Welcome to Gathering Magic's weekly quintet of decks you should be aware of this weekend, whether you're playing a major online event, going to a Grand Prix, or hitting Friday Night Magic. This week, Grand Prix Seattle–Tacoma sends us to look at Legacy, with a peek at the Battle for Zendikar Sealed Championship Qualifiers from the weekend.

Grand Prix of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast is a more picturesque name than Game Designers in a Suburban Office Building, Near . . . Okay, Do You Know Where the Ikea Is? It's Just a Little Ways from There. The latter is more accurate; when I worked there, I never did any wizarding on the coast. Anyway, the Grand Prix will involve some wizarding significantly closer to the coast than Wizards of the Coast is, so it will be nice to have some truth in branding.

Here's what went 3–1 or better in Magic Online Dailies at least twice this week (Bold = won a Daily):

• Jeskai Miracles: 5
• Shardless Sultai: 3
• Sultai Delver: 3
• Temur Delver: 3
• Lands: 2
• Sultai Standstill: 2
• Reanimator: 2
• Titan Post: 2
• White-Blue Stoneblade: 2
• Infect and Omni-Tell each won a Daily in their only 3-1 or better appearance.

This is a broader field than I expected, even as several decks are pretty close to each other. So what might we expect in coastal battle?

It's fair to say that several people will be playing Jeskai Miracles. It worked out for Paul Cheon:

Jeskai Miracles ? Legacy | HAUMPH

• Creatures (2)
• 2 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (33)
• 1 Pyroblast
• 2 Counterspell
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Council's Judgment
• 2 Entreat the Angels
• 3 Ponder
• 4 Terminus
• 4 Counterbalance
• 4 Sensei's Divining Top

• Lands (22)
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 4 Island
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 2 Volcanic Island
• 3 Tundra
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Containment Priest
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 2 Monastery Mentor
• 2 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Rest in Peace
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Vendilion Clique
• 1 Wear // Tear

Buy This Deck

There aren't a load of decision points in building this deck at the moment, just metagame tweaks. Vendilion Clique sometimes makes the main deck, and sometimes, it's in the sideboard, like here. Izzet Staticaster, Ethersworn Canonist, Blood Moon, Pithing Needle, Moat, and even Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Keranos, God of Storms showed up in non-Cheon sideboards this week. It plays great permission spells and has efficient removal, and the win condition's hard to stop. I'm not sure anything short of banning Sensei's Divining Top will keep this deck out of the metagame. If you don't get some reps in against this before the Grand Prix, either bring a deck that can ignore its answers or bring money for side events.

This deck doesn't want to bring money for side events:

Titan Post ? Legacy | KnivGustav

• Creatures (9)
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Veteran Explorer
• 4 Primeval Titan
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
• 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (22)
• 4 Crop Rotation
• 1 Natural Order
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 2 Expedition Map
• 2 Pithing Needle
• 2 Trinisphere
• 3 Relic of Progenitus
• 4 Sensei's Divining Top

• Lands (27)
• 4 Forest
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Savannah
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Wooded Foothills
• 2 Dryad Arbor
• 2 Vesuva
• 2 Windswept Heath
• 4 Cloudpost
• 4 Glimmerpost
• 1 Eye of Ugin
• 1 Karakas
• 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 1 Dark Depths

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Circle of Protection Red
• 1 Dawnstrider
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 1 Glacial Chasm
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 4 Leyline of Sanctity
• 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Rest in Peace
• 2 Thorn of Amethyst

Buy This Deck

There're a bunch of cards I'm used to seeing in Legacy—Green Sun's Zenith with Dryad Arbor, Dark Depths with Thespian's Stage, Crop Rotation, Sensei's Divining Top, and Trinisphere—but what else is going on here? This deck uses Cloudpost and Glimmerpost as a type of Urzatron, fetching several special lands in the meantime and letting Primeval Titan assemble combos and ramp to huge things. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon's −X can clear most Legacy boards effortlessly (how about −0 to erase Angel tokens?), and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger are the biggest and baddest things to cast with Locus mana. The sideboard is largely Green Sun's Zenith targets—Dawnstrider is a personal favorite, a must-answer card few are ready for—but there are other things, like Circle of Protection: Red, that haven't been seen much in Legacy for a while.

So how does this deck, with its seeming minimal disruption, thrive? Besides being main-deck-prepared against Show and Tell, and besides Crop Rotation tutoring for several great lands, the deck's endgame is mostly Counterbalance-proof. Sure, Terminus has the same converted mana cost as Primeval Titan, but that's not what Miracles or Stoneblade decks expect to happen. They're ready for winning battles over small spells, and while this deck has plenty of them, they're not nearly as essential as other decks' early plays. Terminus is cool and all, but Ugin, the Spirit Dragon doesn't care.

Sultai was popular in various strains, including Thursday's winner:

Sultai Delver ? Legacy | Webb

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Gurmag Angler
• 1 True-Name Nemesis
• 4 Deathrite Shaman
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Tarmogoyf

• Spells (27)
• 2 Dismember
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Daze
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 2 Hymn to Tourach
• 4 Ponder

• Lands (19)
• 2 Scalding Tarn
• 3 Misty Rainforest
• 3 Tropical Island
• 3 Underground Sea
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Wasteland

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Hymn to Tourach
• 2 Disfigure
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 2 Golgari Charm
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Sylvan Library
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 1 Vendilion Clique

Buy This Deck

There appear to be two main ways of building Sultai Delver: the side with Thoughtseize and Liliana of the Veil and this one, with permission and tempo. It comes down to whether you're more of a black mage or a blue mage, and at least this week, the permission end was a little better. Any deck with access to Force of Will, Abrupt Decay, and Golgari Charm has something for everyone, and having all the delve spells available doesn't hurt either (this deck went for Gurmag Angler in the main deck; another one had Dead Drop in the sideboard). It's pretty straightforward to understand, and having a diversity of threats and answers gives it a good chance in any major tournament.

One Spicy Metaball

Same colors, different plan:

Sultai Standstill ? Legacy | dsck

• Creatures (6)
• 4 Deathrite Shaman
• 2 Vendilion Clique

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Liliana of the Veil
• 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (26)
• 2 Disfigure
• 2 Spell Snare
• 3 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 3 Pernicious Deed
• 4 Standstill

• Lands (23)
• 1 Bayou
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 2 Creeping Tar Pit
• 2 Mishra's Factory
• 3 Tropical Island
• 3 Underground Sea
• 3 Wasteland
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Vendilion Clique
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 1 Thoughtseize
• 2 Blue Elemental Blast
• 1 Diabolic Edict
• 3 Ethersworn Canonist
• 2 Flusterstorm
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Notion Thief
• 1 Scrubland
• 1 Surgical Extraction

Buy This Deck

Using the venerable technology of Standstill and Mishra's Factory with Creeping Tar Pit to pressure opponents, dsck's deck also enjoys the anachronism loophole of Pernicious Deed not killing Planeswalkers, allowing it to play rattlesnake while Liliana of the Veil and Jace, the Mind Sculptor present must-answer threats. And if the curve is Creeping Tar Pit into Pernicious Deed into Standstill, what great move can the opponent make that gets out of it? I'm a sucker for this kind of grind, and having an extra color in the sideboard (Ethersworn Canonist and the Scrubland to cast it) gives it high marks in my book . . . or column, I guess. Not sure what book it would go in.

Sealing the Deal

Have you ever looked at your Sealed pool and wished your rare creatures were playable—or even your uncommons?

Esper Control ? Battle for Zendikar Sealed | tkpy543, 5?0, Championship Qualifier

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Benthic Infiltrator
• 1 Courier Griffin
• 1 Culling Drone
• 1 Felidar Cub
• 1 Kalastria Healer
• 1 Kalastria Nightwatch
• 1 Kozilek's Channeler
• 1 Mind Raker
• 1 Mist Intruder
• 1 Ruin Processor
• 1 Shadow Glider
• 2 Cloud Manta

• Spells (9)
• 1 Complete Disregard
• 1 Grip of Desolation
• 1 Clutch of Currents
• 1 Painful Truths
• 1 Swarm Surge
• 1 Unified Front
• 2 Planar Outburst
• 1 Retreat to Emeria

• Lands (18)
• 4 Island
• 5 Plains
• 5 Swamp
• 1 Blighted Cataract
• 1 Blighted Fen
• 1 Skyline Cascade
• 1 Smoldering Marsh

Buy This Deck

Granted, a deck with two Planar Outbursts has a nonzero chance of winning. But this deck is pretty much Planar Outbursts and common creatures. Mist Intruder, Culling Drone, and Shadow Glider are not exactly finishers; Ruin Processor and Kalastria Nightwatch can get there, but there are a load of better options in the set. Mind you, there weren't better options in the pool; Omnath, Locus of Rage isn't splashable. But many a Sealed mage would find it difficult to have no shiny toys among the win conditions, to go light on the creatures like this, and trust the sweepers to get there. I don't think I would have assumed this deck could go 5–0, so kudos to tkpy543 for taking down a tournament with all-common creatures.

Conclusion

Legacy appears to be in a pretty healthy state right now. Sensei's Divining Top with Counterbalance might be overrepresented, but there are many other decks to play if that's not your thing. Recently unbanned Black Vise hasn't made an impression yet; maybe this will be its time to shine. Whatever the case, there should be some interesting decks at the Grand Prix top tables, and I'm interested in these Legacy results in a way I haven't been for a while.