this format

Legacy forum

Posted on April 16, 2014, 8:26 p.m. by K34

Why is it everyone says legacy is so uber-competative? Is there something that sets it apart from like vintage or casual by a vast margin?

zandl says... #2

My best guess would be the outlandish price barrier, the fact that the average player has been playing for a long time and is thus skilled, and the fact that Legacy players must inherently subscribe to the unwritten doctrine that Legacy is infinitely better than any other format.

April 16, 2014 8:29 p.m.

zandl says... #3

And by "outlandish price barrier", I meant to reference that only people who are very serious about Magic would dump $800+ into a single deck to have a chance of winning a tournament. These people are likely to know a lot about the game, making the format more competitive with everyone trying to outwit one another.

April 16, 2014 8:31 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #4

Generally speaking, people don't go out of their way to acquire Legacy cards unless they plan on being competitive with them. Legacy staples are more expensive and rare than staples for other popular formats. As a result, they're very expensive and hard to acquire, even in trades.

April 16, 2014 8:39 p.m.

mckin says... #5

Legacy is crazy fun if youve never played it. The ability to do stupid things is just fun. Even on the receiveing end sometimes. Counterbalance, deathblade, The epic storm, ad nausem tendrils, show and tell, 12 post, mono blue martyr, doomsday, pox, junkblade, lands, jund, delver are just fun.

Unlike standard were decks are extremely similar, and top decks are the same 4 decks, legacy has many many more decks that can show up out of no where, the power level of tier 1 to 1.5 to 2 is soo much narrower and you cant just play your deck, you need to know what your playing against. crazy combo deck youve never seen? youll lose to wtf is actually happening? do i fight over this? if he counters back am i happy with 3 for 1? etc etc

April 16, 2014 8:55 p.m.

The Doctor says... #6

I personally feel that legacy is dying, or dead already.

April 16, 2014 9:09 p.m.

mckin says... #7

the largest legacy GP was last year.

April 16, 2014 9:43 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #8

@mckin: Legacy is dying in the sense that the barrier to entry makes it very difficult for new blood to come into the format. WOTC is also focusing most of its efforts on supporting and developing Modern, which is much more accessible to the majority of players. Most of the growth appears to be occurring in Modern rather than in Legacy.

A lot of people are anticipating that Legacy will effectively die once people simply refuse to buy into the format. I think at that point, demand for Legacy staples will stagnate, and the format will reach an equilibrium of sorts. It will probably take a long time for the format to "die" (if it ever does) in the sense that people don't play it and WOTC doesn't support it.

April 17, 2014 12:12 a.m.

mckin says... #9

"dying" and "growing slower than modern" are different though, although i cant argue with barrier to entry, it mainly exists in mana base, which when fetchlands were $100 each, turned into duals a lot easier, and ive already seen decks such as miracles running 1 of shocks for additional u/w source along with spec on onslaught fetch reprints, force of will reprints, a 4th wasteland reprint.

id say its dying in the sense that people are, its getting stronger currently but not at the rate of its younger brother is now, and eventually it will start to get weaker, but it still has time to grow and get bigger, and wouldnt say its even on its way out yet.

April 17, 2014 11:22 a.m.

Dalektable says... #10

Legacy seems Interesting mainly because of all the crazy shit you can do in the format. The problem is the barrier for entry is higher than that of any other format, and it is uber competitive due to that. I would love to try legacy, mainly because resolving a turn two Griselbrand with show and tell seems like a lot of fun to me. I watched a Legacy GP on MTG's youtube channel and it was Show and Tell vs Esper Stoneblade and it was just incredibly fun to watch.

April 20, 2014 9:44 a.m.

mckin says... #11

Turn 1 reanimate him instesd! Lol

April 20, 2014 3:41 p.m.

Necrotesque says... #12

@zandi: 800$ for a Legacy deck? More like 8000$ good sir.

April 23, 2014 12:56 a.m.

chicagobearz says... #13

I have 3 3/4 legacy decks. I need a few cards to complete a fish deck, but 3 are complete with mad fetch lands, full sets of Tundra and Volcanic Island Force of Will and so many legacy staples. No way to tell how much I've invested at this point. I've been collecting fairly seriously since 98 and I know that this is pretty clique, but those were different times. The Urza's block was coming out, one of my all time favorite not just for cards but also flavor, and classic cards were 10-15 bucks tops. My mom accidentally sold better collections for next to nothing at garage sales than most casual players will ever have. I'm talking signed sets of Masticore and City of Traitors , Stifle and gobs of other cards now 20x the value. Legacy has all my favorite cards and I am lucky enough to have the disposable income to keep my decks current and competitive. So legacy, by far, is my personal favorite. There is a small community of players in my town and serious games are a bit hard to find. To newer players considering using the hardcore spells legacy contains, I suggest Commander. 4xWasteland is more or less required now, at least 200$, which would get you a pretty decent start on a top tier commander deck. To any serious legacy gamers good for you. Keep it up. If any of you are ever around Anchorage Alaska and get sick of this outdoors thing i hear about, hit me up for a beatdown.

April 24, 2014 3:14 a.m.

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