[Primer] UR Delver

[Khaospawn]

Nice, James. I really like the Think Twice in there.

[zemanjaski]

It could have been telling time; think twice was great against other control decks as they are cutting all ca spells so drawing one puts you always up on cards; but a but slow vs. Creature decks; telling time is a little more immediately impactful and a powerful flashback with snappy.

[Khaospawn]

Telling Time is absurd. Great flavor text too. I can't believe they made that card an instant.

[Platypus]

I'm surprised that Telling Time isn't seeing more play. I mean, it's a mini Impulse.

[zemanjaski]

Don't mention impulse that card is fucked up. I wish I could play it

[Platypus]

You are not alone with that wish.

[Khaospawn]

#reprintImpulse

[zemanjaski]

It's too powerful with Snapcaster Mage.

[Valdarith]

It's too powerful PERIOD.

[Valdarith]

Saw your post on /r spikes, Zem. Seems like a solid build. I'd personally try to make room for the second Clique and fourth Mutavault but you seem to already be headed in that direction.

How has three Spell Snare been? I've found two to be the right number for me. There are some matchups where the card is just complete crap and I can't imagine having a third in the deck.

[zemanjaski]

There's a lot of affinity, UWR and Jund in my meta, so snare is disproportionately powerful. 3rd copy is absolutely a meta call. If there was more pod for example, I couldn't justify the 3rd copy.

[RedNihilist]

This list seems sweet :0

[zemanjaski]

I'd consider cutting Shatterstorm for Sword of Feast and Famine.

[Jack]

Agreed. This list shits on robots so hard anyway. I think it's definitely worth playing around with what sword to use, though. Protection from b and g is very (since game 2 versus pod decks can be a bit tricky), but we can't utilize the untapping part as much. We would appreciate L&S's extra effects more, but we lose the ability to swing through most of Melira Pod's creatures. F&I might be win-more since the deck is already really good at generating incremental advantage, and we're playing a sword to finish the game, but probably still worth testing.

[zemanjaski]

Feast and Famine would be for Jund / UWR, not Melira.

[zemanjaski]

And you hit them, use the untap to keep up counters; the first untap is huge. After that you just attack and if they trip to kill your attacker you get to counter then untap again.

[zemanjaski]

Had a chat with Hoogland yesterday, we arrived at:

[deck]UR Tempo Control[/deck]
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique

Non-Creature Spells
2 Burst Lightning
1 Electrolyze
1 Flame Slash
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
3 Spell Snare
2 Telling Time

Lands
1 Arid Mesa
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Steam Vents

Sideboard
1 Combust
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Keranos God of Storms
3 Magma Spray
3 Negate
1 Spellskite
3 Spreading Seas
1 Sword of X and Y
[/deck]

I'm in discussion with a few people about which Sword but I think it'll end up being Feast and Famine.

[Valdarith]

With so many lands I wonder if you should be running more powerful spells. I see Burst Lightning which makes use of the extra mana. You don't have quite enough blue for Cryptic, but if you put in a Faerie Conclave it could give you enough to run 1-2 comfortably.

[Jack]

Or even I just a stronger mana sink. Pretty much everyone on reddit wanted to point out just how threat-light they thought this deck was.

[Jack]

Though this feels like zem is trying to port his pauper MUC into Modern.

[Valdarith]

It's actually not as light on threats as it seems. With four Mutavault in the list it's about on par or even better than most Delver lists. The only downside is that this makes the deck more susceptible to Tec Edge.

[zemanjaski]

At least if they're tec. Edging you it makes your counters a little better so it's not free for them.

I've not felt threat light, but I can appreciate the concern. I've probably posted in the wrong part of the site since this is much more of a control deck than normal delver lists.

[Platypus]

I've probably posted in the wrong part of the site since this is much more of a control deck than normal delver lists.

Maybe, but then you'd have to make another primer...

I think your deck fits in this thread, it's red and blue, and have Delvers.

Maybe the thread doesn't belong in the aggro section?

[Valdarith]

It is a much different approach, but I think it's fine. I think those that have played and understand the archetype see the similarities despite the differences in card choices. It's like UR Twin vs Tarmo Twin.

[Platypus]

I agree. And perhaps it's a development the deck needs for it to be more successful? I've tried playing the more tradition versions as an aggro decks, but that hasn't always worked, and a controlish approach would have been better.

[zemanjaski]

I think what reddit fails to understand is that you're mostly in the market for delver on turn 5 with two counters up. Delver on turn 1 is just extra value.

[Valdarith]

That's a lot like how I play YP$ in my deck. It confuses a lot of people without experience with the archetype. These are the people that think the best line of play is holding Probe to cast with your turn two Pyromancer.

[zemanjaski]

I'm playing delver because in UR control it's incredibly hard to apply pressure without tapping low; delver does that.

[Valdarith]

Yep. Turn four Delver, leave up Leak and Snare. Deal with it.

[dpaine88]

Hey Fellas!!

Hopping on board here after my first modern events when the Grand Prix came to my city this weekend(Boston,MA).

Borrowed Mono Red Burn from a fellow DTR member and had a lot of fun. I did bad in the GP but in the 300 person 10 round Modern Super Series, I started 7-0 and was pretty happy about it. The deck was really good.

Good, but about as fun as watching paint dry. Nothing like the tempo-y Standard Burn I have come to know and love. This deck was a total bore to play. I just wanted something that would be good without knowing a single card in the format basically.

The very last round of the Super Series I got smashed out by Delver. Never seen this deck before, but I fell in love HARD. It reminded me just of Standard Burn!! Looked like so much fun to play.

Rcwraspy who lent me the Burn cards is nice enough to lend me Delver, so I will be playing that this weekend at TCG Modern States.

nExpect me to be pretty active in this thread as I learn the format and practice my dick off.

[zemanjaski]

Went 4-0 last night, playing telling time and the 4th Mutavault. Beat merfolk, Affinity and UR Twin x2.

[Mr. Metronome]

This deck seems awesome, but the Jund and UWR matchups concern me. Have you had a chance to test much vs those? I'd be tempted to overload on sideboard cards for them.

There's a LOT of Lingering Junk around here, which unless there's some solution to that matchup will lead me to sadly not sleeve up Delvers for my ptq

[Valdarith]

No one in my meta plays BGx (literally) because the meta is so new and it's an expensive deck, but that matchup is definitely unfavorable. UWR control is actually one of my better matchups and I have yet to drop a match to it (played against it at least 9 times).

If you expect a lot of Lingering Souls, load up on Remand and run two Electrolyze in the maindeck and throw a third in the board.

[zemanjaski]

Decks like Jund / UWR are very tough until you have a lot of experience; then they're still bad but winnable. I went 7-0 vs Jund/UWR with Twin at nationals and that deck is less well equipped to fight than this (since deceiver exarch and splinter twin are blanks game 1 and you don't have mana leak).

Current list:

[deck]UR Tempo-Control[/deck]
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique

Non-Creature Spells
2 Burst Lightning
1 Electrolyze
1 Flame Slash
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
3 Spell Snare
2 Telling Time

Lands
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Steam Vents

Sideboard
1 Combust
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Keranos, God of Storms
3 Magma Spray
3 Negate
1 Relic of Progenitus
1
Spellskite
3 Spreading Seas
[/deck]

[Khaospawn]

How's the Telling Time working out, Z?

[zemanjaski]

Spreading Seas could be Stone Rain; that's a little worse vs UWR, about the same with Jund and much better vs. Tron and Scapeshift. Stone Rain has a positive interaction with Snapcaster Mage and Mana Leak.

I don't know if it's better, worse or the same against Affinity and Merfolk.

[zemanjaski]

Telling Time is very good. The deck seems to value raw selection more than just an extra card and it's a powerful card to Snapcaster. It feels more impactful than think twice which matters I think.

[zemanjaski]

You get WAY more out of the first two mana and that's often all you can fit in early.

[Jack]

Spreading Seas always feels like misused sideboard space. It's not a bad card, but it's not crushing against that many decks (compared to the effectiveness of most other sideboard cards).

[Khaospawn]

You think your manabase could handle Molten Rain over the Stone Rain if you go that route?