The third list down is an American Gifts control list. It has a slight splash of black to hardcast UB, but other than that it is strictly WUR. This is already odd, as unburial gifts almost always plays Lillies (I guess if you draw Iona you just hope to draw your 1of Izzet Charm? Or spend a Gifts putting it in the yard for Snappie) but even weirder is the fact that there isn't a single copy of Cryptic Command. Other than the tough colors (this is Modern, people! You can get away with anything), I can't imagine why you woukdnt want four in the deck.
Now, I'm not complaining. I'll probably build this deck, it's incredibly cheap and looks very fun. But wouldnt it be a lot better with CC?
Some thoughts:
Before you say anything, the sideboard was very last-minute, and largely dictated by what cards I had on me. I'll get into specifics in a bit.
The deck is very all-in on the spellslinging plan. I had games where my Delvers flipped the turn after I played them every time. It took 3 turns once, the rest of the time it was faster. I think that's the way to play this deck. The synergy is extremely tight between every piece of the deck. I don't bother with Electromancer. I don't think he belongs in any deck besides storm quite honestly. I was extremely excited to play him when he was spoiled, but I don't think his impact justifies taking up precious card slots.
Guttersnipe won me more games than any other card. I was shocked to see what the OP had to say about it. I suppose it's understandable seeing what he said about Unsummon, though. A turn 4 Guttersnipe with Unsummon mana open is just devastating. With Think Twice and Desperate Ravings providing a draw engine to keep the spells coming, it's not unreasonable to expect 20 damage out of one copy. Unsummon is one of my favorite cards to draw in the deck; it does a LOT of work.
Because I'm relying on Unsummon (or just bluffing one), I only run one Talrand, Sky Summoner in the deck. He functions as a 5-drop, and he certainly has the impact of one. Keeping my Talrand and Pike numbers down allows me to max out on spells, which is obviously a good thing.
I don't know whether they belong in the main or in the board, but I definitely need more copies of Searing Spear. It's not that big of a deal to Spear and Thragtusk and then Unsummon the token if you miss countering it, and Centaur Healer (though it's seeing less and less play) is a problem. I lost the game that would've otherwise put me at 5-0 to a Centaur Healer swinging for 6 turns in a row and then a Restoration Angel about 10-15 turns later. I still almost won that game, but I definitely want at least one more Searing Spear in the 75.
It might seem weird to have the playset of Augurs in the sideboard, but I was very happy with the way it played out. This version of the deck is very grindy and doesn't race very well. So against zombies (and the increasingly popular mono-red), I side out the Delvers completely and use the Augurs to transform into a control deck. I didn't get to play against mono-red, but it worked great against Zombies, which is still played in my FNM crowd. Going along with this, I definitely want more Dungeon Geists next time around. I'm not sure whether Cyclonic Rift really does anything I want to do, to be honest.
As soon as I can get my hands on some, I think I'll put a couple Jace, AoT's in the board as well for the anti-aggro plan.
So I guess that's about everything. Hope this was informative, tell me what you guys think!
This deck, though awesome, is not remotely viable in its current form when facing a developed metagame. The list that top 8'd states had literally zero interaction with the opponent besides Devastation Tide and a single copy of Devil's Play. The deck doesn't even begin to work until it hits 9 mana to Epic Experiment and hit Temporal Mastery. The PERFECT draw (Farseek > Ranger's Path > Boundless Realms hitting all land drops) allows you to Epic Experiment for 7 on turn 5, at which point you very well may hit nothing. So I don't really think that list proves anything about the deck being viable or not.
I sure as hell hope it is though
EDIT: Don't know why I said 7, I still have the notepad file open where I counted it to be x = 13 on turn 5 >_>
My "thing" with Magic the last month or two has been working from Steve Guillerm's Arcane Melee Adventures list to create something that's viable post-m13. I started a blog to talk about all the crazy decks I come up with, but I've been so obsessed with this one lately every post has been about it. I've gone through dozens of builds, with about as many win conditions. But it's tough finding real advice about this deck. A lot of people will tell me a lot of things, but there are a lot of people who are very bad at this game. Players who consider themselves competitive often either:
1) Are not.
2) Have no interest in this janky piece of crap.
It feels really good when the deck does what it's supposed to. I really want to make it consistent, and at least viable for winning FNMs. I'm not shooting much higher than that. I posted about it on Reddit when I first made the blog, and although I love those guys, the advice... well, you know. I didn't find that it was super helpful hearing what they had to say about it.
Hey guys, I'm just getting into the Pauper format and I have all the cards for my Affinity deck except the aforementioned "blast" cards. Yes, I'm trying to build a "budget pauper" deck. Obviously I'll need them eventually, but I was wondering if there were any cheaper (read: less than 2 tickets) cards I could side in against the red and/or blue stuff.
Hey guys, Im thinking about this low cost tempo (dont have enough money for Snapcaster or Bonfire), can you tell me what you think about this deck?
I know there probably are going to be some useless cards so Im desperate for tips
If you're going to run Invisible Stalker you need more than one card in your deck to equip him with. Otherwise he just swings for one or chump blocks.
In my opinion, you shouldn't run Brimstone Volley (at least not main it) unless you have enough creatures that they'll be dying often and firing Morbid. As your list is now, you're running so few creatures that you want to keep them alive at all costs. And since you can't guarantee your opponent will be running any creatures at all, Brimstone Volley could end up being a more expensive incinerate the entire game.
Other than that, I'd say 2 whipflares 2 slagstorms is a little bit much for board clearing, especially for your main deck. Toss some or all of those in your sideboard. You should also run 4 Ponders. They flip Delver. They're good.
Standard (Type 2) only allows for the most recent 2 blocks, currently Scars of Mirrodin and Innistrad, and the current Core Set (M12). Anything not in those 7 sets are not legal in Standard play, which is what this forum is devoted to.
Delver decks often use Dungeon Geists to keep a threat locked down. This we know. So... for one more mana.......
See where I'm going with this?
Tamiyo creates a much bigger body for drawing aggro than Geists as she keeps a creature (or ANYTHING else) tapped. She gives you draw power when you're desperate for it. Her ultimate is a straight-up win condition. How do you guys feel about Delver decks running her in the role of Dungeon Geists?
EDIT: Because this is SDC, I'll provide my UR list to justify this post:
The combo is kinda funny and certainly powerful. But when you build a deck, any one card has to work in conjunction with several others in order to make the deck as a whole viable.
When you build a deck, you need to talk "win conditions." You have 1 that requires three cards. This means that if your Malignus gets countered or you just don't draw it, you can not win the game. Period. If you don't get a fling, you're left with a creature that can be easily chump blocked while they cover the board in useful cards. If you don't get bloodletting, congrats, you just lost your only source of damage to a fling and now you lose. Sure, you can fling your solemns and draw cards and do damage, but the only thing that does enough damage to justify this deck requires way too many conditions to be met.
I tried something similar with Chandra's Phoenix, Fling, and Runechanter's Pike. Trust me, I know it's fun coming up with stuff like this, and it's perfectly fine for casual play, but it just won't work if you're trying to go anywhere with it.
Details are in the description.
The third list down is an American Gifts control list. It has a slight splash of black to hardcast UB, but other than that it is strictly WUR. This is already odd, as unburial gifts almost always plays Lillies (I guess if you draw Iona you just hope to draw your 1of Izzet Charm? Or spend a Gifts putting it in the yard for Snappie) but even weirder is the fact that there isn't a single copy of Cryptic Command. Other than the tough colors (this is Modern, people! You can get away with anything), I can't imagine why you woukdnt want four in the deck.
Now, I'm not complaining. I'll probably build this deck, it's incredibly cheap and looks very fun. But wouldnt it be a lot better with CC?
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Guttersnipe
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
2 Runechanter's Pike
Dig:
4 Desperate Ravings
3 Think Twice
4 Thought Scour
4 Unsummon
1 Essence Scatter
3 Pillar of Flame
4 Syncopate
2 Searing Spear
Lands:
8 Island
4 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Dungeon Geists
1 Pillar of Flame
1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
4 Augur of Bolas
1 Essence Scatter
3 Dissipate
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Cyclonic Rift
Some thoughts:
Before you say anything, the sideboard was very last-minute, and largely dictated by what cards I had on me. I'll get into specifics in a bit.
The deck is very all-in on the spellslinging plan. I had games where my Delvers flipped the turn after I played them every time. It took 3 turns once, the rest of the time it was faster. I think that's the way to play this deck. The synergy is extremely tight between every piece of the deck. I don't bother with Electromancer. I don't think he belongs in any deck besides storm quite honestly. I was extremely excited to play him when he was spoiled, but I don't think his impact justifies taking up precious card slots.
Guttersnipe won me more games than any other card. I was shocked to see what the OP had to say about it. I suppose it's understandable seeing what he said about Unsummon, though. A turn 4 Guttersnipe with Unsummon mana open is just devastating. With Think Twice and Desperate Ravings providing a draw engine to keep the spells coming, it's not unreasonable to expect 20 damage out of one copy. Unsummon is one of my favorite cards to draw in the deck; it does a LOT of work.
Because I'm relying on Unsummon (or just bluffing one), I only run one Talrand, Sky Summoner in the deck. He functions as a 5-drop, and he certainly has the impact of one. Keeping my Talrand and Pike numbers down allows me to max out on spells, which is obviously a good thing.
I don't know whether they belong in the main or in the board, but I definitely need more copies of Searing Spear. It's not that big of a deal to Spear and Thragtusk and then Unsummon the token if you miss countering it, and Centaur Healer (though it's seeing less and less play) is a problem. I lost the game that would've otherwise put me at 5-0 to a Centaur Healer swinging for 6 turns in a row and then a Restoration Angel about 10-15 turns later. I still almost won that game, but I definitely want at least one more Searing Spear in the 75.
It might seem weird to have the playset of Augurs in the sideboard, but I was very happy with the way it played out. This version of the deck is very grindy and doesn't race very well. So against zombies (and the increasingly popular mono-red), I side out the Delvers completely and use the Augurs to transform into a control deck. I didn't get to play against mono-red, but it worked great against Zombies, which is still played in my FNM crowd. Going along with this, I definitely want more Dungeon Geists next time around. I'm not sure whether Cyclonic Rift really does anything I want to do, to be honest.
As soon as I can get my hands on some, I think I'll put a couple Jace, AoT's in the board as well for the anti-aggro plan.
So I guess that's about everything. Hope this was informative, tell me what you guys think!
I sure as hell hope it is though
EDIT: Don't know why I said 7, I still have the notepad file open where I counted it to be x = 13 on turn 5 >_>
This card is going to make Arcane Melee completely bonkers. I might not even run Arcane Melee in it anymore.
1) Are not.
2) Have no interest in this janky piece of crap.
It feels really good when the deck does what it's supposed to. I really want to make it consistent, and at least viable for winning FNMs. I'm not shooting much higher than that. I posted about it on Reddit when I first made the blog, and although I love those guys, the advice... well, you know. I didn't find that it was super helpful hearing what they had to say about it.
Anyway, here's the current list:
3x Arcane Melee
3x Mystic Retrieval
2x Gilded Lotus
The control (12):
3x Whipflare
2x Blasphemous Act
2x Doom Blade
1x Go for the Throat
2x Devil's Play
2x Burning Vengeance
The dig (12):
3x Forbidden Alchemy
3x Faithless Looting
2x Think Twice
4x Augur of Bolas
1x Nicol Bolas
1x Griselbrand
2x Sorin's Vengeance
Lands (24):
4x Sulfur Falls
3x Dragonskull Summit
2x Drowned Catacomb
6x Mountain
5x Island
2x Swamp
2x Evolving Wilds
3x Ancient Grudge
1x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Negate
2x Pillar of Flame
1x Sever the Bloodline
3x Mental Misstep
2x Talrand, the Sky Summoner
1x Runic Repetition
And here's the blog, if you're interested:
http://noheroninmoon.blogspot.com/
If you're going to run Invisible Stalker you need more than one card in your deck to equip him with. Otherwise he just swings for one or chump blocks.
In my opinion, you shouldn't run Brimstone Volley (at least not main it) unless you have enough creatures that they'll be dying often and firing Morbid. As your list is now, you're running so few creatures that you want to keep them alive at all costs. And since you can't guarantee your opponent will be running any creatures at all, Brimstone Volley could end up being a more expensive incinerate the entire game.
Other than that, I'd say 2 whipflares 2 slagstorms is a little bit much for board clearing, especially for your main deck. Toss some or all of those in your sideboard. You should also run 4 Ponders. They flip Delver. They're good.
This.
Spam Warning.
See where I'm going with this?
Tamiyo creates a much bigger body for drawing aggro than Geists as she keeps a creature (or ANYTHING else) tapped. She gives you draw power when you're desperate for it. Her ultimate is a straight-up win condition. How do you guys feel about Delver decks running her in the role of Dungeon Geists?
EDIT: Because this is SDC, I'll provide my UR list to justify this post:
4 Ponder
2 Gut Shot
2 Thunderous Wrath
3 Incinerate
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Dissipate
3 Vapor Snag
4 Mana Leak
3 Think Twice
3 Stromkirk Noble
2 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Sword of War and Peace
3 Runechanter’s Pike
4 Sulfur Falls
8 Mountain
(No Snapcasters because I haven't been able to get them yet)
When you build a deck, you need to talk "win conditions." You have 1 that requires three cards. This means that if your Malignus gets countered or you just don't draw it, you can not win the game. Period. If you don't get a fling, you're left with a creature that can be easily chump blocked while they cover the board in useful cards. If you don't get bloodletting, congrats, you just lost your only source of damage to a fling and now you lose. Sure, you can fling your solemns and draw cards and do damage, but the only thing that does enough damage to justify this deck requires way too many conditions to be met.
I tried something similar with Chandra's Phoenix, Fling, and Runechanter's Pike. Trust me, I know it's fun coming up with stuff like this, and it's perfectly fine for casual play, but it just won't work if you're trying to go anywhere with it.
<3