MTG Salvation

I haven't liked the Swiftspear build since the Treasure Cruise ban, it could work in a combo/aggro centric meta, but it's very weak to midrange or anything removal heavy.

Magma Jet I've found is really bad most of the time unless your most of your deck is instant speed. Being that you don't run Snapcaster Mage or Vendilion Clique, that's really hard to pull off.

I have no idea how competitive your list would be without Snapcaster Mage and Remand, you would probably do fine at FNM.

Just heard on Twitch that Jeff Hoogland is on a Tarmogoyf Blue Moon deck and currently 6-0, we'll probably learn more about it within a week.

If you want to go the full control route, it's very good. It's seeing play in a lot of decks, and it's probably the best source of card advantage within UR. That being said, that's if you want to transform into a dedicated control deck on the sideboard. We have most of the cards for it, you just want to side out the Delvers. There's definitely some contention between Jace and Sower of Temptation, so it's a matter of which matchups you want to improve more post-board.

This will probably be the starting point for me in terms of mainboard.



Sideboard will be mostly ways to shore up the Affinity, Burn, and Abzen matchups. I believe we're favored against Twin.

He didn't win 1st, he got top 8 and they split. Just because he got there doesn't mean his list is optimal. There is no way that 3x Mountain AND 4x Sulfur Falls is correct in Delver, a tempo deck that wants to get its U lands online ASAP.

I would also argue that Spell Snare is super dead in a ton of match ups. If you're looking at the typical Abzan deck, the ONLY card you're tagging is Tarmogoyf. Twin is better at 4x Snapcaster Mage and 4x Remand, but that's still not where you want to be. Spell Snare is the card most likely to be dead in your hand, and as a Delver deck, that's what you want to avoid the most: dead cards in your hand that don't cycle and can't be proactively used to produce tokens.

I think with Treasure Cruise out of the meta, Clique is very good since we often now run 18 lands as opposed to 17 from before, the deck posted actually runs 19 lands since it cut out Gitaxian Probes and Thought Scours altogether.

I find it questionable to run only 4 Fetchlands alongside 2x Grim Lavamancer. That being said, 4x Spell Snare seems like A LOT. I can see how it would be useful in the Burn match up, but in every other match up other than Tarmo-Twin you're liking going to be siding 1-3 out. The deck seems very teched for Burn between the 4x Spell Snare main, no Gitaxian Probes, and 3 Magma Spray side.

One thing I do agree with the new meta is that you really want to be running more than 14 creatures, maybe closer to the 16 range. There are too many Abrupt Decays and too little card advantage for us to skimp on threats.

List that went 1st at the SCGLA IQ.



I love Cliques, they have to be somewhere in the 75. The deck seems very heavy in the creature removals, but I'm not sure how it wins against Abzen. Fly over the air and hope for the best? It's possible that the list is budget based on the lack of any other U fetchlands. Also interesting is the foregoing of any Gitaxian Probe period, which may be correct if you're expecting a ton of Burn decks.

I don't think we would run it unless you want to go the whole Blood Moon/Vedalken Shackles route. At that point, you might as well cut the Delvers and go full on Blue Moon.

I've tried Shoals but it's too much of an all-in strategy for me. If you draw a hand light on threats or if the opponent manages to power out their own Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, and/or Siege Rhino not, that's game. Then there's also Valorous Stance which is going to see more and more play and Shoal doesn't help against. I'd much prefer a midrange strategy that goes over their top with Batterskull, Keranos, Huntmaster, Scavenging Ooze, and Vendilion Clique so that essentially our topdeck can be better than theirs between the Serum Visions and the numerous threats.

The one match up where I really wanted Mana Leak was against Soul Sisters. Other than that, we can either use Remand to tempo them out or slow them down enough (combo) for our turn 4/5 kills. I also like Remand a lot against control to Remand our own spells, and against Abzen to slow them down a ton. I do miss Mana Leak, I just find it hard to find the place for it.

Keranos and Huntmaster serve very different roles. Huntmaster dies to a lot of the relevant removals like Abrupt Decay when flipped, Path to Exile, and Lightning Bolt unflipped, but Keranos does not. If you expect the game to go beyond 10 turns, then Keranos is much better. I also much prefer Keranos in match ups where the other side is running Path to Exile.

I like Huntmaster too because at some point, you can overload your opponent's removal suite, and Huntmaster can take over games while supplying the much needed removals. Huntmaster does a lot of things that this deck wants including gaining life and supplying chump blockers. But Keranos on a whole is much more powerful and very difficult to interact with.

Deprive is not only good but critical in the Siege Rhino meta. I like having a Sword main and also running 17 lands. I don't feel like Electrickery does anything now that Young Pyromancer is rarely being played, and same for Hibernation which actually does nothing unless you have a board presence. Clique has gotten a lot better, Affinity is still a very rough match up. You should think about running 1-2 Harvest Pyre in the main/side which works really well in a cantrip heavy deck, Thought Scour would go in too.

I feel like the 14 threats just might not be enough in a Thoughtseize/Abrupt Decay/Path to Exile meta, Keranos and Batterskull need to come in from the board, Threads of Disloyalty is huge, there's a lot of talk about Sower of Temptation as a sideboard card.

Cards that might be worth testing: Purphoros, Misthollow Griffin, and Shaman of the Great Hunt on the side for the Junk matchup.

Played in a Modern Open with 37 players, got 9th place by 2% OMW.



I wasn't sure on the creature suite, but the one I had turned out just fine. I think Disrupting Shoal is an awful card for a 3 color deck, but that's just me. I also prefer not to be entirely reliant on Mandrills, as they are uncastable which some amount of graveyard hate.

Round 1: Affinity

Game 1 - I had no idea what he was on, so I died with a hand full of cantrips and nothing else relevant for his turn 2 Cranial Plating.

Sideboard - +2 Ancient Grudge, +1 Destructive Revelry, +1 Spellskite, +1 Flame Slash, +1 Engineered Explosive

Game 2 - I mull to 6, then I didn't draw into any removals, only Destructive Revelry and Vapor Snag and no relevant blockers for his triple Signal Pest start. This game ended pretty quick as well.


Round 2: UWR Geist

Game 1 - I keep a 1 land on the draw with Gitaxian Probe and Serum Vision, but miss my 2nd land drop for two turns, discarding Pillar of Flames and Remand. Somehow, I'm able to get back in the game thanks to him not Remanding my Serum Visions. Another really bad play from him was blocking my 4/5 Tarmogoyf with his Celestial Colonnade and trying to Lightning Bolt the Tarmogoyf which I then Remand. A Goyf and a Hooting Mandrills get past the wall of counters and Path to Exile, and I take it him.

Sideboard: +1 Keranos, +1 Batterskull, +1 Destructive Revelry, +1 Flame Slash, +1 Spellskite, +1 Dispel, +1 Negate, +1 Combust

Game 2 - I choose to be on the draw and end up playing an aggressive turn 1 Delver into a turn 3 Tarmogoyf. He plays awkwardly and let the Delver hit him a couple times, not sure why because he had a Lightning Bolt, he also plays a Snapcaster Mage without anything to flashback. A couple Tarmogoyf joined by a Mandrill and a Vendilion Clique take it home.


Round 3: RUg Twin

Game 1: It's a typical draw go game, but he manages to Vendilion Clique my Vapor Snag twice. I fail to draw more than 1 Hooting Mandrill in the top half of the deck as threats, and he eventually combos me out when my defenses are down after the second Clique.

Sideboard: +1 Keranos, +1 Batterskull, +1 Destructive Revelry, +1 Flame Slash, +1 Combust, +1 Dispel, +1 Negate

Game 2: I choose to be on the draw for this draw go game. He tries to go for a combo with Dispel backup, but I have Combust, which he tries to Dispel, but I told him that even though you can cast Dispel on Combust, it doesn't work. The game goes on for a few, he kills my Mandrills with a Harvest Pyre, but I manage to eventually find a couple Tarmogoyf who take over from there and despite his Desolate Lighthouse fails to find the right answers.

Game 3: He chooses to be on the play, and chooses to block my Delver of Secrets with a Snapcaster Mage, which I let happen. This time around, I have a threat heavy hand with multiple Tarmogoyf and Mandrills and I manage to resolve one of each. His draws are funny in that he has 3 Exarchs and 4 Remands total so he slows down my aggression. Eventually, I end the game with a Lightning Bolt.

Round 4: Rwg Burn

Game 1: He's late for game 1 because he's talking to his friend, we go to game 2.

Game 2: He mulls to 6 and chooses to be on the play and quickly run me over with a Goblin Guide which I have no answers for. I misplay my turn 1, playing Serum Visions instead of Thought Scour for my turn 2 Mandrills, which I could have had Stubborn Denial backup. Instead, my Mandrills dies blocking the Goblin Guide and being Searing Blazed, which would have been a 2 for 1 had I Thought Scoured the turn before instead. I scoop with there's an Eidolon of the Great Revels in play with me at 2 life.

Sideboard - +1 Flashfreeze, +1 Dragon's Claw, +1 Dispel, +1 Negate, +1 Flame Slash, +1 Spellskite

I choose to be on the play. He keeps a 1 lander and never draws into a second land, I start with a Dragon Claw with Spell Snare backup. The game ends quickly with my Delver of Secrets into Tarmogoyf into Mandrills.


Round 5: Soul Sisters

Game 1: She manages to get a Pridemate beyond Bolt Range, which stops my aggression. I scoop after a Spectral Procession and a Ranger of Eos resolve.

Sideboard - +1 Combust, +1 Engineered Explosive, +1 Flash Slash, +1 Keranos, +1 Batterskull, +1 Destructive Revelry

Game 2: She's stuck on 1 lands and Paths my Delver and my Goyf, I land a Keranos and the game ends quickly.

Game 3: A more interactive game, but she finds two Windbrisk Heights and by activating them, she wins the game, as simple as that. I tap out for a Batterskull on curve and she topdecks a Ajani's Pridemate. Batterskull isn't all that great against a 22/22 Ajani's Pridemate.

Round 6: Uw Merfolk

Game 1: The game is super interactive, I start with a Gitaxian Probe and a turn 1 Delver, which flips quickly. He copies the Delver with a Phantasmal Image, which I have a Bolt for. He Paths my Delver, I search for a Forest knowing he has a Spreading Seas since I only have U/G cards in my hand. He Seas my Mountain, I land a Mandrills, which is Pathed, then a Scavenging Ooze. He Master of Waves, but I have Vapor Snag and Vendilion Clique for it. Ooze is able to slowly chow down his board, he tries to Path my Ooze but I have Stubborn Denial and end the game for him.

Game 2: I start off Gitaxian Probe and Delver again which fails to flip for multiple turns. However, Tarmogoyf joins the party, and is replaced by a land, as does Huntmaster of the Fells. I eventually manage to stick a Tarmogoyf, and a Snapcaster plus a couple Lightning Bolts and Pillar of Flame is to much for him to handle.


I'm 9th losing to 8th by 2%, the Affinity and UWR players didn't do so hot.

Overall happy with the deck, I like all the creatures in the main and wish I can play all of them, but running 4/4/3/2/1/1/1 seems very wrong. Destructive Revelry was boarded in every game due to the possibility of Rest in Peace, that and the card is just relevant in every match up.

Because Cryptic Command is always one of the outs, and it's a card we want to run 3-4 of.

I just don't think Desolate Lighthouse is that great. We're a deck that wants to get to Snapcaster Mage Cryptic Command range and more, more lands is usually going to be a plus. I think if you really just want looting effects, then Izzet Charm is fine card that isn't a complete tempo loss, and you can use it while under Blood Moon.

I think they're both bad because you don't want to draw them when you place both players under Blood Moon. Blood Moon already counteracts the effects of non-basic lands, so I don't really see the point of Tectonic Edge. Desolate Lighthouse is for the grindy match ups, but where we need the most help is against the aggro match ups like Burn and Affinity. To be honest sticking with the Islands is just good for the deck.

Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are broken cards in Modern, they enable blue decks to go over the top of Thoughtseize decks by having better topdecks. But I do think a Ponder/Preordain reprint would also enable the strategy provided we also get a reasonable Delve card along with it like 6U: Draw 2 cards.

I would advocate having a ton of threats on the sideboard. Whether it's Swords, Batterskull, Keranos or other heavy hitters. Basically threats that 3 CMC+, I think Dominus of Fealty might be an actual card.