I've been testing my own version of BUG Delirium, but I like to call it "Death's Delirium" or "Grim Shadow."
I do well at my local game store making top 4 consistently, but I find myself winning games I shouldn't and losing games where I shouldn't.
The sideboard is a work in progress. I could also post one later or a tournament report from last night if anyone's interested. I've considered cutting Death's Shadow and replacing with Delver of Secretsor Bloodghast.
Hello, new to the forums but have been lurking quite a bit. Today I played Fish at a random modern event. There were only 9 people with 3 rounds; and this was the first time I took the deck out to pilot. I went 2-1, and got some store credit. Disclaimer: I'm pretty new to the format and the deck. I had originally wanted to run:
I had tested this list with my friend through cockatrice and found Monastery Siege to be somewhat underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic card. It gives us options of protecting our guys or generating card advantage. In theory it should be good against control, junk, and perhaps burn. I could see the argument that seige is better than Kira, because it makes abrupt decay cost more. But after much internal debate, I decided to go with Kira. The idea of an instant 2/2 flying body counter spell seems more fun. And if you're not playing magic to have fun, I don't see what's the point? So I ended up running a wonky list of:
Inb4 someone decides to rip on my deck and SB, I think it's pretty good and I'm open to suggestions. I'm running a single Unsummon and Ghost Quarter simply because I don't have the alternative. Instead of two mana leak, I had originally used 2 echoing truth. I decided running a one of Thassa, God of the Sea would be interesting. Also, no one expects you to have an echoing truth. Bounces choke! But more importantly, with all the delve cards like tasigur and tombstalker rising in popularity, I think it's a good addition. It also protects your lords, and silvergills for more value. I think Gut Shot is a bit underrated. It's good against delver, infect, and affinity. However, today I didn't play against any of those match ups. Also no hurkyl's recall for me. 1. I don't own any. 2. I've rationalized it's just not that good. There's cheaper alternatives (both financially and CMC). I think Steel Sabotage is fine. Without further ado, I'll just give a rundown of my night. I apologize for not taking notes or formatting it T1 etc.
Round 1 - UR Twin
Game 1
Won the die roll, kept a hand with 2 curse catchers, spreading seas, silvergill, 2 islands and a mutavault. "Cool." I thought, "this looks pretty solid." The face of my opponent made when I T1 played curse catcher was hilarious. He was actually tanking. However, as the turns progressed all I drew were about 4 lands, a spreading seas, and then an aether vial. Somehow the curse catchers and mutavaults were able to get him down to 11. I also drew another silvergill with no other merfolk in hand. I have a personal problem with casting aether vial so late in the game, because I don't want my opponent to know my hand had absolutely nothing. Seems like stupid logic,but maybe it was the jitters (I hadn't played in a tournament in 2 months), but I should have cast aether vial as soon as I drew it. In the end, his snapcasters and two grim lavamancers won him the game.
Game 2
Being on the play is always nice. This game turned out better. T1 I played Cursecatcher, He played fetchland serum visions. T2 I played Spellskite. I could feel him cringing. Cursecatcher is super underrated. Some people just forget he's there and is just a monkey's wrench. Not a lot happened. But, he tried a cute trick with Deceiver Exarch to untap his red source to bolt + grim lavamancer the Spellskite. I just sac'd cursecatcher, and watch him face palm. Eventually I got him on his heels with resolving kira. Yes. I had a Kira and Spellskite (with 2 Cursecatchers and 2 lords). You'd think the game would be over and done. But he had 2 Grim Lavamancers and 1 Deceiver in play. I got him down to 2 HP (I didn't swing with Kira 2 turns). This was a mistake. Not only did I not calculate combat damage, I was just afraid of a Vendilion Clique. EOT he fetched a land going down to 1, bolted the spellskite (got countered), and grim lavamancer'd twice. Next turn he played Twin and I scooped.
Round 2 - Jund
Game 1
Won the die roll again (2 for 2!). Kept a 3 Islands, 1 Mutavault with 2 Cursecatcher and Seas.
T1, CC. My opponent fetches for an overgrown tomb and casts thoughtseize. I decide to sac cursecatcher. In my mind, I really wanted to resolve spreading seas and not give my opponent any information that I had kept a mediocre hand.
T2, Drew a lord and spreading seas drew me a Silvergill. My opponent read spreading seas as I cast it. Wasn't sure if he didn't know the card or was just glaring with anger. He untapped, Forest, played a Scavenging ooze.
T3, Drew a Tectonic edge, I played Silvergill revealing cursecatcher. Drew an unsummon (kek). Passed. He untapped, played a tapped stomping ground. Swung and pumped his ooze from my dead cursecatcher. I took the damage, if we're going to race I'm pretty sure we'll win.
T4, Drew another lord. Played Lord with 2 mana up. Swung with the team.
The rest of the match I don't recall. It consisted of me playing lords and swinging, bouncing his ooze and swinging through a tasigur and an ooze with Island walk.
+2 Relic of progenitus, +1 Dismember, +2 Tidebinder Mage
-1 unsummon, -2 Merrow Rejeery, -1 Echoing Truth
G2
Kept a hand with Tidebinder mage, cursecatcher and a remand and 4 lands. T1 he played a fetched and passed. I played cursecatcher. T2 he played an untapped stomping grounds after fetching for an overgrown tomb at my eot. He thoughtseized taking away the tidebinder mage. I drew a thassa, played a land, and attacked. He played that RG manland and cast another thoughtseize, which I remanded. Turn 3 I played Thassa. From then on I basically built a board to get 5 devotion. He only had 4 lands and a Bob.
On a side note, I think it's considered common courtesy to say "good game" after every game you play. Even if it didn't turn out the way you wanted. But my opponent was obviously not in a good mood since the T1 cursecatcher (is he really that scary?). He was grumbling on how he no longer had choke in his board. And when I said "good game" he corrected me with "it wasn't a good game."
Round 3 - Grixis Twin
Unlike my previous opponent, the guy I played was pretty cheerful and friendly. I told him how I just moved into the area and this was the first shop I had stopped at. He told me about a few other stores that played modern and we talked about legacy. I knew what he was playing because I was watching matches after mine. TL;DR, Both games I drew the nuts and he didn't have the answer to it. I knew his win con was twin, so game 2 I boarded the same way I boarded my first match. Spellskite and Kira makes the board so awkward for the opponent. G2 I had 2 vials (one at 3 and the other at 2), I was just vialing in lords and protecting them with kira and spellskite.
Overall I made a few mistakes throughout the tournament. Round 1 I should have cast aether vial sooner and attacked with kira. Round 2, I think I could have sac'd a curse catcher to stop him from regenerating his bob. Round 3 I missed a vial trigger, attacked with a lord (which I forgot didnt have island walk) into 2 pestermites (luckly he chumped with one and I bounced it with vapor snag). Really sloppy play on my part and maybe not correct sideboarding. So things that I learned:
if Kira's were Sieges, I probably wouldn't have won those games.
Cursecatcher is the real MVP
Thassa is underrated.
Always play to your outs.
I hope you enjoy reading. Typing this took forever. Let me know if my side boarding is correct!
I do well at my local game store making top 4 consistently, but I find myself winning games I shouldn't and losing games where I shouldn't.
4 Grim Flayer
4 Death's Shadow
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Street Wraith
2 Tarmogoyf
Artifacts (4):
4 Mishra's Bauble
Enchantments (1):
1 Rancor
Instants (12):
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Disfigure
1 Dismember
3 Stubborn Denial
4 Thought Scour
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Serum Visions
2 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
Land (17):
2 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Watery Grave
The sideboard is a work in progress. I could also post one later or a tournament report from last night if anyone's interested. I've considered cutting Death's Shadow and replacing with Delver of Secretsor Bloodghast.
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=9376&d=253770&f=MO
I had tested this list with my friend through cockatrice and found Monastery Siege to be somewhat underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic card. It gives us options of protecting our guys or generating card advantage. In theory it should be good against control, junk, and perhaps burn. I could see the argument that seige is better than Kira, because it makes abrupt decay cost more. But after much internal debate, I decided to go with Kira. The idea of an instant 2/2 flying body counter spell seems more fun. And if you're not playing magic to have fun, I don't see what's the point? So I ended up running a wonky list of:
14 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Master of Waves
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Spreading Seas
4 Æther Vial
Instants
3 Vapor Snag
1 Unsummon
2 Remand
1 Echoing Truth
2 Spellskite
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Gut Shot
2 Steel Sabotage
2 Swan Song
1 Dismember
2 Tidebinder Mage
Inb4 someone decides to rip on my deck and SB, I think it's pretty good and I'm open to suggestions. I'm running a single Unsummon and Ghost Quarter simply because I don't have the alternative. Instead of two mana leak, I had originally used 2 echoing truth. I decided running a one of Thassa, God of the Sea would be interesting. Also, no one expects you to have an echoing truth. Bounces choke! But more importantly, with all the delve cards like tasigur and tombstalker rising in popularity, I think it's a good addition. It also protects your lords, and silvergills for more value. I think Gut Shot is a bit underrated. It's good against delver, infect, and affinity. However, today I didn't play against any of those match ups. Also no hurkyl's recall for me. 1. I don't own any. 2. I've rationalized it's just not that good. There's cheaper alternatives (both financially and CMC). I think Steel Sabotage is fine. Without further ado, I'll just give a rundown of my night. I apologize for not taking notes or formatting it T1 etc.
Round 1 - UR Twin
Game 1
Won the die roll, kept a hand with 2 curse catchers, spreading seas, silvergill, 2 islands and a mutavault. "Cool." I thought, "this looks pretty solid." The face of my opponent made when I T1 played curse catcher was hilarious. He was actually tanking. However, as the turns progressed all I drew were about 4 lands, a spreading seas, and then an aether vial. Somehow the curse catchers and mutavaults were able to get him down to 11. I also drew another silvergill with no other merfolk in hand. I have a personal problem with casting aether vial so late in the game, because I don't want my opponent to know my hand had absolutely nothing. Seems like stupid logic,but maybe it was the jitters (I hadn't played in a tournament in 2 months), but I should have cast aether vial as soon as I drew it. In the end, his snapcasters and two grim lavamancers won him the game.
+2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Swan Song, +2 Spellskite, +1 Dismember
-4 Spreading Seas, -1 Echoing Truth, -1 Unsummon, -1 Vapor Snag
Game 2
Being on the play is always nice. This game turned out better. T1 I played Cursecatcher, He played fetchland serum visions. T2 I played Spellskite. I could feel him cringing. Cursecatcher is super underrated. Some people just forget he's there and is just a monkey's wrench. Not a lot happened. But, he tried a cute trick with Deceiver Exarch to untap his red source to bolt + grim lavamancer the Spellskite. I just sac'd cursecatcher, and watch him face palm. Eventually I got him on his heels with resolving kira. Yes. I had a Kira and Spellskite (with 2 Cursecatchers and 2 lords). You'd think the game would be over and done. But he had 2 Grim Lavamancers and 1 Deceiver in play. I got him down to 2 HP (I didn't swing with Kira 2 turns). This was a mistake. Not only did I not calculate combat damage, I was just afraid of a Vendilion Clique. EOT he fetched a land going down to 1, bolted the spellskite (got countered), and grim lavamancer'd twice. Next turn he played Twin and I scooped.
Round 2 - Jund
Game 1
Won the die roll again (2 for 2!). Kept a 3 Islands, 1 Mutavault with 2 Cursecatcher and Seas.
T1, CC. My opponent fetches for an overgrown tomb and casts thoughtseize. I decide to sac cursecatcher. In my mind, I really wanted to resolve spreading seas and not give my opponent any information that I had kept a mediocre hand.
T2, Drew a lord and spreading seas drew me a Silvergill. My opponent read spreading seas as I cast it. Wasn't sure if he didn't know the card or was just glaring with anger. He untapped, Forest, played a Scavenging ooze.
T3, Drew a Tectonic edge, I played Silvergill revealing cursecatcher. Drew an unsummon (kek). Passed. He untapped, played a tapped stomping ground. Swung and pumped his ooze from my dead cursecatcher. I took the damage, if we're going to race I'm pretty sure we'll win.
T4, Drew another lord. Played Lord with 2 mana up. Swung with the team.
The rest of the match I don't recall. It consisted of me playing lords and swinging, bouncing his ooze and swinging through a tasigur and an ooze with Island walk.
+2 Relic of progenitus, +1 Dismember, +2 Tidebinder Mage
-1 unsummon, -2 Merrow Rejeery, -1 Echoing Truth
G2
Kept a hand with Tidebinder mage, cursecatcher and a remand and 4 lands. T1 he played a fetched and passed. I played cursecatcher. T2 he played an untapped stomping grounds after fetching for an overgrown tomb at my eot. He thoughtseized taking away the tidebinder mage. I drew a thassa, played a land, and attacked. He played that RG manland and cast another thoughtseize, which I remanded. Turn 3 I played Thassa. From then on I basically built a board to get 5 devotion. He only had 4 lands and a Bob.
On a side note, I think it's considered common courtesy to say "good game" after every game you play. Even if it didn't turn out the way you wanted. But my opponent was obviously not in a good mood since the T1 cursecatcher (is he really that scary?). He was grumbling on how he no longer had choke in his board. And when I said "good game" he corrected me with "it wasn't a good game."
Round 3 - Grixis Twin
Unlike my previous opponent, the guy I played was pretty cheerful and friendly. I told him how I just moved into the area and this was the first shop I had stopped at. He told me about a few other stores that played modern and we talked about legacy. I knew what he was playing because I was watching matches after mine. TL;DR, Both games I drew the nuts and he didn't have the answer to it. I knew his win con was twin, so game 2 I boarded the same way I boarded my first match. Spellskite and Kira makes the board so awkward for the opponent. G2 I had 2 vials (one at 3 and the other at 2), I was just vialing in lords and protecting them with kira and spellskite.
Overall I made a few mistakes throughout the tournament. Round 1 I should have cast aether vial sooner and attacked with kira. Round 2, I think I could have sac'd a curse catcher to stop him from regenerating his bob. Round 3 I missed a vial trigger, attacked with a lord (which I forgot didnt have island walk) into 2 pestermites (luckly he chumped with one and I bounced it with vapor snag). Really sloppy play on my part and maybe not correct sideboarding. So things that I learned:
I hope you enjoy reading. Typing this took forever. Let me know if my side boarding is correct!