Hey folks, just wanted to post a list I've been having success with recently at my local events. Been in the top 4 my last three decent sized ones (20 plus). I think this deck bridges the gap well, committing to a midrange strategy game 1 and transitioning as needed for postboard.
Hey folks, just wanted to post a list I've been having success with recently at my local events. Been in the top 4 my last three decent sized ones (20 plus). I think this deck bridges the gap well, committing to a midrange strategy game 1 and transitioning as needed for postboard.
I think I'm going to give this stratagy a try tonight, would you mind explaining your sideboard choices? have you found search for azcanta and lili useful?
Thanks!
I just made the move to Modern, coming from Standard, and started with Grixis Death's Shadow. There were things I loved about the deck, cantrips, disruption, top end heavy hitters, but I hated trying to manage my life total so much. Furthermore with the unbannings, I think GDS gets worse. So I wanted to find a deck that allowed me to do the things about GDS, without having to manage my life so much, and here we are.
Hello, I've been away for a while from Delver while I played Storm. But the little blue bug is still my preferred play choice. It just doesn't seem... as viable.
Opinions on running a list without collected brutality? I've missed on it while it was cheaper and now I'm definetly regretting it.
Also: is the primer updated or is the consensus now different on a "default" list for the deck?
The stock list is pretty much the same, but I think that Opt is the go-to cantrip now. It reduces the number of awkward turns where you have to decide between improving your hand or keeping mana up to play an answer. Besides that the cards listed are basically the same. And you don't technically "need" a Brutality in your list, but it is a really good card. It's almost never dead while also punching Burn in the face. If you're determined to not buy them but want other options, I'd suggest Inquisitions.
Hi all! I've been playing Jeskai Delver for a while (after a 3 years long period playing Grixis Delver), because I believe it was better positioned in the meta of the last six months, but, with the unban of Jace and BBE, I can't accept to run a deck without dreadbore and kolaghan's command, the former to fight the planeswalker and the latter since I remember it was the card that gave me a good Jund matchup alongside good old snappy. Jeskai is, imho, better against decks like tron and aggro, but BGx is an utterly bad matchup which I cannot accept in the meta that seems to be the near future one. So, here is my current list, just slightly updated since the last time I sleeved it:
Pretty classic one, I believe 6 is the right number of counters (but I could go up to 8 if the meta becomes more spell than creature centric). I love dispel and spell snare but maybe in a Jace meta spell pierce could be better than one of them as a 1of.
The fourth push may be exaggerated so I could cut it for a counterspell or a cantrip, but, since I currently run it, I want the 9th fetchland.
The creature suite is interesting, since I run 3 pyros which are not a common choice since the ban of gitaxian probe, but I still love them and belive they are excellent in a grindy metagame. I'd like to include a 1of vendilion clique or a 4th delve threat but I don't want to reduce the spells/permanents ratio.
On the side I'm not sure at all, but, at the moment, this is what I run:
I have the impression of missing midrange hate in the form of hard to deal with threats, like geist of saint traft and gideon, ally of zendikar which destroyed Abzan when I was playing Jeskai. And I firmly belive Jace is not the kind of threat I'm looking for, but maybe something like ashiok, nightmare weaver could be. Any ideas or opinions?
I've cut scour too. At the beginning, it seemed to me like a blasphemy, but I was exhausted by all the flooding and screwing I had to face after an unlucky scour. My current list is as follows:
I've gone up with the fetches to still support a couple of delve fatties and the revolt of push, while also reducing a bit (non that much, I know'm) the chances of flooding. I also found that, in this meta, the fifth shock is very useful and I therefore decided to completely cut the fastlands. It may be worse against burn but it's a bad matchup anyway and it's not very common in my meta.
The creature base is pretty simple, with a couple of delve fatties less than usual due to the absence of scour and with the addition of a 3rd pyro and a clique, which shines against control.
I'm not completely sure about the 7th counter and the fact it is dispel, but I've almost always found targets for it, overall in the current meta, with eldratron and humans going down and the rise of control and jund. What do you people think about the list?
I think we reached similar conclusions with thought scour vs opt. Related with this, i accepted i would not play tasigur on t2, and as a midrange threat tombstalker is the best, in my opinion flying is underrated. I also think control will be on the rise, so v clique makes a lot of sense to me. Also, now that we play less delve threats, i wanted to try out bedlam reveler, im a big fan of this card, i think i like playing it even on 3-4 mana. About the fast lands, i disagree... i like them. Finally, i play discard over countermagic, i keep the second for the sb. Inquisition with k command and clique let me control the hand pretty well. Is a personal choice, i always wanted to play some kind of blue jund.
I still didnt play against any jace deck with this list, so i will keep twerking it
Well, in a discard based deck, reveler shines way better than in a counter based one. In my opinion, if you like discard over counterspells, Grixis Shadow is the deck for you, since counters are more tempo cards while discards are midrange ones. And that's what made me come back to delver from shadow: that was not my play stile. However, your list seems valid and, if I were a midrange player, I'd like it. For what concernes the delve fatties, I have to disagree: stalker is undoubtedly strong, but Tasigur costs less (and in a deck without scour that's even more relevant) and it's ability is insane in the mid to late game, where we are even able to over value midrange and control, sometimes, thanks to snap+kommand and tas. In fact, it's ability is the only thing that makes me prefer it to Angler.
Last thing, this should be the thread for Grixis Delver, yours is a Grixis Pyromancer lol
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Playing since FRF
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Hey folks, just wanted to post a list I've been having success with recently at my local events. Been in the top 4 my last three decent sized ones (20 plus). I think this deck bridges the gap well, committing to a midrange strategy game 1 and transitioning as needed for postboard.
I think I'm going to give this stratagy a try tonight, would you mind explaining your sideboard choices? have you found search for azcanta and lili useful?
Thanks!
To answer your questions first:
Yes, in the matchups where we have to out grind our opponents Delver is generally bad, so you side them out for elements that help help you ask your opponent hard questions amd maintain card advantage. I think people are overreacting to Jace, because 4 manna unsummon seems aweful against us, and an emergency brainstorm lets our bolt mop up while we get an attack in. I should clarify, I treat Grixis Delver like blue Jund with more efficient threats because we don't have efficient enough counter magic available to olay a true tempo game good enough for modern. The Tendrills have changed to a grim lavamancer (helps mop up the small wide creature decks while being another threat) and a pithing needle to name jace and other problems. Azcanta filters, finds spells to keep us alive and hits land drops to keep up with control, Lili has to be answered or she'll win the game through value or ult. I actually disagree that burn is a bad matchup. Snare, leak, fast threats and brutality you only have to carefully weather the storm before commiting your clock which is very doable since our threats are all functionallyone manna or value (snap). Also, one change to the main, the third terminate is a dreadbore, which has been solid.
Lo there, new here and been reading up and gathering the cards for delver, and ive been thinking now that you guys mention "Cryptic Serpent, why not perhaps include Enigma Drake as a 1 off or so, or is the 3 mana cost to prohibitive ? (I have a feeling the answer is yes)
Hey folks, just wanted to post a list I've been having success with recently at my local events. Been in the top 4 my last three decent sized ones (20 plus). I think this deck bridges the gap well, committing to a midrange strategy game 1 and transitioning as needed for postboard.
I think I'm going to give this stratagy a try tonight, would you mind explaining your sideboard choices? have you found search for azcanta and lili useful?
Thanks!
To answer your questions first:
Yes, in the matchups where we have to out grind our opponents Delver is generally bad, so you side them out for elements that help help you ask your opponent hard questions amd maintain card advantage. I think people are overreacting to Jace, because 4 manna unsummon seems aweful against us, and an emergency brainstorm lets our bolt mop up while we get an attack in. I should clarify, I treat Grixis Delver like blue Jund with more efficient threats because we don't have efficient enough counter magic available to olay a true tempo game good enough for modern. The Tendrills have changed to a grim lavamancer (helps mop up the small wide creature decks while being another threat) and a pithing needle to name jace and other problems. Azcanta filters, finds spells to keep us alive and hits land drops to keep up with control, Lili has to be answered or she'll win the game through value or ult. I actually disagree that burn is a bad matchup. Snare, leak, fast threats and brutality you only have to carefully weather the storm before commiting your clock which is very doable since our threats are all functionallyone manna or value (snap). Also, one change to the main, the third terminate is a dreadbore, which has been solid.
Thb honest I completely disagree with your first sentence. If there's something the grixis version of Delver is good at, it's grinding. The grinding level of Grixis Delver is, in my opinion, a little superior to Grixis Shadow, which means a lot. The only grinding matchup that I believe is a non-game is Jeskai but 1) it's underperforming compared to the WU version, which is way easier to beat for us, with the proper manabase and 2) we are tide or favored against any other grinding matchup, from Jund to Abzan to any non-Jeskai control.
I also don't like your approach to the deck since I believe the tempo plan of the deck is still good, with plays like clique or pyromancer+dispel (which is a perfect maindeck card for the deck, imo). What makes us favored against other grindy decks is, in fact, the presence of a 1 mana beater that's awsome on turn 1 and still good late in the game, surrounded by the same good spells our contenders have access to, so I belive it's wrong siding out the little insect-wizards.
What I agree with is your opinion on Jace. I believe it's excellent against our delve threats and I cut some of them accordingly, but we have enough reach to beat it in the mid game and even in the late. I'm way more scared by Azcanta than by the planeswalker, just to say. It's a good card, but some minor changes to the deck and to the game strategy are enough to play around it. Another choice I share and love is Dreadbore in the main and I even recommend a second copy in the side against Jund,Tron and UW based control.
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Playing since FRF
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Hey folks, just wanted to post a list I've been having success with recently at my local events. Been in the top 4 my last three decent sized ones (20 plus). I think this deck bridges the gap well, committing to a midrange strategy game 1 and transitioning as needed for postboard.
I think I'm going to give this stratagy a try tonight, would you mind explaining your sideboard choices? have you found search for azcanta and lili useful?
Thanks!
To answer your questions first:
Yes, in the matchups where we have to out grind our opponents Delver is generally bad, so you side them out for elements that help help you ask your opponent hard questions amd maintain card advantage. I think people are overreacting to Jace, because 4 manna unsummon seems aweful against us, and an emergency brainstorm lets our bolt mop up while we get an attack in. I should clarify, I treat Grixis Delver like blue Jund with more efficient threats because we don't have efficient enough counter magic available to olay a true tempo game good enough for modern. The Tendrills have changed to a grim lavamancer (helps mop up the small wide creature decks while being another threat) and a pithing needle to name jace and other problems. Azcanta filters, finds spells to keep us alive and hits land drops to keep up with control, Lili has to be answered or she'll win the game through value or ult. I actually disagree that burn is a bad matchup. Snare, leak, fast threats and brutality you only have to carefully weather the storm before commiting your clock which is very doable since our threats are all functionallyone manna or value (snap). Also, one change to the main, the third terminate is a dreadbore, which has been solid.
Thb honest I completely disagree with your first sentence. If there's something the grixis version of Delver is good at, it's grinding. The grinding level of Grixis Delver is, in my opinion, a little superior to Grixis Shadow, which means a lot. The only grinding matchup that I believe is a non-game is Jeskai but 1) it's underperforming compared to the WU version, which is way easier to beat for us, with the proper manabase and 2) we are tide or favored against any other grinding matchup, from Jund to Abzan to any non-Jeskai control.
I also don't like your approach to the deck since I believe the tempo plan of the deck is still good, with plays like clique or pyromancer+dispel (which is a perfect maindeck card for the deck, imo). What makes us favored against other grindy decks is, in fact, the presence of a 1 mana beater that's awsome on turn 1 and still good late in the game, surrounded by the same good spells our contenders have access to, so I belive it's wrong siding out the little insect-wizards.
What I agree with is your opinion on Jace. I believe it's excellent against our delve threats and I cut some of them accordingly, but we have enough reach to beat it in the mid game and even in the late. I'm way more scared by Azcanta than by the planeswalker, just to say. It's a good card, but some minor changes to the deck and to the game strategy are enough to play around it. Another choice I share and love is Dreadbore in the main and I even recommend a second copy in the side against Jund,Tron and UW based control.
So the first sentence was very vague, against Jeskai or Grixis, you definitely should side out Delver because it deadens bolt, helix and electrolyze as removal spells, while taxing Terminate because we play snare. Getting Delver to live in the late game against three color control decks without access to Stubborn or Shoal is a recipe for disaster, especially since leak is useless at keeping Delver alive past turn 6. Everything kills it, and they expect it post board so I sidestep them.With RUG it was a different story because one manna negate is just too efficient for them to beat, but that's not an option. We seem to agree though that the answers out of UW are thin or clunky enough that Delver is actually quite good, especially if they path our bug, or hilariously think Sphere will resolve to exile it. Don't generalize Jund and Abzan though. Souls single handedly changes that matchup, turning it from a simple one for one grind against Jund to nightmarish if Abzan resolves more than one copy. Also, against Jace decks, I think Pyro is a fine sub for delver, both because even though it dies to everything much like our bug, it fights Jace and we just play it when we can ensure getting value out of it. We win by making as many of their cards awkward or dead as possible and the ability to switch out delver and into essentially big Grixis midrange makes it very, very awkward for those bringing in removal for Delver. And against the big manna decks or in general decks we have to go underneath, I just shave a land and the poor spells add Pyro amd some better spells and it seems to ne working. Though I really did miss the flayong tendrills last weekend at a 104 person event. I lost a really close game three against bant spirits that grim Lavamancer just wasn't enough to manage.
Just took down the modern invitational event at my lgs last night and figured I'd share my list/report. The event was invite only and you had to have top 8'd a 1k to qualify so I faced solid opponents which made for tight games. Great crowd and great gameplay overall.
Not sure where this post belongs to be honest, I'm currently on my own version of grixis pyro and while it's not a delver deck it doesn't belong in the shadow or control threads either. Figured this was the closest so let me know if it should be moved.
I've played nearly every variation of grixis in modern you can think of but the most experience I have is with shadow and control. Got tired of the inconsistent nature that shadow can have (most of my losses were to my own deck refusing to cooperate rather than what my opponent did) but also wanted something more proactive than control so this is my attempt to make grixis pyro work. I can go over the decklist in more detail if need be.
Sided out all the non-bolt removal and the Jaces. Didn't have very much to bring in; brutality isn't amazing but it can disrupt them decently on the play and worst case scenario its a very bad burn spell/token for pyro.
Game 2 I surgicaled his amalgams and then snap surgicaled the darkblast, allowing young pyro to run away with the game in short order.
Game 3 I kept a reasonable opening hand although it had no hate cards in it. Ended up drawing a ton of lands and not much else and very quickly lost to his swarm of creatures. On the bright side, this would prove to be my only match loss for the rest of the tournament. As for dredge itself; I don't have much hate for this matchup but then again I can count on one hand the amount of times I've played against dredge in paper over the last 2 years so I'm not overly concerned.
Round 2
Grixis control 2-1
Game 1 was an extremely close game. On my last turn, my opponent was empty handed with an active search and I had a tasigur, pyro and 2 tokens on the field. My opponent was at 4 and I was at 5. My opponent searches on my end step and finds bolt to bring me to 2, then on his turn rips a bolt off the top for the win. Could have gone either way and was a tight race to the finish.
Idea here was to trim on removal (obvious) and bring in more disruption as well as card advantage. Other considerations were disdainful stroke (too narrow), Lili (too low impact) and fulminators (only good vs search). I didn't have the space so those cards didn't make the cut but I could see an argument for any of them.
Game 2 wasn't particularly close, I ripped apart my opponent's hand and resolved multiple ancestrals so he couldn't actually keep up with my card advantage.
Game 3 was also very close but I eventually resolved a Jace. I started fate sealing him and letting him have damnations and removal as he already had some in hand so that was not the fight I was going to pick. I had to play extremely carefully this game and there were several points that, had I played even slightly more greedy/aggressive, my opponent could have clawed back in. Jace eventually ulted for the win.
Round 3
Affinity 2-1
Game 1 was very one sided in my favour. I had all the removal in the world and k command is devastating against them.
Removing the Jaces as they're horrendous here, a squall and 2 discard spells on the play. I really didn't like discard against affinity but I wasn't sure if it would be worse than deprive as I needed an answer to etched champion or ravager before they hit the field. I decided on keeping the counters on the draw and brining the discard back in if it went to game 3.
Game 2 I removed literally everything my opponent played (including spell snare for his turn 2 bitter blossom) but he eventually resolved both champion and cranial plating and I never found a k command. Lost in very short order after that.
In: 2 thoughtseize
Out: 2 deprive
Game 3 was very close as I had my opponent on the ropes but he resolved champion to stabilize/start to race back. I flashed back a brutality to drain my opponent for 2 and that was just enough to change the math to my favour and I won the race.
Round 4
Amulet 2-1
Game 1 I took early control and even killed the first titan my opponent played. I had my opponent at 4 life with multiple attackers (2 tokens and a pyro) and no cards in hand but they ripped a pact for titan and not only stabilized but won the game.
Wasn't entirely sure how to board for the matchup as I not only play against the deck very infrequently but also haven't ever played against it with this deck. The thought process behind surgical was extracting a titan as that should cut them off most if not all of their win conditions. Didn't bring in stroke as I knew from game 1 that my opponent has cavern and a million ways to find it so I would rather not bring in a potentially dead card that specifically only counters titan.
Game 2 I had a very good and aggressive start with a turn 2 pyro. Ended up using fulminator to blow up cavern, k command back the fulminator the next turn and then play it the next to blow up one of his bounce lands which set him back long enough for me to win.
In: 2 disdainful stroke
Out: 2 surgical
Ended up deciding against the surgical plan as I did find it game 2 but it sat dead in my hand the entire game. Wanted more live cards even with the potential for cavern.
Game 3 was much closer but my opponent still couldn't quite get there. Got double pyro out early and my opponent was unable to deal with it. In both games 2 and 3 deprive was an absolute all star, countering pacts and titans alike.
Round 5
ID into top 8
Hard fought game but neither of us got there (everyone was locked in for top 8 so we all drew in)
Top 8
Grixis Pyro (me)
Amulet
Amulet (my opponent from round 4 but we didn't get paired up)
Lantern
Affinity
Death and Taxes
Coco Counters
Abzan
Quarterfinals
Amulet 2-0
I went into top 8 as the absolute lowest seed so of course I was playing against the guy in first (this also meant I was on the draw for every match in the top 8 including this one). My opponent was on the play but had to mull to 5 and led with the scout which I pushed. On my next turn I cast thoughtseize to forcibly mull them to 4 and then jammed a pyro. My opponent soon found explosives which he cast for 2 but by that point I already had 2 tokens out and slammed a tasigur next turn and his explosives could no longer save him.
Learned from my previous game and didn't bother with the surgicals this time.
Game 2 I snared his explore on turn 2, then got double pyro going and it was too much for my opponent to deal with. In total I think this entire match must have taken about 10 minutes and I was confident going into the next round. In hindsight I should have absolutely cut a spell snare as I didn't realize explore is literally the only target for it (aside from EE for 2 I guess) but live and learn.
Semi finals
Death and taxes 2-1
Game 1 my opponent has an aggressive start and I nearly stabilize with tasigur but my opponent rips a path off the top and that was the end of it.
I know my opponent has aether vial but I thought deprive is good if he doesn't or I can also use to protect my threats. In hindsight I should have kept in the thoughtseize over 1 deprive but the deprives did come in handy so it wasn't a complete punt.
Game 2 was very quick as I resolved an early pyro and then proceeded to kill all of my opponent's stuff every time it hit the field. He didn't have a creature stick around longer than a single turn this game and we quickly moved on to game 3
Game 3 was really stupid on my part and this is part of mental fatigue setting in and just general carelessness. On turn 3 I didn't have much going on so I flashed in the staticaster to use my mana and we kept playing from there. He never played anything the staticaster could kill (he played several scullers, displacers and a strangler or 2) so for about 7 turns it sat there unused and I just kept pushing it further and further to the side of the board to make room for double pyro, tasigur, snapcaster and a bunch of tokens. At one point my opponent flashed in thalia to block a pyro and I COMPLETELY forgot my staticaster was even on the board anymore at this point and my pyro died needlessly. Then later I was one point off of lethal as my opponent had one too many blockers. I was sitting there trying to figure out the correct line when I finally glanced at my staticaster, glanced at thalia, back to my staticaster and I immediately felt like an idiot. I killed the thalia and won the game there and my opponent and I had a good laugh about it after (it's not a misplay if you win, it's just elaborate bm)
Finals
Coco counters 2-0
Game 1 my opponent makes infinite life on turn 5 and goes to scoop up his cards expecting me to concede but I just say "that's fine" and he immediately gets suspicious. My next turn I play a Jace (I have 2 pyros and a lot of tokens) and my opponent now has to change gears. He flies over with birds combined with township to start swinging at Jace through my army of tokens but I eventually bounce the birds when Jace gets low and then bolt it when he replayed it. After that I just fatesealed my opponent until it was time to ult and that was the end of it.
I've never been a fan of boarding in dispel in this matchup for company as I just want to maximize the number of ways I can impact the board or strip cards from my opponent's hand before he gets value out of them via finks or witness. That may or may not be correct but it's the way I've approached it with both shadow and control and I have a very good winrate against the deck with either so I was confident in winning this match.
Game 2 my opponent never got to stick any more than one creature at a time and never assembled the combo through my removal. I had an early board of pyro, 2 tokens and snap but my opponent cast a pontiff to wipe the board. By that point he was already at a very low life total though so I just untapped, cast a tasigur and he was forced to start chump blocking each turn. To be fair, my opponent had 2 unfortunate companies (only one hit each) which was definitely good for me even though I had more than enough removal. His third company finally paid off big but by that point it was too little too late.
There's some very minor changes I might make to the list but overall I'm very happy with the core list and it's been performing very well for me.
I really like the "classicness" of this list, but there are some elements I'm not sold on:
1) I don't like Jace in the deck, since it's a card that doesn't affect the board and that's the kind of advantage I think we need in grinding matchups, but I might be wrong.
2) I always run at least 27 spells and seeing only 26 is a little disturbing, even though it shouldn't affect Delver's reliance by a lot, on the long term the difference might be huge.
3) In my experience, 5 delve spells (with cut) with only 8 fetches are too much. I wonder why that cut isn't a third push or, even more, a second terminate.
In the recent period I moved to a less delve focused list (you can find it scrolling a couple of messages) which I think is more consistent due to the presence of opt (which is simply amazing).
What I'm really impressed by is the mainboard electrolyze, which I might try instead of the third push. I also will take inspiration from the side, which, outside Jace, I really like.
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Playing since FRF
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
hey, i played some games with grixis delver and lost more or less every match against grixis shadow.
Removel, counter, disruption on both sides, but at the end, the shadow ist just bigger.
why do you guys play delver over shadow?
What are the better Matchups with it?
Sorry, i don't have that many experience with the deck.
Shadow is favored over Delver at this time mostly because of the improved Tron MU. Thoughtseizes and a bigger faster clock.
Difference in playstyle;
Shadow runs discards proactively - Delver plays counterspells
Shadow runs a smaller amount of removal and countermagic, mostly to clear the way for shadow - Delver plays a full control suite from remands to multiple pushes and terminates
Shadow runs "pain"-spells like thoughtseize and wraith (technically not a spell but nonetheless functionally a cantrip paid with 2 life), dismember. Its deckbuilding restriction requires it to self-harm to achieve victory. Delver plays the traditional way with its life total, and has to build around the delver with a large amount of delver-flip-hits aka instants/sorceries.
Shadow is capable of 1 turn kills with battlerage, or killing with 2 combat steps. Delver wins by chip damage over time, in conjunction with bolts, countersqualls and kommands.
Similarities;
Both are a protect-the-queen strategy;
Both play a low amount of lands compensated by a generous number of cantrips;
Both are capable of stopping spell-based combo due to their stack interaction.
Beating Shadow with Delver;
Its actually quite the even MU. If you have moons, they must be brought in. Delver is capable of playing under a moon; by its own Nature of manabase, Shadow has a harder time. Fatal pushes are premium in this MU. Delver will fly over anything Shadow has, while you will only be able to chump Shadow. Tasigur is the underdog in this MU but will be the only path most times to card advantage in the lategame and hence victory, if neither are able to close with 1-drops. An important difference to note is that Delver has much more reach spells than Shadow. Sandbag bolt spells and if they go to below 7 life, you have them in bolt-bolt or bolt-snap-bolt range, or bolt into 1 delver connection.
The most frequent board stall will involve them having a Shadow on their end and a Tasigur on yours, neither able to swing because the crackback will be lethal for them, and your Tasigur can't swing through. One rarely-mentioned spell that can blow them out is spicy: Claim // Fame. Claim fame is 4 surprise damage out of a snapcaster from your GY and possibly an additional 3 damage if you have a bolt in the GY as well. This will steal games. See also: casting a hasty 6/5 tasigur if there is a claim in the GY.
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Ok, thanks a lot. Good points.
Probably i will try Blood Moon for the Shadow Matchup (and Tron, Jeskai..). 3 in the Board should be enough right? Claim // Fame looks interesting, but a bit random. I cannot image that i would play it main or more than one in the board.
But what are the better Matchups for Delver?
Maybe combo because of the counterspells or UW Control, because we can burn them out?
UW control is even with Delver and unfavorable with Shadow, since we have way more reach and our manabase is more resilient to UW Control's mana denial. Other matchups that are better for delver are Affinity, Storm (but it's close) and Valakut, Aura, Living End and Infect are better too since we have main deck young pyromancer, more counterspells and removals
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Playing since FRF
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
I have read many Grixis Delver guides saying that Aura's hexproof is nearly an impossible matchup, for Shadow is tough too but can be won through early discard, liliana, explosives, pyroclasm and temur battle rage. Infect is overall a good matchup to any grixis variant although I think is better for Shadow because hurting your life means almost 0 danger. UW control can be hard for both but again there's little danger in hurting your life and thoughtseize can take their supreme verdict wich for me makes a huge difference. I think nearly any combo deck has a worse matchup against Shadow than Delver because it can present a faster clock with stubborn denial and discard backup. However Valakut and Storm are tricky because they can win without comboing if your'e low. Finally I agree with the Affinity matchup, It's waaaay better with Delver.
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"The sparkmage shrieked, calling on the rage of the storms of his youth. To his surprise, the sky responded with a fierce energy he'd never thought to see again."
How is Delver is the meta currently? I've had the deck built for just about 2 years and used to run it all the time before I expanded my collection and built other decks. Most of the time, I've seen most people that have piloted the deck covert it into Death's Shadow because all is really needed for the deck is the addition of Death's Shadow and Street Wraith.
What about the addition of Jace, the Mind Sculptor? I have only one and have been thinking about adding him just because he is available, just haven't really been convinced to do so.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler
Spells:28
2 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Serum Visions
3 Spell Snare
4 Thought Scour
4 Mana Leak
2 Remand
3 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Blood Crypt
1 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
2 Young Pyromancer
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
2 Collective Brutality
2 Countersquall
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
I think I'm going to give this stratagy a try tonight, would you mind explaining your sideboard choices? have you found search for azcanta and lili useful?
Thanks!
With Jace, our delve creatures become much less desirable.
However there are a few creatures that act similarly, but don’t care if they get bounced.
Bedlam Reveler - my only concern is we are typically not going full tilt, so discarding our hand may not be the best idea.
Cryptic Serpent - a big dumb 6/5 that can easily be chumped. It’s UU which is worse that B for angler but it doesn’t care if it gets bounced.
I just made the move to Modern, coming from Standard, and started with Grixis Death's Shadow. There were things I loved about the deck, cantrips, disruption, top end heavy hitters, but I hated trying to manage my life total so much. Furthermore with the unbannings, I think GDS gets worse. So I wanted to find a deck that allowed me to do the things about GDS, without having to manage my life so much, and here we are.
So here is my current decklist:
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Cryptic Serpent
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Instants 23
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Strike
4 Thought Scour
4 Serum Visions
3 Mana Leak
2 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
Lands 19
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
I have no idea on my sideboard yet, just trying to figure out the mainboard and how to pilot it best.
I will say that dropping 10 power across two bodies for UUB feels real good!
I would love any suggestions on the decklist, again trying to tune for the new meta shift, expecting a lot of JTMS and BBE.
The stock list is pretty much the same, but I think that Opt is the go-to cantrip now. It reduces the number of awkward turns where you have to decide between improving your hand or keeping mana up to play an answer. Besides that the cards listed are basically the same. And you don't technically "need" a Brutality in your list, but it is a really good card. It's almost never dead while also punching Burn in the face. If you're determined to not buy them but want other options, I'd suggest Inquisitions.
4 polluted delta
1 bloodstained mire
2 steam vents
1 watery grave
1 blood crypt
2 island
1 mountain
1 swamp
1 spirebluff canal
1 darkslick shores
4 snapcaster mage
3 young pyromancer
2 tasigur, the golden fang
1 gurmag angler
4 lightning bolt
4 fatal push
2 terminate
1 dreadbore
2 kolaghan's command
2 spell snare
3 mana leak
4 serum visions
4 thought scour
Pretty classic one, I believe 6 is the right number of counters (but I could go up to 8 if the meta becomes more spell than creature centric). I love dispel and spell snare but maybe in a Jace meta spell pierce could be better than one of them as a 1of.
The fourth push may be exaggerated so I could cut it for a counterspell or a cantrip, but, since I currently run it, I want the 9th fetchland.
The creature suite is interesting, since I run 3 pyros which are not a common choice since the ban of gitaxian probe, but I still love them and belive they are excellent in a grindy metagame. I'd like to include a 1of vendilion clique or a 4th delve threat but I don't want to reduce the spells/permanents ratio.
On the side I'm not sure at all, but, at the moment, this is what I run:
2 ceremonious rejection
2 by force
1 disdainful stroke
2 collective brutality
1 countersquall
1 dreadbore
2 rakdos charm
2 anger of the gods
1 izzet staticaster
I have the impression of missing midrange hate in the form of hard to deal with threats, like geist of saint traft and gideon, ally of zendikar which destroyed Abzan when I was playing Jeskai. And I firmly belive Jace is not the kind of threat I'm looking for, but maybe something like ashiok, nightmare weaver could be. Any ideas or opinions?
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
4 polluted delta
2 bloodstained mire
2 steam vents
2 watery grave
1 blood crypt
2 island
1 mountain
1 swamp
4 snapcaster mage
3 young pyromancer
1 vendilion clique
2 tasigur, the golden fang
4 lightning bolt
3 fatal push
2 terminate
1 dreadbore
2 kolaghan's command
2 spell snare
3 mana leak
4 serum visions
4 opt
I've gone up with the fetches to still support a couple of delve fatties and the revolt of push, while also reducing a bit (non that much, I know'm) the chances of flooding. I also found that, in this meta, the fifth shock is very useful and I therefore decided to completely cut the fastlands. It may be worse against burn but it's a bad matchup anyway and it's not very common in my meta.
The creature base is pretty simple, with a couple of delve fatties less than usual due to the absence of scour and with the addition of a 3rd pyro and a clique, which shines against control.
I'm not completely sure about the 7th counter and the fact it is dispel, but I've almost always found targets for it, overall in the current meta, with eldratron and humans going down and the rise of control and jund. What do you people think about the list?
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Well, in a discard based deck, reveler shines way better than in a counter based one. In my opinion, if you like discard over counterspells, Grixis Shadow is the deck for you, since counters are more tempo cards while discards are midrange ones. And that's what made me come back to delver from shadow: that was not my play stile. However, your list seems valid and, if I were a midrange player, I'd like it. For what concernes the delve fatties, I have to disagree: stalker is undoubtedly strong, but Tasigur costs less (and in a deck without scour that's even more relevant) and it's ability is insane in the mid to late game, where we are even able to over value midrange and control, sometimes, thanks to snap+kommand and tas. In fact, it's ability is the only thing that makes me prefer it to Angler.
Last thing, this should be the thread for Grixis Delver, yours is a Grixis Pyromancer lol
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
To answer your questions first:
Yes, in the matchups where we have to out grind our opponents Delver is generally bad, so you side them out for elements that help help you ask your opponent hard questions amd maintain card advantage. I think people are overreacting to Jace, because 4 manna unsummon seems aweful against us, and an emergency brainstorm lets our bolt mop up while we get an attack in. I should clarify, I treat Grixis Delver like blue Jund with more efficient threats because we don't have efficient enough counter magic available to olay a true tempo game good enough for modern. The Tendrills have changed to a grim lavamancer (helps mop up the small wide creature decks while being another threat) and a pithing needle to name jace and other problems. Azcanta filters, finds spells to keep us alive and hits land drops to keep up with control, Lili has to be answered or she'll win the game through value or ult. I actually disagree that burn is a bad matchup. Snare, leak, fast threats and brutality you only have to carefully weather the storm before commiting your clock which is very doable since our threats are all functionallyone manna or value (snap). Also, one change to the main, the third terminate is a dreadbore, which has been solid.
Thb honest I completely disagree with your first sentence. If there's something the grixis version of Delver is good at, it's grinding. The grinding level of Grixis Delver is, in my opinion, a little superior to Grixis Shadow, which means a lot. The only grinding matchup that I believe is a non-game is Jeskai but 1) it's underperforming compared to the WU version, which is way easier to beat for us, with the proper manabase and 2) we are tide or favored against any other grinding matchup, from Jund to Abzan to any non-Jeskai control.
I also don't like your approach to the deck since I believe the tempo plan of the deck is still good, with plays like clique or pyromancer+dispel (which is a perfect maindeck card for the deck, imo). What makes us favored against other grindy decks is, in fact, the presence of a 1 mana beater that's awsome on turn 1 and still good late in the game, surrounded by the same good spells our contenders have access to, so I belive it's wrong siding out the little insect-wizards.
What I agree with is your opinion on Jace. I believe it's excellent against our delve threats and I cut some of them accordingly, but we have enough reach to beat it in the mid game and even in the late. I'm way more scared by Azcanta than by the planeswalker, just to say. It's a good card, but some minor changes to the deck and to the game strategy are enough to play around it. Another choice I share and love is Dreadbore in the main and I even recommend a second copy in the side against Jund,Tron and UW based control.
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
So the first sentence was very vague, against Jeskai or Grixis, you definitely should side out Delver because it deadens bolt, helix and electrolyze as removal spells, while taxing Terminate because we play snare. Getting Delver to live in the late game against three color control decks without access to Stubborn or Shoal is a recipe for disaster, especially since leak is useless at keeping Delver alive past turn 6. Everything kills it, and they expect it post board so I sidestep them.With RUG it was a different story because one manna negate is just too efficient for them to beat, but that's not an option. We seem to agree though that the answers out of UW are thin or clunky enough that Delver is actually quite good, especially if they path our bug, or hilariously think Sphere will resolve to exile it. Don't generalize Jund and Abzan though. Souls single handedly changes that matchup, turning it from a simple one for one grind against Jund to nightmarish if Abzan resolves more than one copy. Also, against Jace decks, I think Pyro is a fine sub for delver, both because even though it dies to everything much like our bug, it fights Jace and we just play it when we can ensure getting value out of it. We win by making as many of their cards awkward or dead as possible and the ability to switch out delver and into essentially big Grixis midrange makes it very, very awkward for those bringing in removal for Delver. And against the big manna decks or in general decks we have to go underneath, I just shave a land and the poor spells add Pyro amd some better spells and it seems to ne working. Though I really did miss the flayong tendrills last weekend at a 104 person event. I lost a really close game three against bant spirits that grim Lavamancer just wasn't enough to manage.
Just took down the modern invitational event at my lgs last night and figured I'd share my list/report. The event was invite only and you had to have top 8'd a 1k to qualify so I faced solid opponents which made for tight games. Great crowd and great gameplay overall.
Not sure where this post belongs to be honest, I'm currently on my own version of grixis pyro and while it's not a delver deck it doesn't belong in the shadow or control threads either. Figured this was the closest so let me know if it should be moved.
I've played nearly every variation of grixis in modern you can think of but the most experience I have is with shadow and control. Got tired of the inconsistent nature that shadow can have (most of my losses were to my own deck refusing to cooperate rather than what my opponent did) but also wanted something more proactive than control so this is my attempt to make grixis pyro work. I can go over the decklist in more detail if need be.
Decklist:
1x Bloodstained Mire
4x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Darkslick Shores
2x Spirebluff Canal
1x Blood Crypt
2x Steam Vents
2x Watery Grave
1x Island
1x Mountain
1x Swamp
Creatures (10)
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Young Pyromancer
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4x Opt
4x Serum Visions
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
2x Fatal Push
1x Spell Snare
1x Terminate
1x Dreadbore
2x Deprive
1x Countersquall
2x Kolaghan's Command
3x Ancestral Vision
1x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Dispel
2x Disdainful Stroke
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Collective Brutality
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Izzet Staticaster
2x Fulminator Mage
Anyway here's the match report:
Round 1
Dredge 1-2
Game 1 was very one sided as most fair decks are versus dredge.
In: 2 surgical, 2 brutality, 1 Lili, 1 staticaster
Out: 2 push, 1 dreadbore, 2 Jace, 1 terminate
Sided out all the non-bolt removal and the Jaces. Didn't have very much to bring in; brutality isn't amazing but it can disrupt them decently on the play and worst case scenario its a very bad burn spell/token for pyro.
Game 2 I surgicaled his amalgams and then snap surgicaled the darkblast, allowing young pyro to run away with the game in short order.
Game 3 I kept a reasonable opening hand although it had no hate cards in it. Ended up drawing a ton of lands and not much else and very quickly lost to his swarm of creatures. On the bright side, this would prove to be my only match loss for the rest of the tournament. As for dredge itself; I don't have much hate for this matchup but then again I can count on one hand the amount of times I've played against dredge in paper over the last 2 years so I'm not overly concerned.
Round 2
Grixis control 2-1
Game 1 was an extremely close game. On my last turn, my opponent was empty handed with an active search and I had a tasigur, pyro and 2 tokens on the field. My opponent was at 4 and I was at 5. My opponent searches on my end step and finds bolt to bring me to 2, then on his turn rips a bolt off the top for the win. Could have gone either way and was a tight race to the finish.
In: 3 ancestral, 1 dispel, 2 brutality
Out: 1 terminate, 1 dreadbore, 2 push, 2 bolt
Idea here was to trim on removal (obvious) and bring in more disruption as well as card advantage. Other considerations were disdainful stroke (too narrow), Lili (too low impact) and fulminators (only good vs search). I didn't have the space so those cards didn't make the cut but I could see an argument for any of them.
Game 2 wasn't particularly close, I ripped apart my opponent's hand and resolved multiple ancestrals so he couldn't actually keep up with my card advantage.
Game 3 was also very close but I eventually resolved a Jace. I started fate sealing him and letting him have damnations and removal as he already had some in hand so that was not the fight I was going to pick. I had to play extremely carefully this game and there were several points that, had I played even slightly more greedy/aggressive, my opponent could have clawed back in. Jace eventually ulted for the win.
Round 3
Affinity 2-1
Game 1 was very one sided in my favour. I had all the removal in the world and k command is devastating against them.
In: 1 rejection, 2 brutality, 1 Lili, 1 staticaster
Out: 2 Jace, 2 thoughtseize, 1 countersquall
Removing the Jaces as they're horrendous here, a squall and 2 discard spells on the play. I really didn't like discard against affinity but I wasn't sure if it would be worse than deprive as I needed an answer to etched champion or ravager before they hit the field. I decided on keeping the counters on the draw and brining the discard back in if it went to game 3.
Game 2 I removed literally everything my opponent played (including spell snare for his turn 2 bitter blossom) but he eventually resolved both champion and cranial plating and I never found a k command. Lost in very short order after that.
In: 2 thoughtseize
Out: 2 deprive
Game 3 was very close as I had my opponent on the ropes but he resolved champion to stabilize/start to race back. I flashed back a brutality to drain my opponent for 2 and that was just enough to change the math to my favour and I won the race.
Round 4
Amulet 2-1
Game 1 I took early control and even killed the first titan my opponent played. I had my opponent at 4 life with multiple attackers (2 tokens and a pyro) and no cards in hand but they ripped a pact for titan and not only stabilized but won the game.
In: 2 surgical, 2 brutality, 2 fulminator
Out: 2 push, 2 jace, 1 dreadbore, 1 bolt
Wasn't entirely sure how to board for the matchup as I not only play against the deck very infrequently but also haven't ever played against it with this deck. The thought process behind surgical was extracting a titan as that should cut them off most if not all of their win conditions. Didn't bring in stroke as I knew from game 1 that my opponent has cavern and a million ways to find it so I would rather not bring in a potentially dead card that specifically only counters titan.
Game 2 I had a very good and aggressive start with a turn 2 pyro. Ended up using fulminator to blow up cavern, k command back the fulminator the next turn and then play it the next to blow up one of his bounce lands which set him back long enough for me to win.
In: 2 disdainful stroke
Out: 2 surgical
Ended up deciding against the surgical plan as I did find it game 2 but it sat dead in my hand the entire game. Wanted more live cards even with the potential for cavern.
Game 3 was much closer but my opponent still couldn't quite get there. Got double pyro out early and my opponent was unable to deal with it. In both games 2 and 3 deprive was an absolute all star, countering pacts and titans alike.
Round 5
ID into top 8
Hard fought game but neither of us got there (everyone was locked in for top 8 so we all drew in)
Top 8
Grixis Pyro (me)
Amulet
Amulet (my opponent from round 4 but we didn't get paired up)
Lantern
Affinity
Death and Taxes
Coco Counters
Abzan
Quarterfinals
Amulet 2-0
I went into top 8 as the absolute lowest seed so of course I was playing against the guy in first (this also meant I was on the draw for every match in the top 8 including this one). My opponent was on the play but had to mull to 5 and led with the scout which I pushed. On my next turn I cast thoughtseize to forcibly mull them to 4 and then jammed a pyro. My opponent soon found explosives which he cast for 2 but by that point I already had 2 tokens out and slammed a tasigur next turn and his explosives could no longer save him.
In: 2 stroke, 2 brutality, 2 fulminator
Out: 2 push, 2 jace, 1 dreadbore, 1 bolt
Learned from my previous game and didn't bother with the surgicals this time.
Game 2 I snared his explore on turn 2, then got double pyro going and it was too much for my opponent to deal with. In total I think this entire match must have taken about 10 minutes and I was confident going into the next round. In hindsight I should have absolutely cut a spell snare as I didn't realize explore is literally the only target for it (aside from EE for 2 I guess) but live and learn.
Semi finals
Death and taxes 2-1
Game 1 my opponent has an aggressive start and I nearly stabilize with tasigur but my opponent rips a path off the top and that was the end of it.
In: 2 brutality, 1 Lili, 1 staticaster
Out: 1 squall, 2 Jace, 1 thoughtseize
I know my opponent has aether vial but I thought deprive is good if he doesn't or I can also use to protect my threats. In hindsight I should have kept in the thoughtseize over 1 deprive but the deprives did come in handy so it wasn't a complete punt.
Game 2 was very quick as I resolved an early pyro and then proceeded to kill all of my opponent's stuff every time it hit the field. He didn't have a creature stick around longer than a single turn this game and we quickly moved on to game 3
Game 3 was really stupid on my part and this is part of mental fatigue setting in and just general carelessness. On turn 3 I didn't have much going on so I flashed in the staticaster to use my mana and we kept playing from there. He never played anything the staticaster could kill (he played several scullers, displacers and a strangler or 2) so for about 7 turns it sat there unused and I just kept pushing it further and further to the side of the board to make room for double pyro, tasigur, snapcaster and a bunch of tokens. At one point my opponent flashed in thalia to block a pyro and I COMPLETELY forgot my staticaster was even on the board anymore at this point and my pyro died needlessly. Then later I was one point off of lethal as my opponent had one too many blockers. I was sitting there trying to figure out the correct line when I finally glanced at my staticaster, glanced at thalia, back to my staticaster and I immediately felt like an idiot. I killed the thalia and won the game there and my opponent and I had a good laugh about it after (it's not a misplay if you win, it's just elaborate bm)
Finals
Coco counters 2-0
Game 1 my opponent makes infinite life on turn 5 and goes to scoop up his cards expecting me to concede but I just say "that's fine" and he immediately gets suspicious. My next turn I play a Jace (I have 2 pyros and a lot of tokens) and my opponent now has to change gears. He flies over with birds combined with township to start swinging at Jace through my army of tokens but I eventually bounce the birds when Jace gets low and then bolt it when he replayed it. After that I just fatesealed my opponent until it was time to ult and that was the end of it.
In: 2 brutality, 1 Lili, 1 staticaster
Out: 2 deprive, 1 squall, 1 inquisition
I've never been a fan of boarding in dispel in this matchup for company as I just want to maximize the number of ways I can impact the board or strip cards from my opponent's hand before he gets value out of them via finks or witness. That may or may not be correct but it's the way I've approached it with both shadow and control and I have a very good winrate against the deck with either so I was confident in winning this match.
Game 2 my opponent never got to stick any more than one creature at a time and never assembled the combo through my removal. I had an early board of pyro, 2 tokens and snap but my opponent cast a pontiff to wipe the board. By that point he was already at a very low life total though so I just untapped, cast a tasigur and he was forced to start chump blocking each turn. To be fair, my opponent had 2 unfortunate companies (only one hit each) which was definitely good for me even though I had more than enough removal. His third company finally paid off big but by that point it was too little too late.
There's some very minor changes I might make to the list but overall I'm very happy with the core list and it's been performing very well for me.
I really like the "classicness" of this list, but there are some elements I'm not sold on:
1) I don't like Jace in the deck, since it's a card that doesn't affect the board and that's the kind of advantage I think we need in grinding matchups, but I might be wrong.
2) I always run at least 27 spells and seeing only 26 is a little disturbing, even though it shouldn't affect Delver's reliance by a lot, on the long term the difference might be huge.
3) In my experience, 5 delve spells (with cut) with only 8 fetches are too much. I wonder why that cut isn't a third push or, even more, a second terminate.
In the recent period I moved to a less delve focused list (you can find it scrolling a couple of messages) which I think is more consistent due to the presence of opt (which is simply amazing).
What I'm really impressed by is the mainboard electrolyze, which I might try instead of the third push. I also will take inspiration from the side, which, outside Jace, I really like.
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Shadow is favored over Delver at this time mostly because of the improved Tron MU. Thoughtseizes and a bigger faster clock.
Difference in playstyle;
Shadow runs discards proactively - Delver plays counterspells
Shadow runs a smaller amount of removal and countermagic, mostly to clear the way for shadow - Delver plays a full control suite from remands to multiple pushes and terminates
Shadow runs "pain"-spells like thoughtseize and wraith (technically not a spell but nonetheless functionally a cantrip paid with 2 life), dismember. Its deckbuilding restriction requires it to self-harm to achieve victory. Delver plays the traditional way with its life total, and has to build around the delver with a large amount of delver-flip-hits aka instants/sorceries.
Shadow is capable of 1 turn kills with battlerage, or killing with 2 combat steps. Delver wins by chip damage over time, in conjunction with bolts, countersqualls and kommands.
Similarities;
Both are a protect-the-queen strategy;
Both play a low amount of lands compensated by a generous number of cantrips;
Both are capable of stopping spell-based combo due to their stack interaction.
Beating Shadow with Delver;
Its actually quite the even MU. If you have moons, they must be brought in. Delver is capable of playing under a moon; by its own Nature of manabase, Shadow has a harder time. Fatal pushes are premium in this MU. Delver will fly over anything Shadow has, while you will only be able to chump Shadow. Tasigur is the underdog in this MU but will be the only path most times to card advantage in the lategame and hence victory, if neither are able to close with 1-drops. An important difference to note is that Delver has much more reach spells than Shadow. Sandbag bolt spells and if they go to below 7 life, you have them in bolt-bolt or bolt-snap-bolt range, or bolt into 1 delver connection.
The most frequent board stall will involve them having a Shadow on their end and a Tasigur on yours, neither able to swing because the crackback will be lethal for them, and your Tasigur can't swing through. One rarely-mentioned spell that can blow them out is spicy: Claim // Fame. Claim fame is 4 surprise damage out of a snapcaster from your GY and possibly an additional 3 damage if you have a bolt in the GY as well. This will steal games. See also: casting a hasty 6/5 tasigur if there is a claim in the GY.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Jeskai Delver
Standard:
Temur Energy
EDH:
Roon of the Hidden Realm
What about the addition of Jace, the Mind Sculptor? I have only one and have been thinking about adding him just because he is available, just haven't really been convinced to do so.