Grand Prix: Columbus

Not sure how many of you are hitting up Grand Prix: Columbus for some Legacy, and although I won't be attending the Legacy GP this year, I have given some thought to what I'd play if I did go. Here are my four candidates.

First, Aluren combo, championed by one Cedric Phillips has been cleaning house on Magic Online. Although Imperial Recruiters would be a big hit in the wallet, the deck seems to be for real. Here is Scott Bielick's list from SCG5K St. Louis.

Aluren
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Bone Shredder
1 Cavern Harpy
2 Dream Stalker
2 Eternal Witness
4 Imperial Recruiter
1 Man-o'-War
1 Raven Familiar
4 Wall of Roots
4 Aluren
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Intuition
4 Cabal Therapy

2 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Savannah
1 Stomping Ground
4 Tropical Island
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Harmonic Sliver
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Krosan Grip
2 Stifle

Like Aluren, I haven't played any games with this second candidate but it also appears to be quite the spicy brew, and has also put up some solid results on Magic Online, as well as an 8th place finish in St. Louis by Michael Pozsgay.

Mosswort-Stifle-Naught
4 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Form of the Dragon
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
1 Wipe Away
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Duress
3 Ponder
3 Show and Tell
4 Thoughtseize

1 Forest
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Bayou
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Mosswort Bridge
3 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Form of the Dragon
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Krosan Grip
3 Duress

The basic idea is to get an Emrakul or Dreadnought under Mosswort Bridge, play a Dreadnought, and with "enters the battlefield" effect on the stack, activate Mosswort Bridge. You either outright win the game, or at least have a 12/12 trampler. Alternatively, the deck can go the Show and Tell/Emrakul route or even the Stifle-Nought route, which isn't terrible except when facing a green mage post-board (Krosan Grip).

Next up, UW Counter-Thop is a great deck that, along with the above two, has put up some strong finishes on Magic Online, and has a 5K victory under it's belt.

UW Counter-Thop
Josh Guibault - 1st Place 5K St. Louis
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Counterbalance
1 Moat
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Brainstorm
3 Counterspell
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Seat of the Synod
6 Island
2 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins

Sideboard:
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Back to Basics
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Humility
1 Serenity
1 Extirpate
2 Hydroblast

And finally, when all else fails, stick to what you know: New Horizons. While the deck has been dormant on Magic Online as of late, it put up strong finishes in 5K Philly and took 5K Seattle. My current list can be found here.