Taking Delve out at FNM tonight. I've played mirrors vs regular Grixis Delver and am now packing full set of Pyroclasm in the board, along two Forked bolt to snap back. Am thinking this configuration should now favor me, but we shall see. That being said, these mini-wipes could prove useful against a pletora of other «going wide» decks.
Nota: Forked bolt also kills -1'd Lili (at least she won't stick), spirit tokens, and allows our Tasigur to kill theirs and their Rhinos, etc. Sounds pretty good against Junk. Will report later.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
I'm currently packing Izzet Staticaster in that slot. The only thing it doesn't do is kill Liliana, but it does do an ok job of surprise protecting a threat from her.
Pyromancer has won me so many games, i just dont get the hate on this card, it provides so much value which fits the theme of the deck. When playing against decks where life doesnt really matter (pretty much every deck except Burn) he is a great turn 2 drop with probe, instant value. Late game, i feel he is still a must remove or he takes over. With that said, i'm currently testing dropping to 3 and playing 1 Angler.
Spooly is right with Spell Pierce, i dont see why a lot of main decks are playing 2 Spell Snares, which can be totally dead. I like the 1/1 Pierce/Snare split in the main, with an extra Snare in the board if you really need another. Pierce can be a surprise blowout against heavy hitters like Lilliana or Batterskull.
The problem with pierce is that it is either the best card to have or the worst, if they are playing on curve or don't have the 2 to pay, its great to surprise them when they cast batter skull with 1 extra. Snare however hits so much good stuff and is a hard counter where you don't have to worry about the opponent's mana as much. It hits counter magic such as leak and remand, the overpowered 2 drops in goyf, pyro, snapcaster, scooze, eidolon, etc. I can understand using 2/0 pierce/snare if you know your meta is heavy non creature spells, but snare is better in a more wide open meta.
Yeah, I've always tried to jam a Spell Pierce or two into my Modern Delver decks, but I've often found the card doesn't perform quite as well as I would hope, especially compared with my experience with the card in Legacy Delver. Modern just doesn't quite have that critical mass of noncreature spells to snag with it, and people are much more likely to get to 5+ mana in any sort of longer game. That said, I still love it as a 1-2 of in certain metas and decks, and I wouldn't fault anyone for running a copy or two in their 75. It was absolutely stellar as a 1-of in my Temur Delver deck when Treasure Cruise was free, and it's still a great card in a lot of situations. Izzet Charm is also a great option as discussed above if you're looking for this effect but with some extra flexibility.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN RGB Jund BGR WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY RUGB Delver GURB
EDH UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Really? The only time that I miss young pyro against Abzan is only against a resolved liliana. Otherwise I think the delve version is far surperior. They just can't deal with all of your threats. They only have like 4 removal spells for your 8+ fatties, and you tear through your deck and you counter those removal spells, you can't protect your threats from decay. It was said above, I think the matchup gets easier and easier the more delve threats you play. The combination of them being equal to or bigger than their threats, they can't be inquisitioned or decayed and how good stubborn denial is makes the delve version superior against Abzan.
Went 2-0-1 at FNM with Grixis Delve. Tied 1-1 against five color Zoo; first game was just T2 Angler into Stubbron Denial and then Snappy Stubborn Denial. G2 i was mana-screwed off Blue and drew everything blue so that's that. Third game was a grnd that went overtime.
Second match-up I ate (Angler did) Collected Company alive 2-0. G2 on the draw I resolve a clutch Pyroclasm that wiped his whole field and prevented his combo next turn while I beat down. Third match-up 2-0 vs Blood moon.dec, deck played around the Moon fairly well G1 where I had all the removal and G2 I sided-in red cards and it got me there, using Angler, Tasigur, Pyroclasm his Huntmaster away and bolt to the dome a couple of times. Pretty straightforward.
Good: Faithless Looting. Forked bolt. Pyroclasm. Game winners are Angler (kill the Rhino) and Stubborn Denial everything.
Underwhelming: Rakdos' charm. Taken out in favor of a second Kolaghan's command.
I'm really looking for a new deck. I've been playing infect but I want something more consistent. Are there any good videos someone could suggest so I can get a good feel on how the deck plays against other high tiered decks?
Yes I know, 0 permission in the main deck. The idea is to be proactive via discards against removal, while your own removal takes care of their threats. LotV is a flex slot. I can see adding Remands by taking out 1 TS, Probes and LotV. YP should play well with the proactive VS permission game. Am still building the deck so this is pure theorycrafting, but the downside I see in playing this sort of game with Delver is that it tries to lead the game into a top deck war - something Delver decks don't really play good at (correct me if I'm wrong). Good thing is the deck should play well against Twin, Control and random Combo. Abzan I am unsure about, but should be 50-50.
Am still building the deck so this is pure theorycrafting, but the downside I see in playing this sort of game with Delver is that it tries to lead the game into a top deck war - something Delver decks don't really play good at (correct me if I'm wrong). Good thing is the deck should play well against Twin, Control and random Combo. Abzan I am unsure about, but should be 50-50.
This is my main problem. The stock builds are already good against all three of those, and removing your permission for random hand disruption severely weakens those strategies. Not playing any countermagic main is a serious mistake, imo.
hi together,
I just won a small local tournament with a bit a brew of this deck.
First i liked the idea of a grixis Delver deck - i play delver in legacy since years.
But after a bit of testing with the most common lists i wanted to take another line with the deck.
First i cutted all the air spells (gitaxian probe, thoghtscour) for some real cards (inquisition, Dark confidant)
and then the murderous cuts for terminates because of dark confidant and delving issues...
2nd round: jund 1-2 (lost because 2 delvers didn't flip for 5 turns)
3rd round: grixis twin 2-1
4th round: ur twin 2-1 (lost first game after hi was down to 4 life (0 handcards) and me having a flipped delver,tasigur,pyromancer and a token army - he had a pestermite and topdecks splintertwin)
5th round: draw for top 8
quarters: Burn 2-0 (i think this version of the deck makes our burn matchup much better)
Semi Final: Affinity 2-0 (he didn't have very good draws - so easy wins)
Final: Jund 2-0 (uncontested dark confidant took over both games)
Fazit: very happy with the deck - discard, dark cofidant and kolaghan's command overperformed the hole day...
sorry for my bad english, it is not my native language
hi together,
I just won a small local tournament with a bit a brew of this deck.
First i liked the idea of a grixis Delver deck - i play delver in legacy since years.
But after a bit of testing with the most common lists i wanted to take another line with the deck.
First i cutted all the air spells (gitaxian probe, thoghtscour) for some real cards (inquisition, Dark confidant)
and then the murderous cuts for terminates because of dark confidant and delving issues...
2nd round: jund 1-2 (lost because 2 delvers didn't flip for 5 turns)
3rd round: grixis twin 2-1
4th round: ur twin 2-1 (lost first game after hi was down to 4 life (0 handcards) and me having a flipped delver,tasigur,pyromancer and a token army - he had a pestermite and topdecks splintertwin)
5th round: draw for top 8
quarters: Burn 2-0 (i think this version of the deck makes our burn matchup much better)
Semi Final: Affinity 2-0 (he didn't have very good draws - so easy wins)
Final: Jund 2-0 (uncontested dark confidant took over both games)
Fazit: very happy with the deck - discard, dark cofidant and kolaghan's command overperformed the hole day...
sorry for my bad english, it is not my native language
Man, Bob with Anglers and Tasigur, you've got balls sir! Salute!
Anyway, would like to get your opinions on the creature base. I am currently playing below:
honestly i'm not a fan of too many delve spells because i don't like to play bad cards just
to fill the graveyard. 3 tadigur is what the deck naturally supports very well without any rubbish cantrips...
I don't see a big value in murderous cut over terminate. SCM is a boss in so many Matchups so i wouldn't like to cut him.
but if you like to go with so many Delve monsters/spells i see the problem with SCM.
Actually i just wanted to show that there are probably more ways you can take with delverdecks then the all-in aggro line.
I think i sacrificed a lot of the decks Tempo for more consistence and protecting my few creatures from removal with discard.
We have to figure out which is the best way to go...
I played something slightly different at FNM the night before - with IOK and a Spell Snare MD. I didn't do very well there (2-3), but I think that was largely due to poor play. The IOKs were fine but not great, and the Snare was just too narrow again - I like it in the YP lists, but with 4 Denials in the delve lists, that's plenty of narrow counter magic. I changed the Shatterstorm in the board to a Kolaghan's Command because I didn't expect many affinity players to be there and command would come in against Tron. Most of the known affinity players were out of town at a RPTQ. Sure enough, I think there was only 1 affinity player in the room (out of 60ish), though he did make T8. I cut a Steam Vents for another fetchland in order to more reliably fuel delve, and the SB has the Death's Shadows and Izzet Staticasters I've mentioned in the past week.
My rounds went like this:
Lose 2-1 vs. Naya Burn (0-1)
This was my Top 8 opponent from the SCG states 2 weeks ago. He won the die roll and had Guide into Swiftspear + Bolt into Eidolon on the play. I don't think I beat that hand ever. I won game 2 at 1 life with 2 12/12 Death's Shadows in play and Deprive + Denial up. Game 3 I took something like 8 damage from an early Grim Lavamancer and never drew a removal spell. Arguably I should have mulliganed that hand. I probably should have mulliganed my opener game 1 as well.
Win 2-1 vs. Infect (1-1)
I lost game 2 due to flooding, but otherwise this match was pretty easy. He made some major misplays in games 1 and 3 that took me from something like 75% to win to 100% to win both times.
Win 2-1 vs. Boggles (2-1)
I know what he's playing so I mull a that needs to get lucky on cantrips to be ok, but still get crushed. Game 2 I'm able to find a Death's Shadow (brought in for the Delvers) while I'm at 12 and his only Boggle only had a couple of Umbras on it. Eventually it grows and I'm able to counter a Daybreak Coronet to put me in a real good spot - I have a massive Death's Shadow, a piece of countermagic in hand, and his boggle only had Umbras and a Keen Sense. Then I top deck a Liliana to put the game away. Game 3 he starts the game with a Leyline in play but is stuck on 1 land forever. I'm able to make a couple of big buys that he's force to chump with a boggle that again has several Umbras on it. By the time he finds is second land I'm flush with countermagic, and I have a liliana that's +1ing in order to attack his hand.
Win 2-0 vs. BW Tookens (3-1)
Game 1 I get some early damage in with Delver + Tasigur while he resolves an anthem - the one that gives vigilance. I know he has a bunch of token makers coming that I can't interact with, so when I Serum to draw bolt and see Bolt + Delver on top, I keep both hoping to race, and it works. Game 2 I get a Staticaster IoKed, but find another one while he's in chump mode with a bunch of spirits vs. a couple of fatties on my end.
Lose 2-0 vs. Living End (3-2)
This is a win and in - the winner probably gets to draw into the T8 next round. I know what he's on and am on the play, so I keep an opener with a Delver that also makes a turn 2 Tasigur. I also have 2 Terminates, but no countermagic. I'm able to get him down to 8 or 10 before he casts the T3 Outburst to hit Living End. He only brings back a couple of creatures, so I'm able to Terminate both and put an Angler into play. I never find a piece of countermagic though, and he naturally finds a cascade spell. Game 2 I bring in Blood Moon because I think I might be able to steal a game on the play. I should have brought in Flashfreeze + Dispel, but my lack of experience against this matchup meant that I didn't know he'd have Ricochet Trap and I didn't consider how many Beast Withins and Dismembers he would have. Even worse, I bring in Death's Shadow for Delver thinking I want to make sure Denial is turned on. Obviously this doesn't work because they aren't attacking me.
I keep an ok opener with a Blood Moon that makes a turn 2 Tasigur and have the opportunity to Blood Moon him on turn 3 while he has a Copperline Gorge and a fetch in play. Via probe I know he has another fetch in hand along with Violent Outburst + Ricochet Trap. I have Leak + Denial to win a counterwar later, but if I Blood Moon now he's free to resolve Living End. He only has one creature in his yard and no cyclers in his hand, so I don't cast Blood Moon. He casts Beast Within on his next turn, which I'm forced to Stubborn Denial because otherwise it will be a dead card. Luckily he traps back, which I let resolve. But my 3/3 can't do enough damage and I can't find another piece of countermagic, so eventually he gets out of leak range and resolves Living End with a ton of creatures in his yard.
If you're keeping score at home, I punted this match away - bringing in the Moons was awful. So was bringing in the Death's Shadows. Not bringing in the other countermagic was also bad. I should have guessed he'd have *something* to protect his Living Ends, and I knew he had Beast Within and Dismember anyway.
Win 2-1 vs. RGb Tron (4-2)
My opponent is on 3 losses and actually concedes to me because he can't win anything while I'm playing for 4 packs (nice guy!). But we play anyway. Game 1 I have 2 early Delvers flip with a Stubborn Denial in my hand. But I never draw other countermagic or something to turn on Denial, but I am able to use Denial to force spike an Ugin despite the fact that my opponent has 9 mana. My opponent is at 7 and resolves a Wurmcoil. So we go several turns where I put him to 1 and win if I draw a bolt or a terminate but don't, then he goes back up to 7 until I'm at 5 and have to block, then he Emrakuls me. Game 2 he keeps a 1 lander (Llanowar Wastes) with no tron pieces and I resolve an early Angler. I use Denial to stop a Sylvan Scrying and he dies in 4 attacks. Game 3 he keeps another hand with no tron pieces and Llanowar Wastes. I have an early Delver that doesn't flip for a couple of turns but eventually starts hitting him. I also get an Angler in play and use Denial to counter an Expedition Map, which puts the game away.
My friend won the event with little zoo, beating the affinity player in the finals. The rest of the T8 had Living End, Tron of some sort, Jund, UWR, Esper Mentor + Myth Realized, and Tarmotwin. Little zoo is very good, by the way, and almost certainly a bad matchup. You might think Anger is good enough, but Atarka's Command will often counter it.
I think I want to move a Denial to the board and try the IoKs MD in a real event. I also want to change one of the Flashreezes in the SB to something a little more generic. Maybe the 3rd Deprive.
This is what I am running at the moment. I'm going to Grand Prix Chiba and want to do the modern side events but I feel like the sideboard needs some work. Any suggestions for the main or side?
I'm not sure I like Self Inflicted Wound. Dealing 2 is nice, but not if they get the choice on what to sac. I'd rather run a Terminate in that spot.
That was for the boggles match up. I like to try to find as many instant or sorcery answers as I can. It's probably better to just run another engineered explosives though.
Hey guys, I'm fairly close to finishing this deck, however I don't have much for the sideboard yet (only a Rending Volley, a Negate, a Chalice of the Void and Izzet Straticastor. What is an example of the usual Delver sideboard, and what matchups are the cards used for? Is Inquisition of Kozilek a good sb choice, or is it better mb?
I'm not sure I like Self Inflicted Wound. Dealing 2 is nice, but not if they get the choice on what to sac. I'd rather run a Terminate in that spot.
That was for the boggles match up. I like to try to find as many instant or sorcery answers as I can. It's probably better to just run another engineered explosives though.
Fair enough. I do like EE a little bit more though, just because fetching into Dryad Arbor is a known tactic against edicts (especially sorcery speed ones).
Is Inquisition of Kozilek a good sb choice, or is it better mb?
I would say neither. Unless you're playing a heavy Delve version, you're more of a tempo deck with way better things to be doing.
I'm not sure I like Self Inflicted Wound. Dealing 2 is nice, but not if they get the choice on what to sac. I'd rather run a Terminate in that spot.
That was for the boggles match up. I like to try to find as many instant or sorcery answers as I can. It's probably better to just run another engineered explosives though.
If you wanted an instant/sorcery, you could consider far//away. Gives you some extra options. I like 2 EEs in the board though.
I'm not sure I like Self Inflicted Wound. Dealing 2 is nice, but not if they get the choice on what to sac. I'd rather run a Terminate in that spot.
That was for the boggles match up. I like to try to find as many instant or sorcery answers as I can. It's probably better to just run another engineered explosives though.
If you wanted an instant/sorcery, you could consider far//away. Gives you some extra options. I like 2 EEs in the board though.
EE doesn't work the way you want against totem armor though FYI. Liliana of the Veil is probably the best sacrifice effect available, even if it doesn't flip Delvers.
Nota: Forked bolt also kills -1'd Lili (at least she won't stick), spirit tokens, and allows our Tasigur to kill theirs and their Rhinos, etc. Sounds pretty good against Junk. Will report later.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
The problem with pierce is that it is either the best card to have or the worst, if they are playing on curve or don't have the 2 to pay, its great to surprise them when they cast batter skull with 1 extra. Snare however hits so much good stuff and is a hard counter where you don't have to worry about the opponent's mana as much. It hits counter magic such as leak and remand, the overpowered 2 drops in goyf, pyro, snapcaster, scooze, eidolon, etc. I can understand using 2/0 pierce/snare if you know your meta is heavy non creature spells, but snare is better in a more wide open meta.
On my tombstone, please write "Now his body fuels the Treasure Cruise"
Or you could Kommand him back...
Check out my Youtube Page for online Magic Content!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcq-a5rTSNclFCS2o4_lVFw
Modern:
BURGrixis DelverRUB
URUR DelverRU
URBlue MoonRU
RIPURUR TwinRURIP
Legacy:
URBGrixis DelverBRU
RUBGrixis PyromancerRUB
Commander:
URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
URBJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeRUB
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Second match-up I ate (Angler did) Collected Company alive 2-0. G2 on the draw I resolve a clutch Pyroclasm that wiped his whole field and prevented his combo next turn while I beat down. Third match-up 2-0 vs Blood moon.dec, deck played around the Moon fairly well G1 where I had all the removal and G2 I sided-in red cards and it got me there, using Angler, Tasigur, Pyroclasm his Huntmaster away and bolt to the dome a couple of times. Pretty straightforward.
Good: Faithless Looting. Forked bolt. Pyroclasm. Game winners are Angler (kill the Rhino) and Stubborn Denial everything.
Underwhelming: Rakdos' charm. Taken out in favor of a second Kolaghan's command.
EDIT: Updated list.
4x Polluted Delta
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Scalding tarn
1x Blood crypt
1x Steam vents
1x Watery grave
1x Swamp
1x Island
1x Mountain
CANTRIPS (16)
4x Serum visions
4x Thought scour
4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Mishra's Bauble
1x Faithless Looting
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Terminate
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Stubborn Denial
CREATURES (12)
4x Snapcaster mage
4x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Gurmag Angler
2x Spell snare
2x Engineered Explosives
3x Pyroclasm
2x Blood moon
2x Spellskite
2x Kolaghan's Command
2x Forked bolt
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Creatures (14)
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Young Pyromancer
3x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
2x Gitaxian Probe
4x Serum Visions
4x Thought Scour
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Electrolyze
2x Terminate
1x Murderous Cut
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Liliana of the Veil
Yes I know, 0 permission in the main deck. The idea is to be proactive via discards against removal, while your own removal takes care of their threats. LotV is a flex slot. I can see adding Remands by taking out 1 TS, Probes and LotV. YP should play well with the proactive VS permission game. Am still building the deck so this is pure theorycrafting, but the downside I see in playing this sort of game with Delver is that it tries to lead the game into a top deck war - something Delver decks don't really play good at (correct me if I'm wrong). Good thing is the deck should play well against Twin, Control and random Combo. Abzan I am unsure about, but should be 50-50.
This is my main problem. The stock builds are already good against all three of those, and removing your permission for random hand disruption severely weakens those strategies. Not playing any countermagic main is a serious mistake, imo.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
I just won a small local tournament with a bit a brew of this deck.
First i liked the idea of a grixis Delver deck - i play delver in legacy since years.
But after a bit of testing with the most common lists i wanted to take another line with the deck.
First i cutted all the air spells (gitaxian probe, thoghtscour) for some real cards (inquisition, Dark confidant)
and then the murderous cuts for terminates because of dark confidant and delving issues...
here is the list:
today i played against:
1st round: mono greeen devotion 2-1
2nd round: jund 1-2 (lost because 2 delvers didn't flip for 5 turns)
3rd round: grixis twin 2-1
4th round: ur twin 2-1 (lost first game after hi was down to 4 life (0 handcards) and me having a flipped delver,tasigur,pyromancer and a token army - he had a pestermite and topdecks splintertwin)
5th round: draw for top 8
quarters: Burn 2-0 (i think this version of the deck makes our burn matchup much better)
Semi Final: Affinity 2-0 (he didn't have very good draws - so easy wins)
Final: Jund 2-0 (uncontested dark confidant took over both games)
Fazit: very happy with the deck - discard, dark cofidant and kolaghan's command overperformed the hole day...
sorry for my bad english, it is not my native language
Man, Bob with Anglers and Tasigur, you've got balls sir! Salute!
Anyway, would like to get your opinions on the creature base. I am currently playing below:
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
I am thinking whether I am better off with YP instead of SCM? I am pretty sold on 13 creatures. Some mixes I can think of:
A.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
B.
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Honestly I haven't found too much issues with running 4 SCM with the 5 Delve monsters, but I can see how it can be a pain in some games.
to fill the graveyard. 3 tadigur is what the deck naturally supports very well without any rubbish cantrips...
I don't see a big value in murderous cut over terminate. SCM is a boss in so many Matchups so i wouldn't like to cut him.
but if you like to go with so many Delve monsters/spells i see the problem with SCM.
Actually i just wanted to show that there are probably more ways you can take with delverdecks then the all-in aggro line.
I think i sacrificed a lot of the decks Tempo for more consistence and protecting my few creatures from removal with discard.
We have to figure out which is the best way to go...
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
2 Watery Grave
1 Steam Vents
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Gurmag Angler
1 Tombstalker
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Serum Visions
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Stubborn Denial
2 Mana Leak
2 Deprive
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Terminate
2 Blood Moon
2 Izzet Staticaster
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Death's Shadow
2 Flashfreeze
1 Dispel
1 Liliana of the Veil
I played something slightly different at FNM the night before - with IOK and a Spell Snare MD. I didn't do very well there (2-3), but I think that was largely due to poor play. The IOKs were fine but not great, and the Snare was just too narrow again - I like it in the YP lists, but with 4 Denials in the delve lists, that's plenty of narrow counter magic. I changed the Shatterstorm in the board to a Kolaghan's Command because I didn't expect many affinity players to be there and command would come in against Tron. Most of the known affinity players were out of town at a RPTQ. Sure enough, I think there was only 1 affinity player in the room (out of 60ish), though he did make T8. I cut a Steam Vents for another fetchland in order to more reliably fuel delve, and the SB has the Death's Shadows and Izzet Staticasters I've mentioned in the past week.
My rounds went like this:
Lose 2-1 vs. Naya Burn (0-1)
This was my Top 8 opponent from the SCG states 2 weeks ago. He won the die roll and had Guide into Swiftspear + Bolt into Eidolon on the play. I don't think I beat that hand ever. I won game 2 at 1 life with 2 12/12 Death's Shadows in play and Deprive + Denial up. Game 3 I took something like 8 damage from an early Grim Lavamancer and never drew a removal spell. Arguably I should have mulliganed that hand. I probably should have mulliganed my opener game 1 as well.
Win 2-1 vs. Infect (1-1)
I lost game 2 due to flooding, but otherwise this match was pretty easy. He made some major misplays in games 1 and 3 that took me from something like 75% to win to 100% to win both times.
Win 2-1 vs. Boggles (2-1)
I know what he's playing so I mull a that needs to get lucky on cantrips to be ok, but still get crushed. Game 2 I'm able to find a Death's Shadow (brought in for the Delvers) while I'm at 12 and his only Boggle only had a couple of Umbras on it. Eventually it grows and I'm able to counter a Daybreak Coronet to put me in a real good spot - I have a massive Death's Shadow, a piece of countermagic in hand, and his boggle only had Umbras and a Keen Sense. Then I top deck a Liliana to put the game away. Game 3 he starts the game with a Leyline in play but is stuck on 1 land forever. I'm able to make a couple of big buys that he's force to chump with a boggle that again has several Umbras on it. By the time he finds is second land I'm flush with countermagic, and I have a liliana that's +1ing in order to attack his hand.
Win 2-0 vs. BW Tookens (3-1)
Game 1 I get some early damage in with Delver + Tasigur while he resolves an anthem - the one that gives vigilance. I know he has a bunch of token makers coming that I can't interact with, so when I Serum to draw bolt and see Bolt + Delver on top, I keep both hoping to race, and it works. Game 2 I get a Staticaster IoKed, but find another one while he's in chump mode with a bunch of spirits vs. a couple of fatties on my end.
Lose 2-0 vs. Living End (3-2)
This is a win and in - the winner probably gets to draw into the T8 next round. I know what he's on and am on the play, so I keep an opener with a Delver that also makes a turn 2 Tasigur. I also have 2 Terminates, but no countermagic. I'm able to get him down to 8 or 10 before he casts the T3 Outburst to hit Living End. He only brings back a couple of creatures, so I'm able to Terminate both and put an Angler into play. I never find a piece of countermagic though, and he naturally finds a cascade spell. Game 2 I bring in Blood Moon because I think I might be able to steal a game on the play. I should have brought in Flashfreeze + Dispel, but my lack of experience against this matchup meant that I didn't know he'd have Ricochet Trap and I didn't consider how many Beast Withins and Dismembers he would have. Even worse, I bring in Death's Shadow for Delver thinking I want to make sure Denial is turned on. Obviously this doesn't work because they aren't attacking me.
I keep an ok opener with a Blood Moon that makes a turn 2 Tasigur and have the opportunity to Blood Moon him on turn 3 while he has a Copperline Gorge and a fetch in play. Via probe I know he has another fetch in hand along with Violent Outburst + Ricochet Trap. I have Leak + Denial to win a counterwar later, but if I Blood Moon now he's free to resolve Living End. He only has one creature in his yard and no cyclers in his hand, so I don't cast Blood Moon. He casts Beast Within on his next turn, which I'm forced to Stubborn Denial because otherwise it will be a dead card. Luckily he traps back, which I let resolve. But my 3/3 can't do enough damage and I can't find another piece of countermagic, so eventually he gets out of leak range and resolves Living End with a ton of creatures in his yard.
If you're keeping score at home, I punted this match away - bringing in the Moons was awful. So was bringing in the Death's Shadows. Not bringing in the other countermagic was also bad. I should have guessed he'd have *something* to protect his Living Ends, and I knew he had Beast Within and Dismember anyway.
Win 2-1 vs. RGb Tron (4-2)
My opponent is on 3 losses and actually concedes to me because he can't win anything while I'm playing for 4 packs (nice guy!). But we play anyway. Game 1 I have 2 early Delvers flip with a Stubborn Denial in my hand. But I never draw other countermagic or something to turn on Denial, but I am able to use Denial to force spike an Ugin despite the fact that my opponent has 9 mana. My opponent is at 7 and resolves a Wurmcoil. So we go several turns where I put him to 1 and win if I draw a bolt or a terminate but don't, then he goes back up to 7 until I'm at 5 and have to block, then he Emrakuls me. Game 2 he keeps a 1 lander (Llanowar Wastes) with no tron pieces and I resolve an early Angler. I use Denial to stop a Sylvan Scrying and he dies in 4 attacks. Game 3 he keeps another hand with no tron pieces and Llanowar Wastes. I have an early Delver that doesn't flip for a couple of turns but eventually starts hitting him. I also get an Angler in play and use Denial to counter an Expedition Map, which puts the game away.
My friend won the event with little zoo, beating the affinity player in the finals. The rest of the T8 had Living End, Tron of some sort, Jund, UWR, Esper Mentor + Myth Realized, and Tarmotwin. Little zoo is very good, by the way, and almost certainly a bad matchup. You might think Anger is good enough, but Atarka's Command will often counter it.
I think I want to move a Denial to the board and try the IoKs MD in a real event. I also want to change one of the Flashreezes in the SB to something a little more generic. Maybe the 3rd Deprive.
1x Electrolyze
1x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Mana Leak
2x Murderous Cut
2x Remand
2x Spell Snare
1x Terminate
4x Thought Scour
Sorcery (8)
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Serum Visions
Land (18)
1x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Island
1x Mountain
4x Polluted Delta
2x Steam Vents
1x Swamp
1x Watery Grave
4x Delver of Secrets
1x Gurmag Angler
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3x Young Pyromancer
2x Blood Moon
2x Counterflux
1x Dispel
3x Dragon's Claw
1x Electrolyze
1x Engineered Explosives
2x Flashfreeze
1x Hurkyl's Recall
1x Rending Volley
1x Self-Inflicted Wound
This is what I am running at the moment. I'm going to Grand Prix Chiba and want to do the modern side events but I feel like the sideboard needs some work. Any suggestions for the main or side?
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Fair enough. I do like EE a little bit more though, just because fetching into Dryad Arbor is a known tactic against edicts (especially sorcery speed ones).
I would say neither. Unless you're playing a heavy Delve version, you're more of a tempo deck with way better things to be doing.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
If you wanted an instant/sorcery, you could consider far//away. Gives you some extra options. I like 2 EEs in the board though.
EE doesn't work the way you want against totem armor though FYI. Liliana of the Veil is probably the best sacrifice effect available, even if it doesn't flip Delvers.