Rendez-Vous Avec Le Parfait | A Classic Legacy Inevitability

In a crowded {Bazaar of Baghdad}, a {Patron Wizard} scurries frantically to the {Talas Merchant} he frequently buys goods from. "What's wrong?" asked the merchant, seeing the {Patron Wizard} winded, pale, anemic, and scared.

"Death just threatened me in the crowd!" fretted the {Patron Wizard}. "Please, may I buy your fastest {Ebony Horse} to ride until I find the {Undiscovered Paradise}, where Death can never find me?" The merchant obliged, and the {Patron Wizard} swiftly rode away.

The merchant, not liking the commotion where his business flourishes, confronted Death. "Why did you threaten the {Patron Wizard}?!"

"I didn't threaten him," retorted Death, taken aback, surprised by the accusation. I was just startled to see him in the {Bazaar of Baghdad} since I have an appointment with him tonight in the {Undiscovered Paradise}.

—MTG adaptation of "Death in Samarra"

Classic Legacy Parfait

Turn one, play {Undiscovered Paradise}, cast {Land Tax}.

Parfait is French for perfect. It was the namesake of what Raphaël "K-Run" Caron believed to be the ideal control deck that combined {Land Tax}'s card advantage with {Scroll Rack}'s card quality.

The most recent foray of Parfait in competitive Magic was in Premodern, where players maintained {Land Tax} with {Undiscovered Paradise}, {Mox Diamond}, and {Gush}. The card advantage of the Parfait engine was so strong that {Land Tax} was banned in 2023. My copies of {Land Tax} were still en route in the mail.

Fortunately, although {Land Tax} was not unbanned in Legacy until 2012, it is legal in Classic Legacy, and my future opponents will walk through the bazaar.

"Tis impossible to be sure of anything but death and taxes."

—Christopher Bullock, playwright "The Cobler of Preston"

While most of the Parfait shell from Premodern remains intact in Classic Legacy, there is a glaring omission: {Gush}.

{Gush} ensured {Land Tax} could always collect even after developing beyond the opponent. Playing out {Island}s found with the {Land Tax} incentivized the opponent to wander farther into the crowd at the bazaar.

What is Classic Legacy Parfait to do?

Is {Fathom Seer} obviously worse than {Gush}? Yes. The same is true for every other card in the format.

For the purpose of gushing, {Fathom Seer} needs only worry about the stack since it can morph in response to removal to put the opponent back in the tax bracket. This is, however, where {Fathom Seer} is actually worse than {Gush} for purposes of keeping the opponent in the appropriate tax bracket.

More so than costing [3] vs [0]; returning {Island}s with {Gush} is its cost, so they return regardless of whether {Gush} is countered. {Fathom Seer} has to morph to return the {Island}s. Despite the obvious downsides, at least {Fathom Seer} can block; a still-relevant mechanic in this era.

Classic Legacy Parfait by ForceofPhil

DECKLIST_START

Creatures (8)

4 {Fathom Seer} [1][u]
3 {Jotun Grunt} [1][w]

Instants (14)

4 {Brainstorm} [u]
4 {Swords to Plowshares} [w]
2 {Enlightened Tutor} [w]
4 {Force of Will} [3][u][u]

Sorceries (6)

4 {Ponder} [u]
1 {Wrath of God} [2][w][w]
1 {Armageddon} [3][w]

Artifacts (6)

1 {Zuran Orb} [0]
1 {Sensei's Divining Top} [1]
1 {Pithing Needle} [1]
4 {Scroll Rack} [2]

Enchantments (6)

4 {Land Tax} [w]
1 {Counterbalance} [u][u]
1 {Seal of Cleansing} [1][w]

Lands (20)

4 {Flooded Strand}
3 {Scalding Tarn}
1 {Arid Mesa}
5 {Island}
3 {Plains}
4 {Undiscovered Paradise}

Sideboard

4 {Medding Mage} [u][w]
3 {Hydroblast} [u]
2 {Disenchant} [1][w]
2 {Back to Basics} [2][u]
2 {Pithing Needle} [2]
1 {Wrath of God} [2][w][w]
1 {Pyroblast} [r]

DECKLIST_END

In Premodern and other Parfait decks of old, {Gaea's Blessing} was the means to go infinite. While we could still spash [g] to do the same, {Jotun Grunt} is an early blocker, a means to close the game that recycles early cantrips, and a mainboard way to interact with the opponent's graveyard.

The big hiccup is the lack of {Mox Diamond}, which is more of a nod to blue count for {Force of Will}. That could be wrong, but it's unclear in this brand new world.

A {Gush} Parfait heuristic was to limit cards that cost more than [2], hence the lack of {Jace, the Mind Sculptor}. {Wrath of God} or {Armageddon} are exceptions since they range from a huge swing to game-ending following a {Fathom Seer} gush.

An alternative consideration to the {Sensei's Divining Top} + {Counterbalance} splash is the {Thopter Sword} + {Sword of the Meek} combo. There are perhaps additional options as the heuristic adapts for {Fathom Seer}.

The opponent can do everything to escape, but the rendez-vous with Death is inevitable. I can't wait to iterate on Parfait at future Classic Legacy paper events.

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Featured image: {Land Tax} by Brian Snõddy