In preparation for Grand Prix Washington DC, I've been taking a long, hard look at the Legacy format and its constantly-evolving nature.

In this first article covering Legacy in preparation for DC, I am focusing on the new breakout card from Commander (2013 Edition): True-Name Nemesis.

Bazaar of Moxen (a large, Eternal tournament scene) was held in Paris last weekend. There were many decks that chose to include the breakout rare.

"Esper Stoneblade"

• Creatures (12)
• 2 Baleful Strix
• 3 Snapcaster Mage
• 3 True-Name Nemesis
• 4 Stoneforge Mystic

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (25)
• 1 Unexpectedly Absent
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Vindicate
• 2 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 3 Thoughtseize
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte

• Lands (22)
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Scrubland
• 2 Creeping Tar Pit
• 2 Marsh Flats
• 2 Underground Sea
• 3 Tundra
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 1 Academy Ruins
• 1 Karakas

• Sideboard (14)
• 3 Meddling Mage
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1 Zealous Persecution
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 1 Path to Exile
• 3 Flusterstorm
• 1 Engineered Explosives

Buy This Deck

The main deck here is sixty-one cards, and the sideboard is fourteen, so I suspect that the Unexpectedly Absent actually belongs in the sideboard. True-Name Nemesis is a reliable creature to put Equipment on.

I don't particularly like only including twenty-two lands in this style of deck. If your Stoneforge Mystic is killed, you need 5 mana to hard-cast a Batterskull (and it happens more often than one would think in Legacy). Zealous Persecution is a card that gains a lot of value (in killing True-Name Nemeses) and gives you a leg up in matchups such as against Elves combo and Goblins.

"Team America"

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Deathrite Shaman
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Tarmogoyf
• 4 True-Name Nemesis

• Spells (25)
• 4 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Daze
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder
• 4 Thoughtseize

• Lands (19)
• 1 Bayou
• 2 Misty Rainforest
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 3 Tropical Island
• 3 Underground Sea
• 3 Verdant Catacombs
• 4 Wasteland

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Submerge
• 2 Dismember
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte
• 2 Hymn to Tourach
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 2 Disfigure
• 1 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage

Buy This Deck

Team America is a deck that waxes and wanes in popularity. True-Name Nemesis looks to give the deck a new lease on life. The original problem with the deck was that the matchup against Shardless B/U/G and other decks (like Punishing Fire Jund) was difficult because Abrupt Decay let the opponent kill most of your threats without any sort of recourse. With nine cantrips, it's pretty easy to find a Nemesis by turn three.

Hymn to Tourach sort of warps your mana base if you are planning on playing True-Name Nemesis and Tarmogoyf on time, so it makes sense to relegate it to the sideboard here. Typically, in the matchups that you want Hymn to Tourach in, Nemesis is too slow of a threat.

I also think R/U/G Delver with True-Name Nemesis could be a potent deck:

"True-Name Nemesis R/U/G"

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Nimble Mongoose
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Tarmogoyf

• Spells (29)
• 1 Fire // Ice
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Daze
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Stifle
• 2 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder

• Lands (21)
• 1 Island
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 2 Misty Rainforest
• 2 Polluted Delta
• 2 Scalding Tarn
• 3 Tropical Island
• 3 Volcanic Island
• 4 Wasteland
• 2 True Name Nemesis

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 True-Name Nemesis
• 1 Sulfur Elemental
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage
• 3 Submerge
• 2 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Pyroblast
• 2 Rough // Tumble
• 1 Life from the Loam
• 3 Flusterstorm

Buy This Deck

One of the major problems with R/U/G Delver is that eight of its threats are neutered by Rest in Peace (or similar cards). Hence, there is less reliance on Nimble Mongoose (who has been progressively becoming worse against a lot of decks) in this build. In order to accommodate more 3-drops, I added a basic Island.

I also think Sulfur Elemental might be better as a two-of due to the increasing popularity of Death and Taxes (due to several European pros—Michael Bonde and Thomas Enevoldsen—breaking it out in many events).

Other cards that gain in value because of True-Name Nemesis are cheap Equipment (Umezawa's Jitte and Swords of various types) to put on the Nemesis.

Cheap answers that have other uses are Zealous Persecution, Golgari Charm, Engineered Plague, Engineered Explosives, Pernicious Deed, and Toxic Deluge—all can kill it in a somewhat timely fashion.

You can also counterspell it while it's on the stack. (Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast are 1-mana counters that have utility in other matchups.)

I plan on writing one to two more articles about Legacy before the upcoming Grand Prix as well, so if there are decks people would like me to cover, let me know here or on Twitter @jkyu06.

Thanks for reading!