I have been running Liliana, The Last Hope as a 2-3 of in my 75 for resilience against removal. It can activate delve, remove, and helps against the control match ups because they don't expect it. When you land it, they have a hard time removing it.
I definitely like running Liliana, the Last Hope in our deck. A game winner by her self and can fuel delve for us in later turns. Really good spot removal for 1 toughness problems such as the majority of Infect creatures.
What do you guys think about a 2 of enigma drake or Bone picker instead of the pyros in a typical list?
Makes fatal push and lightning bolt sorcery speed. Young pyro tokens are the only creatures i can trade to cast Bone Picker. Get stuck in hand (most of the time).
Hey guys, I'm in the process of recording a Modern Comp League series with Grixis Delver, in an attempt to explore the deck's strengths over Grixis Shadow. It was a deck I played for a while but moved to Grixis Shadow. However, I've found that T1 threats supplemented by T2+ counterspells is actually very strong right now. I'm almost done with the league with very positive results so far and am looking forward to sharing it with you guys!
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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!
I haven't played much recently but I always liked pyro and a single grim lavamancer in the main. At the time I was running 3 tasigur 1 angler and I felt a little heavy on the GY between them, snap, and the lavamancer. I was considering going down to 3 delve threats but it looks like everyone else is going in the opposite direction.
Has anyone else been playing with lavamancer? And anyone care to go a little more into why they are upping the delve threats?
This is my current list. I'm really liking the 3x swiftspears. I saw it on a list that won a league, but it had 4x and I've been testing it since then.
It doesn't make the deck faster, but it increases our chance of having a one-drop creature, which allow us to play tempo. It's surprisingly effective.
Hey guys, just wanted to update you all and give you a sneak preview of my video series. If you guys don't like to be spoiled, please DO NOT click the spoiler below as I will talk about the final record and the decklist! As soon as I'm done editing and uploading, I'll send you guys a link here. Just have to say that it feels really good to be playing Grixis Delver again. Grixis Shadow, while powerful, simply wasn't as strong against topdecks whereas Delver can play the control game really well.
So, after having to record this Competitive Modern League over 3 days due to real-life stuff, I was able to snag an awesome 5-0 with Grixis Delver! It was my own build, but I did use past 5-0's as inspiration. The deck played very smoothly and consistently, and while I did make a few mistakes here or there, I was able to win most of the time. Misplays are VERY punishing, though, but that is nothing new with Grixis.
My videos also have a "Closing Statements" segment where I talk about things I liked and didn't like. Personally I think the maindeck is basically perfect. 20 lands was where I wanted to be, the counterspell choice felt strong, with the only flex spot really being Countersquall, which I may or may not play again in the future. 4 Fatal Push is where I will stay, even though many people play 3. It's just one of the best removal spells in the format right now and the meta still hasn't adapted to play threats that aren't weak to it. 1-2 MB-SB Collective Brutality is a must, in my opinion.
Only thing I REALLY didn't like was Relic of Progenitus. Slowly after I constructed the deck, I realized Relic shuts off our own graveyard while Nihil Spellbomb is the clearly superior choice in a deck like this. I'm not a fan of Surgical Extraction right now, though. I would probably add a 2nd Vandalblast or 3rd Relic of Progenitus in Relic's place, just to be able to beat GY decks or hate Affinity a little more.
So stay tuned friends! I'll have it all uploaded very soon for your enjoyment!
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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!
Hey guys, just wanted to update you all and give you a sneak preview of my video series. If you guys don't like to be spoiled, please DO NOT click the spoiler below as I will talk about the final record and the decklist! As soon as I'm done editing and uploading, I'll send you guys a link here. Just have to say that it feels really good to be playing Grixis Delver again. Grixis Shadow, while powerful, simply wasn't as strong against topdecks whereas Delver can play the control game really well.
I've played shadow for a few modern nights and I'm coming to the same conclusion. Everyone has shadow on their radar and it really sucks when you pay life and simply don't draw a single shadow! There are times where I play conservatively and it still didn't pan out. Delver offers another threat instead of that case where you play wraith instead to draw cards. I might try Delver in place of Wraith and give that a go.
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
Hey guys, just wanted to update you all and give you a sneak preview of my video series. If you guys don't like to be spoiled, please DO NOT click the spoiler below as I will talk about the final record and the decklist! As soon as I'm done editing and uploading, I'll send you guys a link here. Just have to say that it feels really good to be playing Grixis Delver again. Grixis Shadow, while powerful, simply wasn't as strong against topdecks whereas Delver can play the control game really well.
I've played shadow for a few modern nights and I'm coming to the same conclusion. Everyone has shadow on their radar and it really sucks when you pay life and simply don't draw a single shadow! There are times where I play conservatively and it still didn't pan out. Delver offers another threat instead of that case where you play wraith instead to draw cards. I might try Delver in place of Wraith and give that a go.
I tried out Grixis Delver+Shadow a while back and I actually really enjoyed it. I didn't explore it too much, but the threat density was very high which was nice. I can't say if it plays the Delver plan better than straight Delver or the Shadow plan better than straight Shadow, but it is still something worth playing around with. Ryan Overturf really got that build known and it never really took off from there. It could be due to optimality issues and the other builds are simply stronger. Try it out, though, and let me know! Playing Shadow forces you to play 4x Thoughtseize usually, and I didn't want any maindeck discard (outside of Collective Brutality) and didn't miss it at all in any of my games (except maybe the Storm matchup which isn't horrible as it is).
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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!
If you just want a link to the first match, you can click here and go from there.
Lastly, I have a ton of Grixis Delver videos from previous iterations of the deck. They're less relevant to today's meta of Eldrazi and Shadow, but it's worth checking out if you have the time. Thanks all, and please leave any feedback you have for me. I'm always looking to grow as a content creator as well as a player.
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I think the problem with Grixis Delver is that right now, you have a LOT of trouble beating: Dredge,Bant and Eldrazi Tron. Those are so huge nowadays that playing Death's Shadow and being all-in proactive is better. As with every blue-reactive deck in Modern, we need some better answers period. If that doesn't happen, Thoughtseize will be the best thing you'll be doing for quite sometime. Being said that, the deck is certainly playable, and your build, which falls more on the control side of Grixis, is the way to go right now in my opinion.
PS:That UW matchup was something else, i'm still not sure how you got there lol.
I think the problem with Grixis Delver is that right now, you have a LOT of trouble beating: Dredge,Bant and Eldrazi Tron. Those are so huge nowadays that playing Death's Shadow and being all-in proactive is better. As with every blue-reactive deck in Modern, we need some better answers period. If that doesn't happen, Thoughtseize will be the best thing you'll be doing for quite sometime. Being said that, the deck is certainly playable, and your build, which falls more on the control side of Grixis, is the way to go right now in my opinion.
PS:That UW matchup was something else, i'm still not sure how you got there lol.
Thanks! Yeah, I mentioned in the closing statements that I dodged some of Modern's biggest and baddest and that definitely helped in the performance. Still, the decks I faced were all competitive, some being non-linear where you're really tested as a player. Better answers would help a ton, of course!
Yeah, that UW Control game was pretty crazy. I was pretty sure I lost after Detention Sphere, but the nature of UW Control is that it has a lot of answers to what's on the board, but only a few cards like Negate or Cryptic Command to stop things on the stack. Our burn really works overtime in that matchup. Lucky topdecks help too
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Yeah, after watching your games i noticed that us playing lots of countermagic and them playing so few stack interaction is our way to win that match, just tempo them, because they are bascially un-grindable. I didn't notice you were that lucky, i think you mostly played your outs well, that's kind of encouraging.
Regarding your league, you played against top tiers in all games. The deck performed well it seems. However, the fact that adress not playing against the over-the-top overlords it's something to take into account. Those matches are hard, and i'm not even sure we have the SB tools to beat them.
Keep on the good work. Looking forward to some more Modern content!.
@Paradox Omega: Congrats for your league! I like how you kept Delvers in the UW Control matchups. It's something that I've been thinking lately: keeping Delvers in rather than taking them out and bring in more counterspells against grindy decks. I usually take Delvers out against Jund, Junk, Grixis Control, Grixis Delver, UW Control and UWR Control. I was wondering what's your opinion on keeping/taking-out Delvers in those particular matchups. Any other matchups you take them out?
Great question. I remember watching an SCG Open stream and Ryan Overturf made an important note that UW Control has very little ways to deal with Delver outside of Path to Exile and Supreme Verdict (and I guess Detention Sphere, but that one is a bit more loose). If they use Path on a Delver, we're up on mana and that's one less Path for our big-butt creatures. They're really important in getting in early damage in order to close out the game with burn spells. So against UW Control, I'm very happy keeping in Delvers.
However, against decks with access to Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push, I tend to take out Delver just because he's a major liability there. I want to blank my opponents removal hard game 2, while trying to play a more controlling game. If you have a grind package in your sideboard, cutting Delvers can be absolutely correct.
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Does no one play the version of this deck with Death's Shadow anymore? That list seemed so sweet.
I have yet to try it out ive been wanting to add in a couple creatures for a while now and 2 Death's Shadow seem good but dont have the thoughtseizes, that and I sadly havent had the time lately.
Is anyone going to try out Harsh Mentor. I am interested in it but its probably stricktly a sideboard card.
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SonofaBith - Wizards was so excited about making the packaging for Modern Masters 2 recyclable, they decided to make most of the rares and all but 1 of the UC's recycle-bin ready too. Convenient!
I definitely like running Liliana, the Last Hope in our deck. A game winner by her self and can fuel delve for us in later turns. Really good spot removal for 1 toughness problems such as the majority of Infect creatures.
Makes fatal push and lightning bolt sorcery speed. Young pyro tokens are the only creatures i can trade to cast Bone Picker. Get stuck in hand (most of the time).
Even without fatties, stubborn denial is still decent. Best when opponent taps out for planeswalkers and collected company, board wipes, even early heartless summoning, etc.
Has anyone else been playing with lavamancer? And anyone care to go a little more into why they are upping the delve threats?
It doesn't make the deck faster, but it increases our chance of having a one-drop creature, which allow us to play tempo. It's surprisingly effective.
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1x Gurmag Angler
3x Monastery Swiftspear
27 spells:
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Fatal Push
2x Terminate
2x Kolaghan's Command
3x Mana Leak
3x Spell Snare
1x Spell Pierce
4x Thought Scour
4x Serum Visions
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Polluted Delta
2x Steam Vents
1x Watery Grave
1x Blood Crypt
2x Island
1x Mountain
1x Swamp
2x Spirebluff Canal
1x Darkslick Shores
15 sideboard:
2x Fulminator Mage
1x Izzet Staticater
3x Countersquall
1x Spell Snare
2x Spell Pierce
1x Dispel
2x Magma Spray
2x Anger of the gods
1x Painful Truths
So, after having to record this Competitive Modern League over 3 days due to real-life stuff, I was able to snag an awesome 5-0 with Grixis Delver! It was my own build, but I did use past 5-0's as inspiration. The deck played very smoothly and consistently, and while I did make a few mistakes here or there, I was able to win most of the time. Misplays are VERY punishing, though, but that is nothing new with Grixis.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Gurmag Angler
Instants/Sorceries (28):
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana Leak
1 Countersquall
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Collective Brutality
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Dispel
1 Countersquall
1 Vandalblast
3 Molten Rain
2 Collective Brutality
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Izzet Staticaster
1 Terminate
My videos also have a "Closing Statements" segment where I talk about things I liked and didn't like. Personally I think the maindeck is basically perfect. 20 lands was where I wanted to be, the counterspell choice felt strong, with the only flex spot really being Countersquall, which I may or may not play again in the future. 4 Fatal Push is where I will stay, even though many people play 3. It's just one of the best removal spells in the format right now and the meta still hasn't adapted to play threats that aren't weak to it. 1-2 MB-SB Collective Brutality is a must, in my opinion.
Only thing I REALLY didn't like was Relic of Progenitus. Slowly after I constructed the deck, I realized Relic shuts off our own graveyard while Nihil Spellbomb is the clearly superior choice in a deck like this. I'm not a fan of Surgical Extraction right now, though. I would probably add a 2nd Vandalblast or 3rd Relic of Progenitus in Relic's place, just to be able to beat GY decks or hate Affinity a little more.
I've played shadow for a few modern nights and I'm coming to the same conclusion. Everyone has shadow on their radar and it really sucks when you pay life and simply don't draw a single shadow! There are times where I play conservatively and it still didn't pan out. Delver offers another threat instead of that case where you play wraith instead to draw cards. I might try Delver in place of Wraith and give that a go.
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
I tried out Grixis Delver+Shadow a while back and I actually really enjoyed it. I didn't explore it too much, but the threat density was very high which was nice. I can't say if it plays the Delver plan better than straight Delver or the Shadow plan better than straight Shadow, but it is still something worth playing around with. Ryan Overturf really got that build known and it never really took off from there. It could be due to optimality issues and the other builds are simply stronger. Try it out, though, and let me know! Playing Shadow forces you to play 4x Thoughtseize usually, and I didn't want any maindeck discard (outside of Collective Brutality) and didn't miss it at all in any of my games (except maybe the Storm matchup which isn't horrible as it is).
Grixis Delver Playlist
If you just want a link to the first match, you can click here and go from there.
Lastly, I have a ton of Grixis Delver videos from previous iterations of the deck. They're less relevant to today's meta of Eldrazi and Shadow, but it's worth checking out if you have the time. Thanks all, and please leave any feedback you have for me. I'm always looking to grow as a content creator as well as a player.
I think the problem with Grixis Delver is that right now, you have a LOT of trouble beating: Dredge,Bant and Eldrazi Tron. Those are so huge nowadays that playing Death's Shadow and being all-in proactive is better. As with every blue-reactive deck in Modern, we need some better answers period. If that doesn't happen, Thoughtseize will be the best thing you'll be doing for quite sometime. Being said that, the deck is certainly playable, and your build, which falls more on the control side of Grixis, is the way to go right now in my opinion.
PS:That UW matchup was something else, i'm still not sure how you got there lol.
Thanks! Yeah, I mentioned in the closing statements that I dodged some of Modern's biggest and baddest and that definitely helped in the performance. Still, the decks I faced were all competitive, some being non-linear where you're really tested as a player. Better answers would help a ton, of course!
Yeah, that UW Control game was pretty crazy. I was pretty sure I lost after Detention Sphere, but the nature of UW Control is that it has a lot of answers to what's on the board, but only a few cards like Negate or Cryptic Command to stop things on the stack. Our burn really works overtime in that matchup. Lucky topdecks help too
Regarding your league, you played against top tiers in all games. The deck performed well it seems. However, the fact that adress not playing against the over-the-top overlords it's something to take into account. Those matches are hard, and i'm not even sure we have the SB tools to beat them.
Keep on the good work. Looking forward to some more Modern content!.
However, against decks with access to Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push, I tend to take out Delver just because he's a major liability there. I want to blank my opponents removal hard game 2, while trying to play a more controlling game. If you have a grind package in your sideboard, cutting Delvers can be absolutely correct.
URB Some variant of Death's Shadow
URB Grixis Control (Chapin Version)
JFM Storm / Treasure Cruise Delver / Splinter Twin / InfectCommander/EDH
This pile of cards when I feel like it
Death's Shadow discord link
I have yet to try it out ive been wanting to add in a couple creatures for a while now and 2 Death's Shadow seem good but dont have the thoughtseizes, that and I sadly havent had the time lately.
Is anyone going to try out Harsh Mentor. I am interested in it but its probably stricktly a sideboard card.
GW Rhys the Redeemed EDH
RUGAnimar, Soul of Elements EDH
WBRAlesha, Who Smiles at Death EDH