SWaWLQ VI – Event Report
Introduction
After surviving an intense summer and it having been a little longer since the last event we were proud to host the sixth installment of the South West and Wales Legacy Quarterly (SWaWLQ)! We took some of the inspiration from event V to find ourselves a delightful venue in the form of Zero Degrees microbrewery in Bristol which worked so well and had a lot of positive feedback for, we are hopefully going to return for next time!
SWaWLQ VI
19th August 2022
We had another lower attendance event this time around which was somewhat disheartening to see however with the aforementioned heat, potential summer holidays and some residual COVID concerns floating around it hopefully will pick back up next time (not to mentioned we clashed with ArcTangent festival which claimed at least two potential participants). As we did last time we would like to invite feedback from everyone as to why maybe you didn’t wish to attend or were unsure about doing so. Please do contact us at Southwestlegacymtg@gmail.com and let us know. We have already taken on board some feedback regarding what social platforms we use to advertise and would love to hear any more ideas people have.
Nevertheless with 22 eager playes including a mix of regulars, returners and new faces, we were ready to rumble! As stated above, the venue was super nice with a private upstairs area just for our use combining a mix of sofa chairs and high chairs as needed as well as a balcony space for any needing to take in some fresh air. We also had some really nice feedback from the venue who complimented the polite behaviour of everyone who attended so thank you so much for representing the community so well!
The Tournament Structure
The event was five rounds of swiss with a cut to top 8 judged at PubREL with Winter as “Head Judge” and myself as main deputy. Prizes were a revised Tundra for first, three Force of Negation for second, and a pair of Scalding Tarn each for 3rd and 4th. Alas because of the lower attendance we weren’t able to prize 5th to 8th place or provide a door prize as had been popular at prior events.
The Metagame Breakdown
As usual we gathered all the decklists together for the event and for the first time had 100% successful submission before the event started (huzzah!). As always this allows us to properly scrutinise the meta, see what’s what and work out who the insane people are huffing that spice melange (hint, it’s me). Since the last event we have had one minor shakeup with the release of Baldur’s Gate Commander Legends introducing some potential playables but overall not much has changed since April.
Across 22 players we saw 15 unique archetypes (down 2 from last time) with 3 of those archetypes fielding multiple copies. For the first time the blue cantrip shell was not dominant representing around 45% of the field compared to its previous average of around 60%. As the meta had not shaken up too much since the last report in the overall Legacy scene I was still thinking the decks to beat would be UR Delver, Yorion Death and Taxes and 8-Cast. Of these 2 were highly played however they were joined by a 3rd heavily represented archetype in the form of Elves.
The full archetype / meta breakdown is below:
| Archetype | # | Archetype | # | Archetype | # |
| 8-Cast | 1 | Elves | 3 | RUG Pile | 1 |
| Battle of Wits | 1 | Goblins | 1 | Song of Creation Storm | 1 |
| Blade-still | 1 | Lands | 1 | UR Delver | 4 |
| Doomsday | 1 | Ninjas | 1 | Worldgorger Dragon Combo | 1 |
| Dredge | 1 | Pox | 1 | Yorion Death and Taxes | 1 |
Archetype Discussion – Delver
Yep, Delver is still the most popular deck however the performance this time around was somewhat lackluster. Between the 4 pilots on the deck (which again had some interesting variations across them) we saw a combined record of 8-12. Perhaps the popularity of the deck is working as a double edged sword here with people having either plenty of practice against it or making sure their toolbox is geared to fight it properly. A newer toy entered into the arena this time around in the form of Ledger Shredder which made its debut in the form of 3 copies in one of the UR lists. This card has a lot of power potential being able to present both a big threat and a decent amount of card filtering so it was cool to see it tried. The delver lists all sported some number of Pyroblast effects main which could have maybe contributed to the poor performance assuming a much more “blue heavy” metagame than what was present.
Archetype Discussion – Elves
We had 3 Elves pilots this time around. The deck didn’t seem to fair too well perhaps meeting some strong resistance in the form of 7 Plague Engineers and at least one Engineered Plague flitting around the room. It may have also been unlucky in matchups as there were a few fast paced unfair decks about which traditionally Elves has struggled with before. Irrespective of why, Elves didn’t manage to convert well across the board. The strategy is still very viable presenting both decent fair and unfair gameplans (with the ability to easily pivot between them) however it may be that people are experienced in facing it and thus it might be worth either tinkering with some tech around it or maybe trying to find an alternative for a little while.
Archetype Discussion – Death and Taxes
Death and Taxes appeared in fine form this event with 3 pilots all taking the Yorion variant out for a spin. It could be argued the “Blade-still” pilot was also basically on a Taxes-esque list as they were running a lot of the traditional W and UW hatebear effects and enablers you often see in a deck such as Esper Vial. As a result I will talk about that list as well within this section (it also being a Yorion Vial deck). Most of these lists ran the same suite of creatures with minor variations, usually in the form of what equipment package to find with Stoneforge Mystic. There were also some interesting manabase choices with 1 list (the Standstill list) opting to run cards like Teferi, Time Raveler and a pet card of mine, Lavinia, Azorius Renegade whilst another list tried splashing red for cards like Pyroblast and a spicy little number in the form of Hammer Mage.
The “taxes” decks did well with 2 converting to the top 8 and thus proving to be the seemingly best pick of the “big 3” of the main represented archetypes.
I won’t go into any other archetypes that deeply. We had a few combo decks around as well as some other fair strategies but with only a single pilot for most things it is hard to glean any proper data from their respective placements. Chalice decks were at a low however both chalice decks did make it to the finals so that is very impressive!
The Greg Nichol’s Hall of Fame
Once again it is time for my favourite silly segment and it is only fitting to say that our beloved Dredge player did return to us in fine form this event making it to the semi finals before being knocked out. This run is, as ever, impressive when we consider what dangers awaited him in the room:
Let’s see the full list in all its glory:
- 18 Copies of Surgical Extraction
- 16 Copies of Endurance
- 15 Copies of Leyline of the Void
- 5 Copies of Grafdigger’s Cage
- 4 Copies of Bojuka Bog
- 4 Copies of Rest in Peace
- 3 Copies of Soul-Guide Lantern
- 3 Copies of Lion Sash
- 3 Copies of Containment Priest
- 2 Copies of Unlicensed Hearse
- 1 Copy of Tormod’s Crypt
- 1 Copy Nihil Spellbomb
- 1 Copy of Relic of Progenitus
- And finally 1 Copy of Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
As always quite a list to behold! You can really feel the impact of the high number of Elves and DnT players here with a lot of copies of Endurance present and plenty of the W based hate pieces such as Rest in Peace.
The Top 8
22 players completed the full swiss portion and with the ashes falling we saw the following make it to the top tables:
- Peter Bedwell on Ninjas
- Solomon Corderoy on Death and Taxes
- Autumn Burchett on 8-Cast
- Greg Nichols on Dredge
- Mark Burgess on Pox
- Samuel Neal on Lands
- Francis Cowper on Esper Doomsday
- Noah Bacine on UW Blade-still
Quarter Finals
We saw some mighty clashes across the quarters with an incredibly grindy game between Ninjas and Blade-still. Alas the heart of the cards was not with Peter and he was unable to stealth his way to victory with Noah taking the win.
Eleswhere Death and Taxes tried their best to take on Esper Doomsday but this is a very tough matchup from the Taxes point of view and the five angels managed to pile their way to the semi-finals.
8 Cast took on Lands and thanks to their consistent draw engines coupled with the might of Kappa Cannoneer playing a pivotal role in enabling the deck to outrace the traditional non-blue control archetype, Autumn took the dub against Sam.
Finally, Pox fought Dredge in a bitter feud (well, quite a jovial one really) and after the dust settled, the well prepared Mr Burgess managed to take the win thanks to careful gameplay and a well chosen arsenal at his disposal.
The Semi Finals
The day was wearing on but we still had some strong competition. Doomsday took on 8 Cast in a brutal fight and it looked like it could’ve gone either way however the combination of draw engines, pressure, 8 Force effects post board and 4 Chalices were just too much and Francis had to throw in the towel.
On the other side of the room we had Pox face off with UW Bladestill. Despite the pressure the Standstill deck could bring to the table it had to fold to the almighty power of mono-black lock pieces and powerful planeswalkers. Noah brought a good fight but alas had to bow down to Mark’s poxy plays!
After all was done we had two finalists left over ready to do battle. 8-Cast vs Pox. Mono blue vs Mono black. Let’s see how that went down!
Finals! 8-Cast vs Pox
Game 1 Mark tried to go all in on a double Dark Ritual into Karn, the Great Creator hand hoping to fade the potential Force of Will. Autumn having been on the play had 3 cards in hand and a myriad of 0 drop artifacts on the board. Thankfully for Autumn the hand included double Force and a blue card and thus they were able to take game 1 as Mark hadn’t much gas left in the tank after.
Game 2 some early discard effects bought Mark some time after having to mull down to 5 to find mana. Alas he was not able to find any of the quintessential lock pieces that make the Pox deck so formidable in time allowing Autumn to not only recover from the early turns but to start gaining significant advantage from the consistency of draw effects in their deck. As a result the dust finally settled on the day with Autumn claiming victory over all!
Congratulations Autumn!
Closing Remarks
(More photos below along with full top-8 decklists and the SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE corner!)
Somehow we have managed to run this event at least semi-successfully for six installments and all I can say is a big thank-you to everyone who attends, shares and supports the events. The organising team run this as a passion project and without the demand and reward of seeing people engage and enjoy the events, there would be no incentive to run them! Hopefully for the next one we can work out how to bolster attendance and maybe complete our quest in finding a permanent venue to reside in. The organising committee are once again taking on feedback so please, if you have anything to say, either positive or constructively critical, let us know via Southwestlegacymtg@gmail.com. We were hosted this time at Zero Degrees in Bristol and we wish to thank them and their staff for their contribution to the event! Also as always a big thankyou to Winter for running the event on the day and Stephen for running this website and sorting out all the ticketing, decklist collections and communications with the venue!
Thank-you for reading and we shall hopefully see you again soon – The SWaWLQ Organising Committee
Top 8 Decklists
1st Place 8 Cast by Autumn Burchett
| Artifacts (23) 4 Mishra’s Bauble 4 Urza’s Bauble 4 Lotus Petal 4 Chalice of the Void 1 Retrofitter Foundry 1 Aether Spellbomb 1 Shadowspear 4 Mox Opal Creatures (13) 2 Sai, Master Thopterist 3 Kappa Cannoneer 4 Emry, Lurker of the Loch 4 Thought Monitor Spells (8) 4 Thoughtcast 4 Force of Will | Lands (16) 1 Otawara, Soaring City 3 Island 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Seat of the Synod 4 Urza’s Saga Sideboard (15) 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Pithing Needle 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 2 Dismember 1 Plague Engineer 4 Force of Negation 2 Brazen Borrower 1 Hullbreacher 1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Mystical Dispute |
2nd Place Karn Pox by Mark Burgess
3rd/4th Place U/W Standstill by Noah Bacine
| Creatures (20) 1 Hullbreacher 4 Recruiter of the Guard 2 Skyclave Apparition 1 Palace Jailer 1 Spellseeker 4 Stoneforge Mystic 2 Solitude 2 Snapcaster Mage 1 Vendillion Clique 1 Venser, Shaper Savant 1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade Spells (16) 4 Brainstorm 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Force of Will 3 Ponder 1 March of Otherwordly Light Planeswalkers (3) 3 Teferi, Time Raveler Artifacts (8) 4 Aether Vial 1 Umezawa’s Jitte 1 Retrofitter Foundry 1 Kaldra Compleat 1 Sword of Fire and Ice Enchantments (3) 3 Standstill | Lands (30) 2 Prismatic Vista 1 Otawara, Soaring City 1 Marsh Flats 4 Flooded Strand 4 Urza’s Saga 4 Tundra 3 Karakas 2 Plains 3 Island 2 Polluted Delta 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Scalding Tarn Sideboard (15) 1 Yorion, Sky Nomad 1 Pithing Needle 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 March of Otherwordly Light 2 Council’s Judgement 2 Rest in Peace 1 Meddling Mage 1 Surgical Extraction 2 Flusterstorm 1 Hydroblast 1 Blue Elemental Blast 1 Hullbreacher |
3rd/4th Place Esper Doomsdays by Francis Cowper
| Creatures (6) 1 Street Wraith 1 Thassa’s Oracle 4 Baleful Strix Spells (32) 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 3 Preordain 1 Consider 2 Duress 4 Dark Ritual 1 Thoughtseize 2 Flusterstorm 2 Predict 1 Profane Tutor 4 Doomsday 4 Force of Will Planeswalkers (2) 2 Teferi, Time Raveler Artifacts (2) 1 Lion’s Eye Diamond 1 Lotus Petal | Lands (18) 4 Underground Sea 1 Tundra 1 Scrubland 1 Island 1 Swamp 4 Polluted Delta 4 Flooded Strand 1 Marsh Flats 1 Cavern of Souls Sideboard (15) 2 Force of Negation 2 Murktide Regent 2 Monastery Mentor 4 Swords to Plowshares 3 Prismatic Ending 1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper 1 Plains |
5th-8th Place UB Ninjas by Peter Bedwell
| Creatures (19) 4 Ornithopter 4 Changeling Outcast 2 Baleful Strix 1 Moon-Circuit Hacker 1 Brazen Borrower 4 Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow 3 Ingenious Infiltrator Spells (19) 3 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 2 Fatal Push 1 Snuff Out 1 Murderous Cut Artifacts (4) 4 Retrofitter Foundry | Lands (18) 1 Karakas 2 Wasteland 1 Underground Sea 4 Prismatic Vista 4 Polluted Delta 3 Swamp 3 Island Sideboard (15) 1 Graffigger’s Cage 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Engineered Explosives 2 Plague Engineer 1 Sorin the Mirthless 2 Energy Flux 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Force of Negation 1 Flusterstorm 1 The Elderspell 1 Price of Betrayal |
5th-8th Place 5 Colour Zombie Aggro by Greg Nichols
| Sideboard (15) 1 Ashen Rider 1 Chain of Vapor 1 Dread Return 3 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Leyline of the Void 3 Nature’s Claim 1 Ox of Agonas 1 Firestorm 1 Stern Dismissal |
5th-8th Place Lands by Sam Neal
| Creatures (2) 2 Endurance Spells (10) 4 Life from the Loam 4 Crop Rotation 2 Punishing Fire Planeswalkers (2) 2 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes Artifacts (8) 4 Mox Diamond 1 Pithing Needle 1 Pyrite Spellbomb 1 Shadowspear 1 Expedition Map Enchantments (4) 4 Exploration | Lands (34) 4 Urza’s Saga 4 Wasteland 4 Thespian Stage 2 Dark Depths 3 Grove of the Burnwillows 2 Rishadan Port 2 Taiga 1 Forest 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Verdant Catacombs 2 Maze of Ith 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 2 Boseiju, Who Endures 1 Blast Zone 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Karakas 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth Sideboard (15) 4 Sphere of Resistance 3 Force of Vigor 2 Choke 2 Endurance 2 Pyroblast 2 Red Elemental Blast |
5th-8th Place Big Bird DnT by Solomon Cordery
Zee SPICEY CORNER!
As much as I would love to be so self serving here and apply this to my own lapel, I will in fact hand it over to Mr Chris Stanley for an interesting RUG list. This deck seems to pretend to be a normal cantrip cartel list at heart but omits Force of Will entirely and runs a package of interesting threats and enablers such as Laelia, the Blade Reforged, Bedlam Reveler and Traverse the Ulvenwald. At 10th place in the swiss it didn’t do too badly at all! Check it out below.
The Shai-Hulud award for Innovation: Bad RUG by Chris Stanley
Event Gallery
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