Stormchaser's Talent Splinters Its Way into Legacy

Self-bounce decks have become a well-established group of archetypes in Standard as well as Pioneer.

Self-bounce decks have become a well-established group of archetypes in Standard as well as Pioneer. This Town Ain’t Big Enough has proven to be an incredibly powerful tempo element that generates value in conjunction with a range of potent enchantments.

As good as these synergies are, though, we never expected to see them make a splash in Legacy. But here we are. A full playset of the Thunder Junction uncommon appeared in an Azorius Legacy deck that made Top 8 of a Challenge just a few days ago. This deck takes Standard staples and bolsters them with some of the strongest cards Legacy has to offer. Even in a format with such a dense card pool, new designs are still making an impact.

Bounce and Blink

As you might expect, joining This Town Ain’t Big Enough as a four-of in this deck is one of the best enchantments in Standard: Stormchaser’s Talent.

Stormchaser’s Talent and This Town make for some extremely explosive starts. A 1/1 with prowess may not seem that scary. However, once you start replaying the enchantment repeatedly, the opponent ends up on the backfoot rather quickly. Not only that, but This Town lets you bounce opposing blockers in the process, keeping them off-balance.

Where things get really interesting, though, is when you add in other synergistic pieces that aren’t available in Standard and Pioneer. Two other specific cards in the deck help you maximize Stormchaser’s Talent even more. The first is Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. Curving Stormchaser’s Talent into Phelia will have you dominating the battlefield in no time if the opponent doesn’t have an answer. Every turn, you can attack with Phelia, blink Stormchaser’s Talent, and build out a board of tokens over time while growing Phelia in the process.

The second card is a neat artifact from Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander named Staff of the Storyteller. By itself, Staff nets you a 1/1 flier and draws you a card after investing three mana, which is far from special. However, alongside any token generation, Staff continues to generate card advantage.

Stormchaser’s Talent makes tokens that trigger Staff, and if you can continue to bounce or blink Stormchaser’s Talent, you’ll keep accruing counters on Staff. Of course, you can always draw a card with Staff, blink Staff out with Phelia, then create another 1/1 flier and draw another card. The world is your oyster once you get your engines rolling.

Disruption

What’s nice about these synergies is they simultaneously put pressure on the opponent and generate value in attrition battles. When you combine these cards with a good dose of disruption, you’ve got a solid gameplan.

As is typical with other tempo decks in Legacy like various Delver strategies, Daze and Wasteland fill important roles. Daze makes it significantly more likely you’ll be able to stick Stormchaser’s Talent or Phelia. Once you do, Wasteland makes it harder for the opponent to stabilize. Wasteland also makes Daze better by reducing the number of mana sources they have to work with.

Swords to Plowshares then makes it easier to connect in combat with Phelia and your tokens. Ponder and Brainstorm dig for your disruptive elements, pumping your prowess threats in the process. From there, Force of Will can shut the door, while preventing your opponent from assembling any combos that they have access to.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Overall, despite this deck’s innovative nature, it does share a lot in common with other Delver strategies when it comes to its strengths and weaknesses. Your tempo-oriented gameplan lines up well in the face of combo. The presence of Wasteland and Daze allows you to punish greedy manabases as well as any opponent who stumbles out of the gates.

This deck does get a nice edge when it comes to playing the long game, as Staff of the Storyteller alongside Stormchaser’s Talent or Phelia helps you churn through your library. This Town and Phelia make you less vulnerable to hate cards that stick, including Chalice of the Void.

This deck also runs enough basic lands that Blood Moon is less concerning. There are even a couple copies of Back to Basics hanging out in the sideboard here, which can singlehandedly win games versus Eldrazi.

The main issue this deck has compared to the more streamlined Delver decklists is consistency. If you don’t draw Stormchaser’s Talent early, you present a lot less pressure. This Town also becomes way less threatening as a result.

Plus, your 1/1 tokens do not matchup well against Orcish Bowmasters. You don’t have an enormous haymaker like Murktide Regent to bail you out if you fall behind, either.

Still, the synergies here are impressive. There