An in-universe set? They still make those?!
Thankfully they do, and this set looks sweet! There are a bunch of interesting designs, and nothing looks Legacy-warping. There are a few cards that may become staples, a few that boost a few archetypes, and a few that just look fun to brew around. This is just the power level I like to see. Good job, WotC!
New Mechanics
Empower Jace X — Create a Jace planeswalker token with X loyalty or add to your Jace planeswalker token’s loyalty by X. The token has -1: Surveil 1 and -3: Draw a card.
How will this token affect the average game? It should add some consistency, and perhaps a distraction to give you virtual life. If the spells that Empower Jace are good enough, this could prove to be a pretty decent mechanic, drawing into more of the powerful spells.
Heartwood Token — Create a mana rock that taps to add or . This mechanic seems a little contrived to me. I really don’t have anything else to say about it.
Roiling Canopy
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth makes Roiling Canopy much easier to enable than Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. However, how often do you see Giant Growth played in Legacy compared to Lightning Bolt?
I think this should probably be tested in decks that already want Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. The opportunity cost isn’t zero (entering tapped is a big downside), but it might be low enough.
Maybe there’s some hybrid lands/infect brew out there that’s been waiting for this moment. It doesn’t need to play Invigorate anymore! Lands can do all the pumping (and attacking).
Theorist’s Sanctum
The fetchability of Theorist’s Sanctum is the only reason this card is on anyone’s radar. The card advantage it offers is so expensive that I don’t think it’s worth the slot, if that’s your intention for it. I’d much rather play Mystic Sanctuary to return a Flow State to my hand for far less mana.
If I’m brewing around this card, I’d look at the cards in this set that add abilities to planeswalkers. In that case, Sanctum becomes much more appealing.
Emrakul, the Exigent Doom
Here we have another finisher for big mana decks to ponder. This Emrakul can give Eye of Ugin or Petrified Hamlet the ability to tap for while dodging a mid-game Thoughtseize. That doesn’t sound too exciting.
The more interesting thing Emrakul, the Exigent Doom does is offer infinite mana and enters/cast triggers with Karakas. This seems completely unnecessary in the decks that would want it, though, and those decks likely don’t want to fit Karakas into their mana bases.
The Echoverse Fulcrum
The Echoverse Fulcrum is a pretty easy inclusion in any big mana Karn sideboard, but is this worth playing in the main deck as well?
Think of how you play your aggressive decks in games two and three against potential board wipes. Do you go all in, throwing caution to the wind, or do you temper your aggression to avoid a blowout? So what does the “beat down” do when the “control” sticks an early The Echoverse Fulcrum?
They’ll likely pull off the gas a little, giving the “control” room to breathe and deploy their Karn or The One Ring. An early Fulcrum can also help you dig towards whatever land or answer you need. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. So, yes, a few main deck The Echoverse Fulcrums are worth it to me in an aggressive meta.
Karn's ability to make this a repeatable board wipe makes me think this will be a staple of the wishboard like Mycosynth Lattice.
Flickering Hound
Displacer Kitten doesn’t see any competitive play, but maybe Flickering Hound will be different. There might be a home in 
Initiative decks or Death & Taxes. The issue is we already have a dog that does this for far less investment: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd.
There are likely a lot of combos with this Flickering Hound, this issue is that mana for a 2/2 “do-nothing” is a terrible rate.
Sphinx’s Approach
Despite all the possible creatures Sphinx’s Approach could tutor, there is really only one option: Sphinx of the Chimes to draw your deck and cast Thassa’s Oracle with counter backup for the win.
This could be a cute FNM pile, but for some reason filling a deck with 20 Quick Studys doesn’t sound very competitive.
Geist of Saint Thalia
“Noncreature spells you cast cost less to cast”?
Color me intrigued.
Flow State for , Stock Up for , and turning Dismember into Snuff Out? I have to at least try her, right? Sadly, I think her small stature will likely be her doom. With just one more power, Geist of Saint Thalia would likely make the cut, but this clock is just too slow.
Jace’s Machinations
The card type does heavy lifting. End step Jace’s Machinations into Kasmina, Enigma Sage with Veil of Summer backup. -8 can tutor and cast Enter the Infinite, then Lotus Petals/moxen can cast Thassa’s Oracle for the win.
Another potentially game-ending combo with Jace’s Machinations is Light Up the Night for a quick 8+ damage to the dome. There might be a fun control pile to sleeve up for FNM: Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student with Faithless Looting to flip her and bin Light Up the Night, Way of the Pyromancer, and Jace’s Machinations to get a big Jace token, and Cori-Steel Cutter to gum up the board.
Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun
Dumb card is dumb. This is for the blue mage that hates counter wars. I’ve heard complaints from the cEDH community, but I don’t know how much this will affect Legacy.
It will certainly be annoying to see on the other side of the table as they cast High Tide, but I doubt that will be common.
Traxos, Academy Guardian
That’s a lot of stats for . What “fair” creatures are you swinging into this besides Barrowgoyf?
Traxos does die to red blasts and artifact hate, and cries when they play a Karakas, so it’s not all upside. What’s nice is you can protect it with your own Karakas, and it’s blue for Force of Will. I’ll likely look for space in 8-Cast, but can see trying this out in other fair-ish piles. The stats just seem great.
Dark Matter Manipulator
I originally wrote this off because of its meager stats and no evasion. But being Stitcher’s Supplier 5-8 is great.
Some decks that might want this include Hogaak variants, Dredge, Mono Reanimator, Aggro, and likely a few others. This helps boost a ton of graveyard strategies with its enters ability. On an empty board, this is a pretty fast clock.
Darklight Phoenix
Speaking of Hogaak, Darklight Phoenix could be a pretty sweet inclusion in that style of deck as well. Getting this to trigger can be pretty costly, but luckily it doesn’t care which side of the board the creatures die on. Which means Flare of Malice might actually be worth playing.
Lich’s Relic
Stoneforge Mystic dies a lot. Then you’re stuck with an uncastable Meteor Sword in hand. Lich’s Relic. on the other hand, can be cast early in development.
It only hits creatures/planeswalkers, but beggars can’t be choosers. You’ll also have to pay the every time Phelia blinks it to kill something. We’ll see if this makes it into one of the coveted equipment slots of Death & Taxes. I think there's a chance.
Hexhaven Invigorator
If I’m not mistaken, finding Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and a mountain can just win the game. Target this with the Valakut trigger, tutor more Valakuts and mountains, then target it one more time with a Valakut to tutor more mountains and aim the remaining triggers at your opponent’s face.
Marwyn, the Preserver
Marwyn is somewhat fragile at 2 toughness for , but she does regrow Wastelands/Urza’s Sagas/Boseiju, Who Endures and protects Dark Depths from Wasteland. You can get away with including one copy thanks to Green Sun’s Zenith.
Pia, Aether Ascetic
This card screams Food Chain. Are there other enchantments to find with Pia? Aluren? Omniscience? Birthing Ritual? Pia, Aether Ascetic probably won’t search for all of these, but who knows.
Being and tutoring the enchantment to hand are two huge upsides we haven’t seen on a single card before. Between Pia and Formidable Speaker, Food Chain / Aluren can become much more consistent.
Actually… hear me out… Green Sun’s Zenith for Pia, discard Atraxa, Archon, Cratehoof, tutor for Animate Dead.
Yoshimaru, Scrappy Stray
I remember trying Mawloc when it first released and being disappointed. It had far too much counterplay, and finding it with Green Sun’s Zenith only dealt two damage for mana.
Yoshimaru, Scrappy Stray has a counterplay issue and requires another creature on board. There are some nifty upsides here that Mawloc lacked. The obvious is that Yoshimaru is legendary, so Karakas is a repeatable fight spell.
Finding this with Green Sun’s Zenith can be more than two damage. Not being is also a slight upside, dodging Hydroblast/Blue Elemental Blast. This might be an ok sideboard option for repeatable removal.
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Featured image: Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun by Grzegorz Rutkowski
