The Flip Side- A Brief Delve Into Thresh

by Tim “Flip” Sussino

 

Legacy has always been a format that has been near and dear to me. I remember playing U/R Landstill (surprise surprise) at Grand Prix Philadelphia years ago starting off 6-0-2 Day One, only to fall flat on my face Day Two. It was an amazing format, but unfortunately it fell by the wayside as there was no real support for it at the time. I remember Lam Phan and Pat McGregor piloting Threshold to a Top 8 berth, and how fascinating that archetype was. Fast forward years later and we are in an era of a constantly evolving metagame due to the support of the SCG Circuit (and of course Jupiter Game’s own NELC). Unfortunately, that archetype hasn’t been well positioned lately, as I unfortunately discovered at Grand Prix Columbus last year when I tried to revisit it. Counterbalance was huge during that time, and was Thresh‘s natural predator, as its high ratio of low CMC cards made it fall into collateral damage territory. Fast forward a year later. Mental Misstep’s dominance over Legacy has finally come to an end, allowing combo to begin to rise again. Threshold has always had a great match-up against control and combo variants (Counterbalance aside). For reference, Lam Phan and Pat McGregor’s Threshold lists:

 

Grand Prix Philadelphia – Lam Phan 8th Place

 

Creatures: 

3  Meddling Mage

2  Mystic Enforcer

4  Nimble Mongoose

4  Werebear

 

 Instants/Sorceries:

4  Accumulated Knowledge

4  Brainstorm

2  Counterspell

4  Daze

4  Force of Will

3  Predict

4  Serum Visions

4  Swords to Plowshares

 

Lands:

4  Flooded Strand

1  Forest

2  Island

1  Plains

4  Tropical Island

3  Tundra

3  Windswept Heath

 

Sideboard

2  Blue Elemental Blast

1  Disenchant

2  Hydroblast

1  Meddling Mage

2  Misdirection

2  Naturalize

2  Pithing Needle

1  Seal of Cleansing

2  Sphere of Law

 

Grand Prix Philadelphia – Pat McGregor 6th Place

 

Creatures: 

2  Fledgling Dragon

4  Nimble Mongoose

4  Werebear

 

Instants/Sorceries: 

4  Brainstorm

4  Counterspell

4  Daze

4  Fire//Ice

4  Force of Will

4  Lightning Bolt

4  Mental Note

4  Serum Visions

 

Lands:

4  Flooded Strand

2  Island

4  Polluted Delta

4  Tropical Island

4  Volcanic Island

 

Sideboard:

3  Naturalize

4  Pyroclasm

1  Pyroblast

2  Red Elemental Blast

2  Tormod’s Crypt

3  Winter Orb

 

So what exactly has me excited about revisiting this archetype? Three words… Delver of Secrets. I already visited this guy as a sideboard plan in Standard, but he has an even better home in Legacy. He has already caught on in Europe in various Threshold variants, and has yet to catch on around the US.  He is awesome. He is a Wild Nacatl that can be pitched to Force of Will and his evasion is also nothing to be scoffed at. While it can be argued that he falls prey to a lot of removal, he gives this archetype even more early pressure to apply. So where does that leave us? A tentative list might look somewhere like this:

 

Creatures:

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Nimble Mongoose

4 Delver of Secrets

 

Instants/Sorceries: 

4 Brainstorm

3 Daze

3 Fire//Ice

4 Force of Will

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Ponder

4 Stifle

4 Spell Snare

 

Lands:

4 Wasteland

3 Scalding Tarn

3 Misty Rainforest

4 Tropical Island

4 Volcanic Island

 

While this list is nowhere near tuned, it is a jumping off point and one that I’ll probably explore in the near future.  Unfortunately, I’ve been spread pretty thin this past week with work and also trying to prepare for several events (State Championships is this weekend as well as the NELC Qualifier at Jupiter Games on Saturday). I did try to game this past Wednesday at my local shop in a very small Legacy event to try and get my Legacy juices flowing a bit. I came to game with this adapted list from my Top 8 at a Jupiter Games NELC Qualifier back in May:

 

Artifacts:

3 Lotus Petal

 

Creatures:

2 Snapcaster Mage

 

Legendary Creatures:

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

4 Progenitus

 

 

Instants/Sorceries:

4 Sneak Attack

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

2 Intuition

3 Spell Pierce

3 Spell Snare

4 Ponder

4 Show and Tell

 

Basic Lands:

3 Snow-Covered Island

1 Snow-Covered Mountain

 

Non-Basic Lands:

4 Ancient Tomb

3 Misty Rainforest

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Volcanic Island

 

Sideboard:

2 Magus of the Moon

2 Mindshrieker

2 Blood Moon

3 Echoing Truth

3 Submerge

3 Volcanic Fallout

 

Mindshrieker is something that I have wanted to explore more in-depth.  I feel it gives the Show and Tell archetypes an additional end-game postboard when needed (Phantasmal Image in Merfolk makes that match-up even more frustrating, as if the match-up need to get any worse…). The Snapcaster Mage‘s have proven their worth, re-buying Spell Pierce and Spell Snare (which are both at a premium right now), as well as allowing you to re-buy a countered Show and Tell. However, since we tend to play Gaea’s Blessing during the course of the game (our graveyards aren’t exactly always stocked and so I have enjoyed just two). They also give you some extra protection against edict effects such as Liliana.

 

Well, that’s it for this week boys and girls. A brief excursion into Legacy with a few ideas (be gentle, I’m no James Rynkiewicz) to bounce around. But before I go, I know that many of you will be gaming Champs this weekend (Jupiter Games is about 5+ hours away from me, but for those close and itching to play some Legacy, I’d game the NELC Qualifier) and so I’ll leave you with my updated list on the Burning Vengeance archetype:

 

Creatures:

2 Phantasmal Image

4 Snapcaster Mage

 

Enchantments:

4 Burning Vengeance

 

Instants/Sorceries:

2 Ancient Grudge

3 Dissipate

3 Forbidden Alchemy

3 Geistflame

2 Incinerate

4 Mana Leak

4 Think Twice

1 Past in Flames

2 Slagstorm

 

PLaneswalkers:

2 Jace, Memory Adept

 

Basic Lands:

8 Island

6 Mountain

 

Non-Basic Lands:

2 Drowned Catacomb

2 Hinterland Harbor

2 Rootbound Crag

4 Sulfur Falls

 

Sideboard:

2 Batterskull

2 Wurmcoil Engine

4 Delver of Secrets

3 Chandra’s Phoenix

1 Ancient Grudge

2 Surgical Extraction

1 Slagstorm