Hello and welcome all, It's been a hot minute but I'm here and I have a lot to talk about. First up and the reason for this article is the release of Urza's Legacy. Inside there are some very format defining cards for Classic, and a new "Staple"? for Legacy. So there are three new rares that will have a large impact on tournament play. Of the three, one is legal in Legacy, and the other will soon be legal as a four of. First up we will talk about the card making an impact in both formats.

 This is the chase card in the set. It's unsure what it will do when it's available to Legacy, but one thing for sure is, it is making a large splash in Classic. Why is it so good in classic you may be wondering? Besides disadvantageous Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond there is no acceleration outside of or rituals. What about lion's Eye Diamond you may say? Well granted it's there but only specific decks can utilize it. So now you can do all kinds of funky things in classic that just were not fast enough. A turn one Monolith goes along, long way to speeding up everything, from combo to board control. It's always +1 mana and storm the turn you play it, but it can also just sit there threatening to explode into ridiculousness. Here is an attempt to bend the rules of control archetype. It's a little bit of Stax and it's a little bit of Tezzerator, with a whole slew of fast mana.

Big Blue Walker

A look at making Monolith work in Control

Creatures 4 Lodestone Golem 1 Inkwell Leviathan 5 cards Other Spells 1 Tinker 4 Chrome Mox 1 Crucible of Worlds 2 Fact or Fiction 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 4 Chalice of the Void 1 Pithing Needle 4 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Mana Crypt 3 Tezzeret the Seeker 4 Force of Will 4 Mana Drain 4 Grim Monolith 35 cards

Lands 2 Seat of the Synod 4 Island 1 Tolarian Academy 4 Ancient Tomb 1 Academy Ruins 4 Wasteland 1 Strip Mine 3 City of Traitos 20 cards   Sideboard 2 Spell Pierce 4 Tormod's Crypt 1 Spawning Pit 4 Mindbreak Trap 1 Grindstone 1 Pithing Needle 1 Painter's Servant 1 Bribery 15 cards

So here we have an average looking shell, built to get out either a quick lock piece or a planeswalker. The best opening this deck can have is turn one Monolith, turn two Tezzeret, and untap your Monolith and other artifact source for a Lodestone Golem. Chalice of the Void is a much stronger play now as well, since you can consistently get it up to two counters by turn two with the introduction of Grim. The one caveat I have with this deck is that there is no bounce or permanent management outside of Jace. It's a good start but may need to adopt a combo plan in the main deck. I have a Painter/Stone combination in the side board, and that's because there is too much Oath in the meta for it to be effective in the starting line up. Maybe going or splash for Thopter/Sword is the way to go, and just grind out the attrition war with 1/1's. This also looks like a good start for a legacy list as well. If we take out the banned cards and change it for a creature centric meta game then it could do well there too. After all turn two planeswalkers can hardly ever be bad.
 

While the spot light is still on Grim Monolith what about these cards to pair up with it?




Or anything with a in the casting cost.

Ok next up is a saucy little number that is sure to break the format. This card was emergency banned after just one Tournament! Can you believe that. It's never really been played in Standard and Classic is it's only online home. It's banned or restricted in every format but Vintage in paper, but we get to run a full playset?

Can you believe that we get to play with that? And unrestricted? Say it ain't so WotC. I feel like this is a shameless way to sell more packs, just like they did with Necropotence, but what ever we will make due with what we have. The beauty of this card is that it can refill you and chaining into multiple Jars is pretty sweet. Also there are a ton of ways you can build a Jar deck. Slipping it into pretty much any combo deck but Ad Nauseam Storm. Grim Monolith is really good here too as it allows you to get a Jar out there on turn two with either spare mana to start storming, or you can play the waiting game go for the gusto after the next untap with all your resources at hand. The combination of Monolith and Tolarian Academy is very strong here as it allows you to get an absurd amount of mana in the mid game. Academy gained a lot from this release and I would be surprised if we didn't see more of it now in the events. So you ready for some lists?
 

The Grim Storm

A look at a stereotypical storm shell.

Creatures 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind 1 cards Other Spells 1 Tinker 3 Mind's Desire 2 Ponder 2 Tendrils of Agony 3 Cabal Ritual 2 Thoughtseize 4 Dark Ritual 4 Lotus Petal 4 Brainstorm 1 Mystical Tutor 1 Rebuild 1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Yawgmoth's Will 1 Mana Crypt 1 Demonic Tutor 4 Memory Jar 4 Mana Drain 4 Grim Monolith 43 cards

Lands 1 Tolarian Academy 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Polluted Delta 1 Polluted Delta 4 Forbidden Orchard 3 Underground Sea 16 cards Sideboard 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Tormod's Crypt 4 Defense Grid 2 Mindbreak Trap 1 Helm of Obedience 2 Rack and Ruin 15 cards

Man, all those one of's starting to make it look more like Vintage. I can't wait.  So here we have a Mind's Desire deck that just happens to run a bunch of Draw 7's. It has a copious amount of tutoring with 4 win conditions. Two Tendrils, Sphinx, and Yawgmoths will, will end the game for you. This is by no means a finished product, as it is still way to rough around the edges. A glaring hole in Memory Jar is that it draws your opponent into countermagic. That's why I paired it up with Desire, to help soften the blow with storm triggers. The side board has Defense grid for this, but (Xanthid Swarm) could also do the job.
 

Here is a different take on some silly Jar contents.

Grim Monty

Throwing curve balls

Creatures 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind 1 cards Other Spells 1 Tinker 1 Mana Crypt 1 Imperial Seal 1 Tendrils of Agony 3 Cabal Ritual 4 Leyline of the Void 4 Thoughtseize  4 Dark Ritual 4 Lotus Petal 4 Brainstorm 4 Helm of Obedience 1 Megrim 1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Yawgmoth's Will 1 Demonic Tutor 4 Memory Jar 4 Grim Monolith 43 cards

Lands 1 Tolarian Academy 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Polluted Delta 1 Polluted Delta 4 Forbidden Orchard 3 Underground Sea 16 cards Sideboard 4 Defense Grid 2 Mindbreak Trap 4 Grindstone 1 Echoing Truth 4 Painter's Servant 15 cards

I have taken out the Desire shell and the Drains for a main deck Helm/Line combo. The benefit of something like this is that you only have to resolve one card to win the game whenever you start with Leyline in play. The Will and Tendrils are still there so you can go nuts with that if you want, while representing Helm at any moment. Then the cute Megrim for when you chain Jars. After playing with Jar I have to say that I really think Liliana's Caress will be a fixture of Jar decks post M11. For less mana you get the same effect, and even though there is a ton of rituals in these decks, they are very mana hungry. The Painter/Stone is in the sideboard because of Oath of Druids and it's Gaea's Blessing. Against non Oath decks however this is a great combo to either augment or replace the Helm/Line. It's faster if you have to play both parts and it catches them from left field when they play Pithing Needle on the wrong card. Speaking of Needle, we have a ton of targets for it in the format and if your not playing at least two in your 75, you had better be combo.

*There are no Lion's Eye Diamonds in these lists because I don't own them. If I did then I would have certainly been jamming them in here too, as its a frickin Black Lotus in this deck.

I would be pretty surprised if this card was not restricted by the time that Master's Edition 4 comes out. Regardless of what we can do with it now, unless there are zero new cards in the next MED set then it will actually break.

And lastly we get to our little goblin buddy. Goblin Welder is such a fun card, and powerful in it's own rights that it's just a matter of time before he's good in Classic and possibly Legacy with the unbanning of Illusionary Mask and Monolith. As of writing this  I did not get a chance to play with him, but with the help of my clan mate GeMeister I have three lists for you. The first one is a Legacy list.

Welder Stax

Missing Grim Monolith till July 14th

Creatures 4 Magus of the Moon 4 Goblin Welder 4 Lodestone Golem 12 cards Other Spells 3 Crucible of Worlds 4 Smokestack 4 Trinisphere 4 Thorn of Amethyst 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Sphere of Resistance 1 Gamble 4 Mox Diamond 28 cards

Lands 3 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Mountain 4 Barbarian Ring 4 Ancient Tomb 1 Mountain 3 Wasteland 4 City of Traitors 20 cards   Sideboard 2 Jester's Cap 3 Tormod's Crypt 4 Pyroblast 3 Duplicant 3 Ensnaring Bridge 15 cards

Ok so you have a fairly typical Smokestack deck here. You trade in the commonly played for . This allows you to control there mana base while keeping yours since your using Moon effects instead of Armageddons. With Welder on board you can make it so that you never pay for Smokestacks sacrifice, or change up the added cost on spells with Thorn tricks. Interesting to see how fast Grim Monolith makes this and other Stax decks. Here by comparison is the Classic version.
 

Welder Stax

What happens when you get to add busted cards.

Creatures 4 Magus of the Moon 4 Goblin Welder 4 Lodestone Golem 12 cards Other Spells 3 Crucible of Worlds 4 Smokestack 4 Trinisphere 3 Chalice of the Void 4 Sphere of Resistance 1 Mana Crypt 4 Grim Monolith 4 Mox Diamond 27 cards

Lands 3 Snow-Covered Mountain 3 Barbarian Ring 3 Bazaar of Baghdad 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Wasteland 4 City of Traitors  1 Strip Mine 21 cards Sideboard 2 Jester's Cap 3 Tormod's Crypt 3 Pyroblast 1 Chalice of the Void 3 Duplicant 3 Ensnaring Bridge 15 cards

So adding Bazaar of Baghdad to the deck opens it up to all kinds of silliness. This let's Welder play out as a lock deck from there graveyard which just keeps getting huge. This is super interesting to me and when I acquire the rest of my "Stacks Staples" I'll surely give it a whirl. Last up is a control deck with a looooot of options.
 

The Kitchen Sink

All ur stuff are belonging to us

Creatures 3 Goblin Welder 1 Pentavus 1 Gorilla Shaman 1 Sundering Titan 1 Razormane Masticore 1 Platinum Angel 8 cards Other Spells 4 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Fire/Ice 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Mana Crypt 1 Merchant Scroll 1 Gifts Ungiven 3 Lotus Petal 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Mystical Tutor 2 Duress 4 Mana Drain 1 Yawgmoth's Will 1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Tinker 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Mindslaver 1 Mox Diamond 35 cards

Lands 1 Island 2 Underground Sea 1 Island 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Island 2 Polluted Delta 3 Volcanic Island 1 Flooded Strand 1 Tolarian Academy 3 Seat of the Synod 17 cards

So here is a sick looking beast. I'll bet that when this thing starts humming it's glorious. This is an attempt at emulating a Vintage deck but I'm sure lack of Moxen hurts tremendously. So that's all I have for you guys, I hope you enjoyed all these absurdly powerful looking decks.

Until next time, whiffy out.

Georgios Efelis
whiffy penguin on Modo
Member of Clan Magic Eternal