Legacy's Enchantress Combo: a practical guide
Legacy's Enchantress Combo sits between a combo deck and a control deck. Its blue-red engine uses card selection, mana filtering and cheap artifacts to assemble an attack that wins faster than the opponent can answer. The appeal is its breadth: a clean Foundry line can be lethal, while Brainstorm, Vendure and a well-timed Baleful Strix keep a slower game winnable.
It also punishes tunnel vision. Cards that look interchangeable on a list can become dead draws when the graveyard fills, an answer is in hand or every artifact is needed for a different role. A successful pilot learns which combo pieces are expendable, protects the ones that matter and chooses between casting a threat and using an artifact to draw more cards.
| Plan | Winning route | Key pieces | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artifact burst | Race with haste, trample and first strike | Squee, Batterskull, Foundry, Lightning | The opponent holds timely removal |
| Strix pressure | Block, trade and win card advantage | Baleful Strix, Vendure, Fatal Push | Strix weakens your other attackers |
| Cantrip engine | Find an answer before the opponent closes the game | Brainstorm, Ponder, Opt, Spell Snare | Key draws are disrupted or exiled |
How the deck wins
The deck's combo is finite rather than truly infinite. It uses a small group of artifacts and creatures to create more damage, haste or evasion than a normal Legacy board can answer, then converts that temporary edge into lethal. That makes each piece of interaction valuable: one well-timed effect can matter more than another spell or card.
Brainstorm, Ponder, Opt and Gush supply selection and card advantage. Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond and Springleaf Drum make the mana engine reliable, while Baleful Strix, Fatal Push and Spell Snare provide the necessary answers. The payoff cards—Squee, the Gadgeteer; Batterskull; Myr Enforcer; Retrofitter Foundry; Artifact Lightning; Chain Veil; Sword of Fire and Ice and Ethereal Armor—turn those resources into an attacking position.
The deck's difficulty is balance. Strix is a powerful three-power flyer with deathtouch and surveil, but its static ability weakens other creatures you control. Conversely, the combo package demands specific cards and a favourable attack step. Building too greedy leaves a small margin against disruption; building too cautiously surrenders the speed that makes the archetype distinctive.
Building a balanced card pool
A practical shell sits around 42–44 nonland cards and 16–18 lands. Keep enough blue for Brainstorm and the cantrips, but do not count on drawing a specific rare with one copy. Two or three copies of each key package piece is usually more practical than taking every available strength card, especially before sideboarding has been tailored to the event.
Mana filtering deserves as much attention as the combo. Mox Diamond is powerful but enters tapped and can conflict with another Mox; Chrome Mox develops cards while reducing available mana; Springleaf Drum finds a basic land when the hand is thin. Fetching a second Mox can save a turn, yet tapping both at once can strand the hand with two otherwise useful artifacts.
Use Vendure and Biomancer's Retrieval to smooth draws without abandoning the main plan, and keep enough interaction for relevant threats rather than filling the deck with reactive cards. Before locking a list, compare notes in The Legacy Pit’s strategy articles, then adjust the shell to the card pool, expected metagame and number of rounds available.
Turning a hand into a lethal turn
The cleanest burst uses Retrofitter Foundry and Batterskull. Batterskull’s arrival can trigger Foundry, creating a 3/3 Phyrexian Golem with trample and haste. Artifact Lightning provides instant-speed reach by giving a freshly cast artifact creature flash. Chain Veil can also exile Artifact Lightning from hand, allowing its activation without the usual mana cost, while another Chain Veil activation can make a crucial attacker hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Sword of Fire and Ice completes the attack. Equipping it to Myr Enforcer gives that creature +2/+0, haste and first strike; Enforcer’s attack trigger can tap a blocker before damage. Squee, the Gadgeteer raises the stakes by giving your creatures haste and an extra power until the turn ends. With the right mana and a clear lane, the attackers force blocks and then deliver lethal.
Do not expect this package to win from an empty board on turn two. Cast the first threat when the opponent has no credible blocker, attack through mana and removal, and rebuild after a defensive card lands. If the combo pieces are exiled or otherwise unavailable, use Opt or Ponder to find one actionable card and race with Strix and Vendure. The fallback game is often better than forcing a five-card hand that does nothing.
Sideboarding for the current Legacy field
Sideboard by function rather than card labels. Against Delver and other blue decks, plan for a quick counterspell, discard or removal spell while preserving a way to race; Force of Will and a cheap finisher are useful anchors. Against Doomsday and Belcher, cards such as Security Breach can attack the actual combo, while extra threats increase the pressure required to survive.
Death’s Shadow and other graveyard-based decks call for discard, artifact hate and ways to win before the graveyard plan takes over. Control decks demand creature pressure, card selection and a route through lifegain. Baleful Strix is best in a spot where its drawback will not shrink the attackers you need, so changing its role can matter as much as adding another spell.
Keep fifteen cards modular: one answer for blue interaction, one anti-graveyard card, two or three threats against control and enough dedicated disruption for the event’s expected metagame. Test which cards remain useful after sideboarding. A sideboard win against a Death’s Shadow deck is valuable only if the rest of the list can still assemble its attack through the pressure that deck creates.
Playing Legacy across Australia
Melbourne and Sydney have dense networks of hobby shops with regular Legacy events, while Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra support smaller but active communities. A common Australian routine is to meet at a game shop on Saturday, play several rounds nearby and move to a café afterwards. Arriving early for table registration and keeping a printed sideboard guide is especially helpful when several events share one venue.
The local market is strongly shaped by Australian hobby shops, which stock sealed product, singles and trade-in stock, plus Australian online sellers. Cards imported from overseas can attract 10% GST, so compare the landed cost before chasing a price. Under Australian Consumer Law, goods sold by Australian businesses must meet consumer guarantees; descriptions such as “near mint” should match the actual condition of a collectible.
The Legacy Pit’s Twitch streams, podcasts and community channels are useful between rounds, particularly when an Australian event shares a player base with larger cities. For a tram ride through Melbourne to a local tournament, underrated 1990s albums can provide a relaxed soundtrack while you review the attack sequence. Check local shop schedules and event restrictions before travelling, since sideboard policies and cut-off times can vary.
Pick one two-card burst line and one slower backup plan, then write down the mana requirements and key decision points before your next event. Testing those plans against a friend is more valuable than adding another card to the main deck without a clear job.
Bring the refined list to your nearest Legacy event, join The Legacy Pit’s streams and community discussions, and share the results with players who want to learn the archetype. Consistent rep counts will reveal which combo pieces belong in your list and which cards are simply taking up space.