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Deck of the Day: Red Control (Legacy)
By Eric Froehlich  //  13 Mar, 2017
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chalice of the void
Disclaimer: Do not play this deck at your LGS if you’re looking to make friends. It likely won’t work out well.

Legacy is full with powerful spells, and the mana to cast them all. You have fetchlands, dual lands, and then you can do whatever you want.

This deck’s number one goal, on the other hand, is to make sure that your opponent can’t do anything they want to.


The king of lock pieces has been restricted in Vintage as it’s simply not fun to have a handful of cards you aren’t allowed to cast. Chalice of the Void can just shut down half or more of the spells some decks play. Chalice on 0 and 1 in Vintage would mean that players couldn’t play many of their mana sources and the majority of their spells—holding some 3-mana cards without the mana to play them and card draw you can't cast isn't fun. It isn’t quite as oppressive in Legacy without Moxen to counter, but it can still shut down the fun quick.


Another restricted Vintage powerhouse, Trinisphere, allows for few games where an opponent will ever cast more than 1 spell per turn. Casting even a single spell will be a challenge for the many low-land-count decks in Legacy. Since a number of decks rely on casting multiple spells per turn to combo or generate tempo, this effect is crippling.


Speaking of not casting spells, Blood Moon is definitely in the no fun zone. As if that weren’t enough, there’s also a playset of Magus of the Moon. There are many decks in Legacy that don’t play even a single nonbasic land, so if you thought Blood Moon was a pain in Modern, you’re in for a real treat here.


Now unless you’re casting a Chalice on 0, which you won’t do often unless you're paired against ANT Storm, you'll need extra mana to power out your prison spells. Locking your opponent out on turn 2 or 3 may be too late to keep them from getting a threat on the board. Blood Moon, Magus, and Trinisphere all cost 3, so you're going to need a boost. A full playset of the banned-from-Modern Chrome Mox is a good start, making sure you have access to red mana early and can cast your 3-mana spells.




Your lands are a big part of this plan. With either Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors, of which you play 4 of each, a Chrome Mox will cast any of your lock pieces on turn 1. You even have a Crystal Vein to go all-in when a turn-1 Blood Moon or Trinisphere would effectively end the game.




On top of that, you have both Lotus Petal and Simian Spirit Guide. While Lotus Petal is effectively SSG that produces any color, the only color this deck wants is red. With a Chalice on 0 or a Trinisphere already in play, Spirit Guide is actually the better Lotus Petal!


Sometimes their creatures sneak into play. Ensnaring Bridge will prevent them from ever attacking.


Sometimes planeswalkers sneak into play. Phyrexian Revoker will prevent them from ever being activated.


Sin Prodder will continue loading up on threats, and has a reasonable body to start attacking.


Chandra, Torch of Defiance is your end game. She will provide extra cards when you need them, finish off planeswalkers, shoot down creatures, and ultimate to end the game.


Fiery Confluence sweeps the board of small creatures, destroys annoying artifacts, or burns them out from even pretty high life totals.

Red Control isn't ideal for making friends, but it could be ideal for making you victorious.

Red Control

RISHO, 5-0


Lands
4 x Ancient Tomb
4 x City of Traitors
1 x Crystal Vein
11 x Mountain
Creatures
4 x Magus of the Moon
2 x Phyrexian Revoker
4 x Simian Spirit Guide
4 x Sin Prodder
Spells
4 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 x Fiery Confluence
4 x Chalice of the Void
4 x Chrome Mox
4 x Ensnaring Bridge
1 x Lotus Petal
3 x Trinisphere
4 x Blood Moon

Sideboard
4 x Leyline of the Void
1 x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 x Sulfur Elemental
4 x Sun Droplet
2 x Phyrexian Revoker