Allies in Legacy

Audrey (Andrey) Yanyuk ran this list to a 26th place finish at SCG Open Minneapolis last weekend.

Maindeck:

4 Aether Vial
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Dark Confidant
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Kazandu Blademaster
3 Mother of Runes
4 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Path to Exile
3 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Kor Firewalker
2 Ranger of Eos
2 Krosan Grip
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Gaddock Teeg

It's interesting that a deck like this can win matches. What's more interesting is that I completely disagree with many of his card choices, which means there's definite room for improvement.

My biggest hangups here are Tidehollow Sculler and Path to Exile. Mother of Runes is also kind of sketchy, but I can mostly deal with it, due to the lack of two drops/Ranger targets.

I see very little reason at all to play Tidehollow Sculler over a good card that doesn't interfere with the curve, like Thoughtseize. I ran Sculler in some versions of life, but in those, I had over 15 actual one drops (Path doesn't count), so it seemed reasonable. Here it just seems bad.

Next, I don't like Path to Exile here, because it's hard to imagine too many situations where you don't have the largest creatures in play. Perhaps playing three copies is fine due to the tempo advantage, but it's extremely hard for me to justify running the full complement.

As for Mother of Runes, as I said before, I'm willing to let those slide for now. Probably cutting one for a Benevolent Bodyguard is correct (as a Ranger target). No other green, white or black one drops immediately come to mind as being nice tutor targets.

Adding another Ranger of Eos seems sick. He's basically this deck's version of Goblin Ringleader. Sure, you don't have Lackey to power him out early, but the guys he fetches are cheap, so it makes up for a lot of the tempo loss.

Here's what I'd start with if I were to seriously consider working on this deck:


4 Aether Vial
4 Thoughtseize
2 Mother of Runes
1 Benevolent Bodyguard

4 Hada Freeblade
4 Dark Confidant
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Kabira Evangel
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Path to Exile

3 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
1 Ravenous Trap
2 Extirpate
3 Duress
3 Krosan Grip
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Engineered Plague