This is the part of an approximately quarterly tier list article series.

Methodology

Everyone builds a tier list differently. I have chosen to build mine based on MTGO Challenge results (As collected by Joe Dyer and the Legacy Data Collection Discord) . A data driven approach helps inform the feelings that I have based on my experiences playing decks and playing against decks in multiple settings. For this tier list, I am looking at all of the data since September 2023, including all three Eternal Weekends! The best way to use a tier list is to help choose what deck to play or how to tune a deck or sideboard to beat a metagame. I consider playrate and winrate strongly in these rankings. The decks I will be ranking are the most played in the format and I will not be ranking every Legacy deck ever played — there just is not enough space for all of the decks. Ranking decks within tiers is too close to splitting hairs. Within a tier, decks will simply be alphabetized.

The Tier List

Notes

S tier — This is the first time I’ve ranked a deck in S Tier. While part of this may be due to timing—our last tier list was in April—it doesn’t change the fact that Dimir Reanimator is currently the best deck in Legacy. The combination of its fair plan with [[Psychic Frog]] and [[Wasteland]], alongside the unfair plan of [[Entomb]] and [[Reanimate]], creates an oppressive situation where reliable counterplay is scarce. In Eternal Weekend Asia, Dimir Reanimator had a 56% win rate in non-mirror matches, with its worst matchup among commonly played decks being Moon Stompy. This is likely due to a combination of [[Pyroblast]] out of the sideboard and [[Blood Moon]], which actually proves effective against Dimir Reanimator.I don’t think the format can sustain Dimir Reanimator as the dominant deck for much longer. Something should be banned by December 16th, the next scheduled ban date. [[Psychic Frog]] is the obvious target—it serves as a powerful new card advantage engine, and such engines have historically disrupted tempo decks. Additionally, it functions as a fair discard outlet, preventing reanimation targets from becoming dead draws. Another potential ban candidate is [[Entomb]]. While Entomb is a Legacy classic, not every old card should be preserved as a so-called “pillar.” Sometimes, new printings break old cards, and they need to be phased out. Entomb is the cornerstone of Dimir Reanimator, enabling the deck to seamlessly switch between fair and unfair game plans. If I were Wizards of the Coast, I would strongly consider banning both cards to help the Legacy format move past this period of Dimir dominance.A Tier — A Tier is primarily composed of two types of decks: non-Reanimator Dimir decks (such as Doomsday and Tempo) and Prison decks designed to prey on Dimir strategies (like Eldrazi, Moon Stompy, and Painter). Multiple variations of [[Nadu, Winged Wisdom]] continue to perform well enough in tournaments to remain in A Tier, although it’s unclear why the deck sustains this success. Dimir decks are propped up largely by [[Psychic Frog]].Notably, Grixis Delver has fallen to C Tier. It is more advantageous to focus on maximizing your own broken cards rather than to rely on better answers, like [[Pyroblast]], which isn’t enough to justify splashing red in blue decks. However, Pyroblast is a significant reason why Painter and Moon Stompy rank so highly, as these decks are built to exploit Dimir dominance. Painter, in particular, boasts a favorable matchup against Eldrazi, which itself has been turbocharged by new cards from Modern Horizons 3, such as [[Sowing Mycospawn]] and [[Glaring Fleshraker]].B Tier — The decks I want to highlight in B Tier are Cloudpost, Jeskai Control, and Stiflenought. Cloudpost has seen a resurgence thanks to [[Interplanar Nexus]] and some of the Eldrazi cards, allowing it to generate mana faster than ever, which is now good enough to push it back into the metagame. Jeskai Control is also making a comeback, largely due to [[Wrath of the Skies]], a sweeper that’s fast and versatile enough to answer nearly everything in the format.Stiflenought has been rising in popularity throughout the year. [[Consign to Memory]] is a frequent inclusion in blue sideboards as a way to counter the colorless prison decks, but Stiflenought gets to main-deck the card, offering a proactive strategy that counters [[Phyrexian Dreadnought]] triggers while also providing main-deck interaction.C Tier — C Tier consists of decks that have struggled to keep pace with Dimir Reanimator and the A-Tier decks. These decks aren’t necessarily bad but are simply overshadowed by more efficient strategies. Sneak & Show is a deck I believe is better positioned than its current play rate suggests, and it could move up in the rankings if more players start piloting it effectively.

Storm in the Metagame

During the preview season for Modern Horizons 3, I thought that [[Vexing Bauble]] would be a large problem for Storm Decks, and [[Consign to Memory]] might be a sideboard card depending on how good Eldrazi was. It turns out that [[Consign to Memory]] is in every single blue deck and is a metagame force to be reckoned with. The EPIC Storm has adapted by sideboarding in [[Thoughtseize]] more often. [[Vexing Bauble]] turns out to be a Storm card that we get to play! There are a couple of forces at play. This is a fast Legacy, with games being decided, if not over, on turn two. This makes faster engines, like [[Echo of Eons]], more important. This pushes [[Urza’s Saga]] more into Storm decks to make finding [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] more consistent. Because of [[Urza’s Saga]] it is easy to play [[Vexing Bauble]] as protection. This trend has mostly changed deck building but has produced some powerful results. Black Saga Storm has disappeared in terms of play rate, despite likely still being fine to play. Other decks may have picked up on some of its strengths or its pilots have pivoted to other decks.

Rating my Rating

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