I'm back!

Good news, everyone!  I have decided to return to the game.  I have a lot of time on my hands right now since I am recovering from a seizure and infection, and can't work or drive.  I'm going to stick to standard for most of my  gaming.  I'm afraid to make any forays into Modern due to the crazy combo decks in there.  I haven't looked into it recently so maybe things have changed, but I'm a tad lazy.  Going to be hard enough to catch up on what the meta in standard looks like as it is.  Since my computer is on the fritz, I am going to be typing on an iPad (boo hiss... Apple), and my ability to play test is going to be SEVERELY restricted until I get another computer.  I might try to wipe my computer hard drive and install Linux, but I'm not convinced the problem can be solved so simply.

I want to put together one deck in particular right now.  It revolves around Burning Vengeance.  It is probably the most fun deck I have seen in standard that can actually pull off wins against top tier decks, and I have a lot of the expensive cards I need for it on MTGO.  Burning Vengeance allows the player to use cards like Think Twice to not only obtain card advantage, but to kill creatures or damage the opponent.  Other flashback cards and cards recast off of Snapcaster Mage provide a massive card advantage when Burning Vengeance is on the battlefield.  Decks that aim to end the game really late or really early can both cause problems for it, however.  Hopefully, I can have a list up by the end of tomorrow and have some sort of sideboard plan to shore up those tough matchups.  I might play around with Search the City to push the card advantage over the edge and give me a better late game.  Delver of Secrets is also in consideration since the deck loves sorceries and instants.  Lots of fun possibilities.

Well... time to get to work.  I will have a list out soon.  See you then!

Cards to Watch: Jace's Phantasm

Spoiler season for Magic 2013 came very quickly on the heels of the Avacyn Restored release on MTGO and there is already a card that stands out.  Jace's Phantasm seems like it should be fake.  In power level terms, Wizards has put far worse cards in the rare slot before.  Jace's Phantasm is a 1/1 flier for a blue mana out of the gate.  When an opponent has 10 or more cards in his or her graveyard, it suddenly turns into a 5/5 flier.  Few cards I have ever seen got me as excited as I am over this card, assuming it is real.  The reason it gets me excited?

It makes an excellent tool for Delver players.  It is an enormous body for a minimal cost.  I can't imagine Delver players passing this up, unless the meta just doesn't favor it.  U/B control can be a pain since it can interact very well at all stages of the game with Delver's plan.  If it continues to be a contender, Delver will need to look to other tools.  Most lists have token generation, giving them an edge in the matchup as opposed to a build like mine, which relies primarily on Invisible Stalker, and has a lot of trouble after a resolved Liliana of the Veil or Curse of Death's Hold.

Access the complete Magic 2013 Spoiler at MTGSalvation.com.

Nixed Sixth Edition... 6.1th Edition anyone?

Sixth edition got nixed before it made it to a Standard queue.  My balance of creatures and spells is off.  Also, my abysmal matchup against Wolf Run and similar decks leads me to reconsider some things.  A budget Spirit Delver list I found here revealed some major flaws in my deck.  An inability to deal with creatures effectively, as well as an inability to push through damage outside of a Runechanter's Pike does not allow this deck to succeed.  The other deck features Fiend Hunters and Oblivion Rings as solutions to problematic permanents.  The deck also features 20 instants and sorceries to help flip Delver, while my sixth edition mono-blue delver list only has 17.  Drogskol Captains protect the other Spirits in the deck and also pump them.  They are also pumped by Honor of the Pure.  I feel the two decks have very different paths to victory, and the path to victory my version uses is fairly narrow and less resilient than the Spirit Delver list.  Token generation provides a very rapid recovery after a board sweep, whereas my deck leans on countermagic to answer a board sweeper.  With that said, I now must decide if I want to further protect the threats I present, or move to a more resilient plan.  Given the evidence presented in that forum, a more resilient plan seems to be the correct answer.  I have really liked Invisible Stalker, but in thinking things through, I can't remember very many occasions where it was actually better than any other evasive creature.  I'd love to turn off removal spells altogether with hexproof and deal with sweepers using countermagic, but I can sacrifice a few counterspells for ways of dealing with difficult creatures after they have hit the table, and I really like that possibility.  Niblis of the Breath gets me pretty excited.  However, the creature's toughness makes me depressed.  With a Grand Architect in play, it's a little less scary.  Yes, I'm moving back to that plan again.  This time, I think I am wise to the mistakes I made, so.. hopefully this won't end in another failed list.  There's a blue uncommon that pumps fliers.  I think it fits the bill nicely here.  A lack of token generators is a problem here, however, and is where the list stalls out a bit.  I think we can cheat by with two routes to victory here, however.  Dropping down on the countermagic suite and revising the creature list a bit should help.  Snapcaster Mage doesn't get into the red zone very frequently, so four seems like the wrong number.  I really need evasive, aggressive creatures.  Dungeon Geists really isn't what I want either in spite of how good it is.  4 for a creature is a bit much.  Early pressure and cards that stall an opponent's threats are things I need more.  I've revamped my spells to add to my ability to stall out creatures.  Though I'm still worried about allowing Titans to return to play over and over, I think my spell selection will help significantly in giving me that added bit of reach I need toward the end of a game.  I'm afraid to post a list because I fear the deck will be revised again before it makes its way into a standard queue, particularly since you don't see Niblis of the Breath at the top tables.

Mono-blue Delver: Sixth Edition

I have been unhappy with the build I have been experimenting with.  Dropping down to 20 lands hurts as it really cuts down on my options.  An interesting game I had with a build I'm very dissatisfied with almost makes pursuing the concept of a 20-land delver list worth the effort:

Increasing the potential for craziness and dumb luck is always nice, but I am unsure where to take the deck.  I want a list that I don't have to worry too much about hitting land drops in, as that has been quite an issue in the several games I have with the build featured in the video above (could simply be variance).  The mana cost of the spells is another factor.  Forbidden Alchemy is one of my favorite cards in the earlier builds of this deck, but I fear not being able to cast it when needed if only using 20 lands.  Moving to 21 or 22 lands might be correct.  Mana cost wise, it is less efficient than Thought Scour... but having selection over what you draw and pitch is worth it more often than not.  There are enough Delver decks in the format at the moment to prey on, so it may be correct to just hope for the best against Frites and other decks that 'go big' in a hurry.  Nonetheless, I'd like to have a puncher's chance against Frites and Wolf Run Ramp.  That is why I am upping the Dissipate count to 3.  Erring towards being more reactive may be incorrect, but even in the most aggressive builds I have played with, Frites has a pretty good shot of casting Unburial Rites on Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte before I can kill them.  Elesh Norn is nigh impossible to come back from.  I've survived Gideon Jura, Day of Judgment and other difficult-to-deal with shenanigans, but Elesh Norn takes the cake.  A few Surgical Extraction  or a couple Phantasmal Image would put Frites on its back heels, but $10 each is more than I am willing to pay.

An article on Wizards' website used Grand Architect in their budget Delver deck, but Grand Architect has underperformed for me.  Granted, the deck on the site had more artifacts than my list does.  I like the card, but I would prefer something else in that slot for my list.  2 Dungeon Geists may be where it's at, along with a fourth Forbidden Alchemy.  Dungeon Geists has performed very well for me against the decks that go big in a hurry.  He also helps to nullify the effects of Elesh Norn until I can bounce and counter him.

I decided to get a few Butcher's Cleavers for the sideboard in case mono-red decides to be a pain.

Here's the list I'm thinking about putting through a Standard queue on MTGO:

4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Snapcaster Mage

3 Dissipate
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
2 Thought Scour
4 Vapor Snag

4 Runechanter's Pike

2 Buried Ruin
19 Island

Sideboard:

4 Disperse
1 Dissipate
2 Negate
3 Butcher's Cleaver
3 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ratchet Bomb


I'll try and remember to record everything so you have an accurate idea about how this deck ends up performing.

Mono-Blue Delver: Fourth Edition

After a little thought, I realized quickly that although Negate  might be a good card in several matchups, it will not work to throw them in along with all the other countermagic in the deck.  Assuming you are not swapping them out for 3 of the Mana Leaks, you are looking at a troublesome time.  From six counterspells to a full nine, assuming no more were added.  Aggressive decks are fueled not by counterspells.  This must be rethought in light of an actual plan against the decks.  Now, they might still be correct, but I truly was contemplating just throwing them in with the Mana Leaks.  Instead, adding 2 Dissipates to the sideboard sounds better.  So.. for the G/R/x ramp decks, my sideboard strategy will look something like this:

+2 Dissipate, -3 Thought Scour, +2 Nim Deathmantle, +2 Darkslick Drake, -1 Runechanter's Pike, -2 Delver of Secrets

Yes.. a Delver deck that boards out its cornerstone card.  While Delver is the meat to these potatoes, square meals that do not include meat are actually pretty darn good.  Keep in mind that this plan was constructed in about 5 minutes, with only 3 games as a reference point.

For Solar Flare lists, I will be doing something similar.  Only here, I will not board out my Delvers:

+2 Dissipate, -3 Thought Scour, +2 Nim Deathmantle, -1 Runechanter's Pike



I really shouldn't even be posting sideboarding strategies because they will vary greatly by the time I put pen to paper and finalize a build.

Anyway, here is a completed decklist and sideboard (no links to the cards because I really want to get to testing):

4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Invisible Stalker
2 Snapcaster Mage

2 Dissipate
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
3 Thought Scour
4 Vapor Snag

4 Runechanter's Pike

2 Buried Ruin
21 Island

Sideboard:

2 Dissipate
2 Darkslick  Drake
2 Negate
3 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Nim Deathmantle
4 Disperse

Bounce spells that can get rid of Curse of Death's Hold and other nonsense will make life difficult.

Mono-Blue Delver: Beta

I planned on Stoic Rebuttal over Cancel, per the suggestion, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Dissipate.  Lingering Souls is pretty common online it seems.  Not to mention Snapcaster and other annoying shenanigans involving decaying corpses.  Having a 1-shot answer to that would be nice, but we will see how things pan out with this list.  Ok, so for the record, here's the build as it stands now:

Creatures:

4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Vault Skirge

Spells:

4 Mana Leak
2 Mutagenic Growth
4 Ponder
2 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Vapor Snag

Artifacts:

3 Runechanter's Pike

Lands:

2 Buried Ruin
21 Island

Did you catch my derp in the last post? Put Vapor Snare instead of Vapor Snag... it actually took me a bit to figure out why I had 5 CMC spells in my deck.

Mono-Blue Delver: Initial build

Save perhaps for Fish, blue is infamous for drawing out games until they can land some kind of finisher.  Delver of Secrets is changing this perception.  Once they flip into the 3/2 flier form, they can bring the beats, especially when sworded up.  Delver decks in the past few Grand Prix have featured 2 colors.  I am on a mission to find out if it is possible to create a mono-blue delver deck.  I have a feeling this task is destined for failure, but I figured it would be worth a shot nonetheless.  Here's the initial list I've decided on:

Creatures

2 Armored Skaab
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Invisible Stalker
2 Stormbound Geists
2 Vault Skirge

Spells

1 Cancel (yeah... srsly)
2 Gut Shot
4 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
3 Think Twice
3 Thought Scour

Artifacts

1 Nim Deathmantle
3 Runechanter's Pike

Lands

2 Buried Ruin
21 Island

That's it!  Now, all that's left is to build it and see what it can do.  Thoughts and comments are appreciated.  Also, if you notice any broken links, let me know.  Won't be any trouble to fix.