Understanding the Legacy Metagame, part 2: Fair Decks

I like to divide fair legacy decks into 4 categories: Tempo, Aggro, Midrange, and Control. These aren't always cut and dry but it's a good way to think about it.

Tempo

I described the tempo strategy earlier as the Mr. Miyagi, go with the flow, find an opening and strike kind of playstyle, so I won't repeat it. Personally, I love tempo decks; they just feel right to play. It used to be tricky to differentiate between tempo decks and aggro decks, but now it's pretty easy. If the deck runs Delver of Secrets, it's probably tempo. Other things they all share is low threat density (RUG runs only 12 creatures) and lots of cantrips (brainstorm, ponder, sometimes even preordain). Stifle is a dead giveaway that a deck is tempo. Some high tier examples:

RUG Delver - You run 18 lands, 12 creatures, and lots of spells. Also known as Canadien Threshold. RUG runs a heavy mana denial plan with 4 wasteland and 4 stifle. (Stifle can counter Fetchland activations, which can sometimes completely shut your opponent off of mana.)
BUG Delver - In my opinion, the best deck in the format, but that's highly subjective and I readily admit that I could easily be wrong. This deck straddles the line between tempo and midrange, but I'll throw it in with tempo. You clear threats with Abrupt Decay and sometimes Liliana of the Veil, both of which you easily cast with Deathrite Shaman, then you win with Delver or goyf. Some lists run Dark Confidant for card advantage, others run True-Name Nemesis for an evasive finisher. My favorite version runs Tombstalker, but it's all up to preference. The common theme is Delver, Goyf, Hymn to Tourach, Wasteland, Daze, Force of Will, Abrupt Decay, Ponder, and, of course, Brainstorm.

Aggro

Aggro just goes for the kill. It's not as popular as it used to be, but aggro still exists.

Burn - God do I hate this deck. When someone plays burn, there are no winners, only survivors. It's mono red, and it flings spells and creatures at your face until you die. It's also dirt cheap, with competitive builds for as low as $100. If you want a deck to just start playing legacy, this is worth considering, but be forewarned, it's no fun for anyone; there's very little thought and interaction here. Oddly enough, Burn straddles the line between fair and unfair; sometimes it feels like a combo deck that wins on turn 4, other times it feels like a true aggro deck.
Merfolk - I will always have a soft spot in my heart for merfolk. Merfolk is a cool deck because it's definitely straight aggro, you run lots of small creatures that do big damage, but it's blue so it doesn't get blown out by combo. This is a great first deck for legacy because it's relatively cheap (it's not a budget deck, but it's not that expensive either) and damn powerful. It wins by dropping merfolk lords that can't be countered via Cavern of Souls and Aether Vial. These lords all buff each other to make huge 4/4 or 5/5 fish, and due to Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident they are often unblockable (blue is the most popular color after all). You also play a full set of True-Name Nemesis which wins even without any buffs. Remember to always make sure you can cast Force of Will in case your opponent drops Toxic Deluge or Terminus or something; you can race a goyf, but you need creatures to do that.

Midrange

The major weakness of aggro decks is that you have to play lots of dudes, so a well timed Terminus can blow you out of the water. Midrange decks prefer to play higher costed creatures that can win on their own, so that even if they die you have more threats in your hand. In essence, where an aggro deck tops its curve at 3 mana and centers itself on 1 or 2 mana cards, a midrange deck tops its curve at 4 mana and plays mostly 2-3 mana threats. Another key difference is that aggro decks typically want to turn all their creatures sideways every turn, but midrange decks are more into board presence and board control. If you're having trouble deciding if a deck is aggro or midrange, look at the land count. Aggro decks rarely go above 20 lands, but midrange decks rarely go below 22.

Jund - In my eyes, Jund is the midrange deck. Your early plays are stuff like Thoughtseize and Hymn to Tourach to protect you by disrupting your opponent. Then you drop a goyf or a Dark Confidant to generate board presence or card advantage. Then you grind out the win with Deathrite Shaman or Punishing Fire + Grove of the Burnwillows. Jund is designed to beat the Delver meta. Since it runs 4 Deathrite Shaman and 23 lands, it doesn't care too much about wasteland and stifle (yeah, mana denial hurts you, but it hurts RUG way more; they only run 18 lands!). And let me tell you, you have not lived until you have cast Bloodbraid Elf and cascaded into Hymn to Tourach. If that doesn't win you the game, nothing will.
Shardless BUG - This deck is so cool. The core synergy of Shardless BUG is Shardless Agent and Ancestral Vision. See, since you can't hardcast Ancestral Vision, its converted mana cost is considered to be 0. This means that if you cascade into it, it's a free 3 cards. The card advantage is so real. This deck is all about just churning out card advantage until you drown your opponent in cards. It's not uncommon for this deck to have a full hand while your opponent is in topdeck mode. You could call this deck control, and you wouldn't really be wrong either, but it feels more like a midrange deck to me, so I'm throwing it in this section. Like I said, the categories are fuzzy. My favorite thing about this deck is that it runs Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I know I said this was a fair deck, but that card is absolutely unfair. Jace on an empty board is basically game over. Very fun, versatile deck.

Control

Everyone knows control! You counter spells (sometimes with the original Counterspell), you kill creatures, you stall the board until you can slowly win with an evasive beater. In the olden days it was Serra Angel, but these days it's Batterskull, True-Name Nemesis, Entreat the Angels, or Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

Miracles - This deck gets its name from the interaction between Sensei's Divining Top and Terminus and Entreat the Angels. It used to be called Countertop because of the nigh unbeatable Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top lock. The list I linked is really cool because it doesn't run any creatures mainboard, but it does run them in the sideboard, so you trick your opponent into siding out their removal only to be staring down some creatures game 2. Be forewarned: Miracles can make games last for a loooooong time. It's not unheard of for the first game to last 40 minutes and the second game to go to time without a winner.

Death and Taxes - For some reason some people insist on calling D&T aggro, but I can assure you it is not; it is monowhite control through and through. This deck has a lot of layers to its strategy which I'm not that familiar with, but its creator, Finn, has a very informative primer on mtgsalvation.com which you can find here.