The Austrian Legacy Masters took place in my LGS, the Game Store, in Linz and was a tournament series that lasted three days and concluded three tournaments. My plan for the whole weekend was to play three different Elves! decks on each of those days and have fun doing so.
Day 1 – Warm Up FNM
On the first day there is normally a Warm Up FNm to get a feeling for the Meta and play five rounds of Magic. Because of its more relaxed atmosphere I decided to play more of a meme deck on that day, Storm Elves! Little did I know, the deck was better than expected.
Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/07NaEsHqPESwkHvgoG7xxQ
Matchups:
- Round 1 vs UB Reanimator: In Game1 I faced a pretty fast Atraxa from my opponent, but they didn’t really find anything else. In my turn I got in a pretty sweet glimpse chain and could finish the game with an attack backed by an Allosaurus Shepherd. It really helped that my opponent had to pay seven life to reanimate their monster .
I boarded my Leylines, discard and Endurance. Game 2 was pretty bad. I had to mull down to two cards, because I didn’t see a single land. I then kept land and Leyline in hopes of it giving me some time to find something else, but died to a bowmaster after a few draws.
Game 3 was very different. I only had to mull once to find a keepable hand and after some hits from a Voidwalker, I managed to attack for lethal with the help from Allosaurus Shepherd and some friends. 1:0 - Round 2 vs Cradle Control: The matchup was pretty favourable for me, so i got to a pretty fast glimpse turn and managed to win the first time on this day with my Tendrils. I boarded in Abrupt decays and Endurances.
In Game 2 we were on steam because the feature match had already finished and we were the backup table. My first match on stream didn’t go as well as i hoped. My opponent had a pretty fast Natural Order for an Atraxa and kept me from comboing off with activating their Writh of the Reliquary for a Talon gates and phasing out my Herritage Druids.
Game 3 I was on the play again and I managed to get a pretty sweet turn three tentrills win on stream (which you can see on our youtube Channel ) 2:0 - Round 3 vs Breakfast: Breakfast is, or at least it feels like it, one of the worst matchups for elves, doesn’t matter what version. So it was not really a surprise when my opponent mulled to five and then still got their combo on turn two and won…
Game 2 was more of the same. I boarded in everything I could use against Breakfast and still died to the combo on turn two. 2:1
- Round 4 vs Mystic Forge: What i was lacking in the previous round i definitely made up for in this one. Game one my opponent couldn’t really do much and I went into a big Glimpse turn and won on turn 3 with tendrils. Game two was even better. If there would be a dreamland of an Elves-player it would pretty much be what I hand as my starting seven. So it didn’t surprise me that I could storm off and tendrils for lethal on turn 2. 3:1 one round to go
- Round 5 vs UR Painter: Last round and it was against one of our local players, which made me pretty scared because I know that he is a very good player and I wanted to lock a 4:1 in the first event of the weekend. Game 1 was a pretty grind fest. My opponent mulled to six and after he kept hitting me with constructs and Astrologian´s Planisphere (pretty sweet card) tokens, I could stabilize on two life and attack for lethal with allosaurus and friends.
I boarded in my Endurances, Abrupt Decays, Force of Vigors and my Gaea’s Blessing. Game 2 I managed to get some hits in, but then died to the Painter-Grindstone combo, because I managed to draw my Gaea’s Blessing and did not find an Endurance.
In game 3 i really much found all the answers for my opponents threats and could build up a pretty board for myself. As many times that day, Allosaurus Shepherd finished the job. 4:1
Conclusion: Although it pretty much started as a meme, the deck did pretty well and I definitely can see potential in this pile. The sideboard needs some optimization of course, but for a deck my friends and I build on a carrinde home from Bologna, like 3 years ago, it did pretty well
Day 2 – Austrian Legacy Challenge
On the second day 50 players were battling it out in the Austrian Legacy Challenge. First place will not only get a sweet city of traitors, but also an invite to the European Legacy Masters Tournament in Hasselt. For this tournament I decided to bring one of my favorite Elves-build, Value (Lord) Elves!
Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/PefB6s0Z9U-bAEFZsGB50A
Match Ups:
- Round 1 vs Doomsday: Game 1 I had pretty much nothing for the deck of my opponent. I could just sit there and watch them do their Doomsdaypile and then die.
For game 2 I brought in my Endurances, Thoughtseizes, Veils and hoped that that would do the trick. And it did. Flashed in Endurance with the Oracle trigger on the stack and used it to attack for lethal during the following turns. That was also basically the same for game 3. Dodged the discard with my Veils and got the win with the help of Endurance. 1:0 - Round 2 vs MUD: Game 1 I was pretty lucky that my opponent mulled down to five and I could keep a pretty good seven. With the help of my lords, archdruids and Allosaurus Shepherds I could win the first game.
For the second game I bought in my Force of Vigors, Abrupt Decay, Assassin’s Trophy and my Boseiju in. But it didn’t help me in game 2. My opponent got a pretty fast start and killed me with their Glaring Fleshraker.
Game 3 was on my side again. My opponent did start on Ancient Tomb, Grim Monolith and Manifold Key, but I had my Force of Vigor in hand and could take out both artifacts and leavy my opponent with two mana floating. They didn’t really bounce back from that and I could build up a pretty large board and finish the job with a Shaman of the Pack. 2:0
- Round 3 vs Reanimator: Game 1 I was pretty happy to see my opponent mull down to four cards but after they drew their first card and went Unmasked themself, discard Atraxa, Lotuspetal, sacrifice for B and Reanimate the Atraxa, my smile faded pretty fast. I tried to hold on for a while, but after they then reanimated an Archon, I scooped.
Game 2 I brought in my Endurances again, my Faerie Macabre, Thoughtseize and Veil of Summer. But all that didnt help. My opponent pivoted from a Reanimated plan to the Show and Tell side of their deck and I died with a handful of graveyard hate. 2:1 - Round 4 vs UB Tempo: I knew my opponent and his deck pretty well because he beat me in the last round of the 4 Seasons Side Event in Bologna earlier this year. So I was very aware of what I faced in Game 1. My opponent tried to suppress my deck with Oricish Bowmasters, but little did he know that my deck pretty much never draws cards, but has other ways to get card advantage. I got to get over the finish line with a pretty big board and Allosaurus activations.
For Game 2 I brought in my Endurances, Abrupt Decay, Carpet of Flowers and Veils of Summers and it did play out pretty much as game 1. I kept my elves and my hand save with my Veil of Summer and kept my opponents graveyard small with my Endurances and closed the game with help of the Shepherd. 3:1 (revenge for Bologna) - Round 5 vs Nadu: Game 1 and I didn’t really know what I was facing here. After my opponent did some Nadu-Stuff with a Shuko, but then were stranded with a hand full of spells and no mana to play them. I then managed to kill them with my Shaman of the Pack.
I still was not really sure what flavour of Nadu they were playing, so I decided to board against a breakfast build because I saw them flip over a Cavern of Souls with Nadu the game before. But I was wrong. They were on the “fair” bant Nadu built with Stoneforge and Plagon. So I was pretty overpowered by the value of the Deck and lost. For game 3 I decided to switch up some sideboard cards. I put my Endurances and Macabres back in the sideboard and brought in my Decay, Trophy, Boseiju and Carpets. Game 3 was more in my favour. I led on a Carpet of Flowers forcing my opponent to fetch awkwardly for non-islands or give me a lot of mana-advantage. After some back and forth I could kill them with my Ezuri and a lot of mana. 4:1 - Round 6 ID vs UB Tempo I had pretty bad breakers, so it was a very risky draw here. After the 5th round I was in 9th place and my opponent was in 5th. But after we realised that both other 4:1-tables played it out, we decided to draw and take the risk. I was very nervous and waited anxiously, because one way I could be kicked out of the top 8 would be if the table above us got a natural draw while playing it out. And when I saw that there was only one minute left in the round and they haven’t submitted a result yet, I began to regret my decision. But everything went smoothly and I got 8th place, and managed to draw myself into the Top 8. 4:1:1
- Top 8 vs Death and Taxes: First time in Top 8 after a long time for me and I even had to play on steam. So needless to say I was pretty nervous going in game 1. And luck was also not on my side. I had to mull down to 5 and had to keep a very mediocre hand. My opponent was on the play as they were first after the swiss rounds, and they had all the removal for my elves. After I tried to hold on as long as I could, I was overwhelmed by all the little dorks and equipments of my opponent.
I hoped for things to be better in game 2 but nervousness of my first top8 in ages and being on steam made me keep a hand that should better be mulled away. I kept on-lander with a Green Sun’s Zenith for Dryad Arbor turn one, hoping my opponent with a deck full of wastelands and removals, doesn’t have one in their staringhand. Well, they did indeed have one and sworded my Dryad. It all went downhill from here and I pretty much lost do my own mulligan-decision.
You can watch my fail here on our Youtube-Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Krg3RnGDQY&list=PL6kLrNXfvmbWSXmnrCDCdTO33w3jnEbtv&index=3
Conclusion: Although I pretty much plundered my first match in the top 8 away, I can’t really complain. I am not the best player and making top 8 in a relatively large event is a pretty huge deal for me. The event in general was pretty great. Great players, good people and in general chill vibes although it was pretty much the hottest weekend of the year until now.
Day 3 – Austrian Legacy Masters
On Sunday the Mainevent took place. We again were 50 players to battle for an ELM-Slot and glory. For the Main Event I decided to bring my “flagship” deck, good old Elves with Glimpse of Nature and Natural Order for Craterhoof Behemoth. Although Orcish Bowmasters are still a menace for the deck, I managed to get very decent results with my deck (4:2 for 10th place in 341 Vienna, 5:2 in the 4 Season Main Event in Bologna).
Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/0WxR7IuBMUKw5myQWeBo-g
Match Ups:
- Round 1 vs Sneak and Show: Game 1 of round 1 and I had to face one of the worst matchups for my deck. My opponent was pretty new to legacy, and Magic in general, so they borrowed one of our Proxy-Decks to play in this event. Game 1 was something I did not anticipate to win, but I was taught better. When my opponent played a Show and tell and brought in an Emrakul, I managed to show them my Atraxa. With the cards I got from this, and the Glimpse i had in hand, i could manage to Natural Order for my Craterhoof and get enough power so that my opponents 15/15 didn’t matter.
Game 2 was a different story. My opponent had a very fast Show and Tell for a Sneak Attack and put a hasty Emrakul on the battlefield with it. I scooped on the annihilation trigger. Game 3 was more of the same. I couldn’t really do anything to stop my opponent from executing their combo, so I died to a very big, hasty monster. . 0:1 - Round 2 vs Food Chain: Game 1 I was surprised when I saw my opponent going off with Food Chain and killing me with a Walking Ballista. But for game 2 I brought in a lot of removal with my Decays and Force of Vigors. I also put in a Collector Ouphe and my Carpets of Flowers. I managed to get rid of the Food Chain with a Misthollow Griffin on the stack and finish the job with my Craterhoof. Game 3 was pretty much the same. I kept them of Food Chain and went in a decent Glimpse turn, that gave me a Natural Order for my Hoof. 1:1
- Round 3 vs Omnishow: Well what can I say about round 3. Game 1 I was pretty overwhelmed by a very fast Show and Tell for an Omniscient and an Emrakul.
For the second game I basically brought in every creature that gave me a trigger when it enters the battlefield. I had planned to get a trigger when my opponents Show and Tells their Omniscient on the battlefield and destroy it in response, so they can’t make good use of it. And it almost worked. They played their Show and Tell and put an Omniscients in and I showed them an Elvish Visionary. With the trigger in the stack, I wanted to channel my Boseiju to destroy the Omniscients but my opponent went for a cunning wish in response to get a Trickbind from their sideboard and stifle my Boseiju. So there was not very much I could do after that and my opponent got full value out of their Omniscents and finally found an Emrakul to kill me. 1:2 - Round 4 vs Breakfast: Another bad matchup for my Elves. Game 1 I can’t really do anything about my opponents combo so I died pretty quickly to an Oracle.
For Game 2 I brought in a lot of hate to keep my opponent from executing their gameplan. I brought in my Endurances, Faery Macabre, Carpets of Flowers, Thoughtseizes and Abrupt Decays. But my opponent did have all the answers for the hate cards I brought in and I lost. Because this round also didn’t end well for me and my standing was 1:3 I decided to call it quits here and drop from the tournament to help out with organisation a little bit.
Conclusion: On the last day of the Austrian Legacy Masters I definitely did not win in the matchup lottery so I wasn’t really surprised with my result. Although I did very badly in the last event, I was pretty satisfied with my overall result during the weekend. Funny thing is though, that I did worse with the deck I had the biggest hopes for. And went very well with both the meme deck on Friday and the Value Elves for the Austrian Legacy Challenge.
I am very interested in how the Meta turns out and if there will be bans on the 31st but altogether I like how the format is at the moment. Maybe something in the UB shell need to go to stop the oppression of Dimir decks, but we will see how that plays out. I am also not averse to a Bowmasters ban 😉