DCC 2/21/14: MTG Legacy Talk: Enchantment Control?

Welcome to Friday :-)

Today I would like to discuss with you a semi-recent and particular passion I found for a Legacy deck archetype that doesn't really have a name yet. Its first iteration took a very deep dive into the competitive realm of Grand Prix DC a few months ago, and was built only the Thursday night prior. There I dubbed it "Leyline Control".

It was Black & White in color, and focused on several key enchantment cards:
4x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Leyline of the Void
3x Humility

Yes, all main-decked. To support the enchantment theme, it also ran 4x Leyline of the Meek, which coupled rather nicely with Lingering Souls.

The mana base, in turn, was very interesting, with:
4x Serra's Sanctum
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Ultimately, the strongest play in the deck was a Turn 1 Stoneforge Mystic, which happened in 3 of the 9 rounds I played the deck in at Grand Prix DC. Running 12 Leylines and 4 Serra's Sanctum, hitting a Turn 1 Stoneforge Mystic wasn't as hard as I had thought, and man did it feel nice.

The deck went 6 and 3, just shy of making Day 2, and in my honest opinion, it did far better than it probably should have.

There's something rather potent about maindecking sideboard cards like Leyline of Sanctity & of the Void. It certainly gave me a handful of free wins, and I didn't even get paired against Dredge all day. The key is to have these cards apply outside of those matches, and that has certainly been the tricky part. Serra's Sanctum is definitely the main bonus, with Nykthos a close second. The deck could have run Opalescence, or even Helm of Obedience. Neither made it into the final 75, and that is a decision I have been unsure about even to this point.

Another thing this deck had going for it was a magic number: 4. 4-casting-cost permanents are immune to Abrupt Decay, which has fast become one of the most effective forms of removal.

I have been thinking recently about what a White/Blue version of this deck would be like. It gives us some interesting options:

I am a big fan of Leyline of Singularity + Karakas. Blue also gives us the reach in card advantage that this deck really needs, probably in the primary form of Jace the Mind Sculptor. Another card that might be worth looking at is this odd one:

An almost-always-online 6/5 indestructible for 4 that can generate potential card advantage by doing something like activating Elspeth, or Karakas'ing our own legendary Stoneforge Mystic every turn.

So, without further delay, here are those thoughts culminated into a list:

Land

4 Serra's Sanctum

4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

4 Tundra

3 Karakas

1 Island

1 Plains

4 Flooded Strand

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Mox Diamond 

2 Chrome Mox

4 Stoneforge Mystic

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Venser

2 Epahra, God of the Polis

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

1 Batterskull

1 Sword of Fire & Ice

4 Leyline of Sanctity

4 Leyline of the Meek

4 Leyline of Anticipation

4 Leyline of Singularity

2 Opalescence

Could it get there?

-CC