Introduction

Many months ago I launched Season 2 of the Competitive Lands Project by formulating a dream to qualify for the Legacy Showcase Qualifier in June. This would be achieved if I managed to Top 8 in either of the March or April Showcase Challenges or if I would go 5-0 in one of the Last Chance Prelims. In order to maximize my chances to realize this dream I put up a list of strategic, gameplay and mental goals for myself. You have been able to follow the preparations on my YouTube Channel. I have intended to write this summary report for months but the fantastic Danish summer weather kind of got in the way. 

It turns out that the Legacy metagame has changed during the summer as a few red decks (Moon Stompy and Painter) have entered the winner’s meta. UR Delver has also declined from the winner’s meta (see table below). In order to keep this article relevant I have added a final section where I give you an updated sideboard guide as well as the decklist that I recommend for the Legacy Super Qualifier tomorrow (3rd of September). 

Thanks for reading!

Archetype	Metashare (Aug 22)	Metashare (Jun 22)	Change
Delver	18%	28%	-10%
Control	17%	16%	+1%
Karn	16%	12%	+4%
Tribal	15%	13%	+2%
Depths	8%	8%	0%
Dark Ritual	7%	8%	-1%
Graveyard	6%	5%	+1%
Show & Tell	6%	4%	+2%

Goals Checklist

First things first. Season 2 is over and it’s time to evaluate my progress. As I explained in the introduction video I would need a fair amount of luck in order to realize the dream that I had formulated and hence when evaluating Season 2 it’s not meaningful to look at the outcome of my dream. It is more meaningful to evaluate if I managed to complete the goals that I set out for myself.

Strategy Goals

In order to get an edge over the field I wanted to first have a good estimate of what “the field” was, and then I wanted to know my macro role(s) against the top decks. This led me to define the following strategic goals. 

Strategic Goal 1: Estimate the winner’s meta prior to the tournament 

I completed this goal. I started by creating a spreadsheet to keep track of the winner’s meta, and I then spent every Monday filling in the winning decks from last weekend’s Challenges. I usually define the winner’s meta as the Top 32 but this time the size of the tournaments were very different (some Saturday Challenges had 60+ players and some PTQ’s had 200+ players) so I decided to make a cut-off based on winning records instead. 

So what was the winner’s meta? Up until the March Showcase Challenge the winner’s meta was UR Delver, Jeskai Hullbreacher, Uro Tradebinder, Death & Taxes, GW Depths, Lands, Doomsday, Reanimator, and 8 Cast. This was a fantastic meta for Lands as Endurance was great against both combo decks in the format. Endurance was also really strong vs Delver, GW Depths and in the mirror. 

After the March Showcase Challenge we started seeing a resurgence in Storm based combo decks and a drop in Doomsday. Unfortunately the Storm decks didn’t completely take over the combo portion of the meta and we instead had Storm, Reanimator, Show & Tell and Doomsday with basically the same metashare. I don’t think it’s possible to build a Lands 75 that can beat all those decks and I had to make sacrifices.

Strategic Goal 2: Have a decklist and sideboard that is tuned for the winner’s meta.

I discussed my strategy for choosing a decklist in one of the first episodes of the season. I initially tried various 3 color decklists but I decided to focus on the more consistent RG shell that would allow me to put 3 copies of Rishadan Port into my manabase. Rishadan Port was primarily there to combat the fact that Jeskai (with a basic heavy manabase) was the premier control deck of the format. I teamed up with Jordy, who is an excellent Lands player from the Netherlands (also his nickname in Discord), and you can see our discussions in this video. I would say that I completed this goal.

Strategic Goal 3: Know the macro strategy for all big matchups (>5% metashare)

I did complete this goal, and it was kind of a no-brainer that I would, given that I have several thousand reps with Lands. But I did something extra this year as I actually wrote down my key strategic notes on paper (see the guide further down in this article).

Gameplay Goals

In order to maximize my chances to play tight, and to make good in-game decisions, I defined the following gameplay related goals.

Gameplay Goal 1: Practice all big matchups (>5% metashare)

I completed this goal by either playing in Legacy prelims or by doing dedicated matchup training. You can see my practice rounds below.

Delver

There are numerous videos of me playing vs Delver on my channel. Here are a few ones from Season 2 of Competitive Lands.

• Competitive Lands – E11 – R1 – UR Delver Erik157751.
• Competitive Lands – E11 – R4 – UR Delver – MaxMagicer.
• Competitive Lands – E23 – R4 – UR Delver – MarcoAO.

Jeskai Control

• Dedicated training with Ye Hua.

GW Depths

• Dedicated training with Dougal Warby.

Doomsday

• Dedicated training with Martin Nielsen.

8 Cast

• Dedicated training with Philip Neoshinji.

Gameplay Goal 2: Be conscious about when to play using intuition and when to stop up and think

I had identified, already prior to the start of Season 2, that I had started to play more and more on autopilot. This is an easy trap to fall into when playing a deck that you have a ton of reps with. I therefore set up a goal to get better at “stop up and think before making plays”. I discussed this with Jarvis Yu during our coaching session and he taught me the following method that would force my brain to stop up and think. After each drawstep (or everytime that my opponent makes a play) I will say the following questions out loud:

• What has changed?
• How do I win from here?
• How do I lose from here?

Gameplay Goal 3: Do a coaching session with Jarvis Yu

Jarvis is one of the best Lands players on the planet, and he also has an incredible range since he plays many other decks and formats. I contacted him in the beginning of Season 2 of Competitive Lands and asked for a coaching session where we would review some of my matches. Jarvis taught me the “stop up and think” strategy explained above but he also identified that I have a tendency to underestimate my opponents. I sometimes choose suboptimal lines in order to give my opponent the chance to mess up and this is clearly not a great strategy when playing against killer opponents (as you will do in a Showcase Challenge). I liked the session with Jarvis so much that I decided to do a similar one with Jordy from the Lands Discord.

Mental Goals

In order to ensure that I would have the stamina to play well at the end of a long tournament I defined the following mental goals for myself. 

Mental Goal 1: Get regular exercise during Season 2 of Competitive Lands.

I set out a goal to run at least once per week and I did achieve this goal. In fact I exercised more than 2 times per week. I did not only run, I also did some fun exercises with my kids such as ice skating and parkour.

Mental Goal 2: Ensure that my tournament weekends are not filled with mentally exhausting activities. 

I completed this goal. I had talked to Camilla well in advance and we ensured that the Showcase weekends were free. She is very supportive and I am lucky to have such an understanding wife.

Mental Goal 3: Don’t practice too much.

I felt a bit exhausted in the middle of Season 2 and I therefore decided to take a 1 week break from playing magic. This really paid off as I started to feel fresh again. I think this goal is one of the most important to have because it is super easy to fall into bad habits when playing magic online. 

Gameplay

So how did it go? I played in 4 qualification tournaments and you can find a quick writeup of the events below.

Practice Round – March Showcase Challenge

I started the day by taking a run so that I would feel fresh for the tournament. Unfortunately I got a pretty big headache after the run (I think I ran too fast / long and got dehydrated). I took various painkillers but the headache didn’t really stop before round 4 or 5 of the Showcase Challenge. I went 6-2 in the tournament which is a great result but not quite good enough for Top 8. I would have had to go 7-1 (or have had better breakers) in order to make it. I lost to Doomsday (round 1) and Blue-Zenith. I won against 3xUR Delver, Madness, Moon Stompy, and GW Depths. I actually misplayed in G3 vs Doomsday and I could have won if I had cropped for Rishadan Port in the upkeep of my opponent’s last turn. I realized this immediately after the match and luckily I did not tilt. Instead I started to play better and better the longer the tournament went on (likely thanks to having achieved my mental goals stated above).

The Tournament – June Showcase Challenge

This was the big event that I had prepared so hard for. I felt great going into the tournament. I knew exactly what to do vs all common matchups and I felt almost unbeatable. I went 7-2 in the tournament which again is a great result but it was not quite good enough for Top 8. I would have had to go 8-1 (or have had better breakers) in order to make it. I lost to GW Depths (round 1) and Reanimator. I won against 3xUR Delver, RUG Delver, Reanimator, 8 Cast and Jeskai Control. My round 1 was interesting because I actually won G1 but I only had 1-2 minutes left on the clock at this time. My opponent had 3-4 minutes left on their clock and they removed all stops for the rest of the game. I timed out in G2. This was annoying because I was actually ahead of the clock for most of G1 but, as the boardstate swung back and forth, I lost track of my clock and started falling behind. This is something concrete that I can improve and I take this lesson away with me. I also did not tilt after round 1 and continued to play tight for the rest of the tournament. My loss vs Reanimator was pretty heartbreaking as I had both Endurance and Surgical in my G3 opener but my opponent cast turn 1 Show and Tell into Archon. This taught me that no matter how much hate I bring in I cannot beat the best hands from Reanimator so it’s likely better to use some sideboard slots for other matchups (and I started cutting Surgical from my sideboard after this tournament). 

Monday – Last Chance Prelim

I started 4-0 (winning against Goblins, Cephalid Breakfast, UR Delver and Blue-Zenith) and I played against Jankyb in the last deciding round. I had googled Jankyb and I saw that they usually play Jeskai Control. I kept a hand with Urza’s Saga and Thespian’s Stage (super good vs Jeskai Control). I also have a Pithing Needle that I played out on turn 1 (as my mana would be clogged up for the remaining turns). I named Flooded Strand with my Pithing Needle. My idea was to possibly mise a win, and even if I miss on Pithing Needle my Thespian’s Stage copying Saga would likely do the trick. It turns out that my opponent was not on Jeskai Control but on UR Delver and I go ahead and lose G1. It’s possible that it was too risky to blind name Flooded Strand with Needle but I stand by that play. I always google my opponent’s in high stake tournaments and it usually pays off as most players stick to the same deck for high stake events. In G2 my hand is clunky and I lose to Delver, Wasteland and Daze. It was heartbreaking to lose the “win and in” to a good matchup but this happens sometimes.

Wednesday – Last Chance Prelim

I went 0-1 drop losing to UR Delver again. My brain was not really turned on at this event and I felt a bit exhausted after playing a lot of high stake magic for several days in a row.

Final Reflections from Season 2 of Competitive Lands

Alright, time to sum up. I did complete all the goals that I had set out, and I did give myself the best chances to realize my dream and qualify for the Showcase Qualifier. I came very close but I didn’t quite get there. This is totally OK though. As I explained in the intro article you need a fair amount of luck in order to qualify for these tournaments and I came up just short a few times in a row. I had a fantastic run overall and it was not only me that did well with Lands in this Season. Lands was the most successful deck in the June Showcase Challenge and we got several pilots into the Showcase Qualifier. I feel proud to have contributed to this success, and it was fantastic to hang out in the Lands Discord and cheer for my fellow players as we competed in these Showcase Challenges.

Legacy Super Qualifier

Decklist

There is a Legacy Super Qualifier on MODO tomorrow (Saturday 3rd of September). I will play in this tournament and here is my decklist and preparation notes. Let’s start with the list and how it differs from what I played in Season 2 of Competitive Lands. If you look at the online winner’s meta (see the table in the introduction of this article) you can see that it has changed a little bit since June. Most importantly Moon Stompy has gone from almost non-existent to (in my opinion) the 2nd best deck in the format. This is not great for Lands as it’s a hard matchup but it’s not completely unbeatable. I think that a card like Hydroblast is pretty well positioned in the meta as it answers most stuff from Moon Stompy (and Painter) and it also answers all hate cards out of the fair blue decks (Price of Progress, Meltdown and Ruination). Finally, it answers the new planeswalker Minsc & Boo. I recently went 4-0 in a prelim with this RUG Lands list that plays Hydroblast in the sideboard. I think this shell has potential but I still believe that RG Lands is the best version for the Legacy Super Qualifier. 

UR Delver, Elves, Reanimator, Jeskai Control, GW Depths, Blue-Zenith, Sneak & Show, Moon Stompy, Death & Taxes and 8 Cast have all had above 5% of the winner’s metashare in August. I think UR Delver, Reanimator and Moon Stompy will be overrepresented in the Super Qualifier as these decks tend to attract online grinders from other formats (Delver because it’s the best deck and the others because they are very powerful and proactive strategies). I think Blue-Zenith and GW Depths are the decks that best exploit Minsc & Boo so these might also increase a bit (if people are able to get their hands on the card). 

So where does this leave me? I will play this list.

How does this differ from the version(s) that I played in Season 2 of Competitive Lands? 

• 0 Elvish Reclaimer, 3 Depths (I used to play 2 Reclaimer and 2 Depths). This is a direct result of Moon Stompy. I really want 3 Depths vs this deck as it’s important to naturally draw it. They play Chalice of the Void and Fury so Reclaimer is unreliable.
• 1 Soul-Guide Lantern (this used to be 1 Pyrite Spellbomb). I want a combination of spell and permanent based hate vs Reanimator, and when I don’t play Reclaimer I want another Saga target and Soul-Guide Lantern is the best one.
• 2 Lightning Bolts in the sideboard (this used to be additional Storm hate). I really want 4 answers to Magus of the Moon post sideboard. I thought about playing Pyroclasm as it’s one of a few cards that can catch up vs Goblin Rabblemaster and it can also answer 2 Maguses but I think Lightning Bolt is better because it can also answer Minsc & Boo and Ramunap Excavator from GW Depths and Blue-Zenith.

Strategy and Sideboarding

UR Delver

My Role: Prison-Combo-Aggro

How do I win?

• Marit Lage (play around Brazen Borrower and Submerge).
• Wasteland lock (this happens less often than you think).
• Endurance and Constructs + Shadowspear (this strategy is much better in G1).

How do I lose?

• Brasen Borrower or Submerge on Marit Lage.
• Murktide plus Wasteland on my Maze of Ith (Pithing Needle on Wasteland can be good).
• Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Expressive Iterations can sometimes grind me to pieces.
• Multiple 1 drops can sometimes run me over.

In	Out
+3 Blasts	-1 Karakas
+2 Choke	-3 Urza’s Saga
+2 Lightning Bolt	-1 Pithing Needle
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-1 Shadowspear

Elves

My Role: Prison-Combo-Control.

How do I win?

• Super-fast Marit Lage (watch out for Boseiju and sometimes Run Afoul).
• Early disruption and semi-fast Marit Lage.
• Tabernacle + Wasteland + Sphere of Resistance.
• Destroying all their creatures with Punishing Fire (this happens less often than you think).

How do I lose?

• Natural Order into Progenitus.
• Their bigger creatures like Endurance.
• Explosive Glimpse turns. 

In	Out
+2 Lightning Bolt	-1 Karakas
+4 Sphere of Resistance	-2 Urza’s Saga
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-2 Endurance

Reanimator

My Role: Control-Prison.

How do I win?

• I overload them with answers. I need a mix of spell based and permanent based hate. They will 3 for 1 themselves when trying to go off so we win the card advantage game in this matchup.

How do I lose?

• Their nut-draws.
• Not having enough turn 0 disruption.
• Show and Tell (attack their mana after stopping their first attempt).

In	Out
+1 Thran Foundry	-1 Blast Zone
+4 Sphere of Resistance	-1 Tabernacle
	-1 Shadowspear
	-2 Punishing Fire

Jeskai Control

My Role: Prison-Aggro

How do I win?

• Run them over with Constructs.
• Tap all their Plains and make a Marit Lage at their end step.
• Grind them down with Urza’s Saga and Thespian’s Stage.
• They lose by timing out (this is the most common way that I win).

How do I lose?

• Games go long and I draw too many Mox Diamonds and Explorations.
• Tempo:
  • I have a slow hand and T3feri bounces my Urza’s Saga and then I get Mind Twisted before I have played out my lands.
  • Prismatic Ending destroys Mox Diamond and then I get Mind Twisted before I have played out my lands.
• Their hate cards such as Ruination and Blood Moon.
• Their bombs such as Monastery Mentor, Jace the Mindsculptor or Shark Typhoon.

Note: If I suspect Blood Moon then I might take out 2 Crop Rotations for 2 Force of Vigor.

In	Out
+3 Blasts	-1 Karakas
+2 Choke	-1 Tabernacle
+4 Sphere of Resistance	-1 Dark Depths
+1 Lightning Bolt	-1 Exploration
	-1 Mox Diamond
	-1 Shadowspear
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-3 Endurance

GW Depths

My Role: Prison-Aggro.

How do I win?

• Run them over with Constructs (try to maximize Urza’s Saga every turn).
• I destroy all their creatures with Punishing Fire.
• They don’t draw enough lands and I have multiple copies of Wasteland and Rishadan Port as well as Tabernacle.
• Marit Lage can win at any time where they tap out without an active Knight (this is very unlikely to happen against a good player).

How do I lose?

• They get onto the board faster than me. This will often result in one of the following boardstates that I can’t really beat:
  • Ramunap Excavator plus Wasteland.
  • Knight of the Reliquary plus Wasteland (Endurance is a good answer to Knight).
• Force of Vigor. This card is often a total blow out and it’s very hard to play around.

In	Out
+2 Lightning Bolt	-2 Dark Depths
+2 Force of Vigor	-1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
	-1 Shadowspear

Blue-Zenith

My Role: Prison-Aggro.

How do I win?

• Run them over with Constructs (try to maximize Urza’s Saga every turn).
• They don’t draw enough lands and I have multiple copies of Wasteland and Rishadan Port as well as Tabernacle.
• A fast Marit Lage can sometimes do the trick as they play 80 cards and might not always have Swords to Plowshares.
• I manage to grind them down with Thespian’s Stage copying an Urza’s Saga.
• They lose by timing out (this is less common vs Blue-Zenith compared to Jeskai Control as their clock is faster).

How do I lose?

• They manage to assemble Ramunap Excavator plus Wasteland.
• They ramp (with Uro or Ramunap plus fetches) into Primetime.
• Games go long and I draw too many Mox Diamonds and Explorations.

In	Out
+2 Lightning Bolt	-1 Dark Depths
+2 Pyroblast or Sphere	-1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
	-1 Exploration
	-1 Mox Diamond

Sneak & Show

My Role: Prison-Aggro-Combo.

How do I win?

• Super fast Marit Lage (this is the only way to win G1).
• Neither player is casting spells and I attack with 5/5 constructs (Sphere + Saga).
• Early disruption (Sphere of Resistance) plus semi-fast Marit Lage.
• I manage to mess them up in the middle of their combo. For example if they cast Show and Tell then I can put in Sphere of Resistance and destroy Omniscience with Boseiju / Force of Vigor before they can cast another spell.
• Choke.

How do I lose?

• Their nut-draws (cannot really beat that).
• Magus of the Moon (they no longer play Blood Moon).
• Not finding enough disruption (Sphere and Blasts are MVP’s). 

In	Out
+3 Blasts	-1 Tabernacle
+4 Sphere of Resistance	-2 Maze
+3 Force of Vigor	-1 Bog
+2 Choke	-1 Blast Zone
+2 Lightning Bolt	-3 Endurance
	-1 Shadowspear
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-1 Punishing Fire
	-1 Exploration
	-2 Life from the Loam

Moon Stompy

My Role: Combo.

How do I win?

• I have Dark Depths plus a timely answer to Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon.
• They mulligan to oblivion.

How do I lose?

• I don’t draw Dark Depths.
• I happen to draw the wrong answer to their lockpiece (Force of Vigor vs Magus of the Moon or Punishing Fire vs Blood Moon).
• Karn the great creator (if they play him).
• They don’t play out their Moons and instead run me over with goblins.

In	Out
+2 Lightning Bolt	-1 Bojuka Bog
+3 Force of Vigor	-2 Urza’s Saga
	-1 Karakas
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern

Death & Taxes

My role: Prison-Aggro-Control

How do I win?

• Run them over with Constructs (try to maximize Urza’s Saga every turn).
• Destroy all their creatures with Punishing Fire.
• They don’t draw enough lands and I have multiple copies of Wasteland and Rishadan Port as well as Tabernacle.
• Marit Lage can sometimes win but it’s super risky as they have Swords to Plowshares and Solitude.

How do I lose?

• They have a turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic into Kaldra Compleat.
• They land an early Sanctum’s Prelate and name 2.
• My hand is not functioning (mull to 5) and they run me over with dorks.

Notes: I might bring in two Sphere of Resistance on the play.

In	Out
+3 Force of Vigor	-1 Bog
+2 Lightning Bolt	-1 Dark Depths
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-2 Endurance

8 Cast

My Role: Prison-Control-Combo

How do I win?

• I kill their first creature and then Wasteland them to oblivion. Urza’s Saga comes down once we have stabilized the board.
• Fast Marit Lage. It is risky to go for a slow Marit Lage as they have 2 Otawara, 1 Spellbomb and sometimes Brazen Borrower (post sideboard).

How do I lost?

• Their nut-draws (cannot really beat that).
• My hand lining up poorly against theirs:
  • I have 1 drops and they have Chalice.
  • I have Blasts and they have Urza’s Saga.
  • I have Wasteland plus Force of Vigor and they have Emry or Sai.
• They can sometimes grind me out thanks to Thoughtcast and Crucible of Worlds. But I often feel favored going long as long as I am able to control their early board.

Note: Kappa Cannoneer is more like Tangle Wire than True-Name Nemesis. Once we reach 5-6 mana we have plenty of answers in Maze of Ith and Boseiju. I only die to Kappa if it lands early or if they have 2 copies. 

In	Out
+3 Blasts	-1 Dark Depths
+3 Force of Vigor	-1 Urza’s Saga
+1 Lightning Bolt	-3 Endurance
	-1 Soul-Guide Lantern
	-1 Crop Rotation

This is an article by the great Japanese player Dull04.

https://note.com/dull04/n/n031da59622b5

Like their other writings, it is originally written in Japanese, but the translation via Google is effective enough to render it readable. The article makes some excellent points about his approach to the Delver matchup, as well as how to build Lands for the current meta.

Ever since money was invented, people have been finding tricky ways to steal it from each other. One of the most insidious of these is currency conversion, where you have to pay a fee just to switch what dead people are depicted on your bills or what squiggles go in front of the numbers. I wish I could say that us Lands players would never get involved in such an abhorrent practice but the truth is that greed makes fools of us all and as soon as Currency Converter was printed we were at work trying to figure out how to maximize our profits with it. Here’s the card in question:

The reason to try this card in Lands is that it functions as a 1cmc artifact value engine that you can pick up off Saga. It also has inherent synergy with the deck since we often have extra cards to discard, whether they’re lands of Life from the Loam, Punishing Fires we can get back with Grove, or irrelevant Mox Diamonds drawn late in the game. What Lands doesn’t have, however, is a way to discard consistently; if we just slot this card in, we have to rely on its own activation to generate value (aside from the occasional Mox Diamond).

Enter Dack Fayden, the greatest thief in the multiverse.

Dack was always a fun card people liked to mess with in Lands – we often have extra cards in our hand and can easily undo the discard with Life from the Loam. That said, he’s never really been good enough. But with Currency Converter promising to generate even more value off his +1, people started trying him again. After alli, tim, and others in the Lands discord posted several good results in Leagues, I was sold on it. I played a few matches and while I wasn’t blown away, the deck felt good enough to take to the TCG Con Legacy 2k that was happening in our area.

The Decklist

I know deck pics can be hard to parse so here’s a link to a typed out decklist to go with it. The biggest change for this kind of deck compared to traditional RG Lands is the addition of blue. Blue gets you Dack in the maindeck, but it also gets you a suite of powerful sideboard cards. In my case I was playing 2 Flusterstorm, 1 Spell Pierce, and 1 Blue Elemental Blast. This setup allows you to play differently against combo. No longer do you need to set up 2cmc lock pieces – instead you can interact from turn 1 and do it at instant speed so that you don’t slow down your own development.

The rest of the deck was built with an eye to beating fair decks since I know my local meta has very little combo and a ton of Death & Taxes and blue control. That’s why you’ll see Field of the Dead in the maindeck and Drop of Honey in the board. 8Cast was also a consideration (hence the Chalice in the board), but I couldn’t think of cards that would be good against both it and the rest of the field so I just planned on dodging it or making the Witch as soon as possible if I did have to play against it.

The Event

I started the day by eating an overpriced egg and avocado sandwich just to confirm my status as a millennial with poor spending habits (as if buying tons of cardboard didn’t prove that already). But soon enough we were in the convention center and off to the races!

Round 1: Burn

I knew this person was on Burn because I had seen them filling out a deck list before the event. I’ve heard a few different people tell me that Burn is a bad matchup for Lands but in my experience it rarely plays out that way, even with Glacial Chasm mostly absent from the 75 for the last couple years. It’s just a race and while they can kill you fast if you do nothing, we have a ton of interaction for their stuff while they have basically none for us.

I’m on the play and I keep a 7 that makes Lage on turn 4, one land drop at a time. Not ideal but we have 9 cards in the deck that will speed us up by a turn so I keep it. They start getting in with Goblin Guides and giving me cards, but I’m able to pick them off with Punishing Fire so I don’t take too much damage. On the crucial turn before I can kill them, they have a suspended Rift Bolt and I’m at 10. I do the math and if they have really anything plus Fireblast I will die.

They go to their draw step without taking a time counter off their Rift Bolt, missing the trigger. The judge offers me the choice of whether to take it off suspend and, well, I don’t want to take 3 damage so I say no thank you. I end the turn at 7 life with Marit Lage ready to win me the game. They show me the Fireblast when I attack them.

In: Counterspells

Out: Dack, Currency Converter

I don’t remember exact sideboarding for each match but I’ll give the general idea as we go. Game 2 my hand is one card off a turn 2 kill. I draw the right card, make Marit Lage, and that’s it.

1-0

Round 2: Death & Taxes

My opponent this round is playing 60 card taxes with some atypical card choices like Esper Sentinel. But they’re a strong player and I’m sure they’ve thought through the decisions (Esper Sentinel did draw them 2-3 cards one of our games, seems interesting in the deck). In all, Death & Taxes is usually not too bad a matchup, but with the right pilot on the other side it can get tricky, and both my white weenie opponents on this day were pretty skilled.

In game 1 they curve Mother of Runes into Stoneforge Mystic. I have Punishing Fire but I’m on the draw without the proper acceleration to deploy it in time. So Kaldra soon hits the field and starts chunking me. I do lock them under Tabernacle a bit, and eventually set up a Maze to stem the bleeding. At this point with Punishing Fire and Maze up, I’m doing alright but my life total is low and I’m dead to Rishadan Port or Wasteland out of their deck. I pick off their creatures but they keep replacing them, and one of these is a Giver of Runes. So at this point their board is Kaldra, Giver, and Spirit of the Labyrinth, with me a 3 life. I have the mana to burn two creatures, but I pass to their turn so that they’ll have to pay the tithe. Unfortunately, I realize my mistake too late. Where before they were attacking with all their creatures, this time they just attack with Spirit & Kaldra, leaving Giver behind. I can’t burn Spirit without burning Giver, and if I burn Giver, they’ll protect Spirit before I can get back Punishing Fire. I lose.

In: 2 Force of Vigor, Drop of Honey, 1 Endurance

Out: Bojuka Bog, 1 Mox Diamond, 2 Dark Depths

In Game 2 they mull to 5 and my hand has Loam + Exploration. I get the engine going unimpeded and they scoop pretty quickly thereafter.

Game 3 sees me with a similarly powerful start and them on a mull to 6. My start does almost falter when they cast March of Otherworldly Light on my Mox Diamond, leaving me with just one mana. Luckily I draw another land and am able to start Loaming away. They don’t have the Stoneforge for early pressure, instead their mana is cramped and they’re playing a lot of 1 drops – 2 Moms and an Esper Sentinel. I have Needle for their Vial, and soon thereafter a Tabernacle drops and sweeps their board. Dack joins the party and starts burying them in cards. If they hit a Rest in Peace earlier there may have been some hope but at this point I’m starting to make zombies and they scoop.

2-0

Round 3: TES

Of course no Lands player prefers to play against Storm, and I’ve seen my opponent around enough to tell they know what they’re doing. Luckily I’m on the play game 1 and I get to open on Saga, Currency Converter, Mox, pitch a land, activate Converter for a treasure. Not exactly the world’s most broken start but at least we have some pressure and our mana is set up well.

They take their first turn to just cantrip a bit, and I just play more lands and start loaming looking for combo pieces. I pass with Saga and a treasure untapped.

On their turn, they play their land and dump their hand using Wishclaw to find Ad Nauseum and cast it with no mana floating. This is about as good as an Ad Naus can get for us since they’ll need zeros to get anywhere from there and we have a tutor lined up next turn. I’m also staring at a Punishing Fire in my hand praying that they’ll go to 2 life and I can steal this one.

They flip Echo of Eons and take 6 so it looks like we might get there, but they stop short at 3 life. Their pile of cards, however, can’t do anything other than LED into Echo. So I burn them to 1 with that on the stack, again praying to Lage that their 7 will be bad. Lage does reward her faithful – their 7 spins up some more mana but ends up just casting Galvanic Relay, setting them up to win next turn.

There won’t be a next turn though. I Wishclaw for a Punishing Fire and finish the job.

In: everything except Endurance & Drop of Honey

Out: a ton of creature killing stuff, Dack, Currency Converter, Karakas, that kind of thing. I left Tabernacle in case they’re the one TES player who is still trying to cast Empty the Warrens.

Game 2 I’m on the draw. My hand makes a turn 2 Marit Lage so I vacillate a bit but end up keeping it. Their hand makes a turn 1 Tendrils for 20 so all that agonizing over the keep/mull was really pointless since they had plenty of agony ready for me in their hand already.

In game 3 my hand has a lot more interaction, including a Spell Pierce and a Pyroblast. Aside from that we’re not doing a lot but their deck is pretty all-in and doesn’t play discard. So I figure if I can stop the first try I can get there. I lead on a fetch so that I can cast either Pierce or Pyroblast as needed. On their turn 1 they spew their hand into a Burning Wish with 4 mana floating. I have to Pierce this, and luckily that means they can’t get Relay or anything else that would set them up next turn. Instead they have to pick up Echo of Eons and hope to draw mana/LEDs to cast it.

The game inches on from there. After a few scary turns trying to dodge LED, I find a Chalice that I set to zero. Eventually I set up to kill them with Lage, at which point they ritual into their Echo. I have the Pyroblast though and that’s the match.

After the games they mentioned that they had boarded out a lot of their anti-counter stuff (Defense Grids and Veils) and brought in answers to permanents (Abrupt Decay). It looks like leaning on blue instead of Spheres paid off, especially as I didn’t show them blue cards in games 1 or 2.

3-0

Round 4: Death & Taxes

This time it’s a more typical Yorion Death & Taxes list, though again piloted by a veteran. Luckily in game 1 I’m on the play and I kind of run away with it, just doing Lands stuff, though they do get some hits in.

In: Drop of Honey, 2 Force of Vigor, 1 Endurance

Out: 1 Mox Diamond, 2 Dark Depths, 1 Bojuka Bog

Game 2 gets a bit more interesting. They lead on Vial, but I have Exploration and the natural Needle for their Vial. Then their turn 2 play is Port into Stoneforge Mystic for Kaldra. At this point I’m wondering if should have held Needle for this situation, since this setup is the main way I lose this matchup. But what’s done is done and I’m a little lucky since I have a Crop Rotation so I can find Maze. I also have Dack. So I drop Dack and hold up green mana so I can protect him with Maze. This won’t last forever, though, since they have Port and will be able to tap Maze as the turns go by.

The next turn plays out as planned – they put in Kaldra and I Maze it, saving Dack from Mirrodin’s voltron. They also missed their land drop, which bodes well and makes that Needle on Vial look pretty good after all. The next turn is still dicey, but Dack lets you see a lot of cards, and I have Exploration up already. I find Loam, and then I also find a second Crop Rotation. So when they tap my Maze, I rotate it for a second Maze and buy Dack another turn. Now the engines are revving up and I can loam back the first Maze and starting Wasting their lands. My Sagas are popping off too and finding Currency Converter which, with Dack, means I’m making a ton of treasure so I’m sitting on a pile of mana.

With two Mazes it’s quite hard for them to kill Dack and though they do eventually answer Loam with a Recruiter for Faerie Macabre, the game is a bit out of hand, especially as I find Tabernacle and Field of the Dead. They scoop when I find a Punishing Fire on top of it all. But while I did win, they stole from me the thrill of using Dack’s emblem to steal Kaldra with Punishing Fire. Perhaps it’s my opponent who is the greatest thief in the multiverse after all.

4-0

Quarterfinals: 8Cast

At this point I’m 4-0 and since everyone knows that the first 4 matches of a tournament demonstrate your skill far more than the last 2, this means that I’m gifted the honor of making it to the top8 via intentional draws. I know I’ll be paired against 8Cast and my list is not very well suited to the matchup (no Shadowspear, only 2 Force of Vigor). I’d be happy to split, but we end up playing it out.

8Cast isn’t a horrible matchup for Lands but it isn’t particularly good. And while it may seem like Dack would make the matchup great since he can steal artifacts, in practice that rarely works out too well. You can maybe steal a Seat of the Synod to deny mana, but the rest of their artifacts are mostly baubles and creatures that either turn tiny when you steal them (constructs) or have ward 4 (turtles). That said, I always keep a 20/20 in my back pocket, and sometimes that’s just the trump card you need.

My opponent is a very nice player who drove over 4 hours to be here. Always cool to see that dedication to the format. In game 1 they counter my Exploration and lead on turn 1 Chalice for 1. This slows me down a lot – I would have had an early Lage via Crop Rotation otherwise.

Following this they play an Emry. I struggle to constrain their mana through this but eventually they sacrifice it to Tabernacle after I Bojuka Bog their graveyard. My relief is short-lived, however, as they just play another one and get the engines going. They even fetch Aether Spellbomb with their Saga, making it that much harder to get Lage through.

I do manage to needle their Spellbomb (this would be a theme in these games). But Chalice prevents me from rotating for the second part of the combo. When they attack for lethal I do a quick check to see if maybe they forgot about their magic void cup but they counter my Crop Rotation through some kind of mystical mixology and I lose.

In: Blasts, Chalice, Force of Vigor, Drop

Out: Dack, Currency Converter, Field of the Dead, 1 Maze, Blast Zone

My primary plan in this matchup is to summon the Witch and attack for 20 damage. The secondary plan is to starve their mana. I cut a lot of the grindier cards because they don’t really fit with either plan. I wish I had the Shadowspear to punch through thopters, but I feel like I heard someone say that 8Cast boards out Sai against Lands. Which seems wrong to me but maybe my opponent heard that too and we get lucky.

In game 2 they don’t have the Chalice and their hand stalls out a bit as I waste them to relatively little mana. They get the Spellbomb from their Saga but I get the Needle off my Saga. After a while they start to pick up steam with an Emry but by this point I’m able to activate Thespian’s Stage targeting Dark Depths in order to create Marit Lage, a 20/20 black Avatar creature token with flying and indestructible.

Game 3 I’m on the draw. My opponent’s hand seems like it must have been somewhat speculative. He has the natural Spellbomb this time, but the rest of the hand seems like it’s just air. So while I waste an early Saga, there isn’t a lot else going on and I even have time to make some constructs off my own Saga. When Saga dies, my opponent has a decision point. He can cash in the Spellbomb for a card, or keep it and force me to Needle it.

Perhaps having seen Needle on Spellbomb for the last two games running, and wanting to find some action as he stares down my constructs, he decides to just cash it in now. As a result, I’m able to get a Mox Diamond instead of the Needle so that I can set up my mana. At this point I have 2 3/3 Constructs attacking in, as well as a Dark Depths in play. I keep drawing Pyroblasts and countering their Thought Monitors. One of these blasts gets Forced, but I’ll call it a win since they pitched Brazen Borrower and I’m eyeing the Crop Rotation in my hand. With them sitting on one card I decide I should press my advantage and finish this. I rotate for Lage and they scoop.

5-0

Semifinals: RG Lands

I felt a bit lucky to have pulled off that win against 8Cast, but now I’m out for blood and turn down the split in top 4. I know my opponent is on traditional RG Lands with Valakut Exploration. I also know that their deck is beautifully foiled out (indeed, this event had two people with foiled out Lands decks in it; apparently my region is a hotbed of Lands activity). But I also also know that they haven’t played the deck much and aren’t super familiar with Legacy since it can be hard to find games in paper. That bodes well for me since the mirror is very tricky and provides many opportunities to leverage experience.

In game 1 my opener is Loam, Currency Converter, and 5 mediocre lands. Too slow, I think, so I ship it. My 6 is essentially the same but without the Loam. So down to 5 we go. That 5 isn’t horrible and I’m able to lead on Mox Diamond into Loam, which is a decent setup in the mirror.

Their 7 has Exploration into Crop Rotation for Bog. Then they Waste my only mana producing land and follow it up with Valakut Exploration. I’m drawing Loam after Loam but no mana to cast them. Finally I do find a land and cast Loam on nothing to start getting things going, but they’re looking at 4 cards a turn so they find their Loam too and Waste me again. With them having every engine and me having none, I scoop.

In: 2 Force of Vigor, HydroBlast, Spell Pierce

Out: 1 Maze, 2 Dark Depths, Tabernacle

In game 2, we both mull to 6 but have decent starts, me with the Mox + Currency Converter opener and them with Exploration and a grip of lands. I have Stage and Wasteland in play, so I can do some tricksy stuff, and I make a rogue token to start pressuring them a bit.

At this point they play out Stage + Depths on their side of the field. They know, however, that Wasteland blows them out, so they don’t go for it. I’m not too worried, especially as I draw a Karakas. This actually puts me in an interesting position, since I can make Lage off their Depths and answer any Lage they make themselves. On their next turn, they play an Endurance, presumably to start blocking my rogue token. They end their turn with Forest, Stage, and Depths untapped, though Yavimaya is in play so they can make Lage if they want. I copy their Depths and they say OK. I pick up Drew Tucker’s wonderful rendition of an old lady being served tea by a fox on the back of a DanDan artist proof (that’s my 20/20) and put it into play. My opponent does a double take and tells me I that I don’t have a Dark Depths. I tell them I copied theirs. They scoop. This is the kind of thing I meant when I said the mirror is tricky. In retrospect though I should have started by wasting their Stage to force the action, so I can hardly claim to be a master either.

In game 2, I mull to 6 and they mull to 5. They lead on Diamond into Saga, leaving them with 2 cards. I waste the Saga and they concede.

At this point the bloodlust has left me (plus my finals opponent is 8Cast again, and quite good with the deck). We split the prizes and call it a day.

6-0

Final Thoughts

I’m not 100% sure that RUG is the definitive build of Lands for the current meta but I will say it’s a lot of fun. I do think that the blue counters are a lot better positioned than Spheres at the moment. Being able to interact turn 1 against combo without also slowing yourself down, as well as countering the key spells out of control decks (e.g. Ruination, Blood Moon, Price of Progress) means I’d much rather have those in the board than some 2cmc artifacts that can often hurt me as much as my opponent.

I have seen lists that splash blue just for those sideboard cards but don’t have the Currency Converter + Dack package. Personally, however, I found Dack to be pretty good overall (shoutout to tim for convincing me to play the planeswalker on the night before the event). The GOAT Thief is a good engine in our deck, especially as we can ramp into him and no one is bringing in Pyroblast against us. The lists without Dack tend to just run maindeck Endurances instead, but I feel that having the additional engines is more valuable than a random 3/4, albeit one with a powerful effect.

With regard to the list going forward, the maindeck felt very solid. I particularly liked having 13 untapped green lands (so 17 turn 1 green sources, compared to the usual 15-16). I don’t think I had to mull a green-free hand all day. That, combined with Currency Converter making treasure tokens, makes playing three colors a little more reasonable where before it’s been a bit hard to justify the damage it does to your manabase. I’d love to fit in a Ketria Triome but coming in tapped isn’t the best, and the slots are pretty tight. Field might be a flex slot depending on your meta, but mine is full of slow fair decks so it felt good to have.

For the sideboard, I probably would not play Drop online, and the 3 Endurance are mostly flex slots. I had them to beat Delver and provide splash damage against a lot of combo decks. I could see Surgical, Shadowspear, Grafdiggers Cage, or even Choke (we have only 1 Island) in those slots, depending what you want to target. I’m still on the hunt for something that can powerfully hose 8Cast while also being useful against other decks, and when I find it maybe that’s what I’ll slot in there (Meltdown or the 3rd Force of Vigor maybe?).

In all, it’s just great to see innovation in the Lands shell pay off. I want to say thanks to TCG Con and the TO for organizing what is probably the biggest Legacy event our area will see for a while, and a big thanks to our local legacy community for coming out. Some people drove from way up in the mountains and that’s wonderful to see.

Until next time, happy loaming!

G’day Lands lovers and greetings from Down Under!

I’m a long-time enthusiast of the Legacy Lands deck and a big fan the work aslidsiksoraksi has done to create the Pendrell Vale website. After reading and listening to so much amazing content, I wanted to give something back. However, I’m far from a Legacy expert, so I decided the best thing I could do was to highlight how Lands is played in the coolest Magic format that you probably didn’t even know exists: 7 Point Highlander.

What is 7 Point Highlander?

7 Point Highlander (also known as Australian Highlander or 7PT) is a constructed singleton format popular with Magic aficionados in Australia since its creation in 1996. The format uses the Vintage card pool and ban list, balancing deck construction and gameplay through a points system whereby you can only run 7 points worth of powerful cards in your 60-card deck and 15-card sideboard. A common saying in the format is “you can play all the best cards, just not all at once”. You can sleeve up a Black Lotus, but it will cost you 4 points (and a small fortune). Everyone’s favourite shirtless friend Oko, Thief of Crowns got himself run out of Modern and Legacy, but he has a home here…for 2 points, of course. Efficient tutors are often pointed and WotC’s latest F.I.R.E. design mistakes will quickly find themselves added to the list. It keeps the format feeling fresh and relatively balanced (it’s an Eternal format, so, you know, blue) while adding an interesting layer to deck construction. On that note, here is the current points list as per the release of Streets of New Capenna:

5 points: Ancestral Recall; Time Walk.
4 points: Black Lotus; Thassa’s Oracle; Time Vault.
3 points: Demonic Tutor; Mana Crypt; Mox Emerald; Mox Jet; Mox Pearl; Mox Ruby; Mox Sapphire; Sol Ring; Underworld Breach; Vampiric Tutor.
2 points: Channel; Dig Through Time; Flash; Imperial Seal; Lurrus of the Dream-Den; Lutri, the Spellchaser; Mystical Tutor; Oko, Thief of Crowns; Protean Hulk; Strip Mine; Tinker; Treasure Cruise; True-Name Nemesis.
1 point: Balance; Crop Rotation; Deathrite Shaman; Dreadhorde Arcanist; Enlightened Tutor; Fastbond; Force of Will; Gifts Ungiven; Green Sun’s Zenith; Gush; Intuition; Karakas; Library of Alexandria; Lim-Dul’s Vault; Mana Drain; Mana Vault; Merchant Scroll; Mind Twist; Mishra’s Workshop; Mystic Sanctuary; Natural Order; Oath of Druids; Profane Tutor; Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer; Sensei’s Divining Top; Skullclamp; Snapcaster Mage; Survival of the Fittest; Tainted Pact; Time Spiral; Timetwister; Tolarian Academy; Umezawa’s Jitte; Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath; Urza’s Saga; Wasteland; Wishclaw Talisman; Wrenn and Six; Yawgmoth’s Will.

In addition, the following cards are banned in Legacy but are unpointed in 7PT: Arcum’s Astrolabe; Bazaar of Baghdad; Demonic Consultation; Earthcraft; Frantic Search; Gitaxian Probe; Goblin Recruiter; Hermit Druid; Memory Jar; Mental Misstep; Mind’s Desire; Necropotence; Wheel of Fortune; Windfall; Yawgmoth’s Bargain; Zirda, the Dawnwaker.

Chaos Orb, Falling Star, and Shahrazad are banned in both formats.

At the release of each new standard legal set the points list is reviewed by the Points Committee and cards can receive their first point, additional points, or have existing points removed. The most recent change saw Lurrus of the Dream-Den receive +1 point to move from 1 to 2 and Mind Twist receive -1 point to move from 2 to 1. Additionally, the committee will outline their current “watchlist” of points being considered, which currently consists of:

• Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath under consideration for +1 point from 1 to 2
• Flash and/or Protean Hulk. Both parts of the combo are currently 2 points, the consideration is for one of them, likely Protean Hulk, to receive -1 point to move from 2 to 1 and the other to remain unchanged
• True-Name Nemesis under consideration for -1 point from 2 to 1

A card being on the watchlist does not indicate that a change is inevitable, merely that it is being discussed. Similarly, cards not on the watchlist can (and do) receive points without first needing to be watchlisted.

The points list allows the format to remain balanced while still allowing players to enjoy the entirety of their Magic collections. If you see an old favourite on the points list that you’d love to play once again – I know there’s a lot of older Legacy players out there still sad about the banning of Survival of the Fittest – then I’d highly recommend giving the format a go. It’s great fun and has recently expanded into MTGO with more regularity. The most recent MTGO event featured the largest ever contingent of international players who were all drawn in by the chance to enjoy a unique format…and maybe a tiny bit by the first-place prize, a (real life) Mox Emerald.

Do people play Lands in 7PT?

Of course! Lands is the best deck in Magic, so naturally people will play it in every format where the key cards are legal. One of the key selling points of 7PT is that every card is legal (well, every card that’s legal in Vintage. Sorry Shahrazad, we hardly knew ye). This means that not only do Lands players get access to all their favourite cards such as Life from the Loam, Exploration, Dark Depths, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, but also to some mouth-watering additions in Fastbond and Strip Mine. There are many different builds of Lands in 7PT, however a quick glance at the points list reveals an abundance of pointed cards that feel at home in the archetype: Strip Mine (2), Crop Rotation (1), Fastbond (1), Green Sun’s Zenith (1), Karakas (1), Mystic Sanctuary (1), Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath (1), Urza’s Saga (1), Wasteland (1), and Wrenn and Six (1) to name a handful. That’s 11 points already…Judge!

The singleton nature of the format creates an incredible array of diversity even within specific decks, so it’s difficult to outline exactly what a Lands deck looks like. While there’s a clear and largely green core to the deck that probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone, players naturally take their builds in directions that suit their playstyle or local metagame. I’ve been playing the deck for a while now, but there’s always more to learn. Being curious to learn more about the archetype, I recently spoke to a few notable Lands players to find out more about their decklists and experiences.

Loke and the origins of “Gardening Australia”

Loke was one of the first players to play decks that resemble the modern Lands shell and in the video above he goes through one of his builds from the 2016-2017 period. When we discussed his early builds, he recalled a slightly different list that was inspired by the recent printing of The Gitrog Monster. It was 4 colours with a base of green and black, splashing white for Knight of the Reliquary and blue for Trade Routes. In a theme that ran through all his early iterations, it included a Living Wish package as Loke felt that the deck was first and foremost a combo deck that had a midrange back up plan. Loke recalls that one of his main points of inspiration for the deck was

“Trying to make a ProsBloom deck (the Prosperity + Cadaverous Bloom + Squandered Resources combo) and when that failed, I looked at Lands as a way to use Squandered Resources”.

In recent years Loke has been rotating through decks rapidly but manages to sleeve up Lands builds on occasion and still incorporates a Living Wish package when he does. One of his most recent concoctions, pictured below, used the points spread of Strip Mine (2), Wasteland (1), Lurrus of the Dream-Den (1), Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer (1), Deathrite Shaman (1), and Wrenn and Six (1) – though note that Lurrus of the Dream-Den went to 2 points in the most recent points update (April 2022).

Aside from helping popularise the archetype in 7PT, Loke also coined the fitting name of Gardening Australia, although I’m not sure how well it translates internationally (Gardening Australia is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s premiere TV gardening program…my mum never misses an episode).

Alex Bader-McDowell and his Pink Lady Lands (Naya)

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/9LDcje4YH0CaRnlOa2v1mg

Alex has a long history with Lands and has managed to top 8 several large Highlander events using 4c Lands (sans blue) and Jund Midrange across both paper events and MTGO including Top 8 of the Bluebell Open, Top 8 of the 1^st Highlander MTGO League (Win and Underground Sea), Top 8 of the Win a Scrubland Highlander Event, and Top 32 of the 2^nd Highlander MTGO League (Win a Mox). His current build is a Naya configuration running the points of Strip Mine (2), Wasteland (1), Fastbond (1), Crop Rotation (1), Wrenn and Six (1), and Green Sun’s Zenith (1).

Alex describes this build as “a midrange deck that uses Loam and cards like Tireless Tracker, Knight of the Reliquary, and Elvish Reclaimer as an engine” and mainly focuses on establishing a decent amount of card advantage/board control before using the Depths combo as an “I win” button. However, he notes there are certain games/hands where you just go for the win as early as possible. He sees the main pull into white as being Knight of the Reliquary, noting its high power as a land tutor, while red adds Wrenn and Six which is “way too important to give up” compared to the Abzan builds he tried prior to its printing. Alex decided on Naya after deciding the manabase was too poor for 4c, though he notes that Jund builds are also well positioned due to discard spells such as Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, and Collective Brutality being effective against the prevalence of blue decks.

When I asked Alex whether he ran any cards that others tend to overlook, he highlighted Orcish Lumberjack.

“It’s either very strong, providing a large amount of ramp (the possibility of a turn 2 Titania, Protector of Argoth or Primeval Titan) or occasionally does nothing. I like it for its ability to fuel some of your Life from the Loam + Tranquil Thicket turns where you end up dredging a large number of cards into your graveyard”

Unlike a lot of Lands players in 7PT, Alex didn’t draw too much inspiration from Legacy builds when constructing his 7PT list and got into the archetype after an Abzan list caught his eye during his initial foray into the format. He then started researching Legacy decklists to refine his Highlander build. Despite having success with the archetype in the past, Alex doesn’t see it as being particularly well positioned in the current metagame and has been frequenting his “Boomer” Jund Midrange list at tournaments. However, he notes that the recent de-pointing of Life from the Loam (it went from 1 point to 0 in February 2022) has breathed new life into 7PT Lands.

Jake Sims and his many Lands builds

An older Jund list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/kGHUDN3fXk-9uxs-PM6HxA

An older Junk list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/7LFMnfYkd0yZMwqxbiWI3A

Jake has been jamming Lands builds in every format for a long time now, including 7PT Lands of all colours and builds, Legacy Lands, Modern Amulet Titan and BtL Scapeshift, and Mono Green Devotion in Pioneer. Jake has achieved success in 7PT with numerous top 8 finishes including at CanCon. His current build for 7PT Lands is a 4-colour list (pictured below, left) featuring the points spread of Strip Mine (2), Wasteland (1), Fastbond (1), Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath (1), Wrenn and Six (1), and Urza’s Saga (1). Notably, he has shifted away from the Dark Depths + Thespian’s Stage combo to the increased printing of answers to Marit Lage such as Brazen Borrower//Petty Theft, Prismatic Ending, Solitude, Otawara, Soaring City, and Boseiju, Who Endures.

He has been enjoying the addition of blue to the deck, which has provided:

“The busted cantrips, some soft permission, Uro, and Tameshi, Reality Architect, who is quickly becoming a favourite. He can re-buy Saga and draw a card for only 1 mana, get back value pieces such as Courser of Kruphix, Expedition Map, and Soul-Guide Lantern, return all parts of the Zuran Orb + Fastbond + Crucible of the Worlds combo, or even just pick up a land for more Field of the Dead triggers”.

His current list has 61 cards as he tests out options for the upcoming Eternal Weekend, though at FnM he enjoys running the “61-card special” for now. His recent acquisition of a Bazaar of Baghdad has seen him devote some time to refining his “Bazaar aggro” list (pictured below, right) which, naturally, has a strong Lands subtheme and runs Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Life from the Loam, Dark Depths, Thespian’s Stage, and Urza’s Saga.

I asked Jake about how he saw Lands moving forward, and his view was generally positive.

“I feel that Lands will always be competitive. People in Canberra [his local meta] are having a lot of success with Rx to combat all the “Greed Piles”, which certainly hurts, but early Strip locks are lights out against most decks in the format and if they keep pumping out cards like Field of the Dead and Urza’s Saga, then Lands will always be powerful”

“Though if they print another Blood Moon or Back to Basics type effect, we could be in trouble”

“Magus of the Basics. Ew!”

Justin and his Dirty Jundstapants Lands (Jund)

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0mdkTrPxjkCmXap0FRMLZQ

Justin’s list is a classic Jund build running Strip Mine (2), Crop Rotation (1), Fastbond (1), Wrenn and Six (1), Deathrite Shaman (1), and Wasteland (1). These builds are popular for a reason as they offer fantastic answers and often incorporate a healthy discard package. Dark Confidant is a notable staple of the build given nearly half the deck costs 0 (i.e., are lands). Justin started running the deck as he felt the Jund colours were the strongest to oppose his local meta and enjoys Jund in general because it “always seems to be at least semi-relevant”. He describes the game plan as being to disrupt the opponent’s early game with hand attack and removal before getting Loam into the bin and begin digging for relevant combo pieces. In particular, he highlighted Field of the Dead, Zuran Orb, Deathrite Shaman, and Titania, Protector of Argoth as the MVPs of the list.

Justin describes himself as being fascinated with land cards ever since he began playing Magic back during Revised and says drew inspiration from a variety of different Legacy builds when constructing his 7PT list. He loves the 7PT format for being “a magical Christmas land for a brewer” and the Lands archetype for having a wide range of build options including midrange, combo, reanimator, and more. At the end of our discussion, I asked Justin for his “hot take” on the archetype.

“I’m actually starting to suspect that Abzan might be a better colour combination than Jund”

“Having access to cards like Knight of the Reliquary is bonkers”

@TangleTal (on Discord) and their Naya Lands brew

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/xl8LqXhwOES6XCMzv6J6eg

Tal plays a Naya midrange brew that they describe as “Maverick-esque Lands as opposed to dedicated Lands” and utilises the points selection of Strip Mine (2), Wasteland (1), Wrenn and Six (1), Karakas (1), Crop Rotation (1), and Green Sun’s Zenith (1), though occasionally substituting Fastbond for Karakas. While they most often play in local weekly games, Tal piloted an earlier version of their list to a top 4 finish in the Adelaide Eternal Highlander Challenge of October 2019.

Tal came to the format via Modern and from listening to LoadingReadyRun discussions of Canadian Highlander and the Lands builds present there. They developed their list by taking elements of CanLander builds and combining them with variants of Legacy “Punishing Maverick” lists. Their current build incorporates some “light stax” pieces such as Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Archon of Emeria which they describe as being “powerful on the play and operating in the same realm as Strip Mine and Wasteland to put on pressure while assembling your own gameplan” and noting that “forcing base blue decks to cantrip around them to find answers is very powerful”.

Tal describes their game plan as leveraging mana dorks to allow free use of their land drops for utility purposes including stifling mana while also presenting threats. Tutors are utilised to give redundancy while also allowing the transition into “unfair” plans such as the Depths combo or Strip locks. In more recent times they’ve shifted away from sold old favourites in Punishing Fire + Grove of the Burnwillows, which lose some power in a singleton format and can often feel mediocre without the other half. In general, Tal agrees with Alex about the currently unfavourable positioning of Lands in the format, citing a recent trend whereby “synergy midrange has been underperforming relative to raw individual card power”.

My “Piggy Lands” build (5c Rainbow)

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/UmbUckfToU6zPW_SDQjBCg

I’ve named my current build of Lands the “piggy” brew due to my decision to forego my old Jund build in favour of a “greedy piggy” 5 colour approach. My current points are Strip Mine (2), Fastbond (1), Wrenn and Six (1), Crop Rotation (1), Urza’s Saga (1), and Intuition (1).

In a similar vein to Loke’s initial build, my list has a stronger combo focus than most and settles into a midrange plan when key pieces are lacking. It leans more heavily on the power of Fastbond and uses Intuition as an “I win” card to assemble infinite landfall combos such as Fastbond + Oboro, Palace in the Clouds + Retreat to Hagra by fetching Sevinne’s Reclamation and the necessary pieces. Additional cards like Courser of Kruphix, Tireless Provisioner, and Glacial Chasm allow you to circumvent the life loss from Fastbond and generate infinite Landfall, which can be useful to:

• Mill out your opponent with Altar of the Brood (which I run over Hedron Crab or Ruin Crab due to being colourless and fetchable via Urza’s Saga)
• Stack cards with Valakut Exploration until you have lethal damage triggers
• Combine with Crucible of the Worlds (or Ramunap Excavator) to Strip Mine all your opponent’s lands or target your own to generate infinite mana. Add in Horizon Canopy to draw your deck if required
• Create your own Zombieland by repeatedly triggering Field of the Dead
• Just play infinite land drops to flex on your opponent then pass the turn

The 7-point restriction means I’ve dropped an archetype staple in Wasteland due to it being less effective than Strip Mine when being consistently recurred (in fact, Ghost Quarter does a better job here too, given infinite landfall). The card I’m running that’s probably the most “flex” addition is Armageddon, which is unsurprisingly a great play if you’re able to play lands from your graveyard and your opponent can’t (particularly if you can follow it up with a Tabby, or better yet a Tabby + Strip Mine). Older Legacy players might enjoy the throwback to Sascha Thomsen’s 43 Lands deck from 2006 and its 3 sideboard copies of Armageddon.

Naturally, playing cards across all 5 colours while also maintaining a high density of utility lands has its downsides and this brew is one that’s geared slightly more towards fun than being consistently competitive. That’s fine, as 7PT has room for both. I run this list at weekly events at my LGS or in “kitchen table” games against friends.

Like a lot of Lands players in 7PT, I initially learned about the archetype from Legacy Lands and was hooked ever since watching Jarvis Yu take out a flawless victory in the Grand Prix Seattle-Tacoma 2015 Finals. While I don’t often play Legacy anymore, I try to keep an eye on how the list is developing via the discord and articles on Pendrell Vale. I think that a lot can be gained by examining similar archetypes from different formats and understanding the utility of specific card selections and how they might be applied in your format of choice (I’m currently keeping an eye on the testing of Currency Converter in Legacy builds). In a similar vein, I built my list to maximise the effectiveness of cards that have been deemed too powerful for Legacy in Fastbond and Strip Mine (and to a lesser extent Wrenn and Six) because, well, they must be good!   

Conclusions

In contrast to the more refined and focused builds present in Legacy, the singleton nature of the 7PT format naturally results in a more diverse array of builds and card selections. While the Legacy Lands deck can function more effectively in a “prison/control” role due to 4x Wasteland, 4x Rishadan Port (4x everything), players in 7PT have only a single copy of each key piece and must build accordingly. This Loam is your Loam, protect it well!

Whether you prefer a focused list with 4x staples or enjoy showing off a wider range of Lands synergies depends on your mindset, however in each format it’s possible to see the core principles of the archetype in both card choices and play patterns. In my opinion, the beauty of the Lands deck that is shared across both formats is the flexibility and “toolbox approach” which allows the pilot to adapt to a wide range of scenarios and still come out victorious. Well, that and the beauty of jamming down a Tabby and watching your opponent squirm.

I would encourage all 7PT Lands players to seek out the knowledge available on the Pendrell Vale website and in the broader Legacy Lands community, and on the other hand, I hope this article encourages even one dedicated Legacy Lands player to check out the 7PT format and join us in refining the Lands archetype under our ruleset. Whether you’re tempting by the chance to sleeve up the raw power of Fastbond and Strip Mine or just keen to jam a 5-drop in Titania, Protector of Argoth (or a 6-drop in Primeval Titan!), I would suggest checking out the 7PT website (https://7ph.com.au/), Discord (https://discord.gg/Xcq72wJPv5), or Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/266315333384411) as a starting point.

Happy Loaming!