In my last article, we looked at how to use the new Hero’s Path cards in various formats. This included not only the hero cards, but the new challenge decks: Battle the Horde and Face the Hydra. In today’s article, I’d like to return to traditional Horde Magic. (Note: As of this writing, the Xenagos Ascended deck has not yet released, so I won’t be talking about those cards.)If you’re not familiar with Horde Magic, Abe Sargent provides a concise explanation in his recent article “Theros Horde.” (Thanks, Abe!) Back in 2011, Abe also wrote “Casualnation #58 – Artifact Horde,” and Robby Rothe wrote “When Zombies Attack: Horde Magic, and those are both helpful articles. Given this history, I’m not going to take the time to re-explain the format here. Instead, let’s jump right in and face the horde once more.

Lossett, an avid streamer on Twitch under the name of Oarsman79 (a moniker that refers to his time as a member of the crew team at the University of Colorado), has made his name on the Open Series in large part due to his Legacy play and his championing of the Miracles deck he has piloted since the spring of 2012. While two of his three Open Series wins have come recently in Standard in San Diego and Oakland, his work with the Miracles deck can be traced back to his Legacy Open win in 2012 in Denver with U/W Miracles. He has eleven Open Top 8s, nine of which are in Legacy Opens, and a Top 8 at the Invitational in Charlotte at the end of March this year, where he went undefeated in the Legacy portion of the Swiss with U/W/R Miracles.

Lossett came across Miracles in an article after moving on from Cephalid Breakfast, another Legacy deck he is known for. A combination of people figuring out how Cephalid Breakfast worked and incidental hate cards meant for other matchups having splash damage on his deck choice led him to look for a new weapon. The first Miracles build he had success with in local events didn't even include Counterbalance, instead opting for Squadron Hawk as a card advantage engine.

After reading an article by Carsten Kotter that mentioned the use of the powerful Coldsnap enchantment in conjunction with Sensei's Divining Top, Lossett talked with Kotter on message boards to help tune the deck. It didn't take very long before they realized that Counterbalance was a much stronger card than Squadron Hawk and settled on the Counter-Top shell you can still see today. From there Lossett dived into the deck that would lead him to many strong finishes, including a Top 25 finish at Grand Prix Denver in 2012.

lue is the best. It’s pushed. Blatantly. But we’re all okay with that because it’s pushed with love.

But you know what?

Tonight, maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or maybe there’s blatant discrimination going on and nobody seems to care. Well I care.

It’s racist.

Green, red, white, black.

Can you really look Plains in the face and really say that Healing Salve is a fair printing? It’s okay because Ancestral Recall is fun enough for everyone? Okay. Okay. I see how it is.

You know what?

SCREW BLUE.

What's the one thing you'd tell your younger self if you could go back in time?

“Try harder in school!”

“Don't be careless with your money!”

“Ask her out while you have the chance!”

Like most of us, I've got more than a handful of things to say a younger, stupider Reiderrabbit, but today I've got one thing in particular on my mind. I want to teach him how to win at Legacy. I don't mean how to build one deck, or spike one tournament, I mean how to have a long-term, winning approach to the format. I'm setting out to write the article I wish I'd read five years ago.

If only someone had told me the secret, who knows how much I could've accomplished, or how much time I could've saved? Winning at Legacy is such a simple matter!

At that point, it was pretty clear everything from Commander was on the table. Who would be next? Karador, with his serious graveyard synergy? Graveyard strategies have always been popular with casual and spikey types alike. Riku? Riku does some pretty awesome things with doubling both spells and creatures, another fan favorite. Edric already popped awhile ago after Drew Levin suggested him as a Legacy spec.

When I looked over the Commander list at that time Ghave jumped out at me. A buddy had a Ghave deck and I remembered him being exceptionally strong. Being a one-card enabler for all things tokens seemed excellent to me. We already know that type of effect is popular and Ghave can turn it on all by himself. He was super cheap, with plenty of copies under $4 available. I decided to run with it. I tweeted about having purchased thirty-five or forty copies. Forty-eight hours later I was rewarded. Ghave jumped from the few bucks I paid for each copy to over $10 on TCG. A clean, fast, easy purchase. My spec had more than tripled in price. Now it was time to roll in all the money I had made.

Except, I hadn’t.

What ultimately became The Philosophy of Fire was an idea first introduced to the Magic canon byAdrian Sullivan during Urza Block Constructed PTQs in 1999. Sullivan set the bar for a red direct-damage spell at Shock (one mana, one card, 2 points). Ten such cards equals twenty damage, or the opponent's life total. You start a game of Magic: The Gathering with seven cards.

Basic Principles of the Philosophy of Fire:

1. Shock is the baseline.

2. Ten Shocks/ten cards deals 20 damage.

3. You start with seven cards.

4. "Go."

When considered like this, the notion of burning the opponent to death seems straightforward.Even strategic.

"Thank the gods!" the red-faced midwife exclaimed as Raissa's son began to emerge. The baby fought Raissa savagely as she pushed. He bucked with his tiny hooves, and the nubs of his new horns dug into her tender insides. Selfish! Raissa thought, imagining the boy grasping the cord and trying to shimmy back up its length to hide behind her heart. As she struggled, her anger grew.