I've dusted off an old list I ran pre-Treasure Cruise. I had steller results w. it (3 PTQ top8s that summer). So far it seems to steamroll save for whatever you call that taxes-esque Eldrazi deck. Have done well vs DS, though most games I just presume I'm lucky.
I usually sub out Spell Piece for Vapor Snag maindeck now and then, bc the card is great.
It's an old list so could prob use an update but nothing really pops that it's missing. Prob just more sb things.
How often are you finding yourself short on mana for Elspeth and Thundermaw? I've flirted with the idea of running some bigger top-end cards, but I have too many games where I don't get above 3-4 mana.
I've dusted off an old list I ran pre-Treasure Cruise. I had steller results w. it (3 PTQ top8s that summer). So far it seems to steamroll save for whatever you call that taxes-esque Eldrazi deck. Have done well vs DS, though most games I just presume I'm lucky.
I usually sub out Spell Piece for Vapor Snag maindeck now and then, bc the card is great.
It's an old list so could prob use an update but nothing really pops that it's missing. Prob just more sb things.
Be sure to add the 4th Path now, because Death's Shadow is running rampant and Spell Snare won't stop it. And because you're playing Delver, you should probably drop the thundermaw and Elspeth for 2 more instant/sorceries to flip delver more consistently. Cryptic Command can be a good choice if you want a swiss multitool that's able to grind the lategame with snapcasters. Spell Pierce is weak in many matchups, so I'd play max 1. Slayer's Stronghold is also not great in your deck imo. Your list is more midrange, so I think a grindier land, like Moorland Haunt would benefit you more.
I've dusted off an old list I ran pre-Treasure Cruise. I had steller results w. it (3 PTQ top8s that summer). So far it seems to steamroll save for whatever you call that taxes-esque Eldrazi deck. Have done well vs DS, though most games I just presume I'm lucky.
I usually sub out Spell Piece for Vapor Snag maindeck now and then, bc the card is great.
It's an old list so could prob use an update but nothing really pops that it's missing. Prob just more sb things.
Be sure to add the 4th Path now, because Death's Shadow is running rampant and Spell Snare won't stop it. And because you're playing Delver, you should probably drop the thundermaw and Elspeth for 2 more instant/sorceries to flip delver more consistently. Cryptic Command can be a good choice if you want a swiss multitool that's able to grind the lategame with snapcasters. Spell Pierce is weak in many matchups, so I'd play max 1. Slayer's Stronghold is also not great in your deck imo. Your list is more midrange, so I think a grindier land, like Moorland Haunt would benefit you more.
These are all good suggestions. One of the main reasons to play UWR is Path to Exile. And, consistently flipping Delver steals games.
Black Dog, how are your results since you started playing that deck again?
I attached the deck I am going to take to my FNM today. After seeing Black Dogs deck I also went back to the roots and changed my deck to what I played about two years ago.
However, there are a few differences. I don't play CMC4&5 cards (well, at least in the mainboard) since I too often have problems with the mana (yes, even with 21 lands). I also don't run colorless lands. I love Stronghold but it hurts too much if I have a Stronghold and a basic on my starting hand and have to take a mulligan or if I have Stronghold and a two-colored land and then don't get the third mana color... I am thinking about switching Fumarole against Lighthouse from time to time though
Besides that, I run more burn power with 3 Boros Charms and 1 Jeskai Charm because in my experience they have always been better than reactive spells like Remand in this deck. I also added a Valorous Stance as Path no. 5 against all the Shadows and Anglers and Thought-Knots and so on. Stance + Boros Charms give me 4 cards that keep a blocked Geist alive. And I also have 2 Emerge Unscathed to make Geist unblockable or save Delvers beeing fatally pushed... My reactive cards can be used actively and the over way around.
Our sideboards (mine is on the right side in the picture) are pretty different. I switched from Pyroclasm/Anger to Supreme Verdict which is better in the current meta. I learned to love Disdainful Stroke and Ceremonious Rejection as SB counter spells because they're good in several difficult match-ups. I also think that graveyard hate in some form is mandatory.
Well, let's see how it goes tonight.
Edit: Here's how it went last night
2:0 vs GW Tron
First game he didn't get to Tron and died to 3 burn spells and 3 Delver hits.
Second game he pathed delver and got to cast a Karn, but Geist finished the job. Disdainful Stroke against Ugin won the game though.
2:0 vs Rhonas Zoo
First game was a crazy race. Delver against Nacatl and Goyfs. But 2 Helixes and 2 Boros Charms ended the race in my favor.
Second game I got Worship down turn 4. Turn 5 his Goyfs and Loxodon Smiter smashed me down to 1 life. I was lucky that he didn't drew Pridemage and couldn't kill my Delver so I won 2 turns later with burn and Delver beats.
1:2 vs Living End
First game he had 3 Spirit Guides in his starting hand and went off real quick. If I remember correctly he had 19 power on the board turn 3. I had no chance.
Second game he kept a greedy hand and it didn't paid off. 2 flipped Delvers and burn got his life total pretty low pretty fast and he conceded.
Third game was long and awesome even though I lost. Thanks to Surgical his first Living End did nothing besides killing my Geist. After that he used Madcap from his SB! (I think he conceded the 2nd game so that I couldn't see the combo--very clever) I wanted to put Empyrion on his library with Jeskai Charm but he killed it in response with Beast Within. He then got it back with another Living End and my Deflecting Palm didn't do anything. This combo seems very strong.
After all your crap is dead and you're racing an opponent burning him in the face... he's tapped out bc he's beating your face in... A topdecked creature that has sickness suddenly turns into a GG.
When I was running a more aggro-control version like this I LOVED slayer's stronghold. It was so good against some of the midrange/control decks. Now I don't run enough lands to play it, but it is an awesome underrated card.
Black Dog, how are your results since you started playing that deck again?
I attached the deck I am going to take to my FNM today. After seeing Black Dogs deck I also went back to the roots and changed my deck to what I played about two years ago.
However, there are a few differences. I don't play CMC4&5 cards (well, at least in the mainboard) since I too often have problems with the mana (yes, even with 21 lands). I also don't run colorless lands. I love Stronghold but it hurts too much if I have a Stronghold and a basic on my starting hand and have to take a mulligan or if I have Stronghold and a two-colored land and then don't get the third mana color... I am thinking about switching Fumarole against Lighthouse from time to time though
Besides that, I run more burn power with 3 Boros Charms and 1 Jeskai Charm because in my experience they have always been better than reactive spells like Remand in this deck. I also added a Valorous Stance as Path no. 5 against all the Shadows and Anglers and Thought-Knots and so on. Stance + Boros Charms give me 4 cards that keep a blocked Geist alive. And I also have 2 Emerge Unscathed to make Geist unblockable or save Delvers beeing fatally pushed... My reactive cards can be used actively and the over way around.
Our sideboards (mine is on the right side in the picture) are pretty different. I switched from Pyroclasm/Anger to Supreme Verdict which is better in the current meta. I learned to love Disdainful Stroke and Ceremonious Rejection as SB counter spells because they're good in several difficult match-ups. I also think that graveyard hate in some form is mandatory.
Well, let's see how it goes tonight.
Edit: Here's how it went last night
2:0 vs GW Tron
First game he didn't get to Tron and died to 3 burn spells and 3 Delver hits.
Second game he pathed delver and got to cast a Karn, but Geist finished the job. Disdainful Stroke against Ugin won the game though.
2:0 vs Rhonas Zoo
First game was a crazy race. Delver against Nacatl and Goyfs. But 2 Helixes and 2 Boros Charms ended the race in my favor.
Second game I got Worship down turn 4. Turn 5 his Goyfs and Loxodon Smiter smashed me down to 1 life. I was lucky that he didn't drew Pridemage and couldn't kill my Delver so I won 2 turns later with burn and Delver beats.
1:2 vs Living End
First game he had 3 Spirit Guides in his starting hand and went off real quick. If I remember correctly he had 19 power on the board turn 3. I had no chance.
Second game he kept a greedy hand and it didn't paid off. 2 flipped Delvers and burn got his life total pretty low pretty fast and he conceded.
Third game was long and awesome even though I lost. Thanks to Surgical his first Living End did nothing besides killing my Geist. After that he used Madcap from his SB! (I think he conceded the 2nd game so that I couldn't see the combo--very clever) I wanted to put Empyrion on his library with Jeskai Charm but he killed it in response with Beast Within. He then got it back with another Living End and my Deflecting Palm didn't do anything. This combo seems very strong.
Awesome write-up Stevomat!
I haven't gotten a lot of play against Living End, but I assume it's not a great matchup. What do you guys side in against them?
I love the pics of your deck. It looks awesome. How long did it take you to to get all the foils? I too foiled my list and it took a long time, but it was fun doing it.
About to play UWR Delver in an SCG IQ. Hope all my preparation will pay off. I'll update later today with how it goes. Playing roughly the same list that I've been tweaking the past few months.
Hey! Please tell us how it went as soon as possible.
Got home a little while ago, and what a weird day! Ended up dropping, but I didn't run into a single matchup I was expecting. Started the day against Lantern Control and took my second loss to Sultai Control/Delirium. Played against BW Eldrazi and a strange Stuffy Doll homebrew. Made me sad to not do well, but there's always more tournaments in the future.
I haven't gotten a lot of play against Living End, but I assume it's not a great matchup. What do you guys side in against them?
I love the pics of your deck. It looks awesome. How long did it take you to to get all the foils? I too foiled my list and it took a long time, but it was fun doing it.
Thanks, CurdBros!
Since FNM I played 4 matched online and went 4-0 shredding all my opponents to pieces. This deck feels so awesome to play. With so much burn power this deck obliterates Shadow decks
Regarding the foils, there aren't even that many foil cards in my deck, are there? I chose the Paths because it's the best illustration, the 3 basics I wanted to be something special. Slight and Visions are the best looking versions in my opinion. I think it took 2 years until I had all the cards together. I'd love to use the 2 Spell Pierces as Masterpiece cards but I don't want to spend 25-30 Euros on each of them.
Regarding Living End, I boarded 2 Surgicals, 2 Deflecting Palms, 1 Verdict to "reset" the game after he goes off, 1 Worship. I would have won if he hadn't used the Madcap combo...
Ran UWR delver in FNM last night. This was my third modern event ever, so I basically copied Durward's whole 75 from this article again, except I swapped out Twisted Image for Blessed Alliance in the sideboard.
First round I was playing against a very casual Dubious Challenge brew. I lost the first game when he got out turn 2 Ulamog against me, but the other games I won very easily.
Round 2 was against burn. I won a close game 1 thanks to drawing three Lightning Helixes. He won games 2 and 3 very easily though, and I wonder if my sideboard strategy was correct. I took out the Mutagenic Growth, Cryptic Commands and Remands for Dispels, Counterflux and Blessed Alliance. Blessed Alliance was an all-star in this game, to the point where I wonder if I should add more to the sideboard. I always found myself wishing that it was on top of my deck. I'm not sure if burn is supposed to be a good matchup, but it felt like I didn't have a chance unless I drew a lot of Helixes or Blessed Alliance.
Round 3 was an interesting Jeskai tempo mirror. Opponent was playing a deck centered around Mantis Rider, Stormchaser Mage and Goblin Guide, plus a similar Jeskai tempo spell suite to what I was playing. Given all my paths and burn, he was not able to stick an early threat. I couldn't either, but this caused both games to turn into control mirrors, and my 75 seemed way better equipped for that. I won both games.
So, 2-1 again, and a shiny FNM Aether Hub. So far I am 5-4 with the deck through three FNM modern events. There are a lot of brews and sub-optimal decks in my store however, and I don't have a good record against the tuned tier decks (like the burn deck today). I did recognize that I made a ton of mistakes, and I hope to take down a tier deck at some point once my play skill and familiarity with the deck improves.
As for changes in the deck: Blessed Alliance seems like a good answer against a pretty wide variety of decks, and I was wondering if I should dedicate more sideboard slots to it. Mutagenic Growth was underwhelming unless it was on top of my deck during a delver trigger. It seems like its main purpose is to protect against Lightning Bolt, which has fallen out of favor. I was considering a Mana Leak or Logic Knot to take its spot.
Ran UWR delver in FNM last night. This was my third modern event ever, so I basically copied Durward's whole 75 from this article again, except I swapped out Twisted Image for Blessed Alliance in the sideboard.
First round I was playing against a very casual Dubious Challenge brew. I lost the first game when he got out turn 2 Ulamog against me, but the other games I won very easily.
Round 2 was against burn. I won a close game 1 thanks to drawing three Lightning Helixes. He won games 2 and 3 very easily though, and I wonder if my sideboard strategy was correct. I took out the Mutagenic Growth, Cryptic Commands and Remands for Dispels, Counterflux and Blessed Alliance. Blessed Alliance was an all-star in this game, to the point where I wonder if I should add more to the sideboard. I always found myself wishing that it was on top of my deck. I'm not sure if burn is supposed to be a good matchup, but it felt like I didn't have a chance unless I drew a lot of Helixes or Blessed Alliance.
Round 3 was an interesting Jeskai tempo mirror. Opponent was playing a deck centered around Mantis Rider, Stormchaser Mage and Goblin Guide, plus a similar Jeskai tempo spell suite to what I was playing. Given all my paths and burn, he was not able to stick an early threat. I couldn't either, but this caused both games to turn into control mirrors, and my 75 seemed way better equipped for that. I won both games.
So, 2-1 again, and a shiny FNM Aether Hub. So far I am 5-4 with the deck through three FNM modern events. There are a lot of brews and sub-optimal decks in my store however, and I don't have a good record against the tuned tier decks (like the burn deck today). I did recognize that I made a ton of mistakes, and I hope to take down a tier deck at some point once my play skill and familiarity with the deck improves.
As for changes in the deck: Blessed Alliance seems like a good answer against a pretty wide variety of decks, and I was wondering if I should dedicate more sideboard slots to it. Mutagenic Growth was underwhelming unless it was on top of my deck during a delver trigger. It seems like its main purpose is to protect against Lightning Bolt, which has fallen out of favor. I was considering a Mana Leak or Logic Knot to take its spot.
Caleb is a great streamer and a great deck builder. I really like his choices for the most part, but I do agree with you that Mutagenic Growth is a bit out of place. I had a problem running Cryptic Command in my personal Jeskai Delver list, but mine is a bit more aggressive than your list. How did Cryptic work out for you?
Since you aren't running Bedlam Reveler or Cryptic Serpent, I think your Logic Knot idea is a good one. I would suggest cutting maybe one copy of remand for a logic knot. Then you could cut the mutagenic growth and main deck the Blessed Alliance since it appears to be well positioned in your meta and you said it performed very well.
Jeskai delver decks are typically one of the harder decks to master. The side-boarding is specifically difficult and the sideboard is often changing given the meta. The more you play with the deck and the more comfortable you get, the more you will win the close games. Even the best players in the world only win 60%-65% of their games, and when you start to win the close ones more regularly you will creep up to that number in your FNM most likely. Jeskai Delver decks are a ton of fun to play and there is no real alternative to a jeskai delver deck so a lot of us just take our lumps in the begginning and learn and tune our decks until we can't put the deck down. It sounds like you are actually doing very well already if you are going 2-1 and overall 5-4 after just picking up the deck.
As for the sideboard, I have never been a huge young pyromancer fan and I am not a huge fan of molten rain either. You would likely benefit from running another copy of blessed alliance (since you like it and it's good against burn). I also typically highly recommend Echoing Truth as a sideboard card. I actually have a copy in my mainboard. I really like it against token decks and it bounces a lot of weird permanents that can be a problem (chalice, aether vial, ensnaring bridge, etc). Sometimes all we need is one turn and/or we can counter the spell on the way back down. I personally have always like Deflecting Palm as well against some of the larger creature decks.
I hope you keep playing the deck and continue to do well with the deck because it's a ton of fun to play and it's always great to have new jeskai delver players.
Caleb is a great streamer and a great deck builder. I really like his choices for the most part, but I do agree with you that Mutagenic Growth is a bit out of place. I had a problem running Cryptic Command in my personal Jeskai Delver list, but mine is a bit more aggressive than your list. How did Cryptic work out for you?
Cryptic Command can be a little clunky, but there are times where I can't stick a threat early and I have to pivot to playing like a control deck. Perhaps it is better to go all-in on aggression (and I sideboard into something like that occasionally). On the whole, the performance of Cryptic is a little mixed. There are the times when I am praying for it to be the top card of my deck, but there are other times I wish it were a cheaper spell. Sometime in the future I will probably experiment with a more aggro maindeck and cut the Cryptics, but I want to have more reps with Caleb's version first (with small tweaks here and there) until I feel I understand his version pretty well.
Since you aren't running Bedlam Reveler or Cryptic Serpent, I think your Logic Knot idea is a good one. I would suggest cutting maybe one copy of remand for a logic knot. Then you could cut the mutagenic growth and main deck the Blessed Alliance since it appears to be well positioned in your meta and you said it performed very well.
Jeskai delver decks are typically one of the harder decks to master. The side-boarding is specifically difficult and the sideboard is often changing given the meta. The more you play with the deck and the more comfortable you get, the more you will win the close games. Even the best players in the world only win 60%-65% of their games, and when you start to win the close ones more regularly you will creep up to that number in your FNM most likely. Jeskai Delver decks are a ton of fun to play and there is no real alternative to a jeskai delver deck so a lot of us just take our lumps in the begginning and learn and tune our decks until we can't put the deck down. It sounds like you are actually doing very well already if you are going 2-1 and overall 5-4 after just picking up the deck.
As for the sideboard, I have never been a huge young pyromancer fan and I am not a huge fan of molten rain either. You would likely benefit from running another copy of blessed alliance (since you like it and it's good against burn). I also typically highly recommend Echoing Truth as a sideboard card. I actually have a copy in my mainboard. I really like it against token decks and it bounces a lot of weird permanents that can be a problem (chalice, aether vial, ensnaring bridge, etc). Sometimes all we need is one turn and/or we can counter the spell on the way back down. I personally have always like Deflecting Palm as well against some of the larger creature decks.
I've sided in Young Pyromancer exactly once, against a GB Rock style deck with Tamogoyf and Liliana of the Veil. It performed OK in that specific matchup, but I think I will prefer TalesFromAtlantis' idea of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I will pick up a few Gideons once it rotates out of Standard in a couple of months. In the mean time, are there other sideboard options against the Jund/Abzan style decks?
As for Molten Rain: don't we need some sideboard against Tron? Are there any other options against it?
I hope you keep playing the deck and continue to do well with the deck because it's a ton of fun to play and it's always great to have new jeskai delver players.
Thanks! I am having a blast so far. And I definitely appreciate all the advice and encouragement in this thread.
I think this is the kind of card that needs to be played before I can really give my opinion. The 2/2 body is not great, but this could be extremely good.
How do we feel the addition of Fatal Push in the format has affected jeskai delver?
That's a great question toroks. I think it is a wash really. Every since Fatal Push has been in the meat, Lightning Bolt has seen a decline. Because most of our creatures die to bolt, I would almost say it has been a good thing, but in all reality the existence of fatal push hasn't been to impactful from a opponent's point of view.
One thing it has done has made most delver players jump to Grixis. I do think this has had a negative affect on the amount of people playing jeskai delver. Almost all delver decks I see are grixis because of fatal push, tasigur/gurmog, and kolaghans command. I do think grixis is better suited for the more grindy/control delver style decks, but jeskai is the better aggressive/tempo option.
How do we feel the addition of Fatal Push in the format has affected jeskai delver?
That's a great question toroks. I think it is a wash really. Every since Fatal Push has been in the meat, Lightning Bolt has seen a decline. Because most of our creatures die to bolt, I would almost say it has been a good thing, but in all reality the existence of fatal push hasn't been to impactful from a opponent's point of view.
One thing it has done has made most delver players jump to Grixis. I do think this has had a negative affect on the amount of people playing jeskai delver. Almost all delver decks I see are grixis because of fatal push, tasigur/gurmog, and kolaghans command. I do think grixis is better suited for the more grindy/control delver style decks, but jeskai is the better aggressive/tempo option.
Yes. There are some non-red decks that got a turn 1 kill spell with the introduction of Fatal Push, though, like BG Midrange and Abzan midrange/traverse/shadow and Esper midrange/shadow/control and some BW variants, like BW Smallpox, BW Tokens and BW Eldrazi&Taxes. Before they'd have to path delver/lynx/swiftspear and give us lands if they wanted to get rid of it turn 1. Now they can just Fatal Push it without any downsides for them. Also, Grixis most often plays Fatal Push in addition to lightning bolt now, so they typically have 6 turn 1 kill spells for our weenies in their mainboard.
On the other hand, it seems like the meta has shifted slightly to our favor since fatal push was printed? Much less "traditional" Jund/Abzan now, which is one of our worst match-ups. I don't know if this is a result of fatal push being printed though.
I'm currently playing other flavors of UWR because of how strong Fatal Push is against Delver. I underestimated how strong it is against most of our creatures, and the Death's Shadow matchup feels extremely tough now that everyone has shifted to Grixis over Jund.
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How often are you finding yourself short on mana for Elspeth and Thundermaw? I've flirted with the idea of running some bigger top-end cards, but I have too many games where I don't get above 3-4 mana.
Be sure to add the 4th Path now, because Death's Shadow is running rampant and Spell Snare won't stop it. And because you're playing Delver, you should probably drop the thundermaw and Elspeth for 2 more instant/sorceries to flip delver more consistently. Cryptic Command can be a good choice if you want a swiss multitool that's able to grind the lategame with snapcasters. Spell Pierce is weak in many matchups, so I'd play max 1. Slayer's Stronghold is also not great in your deck imo. Your list is more midrange, so I think a grindier land, like Moorland Haunt would benefit you more.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
These are all good suggestions. One of the main reasons to play UWR is Path to Exile. And, consistently flipping Delver steals games.
Black Dog, how are your results since you started playing that deck again?
I attached the deck I am going to take to my FNM today. After seeing Black Dogs deck I also went back to the roots and changed my deck to what I played about two years ago.
However, there are a few differences. I don't play CMC4&5 cards (well, at least in the mainboard) since I too often have problems with the mana (yes, even with 21 lands). I also don't run colorless lands. I love Stronghold but it hurts too much if I have a Stronghold and a basic on my starting hand and have to take a mulligan or if I have Stronghold and a two-colored land and then don't get the third mana color... I am thinking about switching Fumarole against Lighthouse from time to time though
Besides that, I run more burn power with 3 Boros Charms and 1 Jeskai Charm because in my experience they have always been better than reactive spells like Remand in this deck. I also added a Valorous Stance as Path no. 5 against all the Shadows and Anglers and Thought-Knots and so on. Stance + Boros Charms give me 4 cards that keep a blocked Geist alive. And I also have 2 Emerge Unscathed to make Geist unblockable or save Delvers beeing fatally pushed... My reactive cards can be used actively and the over way around.
Our sideboards (mine is on the right side in the picture) are pretty different. I switched from Pyroclasm/Anger to Supreme Verdict which is better in the current meta. I learned to love Disdainful Stroke and Ceremonious Rejection as SB counter spells because they're good in several difficult match-ups. I also think that graveyard hate in some form is mandatory.
Well, let's see how it goes tonight.
Edit: Here's how it went last night
2:0 vs GW Tron
First game he didn't get to Tron and died to 3 burn spells and 3 Delver hits.
Second game he pathed delver and got to cast a Karn, but Geist finished the job. Disdainful Stroke against Ugin won the game though.
2:0 vs Rhonas Zoo
First game was a crazy race. Delver against Nacatl and Goyfs. But 2 Helixes and 2 Boros Charms ended the race in my favor.
Second game I got Worship down turn 4. Turn 5 his Goyfs and Loxodon Smiter smashed me down to 1 life. I was lucky that he didn't drew Pridemage and couldn't kill my Delver so I won 2 turns later with burn and Delver beats.
1:2 vs Living End
First game he had 3 Spirit Guides in his starting hand and went off real quick. If I remember correctly he had 19 power on the board turn 3. I had no chance.
Second game he kept a greedy hand and it didn't paid off. 2 flipped Delvers and burn got his life total pretty low pretty fast and he conceded.
Third game was long and awesome even though I lost. Thanks to Surgical his first Living End did nothing besides killing my Geist. After that he used Madcap from his SB! (I think he conceded the 2nd game so that I couldn't see the combo--very clever) I wanted to put Empyrion on his library with Jeskai Charm but he killed it in response with Beast Within. He then got it back with another Living End and my Deflecting Palm didn't do anything. This combo seems very strong.
When I was running a more aggro-control version like this I LOVED slayer's stronghold. It was so good against some of the midrange/control decks. Now I don't run enough lands to play it, but it is an awesome underrated card.
Awesome write-up Stevomat!
I haven't gotten a lot of play against Living End, but I assume it's not a great matchup. What do you guys side in against them?
I love the pics of your deck. It looks awesome. How long did it take you to to get all the foils? I too foiled my list and it took a long time, but it was fun doing it.
Got home a little while ago, and what a weird day! Ended up dropping, but I didn't run into a single matchup I was expecting. Started the day against Lantern Control and took my second loss to Sultai Control/Delirium. Played against BW Eldrazi and a strange Stuffy Doll homebrew. Made me sad to not do well, but there's always more tournaments in the future.
Thanks, CurdBros!
Since FNM I played 4 matched online and went 4-0 shredding all my opponents to pieces. This deck feels so awesome to play. With so much burn power this deck obliterates Shadow decks
Regarding the foils, there aren't even that many foil cards in my deck, are there? I chose the Paths because it's the best illustration, the 3 basics I wanted to be something special. Slight and Visions are the best looking versions in my opinion. I think it took 2 years until I had all the cards together. I'd love to use the 2 Spell Pierces as Masterpiece cards but I don't want to spend 25-30 Euros on each of them.
Regarding Living End, I boarded 2 Surgicals, 2 Deflecting Palms, 1 Verdict to "reset" the game after he goes off, 1 Worship. I would have won if he hadn't used the Madcap combo...
2 Spirebluff Canal
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Spell Queller
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
1 Mutagenic Growth
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
4 Path to Exile
2 Cryptic Command
1 Negate
2 Sleight of Hand
1 Young Pyromancer
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Counterflux
1 Spell Pierce
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Molten Rain
1 Wear // Tear
2 Dispel
Went 2-1 in a three-round 8 player FNM.
First round I was playing against a very casual Dubious Challenge brew. I lost the first game when he got out turn 2 Ulamog against me, but the other games I won very easily.
Round 2 was against burn. I won a close game 1 thanks to drawing three Lightning Helixes. He won games 2 and 3 very easily though, and I wonder if my sideboard strategy was correct. I took out the Mutagenic Growth, Cryptic Commands and Remands for Dispels, Counterflux and Blessed Alliance. Blessed Alliance was an all-star in this game, to the point where I wonder if I should add more to the sideboard. I always found myself wishing that it was on top of my deck. I'm not sure if burn is supposed to be a good matchup, but it felt like I didn't have a chance unless I drew a lot of Helixes or Blessed Alliance.
Round 3 was an interesting Jeskai tempo mirror. Opponent was playing a deck centered around Mantis Rider, Stormchaser Mage and Goblin Guide, plus a similar Jeskai tempo spell suite to what I was playing. Given all my paths and burn, he was not able to stick an early threat. I couldn't either, but this caused both games to turn into control mirrors, and my 75 seemed way better equipped for that. I won both games.
So, 2-1 again, and a shiny FNM Aether Hub. So far I am 5-4 with the deck through three FNM modern events. There are a lot of brews and sub-optimal decks in my store however, and I don't have a good record against the tuned tier decks (like the burn deck today). I did recognize that I made a ton of mistakes, and I hope to take down a tier deck at some point once my play skill and familiarity with the deck improves.
As for changes in the deck: Blessed Alliance seems like a good answer against a pretty wide variety of decks, and I was wondering if I should dedicate more sideboard slots to it. Mutagenic Growth was underwhelming unless it was on top of my deck during a delver trigger. It seems like its main purpose is to protect against Lightning Bolt, which has fallen out of favor. I was considering a Mana Leak or Logic Knot to take its spot.
Caleb is a great streamer and a great deck builder. I really like his choices for the most part, but I do agree with you that Mutagenic Growth is a bit out of place. I had a problem running Cryptic Command in my personal Jeskai Delver list, but mine is a bit more aggressive than your list. How did Cryptic work out for you?
Since you aren't running Bedlam Reveler or Cryptic Serpent, I think your Logic Knot idea is a good one. I would suggest cutting maybe one copy of remand for a logic knot. Then you could cut the mutagenic growth and main deck the Blessed Alliance since it appears to be well positioned in your meta and you said it performed very well.
Jeskai delver decks are typically one of the harder decks to master. The side-boarding is specifically difficult and the sideboard is often changing given the meta. The more you play with the deck and the more comfortable you get, the more you will win the close games. Even the best players in the world only win 60%-65% of their games, and when you start to win the close ones more regularly you will creep up to that number in your FNM most likely. Jeskai Delver decks are a ton of fun to play and there is no real alternative to a jeskai delver deck so a lot of us just take our lumps in the begginning and learn and tune our decks until we can't put the deck down. It sounds like you are actually doing very well already if you are going 2-1 and overall 5-4 after just picking up the deck.
As for the sideboard, I have never been a huge young pyromancer fan and I am not a huge fan of molten rain either. You would likely benefit from running another copy of blessed alliance (since you like it and it's good against burn). I also typically highly recommend Echoing Truth as a sideboard card. I actually have a copy in my mainboard. I really like it against token decks and it bounces a lot of weird permanents that can be a problem (chalice, aether vial, ensnaring bridge, etc). Sometimes all we need is one turn and/or we can counter the spell on the way back down. I personally have always like Deflecting Palm as well against some of the larger creature decks.
I hope you keep playing the deck and continue to do well with the deck because it's a ton of fun to play and it's always great to have new jeskai delver players.
Cryptic Command can be a little clunky, but there are times where I can't stick a threat early and I have to pivot to playing like a control deck. Perhaps it is better to go all-in on aggression (and I sideboard into something like that occasionally). On the whole, the performance of Cryptic is a little mixed. There are the times when I am praying for it to be the top card of my deck, but there are other times I wish it were a cheaper spell. Sometime in the future I will probably experiment with a more aggro maindeck and cut the Cryptics, but I want to have more reps with Caleb's version first (with small tweaks here and there) until I feel I understand his version pretty well.
I've sided in Young Pyromancer exactly once, against a GB Rock style deck with Tamogoyf and Liliana of the Veil. It performed OK in that specific matchup, but I think I will prefer TalesFromAtlantis' idea of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I will pick up a few Gideons once it rotates out of Standard in a couple of months. In the mean time, are there other sideboard options against the Jund/Abzan style decks?
As for Molten Rain: don't we need some sideboard against Tron? Are there any other options against it?
Thanks! I am having a blast so far. And I definitely appreciate all the advice and encouragement in this thread.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
What do you guys/gals think?
I think this is the kind of card that needs to be played before I can really give my opinion. The 2/2 body is not great, but this could be extremely good.
That's a great question toroks. I think it is a wash really. Every since Fatal Push has been in the meat, Lightning Bolt has seen a decline. Because most of our creatures die to bolt, I would almost say it has been a good thing, but in all reality the existence of fatal push hasn't been to impactful from a opponent's point of view.
One thing it has done has made most delver players jump to Grixis. I do think this has had a negative affect on the amount of people playing jeskai delver. Almost all delver decks I see are grixis because of fatal push, tasigur/gurmog, and kolaghans command. I do think grixis is better suited for the more grindy/control delver style decks, but jeskai is the better aggressive/tempo option.
Yes. There are some non-red decks that got a turn 1 kill spell with the introduction of Fatal Push, though, like BG Midrange and Abzan midrange/traverse/shadow and Esper midrange/shadow/control and some BW variants, like BW Smallpox, BW Tokens and BW Eldrazi&Taxes. Before they'd have to path delver/lynx/swiftspear and give us lands if they wanted to get rid of it turn 1. Now they can just Fatal Push it without any downsides for them. Also, Grixis most often plays Fatal Push in addition to lightning bolt now, so they typically have 6 turn 1 kill spells for our weenies in their mainboard.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW