[Brainstorming] Legacy Hive Mind

Here's a blue deck that thrashes Merfolk consistently.

Serious.

At least it won 4 straight games against me, fighting through 3 Spell Pierce, 4 Daze, and 4 Force of Will main deck in the Jan 2011 Legacy tournament this past weekend.

Here's the decklist:

Hive Mind – Ryan Chen

Mana (20 + 3)
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Crystal Vein
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
8 Island
3 Grim Monolith

Search (12)
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Intuition

Disruption (7)
4 Force of Will
3 Pact of Negation

Win (18)
4 Show and Tell
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Hive Mind
4 Pact of the Titan
3 Summoner’s Pact

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Defense Grid
3 Slaughter Pact
3 Echoing Truth
3 Relic of Progenitus

How It Works

In case it's not obvious, there are 2 win conditions, the first is the standard Show and Tell + Emrakul, the second is Hive Mind + Pact of Negation/Pact of the Titan/Summoner's Pact. With Hive Mind in play, any Pact that is played will be Twincasted to your opponent. And when your Merfolk playing opponent can't pay the 4r for his copy of Pact of the Titan he loses.

Plus, Hive Mind has Pact of Negation as backup FoWs and win conditions.

In case you're wondering, cards such as Krosan Grip doesn't work once Hive Mind resolves. After resolving the enchantment, the combo player can just play a Pact without passing priority, leaving you with no chances of interaction. That is, other than preventing Hive Mind from resolving with counterspells or discard.

Turn 2 Kill

Now you think a 6 mana enchantment is unlikely to break Legacy open. That's where Show and Tell and Grim Monolith comes in.

Other than Emrakul, Show and Tell simply plops the enchantment into play with a follow up Pact for the win. All these can happen turn 2 with acceleration from Ancient Tomb, Crystal Vein, City of Traitors, and even cards like Chrome Mox.

I've previously mentioned when Grim Monolith was unbanned that the real potential for Grim Monolith is in its ability to net 6 mana on turn 2. Ryan has demonstrated this by going turn 1 Ancient Tomb + Grim Monolith, into turn 2 Island + Hive Mind + Pact for the win.

In addition, extra Grim Monoliths completely voids out opposing Dazes/Spell Pierces.

Now how about some legacy Enduring Ideal love now?

You're bound to have better ideas than I do now, so share some by commenting!

A Hive Mind Future?

Will this deck make it big in Legacy? Will a combo deck that beats Merfolk quite easily be good enough to be a deck to beat? By the looks of it, I'm going to say yes. Afterall, it has an advantage against aggro decks, can fight through aggro-control decks, and only dies to Counterbalance at 6.

Ok, I exaggerated. Cards such as Meddling Mage, Extirpate (right after Hive Mind is discarded), and Cranial Extraction works well against this mono-blue combo deck. Mana denial via Wasteland, Daze, and Spell Pierce? Try harder.

Better grab your Grim Monoliths before other 6 mana bombs are discovered.

Summary

Legacy Hive Mind is a mono-blue combo deck that can win through disruption as fast as turn 2 with the help of Show and Tell and Grim Monolith. How scary is that?

What do you think? Do you think that Sneaky Show (Sneak Attack + Show and Tell) has the same potential as Hive Mind? Will you change your mind about Hive Mind if I told you the Japanese pushed 2 copies of the deck to top-8 in the 2010 Magic: the Gathering World Championships Saturday Legacy Constructed public event? Let me know by commenting!

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