Mid-April legacy stock report

I plan to give Legacy until the Gave Haven BCQ tournament towards the end of May. If I am not enjoying a deck by the, I think I taking a break until the huge CubeCon event in mid-July. 

I just haven’t found something I actually enjoy playing yet. Last year I was perfectly happy jamming the stock Dragon Stompy list. This year? I’ve bounced between Eldrazi, Moon Stompy, OmniTell, and now Sneak and Show. I’ve done… fine, I guess, but nothing has really felt like I have agency against the field at Level Up—which is skewing heavily toward combo. AlurenTell, SewerCam, Doomsday… plus U/W Phalia control and some other scattered stuff.

First off, I’m not a puzzle guy. I don’t need to find the “perfect” deck or the most galaxy-brain lines where every card matters at all times. That’s not why I’m there—I’m there to play a game I enjoy. But the room I’ve chosen to play in is full of really good players. Guys putting in a ton of reps every week compared to my occasional three matches.

Second, that BCQ feels like a good stopping point if I still can’t figure it out. I’ll get a couple people together, go have a good time, maybe grab dinner after we inevitably wash out.

June’s going to be packed anyway—end-of-school chaos plus a 10-day Europe trip. Then July is CubeCon, which is loaded: Pauper, Pre-Modern, Legacy, and Cube (obviously). At the very least I’ll be there taking photos for the league. I just don’t feel great dropping an $80 entry fee on something I haven’t prepared for. Maybe I sneak in a cube draft on the side for fun.

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A guy I talk to regularly at weekly is pretty much in the same spot as me when it comes to the Level Up gauntlet and expectations. A few months ago we decided to start a monthly “Legacy Brews” weekend thing at a brewery. Once he’s back from England, hopefully we can actually get one off the ground. Feels much more our speed—play some interesting stuff without getting completely run over.

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I ended up winning an auction for two Quinton Hoover signed cards. I know his signature carries a premium—I just don’t know how much. For one of them, the only comps I can find are eBay “buy it now” listings at $250 and $400… both sitting for a while. The other? Nothing. No listings anywhere, just a couple mentions in a Facebook group.

That one might actually be pretty significant if I decide to sell—which, realistically, I probably will.

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In this week’s “Adventures in CardSphere!”
Picked up an SP Null Rod, three Alpha Forests, and some colorless pieces for piles I might turn into decks. I’ve always wanted to get back a Null Rod after trading mine away years ago, and the value finally lined up. The Alpha Forests are… well, I clearly have a problem when it comes to Alpha/Beta basics.

On the flip side, I shipped out my playset of M15 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Haven’t touched them in at least four years, and they’d climbed over $50. Felt silly holding onto them when they weren’t seeing play. Pretty sure I picked them up back when Turbo Depths was a thing.

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One day I’ll actually put my Beta draft land set to proper use. Realized about a month ago that I never broke it down after Eternal Weekend… and it’s just been sitting there ever since.

Trading one hobby for another

I used to go to a regular game night, and for years I would take photos while I was there. This past winter marked 20 years, and I was one of the first guys to play in it. After I stopped going, no one really documented the regular goings-on. It made me sad. A couple of our older players had passed, which really hammered that feeling home.

Over this past year, I decided that I was going to actively upgrade my camera gear. It had been about the same amount of time since I got into Magic that I hadn’t made any real upgrades to my camera body—and definitely not to the lenses. I have zero regrets about selling my stock of dual lands and reinvesting in new (well, .... used) lenses from KEH. My driving force was my kids and supporting their school activities, especially theater. I’m going to be spending four years shooting their shows for the kids in their classes, and it was high time to get better, more current gear to support that.

I also realized I could help out the DMV Legacy League with my efforts. When I saw the attempts this past year, I knew I wanted to contribute. I didn’t want to play in the end-of-year championship nearly as much as I wanted to record it. That was at least as much fun for me—if not more.

Being able to look back, visually, is one of the biggest reasons I decided to offer some time and effort to document this league. I know others could do it better or worse—but no one is regularly doing it, which bothered me. So here I am, happily spending time documenting a game we all love and enjoy… whatever the results.

And before anyone says, “BUT YOU NEVER SELL RESERVE LIST!”
The stores I play at allow proxies. I hadn’t actively sleeved up my real duals since 2023. I’m much more of a stompy player, which requires almost no duals. And if I ever really needed them, I could borrow from several people in the league.

I was genuinely happy to trade one hobby’s gear for another that will get far more use—and do so with zero impact on my family’s finances for a while.

I believe this is what I would call winning.

 

How Four Zeniths Became Two Grims (and Then Came Back Home)

 

Back in January 2025, right after Green Sun’s Zenith (GSZ) was unbanned in Modern, I moved my four Mirrodin copies. Card Kingdom graded them EX (their graders are notoriously strict) and gave me $29.75 each + 30% trade credit, totaling $154.70 for the playset.

I combined that with other stock I already had on hand and used the whole bundle to pick up two Grim Monoliths, which were priced at $315 each at the time.

When you break it down, those four Zeniths alone made up 24.4% of the value of the two Monoliths. The rest came from bulk/value I was happy to clear.

And honestly, during the entire time I didn’t have the Zeniths, I never thought about building a deck that needed them. Not once. I didn’t miss them — they were just cardboard I converted into something sturdier.

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This Week: The Loop Completes Itself

Fast-forward to now: I reacquired all four GSZ again on CardSphere for about $11 in trade value each.

That means:

Four GSZ → $154.70 → 24.4% of two Grim Monoliths → reacquired all four again for $44.

But here’s the kicker:

Those same Grim Monoliths are now $450 each.

That’s a +$135 jump per copy, or +$270 on the two I acquired in that trade — before even counting the fact I re-bought the Zeniths at a massive discount.

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Why This Feels Insanely Clean

• Monolith appreciation. The two I picked up at $315 are now $450 each — a huge gain just by holding.

• GSZ depreciation → opportunity. Selling them high and re-buying them low is the dream scenario.

• No deckbuilding FOMO. I didn’t need the Zeniths for anything during the time I didn’t own them.

• Value equilibrium achieved. I kept the rising assets (Monoliths) and recovered the falling ones (GSZ) cheaply.

This is basically a perfect example of how natural market swings can reward patient, non-forced trading.

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Closing Thoughts

I love when MTG finance lines up like this. No speculation, no hype-chasing — just:

1. Trade out a newly relevant card when the market is hot

2. Convert into something stable

3. Wait

4. Reacquire the original cards for pennies

5. Watch the stable asset climb

Now I’m sitting on four Grim Monoliths total, two of which massively appreciated, and I’ve got my four GSZ back without ever needing them during the gap.

I’ll happily take that outcome every time.

Getting caught up, several weeks of the league

Okay, I’ve been a bit lax keeping up with these blog entries—but I’ve only missed one week of league play in the last month, so I’ve been solid on playing. Just bad at writing. Progress?

Let’s start with something I’m proud of: I haven’t spent a dime on store play since February! I didn't pay cash/credit for one $40 tournament and picked up a couple singles—a $5 Stock Up as a 4th copy, and a playset of old-bordered Griselbrands from Innistrad Remastered. (I’m a sucker for old borders.) But overall, I’ve been sticking to the plan: play weekly, play for free.

Am I crushing the league with 3-0s? Not really. Am I going 2-1 more often than 1-2 or 0-3? Yes—and that’s the real goal.

Will I make the season-end playoffs? Probably not. The odds aren't great, especially with a vacation coming up. But who knows?

 Recent Match Results

4/23: Went 2-1
4/30: Went 1-2 (played S&S, fizzled after round one)
Leyline Binding continues to be the bane of Show and Tell. Oof.

Most recent week: Took OmniTell, G/U for a spin, and I think this might be what I run for the 5/17 local tournament. Auroral Procession is sneaky good, and the Cunning Wish package gives the deck more options.

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Round 1 vs. Doomsday (Danny)

• Game 1: Wasn’t 100% sure he was still on Doomsday, but once I saw the BUG colors and some cyclers, I had a feeling. Brought out the beatstick and OmniShowed him. (Couldn’t resist.)

• Game 2: Tried to keep him off mana early with counters, but couldn’t find my combo. He resolved Doomsday and that was that.

• Game 3: Managed to hardcast Omniscience not once, but twice. A clutch counter on Jace, Wielder of Mysteries saved my life. Wild game.

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Round 2 vs. Nadu (Brady)

• Game 1: Missed a crucial counter on Green Sun’s Zenith and that was basically game.

• Game 2: Drew nothing relevant. Nadu stomped me.

  
  

  Post-match chat with another player confirmed it—Nadu is Omni’s matchup by far. So... I don’t feel too bad.

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Round 3 vs. Boros Energy (Dylan)

Dylan had just made Top 8 at a BQC event, so I was definitely not excited about this pairing.

• Game 1: He curved perfectly into a field full of cats. No chance.

• Game 2: Thank goodness for Cunning Wish. I dropped Omni off a Show and Tell, he dropped Static Prison (main deck, seriously?). I grabbed Krosan Grip, cleared the way, went into top-deck mode. Found Atraxa, got Swords’d, then drew into Emrakul for the win.

• Game 3: Similar story—Omni, Sublime Epiphany to bounce and draw, eventually found the win. Felt slick.

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I’ve been cleaning up the box of playables a bit. Originally got the Masters version of Wasteland for D&T when I was getting my first fully paper-legal deck together. Then I grabbed the Secret Lair Mark Poole versions—signed, because that art is too good.

And finally, picked up a set with the original art. At this point, I think it’s safe to dump the Masters ones. I don’t need three sets of Wastelands. Set and forget.

61 Cards vs Combo

[Let me just say, I started doing research via Chat GPT, and well- I wound up having it help me write this darn entry.]

 

Legacy is a format of inches, percentages, and gut checks. So what happens when you dare to play 61 cards? Well... sometimes, it just works.

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Against the Grain, In Red We Trust

In the land of Legacy, where Brainstorms flow like wine and Delvers flip with smug confidence, I’ve planted my flag firmly in the camp of Mono Red Stompy. Lock pieces. Explosive mana. Big threats. And yes—61 cards.

Wait, what?

Let’s talk about that extra card, why it’s not the end of the world, and how I’m currently tuned to take on a combo-infested meta full of Sneak & Show and Oops All Spells degeneracy.

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The Math of 61 vs 60 Cards

Let’s squash the age-old debate right up front.

Q: Does adding a 61st card make your deck worse?
A: Technically yes... by about 1%.

For example:

• A 4-of card like Blood Moon shows up in your opening hand approximately 39.9% of the time in a 60-card deck.
• In a 61-card list, that drops to around 38.8%.

So yes, you’re giving up a tiny bit of consistency. But in exchange for what? That’s where things get interesting.

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The Deck: Prison, Pressure, and Pyrogoyfs

Here’s the main deck I’m running:

4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
6 Mountain
4 Chrome Mox
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Shatterskull Smashing
3 Sundering Eruption
4 Blood Moon
2 Magus of the Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Trinisphere
4 Broadside Bombardiers
4 Pyrogoyf
4 Fury
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
3 The One Ring

Sideboard:

3 Dead/Gone
1 Disruptor Flute
4 Faerie Macabre
3 Fiery Confluence
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast

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Why I’m Okay with 61 Cards

Because Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption are lands when I need them to be. Under my own Blood Moon, they’re not dead weight — they help me cast Trinisphere, deploy threats, or finish a game. That kind of flexibility is worth the minor consistency hit.

I’ve already cut Magus for more consistent lock pieces and a third copy of The One Ring. Every card has a job. Nothing is filler. Cutting to 60 would hurt the deck’s functionality, not help it.

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The Combo Meta Is Real

Right now, Legacy is full of combo:

• Sneak and Show
• Oops All Spells
• Doomsday, Reanimator, and more

And what do these decks absolutely hate? Trinisphere.

It shuts off Lotus Petal, LED, Brainstorm, cantrips, and makes rituals basically unplayable. Combine it with Chalice of the Void and Blood Moon, and you’re presenting an impossible board state for combo to fight through.

Sideboarding vs Sneak & Show

• In: 3 Dead/Gone, 2 Pyroblast, 1 Red Elemental Blast
• Out: 3 Fury, 1 Shatterskull Smashing, 2 flex slots (usually Pyrogoyf or Eruption)

Sideboarding vs Oops All Spells

• In: 4 Faerie Macabre, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 1 Disruptor Flute
• Out: 3 Fury, 1 The One Ring, 2 other flex cards

Your maindeck already plays the best anti-combo suite in Legacy: Chalice, Trinisphere, Blood Moon. Sideboarding just tunes the angle of attack.

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The Verdict: Play What Wins

Yes, a 60-card deck is technically more consistent. But when that 61st card is doing something —like being a land under a Moon, or pushing through a stalled board—then the math gets overridden by the momentum.

Every card in my 61 is earning its slot, and the meta is rewarding that flexibility. Mono Red Stompy is a deck that can:

• Lock you out of the game
• Kill you in three turns
• Outdraw control with The One Ring

Legacy rewards precision. But sometimes, you just need that one extra piece of firepower to get the job done.

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Dragonstorm pre-release

I had to skip this week's Legacy event—life happens, right? But what I did learn is that I won a DMV pin for snagging a spot in the top 4 for points at a Gold-level store league. It was for a month's worth of gameplay, and I’ll be picking it up next week when I’m back in action.

As for what to run when I return—still undecided. Do I stick with my tried-and-true S&S (the powerhouse that just doesn’t quit) or venture into the wild lands of mono-red Stompy? Heck, even OmniShow is making a comeback. People are actually winning with it! Wild times, indeed.

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So, I packed up my lands, my bag, and my trusty playmat, and headed off to Gritty Goblin Games. No idea what to expect with this new set—Dragons, probably?

The store let everyone grab whichever color-coordinated box they wanted, so naturally, I snatched the one on top. Turns out, it was Jeskai. No clue what that meant for pre-seeded packs, but hey, it worked out.

I crushed it, finishing 2-0-1. In the final round, I just split with my opponent and played for fun—and let me tell you, I stomped him.

Apparently, opening two Mythic rares in color was a sign of good things to come (for those wondering: Shiko, Paragon of the Way). I lost the first game in my first match, then proceeded to steamroll everyone after that. I was drawing, filtering, and unleashing dragons. Huzzah!

The only real value I found was in a prize support pack—pulled a Mythic planeswalker: Elspeth, Storm Slayer. Not quite what I was hoping for, though; my inner colorless Legacy player is still yearning for Ugin... But, I didn’t let that hold me back. I traded Elspeth to CardSphere and sent her off to England for a nice little chunk of change to offset my pre-release costs. All in all, happy I went.

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I finally decided it’s time to complete my Tempest Wasteland set. I've got the Eternal Masters version, and the Secret Lair drop from Mark Poole, but I need the original printing. The old frame… chef’s kiss.

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Speaking of prices, I noticed something interesting—Card Kingdom really cranked up their prices on Grim Monolith. Back in January, I grabbed two VG-condition copies for $314.99 each. I grumbled a bit about the price hike at the time, but decided against picking up a third.

Well, turns out I should’ve pulled the trigger. This week, the same VG copy went up to $399.99. It's since retracted a bit to $383.99, but still... A $70 price jump in just three months on a card that’s already over $300? Yikes.

Week 4 of the DMV league

After grinding mono-red Stompy for what felt like an eternity, I knew it was time for a change. I needed something that could give me more agency against certain decks. *cough* Oops *cough*

I’d been watching some league games featuring Sneak Attack with Stock Up, and I thought, why not? The idea of swapping it in was tempting, though I was still a little hesitant to sleeve it up. But I made some tweaks to the sideboard to suit my needs, and off I went to Level Up.

And I know, I know... I previously said Show and Tell was in time out.

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Match 1 vs Dredge

Okay, I really felt bad for the Dredge player. I don’t think I could have been any more brutal if I tried.

• Game 2: Turn 1 Cage, and they literally had nothing. I mean, nothing to answer it. It was like I was watching a car crash in slow motion—just painful.

Chris W told me after round 2 that he pre-gamed a Leyline for the second game, and that was pretty much it for my opponent. That's the thing with pet decks sometimes—love 'em, but if your sideboard doesn't have a way to deal with hate, you’re just asking for trouble. RIP Dredge.

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Match 2 vs Kevin King (Delver expert)

• Game 1: Kevin worked his Delver magic and barely squeezed out a win. This game was tighter than a drum. A timely Wasteland caught me off guard, and that was all it took.
• Game 2: Oh, now this felt good. Ran him out of cards—just drained him dry. Dropped a Sneak Attack, and bam, Atraxa hit the board. Found my Fury, pitched a second Sneak Attack to clear most of his board, replayed the first one, and that was that. House job.
• Game 3: Same story as Game 2. Ran him out of cards again, Atraxa came down, and he had to attack with DRC, which I gobbled up. Dropped an Emrakul, and, well, his life total was looking real low. No hope left.

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Match 3 vs Dan

• Game 1: Yeah, I made a rookie mistake. No Force of Will in my opener to deal with his Karn. Of course, he slaps down Ensnaring Bridge and Lattice, and well... game over. Chalice of the Void on 1 didn’t do much, but you know, it is what it is.
• Game 2: I did some dumb things, but it worked out. He mulligans, and my keep feels pretty solid. Didn’t even care about his Trinisphere. I Show and Tell’d, kept my Island and Sol Land up, and just attacked. Ready for anything he tried to throw at me.
• Game 3: Basically a repeat of Game 2. He had more threats, but eventually ran out of steam. Never saw Karn or Ring, which was huge. Kept my counters up, Fury’d his Goblin Shaman after I got Atraxa out, and he scooped when I dropped Show and Tell #2 for Omniscience. Felt like a boss.

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Deck Thoughts:

I’m telling you, the synergy between Atraxa and Stock Up is INSANE. This deck feels so much better than the old A+B with Griselbrand. Griselbrand had its moments, but drawing cards in a world full of Bowmasters? Hard pass. Atraxa and Stock Up? Not even draws—they're straight-up game-changers. It's stupid how good this feels. Honestly, I’m in love.

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MVP: No contest—Atraxa. She’s the star, hands down.

Sideboard MVP: Fury, of course. With Atraxa and Stock Up filtering through cards like nobody’s business, Fury has been absolutely clutch. When it’s good, it’s really good.

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And that’s a wrap. Another week in the books. What a ride.