Hello and welcome fellow readers to another edition of Forcing the Will!  Finally it’s here, the deck that so many of my readers have been waiting for- the Baneslayer Control deck to be exact!  I will cover the deck along with some changes that I made as well as providing video of the deck against some of the best players in the MTGO Legacy format.  But before we do that, let’s take a look at the Legacy metagame.

Legacy Metagame

8/31/2010 (Event #1529869)

• (4-0) Show and Tell
• (4-0) Rb Goblins
• (3-1) Imperial Painter
• (3-1) UBGW Landstill
• (3-1) Dredge
• (3-1) Merfolk

9/2/2010 (Event #1554800)

• (4-0) Imperial Painter
• (4-0) UBGW Landstill
• (3-1) Enchantress
• (3-1) Rb Goblins
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) New Horizon

9/2/2010 (Event #1554801)

• (4-0) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (4-0) Rg Goblins
• (3-1) Deadguy Ale
• (3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)

9/3/2010 (Event #1554830)

• (4-0) Enchantress
• (3-1) Deadguy Ale
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Imperial Painter
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)

9/4/2010 (Event #1554893)

• (4-0) Enchantress
• (3-1) UGr Thresh
• (3-1) Zoo
• (3-1) Deadguy Ale
• (3-1) Merfolk

9/6/2010 (Event #1554874)

• (4-0) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
• (3-1) Survival Rock (Red Splash)
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Hive Mind
• (3-1) Deadguy Ale
• (3-1) UBGW Landstill
• (3-1) Zoo

9/7/2010 (Event #1554907)

• (4-0) UBG Control
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Merfolk
• (3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
• (3-1) Dredge

9/9/2010 (Event #1579916)

• (4-0) UBG Control
• (3-1) UBGW Landstill
• (3-1) Show and Tell/Hypergenesis
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) New Horizon

9/9/2010 (Event #1579937)

• (4-0) Countertop/Thopter
• (3-1) Merfolk
• (3-1) Zoo
• (3-1) Countertop
• (3-1) Zoo
• (3-1) Dredge
• (3-1) UBGW Landstill

9/10/2010 (Event #1579947)

• (4-0) Dredge
• (3-1) UBG Control
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Rb Goblins
• (3-1) New Horizon

9/11/2010 (Event #1579966)

• (4-0) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
• (3-1) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
• (3-1) Merfolk
• (3-1) Show and Tell/Hypergenesis

9/12/2010 (Event #1579981)

• (4-0) Show and Tell
• (3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
• (3-1) New Horizon
• (3-1) Rb Goblins
• (3-1) Rb Goblins

Top Legacy Decks Breakdown »

Death and Taxes (DnT) is once again supreme, and this week the deck has a clear lead over any other deck in the format.  The deck has picked up popularity and with the majority of the deck being relatively cheap, I would highly suggest those looking to get into the Legacy format to pick up the deck and give it a try.  In 2nd place, we have Goblins taking a huge jump from the number 13 spot 2 weeks ago.  I was rather surprised to see Goblins taking the jump, but as I looked over the list I noticed the majority of the top decks were aggro based decks.  With the format rampant with aggro, Goblins can hold their own against other hordes of non-tribal creatures.  In the 3rd spot, Landstill once again makes a comeback, and for good reason.  As I mention earlier the top decks are mostly aggro based, and anyone who has any experience with the Landstill deck can tell you how good the deck fairs against most aggro decks.  I foresee Landstill and Dredge decks being a good choice against these aggro decks in the weeks to come, but remember to be prepared for those combo and control decks as well.

Baneslayer Control

Here it is the deck that so many of my readers have been waiting for- Baneslayer Control!  This deck made a surprise appearance in the Bazaar of Moxen IV tournament a few months ago, and when I heard that a deck running not 1, 2, 3, but 4 Baneslayer Angels in Legacy placed 7th in the tournament, I was rather surprised.  I never really pictured Baneslayer Angel being a relevant card in the format, but after hearing about this performance I decided to take a closer look at the deck.  After looking over the decklist for some time, I was reminded of an old blue-white control deck that used to be played in Standard and Extended back in the day.  I quickly built the deck and headed into the Tournament Practice room, and much to my surprise, the deck was slaughtering my opponents left and right!  At first, I thought it was just coincident or that my opponents were playing bad decks, but the more I played the deck the more I began to realize the deck has potential in the Legacy format.  I made a few changes to the deck, but before I cover that let’s take a look at the original deck.

Baneslayer Control By Benito Hernandez

Lands (22) 4 Flooded Strand 6 Island 1 Karakas 2 Marsh Flats 3 Plains 2 Polluted Delta 1 Scrubland 1 Swamp 1 Tundra 1 Underground Sea Creatures (6) 4 Baneslayer Angel 2 Glen Elendra Archmage Other Spells (32) 4 Brainstorm 3 Counterspell 3 Engineered Explosives 4 Esper Charm 4 Force of Will 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 3 Ponder 3 Relic of Progenitus 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Wrath of God Sideboard (15) 2 Ethersworn Canonist 4 Meddling Mage 1 Path to Exile 4 Perimeter Captain 1 Perish 2 Ravenous Trap 1 Tormods Crypt

Similar to the old blue-white control decks the Baneslayer Control deck is a deck that focuses on surviving the early game with countermagic and removal so that the deck can overrun an opponent in the late game.  The basic strategy of this deck is to delay your opponent from playing threats by countering their spells, destroying their creatures, or discarding part of their hands.  Once you have effectively stopped an opponent and have enough mana, you can cast one of your win conditions, such as Baneslayer Angel, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and even Glen Elendra Archmage.  Now let’s take a look at the additions I made to the deck.

Here is the version of the deck that I chose to run.

Baneslayer Control By killerOwen

Lands (22) 4 Flooded Strand 6 Island 1 Karakas 2 Marsh Flats 3 Plains 2 Polluted Delta 1 Scrubland 1 Swamp 1 Tundra 1 Underground Sea Creatures (5) 4 Baneslayer Angel 1 Glen Elendra Archmage Other Spells (33) 4 Brainstorm 3 Counterspell 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Engineered Explosives 4 Esper Charm 4 Force of Will 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 3 Ponder 3 Relic of Progenitus 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Wrath of God Sideboard (15) 2 Ethersworn Canonist 4 Meddling Mage 1 Path to Exile 4 Perimeter Captain 1 Perish 2 Ravenous Trap 1 Tormods Crypt

You’ll notice that the deck is almost identical with the exception of 1 additional Jace, the Mind Sculptor and 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant.  With the addition of these cards, I took out 1 Glen Elendra Archmage and 1 Engineered Explosives.  The reasoning behind this was that the removed cards were not proving to be necessary in most scenarios, and the Planeswalkers were a lot more useful in every game- providing additional win conditions.  But if I were to play deck again, I would add an additional Elspeth, Knight-Errant and remove the last Glen Elendra Archmage.  Since the decks are so very similar, I will go over the list card-by- card in my Deck Tech video.

Without further ado, I present to you Baneslayer Control in action!

Baneslayer Control Deck Tech

Show Decktech »

Legacy Daily Event Round 1

Show Match 1 »

Legacy Daily Event Round 2

Show Match 2 »

Legacy Daily Event Round 3

Show Match 3 »

Legacy Daily Event Round 4

Show Match 4 »

I hope you all enjoyed the videos and found them both useful and insightful on the wonderful Baneslayer Control deck.  If you have any questions, comments, criticisms, or insight about the deck please feel free to leave a post or message me directly.  As always, I appreciate players pointing out mistakes I may not have picked up while playing the deck.  I am aware that I forgot to add Perish into my main deck in Round 4, but luckily it didn’t hinder my game plan!

You Choose the Deck!

#1. Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)

#2. Deadguy Ale

#3. Dredge

#4. New Horizon

#5. Aggro Loam

#6.  Show and Tell

#7.  Goblins

Be sure to post either the deck number or the name of the deck in the comment section.  You can also send me a message on the boards or online at KillerOwen.  Please make sure to log in to cast your vote as I will ignore anonymous votes. Make sure to get your votes in fast, as I will only allow 2-3 days before choosing the winning deck to cover in my next article.  Also note if there is a specific version of a deck you would like to see, and if possible include a link.

That’s all for this article.  Thanks for taking the time to read my article and watch my videos.  As always please leave any comments, questions, or requests you have good or bad, and I will do my best to respond to them, and until next time may the Force of Will be with you!

Owen Robbins