Just posting to say that for those who want Blood Moon-type effects but can't afford Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon is 4tix on MODO right now. I bought a few as a spec pick and then I realized they fit pretty well into my UR Delver. He's won me a few games against UWR / Pod already. For tourneys I obviously recommend Blood Moon (there's a reason its used over Magus) but Magus is fun too. And hey, it speeds up your clock
Always surprised that Hoogland never seems to get brought up here. Especially since the deck is his baby and he's the biggest "pro" I guess that uses it.
Anyway he wrote a pretty recent article about the deck. Talks about not liking Young Pyromancer and some other interesting tidbits.
Hoogland's disliked the Young Pyromancer version since he tried it months ago, but I don't feel like he's really given the deck a new look with a more optimized list from the one that he was playing back in the day. He's also lost to the deck on stream before, so I don't know why he dislikes it so much considering that Young Pyromancer is much better at creating a clock and much stronger against control. Spellstutter Sprite is great, but at the end of the day, it's just a 1/1 flyer with flash, which really isn't a real clock.
fyawm speaks the truth. there is something to be said for the fae version of this deck and spellstutter is pretty sweet in certain matchups, but an unanswered pyromancer is usually gg against most decks. anybody who doesn't know that needs to try the pyro build some more. pyro can create a fast clock out of nowhere. neither souls nor bitterblossom can crank out tokens fast enough to race it.
if you are insistent on using spellstutter, then you also need to be running some kind of equipment like swords because once it resolves its just doing a bad squadron hawk impression until you can somehow buy it back with your ninja to try to get value again.
LSV > Hoogland, and LSV likes the YP version. If you want to talk about "pros."
The SSS version is just worse, imo. It's almost the same except it lacks the punching power of the YP version and wants to take the game longer, where the deck becomes less and less of a contender.
Plus you need mutavaults or more cliques otherwise sprite isnt good for anything beyond a path or bolt getting countered. Which hurts the deck's mana as well as requiring you to run more lands. I like the deckspace the super-lean 18 land yp version gives you. Though I do keep threatening myself with going up to 19 after any given disappointing tournament result.
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When people call for a ban on treasure cruise: "But I don't WANNA draw 3 cards!"
first, let me start by saying i am aware that i have no fetches. i also don't have 720 dollars laying around to get 4 tarns and 4 mistys.
i played against affinity, UR twin, RUG twin, jund, and some weird RW deck with enchantments everywhere that was trying to win with sigil of the empty throne. my only loss was vs. jund 0-2. i made a mistake in the second game and probably could have won if i hadnt made that error, but i always felt like i was on the back foot. is our matchup supposed to be favorable against them? i always felt like i was behind because the jund player always had tons of removal for all my threats. the regulars at the LGS seemed to have backed off playing twin in favor of jund, there were at least 3 people there all playing it. i am considering using 1-2 copies of swerve for next time since the meta seems infested with jund atm. it 2-1s them with their removal practically all of the time, and i have this fantasy where i make them thoughtseize themselves. worth it?
also, what are people's thoughts on using vedalken shackles? because for me it has been absolutely insane. boarded it in nearly every match and it just straight up won me games by itself. i realize my land count is low but this card gives our deck a late game it wouldn't normally have and my deck has the island count to ensure it steals almost any creature when its resolved.
I love shackles personally and I can't afford fetches either. Swerve however, has been what wanted it to be a few times but not often enough for me to include it. My super narrow 2 mana cantrip of choice is squelch.
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When people call for a ban on treasure cruise: "But I don't WANNA draw 3 cards!"
Swerve? Isn't that just worse than Redirect, especially with the manabase you're running?
Speaking of manabase, I realize fetches are crazy expensive, but I'd at least add a playset of Sulfur Falls into the mix. It's a very reliable dual land. Makes your Shackles slightly worse, but it's well worth it. Having only eight red sources is just not good enough for this deck; you need to be able to cast your red spells, sometimes two in a turn (YP + bolt for example).
lol i didn't even know redirect was a card, you are totally right rujasu. and i'm working on the sulfur falls, i'm just super poor right now what with just finishing school. even the shivan reefs were a last minute buy before the tournament because i was uncomfortable with having more than 1 mountain in the deck.
i'll be doing another modern event next week and can do a more thorough matchup analysis if people here are interested in reading it. i love this deck and writing about it and discussing it is the next best thing to playing it.
Hi guys. I'm a newb to UR delver (and modern in general). I was reading the matchups on the primer and it mentioned that the UR storm matchup was difficult for UR delver. But on the UR Storm primer, it said that UR Tempo was a bad matchup for Storm.
Is UR tempo different than delver or are the matchup information outdated or something?
Hi guys. I'm a newb to UR delver (and modern in general). I was reading the matchups on the primer and it mentioned that the UR storm matchup was difficult for UR delver. But on the UR Storm primer, it said that UR Tempo was a bad matchup for Storm.
Is UR tempo different than delver or are the matchup information outdated or something?
Our primer was last edited April 12th, so not too long ago, but that doesn't mean it's all correct. In fact, there are 3 matchups in the "bad matchup" section that I would move to "good matchup" - Affinity, Merfolk, and Storm. True, Spell Pierce and Remand and even Mana Leak lose value in the presence of Storm's rituals, but we have other hard counters and ways to bounce Pyromancer and kill/bounce Electromancer.
Hi guys. I'm a newb to UR delver (and modern in general). I was reading the matchups on the primer and it mentioned that the UR storm matchup was difficult for UR delver. But on the UR Storm primer, it said that UR Tempo was a bad matchup for Storm.
Is UR tempo different than delver or are the matchup information outdated or something?
in my opinion there are 2 types of U/R delver
1. those playing with young pyromancer which tends to pack more burn and cantrips
2. those not playing the YP which plays more counterspells and tempo based cards
Young Pyromancer decks tend to tap out during their turns which makes the storm matchup quite difficult for U/R side. the deck not playing YP have cheap counterspells (or even cryptic commands) which are a big headache forthe storm matchup.
Hi guys. I'm a newb to UR delver (and modern in general). I was reading the matchups on the primer and it mentioned that the UR storm matchup was difficult for UR delver. But on the UR Storm primer, it said that UR Tempo was a bad matchup for Storm.
Is UR tempo different than delver or are the matchup information outdated or something?
Our primer was last edited April 12th, so not too long ago, but that doesn't mean it's all correct. In fact, there are 3 matchups in the "bad matchup" section that I would move to "good matchup" - Affinity, Merfolk, and Storm. True, Spell Pierce and Remand and even Mana Leak lose value in the presence of Storm's rituals, but we have other hard counters and ways to bounce Pyromancer and kill/bounce Electromancer.
I think the matchup guide in the primer is wildly inaccurate to be honest (though the author does mention it might not be spot on due to small sample size). Decks that are put under "great" matchups are actually bad from my experience. Bogles is horrible if they get t1 hexproof t2 aura. Uwr is winnable but you really gotta work for it. The only ways ive gotten there is by squelching fetches and blood moon. Basically you have to attack their mana or else everything they play just outclasses our stuff.
Affinity is favorable, however their nut draw just beats anything really. I kinda disagree on the fish matchup being good, wraspy. Its like uwr in the sense that its not unwinnable but its really not favorable. Pod is listed as a bad matchup; its fine really.
Mouth of gix- definitely post a report after your next tournament. I post one usually, not sure who reads them but I feel its good to write about it after th fact. I probably won't be writing one for a bit though as tonight and likely next week i will be drafting instead of playing modern. Nyx looks like a good addition to this otherwise pretty boring draft environment.e
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i am deeply disturbed that LSV is only running 2x vapor snag in his current list, although the article was a good read. it is important to note that this deck needs to be properly tuned to each meta it exists in. certainly the types of decks you expect to see will influence not only your flex slots, but your sideboard choices as well.
as for the primer discussion, i agree some of those matchup analyses seem kinda questionable. bogles really scares me, but thats where spell pierce and spell snare really shine. engineered explosives out of the board just wrecks them. i haven't gone up against menfolk so i can't really speak about that one. Uwr is kinda sketchy too for reasons idareb already mentioned. affinity is totally fine after board. there's certain draws they can have that pretty much any deck will be hard pressed to win against, but if they don't t2 kill you then i think the matchup there is pretty fine.
As stated in the primer, the conclusions posted in the matchups section are from data taken from multiple MTGO Daily events from about a year ago. Since then the metagame has changed a lot and the matchups could be vastly different (I haven't played this deck in quite a while; I've been mostly playing legacy).
I think the major differences in matchup experience may be from how my deck was constructed compared to many of the builds run today. The build in the primer looks very similar to current builds with a few differences that greatly impacts the Bogles (I went 7-0 in recorded matches) and UWr control (5-2) matchups. Again, since the sample size is finite, variance could play a large role in the conclusions.
-3 Spell Pierce main. This card is very strong and has won many games against both Bogles and UWr control. Against Bogles the primary goal is to prevent specific, key auras from being combined on a single creature. Being able to play threats while holding up a counterspell for 1 mana helps a lot. Against UWr the primary goal is to protect your creatures. Spell Pierce usually trades for removal, which is key in this matchup. Postboard, having 7 one mana counters (adding 2 Dispel), is very powerful against a deck trying to resolve 4 mana spells (Cryptic Command).
-2 Tectonic Edge main. This card helps against UWr control as preventing them from hitting double white mana is key (Supreme Verdict cannot be countered), as well as removing Celestial Colonnade.
-1 Blood Moon main, 1 in the board. This card shuts down Bogles' manabase as well as being very strong against UWr. I often board it out if I cast it in a previous game as they will tend to fetch basics and bring in enchantment removal. This slows down their deck and forces them to bring in sub-optimal cards.
-2 Mutavault main. This card helps against UWr by having a threat that cannot be removed with Supreme Verdict.
-1 Vendilion Clique main, 1 in the board. This card helps against Bogles once both decks are in topdeck mode and can provide a clock without tapping out by casting at the opponent's endstep. Very strong against UWr control as you can cast it on their end step (I tend to avoid casting it on their draw step unless both decks are in topdeck mode as it becomes vulnerable to sorcery speed effects).
These cards seem to have been replaced by cards like Vapor Snag, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Electrolyze, which while may be very good in other matchups, seem to be relatively weak against both Bogles and UWr control.
This deck requires very careful tuning to the metagame, as can be seen by the drastically different results from changing just a few cards.
No offense taken! Discussions like these are important for tuning a deck.
A few comments on the deck in general:
Cryptic Command
-With 19 lands the deck will only hit 4 mana sources by turn 5 about half the time; there are many games where I win with only 2 or 3 lands in play.
-The deck already has plays at 4 mana with Snapcaster Mage flashing back a Mana Leak or Remand. The advantage to using Snapcaster Mage as top of the curve is the flexibility. Snapcaster Mage can be cast at 3 or even 2 mana.
-In conclusion, I would not recommend playing Cryptic Command in this deck as, while powerful, it deviates from the strategy encouraged by the core of the deck.
Tectonic Edge
-Running a couple can help keep Mana Leak and Spell Pierce relevant in the mid to late game as well as preventing an opponent from casting certain spells.
Aggro-Control (Tempo) Archetype
-In many matchups (for example, Bogles), since the answers run are more efficient than powerful, aggro-control decks are not able to stop every card the opponent plays. In these cases it's important to identify which cards are important to fight over and which cards are fine to ignore (as opposed to a dedicated control deck like UWr that run a higher number of and more powerful answers). Young Pyromancer gives the deck the flexibility to divert resources from cards that would otherwise demand an answer (Liliana of the Veil, Tarmogoyf).
I'm putting the deck together for the first time and have a question for you guys. What do you think of playing Delay as an alternative to Mana Leak? After all the targeted spell is exiled, and that has som merit to it. As many has said in this thread, when the deck has lost its tempoadvantage it is very hard to turn the game around. This gives you three rounds before a possible haymaker comes down, and then you could counter it again if you wish... What do you think?
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I am petitioning for the removal of mythic rarity and boycotting overpriced singles. Sig this to join the cause for a more affordable Magic the Gathering.
Built the deck recently. Just waiting on some cards in the mail. Got a few questions about it.
1. Young Pyromancer. How do you even win with it? It's so fragile. Do you ever drop it on turn 2, or do you wait until you have counter backup?
2. Pikes and Swords. I liked Pike back in the days of Standard UW Delver but SoFaI and SoLaS just provide so much value.
3. Thundermaw/Stormbreath. Too mana intensive? I like the idea of having a bomby hasted threat to close out games.
Edit: Kinda weird but have you guys ever considered Wind Zendikon?
Thundermaw and Stormbreath are not really what this deck wants to do. Bomby hasted threats are more midrangey and this deck wants cheap threats.
Pyromancer is usually played with a bit of protection or unless you are confident your opponent does not have the turn two removal if you're on the play, or if you have other threats and want to just draw out removal.
The common opinion on pike from what i heard is that its a win more card. swords are better when you are behind and need to catch up, while pike only lets you win faster if you're already ahead, that is you have already cast a lot of spells.
Wind zendikon allows them to effectively bounce your land with any creature removal, which is disastrous for your tempo.
I'm putting the deck together for the first time and have a question for you guys. What do you think of playing Delay as an alternative to Mana Leak? After all the targeted spell is exiled, and that has som merit to it. As many has said in this thread, when the deck has lost its tempoadvantage it is very hard to turn the game around. This gives you three rounds before a possible haymaker comes down, and then you could counter it again if you wish... What do you think?
i have tried delay before and will say it is an interesting card, but i would never play more than 1-2 copies of it and i wouldn't use it main deck. it only truly shines as a counterspell for other counterspells, as they fizzle when the last time counter comes off. if you don't win before their haymaker suspends into play, you are probably not going to win the game. and without being clairvoyant, i think mana leak is just a safer card to use overall.
only alternative to leak I would even consider is rune snag, I like cards like this. man I wish kindle was modern legal.
the problem with using rune snag is the anti-synergy with snapcaster mage. snap+mana leak is a fairly common play, and rune snag just gets worse if you flash one back from the graveyard. and if you only have a single copy it is worse than mana leak. the difference between them paying 3 and them only paying 2 is a big deal at the end of the day. like i said above, the reason mana leak is used is because it is safe and it is consistent. its one of the best counterspells in modern because it is cheap to cast and can counter any type of spell.
Built the deck recently. Just waiting on some cards in the mail. Got a few questions about it.
1. Young Pyromancer. How do you even win with it? It's so fragile. Do you ever drop it on turn 2, or do you wait until you have counter backup?
2. Pikes and Swords. I liked Pike back in the days of Standard UW Delver but SoFaI and SoLaS just provide so much value.
3. Thundermaw/Stormbreath. Too mana intensive? I like the idea of having a bomby hasted threat to close out games.
Edit: Kinda weird but have you guys ever considered Wind Zendikon?
you don't want to throw your pyromancer out there with no backup. he is definitely fragile but if he goes unanswered he will put a ton of pressure on any opponent. i usually drop mine only when i have some way of protecting it. yes, that means i will go so far as to vapor snag my own creature, he is that good.
pikes and swords are win-more as franky said. they don't do anything the turn you play them and this deck doesn't really have the mana capability to play them and equip in the same turn for value. if you do this you are leaving your equipped creature vulnerable to removal since you are likely tapped out from paying the equip cost. in my experience it's much safer to hit for less damage but have counter backup. playing conservatively wins games.
if you look at many of the delver lists in this thread, you'll notice most of them run 18-21 lands, which makes casting big dragons reliably rather difficult. the deck wants consistency and it can't really afford to have uncastable cards in its hand very often. my big uncastable spell of choice is cryptic, but i don't think i need to justify why cryptic command is awesome.
wind zendikon is just not a great tempo card. if they kill your enchanted land, you are down an aura and they effectively stone rained you with their removal. lands are at a premium in this deck and you don't want to be making them vulnerable for your opponent.
I am planning to make this deck. What do you guys think of this decklist for an unknown meta (though if anyone knows what decks are popular at MTG Card Market, please tell me)?
I am planning to make this deck. What do you guys think of this decklist for an unknown meta (though if anyone knows what decks are popular at MTG Card Market, please tell me)?
Other than the land base, that's very close to my main deck. The differences between our MDs (again, other than how the land base is constructed) is:
-1 Chimera
-3 Deprive
-1 Electrolyze
-1 Spell Pierce
+1 Land
+1 Vapor Snag
+2 Grim Lavamancer
+2 Pillar of Flame
I don't dislike loading on more counters, but if you play Deprive I'd imagine that you want more land in there to help you cast multiple spells a turn. If you want the same total number of counters as you've listed then consider shaving some or all Deprive for Mana Leak.
I like the MD Pillars and Lavamancers because they really help my first game %age against Pod, Affinity, and Merfolk.
For SB, I don't know that meta, sorry, but since you're leaning more counter-heavy MD I'd say you'll want to have considerable space for anti creature cards. Other than that, you know the big hitters in the format so prepare accordingly. I try to prepare for Twin, Pod, UWR, and Affinity while utilizing cards that can be run in other matchups like Boggles, Merfolk, Tron, Storm, etc. Cards like Magma Spray, Flame Slash, Combust, Dispel, Hibernation, Spellskite, Echoing Truth, Essence Scatter, Counterflux. I don't own any but a lot of people like Threads of Disloyalty, and some people have V-Clique in main, board, or both.
Anyway he wrote a pretty recent article about the deck. Talks about not liking Young Pyromancer and some other interesting tidbits.
http://www.themeadery.org/blogs/348/445/urx-fae-primer
Modern:
UWUW TronUW
Legacy:
WDeath N TaxesW
CEldrazi C
If you couldn't tell I hate greedy blue decks.
Vintage
WWhite Trash
if you are insistent on using spellstutter, then you also need to be running some kind of equipment like swords because once it resolves its just doing a bad squadron hawk impression until you can somehow buy it back with your ninja to try to get value again.
The SSS version is just worse, imo. It's almost the same except it lacks the punching power of the YP version and wants to take the game longer, where the deck becomes less and less of a contender.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
I love shackles personally and I can't afford fetches either. Swerve however, has been what wanted it to be a few times but not often enough for me to include it. My super narrow 2 mana cantrip of choice is squelch.
Speaking of manabase, I realize fetches are crazy expensive, but I'd at least add a playset of Sulfur Falls into the mix. It's a very reliable dual land. Makes your Shackles slightly worse, but it's well worth it. Having only eight red sources is just not good enough for this deck; you need to be able to cast your red spells, sometimes two in a turn (YP + bolt for example).
i'll be doing another modern event next week and can do a more thorough matchup analysis if people here are interested in reading it. i love this deck and writing about it and discussing it is the next best thing to playing it.
Is UR tempo different than delver or are the matchup information outdated or something?
Our primer was last edited April 12th, so not too long ago, but that doesn't mean it's all correct. In fact, there are 3 matchups in the "bad matchup" section that I would move to "good matchup" - Affinity, Merfolk, and Storm. True, Spell Pierce and Remand and even Mana Leak lose value in the presence of Storm's rituals, but we have other hard counters and ways to bounce Pyromancer and kill/bounce Electromancer.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
in my opinion there are 2 types of U/R delver
1. those playing with young pyromancer which tends to pack more burn and cantrips
2. those not playing the YP which plays more counterspells and tempo based cards
Young Pyromancer decks tend to tap out during their turns which makes the storm matchup quite difficult for U/R side. the deck not playing YP have cheap counterspells (or even cryptic commands) which are a big headache forthe storm matchup.
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/td/297
I think the matchup guide in the primer is wildly inaccurate to be honest (though the author does mention it might not be spot on due to small sample size). Decks that are put under "great" matchups are actually bad from my experience. Bogles is horrible if they get t1 hexproof t2 aura. Uwr is winnable but you really gotta work for it. The only ways ive gotten there is by squelching fetches and blood moon. Basically you have to attack their mana or else everything they play just outclasses our stuff.
Affinity is favorable, however their nut draw just beats anything really. I kinda disagree on the fish matchup being good, wraspy. Its like uwr in the sense that its not unwinnable but its really not favorable. Pod is listed as a bad matchup; its fine really.
Mouth of gix- definitely post a report after your next tournament. I post one usually, not sure who reads them but I feel its good to write about it after th fact. I probably won't be writing one for a bit though as tonight and likely next week i will be drafting instead of playing modern. Nyx looks like a good addition to this otherwise pretty boring draft environment.e
i am deeply disturbed that LSV is only running 2x vapor snag in his current list, although the article was a good read. it is important to note that this deck needs to be properly tuned to each meta it exists in. certainly the types of decks you expect to see will influence not only your flex slots, but your sideboard choices as well.
as for the primer discussion, i agree some of those matchup analyses seem kinda questionable. bogles really scares me, but thats where spell pierce and spell snare really shine. engineered explosives out of the board just wrecks them. i haven't gone up against menfolk so i can't really speak about that one. Uwr is kinda sketchy too for reasons idareb already mentioned. affinity is totally fine after board. there's certain draws they can have that pretty much any deck will be hard pressed to win against, but if they don't t2 kill you then i think the matchup there is pretty fine.
I think the major differences in matchup experience may be from how my deck was constructed compared to many of the builds run today. The build in the primer looks very similar to current builds with a few differences that greatly impacts the Bogles (I went 7-0 in recorded matches) and UWr control (5-2) matchups. Again, since the sample size is finite, variance could play a large role in the conclusions.
-3 Spell Pierce main. This card is very strong and has won many games against both Bogles and UWr control. Against Bogles the primary goal is to prevent specific, key auras from being combined on a single creature. Being able to play threats while holding up a counterspell for 1 mana helps a lot. Against UWr the primary goal is to protect your creatures. Spell Pierce usually trades for removal, which is key in this matchup. Postboard, having 7 one mana counters (adding 2 Dispel), is very powerful against a deck trying to resolve 4 mana spells (Cryptic Command).
-2 Tectonic Edge main. This card helps against UWr control as preventing them from hitting double white mana is key (Supreme Verdict cannot be countered), as well as removing Celestial Colonnade.
-1 Blood Moon main, 1 in the board. This card shuts down Bogles' manabase as well as being very strong against UWr. I often board it out if I cast it in a previous game as they will tend to fetch basics and bring in enchantment removal. This slows down their deck and forces them to bring in sub-optimal cards.
-2 Mutavault main. This card helps against UWr by having a threat that cannot be removed with Supreme Verdict.
-1 Vendilion Clique main, 1 in the board. This card helps against Bogles once both decks are in topdeck mode and can provide a clock without tapping out by casting at the opponent's endstep. Very strong against UWr control as you can cast it on their end step (I tend to avoid casting it on their draw step unless both decks are in topdeck mode as it becomes vulnerable to sorcery speed effects).
These cards seem to have been replaced by cards like Vapor Snag, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Electrolyze, which while may be very good in other matchups, seem to be relatively weak against both Bogles and UWr control.
This deck requires very careful tuning to the metagame, as can be seen by the drastically different results from changing just a few cards.
A few comments on the deck in general:
Cryptic Command
-With 19 lands the deck will only hit 4 mana sources by turn 5 about half the time; there are many games where I win with only 2 or 3 lands in play.
-The deck already has plays at 4 mana with Snapcaster Mage flashing back a Mana Leak or Remand. The advantage to using Snapcaster Mage as top of the curve is the flexibility. Snapcaster Mage can be cast at 3 or even 2 mana.
-In conclusion, I would not recommend playing Cryptic Command in this deck as, while powerful, it deviates from the strategy encouraged by the core of the deck.
Tectonic Edge
-Running a couple can help keep Mana Leak and Spell Pierce relevant in the mid to late game as well as preventing an opponent from casting certain spells.
Aggro-Control (Tempo) Archetype
-In many matchups (for example, Bogles), since the answers run are more efficient than powerful, aggro-control decks are not able to stop every card the opponent plays. In these cases it's important to identify which cards are important to fight over and which cards are fine to ignore (as opposed to a dedicated control deck like UWr that run a higher number of and more powerful answers). Young Pyromancer gives the deck the flexibility to divert resources from cards that would otherwise demand an answer (Liliana of the Veil, Tarmogoyf).
1. Young Pyromancer. How do you even win with it? It's so fragile. Do you ever drop it on turn 2, or do you wait until you have counter backup?
2. Pikes and Swords. I liked Pike back in the days of Standard UW Delver but SoFaI and SoLaS just provide so much value.
3. Thundermaw/Stormbreath. Too mana intensive? I like the idea of having a bomby hasted threat to close out games.
Edit: Kinda weird but have you guys ever considered Wind Zendikon?
Pyromancer is usually played with a bit of protection or unless you are confident your opponent does not have the turn two removal if you're on the play, or if you have other threats and want to just draw out removal.
The common opinion on pike from what i heard is that its a win more card. swords are better when you are behind and need to catch up, while pike only lets you win faster if you're already ahead, that is you have already cast a lot of spells.
Wind zendikon allows them to effectively bounce your land with any creature removal, which is disastrous for your tempo.
i have tried delay before and will say it is an interesting card, but i would never play more than 1-2 copies of it and i wouldn't use it main deck. it only truly shines as a counterspell for other counterspells, as they fizzle when the last time counter comes off. if you don't win before their haymaker suspends into play, you are probably not going to win the game. and without being clairvoyant, i think mana leak is just a safer card to use overall.
the problem with using rune snag is the anti-synergy with snapcaster mage. snap+mana leak is a fairly common play, and rune snag just gets worse if you flash one back from the graveyard. and if you only have a single copy it is worse than mana leak. the difference between them paying 3 and them only paying 2 is a big deal at the end of the day. like i said above, the reason mana leak is used is because it is safe and it is consistent. its one of the best counterspells in modern because it is cheap to cast and can counter any type of spell.
you don't want to throw your pyromancer out there with no backup. he is definitely fragile but if he goes unanswered he will put a ton of pressure on any opponent. i usually drop mine only when i have some way of protecting it. yes, that means i will go so far as to vapor snag my own creature, he is that good.
pikes and swords are win-more as franky said. they don't do anything the turn you play them and this deck doesn't really have the mana capability to play them and equip in the same turn for value. if you do this you are leaving your equipped creature vulnerable to removal since you are likely tapped out from paying the equip cost. in my experience it's much safer to hit for less damage but have counter backup. playing conservatively wins games.
if you look at many of the delver lists in this thread, you'll notice most of them run 18-21 lands, which makes casting big dragons reliably rather difficult. the deck wants consistency and it can't really afford to have uncastable cards in its hand very often. my big uncastable spell of choice is cryptic, but i don't think i need to justify why cryptic command is awesome.
wind zendikon is just not a great tempo card. if they kill your enchanted land, you are down an aura and they effectively stone rained you with their removal. lands are at a premium in this deck and you don't want to be making them vulnerable for your opponent.
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellheart Chimera
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Deprive
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
2 Spell Pierce
4 Spell Snare
2 Vapor Snag
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
7 Island
1 Mountain
3 Shivan Reef
4 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Also, what would be an optimal sideboard for an unknown meta?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Other than the land base, that's very close to my main deck. The differences between our MDs (again, other than how the land base is constructed) is:
-1 Chimera
-3 Deprive
-1 Electrolyze
-1 Spell Pierce
+1 Land
+1 Vapor Snag
+2 Grim Lavamancer
+2 Pillar of Flame
I don't dislike loading on more counters, but if you play Deprive I'd imagine that you want more land in there to help you cast multiple spells a turn. If you want the same total number of counters as you've listed then consider shaving some or all Deprive for Mana Leak.
I like the MD Pillars and Lavamancers because they really help my first game %age against Pod, Affinity, and Merfolk.
For SB, I don't know that meta, sorry, but since you're leaning more counter-heavy MD I'd say you'll want to have considerable space for anti creature cards. Other than that, you know the big hitters in the format so prepare accordingly. I try to prepare for Twin, Pod, UWR, and Affinity while utilizing cards that can be run in other matchups like Boggles, Merfolk, Tron, Storm, etc. Cards like Magma Spray, Flame Slash, Combust, Dispel, Hibernation, Spellskite, Echoing Truth, Essence Scatter, Counterflux. I don't own any but a lot of people like Threads of Disloyalty, and some people have V-Clique in main, board, or both.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero