Archived Analysis

Legacy's looking pretty solid overall, despite some shifts in player habits. The format feels relatively stable, though the metagame is definitely favoring combo strategies right now. There's no major panic, but you should be prepared for a lot of fast wins.

The Final Health Index is sitting at 72.3, which is respectable. Metagame Diversity is decent at 68.6, but the Archetype Distribution score is high at 90.3, suggesting that while there are a lot of decks, they fall into pretty well-defined buckets. Player growth is a mixed bag: Paper is down, but MTGO is up. Event growth is stable, which is good news. The B&R Health score of 65 suggests people are generally okay with the banlist.

Dimir Tempo and UR Aggro are tied at the top with 5% each, but the big story is the combo super-archetype making up 52.5% of the meta. Dragon Stompy and Eldrazi Aggro are hanging in there, followed by mainstays like Death & Taxes and Maverick. Compared to the 5-year historical average, Aggro is way down, and Combo is way up, meaning you better have a plan for those lightning-fast wins.

Recent Reddit threads are full of talk about how to combat the increasing prevalence of combo decks. The fact that the latest B&R announcement didn't include any changes seems to be a signal that the DCI thinks the format can self-correct. The community is actively exploring new sideboard options and strategies to deal with hyper-efficient combo turns, meaning innovation and adaptation are the names of the game.