Lands has been a powerful strategy in Legacy for many years. The combination of mana denial and card advantage is difficult for many strategies to overcome. This is particularly when you gain access to effects like Karakas and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale – uncounterable effects which can shut down entire archetypes. The biggest issue facing Lands is that it can’t effectively apply pressure outside of the Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage combo. While that’s a great way of closing out games, it can go poorly in the early game if you have to try racing. That’s why some builds are choosing to go a more aggressive route

Four Color Loam ? Legacy | HeyNongMan, 5-0 Legacy League

• Creatures (11)
• 1 Deathrite Shaman
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 4 Dark Confidant
• 4 Knight of the Reliquary

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Spells (20)
• 2 Green Sun's Zenith
• 2 Life from the Loam
• 2 Sylvan Library
• 3 Abrupt Decay
• 3 Punishing Fire
• 4 Chalice of the Void
• 4 Mox Diamond

• Lands (26)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Dryad Arbor
• 1 Karakas
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Savannah
• 1 Scrubland
• 1 Taiga
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 2 Barren Moor
• 2 Bayou
• 2 Windswept Heath
• 3 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 4 Wasteland
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 1 Crop Rotation
• 1 Dark Depths
• 1 Ethersworn Canonist
• 1 Garruk Relentless
• 1 Golgari Charm
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 4 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 2 Thoughtseize

Buy This Deck

This deck gives up some of the strategic advantage of the more dedicated Lands builds. You don’t have Rishadan Port to lock your opponent out of casting spells. You don’t have as many copies of effects like Maze of Ith, and you can’t really afford to play as many copies of Life from the Loam, Crop Rotation, or Gamble. That makes the strategy less linear, but also cuts back on the raw power and matchup advantage somewhat.

In exchange, the deck picks up a number of versatile, powerful tools which make the deck more resilient; which is certainly important in a format as diverse as Legacy. Cards like Chalice of the Void give the deck an ability to effectively end games as early as turn two, while Green Sun's Zenith lets you play a small toolbox of powerful effects to shore up weaker matchups.

Lastly, there’s Knight of the Reliquary. This is the real reason to eschew the pure lands strategies and play creatures. Knight of the Reliquary just does it all. Knight of the Reliquary can tutor up powerful lands that break open matchups, fix your mana to help ensure you can cast all four colors of spells, and has an enormous body that can block an opposing Tarmogoyf or just close out games quickly. You even have the ability to chain Wasteland to keep your opponent from resolving critical spells.

Another key card that this strategy picks up by playing the full four colors is Liliana of the Veil. Liliana of the Veil is a great way for this deck to break parity in midrange mirrors, since you have access to both Dark Confidant and Life from the Loam to generate extra cards. You can even use Punishing Fire both as a card advantage engine or to pick off smaller creatures so that Liliana of the Veil's edict effect hits beefier targets.

All in all, this is an interesting variation on Lands archetype. While you give up some of the more explosive and linear elements of the builds with Gamble, Crop Rotation, and Exploration, there are still a number of advantages to this build. The ability to be more proactive and play a normal, midrange game with threats like Dark Confidant and Knight of the Reliquary shouldn’t be underestimated, particularly in the combo matchups, where Lands usually falls short. If you’re looking for a versatile shell that has all the tools to take on the metagame at large, look no further.