This might sound crazy but I want to jam a couple of Death Shadows in Grixis Delver with some Thoughtseize in it LOL.
That went around the forum some months ago. It didn't catch on.
I played a crazy deck with Abbot of Keral Keep and Bump in the Night for a while. I think I had a copy or two of Death's Shadow in the side-board. There are definitely faster versions of Grixis than either the six-counter, Young Pyromancer version or the ten-counter, twenty-lands version currently in vogue. Probably not better, but faster.
Something like that might just be better against the big-mana decks as the threat count is a little higher and there are more damage spells and less durndle.
New playlist is up showcasing the tuning and testing of the second iteration of Cryptic Delver after we 5-0'd last week. You can find it here: Cryptic Delver Playlist 2.
We didn't do so hot this time around, but we learned a lot from our losses. Round 1 Naya Revolt Zoo had the nuts both games. Round 2 we grinded aggressively against Grixis Control and won. Round 3 we played well against Eldrazi-Tron but missed out on some important late-game draws in Game 3 that led to a loss. Round 4 we beat up on Fish. Round 5 we defeated UB Control in Game 1, but Game 2 and 3 our SB plan didn't go according to plan and we ran into some unexpected oddballs (Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Notion Thief) and we probably didn't play tightly enough to secure the win.
Still have very high hopes for the deck moving forward now that I know what we need to tune the deck for, what MB and SB changes would help, and how we can just be generally well-prepared for future matchups. Thanks for continuing to tune in, folks! I'll try to pump out more content in the next week or so!
I mention it in the video, but if you all would like to see the Ancestral Delver deck in action, let me know and I'll try to showcase it in maybe a short, 3-video set. If there's any other recommendations or requests for Delver builds that you'd like to be tested out, please let me know here or inbox me! Thanks!
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Check out some Magic Gameplay and Commentary videos here, including Modern Grixis, Jeskai, and Esper videos as well as some Standard and Drafts too: My YouTube Channel!
New playlist is up showcasing the tuning and testing of the second iteration of Cryptic Delver after we 5-0'd last week. You can find it here: Cryptic Delver Playlist 2.
We didn't do so hot this time around, but we learned a lot from our losses. Round 1 Naya Revolt Zoo had the nuts both games. Round 2 we grinded aggressively against Grixis Control and won. Round 3 we played well against Eldrazi-Tron but missed out on some important late-game draws in Game 3 that led to a loss. Round 4 we beat up on Fish. Round 5 we defeated UB Control in Game 1, but Game 2 and 3 our SB plan didn't go according to plan and we ran into some unexpected oddballs (Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Notion Thief) and we probably didn't play tightly enough to secure the win.
Still have very high hopes for the deck moving forward now that I know what we need to tune the deck for, what MB and SB changes would help, and how we can just be generally well-prepared for future matchups. Thanks for continuing to tune in, folks! I'll try to pump out more content in the next week or so!
I mention it in the video, but if you all would like to see the Ancestral Delver deck in action, let me know and I'll try to showcase it in maybe a short, 3-video set. If there's any other recommendations or requests for Delver builds that you'd like to be tested out, please let me know here or inbox me! Thanks!
Thank you for posting more content! I'll give it a watch when I have time.
You probably cover this in your conclusion, but any thoughts on what worked, what didn't, changes you'd make, etc.?
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
You probably cover this in your conclusion, but any thoughts on what worked, what didn't, changes you'd make, etc.?
I do cover it in the final video, but I'll give the highlights:
-The list didn't have enough early counters to protect or push the tempo advantage with Delver of Secrets.
-Aggressive decks, with reach in the form of Burn, give us a lot of trouble. Less Cryptic Command, more early game counters.
-3rd Fatal Push was unnecessary.
-Still not sure whether the deck needs fastlands (Spirebluff Canal, Darkslick Shores) vs. checklands (Sulfur Falls, Drowned Catacomb).
-I also talk quite a bit about the sideboard, so you should check it out in the video itself when you have time!
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Check out some Magic Gameplay and Commentary videos here, including Modern Grixis, Jeskai, and Esper videos as well as some Standard and Drafts too: My YouTube Channel!
Bant Eldrazi player dropping by to comment on the terrible delver plays in the SCG top 8...
Don't terminate a scion lol... bolt or push may be reasonable but never waste a terminate on a scion
Your best chances of winning are with an early delver. Don't trade a delver for a skyspawner if you don't have to; you're probably better off waiting to bolt it
Land destruction is a really really mediocre game plan against us. It does nothing to recover a losing boardstate.
To be fair, he didn't really have anything else to board in and some cards like Spell Snare are straight up worse than Fulminator. Trading that Delver for Skyspwaner and Terminate vs Scion seems super weird though. I wouldn't have argued Terminating the Skyspawner and just beat down with Delver.
I know I saw him post it after posting here yesterday that I wanted to jam DS haha.
I just beat Eldrazi Tron with Suicide Delver, deck is crazy fun !!!
Grixis Delver Top 8'ed in SCG Indy but is playing against Bant Eldrazi in the Quarterfinals
Did you play the list Overturf posted? Definitely seems like an interesting build. Would like to see some footage of that if anyone would do it (Lookin at you Paradox Omega!!)
Yes, I was playing with Overturf's build. Just beat RG Scapeshift with Delver Shadow 2-0. Both games I won because of Shadow. Ryan also made Top 4 at SCG INDY Modern Classic! He also said that he will be playing Death Shadow in the deck for the time being.
The more I play with it, the more I like the deck!!!
Hey guys, Death's Shadow is the real deal in Grixis Delver! I went 7-2 at the SCG Classic that Overturf top 8ed at with this list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/580964#paper . I ended up finishing 19th overall with bad breakers. The deck is really strong and I would recommend.
You could in theory, but during the Classic I found myself fetching all the different shocks in various situations so I think that having the 3 grixis fetches is the best way to go.
Got time to play against Bant Eldrazi today with Delver's Shadow/Grixis Shadow. Won the game 2-1, after losing the first game.
The deck is awesome. We're using Death's Shadow in a fair way. I have to say that the deck is very hard to play. Sideboarding with this new deck is rough too. You can see that in Overturf's build, his sideboard is basically (mostly) cards that were in his original Delver list. So I assume that G1, against an unknown deck, he plays normally and adjust his game according to what he's facing. G2, if it's a deck that any Delver deck can beat, he takes Shadow/Thoughseize package out and plays with the normal Delver list. The thing about this is I wonder if it is better just to leave DS in no matter what and consider that it's part of our game.
Having Delver, Thoughtseize and Death's Shadow in your starting hand is tough too. I believe the right play should always be Delver T1, no matter what (I might be wrong).
Death's Shadow is an insane top deck too.
Problem I have with this is I just think that it's better off just playing Jund Shadow if you're going to play DS. The deck is much better and consistent. You play this because you love blue, which I do.
Having Delver, Thoughtseize and Death's Shadow in your starting hand is tough too. I believe the right play should always be Delver T1, no matter what (I might be wrong).
Problem I have with this is I just think that it's better off just playing Jund Shadow if you're going to play DS. The deck is much better and consistent. You play this because you love blue, which I do.
A turn 1 Death Shadow would be impressive
I played Ryan Overturf's list with a few changes. Went 3-1 tonight. Burn (W), Burn (W), Abzan (L) and GW Taxes (W). Against burn, counters saved me from burn spells and Deflecting Palm. Abzan was brutal. So much removal and then discard into Liliana. Taxes, just tons of removal.
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Modern RGBJund Foiled | x Affinity Foiled | UWR Jeskai Variants Foiled | RGx RG Tron | U Merfolk | WGR Naya Zoo
Got time to play against Bant Eldrazi today with Delver's Shadow/Grixis Shadow. Won the game 2-1, after losing the first game.
The deck is awesome. We're using Death's Shadow in a fair way. I have to say that the deck is very hard to play. Sideboarding with this new deck is rough too. You can see that in Overturf's build, his sideboard is basically (mostly) cards that were in his original Delver list. So I assume that G1, against an unknown deck, he plays normally and adjust his game according to what he's facing. G2, if it's a deck that any Delver deck can beat, he takes Shadow/Thoughseize package out and plays with the normal Delver list. The thing about this is I wonder if it is better just to leave DS in no matter what and consider that it's part of our game.
Having Delver, Thoughtseize and Death's Shadow in your starting hand is tough too. I believe the right play should always be Delver T1, no matter what (I might be wrong).
Death's Shadow is an insane top deck too.
Problem I have with this is I just think that it's better off just playing Jund Shadow if you're going to play DS. The deck is much better and consistent. You play this because you love blue, which I do.
i think the merit of having DS in the deck is to have another layer of attack. A huge shadow can force decks that go wide into chump blocking (Ryan mentioned this as well) and a faster clock against ramp and combo decks. Burn was also great according to him (60% win rate). In contrast to Shadow Jund which goes all in to the suicide plan, this deck can still play tempo and grind hard. DS is actually not a new tech for grixis delver, it was discussed in this thread and played as a 3 of in some SB a few years back since the burn matchup is pretty horrible.
I actually meant if you have Thoughtseize, Shocks, Fetches and DS in your hand. Maybe going T-seize T1, is better since getting DS online is super easy with that hand
Just tried Overturf's Death's Shadow list on XMage. Did not like it compared to cryptic delver. Only played one match but it felt weird. Went 0-2 against BUG, and sided out Death's Shadow game 2 anyway lol.
I've been trying DS too, it's got some neat tricks (shocking yourselves to beef up two Shadows for lethal) but our deck doesn't have the same explosiveness as Jund. I often found myself wishing I had a delver or a tasigur, and I'm used to doing my best to stay at a high life total by virtue of playing Grixis colors.
I think I'll shave him down to just 2 copies and replace YP and see how I like that. He's a much better topdeck.
That went around the forum some months ago. It didn't catch on.
I played a crazy deck with Abbot of Keral Keep and Bump in the Night for a while. I think I had a copy or two of Death's Shadow in the side-board. There are definitely faster versions of Grixis than either the six-counter, Young Pyromancer version or the ten-counter, twenty-lands version currently in vogue. Probably not better, but faster.
Something like that might just be better against the big-mana decks as the threat count is a little higher and there are more damage spells and less durndle.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
We didn't do so hot this time around, but we learned a lot from our losses. Round 1 Naya Revolt Zoo had the nuts both games. Round 2 we grinded aggressively against Grixis Control and won. Round 3 we played well against Eldrazi-Tron but missed out on some important late-game draws in Game 3 that led to a loss. Round 4 we beat up on Fish. Round 5 we defeated UB Control in Game 1, but Game 2 and 3 our SB plan didn't go according to plan and we ran into some unexpected oddballs (Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Notion Thief) and we probably didn't play tightly enough to secure the win.
Still have very high hopes for the deck moving forward now that I know what we need to tune the deck for, what MB and SB changes would help, and how we can just be generally well-prepared for future matchups. Thanks for continuing to tune in, folks! I'll try to pump out more content in the next week or so!
Thank you for posting more content! I'll give it a watch when I have time.
You probably cover this in your conclusion, but any thoughts on what worked, what didn't, changes you'd make, etc.?
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
I do cover it in the final video, but I'll give the highlights:
-The list didn't have enough early counters to protect or push the tempo advantage with Delver of Secrets.
-Aggressive decks, with reach in the form of Burn, give us a lot of trouble. Less Cryptic Command, more early game counters.
-3rd Fatal Push was unnecessary.
-Still not sure whether the deck needs fastlands (Spirebluff Canal, Darkslick Shores) vs. checklands (Sulfur Falls, Drowned Catacomb).
-I also talk quite a bit about the sideboard, so you should check it out in the video itself when you have time!
I know I saw him post it after posting here yesterday that I wanted to jam DS haha.
I just beat Eldrazi Tron with Suicide Delver, deck is crazy fun !!!
Grixis Delver Top 8'ed in SCG Indy but is playing against Bant Eldrazi in the Quarterfinals
Did you play the list Overturf posted? Definitely seems like an interesting build. Would like to see some footage of that if anyone would do it (Lookin at you Paradox Omega!!)
The more I play with it, the more I like the deck!!!
The deck is awesome. We're using Death's Shadow in a fair way. I have to say that the deck is very hard to play. Sideboarding with this new deck is rough too. You can see that in Overturf's build, his sideboard is basically (mostly) cards that were in his original Delver list. So I assume that G1, against an unknown deck, he plays normally and adjust his game according to what he's facing. G2, if it's a deck that any Delver deck can beat, he takes Shadow/Thoughseize package out and plays with the normal Delver list. The thing about this is I wonder if it is better just to leave DS in no matter what and consider that it's part of our game.
Having Delver, Thoughtseize and Death's Shadow in your starting hand is tough too. I believe the right play should always be Delver T1, no matter what (I might be wrong).
Death's Shadow is an insane top deck too.
Problem I have with this is I just think that it's better off just playing Jund Shadow if you're going to play DS. The deck is much better and consistent. You play this because you love blue, which I do.
2-0 Abzan Midrange
2-1 GW Tron
2-0 Jund
2-1 Brain in the Jar / Expertises
2-0 Esper Control
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tasigur
4 serum visions
4 lightning bolt
4 thought scour
3 fatal push
2 terminate
3 spell snare
2 mana leak
1 countersquall
3 cryptic command
4 scalding tarn
4 polluted delta
1 bloodstained mire
1 creeping tar pit
2 steam vents
1 watery grave
1 blood crypt
1 sulfur falls
1 drowned catacombs
1 creeping tar pit
3 island
1 swamp
1 mountain
1 engineered explosives
1 surgical extraction
1 magma spray
2 molten rain
1 Liliana, the last hope
1 izzet staticaster
1 countersquall
2 dispel
1 anger of the gods
1 damnation
Having delver and cryptic in the 75 together feels really good, 21 lands also felt fine
A turn 1 Death Shadow would be impressive
I played Ryan Overturf's list with a few changes. Went 3-1 tonight. Burn (W), Burn (W), Abzan (L) and GW Taxes (W). Against burn, counters saved me from burn spells and Deflecting Palm. Abzan was brutal. So much removal and then discard into Liliana. Taxes, just tons of removal.
Legacy GElves | UMerfolk
I actually meant if you have Thoughtseize, Shocks, Fetches and DS in your hand. Maybe going T-seize T1, is better since getting DS online is super easy with that hand
I think I'll shave him down to just 2 copies and replace YP and see how I like that. He's a much better topdeck.
On Twitter, he said that he believes that it is the best Grixis Delver version of the deck for the current meta.
Kevin Jone's also said that he was considering play DS in Grixis Delver if only he could've attended last weekend's tourney.