M11 is out and it has a lot of people excited for all sorts of reasons. I was at first very leery about the quality of the the set, especially when comparing it to how I felt about M10. However, as I was compiling the list of cards that I wanted to discuss for this article, I noticed that the list of cards for M11 quickly overwhelmed the list of cards for M10, which started at Baneslayer Angel and covered a few more fringe cards that only saw play in one or two decks. M11 has a lot of the cards I liked about M10 such as Elite Vanguard and Doom Blade, but also adds over two dozen more cards that are at the least interesting for Legacy. [It's a week after most reviews have been out but that gives me the actual experience with the cards to speak from.]

For my review of the set I'm going to limit discussion to new cards and leave reprints by the wayside, even if the reprinted card being more widely available does have an effect on Legacy (Baneslayer Angel being the most obvious example.) Cards discussed range from the real gems of the set to cards that represent traps that many players can fall into. I'm also far too long-winded to represent how good a card is on any sort of scale because everything must be taken in context and those contexts can change any time a set is released or on any March, June, September or December 20th when Banned/Restricted updates are announced.

An Overview of How to do Your Own Card Analysis

It works out that Ajani's Pridemate is alphabetically first in the cards to review because it serves as a great example to explain the fundamental concepts in how to analyze a card for use in Legacy:

• Is the card more efficient than an established benchmark?
• Does the card do something no past card ever did and if it does, is this new card playable?
• Can this card supplement a previously viable strategy or enable a new one?

These questions and this method analysis are taken directly from Oscar Tan. If you have some time, it is really worth reading despite his most recent article being written in 2005. The steps explained may seem long and overly complicated but just like with tying your shoes. The process may at first be daunting but it quickly becomes second nature.

With our example card, Ajani's Pridemate, we can pose the first question, “Is the card more efficient than an Established Benchmark?” We are forced to look at Ajani's Pridemate through the scope of an aggro or aggro-control deck because a control deck doesn't want to play a creature this frail as it has better option in non-creature realms. Right now, for an aggressive white creature the benchmarks are Serra Avenger, Jotun Grunt, Loam Lion, Stoneforge Mystic and all the other guys that clog up the 2cc slot in White Weenie decks.

Aside from Stoneforge Mystic, all of these creatures actually have a downside – Serra Avenger requires an AEther Vial to come down on turn three, Loam Lion needs a Forest and Jotun Grunt needs you or your opponent to play cards, just about any cards. But Pridemate is going to require a specific kind of card that normally is not playable to even enable him to really be compared to these creatures. So, there is a strike against him. The other consideration is that for an aggro deck a creature is expected to be able to attack for more damage than you invested mana into it. Jotun Grunt and Loam Lion both fit this bill, Serra Avenger does much of the time. Pridemate can do it, but it in order for Pridemate to be a 3/3 or 4/4 it is going to require something like Lightning Helix or Umezawa's Jitte.

Because White Weenie can't actually play cards to support him and the 2cc slot is filled to the brim, the only feasible deck that Pridemate can be even remotely considered in is some kind of Zoo or Boros deck, perhaps even a Rock deck; but can he make the cut? Zoo only has two guys at the 2cc range: Tarmogoyf, who Ajani's Pridemate is certainly not going to dethrone, and Qasali Pridemage who is not only disruption but can push through extra damage on the turn it resolves. Aside from that, the other creatures in the deck are either much larger with little help such as Wild Nacatl and Knight of the Reliquary, or are a full turn faster and require little investment such as Kird Ape or Loam Lion. A Boros deck is looking for aggressive creatures but isn't playing the cards to support Pridemate. A Rock deck is working with a tight list and then it plays Jitte and Kitchen Finks, but because it's playing those cards, there is even less room left for this guy.

At this point we're left to talk about all the things that can make him a 3/3, which is decent but Pridemate just isn't very good on his own as only a 2/2. If you're finding yourself trying to justify circumstances in which a card can be good then you really need to withdraw and ask yourself, “Is this guy going to be good most of the time?” On turn two Pridemate is a 2/2 for and the only way to get around that is to play with sub-optimal cards such as Soul Warden, or to be gaining life later in the game – which no established deck can really count on doing and doesn't want to add it to the deck for such a small return.

Even though the card didn't pass our benchmark test, we can follow through with questioning: “Does the card do something no past card ever did?” We have Ageless Entity and Kavu Predator as cards that can be compared but Ageless Entity costs substantially more and Kavu Predator clearly is punishing the opponent's life gain. So I feel it is safe to say that this card does do something no previous card did at this cost.

Then, one can ask, “Can this card supplement a previously viable strategy or enable a new one?” With limited exceptions, life gain has never been a viable strategy for any tournament play. While this guy could potentially get boosts from real cards in the format such as Lightning Helix, Rhox War Monk and incoming Swords to Plowshares, the fact remains that he is still a 2/2 for that cannot be supported with enough playable cards to take advantage of his ability. If this card had an effect closer to Ageless Entity or could also have the text of Kavu Predator [who is playable in some decks] then we would have a real contender. As it stands, we have only what the printed card is and while there may be times where he can get out of control, those instances will not be as dependable as a deck needs to weave through the swiss rounds of a tournament.

So, we have now deduced that Ajani's Pridemate is not better than anything we currently have and while it does something new, the new ability is not strong enough to enable an old strategy or start a new one. Pridemate may actually be strong enough for a format with a smaller card pool, but for Legacy purposes we can pass on it.

M11 in review

Knight Exemplar – We are seldom able to see the word “Indestructible” on a creature this inexpensive, which is why Knight Exemplar really stands out. The glaring problem with Knight Exemplar is that it is not indestructible without another copy in play – not that indestructible is all that desirable in a world of Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile. So, if it can't stand on its own, can Knight Exemplar enable a new plan? Knight has traditionally been one of the more overlooked creature types, but it has a few stand-out cards such as Knight of the Reliquary and the likely underplayed Stillmoon Cavalier. The problem is that many of the best knights are actually very black such as Order of the Ebon Hand (who gets to be a Cleric Knight, now) and Stromgald Crusader, both of which are desirable for immunity to Swords and Path. On the other end of the spectrum of Knights you would want to play are very white cards in the form of Silver Knight and Knight of Meadowgrain. The first conflict is that it's difficult to build a stable, Legacy mana base to accommodate casting either a or a spell even with the assistance of Scrubland, Marsh Flats and AEther Vial. The other issue is that playable knights start at two and stop at three which leaves everything very clogged up in those costs and certainly not enough in the range of one. So, Knight Exemplar really isn't able to help anyone out just yet either. Casual players will love with Knight Exemplar so don't shed any tears for this guy as he will likely be well loved.

Leyline of Sanctity – I think getting another playable Leyline was a really big surprise for a lot of people. Getting a playable Leyline that entirely obsoletes Ivory Mask was a personal shock to me. Enchantress is likely the deck that is going to benefit from this the most although, any control deck with access to white is going to be able to take a good look at it. Zoo could even open up to it as a replacement for Mindbreak Trap. Leyline of Sanctity can act as a foil to a plethora of Legacy staples like Tendrils of Agony, Goblin Charbelcher, an entire Burn deck, Intuition, Gifts Ungiven, any discard spells – this Leyline actually turns off a lot of cards and that is pretty exciting. The biggest application for this deck right out of the gates will perhaps be for Dredge where it turns off Tormod's Crypt and tap activations of Relic of Progenitus as well as Ravenous Trap. I cannot say how many is the correct number to own, you really want access to at least three Leylines to get the best chances at starting it off in play. Get these soon if you can, but don't stress out if the card is too high valued, as the amount of this set that will be opened to find appropriate numbers of Mythics should overwhelm the supply and reduce these to a more reasonable price in a few months, barring anything zany happening in Standard.

Squadron Hawk – I have a good story about Welkin Hawk. My friend and I went to a local type one tournament a number of years back. He played a casual White Weenie deck with a set of Welkin Hawk and a few other odd cards, but it had Swords to Plowshares and Crusades so it did what a White Weenie deck was supposed to do. He won his first round because the store had a lot of casual players but he came over to me after round one holding his set of Hawks fanned out in his hand and said, "I just beat a fully powered Hulk Smash deck with Welkin Hawk!" This was likely the single greatest day he ever had playing Magic. His opponent was good humored about it and after scooping up his Beta power and black-bordered duals he signed my friend's set of Welkin Hawk. This story is true, but it doesn't mean that Welkin Hawk is any good. Squadron Hawk is much better than Welkin Hawk and will generate instant card advantage. The problem is that you have Squadron Hawk in your deck. Even if you Brainstorm away two Squadron Hawk and play the second one to get the other two, you are still left with mana invested in Squadron Hawks which aren't good for a control deck that wants this kind of card advantage, it isn't good for an aggro-control deck which wants a better creature and it still isn't likely to beat a Psychatog.

Sun Titan – It isn't saying much, but of all the Titans I feel that Sun Titan as the greatest chance of being played in Legacy. Six mana of course is a huge amount to invest into something in this format but I'm looking at it more as a finisher in a Stax deck where it would essentially be another copy of Crucible of Worlds with legs. Vigilance is huge for a deck like Stax which really needs a creature to stay back on defense. 6/6 is the crucial power to be able to defeat Tarmogoyf as he can easily become a 5/6 against decks like this (Instant, Sorcery, Land, Creature, Artifact, and you try to keep Enchantment out of the mix) and Sun Titan will be able to attack and block without trading against a single Tarmogoyf. Sun Titan is really on the fringe of cards that are playable in Legacy but certainly has potential.

AEther Adept – A lot of people have written this guy off as an restrictively cost Man-O-War and since Man-O-War only sees play in Food Chain or Aluren combo decks, AEther Adept clearly can't be desirable either, right? I feel as though this guy has a bit of potential because he is a wizard. Any time there is a wizard printed with an interesting "Enters the battlefield" ability it is really worth a second look because Riptide Laboratory is available to take advantage of situations like this. For years I've been aware of the ability of a wizards deck to be viable perhaps on the back of Patron Wizard and AEther Vial. The problem a deck like this has had in the past is the lack of a suitable removal spell which is generally addressed through adding white for Swords to Plowshares and perhaps now AEther Adept can supplement this strategy for those who are interested in pursuing it.

Conundrum Sphinx – What a fitting card name because this one is a puzzle. As just a 4/4 flyer for we wouldn't be too interested, although that is rather powerful for blue. But with this added ability that already fits in nicely with what most blue decks are doing now it is rather interesting. The draw effect only happens when he is on the offense which makes me think of Augury Adept. The draw effect is only effective with the assistance of Sensei's Divining Top or Brainstorm and is only symmetrical if your opponent has the same. At Conundrum Sphinx is in contention with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I discussed in my previous article that I feel a lot of the decks that are using Jace should be looking elsewhere and this card is an interesting alternative. It is aggressive, pitches to Force of Will and plays well with the rest of the deck, the flying even means that it can push in over an opposing army. Four toughness is just right to avoid Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning from Zoo. I really like this card and think that it does have a place in Legacy although I'm skeptical that people are going to be willing to give up Jace, the Mind Sculptor for this guy, even if Sphinx fits into the plan that most Bant decks have a bit better. There is also room for this guy in something off-beat like Mono-Blue Control, which has shifted from Morphling to Sphinx of Jwar Isle, who happens to be the key to the Conundrum Sphinx Puzzle. Overall I think this is a great card to pick up for Legacy and look forward to seeing what it does over time.

Diminish – Diminish is a great example of a card that is not better than the benchmark. In this case we're talking about Snakeform which also draws a card. The effect of Diminish is actually rather strong for colors that don't have access to strong removal and are playing with a lot of creatures such as Elves and Merfolk. Snakeform is really acceptable at 3cc because it isn't an effect that you often need on turn one or two because it isn't real removal and you need to have a creature to enable it. Snakeform also replaces itself in case something goes awry with the trick to kill whatever was incoming, meaning that it will seldom result in a two-for-one scenario against you like Diminish can. I wouldn't be surprised to see some Merfolk decks pick up some of these to try to combat Zoo, but overall there are far better cards for these slots.

Preordain – This of course is the real star of M11 for most Legacy players. The sting of losing Mystical Tutor was softened to see that another powerful cantrip was being printed and this one is the fixed Serum Visions. Serum Visions was quite good in its day but eventually it became problematic that you were never able to see the card that you were going to draw which is why Serum Visions eventually gave way to Portent which was then replaced with Ponder. A lot of people have been comparing Preordain to Ponder to size them up to one another which doesn't really make sense:

• Ponder looks at three cards and will give you a blind fourth card if you are digging for something.
• Preordain looks at two cards and will give you a blind third that will 100% not be the cards you shipped to the bottom card if you're digging for something.

The only instance in which Preordain is better is when you're trying not to draw a specific card and it is in the top two cards of your library and you have access to no other shuffle or Brainstorm effects. That seems pretty slim to me if you're playing a deck that is trying to avoid a single card. I think the real question is, "Is Preordain better than Portent?" This is a much easier question most of the time because there are decks that need to draw the card immediately and then there are cards that have the luxury of being able to wait. Both cards really seem below the threshold for playable cantrips for most decks although Preordain could potentially see play in a storm deck, and I'm sure that some Bant decks will include a copy or two regardless of how good it is there.

Scroll Thief – This guy doesn't really have a home in Legacy, despite being in the upper 75% of Merfolk. Scroll Thief looks good against control deck but Merfolk is already a total beating against any control decks. Ninja of the Deep Hours is a bit better for any sort of fish deck that wants the ability and that's where anyone who wants to draw cards while attacking should be looking.

Stormtide Leviathan – Without built-in evasion it wouldn't be possible to look at Leviathan, but thankfully he has it. The only decks that want an effect like this are Reanimator and perhaps a Show and Tell deck. The decks you ever really want Blazing Archon against are Merfolk which negates this ability with Lord of Atlantis, Goblins which this is reasonable against and Faeries which it doesn't stop either. It's a decent foil to the decks that don't really need to be stopped by it and it doesn't turn off all attacking creatures, which is huge.

Time Reversal – Timetwister, how long has it been old friend? Wizards real shied away from this concept after the debacle that was Time Spiral, the last time we've seen something like this was Temporal Cascade or Magus of the Jar for just the draw seven effect and neither were playable. This card is high right now and a lot of vendors are sold out of them but I'm not exactly sure why. The effect is undeniably interesting but Vintage players seldom even play Timetwister because if you cannot win off the new seven cards immediately, you are leaving yourself down resources and your opponent has a flush or new cards to lay down. The prohibitively high cost of really makes it s stretch to cast in any format under the pretense that you then need to win the game that turn. For Legacy, costing one more than Diminishing Returns is, well, a diminishing return for the non-drawback that Diminishing Returns has. I don't see this card doing anything outside of EDH and casual.

Dark Tutelage – When Dark Confidant was released, everyone wanted to compare it to Phyrexian Arena, but once people had tested with it everyone knew that this card was different than Phyrexian Arena. Dark Tutelage can be compared to Phyrexian Arena because they will not attack or block or have a Swords to Plowshares or Lightning Bolt pointed at them. There is only one archetype in Legacy that uses Phyrexian Arena and that is Mono-Black control. Without even doing math we are able to see why a deck like this wouldn't use Dark Confidant, not only because of the symmetrical removal such as Innocent Blood and Damnation, but the cost of spells in this deck averages to 2.5 for both the builds with a lot of small creatures and builds with big bombs and more lands. Factoring lands in both decks, the player would lose an average of 1.5 life every turn. I don't think there were really any decks that craved Phyrexian Arena but couldn't get to the to cast it so I don't know where, if anywhere Dark Tutelage will have a home. It is interesting that unlike Dark Confidant, it does not die to creature removal so perhaps a mono black deck taking heavier advantage of Top and a much lower mana curve will emerge to use this effect but until then this one is homeless.

Grave Titan – Ten power for six mana is huge, effects on this scale are seldom seen. The concern is that there is really no deck that wants to spend six mana for ten, evasionless power. And the decks that want to cheat something into play don't need another huge creature, Eldrazi, Iona and all kinds of efficient guys exist for that. Initially there was a knee-jerk reaction that Dredge could play him because Dredge can potentially play anything and it's really the only deck that puts zombie tokens into play, which he also does. But Dredge too just has better things to do, like win the game with Flame-Kin Zealot, Sphinx of Lost Truths or Iona. There isn't really a good reason to put a Dread Return target in the deck that doesn't answer a problem, draw more cards or win the game-outright. This is another card that while impressive, I don't see doing anything in Legacy.

Liliana's Specter – I know that the three-cost slot in any deck using guys that cost is clogged, and I know that this isn't better than Hypnotic Specter or Vampire Nighthawk. I know that this is Ravenous Rats with flying and an additional point of power. What I can't figure out is why I like this card so much. I'll never use it but I will certainly keep a playset near by just in case someone else ever needs them.

Phylactery Lich – People initially went one of two ways with this guy; either fell in love and tried to figure out how to play him or wrote him off. I think this guy actually has a pretty good chance at getting played in Legacy in the sideboards of what is left of the storm combo decks as an alternate win. Just as TPS decks in Vintage would board into Phyrexian Negators I think that some decks in Legacy would really like to go turn one Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Phylactery Lich. Regardless of if that happens or not, there are going to be a lot of people that try to fit him into a mono-black shell, and that's not a problem because they will be having fun and Indestructible still doesn't stop Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile or an Edict effect. About the flavor of this card, I really love the idea of the Lich's phylactery being a Lion's Eye Diamond or Mox Jet but I wish the card had actually been more powerful. It was my impression that a Lich was just about the ultimate in both evil and power. Also, Wikipedia backs me up on the impression that a Lich is not a Zombie.

Reassembling Skeleton – Initially this card was another victim of "Dredge can play it." But I think its pretty clear that this is a better Bitterblossom for the black prison decks that want to play Contamination. I would go as far to say that it makes Bitterblossom Reassembling Skeleton 5-8 and it may be the push that a deck like that really needs to enter the next tier of competitive Magic.

Destructive Force – Many of you may not know this, but just before Tarmogoyf was legal there had been a lot of work done on a Wildfire deck and it was looking pretty good. The problem is that just like against Stax decks, Tarmogoyf easily becomes a 4/5 (Instant, Sorcery, Land and then Creature or Artifact) which of course the Wildfire decks struggled with. I was really excited to see this card because its Wildfire +1, one more mana, one more damage, one more land. I think the problem is that the Wildfire deck had access to eight copies of Wildfire, with Burning of Xinye being the other 4, and then had Burning Wish for added consistency. Destructive Force is just like having four copies of Wildfire and now these decks need to compete with guys like Countryside Crusher and Knight of the Reliquary who are not at all likely to die to either Wildfire or Wildfire +1. But, recently Grim Monolith was added to the mix so there is actually a good amount of potential for this deck in the right metagame.

Ember Hauler – The bar for a playable goblin is actually set quite high and I don't see Ember Hauler really improving any problem spots for Gobins. Merfolk and Elves are both pretty weak to Goblins as it is, so having a guy that can trade one-for-one isn't really good enough, especially considering that Gempalm Incinerator will do that at an advantage. Ember Hauler doesn't kill any of the Zoo creatures save Grim Lavamancer or a Steppe Lynx that isn't doing anything. It can kill Dark Confidant, but once again Goblins is really strong against a deck with Dark Confidant. There really just aren't any common decks that I can see this guy fixing in Legacy, but we're getting closer to a replacement for Mogg Fanatic.

Leyline of Punishment – I keep wanting to say something about this card, the effect is strong but there isn't really a deck you wanted it against. If you're in red, Price of Progress is a far bigger beating against Lands and if you're playing Enchantress then a sweep effect is going to be much stronger .There are not many other decks that are preventing any kind of damage, and if they were you would probably want access to something with surprise factor such as Flaring Pain. I guess this is good for Burn to overcome an opponent gaining life off Rhox War Monk, but Burn isn't a real deck in this format.

Pyretic Ritual – Although Desperate Ritual is the worst ritual in Belcher and the fact that Pyretic Ritual is worse than Desperate Ritual, Belcher wants this card. For anyone that was considering adding Grim Monolith to the build, Ritual is nearly always better because the mana is on color which is so much more important that being able to get a mana boost out of it after passing the turn. This ritual allows a lot more flexibility in the directions Belcher can go. omitting black is now actually quite easy and while it will take away from the explosiveness of the deck it's probably best to always be able to cast all of your spells and have them produce on-color mana.

Autumn's Veil – Initially everyone I discussed this card with wanted to compare it to Orim's Chant or Silence, this card is not Orim's Chant. Orim's Chant always has the possibility of doing what is known as a Chant-Walk: when you play against an opponent who isn't playing reactive spells you can often cast an Orim's Chant or Silence to negate their turn and move on to your own, the card they draw seldom matters because they are not playing cards that will interact with you. Orim's Chant will also work to turn off any untimely burn spells or Mindbreak Trap from a non-blue player, Veil does none of this. But the most important reason to look harshly at this card is because Xantid Swarm does all of the important features of this card, but doesn't need to come down the turn that you're comboing, turns off all your opponent's cards and if it is countered that is going to happen early so the opponent is omitted to using Force of Will. Autumn's Veil can work to bank black removal, but this is Legacy and no one plays black removal.

Back to Nature – This card basically already existed in the form of Tranquil Domain so the effect at this cost isn't new. There are really so many cards that blow up all enchantments that anyone who wanted the effect was going to be able to find it efficiently so there isn't much to say about this except that it is the new default card to have if a metagame is overwhelmed with Enchantress.

Fauna Shaman – People are going to have all kinds of different views on Fauna Shaman, that is just how opinions work. However when the dust settles and the numbers can be examined, Fauna Shaman isn't going to do anything. There are roughly four decks that play Survival of the Fittest, let's examine what each deck does with it.

1. Elf Survival – Elf Survival wants to play mana guys for a couple of turns and then play Survival and activate it roughly 50 times in that turn and attack with a load of guys. Fauna Shaman can't activate more than once per turn and even thought it is an elf it probably isn't good enough because it isn't a Lord, can't draw cards directly and doesn't produce mana. Most importantly, Elves lack the Goblin Matron that Goblins has access to, which is why utility Goblins are so powerful and utility elves must be fetched via Survival of the Fittest.
2. Bant Survival – This deck may have the loosest list of all the Survival decks but the primary goal is to set up Loyal Retainers into Iona or Emrakul. This can be done by turn three in some circumstances but the trick is a whole lot less effective when the opponent has time to see it coming. Aside from the Loyal Retainers play, the deck just has some mid-range guys to stall up the ground.
3. RGSA – Or Red Green Survival Advantage. This deck wants to use Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary to Survival away Squee and Genesis to get silver bullet creatures such as Magus of the Moon and Flametongue Kavu and then use Survival over time to overwhelm the opponent. Fauna Shaman could be used here to some effect but this deck really wants to be using Survival multiple times in a turn as well.
4. RecSur – Or Recurring Nightmare Survival. This is likely the only deck that can use Fauna Shaman to get Survival of the Fittest, which in Legacy seems like the best application of the card, however this is likely also the deck with the tightest list and it becomes difficult to warrant the use for an auxiliary, bad survival.

When we saw the Magus cycle in Time Spiral block, there were some of cards that were cool to have as creatures such as Magus of the Moon and Magus of the Tabernacle, some cards were far less good as creatures like Magus of the Abyss and Magus of the Moat. It turns out that there really wasn't going to be a good way to print Magus of the Fittest. For me, there is just no deck I can rationalize playing this in and I believe the numbers will back up this hunch in a few months..

Obstinate Baloth – This guy can likely replace any instances of Ravenous Baloth that every come up in a list. Of course the problem is that Ravenous Baloth hasn't been played since Loxodon Hierarch was released and that has barely been played since Tarmogoyf. Obstinate Baloth may well be better than is Ravenous counterpart but having the built in sacrifice ability like Loxodon Hierarch does makes it desirable for a Survival deck which can use Genesis to recur this effect, which is a lot more realistic than hoping an incoming Hymn to Tourach hits your Obstinate Baloth.

Plummet – This card was spoiled before Mystical Tutor was slated to be banned and there were a lot of excited people. Having a green answer to Iona is great because she is generally set for white or black. After Mystical Tutor was on the road to being banned the conversation about this card dried up. It may still be worth having a few, but clearly the allure of this card is much less without the threat of Iona shutting down a deck.

Brittle Effigy – I was asked a lot after this card was spoiled if this was good enough for Trinket Mage to get and I feel the answer is yes. The issue is that Trinket Mage really isn't in a prime position to be playing right now. Counterbalance decks with Trinket Mage and Tarmogoyf stopped being playable months ago and a mediocre card that makes killing a creature fewer colors is cool but there are likely just better things that can be in the deck than Trinket Mage and a tool box for him to dig though.

Steel Overseer – I don't think Affinity is really looking for another creature and if it was the creature would need to be quite aggressive. There are some artifact based aggro decks coming on the scene but once again they are looking for something that can quickly pull its weight on its own, like Master of Etherium, and not someone like Steel Overseer that needs time to level up.

Sword of Vengeance – Sword of Light and Shadow and Sword of Fire and Ice saw play only in a small handful of decks but can now be found in a smattering of decks all over thanks to Stoneforge Mystic. We have all started to look at equipment in the context of how well it will play with with Mystic and of course everyone is curious if Sword is good enough to make the cut. Sword of Vengeance does a lot of things but I was actually shocked by what it doesn't do – Give the creature flying. So while Stoneforge Mystic or Noble Hierarch may be swinging wildly around they are still unlikely to get through. The haste is mostly irrelevant as the equip cost is so high. So we're really looking at +2/+0, Vigilance and First strike. It is true that an effect like this one something like Rhox War Monk is going to be great, the same mana investment grants access to Loxodon Warhammer which hasn't been played at all in Legacy. While it is only one more mana to play and equip this over Sword of Fire and Ice or Sword of Light and Shadow, I just don't think that the card does anything consistently better than one of the other two Swords, let alone Umezawa's Jitte.

Temple Bell – Why yes, this card does combo with Mind Over Matter, but that can only win the game if you have more cards in your library than they do, and when playing a deck that is so restrictively blue, it becomes reasonable to think that fetch lands, draw spells and tutor effects are going to play a role in this deck. Also, Temple Bell nor Mind Over Matter are any good on their own and Mind Over Matter costs six mana! That's more than Tarmogoyf, Counterbalance, and Top cost combined.

Mystifying Maze – Clearly this card cannot be compared to Maze of Ith, they don't do the same thing at all. Mystifying Maze is a lot closer to Kor Haven, which I think is a bit better. But not having any color restriction can allow any Stax deck or artifact aggro deck access to the card without much problem. Loam decks may want a single copy but four to activate is rather difficult if a Loam player wants to Loam around all day.

M11 had some really interesting cards for Legacy, far more than I think anyone really expected. The set's impact on Legacy certainly won't be limited to new cards either, allowing greater access to cards that were previously difficult for more casual tournament players to find will undoubtedly have an impact on metagames. Some of the card that were reprinted are also going to get another look, like Leyline of the Void and Nantuko Shade, as people analyze them in context of modern cards and strategies, as seldom happens with older cards. There is also some cool stuff in here for more casual play that I'm looking forward to using and while at first I was very skeptical about the set, I like many of the set's facets now. Although after the pre-release and release I'm really burned out on doing limited with the set, I hope that all of you are able to do well with whatever interactions you have with the set. As for me I need to start gathering raw data for Zoo match-up analysis.

~Christopher Walton

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