{"id":87,"date":"2020-09-26T10:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T10:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?p=87"},"modified":"2020-09-26T10:31:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T10:31:00","slug":"legends-elite-elite-final-four-and-championship-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/26\/legends-elite-elite-final-four-and-championship-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Legends: Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Series Preview<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/ground-rules\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/ground-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Ground rules for this tournament.<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/legends-round-of-32-sweet-sixteen\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/legends-round-of-32-sweet-sixteen\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Sweet Sixtee<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/legends-round-of-32-sweet-sixteen\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/legends-round-of-32-sweet-sixteen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">n<\/span><\/a> results here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve finally made it to the finish line for this insane set! Starting from a field of 151 creatures (our largest yet) &#8211; which included a disturbing amount of seven- and eight-mana vanilla legends, offenseless Walls and Kobolds, and fatties with horrible upkeep costs &#8211; here we are, in the Elite Eight:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Only two legends have made it this far. And not surprisingly, they not only come with both come at the actually reasonable cost of three mana, but also have a powerful ability that can either shut down combat (Angus Mackenzie) or pick off the opponent&#8217;s creatures (Tetsuo Umezawa). Looking at the rest of this top eight, these two have to be the odds-on favorites here.<\/li><li>We&#8217;ve also got our three triple-digit seeds: Fire Sprites, Vampire Bats, and Clergy of the Holy Nimbus. The set of all three can be had for a dollar&#8230;yet they&#8217;re all here. Each of them making full use of their cheap mana costs to blast through five rounds against much fancier legends.<\/li><li>Two of the participants &#8211; Thunder Spirit and Kobold Taskmaster &#8211; may be the only creatures in the entire set that could reasonably see print in a set today (Reserved List notwithstanding) and be somewhat useful.<\/li><li>And then there&#8217;s Crimson Manticore. I don&#8217;t know how it managed to make it this far. But it did, because it&#8217;s <em>Legends<\/em> we&#8217;re talking about here.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Elite Eight<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(1) Angus Mackenzie <em>defeats<\/em> (8) Tetsuo Umezawa<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-217-angus-mackenzie.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"88\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=88\" class=\"wp-image-88\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-262-tetsuo-umezawa.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"89\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-262-tetsuo-umezawa.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=89\" class=\"wp-image-89\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">A quarterfinal face-off between the two legends left from <em>Legends<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">And this one is actually somewhat of a challenge for old Angus, as Umezawa can actually interact with him &#8211; using her ability to destroy him after he uses his ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">However, all Angus needs to do is build an army until six mana (taking 9 damage along the way), at which point it can establish a continuous loop. Each time Umezawa attacks, one Angus will use its ability to stop the combat. From there, the tapped Angus gets killed by Umezawa&#8217;s ability. But then, on the next turn, a new Angus can be cast to replace the one that just died; while leaving three mana open for one of the remaining Anguses to do its magic the next turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">And so, once again, Angus stalls all the way to a default win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(2) Thunder Spirit&nbsp;<em>defeats<\/em> (71) Kobold Taskmaster<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-39-thunder-spirit.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"92\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=92\" class=\"wp-image-92\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-156-kobold-taskmaster.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"93\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-156-kobold-taskmaster.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=93\" class=\"wp-image-93\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">An extremely tight battle between two relatively simple creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Thunder Spirit, with its first strike, has got the strict advantage in combat here. But at the same time, the Taskmaster can do a huge chunk of damage with some extra attackers. So the best strategy for the Spirit is to hold on until it can go for a massive one-shot kill in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">So the question is: can Taskmaster push enough damage through before then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Turn 5 is the earliest Kobolds can try to attack, since the creation of 2 Taskmasters on Turn 4 means they have one extra attacker. But there, it&#8217;s losing all but one Kobold for 7 damage. Bad idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">The first chance Kobolds has to get two attacks through is Turn 8, where it&#8217;ll win them the game since each attacker will have 12 power (12 x 2 = 24). Question is: can Thunder Spirit somehow sneak enough damage through before then? (Specifically, 6 damage before they attack with 14 in the air for their Turn 8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">And for that, it makes sense for Thunder Spirit to attack early, since any counter-attacks early on won&#8217;t be as powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\"><em>If Spirits attack on Turn 4 (2 damage), Kobolds can counterattack with 2 Kobolds; losing 1 and doing 4 damage. Kobolds won&#8217;t counterattack because they&#8217;ll be down net one with minimal damage dealt.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\"><em>Then if two Spirits attack on Turn 5 (4 damage), Kobolds can counterattack with four Kobolds. Three will be unblocked, and each one will deal 6 damage (6 Kobolds on the battlefield). Not enough for lethal. This would bring Spirit down to 2; however, the next time Kobolds would have one extra attacker (<em>given that they lost one in that attack)<\/em><\/em> <em>is Turn 8 &#8211; the turn after the Spirits can swing for 14 lethal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">So, if Thunder Spirit attacks with all available attackers in Turn 4 and 5, it&#8217;ll put itself in a position to barely win by Turn 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">The Reserved List poster-boy prevails in an instant classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(123) Clergy of the Holy Nimbus&nbsp;<em>defeats<\/em>&nbsp;(133) Fire Sprites<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-6-clergy-of-the-holy-nimbus.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"96\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=96\" class=\"wp-image-96\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-186-fire-sprites.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"97\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-186-fire-sprites.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=97\" class=\"wp-image-97\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Here it is. The epic showdown you&#8217;ve all been waiting for, for a spot in the Final Four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">In any case, the fact that Clergy comes down earlier and demands that all-important mana payment every time Fire Sprites (who is on their heels from the start) wants to trade &#8211; means they quickly overwhelm the 1\/1 fliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(60) Crimson Manticore&nbsp;<em>defeats<\/em>&nbsp;(132) Vampire Bats<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-140-crimson-manticore.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"98\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=98\" class=\"wp-image-98\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-125-vampire-bats.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"99\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-125-vampire-bats.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=99\" class=\"wp-image-99\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Vampire Bats, as always, can do some quick damage to start. However, once the Manticores start rolling in, they can establish a wall of pinging Manticores that shut down the Bat assault before their life total is in any serious jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Later in the game, the Manticores are more limited in their ability to ping away, but still have a large army of blockers to handle the rest (with the Bats requiring two activations to trade). More than enough to hang on until the default victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Crimson Manticore in the Final Four. Who would have guessed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Final Four<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(1) Angus Mackenzie <em>defeats<\/em> (60) Crimson Manticore<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-217-angus-mackenzie-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"101\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=101\" class=\"wp-image-101\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-140-crimson-manticore-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"102\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-140-crimson-manticore-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=102\" class=\"wp-image-102\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">After that small scare last round, Angus Mackenzie shuts down the Manticore attacks pretty early and rolls to an easy default win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(2) Thunder Spirit <em>defeats<\/em> (123) Clergy of the Holy Nimbus<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-39-thunder-spirit-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"103\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=103\" class=\"wp-image-103\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-6-clergy-of-the-holy-nimbus-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"104\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-6-clergy-of-the-holy-nimbus-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=104\" class=\"wp-image-104\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">The Clergy will rush early on, getting some extra damage in thanks to its ability limiting the number of blocking Spirits than can kill them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">However, the Thunder Spirits eventually reach a stable state where they have 3+ mana to kill Clergy attackers, while continually casting a blocker every turn to match a Clergy attacker. The Clergy&#8217;s two-creature advantage throughout this is thus unable to bring the Spirit much further below its 9 life remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Eventually, Thunder Spirit will assemble its army of ten fliers; which can fly straight over the whole Clergy army for the kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Championship Match<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">(1) Angus Mackenzie <em>defeats<\/em> (2) Thunder Spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-217-angus-mackenzie-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"107\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=107\" class=\"wp-image-107\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-39-thunder-spirit-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"108\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/leg-39-thunder-spirit-2.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/?attachment_id=108\" class=\"wp-image-108\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Pretty ironic, huh? After an entire tournament of low-seed creatures pulling off big upsets &#8211; including three of them making an appearance in this top eight &#8211; the finals comes down to a clash between between the first seed and the second seed. Just like we all expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">And the match is totally trivial. Angus shuts things down before Thunder Spirit can get going at all, and he cruises to a default victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">And thus, Angus Mackenzie proves that there were at least some good legends in <em>Legends<\/em>, by wrapping up a dominant tournament with the set championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">The best creature in <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-957\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LEG_logo.jpg\" alt=\"\"> is Angus Mackenzie!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mtgshowdown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/leg-217-angus-mackenzie-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1060\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(1) Angus Mackenzie<br \/>\n(2) Thunder Spirit<br \/>\n(8) Tetsuo Umezawa<br \/>\n(60) Crimson Manticore<br \/>\n(71) Kobold Taskmaster<br \/>\n(123) Clergy of the Holy Nimbus<br \/>\n(132) Vampire Bats<br \/>\n(133) Fire Sprites<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/100epicmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}