Readers, welcome back!

I wanted to write a shorter article dissecting an interesting Legacy list that Brian Braun-Duin played during a Legacy IQ event, breaking down what this could mean for a card like Collected Company going forward.

The card has obviously been popular in Standard and Modern, but I don’t think anyone guessed that it would be viable in Legacy. BBD showing confidence in the card is a telling sign, and could be promising for its potential as a multi-format all-star.

Let’s break down the list:

This decklist actually looks really sweet. Being able to play these colors and utilize cards like Stoneforge Mystic and True-Name Nemesis at instant speed is quite amazing.

What’s a little confusing is the high amount of “naming” cards in Meddling Mage and Phyrexian Revoker out of the sideboard. As I discussed the list with others better versed in the format, they expressed with explicit detail how vital those cards are for avoiding troublesome match-ups. Namely combo-oriented decks such as OmniTell/Storm/Reanimator where this deck would be dead in the water without somehow disrupting their combo-pieces with the aforementioned cards, or stripping them from the hand with a Thoughtseize.

I also brought up the discussion about the deck functioning with or in spite of Collected Company, and I had varying replies about whether the deck simply didn’t need it, or the fact that instant speed threats and disruption could very much contend with most of the metagame right now.

While this is the first venture into the archetype (in Legacy that is) it seems to have access to a wide array of tools for various match-ups, and lends itself to be used with multiple colors. What I kept hearing though is that the first thing that should/could be cut from this list is Tidehollow Sculler.

The glaring weakness of this deck is its susceptibility to Wasteland, and the deck is very hard to pilot correctly. Playing cards like Meddling Mage and Phyrexian Revoker require an immense knowledge of not only the format, but the specific metagame one is playing at. You need to know exactly what deck will be played across from you, and which cards are vital to beating your strategy. There isn’t just one set plan with the deck, it’s reactionary in nature to what your opponent is doing, much akin to the play style of Death and Taxes.

Deathrite Shaman is also vital to the deck's plan. Relying on it is not the safest of bets in the Legacy format as it's often a lightning rod for removal. So, most of the time Collected Company is going to be cast fairly, and the turns leading up to playing the card have to be error free.

From a financial perspective, the card with the most potential that jumps out is:

Remember this card? Well, it fell off into obscurity since April 2014, but back then it was buylisting for nearly 20$ in February. Right now, the current spread percentage (for foils) is low--although CoolstuffInc is offering $5.00 at the time of writing this article--but this card has dropped drastically in a year.

Not only could this card see play in Legacy, but is also an option for further Collected Company-based decklists in Modern. Any new attention brought to this card could change its pricing drastically from its now all-time low.

It could be a great “buy and stash” as time goes on, because it still has all the same good points as it once had, it just didn’t have a viable home for the past year. BNG was considered an under-opened set, so it’s worth noting that it may not have as much supply as a card from a set like Khans of Tarkir.

Future cards to think about:

I took the liberty to sift through all the potential cards currently used in Legacy that work with Collected Company. Now, this is just skimming the surface, but I wanted to specifically highlight cards that are already working in the format. A lot of the most successful creatures were included in BBD's list, but it was interesting to see which other cards could work.

As it stands, BBD showing confidence in the card is a really good sign. It’s a first iteration, and could potentially be expanded with time. For now, it’s just a good pilot winning an IQ one time with a deck. But it’s not like the deck doesn’t have any game; it has some extremely potent plays.

For now, I never thought Collected Company would be a viable Modern card, and just showing the slightest interest from a player like BBD leaves me excited to see what could come of it. If a deck focused on this card gains traction in a format like Legacy, we could all be looking back at foil copies these days as “cheap”, even sitting at 25$.

Some things to consider moving forward:

• How is this deck better than what's currently being played (in terms of fair decks)?
• With a limited number of viable creatures in Legacy, will there be room for a lot of innovation?
• Will the adoption of Collected Company threaten current archetypes?
• How popular could this deck be?

I think these questions are vital to documenting a sudden new archetype, especially in a format like Legacy. There will be a good amount of skepticism, and rightly so. Only the best cutthroat ideas and deck-building survive the test of time in Legacy.

I will re-iterate again that Collected Company does get better as time goes on. While there is some limitation to the creatures that are viable in Legacy, they do change from time to time. I only highlighted what's currently successful, but there could be more obscure or fringe creatures waiting on the outside looking through the window of opportunity that is Collected Company.

Perhaps they can be given a chance, or perhaps this deck is a flash in the pan that just ran good "that one time at an IQ." We shall see.

Well, that’s a look into BBD’s spicey Legacy IQ deck, and more fuel to add to the spread of “CoCo” in Magic.

-Chaz