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Legacy: Izzet Planisphere Painter - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

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Final Fantasy finally came to Legacy! The powerful Astrologian's Planisphere is now successfully seeing play in blue Painter's Servant, and, as such, proved we can still bring new ideas to this archetype. Let's explore Izzet Planisphere Painter!

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traducido por Joey

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revisado por Joey

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Índice

  1. > Introduction
  2. > Deckbuilding
  3. > Why Play Izzet Planisphere Painter
  4. > Mulligan
  5. > Building the Sideboard
  6. > Sideboard Guide
    1. Dimir Aggro
    2. Show and Tell
    3. Red Stompy
    4. Reanimator
    5. Cephalid
  7. > Final Words

Introduction

Greetings, Legacy community! Let's go straight into our first Final Fantasylink outside website deck tech!

When we reviewed Final Fantasy for Legacylink outside website, we thought the strongest card in this set was Astrologian's Planisphere, though we thought it would find a home in aggro decks first.

But that's not what happened. Instead, the first thing this new equipment card did was win a Magic Online Challenge 32 (played by XanaZero) and bring innovation to one of the most traditional archetypes in Legacy: Painter!

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Deckbuilding

The Painter's Servant / Grindstone combo always sees play in Legacy, often in multiple forms: MonoRed, MonoBlue, MonoWhite, Boros, Rakdos, and Mardu. Well, a new challenger entered the arena lately: Izzet.

Unlike other multicolored lists, which use the main red base (Goblin Welder, Goblin Engineer, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and Blasts, like Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast), the list we'll explore today uses the MonoBlue base (Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, and Thoughtcast).

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Then, this new equipment card from Final Fantasy comes along. It offered us a great alternative way to win without the combo, and grows 0-cost artifacts quickly. You'll also find card draw like Thoughtcast and the main reason to play red: Flame of Anor!

Considering the tokens Planisphere, Tamiyo, and Emry create, this deck plays enough Wizards to meet the conditions for this powerful Lord of the Rings instant.

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Another recent update that benefitted this deck was the Saga rule change, which now protects Urza's Saga from Blood Moon's effects. Before this change, this enchantment and similar effects destroyed this Saga immediately, but now not only they don't do that, but Urza's Saga also keeps any abilities it acquired. And, considering this deck does use Urza's Saga, it now has many targets for its third chapter and ways to make your Construct tokens huge, like many 0-cost artifacts (Lotus Petal, Mishra's Bauble, and Mox Opal), and artifacts you can tutor with the Saga to solve specific issues (Lavaspur Boots and Soul-Guide Lantern). Of course, this Saga also tutors the other half of the combo, Grindstone.

On top of it all, all of these artifacts make Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Thoughtcast cheaper.

Finally, this list plays 4 Force of Will because it is a blue deck, and it can't be defenseless against the opponent.

Why Play Izzet Planisphere Painter

MonoBlue Painter is a rising deck and rapidly gaining more space in the meta. This version is a natural evolution of the archetype, as it uses one of the best cards from the new set, which also lets us use Flame of Anor. In turn, this instant can, potentially, give us 3 cards for the cost of 1 (by drawing 2 cards and destroying 1 enemy creature/artifact).

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This deck can win and refill in many ways. It seems a great option for anyone who enjoys combos but doesn't want to bet all their money on a single play.

Mulligan

The golden rule for combo decks is "you're playing a combo deck, so mulligan after your combo!", but Izzet Painter isn't so one-dimensional. In fact, it can win without playing a single Painter's Servant.

As it is a control deck as well, you have more freedom regarding which hands to keep and how you'll play the combo throughout the game, all while you put pressure on your opponent with Construct or Hero tokens.

Let's see a few examples:

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This hand is quite odd: you already have 2 cards for Urza's Saga, but no blue cards to back up Force of Will. It can also draw cards and activate Mox Opal. Nonetheless, it doesn't have a clear plan, so I'd send it back. Verdict: Mulligan.

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This hand might struggle against other combos, but it's great for your combo. A Tamiyo on turn 1 paves the way for a Thoughtcast for 1 or 2 mana on turn 2. Verdict: Keep.

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This hand is also interesting. It can even play the Saga and Tamiyo on turn 1, and possibly play the combo on turn 3 as soon as the Saga's third chapter resolves. Or, you can just focus on creating tokens on turn 2. Verdict: Keep.

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This hand can play Tamiyo on turn 1, and Planisphere and Grindstone on turn 2. It can also put pressure on the opponent in two ways at the same time. However, it doesn't have protection, so you must send it back if you know you're up against a very fast deck. Verdict: you can keep it, but it will be risky against combos.

Building the Sideboard

As this deck doesn't have access to cantrips, this sideboard includes many redundant answers: Force of Negation to stop fast combos, and Disruptor Flute to stop combos with activated abilities (Cephalid and Forge). It also plays 4 Blasts to disrupt enemy colors, and Faerie Macabre / Soul-Guide Lantern to deal with graveyards.

Finally, it plays a pair of Hullbreacher as a tech against control decks. They can give you a decent number of resources if you play them at the right time.

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Other options for this sideboard are Amphibian Downpour, Chalice of the Void, Consign to Memory, Dismember, Flusterstorm, Harbinger of the Seas (please remember it works with Urza's Saga now), Pithing Needle, Shadowspear, and Surgical Extraction.

Sideboard Guide

Dimir Aggro

With their removals, discards, counters, and Wastelands, you'll struggle to play your combo, but you can follow plan B and create creatures bigger than theirs. Actually, the combo will be your plan B! If they need to spend their resources to deal with your tokens, then you might just get an opening to end the game with Grindstone.

Post-side, you'll be more ready to battle for resources.

In:

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Out:

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Show and Tell

They already have an answer for your combo in game 1 simply because they play Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, which forces you to play Soul-Guide Lantern as well. This means you'll struggle pre-side. Your best bet to win is holding them off and pushing some tokens through.

Post-side, bring more backup for this plan.

In:

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Out:

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Red Stompy

If they don't know what you're playing, they might spend their resources on a Chalice of the Void for 1, which won't affect you at all, but, if they do know what you're playing, Chalice for 0 is a pain. Nonetheless, you'll have answers for this in the main deck thanks to Flame of Anor.

Now that Blood Moon no longer destroys Urza's Saga, it is a lot less scary. You also have other ways to get blue mana besides your lands.

If you think they'll have too many answers for your artifacts, consider adding one or two Force of Negations instead of a few Baubles/Emry.

In:

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Out:

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Reanimator

The Soul-Guide Lantern in your main deck could win a few games. They also have disruption, but put less pressure on you than Dimir, which should be ok for your combo game plan. As you'll have less Wizards, Flame of Anor will be a bit less powerful.

In:

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Out:

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Cephalid

The irony is that both decks in this matchup want to mill the same player all at once! Be careful with your combo post-side because of Memory's Journey. The aggro game plan is less efficient against them because they can take advantage of holes in your defenses.

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In:

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Out:

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Final Words

I enjoyed seeing Astrologian's Planisphere win so early on because I always thought it had a lot of potential. This version of the deck seems quite interesting to me. Even the sideboard above could change according to the matchup, considering you can surprise opponents that don't respect your combo and think you'll change your plans by adding different cards from your sideboard.

I believe we'll see many Heros and Flame of Anor in the next few days.

What do you think of this deck? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

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Thank you for reading, and see you next time!