I've been playing Miracles at all the modern events in my LGS for the past month and have had consistently good results, with multiple 4-0's and 4-1's. My list has settled down to this after the first 2 weeks (toyed a bit yesterday):
Last night I swapped a Teferi and a Cryptic for a Knot and the Blessed Alliance. Didn't see much difference, but I'd rather have cryptic/teferi over the knot. Might cut a snap for a negate or something.
My conclusions so far:
I) I'd never play Miracles without Opt and especially Telling Time. Time's so good at digging for what you need and setting up Miracle triggers.
II) Clique mainboard is awesome, helps with info and applies pressure, while you set up Entreats or counters plus a walker.
III) I swear by the second Entreat. You get some seriously clunky hands (and I've lost a couple of games because of that), but sacrificing a Jace for a brainstorm to unclog your hand is a serious threat.
IV)I'm playing a crucible in my sideboard, but I've never played a mirror match, so I can't speak for the efficacy of it. On the other hand, Geist and the Angels are epic against a huge amount of the field in my store.
V) Main issues I've had were against decks like Thopter/Sword ones, Hyper Aggressive ones -infect could be included in this category- and I'm not quite clear against the Mardu Pyro decks.
From personal experience I wan't impressed by Dampening Sph..., errr, Damping Sphere (mind you it was in a Tezzerator build). I think cards like Mindbreak Trap are better suited for both Storm and KCI, since you can play them for free and you can tap out, since they don't play hard counters.
I never had issues with spirits, I think we're slightly favored, a friend of mine was playing them and we got paired many times. Now I don't know what will happen with this lord, but as jeskai with a preety fast clock we shouldn't have a huge issue.
@MrTzoulis I guess I've always felt like the underdog against the removal heavy decks such as Jeskai Control, BGx, and Mardu. Delver dies to everything and so my plan was to take them out and sidestep their removal by moving towards a more planeswalker/enchantment game plan. Against the combo decks like Storm and Ad Nauseam I feel like we had a massive advantage with our low cost threats and plentiful counterspells. GW Company was a strange match up, but they run a very low number of flyers so Delver of Secrets and Spell Queller can put enough pressure on them early so our burn spells can finish them off. Our experiences seem to be different somewhat and I would love to see your build of Jeskai Delver that gives you an advantage over these fair decks.
@CurdBros I've been fiddling with Bedlam Reveler in UR Delver, but haven't pulled the trigger on him in a Jeskai build yet. Definitely worth exploring! Jace, the Mind Sculptor, on the other hand, has been very unimpressive for me when it comes to a viable sideboard slot. He isn't a bad card, but it doesn't provide a resilient game plan on his own that Nahiri, the Harbinger provides to the context of why we're bringing them in. It's still a protect the queen strategy, much like Geist of Saint Traft, but can be used in different functions other than 'attack their face'.
Not sure if I explained it correctly, but little and big mama has been great when backed up Search for Azcanta. To that end I feel that, at least in this VERY reactive version of Delver, we can support Nahiri, the Harbinger along with everything she provides.
The last time I played delver (around Christmas mind you) my list was along these lines:
It's on the aggressive side and hasn't been updated for the new heavy creature meta. Also mardu pyro seems like a train wreck. In general, it was preety good before the bannings, but don't know how it'd fare atm.
Thing is, against whom are you going to side in the Nahiri-Emrakul plan? Which match-ups is it solving? Because in my experience while playing Delver, you should be already favored against UWx control and Tron and you should be even with BGx (maybe a bit worse against Abzan). The problems were combo/prison decks like Storm, Ad Nauseam and Tezzerator/Lantern. E-tron depends on whether they stick a chalice or not. Company decks and Humans were rough till i incorporated 3 young pyro's in the main.
In most of these match-ups I feel that the Nahiri-Emrakul package is worse than Blood Moons and/or Geists.
It's definitely on the aggro side, especially for the main deck. I like the plan, but I haven't found a combonation of Wizards that feels as powerful as jeskai delver yet. I thought you guys might like to see the list anyways.
Is Slayers' Stronghold really that good? I was thinking of going a bit more midrange-y in tomorrow's modern event, since I've missed my Bolts and Delvers
For the sphere, remember that it makes each spell cost more, so be careful. From personal experience, Stony Silence is merely an annoyance for the UBx Tezzerator decks (Ghirapur Aether Grid laughs at stony, along with Bridge, Tezz, Jace and the new Karn), you need strong interaction and a fast clock, so keep that in mind for your game plans.
Karn is epic in decks like Tezzerator. I've been playing the deck since the JtMS unban and it has some abysmal match ups against Tron. This new artifact, the Karn and the mox are setting up some serious artifact synergies with Saheeli and Tezzerets. The deck as it stands has some serious game against the field, these just give it more tools and ways to build and tinker with.
Remands are a must and Spell Pierces are awesome. You need to leverage some tempo against them, since remanding a Coronet or a Spirit Mantle is a timewalk for them. It's an abysmal matchup, but wear/tear and deflecting palm with a clock are your only outs.
Well, I'm trying out Tezzerator for the moment since the deck got what it needed in Jace (already got my first 1st place on the first event with the new banlist)
I'm sure I'll come around to Bolt and Helices soon, probably when the meta settles down a bit and it'll be easier to tune the deck
TiTi is anti-synergistic with everything other than Snapcaster in your list. If anything I'd swap them for Geist in the main. In my experierce Pyro is a powerhouse against control decks, needing a wrath to answer it cleanly. Same with Geist.
In general you should fear BBE decks more now and prepare for them. Control decks are good match-ups and will remain so.
1x Blessed Alliance
1x Condemn
3x Cryptic Command
1x Negate
4x Opt
4x Path to Exile
3x Telling Time
1x Think Twice
Planeswalker (3)
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Land (24)
3x Celestial Colonnade
4x Field of Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Hallowed Fountain
6x Island
3x Plains
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Detention Sphere
2x Search for Azcanta
Creature (4)
3x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
Sorcery (8)
2x Entreat the Angels
1x Supreme Verdict
3x Terminus
1x Timely Reinforcements
1x Wrath of God
1x Baneslayer Angel
2x Geist of Saint Traft
1x Lyra Dawnbringer
2x Runed Halo
1x Settle the Wreckage
2x Stony Silence
I've put the pretty standard cards that never leave my SB, with the rest of the list including cards like Celestial Purge, Disenchant[/card(s), RiP, Surgical, Dispels and Disdainful Stroke etc.
Last night I swapped a Teferi and a Cryptic for a Knot and the Blessed Alliance. Didn't see much difference, but I'd rather have cryptic/teferi over the knot. Might cut a snap for a negate or something.
My conclusions so far:
I) I'd never play Miracles without Opt and especially Telling Time. Time's so good at digging for what you need and setting up Miracle triggers.
II) Clique mainboard is awesome, helps with info and applies pressure, while you set up Entreats or counters plus a walker.
III) I swear by the second Entreat. You get some seriously clunky hands (and I've lost a couple of games because of that), but sacrificing a Jace for a brainstorm to unclog your hand is a serious threat.
IV)I'm playing a crucible in my sideboard, but I've never played a mirror match, so I can't speak for the efficacy of it. On the other hand, Geist and the Angels are epic against a huge amount of the field in my store.
V) Main issues I've had were against decks like Thopter/Sword ones, Hyper Aggressive ones -infect could be included in this category- and I'm not quite clear against the Mardu Pyro decks.
For Tron and other decks Blood Moon and/or Alpine Moon should be more than enough.
The last time I played delver (around Christmas mind you) my list was along these lines:
2x Boros Charm
1x Electrolyze
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Lightning Helix
3x Opt
3x Path to Exile
3x Remand
2x Spell Pierce
1x Vapor Snag
Creature (16)
4x Delver of Secrets
3x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Hazoret the Fervent
3x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
3x Young Pyromancer
4x Flooded Strand
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Seachrome Coast
3x Spirebluff Canal
2x Steam Vents
Sorcery (5)
2x Chart a Course
3x Serum Visions
1x Anger of the Gods
3x Blood Moon
2x Deflecting Palm
1x Dispel
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Mindbreak Trap
1x Rest in Peace
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Surgical Extraction
1x The Locust God
1x Wear // Tear
It's on the aggressive side and hasn't been updated for the new heavy creature meta. Also mardu pyro seems like a train wreck. In general, it was preety good before the bannings, but don't know how it'd fare atm.
In most of these match-ups I feel that the Nahiri-Emrakul package is worse than Blood Moons and/or Geists.
He went 2-3, drop
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Mantis Rider
1 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Opt
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Helix
4 Remand
3 Cryptic Command
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Silence
2 Spell Pierce
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Kozilek's Return
4 Spell Queller
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Seems interesting and aggressive, although I'm dubious of the mana base and curve. Also, Wurmcoil...?
They're real.
I'm sure I'll come around to Bolt and Helices soon, probably when the meta settles down a bit and it'll be easier to tune the deck
In general you should fear BBE decks more now and prepare for them. Control decks are good match-ups and will remain so.