For several years now, Miracles has been the premier control deck of Legacy. The combination of Sensei's Divining Top, Terminus, and Counterbalance gives the deck an unrivaled ability to brutally dismantle both spell- and creature-based strategies early on in the game. Combine that with the ability to play cards like Blood Moon and Moat as the metagame calls for it, and you’ve got a deck more than capable of locking out even the most robust proactive strategies. One of the biggest issues with this deck is it struggles to close out games. Entreat the Angels is clunky early in the game, but is capable of stealing games nothing else can. Jace, the Mind Sculptor is more in line with what the deck is trying to do; but takes an awfully long time to win the game. Enter Nahiri:

Nahiri Miracles ? Legacy | MatuliakV, 5-0 Legacy League

• Creatures (6)
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 2 Vendilion Clique
• 3 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Nahiri, the Harbinger

• Spells (30)
• 2 Counterspell
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Swords to Plowshares
• 4 Ponder
• 4 Terminus
• 4 Counterbalance
• 4 Sensei's Divining Top

• Lands (21)
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 3 Island
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 2 Volcanic Island
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Tundra

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Vendilion Clique
• 2 Blood Moon
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 3 Flusterstorm
• 3 Monastery Mentor
• 3 Red Elemental Blast
• 2 Wear // Tear

Buy This Deck

The core strategy of this deck is largely unchanged. You still have cheap cantrips to sculpt your draw, helping to find early interaction like Force of Will and Swords to Plowshares, or engine pieces like Sensei's Divining Top and Counterbalance. The power of this deck is it’s ability to manipulate the top of its library with Ponder, Brainstorm, and Sensei's Divining Top to set up Terminus or Counterbalance flips. If you don’t have those pieces, your card selection helps to find them.

The key difference between this variant and previous takes is the inclusion of both Nahiri, the Harbinger and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as an alternative to Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Monastery Mentor. This change does two things. First, it allows you to just answer threats like Tarmogoyf and Delver of Secrets straight up, instead of requiring a counterspell or Counterbalance on the way back down. Similarly, you’re able to answer problematic enchantments like Counterbalance, Blood Moon, and Choke. Another small, but real advantage is that having Emrakul in your deck means you can’t lose to Painter's Servant and Grindstone.

Last, it’s a lot easier to get Nahiri up to eight counters than getting Jace up to 12, which means it’s easier to win games you’ve already locked up within a reasonable amount of time. This may not seem like much, but it’s a big deal for a deck which frequently goes to time. It may seem strange to swap Jace, the Mind Sculptor for Nahiri, but that may be a powerful way to gain an edge, particularly with cards like Reality Smasher on the rise.