The release of Modern Horizons 2 has pulled the attention of Magic players back the sets of ages past; sets of white-bordered reprints (that weren’t dropped like designer clothes), poorly costed creatures, and clunky one-of mechanics. I’m referring to Legends, of course: the first set to feature Legendary Creatures, albeit as poorly executed as could be.
That said, Legends is, bar none, the best set Magic: the Gathering has ever produced. Everything since then has just been auxiliary content as far as I’m concerned. The introduction of the Legendary Creature, the Legend rule, banding… it just hits different. The game is at a special point in its early career when it’s still clunky; everything is under- or over-curve; it still feels new, unsolved.
Thus the Vorthos within me calls to create the unity that was prophesied in the beginning; to craft an EDH deck for every Legendary Creature in the Legends block. This won’t be easy; several, if not most, of these cards are awful, nearly unplayable. But they’re all dripping with flavor, even if we’ll have to extrapolate from the meager amounts of official lore for some of them.
Let’s start off with everyone’s favorite new-old planeswalker; Dakkon Blackblade. I’ve been playing a Dakkon deck since high school. He wasn’t my first EDH deck, but he was the first one I fell in love with. What drew me to him was his off-color ability, and the fact that he was old. I won’t lie here; I was trying to pick a “vintage” commander to come across very hip. As you’ll soon see I’m obsessed with what other people think about me.
"My power is as vast as the plains..."
Dakkon’s land-centric ability in Esper isn’t so far-fetched now (I’m looking at you, Keeper of the Accord), but ramping in blue, white and black in 2012 wasn’t so easy. The release of Zendikar and the landfall mechanic did make it a bit easier, but short of a Land Tax I was shit out of luck. Nowadays, a functioning Dakkon Voltron style deck is a fairly easy build (what with the support white has been getting vis a vis Plains-fetching), so I’ve made some flavor choices for my personal Dakkon deck to keep it interesting.
Every great warrior needs a sweet ride. The Omenkeel is one of my favorite early game plays; crew it with a ramp creature after it’s reached the end of its usefulness. Give a maniacal laugh as you raze your way through your opponents’ territory, stealing their lands for your own power (more on this later).
Pulling lands out of your deck is always going to help Dakkon. Three mana for a land to the hand is fairly steep, but considering the compass will flip into a worse Maze of Ith, it'll be well worth it early or late game.
Through shrewd politicking, Dakkon can gather allies to his cause, growing a horde of warriors in his wake. With this, your opponents will swear allegiance to your banner; generating mana for the entire board. Oath of Lieges speeds up your game (and everyone else’s!) in a deck where you’ll be thirsty for those Islands and Swamps that won’t be searched for. Make your opponents swear oaths of fealty to your benevolence! Whether or not you honor those oaths is another question.
Oath is a star card in this deck. Almost every time it hits the board, it’s an unassuming two-mana ramp spell, but the value you’ll generate over the course of three or four turns will far outweigh the costs.
Verge Rangers, Stoic Farmer, Kor Cartographer, Burnished Hart
Skip those dead draws! Listen, you’re playing Esper. You’re not going to be ramping the hardest of the players in your pod, assuming someone else is playing green (and they will be, it’s the best color). Verge Rangers, along with Stoic Farmer and Kor Cartographer form the core of your turn 2-4 plays, representing the hundreds of slaves Dakkon uses to quench the Blackblade during it’s forging. Don’t be afraid to toss these creatures aside as chump blockers; they are mere pawns to Dakkon’s greater plan.
Finally, we come to the Planar Chaos “Harrow” Spellshaper known as Dreamscape Artist exists in a weird place. He’s fairly weak as far as ramp goes. If I can be honest here, Dreamscape doesn’t need to be in this deck, or really any deck. He’s a sub-optimal leftover form the early days of this deck, but I can’t bring myself to drop him. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t run him, I promise.
This has reached nearly 800 words. I'll be breaking this up into chunks for my own sanity (I have a LOT to say about Dakkon) Check back next time for part two; Forging the Blackblade.
