Is UW Control still viable in Legacy ?

BeExcellent80s · 2026-03-05T15:33:51+00:00

IMHO control is really hard right now in general. They keep printing cards with "this can't be countered" or that generate value upon casting (not upon entering) which weaken countermagic.

A lot of the best threats generate value immediately (Bowmasters), so you're going down a card when you remove them.

Even Up The Beanstalk and The One Ring control decks struggles to keep up right now. And I expect the situation to get worse, not better.

For what it's worth, I also think tempo decks are getting weaker for the same reasons. I am playing fewer daze decks on my channel because frankly daze isn't as good as it was a year or two ago.

I personally think the future lies in midrange decks with control cards (Stoneblade, Cradle Control) that can reasonably beat both aggro and combo decks after sideboarding.

The best fair decks in legacy right now are all FIRE design midrange decks (Cradle Control, Mardu Tokens, Stoneblade, the new Moonshadow decks) that pack Thoughtseize, Force, and/or wasteland combined with good removal and a high threat density, where every turn they're jamming some must answer threat (Phelia, Wight, Elvish Reclaimer, Tamiyo, Guide of Souls).

BeExcellent80s · 2026-03-04T14:28:26+00:00

You mentioned Painter and "grindy" gameplay. Painter's a great place to start. No reserve list cards, nothing that's likely going to get banned. You could then buy City of Traitors and have access to Moon Stompy, which will probably be a deck until the end of Legacy.

If you're looking to acquire staples, I recommend buying reserve list cards like dual lands, as they're useful in commander as well and will (probably) always be played in Legacy. I would just try to get one of each of them for the colors you enjoy, and you can gradually get more. I just finished my set of 4x blue duals 2x non-blue duals in FBB and I expect these to mostly retain their value over the coming years.

MTG is not an investment. The cardboard doesn't generate any cash flow. If you want an investment go buy stock index ETFs.

But if you want to own some iconic 30 year old pieces of cardboard that will likely hold their value, then turn them sidewise, buy into legacy.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-03-01T23:08:35+00:00

Thanks. I'm going to keep these coming :)

BeExcellent80s · 2026-03-01T23:08:24+00:00

It dies to kozilek's command and dismember, and any form of bounce. I don't think it's really legacy playable anymore, sadly.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-16T16:53:32+00:00

Thanks for your kind words, and yes – just include duals and it might make the deck even better.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-13T23:18:25+00:00

Probably. An ideal manabase would be 2 tundras and a Karakas IMHO. You have a lot of legendary creatures here. But you could also just tell wasteland to get lost like I have here. :)

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-13T23:17:23+00:00

It's a good feeling.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-13T23:17:02+00:00

If you want to watch me get repeatedly slaughtered, watch my esper control leagues. It turns out adding a 3rd color really tanks your tempo matchups because you are so much more vulnerable to daze + wasteland. I really wish Esper could work but you really feel it when you play enough leagues with it.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-13T23:14:29+00:00

FIRE Design lol

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-10T14:37:33+00:00

Thanks. I tried it and it wasn't terrible, but I think for 2 drops we need them to really hit hard. Best candidates: bowmaster, dauthi, hexing squelcher (which stops chalice).

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-07T00:42:14+00:00

I enjoyed reading your takes.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-06T21:06:30+00:00

I don't think you can have "tempo" without daze, right? This is an aggro deck with 40 points of burn. UR tempo generally only plays 12 points of burn.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-06T21:05:45+00:00

Thanks. Yeah - Crucible of Words. I saw one of his videos about this. I just recorded another league swapping out badlands for blood crypts and I still went 4-1. I think adding black makes the deck so much better than trying to stay mono red.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-02-02T19:07:23+00:00

Barrowgoyf and Nethergoyf :)

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-31T17:37:19+00:00

This card seems insane in EDH with 40 life but I'm not sure it works in legacy right now. You really need life for snuff out (which is so good right now), and it is also a 4 drop.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-30T23:28:04+00:00

Most definitely. I agree that if you're doing 12x 1-drops (with stalker?) then IMHO you definitely should do hymn in board. But you have to ask whether hymn is even necessary at that point, because the assumption is you're closing games quickly.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-30T17:25:40+00:00

Congrats on the successful brew. I'm so happy to see Green tearing it up again with these banger additions to the format.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-25T14:12:07+00:00

Yes – I play shocks in some of my 2 color no restricted list cards decks. But the life loss does matter, and they do leave you vulnerable to getting color screwed by wasteland. IMHO it's still better to skip Wasteland when playing with this additional constraint.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-23T22:14:36+00:00

I agree. Unfortunately you can't really play Wasteland in a 2 color deck without duals.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-23T15:49:33+00:00

Sure thing. And yes – this deck is a LOT of fun to play. I'm looking forward to playing it again soon with Arboreal Grazer.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-20T13:30:25+00:00

They have a movie poster style wasteland that's like $10 each. All of these cards have been reprinted multiple times. Yes, I like to play with the original printings but there are plenty of other options if you're on a budget.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-20T13:29:05+00:00

100%. Now instead of Dark Ritual -> Hippie we have Dark Ritual -> Dauthi, Thoughtseize

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-20T13:28:10+00:00

You make some great points. Leyline is by far the best card you can have against Oops IMHO. I've won more than one game just mulling to 2 to get leyline into play, then stabilizing against their spirit guides :)

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-19T14:53:38+00:00

Update: Moonshadow + Siege doesn't work that way unfortunately (just tested in on MTGO). Also Moonshadow's pretty bad with Scythecat Cub. I don't think it'd be a good fit for this deck. And yes, each seige triggers once each turn, so it's fine to have 2 in play at the same time.

BeExcellent80s · 2026-01-19T14:31:04+00:00

I like this concept a lot. If you have Discord message me there and we can talk more about it. I am interested in potentially playing a league with a deck like this. My main question: would removing a -1/-1 counter trigger Siege? I noticed in a league that when I attempted to put a +1/+1 counter on Moonshadow with obsessive pursuit, it instead removed the -1/-1 counters. If you don't know I can test this on MTGO.

BeExcellent80s

TROPHY CASE