MTG Salvation

Last night I went 2-2 with the above list.

Round One-Titanshift

He got game one through doing Scapeshift things, and I was unable to race.
+2 Surgical, +1 Clique, +1 Negate
-2 Azcanta, -2 Path
He punted Game Two by not using his Relic, and I was able to Knot for exactly enough to counter a Scapeshift, and went on to win that game. Game three, he has 2 Valakuts in play, I was at 13, and he was sitting at 6. He was hellbent. I played a Delver, passed. He draws Wood Elves, plays it, shoots me and my Delver, passes. I draw another Delver, play it, pass. He draws a Cinder Glade, hits my Delver and my face, passes. I endstep a bolt, draw a land, and pray. He draws, passes. I draw a Queller, pass. He draws, passes. I play Queller EOT, he bolts it. I rip a Snap for the win.

This match was extremely grindy, but he was a good friend so we were able to have a laugh about it later.

Round Two-Abzan
I got 2-0ed pretty solidly. He beat me to death with Souls both games. Not much to write about here.
+2 Verdict, +1 Staticaster
-1 Chart, -1 Helix, -1 Clique

Round Three-Eldrazi Tron
My opener was 3 Delvers, 2 lands, a Serum, and something else. I play T1 Delver, pass. He goes land, Map, pass. I play 2 Delver T2 and pass, flip them all T3, and run away with the game.
+2 Verdict, +2 Rejection, +1 W/T
-2 Snare, -3 Helix

Game Two was a grind, and he won through 2 topdecked Smashers in a row. He also cast a Thought-Knot, saw Path, Queller, 2 lands, said "I hate Queller!" and took it. I was trying REALLY hard not to laugh XD.

Game Three, my opener is 3 lands, Serum, 3 Delvers. Same thing happens as Game One, but they all flip a turn later.

Round Four-Jeskai Tempo
Game One, he stuck a Geist, and I couldn't remove it. Most of the Magic we played was land, cantrip, go. Or land, burn, go.
+2 Verdict, +2 Surgical, +2 Dispel, +1 Clique
-3 Helix, -2 Path, -2 Snare
*Not sure if cutting Snare was correct, still on the fence about that

Game Two went the same way. We played Draw-Go for a few turns, he landed a Geist, I died.

Closing Statements
The deck felt very good. It was my first DCI tourney with it, and it performed well. I'm still not sure if I like 2 Azcanta in the main, may end up putting them in the side. Still undecided. I also feel like I need a 21st land, so the Azcanta may come out for a land and a fourth Chart. I may have also just had a bad night, but almost every match I found myself having to dig for lands, or keeping a one land Serum hand, and not finding any in the top 3 cards.

Please tell me if you think I should have sideboarded differently, taken different lines, or any other comments you'd like to make.

Hope this helped!

Point taken @Quip. My main points still stand though, it 2-for-1s you in an inconvenient way.

Personally, I think if you're playing Geist you're better off playing the Tempo lists Harland Firer and Jonathan Rosum have been dominating the SCG circuit with. I like playing a more conservative version of Delver, with minimal creatures and a high spell density.



I decided to swap the two copies of Opt in the main to bring in two Azcanta, and free up board space. I'm still deciding about playing Azcanta in the main, because our creature count is a nonbo with the Sunken Ruin, but it's been working well. I'm piloting this list in a 5-round tournament tonight, and I'll give a tournament report either tonight or tomorrow depending on how tired I am.

@ashtonkutcher- The reason I don't like Shoal is because although it's the MDN Force, it 2-for-1s you in inconvenient ways. All the cards you mentioned as examples are indeed card disadvantage, but you can formulate them in a way that is still effective.

Look at our options for piching things to shoal-

On one, we have Delver, Serum and any other one-mana cards you decide to include. The issue with this is that Delver is the main threat card in the deck, and Serum helps us set up our draws. There aren't a lot of one-mana cards in Modern we'll be countering with Shoal though, so that's a perk.

One two, we have Chart, Snap, and Azcanta. That's where the problems start. These cards (at least in my build) are integral to the success of the deck. I won't really be able to pitch any of these comfortably. You can pitch another Shoal to it, but it's still a very bad spot to be in.

On three, we don't have many cards in our deck we can pitch, with only the Quellers, Electrolyze, and a Clique as options. With only five cards of 3 CMC to pitch, it's not as effective when you cast Shoal on three. Furthermore, all these cards have a pretty big impact on the game. Electrolyze is a great value engine, and the creatures are our only way of closing the game as we don't include Colonnades.

Okay, point taken. I should have phrased the question differently, and I think I was also trying to rationalize my lack of Shoals. It's not the best card for my playstyle, but I'll give it a shot.

So I'll be honest after thinking about it for a little, Modern doesn't reward you for 2 for 1ing yourself. That's one of the reasons I don't really like shoal.

I will definitely test this list out- Shoal looks very very good. I've been thoroughly impressed with Azcanta in the board- I swapped the two copies of Stony from my list last page for Azcanta. I don't like the 2 Purge in the board, maybe cut one for another sweeper like a Verdict? And it looks like we've come to the same conclusion that 20 lands is optimal. Any other thoughts you've had?

Any thoughts on what the final one-of should be? Maybe an opt?

Hey guys- haven't got a lot of time to play with Delver this week, and I have an updated list-


I've decided I like Knot more than Remand, and that 4 Chart may be too many, imma try three, but I'm not sure what the one-of should be. Any thoughts? Maybe an Azcanta?

The trade has been fine- I've jammed some games versus Shadow, and sometimes having another wincon would be better, but TBH it seems fine. I haven't played this current iteration much, but I'll have a tourney report from FNM (if I can get Delvers in time).

Hey guys- I've been playing UWR in Modern for a very long time. I started with UWR Draw-Go, and then got into Nahiri when she was printed. Played her for a while, and then Jeskai fell off the map a bit for a few months. During that time, I screwed around with Jeskai Delver, as well as UW and Esper Control. Over the summer, Jonathan Rosum got top 8 at four Opens in a row with a Jeskai Tempo list, and I immediately bought into it and started playing it. Harlan won the Open a few weeks later, and I was sold. Currently playing his list at the moment, but I have always been interested in Jeskai decks that are a bit off that radar (like Jeskai Pyromancer Ascension). I have a Delver list that I'd like some critique on. Thanks!


As a side note, I haven't tested Chart much, but on paper it looks insane. Has anyone tested it, and how has it performed?