Eternal Horizons

Episode 11: How to beat the best deck

In this episode, Francis and Jasper discuss a listener question: when a format has a clear deck to beat, how do you prepare for it? They talk through how much weight to give the top deck when choosing a deck, building a sideboard, and testing for an event, as well as some of the traps players can fall into when metagaming. They also consider the flipside: what to do if your deck is the deck to beat. After that, they catch up on some local Legacy events, including a very amusing Thursday where Francis built a mystery deck for Jasper to play completely blind. Finally, Francis rounds things out with a tournament report from the Spotlight Series Legacy Cup in London, where he Doomsday and managed to navigate his way to a Top 8 finish. ⁠HawkBlade (Initiative Crusher)⁠ [⁠https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5301550#paper⁠] ⁠Sloth Depths⁠ [⁠https://moxfield.com/decks/L356WSSQM0uH1SVzTLOBOg⁠] Doomsday [⁠https://moxfield.com/decks/GCXFwioHD02OmZvamBJ0sw⁠]

Episode 10: How to choose a deck for a tournament

In this episode, Francis and Jasper start by discussing a listener question about how to choose a deck for a tournament. Exploring ideas around gameplay mentality and how to approach a tournament in general, they weigh up choosing the best deck vs choosing a deck you love.  That leads nicely into discussion of a recent online Legacy tournament: the Ecobaronen ELMQ, and an unorthodox deck choice made by their friend Jamie: Nic Fit. They discuss the innovative list, featuring cards like Esper Origins and Alpha Deathclaw, and why it was well-positioned into the metagame. At time of recording, Francis was also looking forward to welcoming noted Dredge specialist Mahfuz van Gogh to the London weekly by playing a mono green Painter brew, while Jasper looked ahead to a paper ELMQ at the weekend. Finally, they wrap up with a brief discussion of some rounds they played against each other in Old School and Legacy locals and cast a glance forward to an xpoints event.

Episode 9: A Big Cephalid Breakfast + Secrets of Strixhaven + Old School Counter-Burn

In this episode, Francis and Jasper start with some discussion of Francis’ latest innovation of a “Big Breakfast” list which eschews white cards for Stock Up and Ancient Tomb. Having lost to a Cephalid list featuring Stock Up in a league, his curiosity led him to exploring lists on mtgtop8 before he settled on the list he took to an unbeaten finish at his local weekly. Talk then turns to the new set, Secrets of Strixhaven, with cards like Flow State, Erode and Petrified Hamlet being evaluated for their Legacy playability. While both express concerns about the potential of Flow State, given Expressive Iteration’s spot on the ban list, they’re broadly optimistic that it will be an interesting set for the format. Lastly, they return to the topic of Old School. Francis reflects on his experiences at COPCon XXV, while Jasper has been buying a bunch of sweet old cards for his first forays into the format. Blue-red CounterBurn has caught his eye, and the pair consider the viability of playing an unpowered deck in a format which allows a full set of moxen, Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall. Big Cephalid Breakfast [https://moxfield.com/decks/ElnJC1UwNUygB75gqmnP-Q] https://scryfall.com/sets/sos?as=grid&order=set Old School blue-red CounterBurn [https://moxfield.com/decks/niIeJqUuPEqbIF9wjVqHIA]

Episode 8: Old School Magic & the Derby derby

In this episode, Francis and Jasper kick things off with some Old School Magic ahead of an upcoming event: COPCon XXV, a local London tournament. Francis shares some insight into the arcane format (Swedish rules and Ravenna reprint policies), explains what the gameplay is like, and talks about his beautifully altered Esper tempo list.  After that, they dive into recent developments with Paparazzi Painter, and share their thoughts on the deck following the Derby ELMQ. Tezzeret, Cruel Captain has commandeered a spot in the deck, but who knows if he’ll stick around. To wrap up, they discuss the latest ban list update: what didn't happen, what justifications were given for that by Wizards of the Coast and what they were hoping for instead.

Episode 7: Painter special with Callum Smith

In this episode of Eternal Horizons, Francis and Jasper are joined by a very special guest to discuss all things Painter and Goblin Welder in Legacy.  Fresh off top 8’ing a challenge with the new Sewer-veillance Cam combo in a red-based Painter deck, former Everyday Eternal co-host Callum Smith joins the cast for a deep dive on the new deck.  All three of them have been playing as many different builds and ideas as they’ve had time for, and even though it’s only a week into the new meta, some clear patterns are emerging. Your hosts explore what the core of the deck is, where their lists diverge and what further options might be available for refining the archetype. Drawing on listener questions, they also discuss how the new combo has changed bad matchups for the better, and generally been a shot in the arm for an archetype that’s been struggling to keep up with recent metagame shifts. Callum’s top 8 list [https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7670260#online] Francis’ 5-0 list [https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7661575#online] Painter discord link [https://discord.gg/DGp2BtcQpm]