Legacy: High speed drives player abandonment.

Legacy sits precariously this week with a middling Final Health Index of 54.5. While the Metagame Diversity Score remains relatively high at 75.0, suggesting theoretical options abound, the participation data is grim. Both Player and Event Growth scores hit 0.0, indicating a precipitous -100.0% decline in engagement across both Paper and MTGO platforms in the latest data slice. This sudden drop in participation is a serious concern for the format’s long-term health, suggesting current anxieties are pushing players away despite the theoretical variety.

The current metagame distribution tells a story of speed and optimization. Combo has seized the largest slice of the pie at 49.4%, drastically outpacing Aggro (36.6%) and Control (14%). Historically, Combo only accounted for 40% of the meta, showing a clear tilt towards highly explosive strategies. This shift confirms the community narrative that the format is getting faster and more linear.

Looking at the Top 10 Decks, the Aggro archetype manages to hold ground, though often via Stompy strategies. UR Aggro and Dragon Stompy lead the pack, tied at 6% representation each, followed closely by Eldrazi Aggro at 5%. These aggressive threats define the top tier, but the presence of staples like Dimir Tempo (4%) and traditional Death & Taxes (3%) shows that interactive, fair strategies still manage to carve out space, even if the top-end concentration remains low.

The B&R Health Score sits at 65.0, but the community is clearly anxious. Analysts are focused on the emergence of highly linear strategies post-Modern Horizons 3. The undisputed boogeyman is the Nadu Combo deck, which has quickly established itself as the format’s defining challenge, generating massive card advantage and forcing established archetypes like Delver and 8-Cast to adapt their sideboards. Additionally, the 'Flare' cycle, particularly Flare of Denial, is revitalizing shells like UW Control, offering powerful defensive free spells needed to compete in this high-speed environment. Despite the turbulence and acknowledged concerns regarding decks like Oops! All Spells, the latest official B&R announcement maintained the status quo.