Hi all. With Rivals of Ixalan, as a Delver lover in both modern and legacy (only the former on paper), I've fell in love with the possibility of playing a tempo-like game plan in standard too. Unfortunately, last season, I've never been able to play the deck in a tournament, despite having bought into it as soon as I had a decent list. With GRN the deck did'n improve dramatically (with the exception of the mana base) but I think it would still be a good contender in this meta. I'll present the list and then go through the card choices.
The mana base is pretty straightforward. At first, I played Unclaimed Territory instead of FoR, but foune out that it wad my worst land and I was never happy to see it, while FoR helps caating all but 8 spells and reduces flooding in the late game, while dealing with problematic lands and helping color screwing three color decks. I'm not entirely sure 24 lands are the right number, but with 23 I screwed too often.
The pirates are the best available in standard. Period.
Stormtamer is a counter with legs, which often dies to save better pieces but sometimes is just a cheap evasive threat that enables CaC and RR.
DFP is a removal on legs against creature decks, an instant speed threat against control and sometimes as a combat trick or extra reach to close narrow games on the right spot. Definitely the most skill intensive card of the whole deck: after one entire year playing the deck, I'm often not sure I'm using it in the correct way. However, if you learn how to master it, it's definitely op.
RR is an expansive and conditional bob but I still consider it more than playable in a shell like this. And of course is a pirate to! One if the first cards to side out against aggro, against control and midrange is at its best.
DCS is probably the best card of the deck regardinh raw power. It's a big, evasive and instant speed threat with an etb that can single handedly buy an entire turn against every creature deck. It's drawback shouldn't be underestimated, but the etb counts as two profitabile blocks at least, so it's not a big deal.
As for the removals and counterspells, they depend entirely on the expected meta, going up and down with VC, CD and the negate-scatter ratio, but this is what I'd probably run in an open field, given that negate is still decent against creature decks while scatter is completely useless against control and, worst case scenario, you can adjust them after sideboarding. However, if anybody finds out a better configuration, I'd love to know it.
Opt is one of my favorite cards and I'd never run less than four in a tempo deck, while CaC proved to be the missing piece I needed in the deck, given I tried in that spot kitesail freebooter, mission briefing and radical idea always feeling something was missing. It hepls digging into lands in the erly game while havimg a painless card advantage engine in the mid to late game with the great ratio of two cards for two mana, despite being at sorcery speed.
The side is decent, but I'm not convinced by some choices, first of all dead weight. Against aggro I miss A LOT fatal push, but DW might not be what I'm looking for. Any suggestion for a better card in that spot? Same goes for the scatter-negate split: I like the idea of being able to adjust them post board, but maybe there's no spot where we want to go 3-0 on scatter, so we might have one free slot there too. Craving and Ritual are no brainers against aggro, so I'd never cut them and Jace is amazing against control and midrange: it's unexpected and often underestimated when on board, so it's easy to ultimate it and then snowball to victory. Worst case scenario, it's a 3 mana 2/2 that offers a 2x1 or buys time, which is not bad at all.
And with that, that's all. Thanks to everybody who had the patience to read this all. Hope the deck caught your interest and feel free to givw advices and suggestions!
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Playing since FRF
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
My thoughts were much more similar to his when building the deck. Siren Stormtamer, Kitesail Freebooter, Fathom Fleet Captain, Dire Fleet Poisoner, Hostage Taker seem to be the best pirates in the format. Warkite Marauder is certainly close, but with the rotation of Ballista that combo is gone, and the key targets like Scarab God and Hazoret are also gone. The only true blowout is on a Rekindling Phoenix. Daring Saboteur is another card, but I wasn't impressed with it over playing something like Opt to clean up my draws. Dreamcaller Siren as a 2x was reasonable as well because it allowed flyers/menace creatures to get through the last little bit of damage.
When I tried Chart a Course it felt exceptionally slow and like it was blocking off other options at the 2 slot. Curious Obsession was better on several different axis, costing less mana, adding to damage output (along with toughness against Deafening Clarion), and potentially drawing far more cards.
Once you've committed yourself to Obsession other cards like Dive Down are practical auto includes. To round out the deck we have Lookout's Dispersal which is one of the reasons to play pirates, and Cast Down because it was the same mana cost as Poisoner and Dispersal.
I also removed the tribal land Unclaimed Territory from my version. 2 might be playable but with only 20 creatures and 18 non-creature spells they just felt like a liability. Not being a Swamp/Island for Drowned Catacomb was the other final nail on the coffin.
The sideboard is up in the air. Thief of Sanity appears to be really good against decks without Shock or lots of flyers. So good that it might be in the mainboard. Disdainful stroke lines up well against the planeswalkers and big creatures many top decks have been dedicated to. Moment of Craving/Fungal Infection are solid against aggro and comprise one of the big reasons to play black. To round things out Duress for control games and perhaps Plaguecrafter for even more options against Planeswalkers or Carnage Tyrants.
Thank you for answering!
When I first began listing the deck it was similar to yours, however I changed the creature suite and reduced it too for some reasons. First of all, as a Modern Grixis Delver player, according to my play style I felt the need for a card advantage engine and so immediately added Ruin Rider, which is slow and hard to protect, but if protected in the proper way destroys every grindy opponent.
Then I cut Fathom Fleet Captain because it doesn't fit my idea of tempo, forcing me to tap a non irrelevant amount of mana in my turn, which I accept to do only for high impact cards like the aforementioned RR, which is the only non-instant speed card along with Siren Stormtamer (which is a one-drop) and Chart a Course.
Hostage Taker was in my sideboard against midrange and aggro at first, but I decided to cut it because it felt too slow and clunky. It's a 4 mana, sorcery speed play that, although being a potential 3x1 in the mid to late game, risks too often to be a temporary Ravenous Chupacabra and therefore too slow (and weak) for a tempo deck. I'd love it to be playable, but I just think it's not good enough.
Kitesail Freebooter was originally another 4x if my deck and was so until rotation. However, it has always been the worst card of the deck and, as soon as I noticed I had to update the list because it didn't make results at all in the new meta, it was the first card i cut: against control it was a 2x1 but didn't apply enough pressure giving the opponent the time to kill it and recover from the tempo loss and against aggro and midrange it wasn't that relevant nor strong enough. Cutting it, In that spot Chart a Course felt good and served as the (almost) guaranteed 2x1 I needed. There, I guess it depends 100% on the play stile if you value more drawing or making the opponent discard. I like the first, but I see your point for Freebooter, it's just not a card for me.
As for Obsession, I like it, but the setup it needs to be protected (Dive Down) seems very clunky to me and the games where you draw one but not the other or you draw them in the wrong order seem so miserable.
The rest of your non-permanent choices seem reasonable, however I prefer a more spell centric configuration with 6 counterspells (I LOVE to be able to interact with the stack) and 6 removals (VC is a must if you don't win before turn 6 consistently, for me).
Unfortunately, with my higher curve I had to raise the land count to 24.
What I'm truly curious about is that Memorial to Foly. How did it work for you? Is it strong enough to outvalue the "etb tapped" drawback?
It's been a learning experience figuring out how to make the deck work. Fungal infection is extremely relevant in something like 80%-90% of matches, and just makes sense as cheap T1 alternative when you don't have a Stormtamer or Opt to cast. I was considering Duress MB, but I really want to be interacting and getting on the board against Golgari and Mono R. Killing most 2/2's or forcing removal on a 1/1 saproling is kinda busted. Spell Pierce is primarily to snag Ritual of Soot or Cleansing Nova that many people will cast when they only see a single U available. Jeff is big on the Thought Erasure but I usually want to be getting a creature out on T2.
The focus is on relevant removal to allow my creatures to get in and keep me alive. Hostage Taker is just the best card against most big Legenday dudes, Cast Down is great against Wildgrowth Walker + Doom Whisper + Explore guys, and Moment of Craving is necessary against Mono Red. I also like March over Dive Down against Golgari where I can intentionally trade a Poisoner for a Carnage tyrant.
Good to see some other people are still thinking about pirates, even if its a small thread lol. This is the list ive been running on MTGO and locally, and its doing very well at the moment. I skip the curious obsession route for focusing a little more on tempo, sorta like a classic delver or spirits deck.
Running a 2/2 split of cast down and walk the plank for different situations, where cast down may not be able to hit something. Between Thought Erasure and Kitesail Freebooter, there's plenty of hand disruption to pair with all the different forms of removal until you can slowly work your way into a lead, then drop a hostage taker or thief of sanity to seal the deal. Ruin raider works as a conditional bob and chart a course keeps the options flowing. The only other thing ive been toying around with is Doom Whisperer on the top end. Not a pirate, but a very pushed creature that can lock down the game pretty early on. Plus the surveil on thought erasure and doom whisperer helps to make painless draws off ruin raider
Walk the plank doesn't have any real synergies with our deck. It's thematic yes, but the fact that no other mono-B decks play it indicates it's relatively low power level. For us it's extra bad because we need too many B sources to cast it on curve. We are also playing a strategy that involves leaving mana up and instant speed removal is vastly less clunky. For similar reasons I'm really uninterested in Chart a Course. We don't have graveyard synergies. We don't have 8 creatures to play on T1 (like mono U). We should always be casting one of our powerful 2 cmc creatures on T2.
I do like the idea of going all in on Thought Erasure/surveil and Ruin Raider and could see a list exploring that.
Can we talk about Fathom Fleet Captain? I've seen some decks with 4x but it feels very mana hungry for a bear with menace. I understand it can single-handedly end games, but I just rarely have mana open to make more that 1 token. Are people down on Warkite Marauder? It seems a better thrat than Captain
I've wondered about a playset of Warkite Marauder with maybe 2 Cast Down + 2 Fungal. I occasionally run into situations against Angels where I can't swing through and a marauder even without a removal spell makes that matchup much easier. Other creatures that it might be particularly good against are Niv (turn off the draw ability then kill it) and Rekindling Phoenix (doesn't come back after dying). In most other situations a simple removal spell does the same thing. As long as Chainwhirler is around we should be especially skeptical of X/1's.
Swapping Warkite for Fathom is an equal p/t swap. I have been really loving warkite...lets me attack into Niv Mizzet hehe. I've also won a few games on the back of Kitesail Freebooter and protection. Suddenly control feels fun to play against.
I still feel weak to aggro decks, which is normal for tempo strategies, but I wonder if when we get new shocklands would going Grixis or BUG be a possibility for better sideboard. I haven't thought much into it though, just putting out thoughts.
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4 drowned catacomb
4 field of ruin
6 island
6 swamp
4 siren stormtamer
4 dire fleet poisoner
4 ruin raider
4 dreamcaller siren
3 vraska's contempt
1 essence scatter
2 negate
3 lookout's dispersal
4 opt
4 chart a course
2 dead weight
2 essence scatter
1 negate
2 moment of craving
4 jace, cunning castaway
4 ritual of soot
The mana base is pretty straightforward. At first, I played Unclaimed Territory instead of FoR, but foune out that it wad my worst land and I was never happy to see it, while FoR helps caating all but 8 spells and reduces flooding in the late game, while dealing with problematic lands and helping color screwing three color decks. I'm not entirely sure 24 lands are the right number, but with 23 I screwed too often.
The pirates are the best available in standard. Period.
Stormtamer is a counter with legs, which often dies to save better pieces but sometimes is just a cheap evasive threat that enables CaC and RR.
DFP is a removal on legs against creature decks, an instant speed threat against control and sometimes as a combat trick or extra reach to close narrow games on the right spot. Definitely the most skill intensive card of the whole deck: after one entire year playing the deck, I'm often not sure I'm using it in the correct way. However, if you learn how to master it, it's definitely op.
RR is an expansive and conditional bob but I still consider it more than playable in a shell like this. And of course is a pirate to! One if the first cards to side out against aggro, against control and midrange is at its best.
DCS is probably the best card of the deck regardinh raw power. It's a big, evasive and instant speed threat with an etb that can single handedly buy an entire turn against every creature deck. It's drawback shouldn't be underestimated, but the etb counts as two profitabile blocks at least, so it's not a big deal.
As for the removals and counterspells, they depend entirely on the expected meta, going up and down with VC, CD and the negate-scatter ratio, but this is what I'd probably run in an open field, given that negate is still decent against creature decks while scatter is completely useless against control and, worst case scenario, you can adjust them after sideboarding. However, if anybody finds out a better configuration, I'd love to know it.
Opt is one of my favorite cards and I'd never run less than four in a tempo deck, while CaC proved to be the missing piece I needed in the deck, given I tried in that spot kitesail freebooter, mission briefing and radical idea always feeling something was missing. It hepls digging into lands in the erly game while havimg a painless card advantage engine in the mid to late game with the great ratio of two cards for two mana, despite being at sorcery speed.
The side is decent, but I'm not convinced by some choices, first of all dead weight. Against aggro I miss A LOT fatal push, but DW might not be what I'm looking for. Any suggestion for a better card in that spot? Same goes for the scatter-negate split: I like the idea of being able to adjust them post board, but maybe there's no spot where we want to go 3-0 on scatter, so we might have one free slot there too. Craving and Ritual are no brainers against aggro, so I'd never cut them and Jace is amazing against control and midrange: it's unexpected and often underestimated when on board, so it's easy to ultimate it and then snowball to victory. Worst case scenario, it's a 3 mana 2/2 that offers a 2x1 or buys time, which is not bad at all.
And with that, that's all. Thanks to everybody who had the patience to read this all. Hope the deck caught your interest and feel free to givw advices and suggestions!
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Hov83egGE
My thoughts were much more similar to his when building the deck. Siren Stormtamer, Kitesail Freebooter, Fathom Fleet Captain, Dire Fleet Poisoner, Hostage Taker seem to be the best pirates in the format. Warkite Marauder is certainly close, but with the rotation of Ballista that combo is gone, and the key targets like Scarab God and Hazoret are also gone. The only true blowout is on a Rekindling Phoenix. Daring Saboteur is another card, but I wasn't impressed with it over playing something like Opt to clean up my draws. Dreamcaller Siren as a 2x was reasonable as well because it allowed flyers/menace creatures to get through the last little bit of damage.
When I tried Chart a Course it felt exceptionally slow and like it was blocking off other options at the 2 slot. Curious Obsession was better on several different axis, costing less mana, adding to damage output (along with toughness against Deafening Clarion), and potentially drawing far more cards.
Once you've committed yourself to Obsession other cards like Dive Down are practical auto includes. To round out the deck we have Lookout's Dispersal which is one of the reasons to play pirates, and Cast Down because it was the same mana cost as Poisoner and Dispersal.
I also removed the tribal land Unclaimed Territory from my version. 2 might be playable but with only 20 creatures and 18 non-creature spells they just felt like a liability. Not being a Swamp/Island for Drowned Catacomb was the other final nail on the coffin.
4x Dire Fleet Poisoner
2x Dreamcaller Siren
4x Fathom Fleet Captain
2x Hostage Taker
4x Kitesail Freebooter
4x Siren Stormtamer
4x Drowned Catacomb
7x Island
1x Memorial to Folly
6x Swamp
4x Watery Grave
4x Curious Obsession
Instant (14)
4x Cast Down
4x Dive Down
4x Lookout's Dispersal
2x Opt
The sideboard is up in the air. Thief of Sanity appears to be really good against decks without Shock or lots of flyers. So good that it might be in the mainboard. Disdainful stroke lines up well against the planeswalkers and big creatures many top decks have been dedicated to. Moment of Craving/Fungal Infection are solid against aggro and comprise one of the big reasons to play black. To round things out Duress for control games and perhaps Plaguecrafter for even more options against Planeswalkers or Carnage Tyrants.
3x Disdainful Stroke
2x Duress
3x Fungal Infection
1x Hostage Taker
2x Moment of Craving
2x Plaguecrafter
2x Thief of Sanity
When I first began listing the deck it was similar to yours, however I changed the creature suite and reduced it too for some reasons. First of all, as a Modern Grixis Delver player, according to my play style I felt the need for a card advantage engine and so immediately added Ruin Rider, which is slow and hard to protect, but if protected in the proper way destroys every grindy opponent.
Then I cut Fathom Fleet Captain because it doesn't fit my idea of tempo, forcing me to tap a non irrelevant amount of mana in my turn, which I accept to do only for high impact cards like the aforementioned RR, which is the only non-instant speed card along with Siren Stormtamer (which is a one-drop) and Chart a Course.
Hostage Taker was in my sideboard against midrange and aggro at first, but I decided to cut it because it felt too slow and clunky. It's a 4 mana, sorcery speed play that, although being a potential 3x1 in the mid to late game, risks too often to be a temporary Ravenous Chupacabra and therefore too slow (and weak) for a tempo deck. I'd love it to be playable, but I just think it's not good enough.
Kitesail Freebooter was originally another 4x if my deck and was so until rotation. However, it has always been the worst card of the deck and, as soon as I noticed I had to update the list because it didn't make results at all in the new meta, it was the first card i cut: against control it was a 2x1 but didn't apply enough pressure giving the opponent the time to kill it and recover from the tempo loss and against aggro and midrange it wasn't that relevant nor strong enough. Cutting it, In that spot Chart a Course felt good and served as the (almost) guaranteed 2x1 I needed. There, I guess it depends 100% on the play stile if you value more drawing or making the opponent discard. I like the first, but I see your point for Freebooter, it's just not a card for me.
As for Obsession, I like it, but the setup it needs to be protected (Dive Down) seems very clunky to me and the games where you draw one but not the other or you draw them in the wrong order seem so miserable.
The rest of your non-permanent choices seem reasonable, however I prefer a more spell centric configuration with 6 counterspells (I LOVE to be able to interact with the stack) and 6 removals (VC is a must if you don't win before turn 6 consistently, for me).
Unfortunately, with my higher curve I had to raise the land count to 24.
What I'm truly curious about is that Memorial to Foly. How did it work for you? Is it strong enough to outvalue the "etb tapped" drawback?
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
4x Dire Fleet Poisoner
4x Fathom Fleet Captain
2x Hostage Taker
4x Kitesail Freebooter
4x Siren Stormtamer
3x Thief of Sanity
4x Drowned Catacomb
7x Island
6x Swamp
4x Watery Grave
Enchantment (4)
4x Curious Obsession
4x Dive Down
4x Lookout's Dispersal
3x Opt
2x Fungal Infection
1x Spell Pierce
It's been a learning experience figuring out how to make the deck work. Fungal infection is extremely relevant in something like 80%-90% of matches, and just makes sense as cheap T1 alternative when you don't have a Stormtamer or Opt to cast. I was considering Duress MB, but I really want to be interacting and getting on the board against Golgari and Mono R. Killing most 2/2's or forcing removal on a 1/1 saproling is kinda busted. Spell Pierce is primarily to snag Ritual of Soot or Cleansing Nova that many people will cast when they only see a single U available. Jeff is big on the Thought Erasure but I usually want to be getting a creature out on T2.
This is what I'm currently on for a sideboard.
3x Moment of Craving
3x Cast Down
2x Hostage Taker
1x Spell Pierce
1x Plague Mare
1x Phyrexian Scriptures
2x March of the Drowned
The focus is on relevant removal to allow my creatures to get in and keep me alive. Hostage Taker is just the best card against most big Legenday dudes, Cast Down is great against Wildgrowth Walker + Doom Whisper + Explore guys, and Moment of Craving is necessary against Mono Red. I also like March over Dive Down against Golgari where I can intentionally trade a Poisoner for a Carnage tyrant.
7 Island
5 Swamp
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
2 Field of Ruin
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Dire Fleet Poisoner
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Hostage Taker
3 Warkite Marauder
3 Thief of Sanity
2 Ruin Raider
4 Lookout's Dispersal
3 Thought Erasure
3 Chart a Course
2 Walk the Plank
2 Cast Down
Running a 2/2 split of cast down and walk the plank for different situations, where cast down may not be able to hit something. Between Thought Erasure and Kitesail Freebooter, there's plenty of hand disruption to pair with all the different forms of removal until you can slowly work your way into a lead, then drop a hostage taker or thief of sanity to seal the deal. Ruin raider works as a conditional bob and chart a course keeps the options flowing. The only other thing ive been toying around with is Doom Whisperer on the top end. Not a pirate, but a very pushed creature that can lock down the game pretty early on. Plus the surveil on thought erasure and doom whisperer helps to make painless draws off ruin raider
I do like the idea of going all in on Thought Erasure/surveil and Ruin Raider and could see a list exploring that.
I still feel weak to aggro decks, which is normal for tempo strategies, but I wonder if when we get new shocklands would going Grixis or BUG be a possibility for better sideboard. I haven't thought much into it though, just putting out thoughts.