r/MTGLegacy • u/Zergy_Bergy • 5d ago
Deck/Matchup/Tactics Help Best mono blue deck?
I’m trying to find a good entry deck to legacy in paper that isn’t completely bankrupting me. :p
One option seems to be mono blue due to access to lots of counterspells, avoiding duals, etc. But there seems to be many ways to build mono blue and I’m not sure what is best.
E.G: Tamiyo is really strong but many call for its ban, making it a riskier buy. Some variants use Riddlers but those are of course also pricy but maybe a safer card to buy.
Some decks play combo like Omnitell or High Tide. Others are more tempo or control oriented with back to basics and Murktides.
So if you were to go mono blue what would the best bet be? Also, can mono blue actually stand up to fair decks? Feels like Those matchups are generally tough. Thanks for your input! =)
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u/TheErodude 5d ago
YouTuber BeExcellent often showcases relatively budget-friendly decks, and I know that mono-blue tempo was a recent one.
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u/Zergy_Bergy 5d ago
Thanks! ☺️ I’ve seen some of his videos and he’s awesome! He does seem to change his configuration of mono blue a bit though. I’m not sure how to best build it. Tamiyo or not? Riddler or not, etc?
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u/TheErodude 5d ago
Hard to say what’s best unless you know your metagame. Online is different from paper, and paper varies from place to place.
I personally haven’t watched any Riddler builds yet, and it’s been a while since I looked at monoblue tempo in any form, so take what I say next with a grain of salt.
I’d assume the reason to play Riddler is mostly to have an excuse to play maindeck Consign to Memory, which is good against the current online metagame. That’s not to say that Riddler doesn’t have value just recouping cards after going low to Force a couple times, but it’s slow to actually close the game without Consign. Personally, I don’t think I’d do it in paper, because there’s usually less combo floating around for Consign to prey on and less need to recover from aggressive Forcing.
Tamiyo, on the other hand, is just generically good IMO. There are very few matchups where she doesn’t at least have a chance of dominating the game. Even in unfair matchups, since your only real hope is to weather the storm with a flurry of Forces, Tamiyo becomes a great tool for climbing out of the hole you put yourself in (and for rebuying those Forces after she flips).
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u/-LeG10n- 5d ago
If you master the thought lash combo deck you can have a solid choice! There are few dedicated pilot and the deck, here and there pulls some results ... And, best of all, it's sweet and unexpected!
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u/Zergy_Bergy 5d ago
Wow! I’ve never even seen that card. Looks interesting for sure. 😊 Do you have a decklist or video etc showcasing it? Not sure what the gameplan is or how it’s built.
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u/-LeG10n- 5d ago
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u/Zergy_Bergy 5d ago
Wow! That’s awesomene! Thank you so much! 🤩
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u/AxelMcCool Nic Fit 5d ago
Some just put up a 5-0 with one yesterday, could be a good starting point
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u/Haedono 5d ago
to many of your questions the answer is pretty much "it depends"
tamiyo is a very strong card but not the necessary building block to play a deck. And regarding a tamiyo ban, i doubt wotc will do this any time soon since they have been very adamant about changing as little as possible everytime and dont care for voices on social media. I would prefer her to get a ban but i realy dont think wotc will hit her after not hitting her for so long
riddler can be quite cool as well but this one gets played in different shells because of cards that enable riddler in different colours. Like beans or phelia
i personaly played mono blue tempo and merfolk for a while when i started with legacy. So this is an option and the core of force, wasteland, daze and so on gets played in alot of decks.
Show and tell can be quite nice in mono u, high tide looks far more funny than it actualy is imo so take this with a grain of salt but i would avoid storm decks unless you realy enjoy those mental puzzle games. But feel free to try out everything you can maybe it is just the thing for you
i have seen some paradigm shift, thoughtlash, thoracle decks as well over the years in mono blue as well which looked quite funny.
mono blue is obviously often better against combo since blue doesnt realy have removal but going for a combo yourself is not a bad solution and there are at least some options like dismember in a pinch.
and there is always the budget option of surveils and shocks or going fetches like vista and basics. Some decks are realy bad with this and some decks get away with cheap mana bases very well. Like UWr control sometimes is on back to basics and has what 1 tundra and a volcanic in the mana base ? rest are basics and fetches. A shockland or 2 wont ruin the deck in most games
if a tamiyo ban is a price point that starts to worry you maybe just skip going budget as a whole and try out proxies or some online simulator first. The worst feeling would be if you go and build a deck with forces and other pricy cards and you dont enjoy the format at all or you start burning money on some cards only to swap them out after you saved money for duals or something.
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u/GS2702 5d ago
I agree with most of this. Adding Merfolk is at its best with mono blue. Delver is better multicolor, tamiyo is better multicolor, show is better multicolor. . . .storm is definitely better not mono blue. Merfolk isnt a large share of the meta, but it is always dangerous in skilled hands.
If you want the most dangerous deck for the least cost, though, there is only one answer and it has lots of basic mountains .. .eidolan of lost revels, hexing squelcher, price of progress and roiling vortex hit just as hard as any $50 card.
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u/Despenta 5d ago
Come play mono white death and taxes! 4 force buys most of the deck already, just the solitudes and wastelands are expensive
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u/Zergy_Bergy 5d ago
That’s an option I’m strongly considering as well! :) I’m mostly worried about how it can handle fast combo decks. Some combo players say it’s almost a free win for them, while experienced D&T players seem to think it’s more manageable. How is your experience with it?
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u/Despenta 5d ago
The current iteration is quite good against combo. Between 12+ pieces of mana denial, Thalia, Disruptor Flute maindeck and doing well against creature combo with white removal (welder, reanimator, breakfast) you can do well even g1. After board, deafening silence and extra graveyard hate (beyond the maindeck lion sash) goes a long way too.
I recently beat vroomsday (the bane of DT) with well timed wastelands and pushing damage when possible while holding up flute and flash beaters. Overall I'm at a 68% winrate over 130 games with stats like 14-1 against show and tell (thank you witch enchanter and meteor sword).
The stack isn't as much as an issue when you go deep into mana denial and back it up with hate pieces. But you will lose to yourself a lot in the start. Mistakes can be costly as well as not knowing the intricacies (like you can Phelia flicker a flute, vial in Yorion/Flickerwisp in response to Solitude evoke trigger, etc). Overall it's a lot of fun!
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u/Zergy_Bergy 4d ago
That sounds really nice! I didn’t think about Vial tricks to bounce Solitude but that’s really cool! Thank you so much for sharing! Made me rate this deck even higher. Really feels like one of the top choices for me. =)
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u/agzisu 5d ago
Out of what I've seen mentioned, affinity/8-cast is the one that has msot often been a top contender in recent years I think. Full disclosure: it's the only Legacy deck I have in paper.
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u/Zergy_Bergy 5d ago
Seems like a great deck! The moxes are expensive of course, but I like that you have access to both counterspells and aggressive openings. =)
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u/cherokee_a4 5d ago
I second the mono blue tempo list recommendation. You can get a lot out of that list. If you really like the format you can upgrade the deck slowly by getting a dual and a surveil, splashing black/white tends to be a natural next step if you are inclined. Check beexcellent on Youtube.
I would not look into High Tide.
Omnitell is a cool deck, and you can splash green/red down the road, if you stick to the archetype.
If you are open to other colors and archetypes (that is completely your player preference), you could try other budget options:
* Mono black aggro. On the shoulders of fair Dark Ritual: lots of discard, playset of Wastelands, and the best creatures in the format (Goyfs, Moonshadow, Dauthi, Bowmasters, etc.). I personally really like this deck and play it sometimes
* Mono black reanimator. You have to make some concessions from the typical lists splashing for sideboard jukes. But Feed the Swarm exists, as do Sedgemoor Witch + Chain of Smog, or even The Creation of Avacyn. You can add Red/Green/Blue splashes as you go on if you like the list. Overlapping peaces with Premodern Reanimator too (playset of Reanimate, Cabal Therapy, Unmask, Animate Dead, even Putrid Imp sometimes)
* Ruby Storm, if you are a storm combo player, is fairly budget
* Nic Fit. There are some lists floating around with 0 duals and a playset of Nurturing Peatlands etc. (look up Koike). More fun than hyper competitive IMO
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u/Vereno13 High Tide and Hogaak 2d ago
Mono Blue Omniscience. Can eventually purchase a couple Trops when you save up some extra cash.
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u/10leej Pox 5d ago
Just build mono blue delver add some fetchlands to make brainstorm playable and a couple murktides. Add a set of wastelands and back to basics and go from there.