Which deck should I use; Combo Elves or 12-Post?
Legacy Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 30, 2015, 11:36 a.m. by Sloanan
So we finally had a new LGS open in town that has weekly Legacy tournaments. Being that I've sold off my modern decks to make my two legacy decks even though all of my friends still play modern, I really want a chance to play legacy. Thing is, I also want to have a decent chance of winning.
So I've got two legacy decks, both of which were essentially netdecked with some minor adjustments due to budget.
Up first is my mono Green 12-post deck, seen here:
The Great Becoming Playtest
Legacy*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 20 VIEWS
It's pretty good and, amongst friends, it's undefeated, though I think that's far more due to playing against a different format.
I've also got a combo elves deck, seen here:
Elvish Piper at the Gates of Nykthos Playtest
Legacy
SCORE: 2 | 1 COMMENTS | 207 VIEWS
Much like the 12-poster, it's undefeated with the friends so far.
They're both pretty consistent, typically winning by turn four or five at the latest. I'd imagine Elves might be a leetle more fragile (Pyroclasm usually means GG), but it is slightly faster. 12-post is more versatile, with niceness like Bojuka Bog, Glacial Chasm, and Pithing Needle, but if I can't pull out the needle in time, Wasteland will do me in.
So anyway, my LGS is starting the legacy tournaments on Thursday. Which one of the two works better? I'm slightly leaning towards 12-post due to it having more answers, but Elves can be a lot more fun/fast. Of the two archetypes, which one typically fares better?
Also, I guess if you have any suggestions for either I'm open to them. Thanks!
Well, I want to get Gaea's Cradle, so until I can get one or two of those, Nykthos is my poor man's version, unless you have a better ramp option.
Or wait, were you talking about the deck?
September 30, 2015 12:39 p.m.
julianjmoss says... #4
I'm talking about elves. They are not a suitable replacement for gaeas cradles and you should run fetches instead. If that's out of your budget just run forests.
September 30, 2015 12:48 p.m.
Yeah, I'm working my way to acquire some fetches, so I'll definitely be putting them in there at some point.
September 30, 2015 12:55 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #6
12 Post has the greatest toolbox and is quite resilient. Haven't looked, but you should have 4x Pithing Needle in your 75 for Wasteland and if you're splashing 
, Sacred Ground or even Crucible of Worlds.
September 30, 2015 3:27 p.m.
Yeah, I'm leaning towards the 12-post anyway. I just love the feeling of playing it! I've got a playset of Pithing Needle in the sideboard, and Crucible of Worlds is going to be my next big purchase, I think. Though that Sacred Ground might actually be worth putting in a few copies of Temple Garden.
September 30, 2015 4:17 p.m.
I also say 12-post. Playing Elves without Gaea's Cradle is just begging to lose games you otherwise could have won. Not only that, but you're missing the required fetchlands for the black splash to play Deathrite Shaman, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Abrupt Decay.
Don't get me wrong, I think the deck right now is solid for your budget. But, it's not something I'd expect to do well in a 4-round, Swiss tournament. Your 12-post deck is more resilient and consistent. The changes you should make are much cheaper and easier to do if your tournament is this Thursday.
September 30, 2015 5:17 p.m.
@ sylvannos: Very good point. Looks like 12-post it is, then!
October 1, 2015 7:35 a.m.
I realize that this post is about a month old, but I do play legacy elves and love the deck. You get to play a green black lotus, you get fantastic card draw, you can be super grindy and you can also combo off instantly. Plus you've got great sideboard options for the cards that hate out the deck.
There are two things you need to do to your deck. The first, is to get up to the full count of 12 for combo cards. You need 4 Glimpse, 4 Green Sun's, and 4 Natural Order. That isn't really debatable. It's the best way to go.
The second thing is that you need to up your land count and get fetch lands and gaea's cradles. If you're going to commit to the deck, you really need to commit. It just doesn't work well without them. I run like 11 fetch lands, 2 bayou for the death rite shamans (which you also need over the fiendhorn elves), and 2 forests, as well as the four cradles. So that's 19.
The deck is awesome if you commit, but it's super lack luster if you can't. I would suggest using proxies of the cards you want to test out and REALLY test the deck out, and then see if you love it or not.
November 7, 2015 4:47 p.m.
Hey kyuuri117, thanks for the suggestions. I actually came to the same realization of what you were saying (awesome if you commit but lacking if not) and, ultimately, decided to go with 12-Post.
I actually converted the elves deck into a pretty good modern deck if I say so myself, so it's still seeing play. But yeah, in Legacy at least, it was a half-finished deck that was really missing out on some key cards, all of which are, let's be honest, preeetty expensive. If I had a few extra hundred bucks lying around I'd go all out with it, but as it is, I can really only afford one decent legacy deck, so I stuck with 12-post. Plus I just like the toolbox feel 12-post has over the explosiveness of Elves. I'm sure boredom will eventually make me buy the deck outright (I've playtested some of the tournament-winning versions and fuuuck me it's fun), but for now, 12-post is the way to go for me.
julianjmoss says... #2
Don't play nykthos
September 30, 2015 noon