Legends Legends - Gosta Dirk

Welcome back, one and all, to another exciting edition of Legends Legends! We're rapidly approaching the end of this series, with just five legends left. Today's legend comes from the cycle of landwalk-hosers present in 1994's Legends set.

He's Gosta Dirk

Gosta Dirk

This makes him an effective hoser for those combat-heavy Merfolk kindred decks that I'm sure you see hundreds of every Friday at your LGS. Instead, we're broadening our spectrum of hatred to include all blue players. Ready to play some spiteful Magic? Let's dig in.

General Thoughts

Gosta Dirk

While this ability is neat, it's not nearly broad enough to have a significant impact on our games, especially if we can't count on our opponents to run a bunch of Devouring Deep

Instead, we'll be running a broad coalition of anti-blue cards. This deck wants to shut down the other blue players at the table, giving them a taste of their own Staxy, control-y medicine.

We'll use advantageous counterspells and blue-hosers to lock those blue decks out of the game. In addition, we'll do our best to deny blue players access to the things they do best: drawing cards, setting up combos, and countering our spells. 

F#%$ You, Blue Players!!!

Gosta Dirk

This deck runs a mix of traditionally valuable control elements and blue-specific control spells, plus some Stax effects for good measure. While a majority of the "anti-blue" cards are found in red and green (blue's enemy colors), there are still a few important color-hosers.

Gainsay

Dominaria's Judgment

If there's one thing blue players love to do, it's cast counterspells. These are typically instants, so to counteract this we're running a ton of noncreature and instant-specific counterspells. This means Dispel

The only problem is those pesky blue nerds always seem to have another spell up their sleeve. In fact, any control player worth their salt will see you pass the turn with two Island

We'll go ahead and counter that first spell and the rest of their turn with Render Silent

Stacking Up

Blue decks tend to spend a lot of their time casting noncreature spells. Even the most creature-focused blue Merfolk deck will still need to cast an occasional Counterspell

Cards like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Maybe they're pushing through and just casting their spells for the extra mana tax, or maybe they've already ramped up their mana that these small taxes won't affect them. Never to fear, we can always punish them for casting their spells and drawing those cards with Mystic Remora

Narset, Parter of Veils

Cursecatcher

Llawan, Cephalid Empress

Finally, Perplexing Chimera

Beating Up The Nerds

So, how does Gosta Dirk

Besides simply beating our opponents to death with Gosta, we've got two other large creatures that can be quite a threat on the board, especially if we've got the countermagic to protect them.

Nezahal, Primal Tide

Mana Base

With no access to traditional ramp, we're loading up on Signets and Talismans to keep this deck running. We're also sitting pretty on 37 lands, a little more than most decks you'll see on Legends Legends, but its definitely necessary that we have the mana available every turn to counter (or otherwise threaten to counter) our opponents' spells.

Budget

The total for this deck comes out to around $465. That price point is driven up by a handful of expensive cards that'll hurt to cut. Force of Negation

If you're looking to save a dime on this deck, these cards can easily be replaced with more traditional counterspells, like Negate

Gosta Dirk Decklist

Wrap Up

If being salty was an art, I think I'd be Picasso. If general pettiness was a sport, I'd win MVP every year. This deck exists as an eternal testament to the fact that if you beat me handily several games in a row, I will go home and write up a deck list built to specifically screw you over, Talrand, Sky Summoner

Really, blue isn't all that bad. Interaction during your opponents' turns is one of the best mechanics in Magic. But, as the old adage goes, Magic: The Gathering is a lot of fun, except that other player is always trying to do some BS. 

Thanks for reading! Until Next time!