win with effects like Boros Reckoner and doubling effects
December 8, 2014 9:14 a.m.
Mono red control is pretty much the Drogon Stompy archetype. Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void and Ancient Tomb. Chalice for 1 on turn 1 and watch Delver go to the corner and cry itself to sleep. Finish off the opponent with a number of different ways:
- Moltensteel Dragon for a quick clock or any other undercosted dragon - the traditional approach.
- Hanweir Watchkeep Flip and other werewolves - lock the opponent and beat him with undercosted beaters.
- Moggcatcher and a Goblin toolbox - the newest itteration of Goblins more than Stompy. Still has a solid control shell. Is generally awesome.
December 8, 2014 10:28 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #20
He's homebrewing more or less, loves the idea of t1 Stuffy Doll t2 Blood Moon t3 'splosion or Dictate of the Twin Gods after declaring blockers
December 8, 2014 10:59 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #21
I mean if he is brewing with those cards I don't think you will want to hear our opinion on this because stuffy doll and dictate of the twin gods are bad on legacy. There is a monored control deck called mogg catcher he can play. It's sort of like stax
December 8, 2014 2:53 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #22
He's brewing with everything and anything testing over and over again til he gets something that doesn't lose to my deck for the event in a best of 5
December 8, 2014 3:10 p.m.
I feel like we need an example Stax deck to compare to, because this thread keeps having it come up.
When we think of MUD, we think of decks like this one. MUD uses fast, colorless mana to pump out large, disruptive artifacts (most of which are creatures). The decks are completely colorless. Their main plan of attack is to pump out early Wurmcoil Engines, Lodestone Golems, and Sphere of Resistance/Thorn of Amethyst.
Stax, on the other hand, is built around Smokestack. An example deck list can be found here. They are not exclusively colorless like their MUD cousins (another example can be found here). They go lighter on the creatures in favor of putting their opponent in a lock with multiple prison pieces. Using Crucible of Worlds, they can slowly grind their opponent down before finishing them off with a big robot. Or even just attacking with Metalworkers and Goblin Welder.
MUD has already been ported over to Legacy with several variants, including 12-Post MUD. Stax hasn't been built in Legacy because it lacks the appropriate mana base, as well as other key cards (Balance and Tinker being the obvious ones).
There are definitely Legacy decks that exist which are similar to Stax. Examples include Werewolf Prison, Turbo Tezz, and the previously mentioned 12-Post MUD. As far as a direct port to Legacy Stax, no such deck exists that has put up any good results.
P.S. The term "Stax" originates from "$t4ks." This is an old joke among the Vintage community the deck was "The $4,000 Solution" because of how well it beat up on the meta at the time. Crucible of Worlds, Trinisphere, and Chalice of the Void had just been printed and they quickly took over the format. I mention this because the deck is played almost exclusively in Vintage. Back in 2004, the deck cost around $4,000 USD to build.
Hjaltrohir says... #2
It is the top played deck on MTGO so Id guess it is being played. It is also called MUD.
December 8, 2014 2:10 a.m.