Legacy - Grixis Delver

Another Prague Eternal is soon to happen (second weekend in March). I'd like to participate in the Vintage Main Event and Legacy Main Event. Since I've played quite some Vintage in the past months it was time to figure out what I wanted to play at the Legacy Main Event. I'll be playing URw Delver in Vintage for sure. I did not plan to play Delver in Legacy though.

At first I wanted to play Miracles but that would require me to actually play with it a lot a get used to it so I would still be able to play the deck after round 5. I tried thus. Any match past round 4 I started totally screwing up so I decided for something more simple. Before doing so though I decided to import Deathblade list into Magic Online and play with that for some time and see if it would tire me the same way Miracles did. I have to say that it was a nice change but it was still very exhausting. The deck is fun but after my last GP experience going 0-0-5 and then winning and losing few matches I decided to play Delver. Since Prague Eternal is exactly on the wrong date for me, I won't be most probably in a good shape to play Magic so choosing something familiar and relatively easy to play will be the best choice.

Delver comes in many variants. There used to be RUG and BUG Treshold decks but UR Delver was a deck for a while as well when Treasure Cruise was around. Later more colors were added to UR Delver, Grixis and 4c Delver decks were born. Patriot aggro was popular too and some players still play the deck even nowadays. Which of the variants is the best one? I was sure that I did not want to play the UWR variant. I started with UR Delver to see if by a chance it has some kind of advantage compared to those more colored decks. The biggest advantage are cards like Price of Progress and Blood Moon in the sideboard. This deck lost a lot when Treasure Cruise was banned so I wasn't sure if the deck could perform that well again. In Oath to Gatewatch Stormchaser Mage was printed which is a nice addition to the deck or replacement for Goblin Guide. After my first match I realized that I miss Deathrite Shaman too much though so I said 'no' to this deck pretty soon. Delver decks are very dependent on Delver flipping and that is why I'd rather have other creature to help me win the game. When Stormchaser Mage wasn't around UR Delver could play Monastery Swiftspear and Goblin Guide. Those creatures are fine but still Goblin Guide felt a bit lacking some power in this deck. The UR build is fast and has thus very different match ups (compared to the 3 and 4 colored variants) but I don't really feel like having the game under control. Deathrite Shaman gives many options and helps the game a lot and I'd rather see a DRS lock on the table rather than feel completely helpless after my few creatures were wiped.

So I stared at all the Delver lists I created during 2015. When looking at the lists I realized that my perspective has changed. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not but I approach the decks in a different way. The most notable change was that I look at the sideboard with way more importance and I'm willing to sideboard in a way that is rather strange actually. I was looking at my post-Dig-ban decklist with Tarmogoyfs and Gurmag Angler and just couldn't understand how I could actually play that even though the deck performed actually pretty well. Next decklist contained two Snapcaster Mages and not much of disruption. Next decklist was totally ultra greedy good stuff featuring 1 Liliana of the Veil, Snapcaster Mage, Tarmogoyfs and even 1 True-Name Nemesis. I just couldn't stare at it. So I created a copy of one of the decks and decided to make it look 'normal' to my eyes nowadays - that is make it look more like it looked before the banning of Dig Through Time. But first it was time to give a BUG Delver a try because I wanted to know if cutting a color would help the deck or not.

So after discarding the idea of UR Delver I created a BUG Delver list for which I needed to buy few Underground Seas. When staring at the decklist there was something missing in it though from my point of view (something that would make the deck stand out or be great). I did not need to decide whether to play Goyf or not because I simply didn't have a choice but I was wondering if I couldn't possibly run Dark Confidant. In the end I rather decided for True-Name Nemesis and Gurmag Angler to help Delver (I tried just TNN at first but it showed to be too expensive...what an irony...that one would rather play a 7 cmc card^_^) but wondered if by a chance Tombstalker wouldn't be a better choice since that won't be blocked by Gurmag Angler. I'm not a fan of discard in this deck (because I used to play this for a while few years ago?) but Stifle wasn't a card that I wanted to include either. I settled with Disfigure, Spell Pierce and Hymn to Tourach that soon was to be replaced with Stifle. The good thing about the deck is that it can play 4 Abrupt Decay and it can play discard spells easily. It can also sideboard in Golgari Charms that I really like. The downside of the deck is that it does not have Lightning Bolt and I've lost too many games because of that. But still decided to give it a try. What I found out is that while playing this deck I need to be way more aggressive than I would like to (read I need to be way more proactive than I want to be and can't just sit back and wait for a miracle). I also found that Bayou is not a good idea and that I should rather play four Seas or fetch more carefully.

On Stifle

Since RUG Delver is a deck I hated since the first time I played against it I did not even consider trying it. It is fast tempo deck that just lands a creature and then disrupts the game. Not much of a late game usually and certainly does not suit my playstyle at all. And the reason why I would not pick this up is also because I do not want to play any mirror match with this deck. But with BUG or 4c Delver I'm totally fine with it. One of the reasons is also that this deck would run 4 Stifles and as you probably know I do not like that card.

So why I make such a big deal about Stifle? I already noted somewhere in this post that RUG Delver is THE tempo out of those Delver lists. It needs inexpensive creatures and then inexpensive disruption. After it plays its 1 mana threat or Tarmogoyf all it needs is one or two lands and disruption. This deck can sit on a Stifle all day (not really) but it keeps all its mana open for the disruption while the creature attacks. In BUG we have a different story. The deck is slower and more 'midrangy'. It is way more proactive thus and needs to tap out and this is something that does not really go well with Stifle since I won't be able to play it. It seems to me that the deck (or me) just can't decide what end is the correct one - being tempo or midrange (all the decks are tempo, but I guess you know what I mean). Even though I gave up after playing a bit with the deck and put Stifle in I still don't like the card there. It is not the best place for it. Grixis Delver though is a deck that can find use for the card but I'm not sure if I should include it or not and in how many copies (it would be either 2 or 4 or none).

So what does Stifle do? It obviously counters opposing fetchlands and Wastelands but that is not something I really care about considering playing the card in Grixis/4c Delver. It also counters planeswalker abilities. Countering Liliana's ability is usually more impactful but using that against Jace can also win a game. If I don't have a removal for Stoneforge Mystic or a way how to deal with equipment in my opponent's hand it comes handy too since it can counter both Mystic's fetching abilities or equipment abilities (notably Batterskull one). All these uses are pretty straightforward. Some are not. For example Stifle can help against miracles (with lowercase m). Delver decks can deal a lot of damage and sometimes stopping a miracle once from happening can win the game. The same can be said about Emrakul's annihilator trigger. Delver decks don't usually have too many permanents in play so stifling this, blocking and then dealing lethal damage is a scenario that can actually happen. Now with all those Shardless BUG decks around...countering Ancestral Vision's play this card ability is something that can win the game too. Since those Shardless BUG decks usually need two of these to resolve before they can win. It can also help against Storm but I never used this card on Tendrils of Agony nor Empty the Warrens. I never got into the situation in which I would need to do that, but it does not mean that it can't happen. Getting rid of Flusterstorm copies with one card sounds fair too (but that's my obsession with Flusterstorm talking...)

Obviously Stifle has many uses and can comes handy at many strange situations. Stifle is not really a card known for being played because of its versatility though. It is more that people fear the card. Some people play around it even if one does not have it in his or her deck and some don't at all and those are caught unawares by Stifle similarly to me after I joined my first match of Legacy after few months. Its versatility and uncertain efficiency nor the fear of Stifle seems as a valid reason to play the card though. Stifle seems to actually perform pretty well against Shardless BUG and Miracles though and those are the most played decks nowadays (or at least from those being successful). Since these matchups are not the best playing Stifle might be the reason why it sees so much play. It makes the matchup way better against Shardless BUG and is not bad against other decks obviously since it can do a lot different things and when used well or at the right moment it can actually swing the game or by one necessary turn.

So after writing this down I feel like giving a Stifle a chance but first I need to experience playing with 4c Delver after I played with UR and then BUG Delver. The next card I wanted to try and evaluate (rather reevaluate) is Abrupt Decay. Since the deck runs 3 Volcanic Islands, 2 Underground Seas and 1 Tropical Island it is not that easy to play. I know the deck runs 4 Deathrite Shamans but those sometimes just can't provide the mana I need or won't be in play when I need the mana. That is the reason I do not play the card main deck and would like to see if it deserves a slot in the sideboard. Decay can deal with Counterbalance and Chalice of the Void and that is the main reason I still have them in the SB. But I wonder if by a chance a different card wouldn't help me in a similar way? Decay is the best Tarmogoyf removal there is but unfortunately decks running Tarmogoyf usually wreck my mana base. So I don't even side those against RUG Delver for example (mostly I side it against Miracles.)

Back to red

The next day after I spent most of the night thinking about these three decks I created a copy of the BUG list and added red. Because after those few days I just couldn't find a downside to NOT playing 4 colors even though I really tried hard while being objective (considering me as the pilot of the deck). The first thing I did was take out Tarmogoyfs finally and replaced them with Young Pyromancers. I don't like Tarmogoyf anyway and decided to give Young Pyromancer a second chance. This unfortunately means that I also had to take out Golgari Charms out of my sideboard. Next I cut Snapcaster Mages and Spell Pierces. I decided to keep only one Spell Pierce to see what it can do and put Cabal Therapies in the deck. I like this card very much and main decking it even for a GP was something I was gladly willing to do. If I'm clueless about what to name I can help it a bit since the deck runs 4 Probes now^_^ but that is not the reason why I run those Probes. The Probes help the deck to stay consistent and allow to keep worse hands. It also works well with Pyromancer and gives sometimes very important information but in non-Pyromancer builds I'd rather not play that card at all. It is a card I used to sideboard out most of the time.

Running red also gives access to good sideboard cards like Pyroblast, Sulfuric Vortex, Price of Progress (if I'm crazy enough to play it in 4c deck, but this card always performed too well so I always consider it nowadays - people don't expect a 4c deck to run Price of Progress which helps) and cards like Ancient Grudge. Those are cards that I know how to use in a better way than any BUG sideboard cards. Having access to Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast helps a lot in matchups in which playing Force of Will really hurts. Pitching a spell to FoW is a big disadvantage and playing Pyroblast/REB instead helps a ton.

After staring at my lists for a while featuring 0 to 4 Wastelands I had to decide what the right number finally is (since I was siding out 1 Wasteland many times I was wondering if 4 is the right number, but I guess after playing Vintage for a while it totally makes sense). But after my initial experience with Stifle in every Delver deck I realized that 4 is the correct number. It is clear that higher number (4) of Wastelands for BUG and RUG is correct but I wasn't so sure about that in a four colored deck. It was time to try the deck in the tournament practice room before joining a newly started Legacy League and see how the deck would fare compared to the BUG and UR builds I tried before.

(begin rant) Equipped with 4c Delver with some experimental cards (Snapcaster Mage, True-Name Nemesis) I joined a first match. My opponent started with Island, Ancestral Vision, go. I had a stop in my upkeep so I clicked on it only to find myself in Clean Up Step. I was like WTH is going on!! I did not comment about that and just wondered what to discard...a land or Daze that won't most probably do much since I passed the turn already. Missing the first turn was the difference between me winning and losing the game. Magic Online really wanted to mess up with me! It removed my stops for some reason.

I put my stops where I wanted them and tried to win the match anyway. But I was crushed. After this I even went to watch the last match I played because I had no idea why stops on my turn just disappeared and I did not expect myself to accidentally click on the very spots where the stops were. After having a chat with WotC ORC (and almost getting banned for my outburst) I decided to continue in my quest for a deck for Prague Eternal. (end of rant)

Another match I played against mirror and even though I knew that Stifle is a card now I totally screwed up. My first fetchland got stifled, second one as well. Then my two following lands were Wasteland'ed and my very last land got stifled once again (Snapcaster Mage -> Stifle). I facepalmed myself and decided to take into account that something like Stifle exists in Legacy in the following games and matches. I decided to use some Wastelands to get rid of Stifles and fetch in moments my opponent couldn't play his Stifle. It worked and my little army of Elementals won the match. After this match I was 100% sure that running 4 Wastelands was the right choice so at least I got an answer to one thing. Not only because everyone playing 4 Wastelands but also because the number of Eldrazi decks I encountered. Those decks annoyed me with Chalice of the Void, Thorn of Amethyst and Crucible of Worlds. The players though weren't obviously sure how to play the deck so I managed to win all the matches but I very highly doubt that it would end the same if they knew what they were doing. I noted that Chalice of the Void is obviously not restricted in Legacy and added Ancient Grudge to my sideboard after this game (still wondering if 2 Abrupt Decay in my sideboard deserves its slot). Next I played few mirror matches again. I learned that staring at Young Pyromancer I cannot deal with is way more frustrating than facing Tarmogoyf (that I cannot deal with, but I can get past it with my Elementals).

So how my guinea pigs performed? In all the games I played True-Name Nemesis was way inferior to Gurmag Angler or Tarmogoyf. TNN is a great blocker but I need to win the game as well. Gurmag Angler can race TNN and that is something I did in few matches. Seeing that TNN wasn't really an issue I decided not to play it. Terminus deals with it, Golgari Charm as well, can be countered, edicted etc...I'd rather try defend 5/5 beater that can close the game in 4 turns if by a chance my opponent still has 20 life. As for Snapcaster Mage. That card most of the time played a role of a chump blocker and I couldn't even play the spell that got the flashback ability. Most of the time Snapcaster Mage was in my hand without me being able to play it (and benefit from it) or I even shuffled it back into the deck with Brainstorm/fetchland. I decided to cut the card too and just play 2 Anglers and one more counterspell or (Forked) Bolt.

After these games I got pretty screwed in the following three matches. Wastelands in my opened were bad so I had to mulligan each time and that cost me those games but still this won't make me regret playing 4 Wastelands. Round 1 I played against Miracles but since I did not even have creatures to attack with...I knew I had no chance. I sided in Sulfuric Vortex, more counterspells and Abrupt Decays but even that did not help since my first Miracles opponent was prepared for it. He surprised me though because he was playing 3 Vendilion Cliques and some Venser, Shaper Savants and Pyroblasts main deck. I did not expect that and lost to it even though I should have expected a bit more from the Karakas he played relatively early. After this I played against something I expected to be a MUD deck. It turned out to be a Cloudpost deck actually. I almost won the match but unfortunately I was one damage short (but with all those Glimmerposts it was actually quite surprising that I managed to get my opponent down to 1 life). Siding in Sulfuric Vortex, Null Rod did not really help. Next round I horribly died to a Lands deck. I actually had a chance to win but I needed one more Wasteland or Lightning Bolt. I played Delver and Angler but I needed some time to deal lethal damage. I countered first Life from the Loam, then used Wasteland to destroy Thespian's Stage twice in a row and then I needed some luck to draw a Lightning Bolt or Wasteland. My draw was neither of these cards so I scooped. Next game was not even a game and this match also made me want to keep Surgical Extractions in my sideboard. I hoped to win at least the following match not to end up TOO badly in this League. Playing Gitaxian Probe though showed me a hand that looked like hell: Ancient Tomb, Blood Moon, Chalice of the Void, Magus of the Moon, Moggcatcher, Mountain, Umezawa's Jitte. On the other hand I doubt that I will be facing such decks. Anyway I was determined to win and hoped that luck would bring me the cards I need.

My plan playing Delver turn 1 dissipated obviously as Chalice of the Void awaited me next turn. So I tried finding Daze or Force of Will to even be able to play the game. I found Daze so the game could go on, this time it was my turn to be lucky and I actually won the match. If interested you can watch it^_^.

My last round was against Miracles. I was already tired and incapable of concentrating and that showed. When my opponent played Cavern of Souls naming Human instead of Wizard as I expected he caught me a bit offguard (guess what followed Venser, Snappy and 'counterable' Clique^_^). When I could actually win the game I completely messed up but something similar happened on my opponent's end and my only possible win condition resolved (there were two Counterbalances in play with Sensei's Divining Top).

Shaman did not get plowed and I won a turn later^_^. The second game was similarly strange. My only creature was Grim Lavamancer. No other creatures showed up later. So I tried protecting it as much as I could and decided to kill my opponent with it. Jace, the Mind Sculptor came to mess with my plan so I had to replay the Lavamancer few times but my opponent's life total was so low that all I needed was to resolve a Lightning Bolt. Since I was such an idiot and did not manage to counter Wear//Tear hitting my Sulfuric Vortex and Pithing Needle I could back up my Bolt when it would decide to show up and it showed up and I won. The FoW was not even necessary (but I screwed up several times colossally that's certain).

Local Legacy event

The following day I decided not to play Legacy and played Vintage Dark Petition Storm and RUGb Delver instead. On Mondays though there is a local Legacy tournament in Najada and I decided to participate to see how I can concentrate after work with actual cards in my hand and people around. I grabbed my Vintage of the table, Shardless BUG and went to my binder to find cards like Sulfuric Vortex and Surgical Extraction so my sideboard wouldn't look like 4 Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Nature's Claim, 2 Pyroblast, 2 Flusterstorm, 1 Vendilion Clique, 2 Abrupt Decay.

I managed to arrive on time and I even had the time to assemble my deck before the tournament. I was one card short but couldn't figure out what card I was missing till I ended up in the finals facing Helm Storm. I realized that I forgot Pithing Needle.

Round 1 - Eldrazi
As usual my round one did not start well. I played against a player who usually plays BUG Delver so I was looking forward to that match. But my turn 1 Probe revealed an Eldrazi hand which scared me a bit. Instead playing Delver I rather had to discard Chalice of the Void and Thought-Knot Seer. My opponent messed up his second and third turn so I got the chance to Wasteland his Sol Lands, play Delver, flip it, and then counter any spell that he would play (I did not counter Chalice of the Void because that card was not doing anything already). In game two I terrible died because of my opponent's Chalice and Ratchet Bomb but game three I managed to win. I was more lucky than anything else though. Actually the fact that I already played against the deck on Magic Online helped a ton. I had more experience with the deck than its pilot and that is what won me those two games.

Round 2 - Grixis Delver
In round two I played against mirror more or less. My opponent plays a more aggressive version of Grixis Delver including Stifles and Price of Progress. This time I had in mind that Stifle exists so I played around it and it was the first card he ditched when playing FoW. I was the one who resolved Delver first and had thus nice advantage. Then it was about Anglers and the number of counterspells in our hands. In the following game I tried as I could to withstand an early Delver. My attempts at killing it weren't really successful and when I managed to produce few creatures I could not win the damage race. In this game I realized that I really need some card draw. In Vintage it is way easier to come back. Brainstorm leaped in value for me after this game^_^. In the final game I was certain I can win but it wasn't easy nonetheless. I was the one with more Deathrite Shamans even though I had to draw some fetchlands to be able to use them. This took so long that I thought that I would even lose the match because of it but then I top decked Underground Sea and was back in the game and won.

Round 3 - Nic Fit
Round 3 I played against Nic Fit and I wasn't particularly looking forward to that matchup because I don't usually win those. I was quite confident game one since I had 2 Cabal Therapies in my hand and Gitaxian Probe. I discarded Green Sun's Zenith, Liliana of the Veil first and then two other cards leaving only Garruk in my opponent's hand. I had Wastelands to keep him of mana for a while so I could deal enough damage to win the game. This plan worked and I won. In the second game I mulled to four and lost to Pernicious Deed. Game three I tried my best staying alive and trying to be aggressive. When I played Ponder just to see two lands and Daze and shuffled I drew Daze once again. This card though won me the game later because my opponent played Pernicious Deed with 2 mana open. I played my Daze and this meant that my Pyromancer would stay in play and I could deal the last 3 damage with it later. There was more going on because I needed to deal with Thrun...erm rather attack in it no matter what and deal some damage so my opponent would get into Bolt range. I had one Bolt in hand for quite some time but my opponent was down to 4. I drew the second Bolt though. Angering my opponent with my top deck I advanced to the finals knowing I would face Helm/Top Storm combo.

Round 4 - Helm Combo
I messed my first Therapy and I bet on a wrong line of plays. It was either be aggressive and win in two turns or play safe and most probably not be able to counter the Top that was missing for the combo to be complete. I don't know how I should have approached the situation. But it certainly was strange to take the aggressive route since I played safe the whole time that day and wanted to see if it brings some fruit or not. Choosing the aggressive plan resulted in me losing the game since my opponent top decked what he needed and I died to Grapeshot.

In the following game I sided in about 10-11 cards to deal with the combo and hoped to win so we could play game 3. But I mulled to 5 because I had no land. I kept a hand with 1 land, Ponder and some countermagic. Ponder showed two lands and Null Rod so I left the cards on top and played Null Rod turn 2. I countered my opponents Spell Snare hoping he does not have Flusterstorm/Pierce/Force which would leave me with one land I would top deck^_^. It resolved though. Now all I needed was a creature. Unfortunately it came too late and I lost to Trinket Mage beat down.

My adventure with Grixis Delver will continue and I hope it will prepare me at least a bit for Prague Eternal. But since my brain will be on vacation I'm not even sure if I should bother WITH 'testing' but since those Leagues and tourney were fun I'll continue in it. The only thing I'm not sure at all is Abrupt Decay in the sideboard. Should I play the card? I don't side it often but when I do I'm very grateful that it is in my SB. So far what I missed was Golgari Charm's -1/-1 effect. I don't expect to die to a horde of Goblin tokens but against Maverick and DnT I would actually fancy that even though Grixis has better match up against those. In a mirror this can also help. I considered playing Darkblast in my sideboard. Maybe I just don't need it. I guess I should focus more on how to beat Shardless BUG (being more aggressive or play Stifle) and Miracles.

So that's it for the time being I guess. Writing this post helped me sort my thoughts so I hope this will help me in the future while playing Legacy or any other format and I hope it helps you too as well^_~. Thanks for reading.