I agree with a lot of what you're saying, and welcome to Grixis Deliver. I understand wanting to adopt a style more like Deaths Shadow or Temur Delver if that's what you're used to, but I don't think that plays to all the strengths of Grixis Delver. Grixis Delver is one of the most Young Pyromancer focused decks in Modern, and YP benefits from being able to reuse your spells via midrange cards like Snapcaster Mage and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Also, although Faithless Looting is undoubtedly a good card, with zero payoff other than the delve threats, you'd probably be better served just running more traditional cantrips like Serum Visions. I'm also a little surprised you don't want to try out any off the new cards from Modern Horizons!
Speaking of which, with the whole set spoiled now, I think I have my initial build. Lots of card advantage to make up for the full set of Force of Negation, which couples with Gut Shot to give me a lot of zero mana plays, which in turn should give more confidence tapping out early. At least that's the hope...
Lots of mentions of UW control as being a prime candidate for FoN, which makes sense, but it is miles worse than FoW at protecting a Walker because you can't cast it for free all the time.
Consider this:
UW player taps out for JtMS. Brainstorm
Opp EoT Lightning Bolt...
I'm not saying FoN is necessarily bad, but the free part being active only half the time, And only hitting non-creatures, sounds like a sideboard card to me. If anything, FoN might just incentivize more instants being played.
This is really only a limitation in the fair matchups, where Ux doesn't need that much help and is mostly doing fine. FoN could still be valuable in this scenario if an opponent blows up T4 JTMS and then tries to follow up with any noncreature counterplay.
This scenario is less of an issue in the unfair matchups, where opponents aren't typically holding up interaction mana, or even playing those spells to begin with. The archetypal example is, again, Gx Tron. You currently can't run out T2 Search into T3 Tron on the draw or you just lose to Karn Liberated while tapped out. Same with T3 Teferi/Narset or T4 JTMS. Tron isn't suddenly evolving back to RG Tron with Bolts to deal with these lines. It's just going to walk into them, which allows Ux players to get on the board in a matchup where they are otherwise always on the backseat and waiting for Tron inevitability. This is very relevant in the URx decks, particularly Jeskai, which have horrible 30-70 MWP matchups against Tron. Even getting that to 40-60 or better is a major advantage for Jeskai players.
All true. And Tron is apparently the most common deck right now (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern/full#paper). Again, I'm not saying Force of Negation is a bad card, I just question it's ability to have relevant applications across the board. Even with Tron being 10% of the meta currently, it is only 10%. You could play a 6 round event and still be statistically favored to not even see it once.
We might see an uptick in Supreme Verdict, which could compliment FoN very well.
I'm coming around to FoN a little, but I still see it primarily as a sideboard card to fight decks that want to tap out for non-creature threats. Karn(s), Blood Moon, Scapeshift, Ensnaring Bridge, etc. things like that.
Lots of mentions of UW control as being a prime candidate for FoN, which makes sense, but it is miles worse than FoW at protecting a Walker because you can't cast it for free all the time.
Consider this:
UW player taps out for JtMS. Brainstorm
Opp EoT Lightning Bolt...
I'm not saying FoN is necessarily bad, but the free part being active only half the time, And only hitting non-creatures, sounds like a sideboard card to me. If anything, FoN might just incentivize more instants being played.
Mostly disappointed with Force of Negation; Negate is a sideboard card in Modern. I could be wrong, cause I do like Spell Pierce in Modern, and 0 mana is a lot less than 1, but 2-for-1'ing yourself is not great either. Only time will tell. Guess this makes actual Counterspell even less likely... Sad.
One, it answers anything. This deck is very reactive, and there will be things that slip through the cracks, so gifting a land is preferable to scooping to expensive or unexpected threats.
Two, there is such a thing as overloading on gifting lands. UW Control does this with Path to Exile + Field of Ruin. The average Modern deck runs around 3 basics, and if you have enough of these effects, by the mid to late game the opponent won't have anymore basics to get. This is actually a backdoor win-condition in my build with the Life from the Loam engine, especially if you find the Ghost Quarter.
And I agree that ramp is strong in the deck, I've just opted for spell-based ramp like Farseek to help fuel Dark Petition.
Hola amigos. Haven't posted here in a while, but I've heard rumors of the old cycling lands (Barren Moor, etc) coming back, and I always wanted a Life from the Loam engine in this deck as an avenue to victory post-Death Cloud. I also always wanted to max out on Death Clouds, but having too many in the deck led to a lot of awkward draws. I think by incorporating Dark Petition, we can get the best of both worlds, and add consistency in the late game.
Still very speculative, but here is my first list to try.
I think it's likely we see Vindicate in MH1, which would invalidate a lot of Land Destruction spells that cost 3 or more. Therefore, if Wizards is at all okay with narrow LD spells and strategies being a thing, creating some modern 2 CMC LD spells makes sense to me. Heck, we already have Smallpox and Boom, which are 2 CMC LD spells, and have very little downside when played alongside Flagstones of Trokair. Not to mention Assassin's Trophy, which is an instant speed 2 CMC spell that can blow up any opposing land.
My best guess at what they would make is probably something like:
An(other) upgrade to some potentially maindeck-able graveyard hate. First there was Rapid Decay. Then there was Scarab Feast. Neither one does enough to fight the graveyard in the event it is relevant though, so I've juiced it up again.
B Super Scarab Feast Instant
Exile up to three target cards from a single graveyard.
Cycling B
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
Yeah, it is possible that I'm underestimating how powerful a 3 convrted mana cost Draw 3 would be, but Concentrate sees literally zero play, so I thought it might be okay to just push that. Plus, we have Painful Truths, granted that costs life, but is already a 3 cmc Draw 3 in the format that sees very little play.
And I agree that Braingeyser / Mind Spring is the precedent for sorcery speed Draw X cards, but again they see no play. Perhaps an effective split card of Divination / Concentrate / Tidings / etc would be good enough to see some play, even though none of those cards are good enough on their own.
Not that I hate Phoenix specifically, but do we beat the drum for Looting now?
How about now?
How about now?
I'll be interested in the top 8. If there's any less than 3 Phoenix there, I'll be surprised. I bet if a ban happens in relation to this, it's Phoenix that is forced to take a seat. They'll save Looting because it hits too many decks.
Dredge has also been talked about about as a reason to ban looting, but it doesn't appear to be warping the format like Phoenix. Have to keep an eye on Dredge after Phoenix eats a ban.
I've been on the fence about whether Faithless Looting should be banned. On one hand, the two seemingly most popular, winning decks both run it. But on the other hand, looting is exactly the kind of consistency tool I would like to see a little more of in the format.
But, graveyard strategies are a problem right now. Maybe we should consider a Stinkweed Imp ban. Dredge gets new toys so often, its possible it needs to just be taken down a notch. Coupled with new exile/tuck removal likely to be printed in MH1, if not sooner, this would allow looting to stay and help reign in the graveyard issue.
Urza's Saga and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer have potential to get kicked eventually, but I think it's not needed, yet.
What I would love to see are some unbans, the easy ones being:
Ancient Den
Blazing Shoal
Great Furnace
Green Sun's Zenith
Preordain
Punishing Fire
Seat of the Synod
Tree of Tales
Umezawa's Jitte
Vault of Whispers
and the more borderline ones being:
Birthing Pod
Glimpse of Nature
Ponder
Rite of Flame
Splinter Twin
Speaking of which, with the whole set spoiled now, I think I have my initial build. Lots of card advantage to make up for the full set of Force of Negation, which couples with Gut Shot to give me a lot of zero mana plays, which in turn should give more confidence tapping out early. At least that's the hope...
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Chart a Course
2 Deprive
1 Echoing Truth
3 Fatal Push
4 Force of Negation
2 Gut Shot
1 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Opt
4 Serum Visions
2 Vapor Snag
1 Darkslick Shores
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
2 By Force
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
1 Echo of Eons
2 Extirpate
2 Forked Bolt
2 Surgical Extraction
2 FLEX
All true. And Tron is apparently the most common deck right now (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern/full#paper). Again, I'm not saying Force of Negation is a bad card, I just question it's ability to have relevant applications across the board. Even with Tron being 10% of the meta currently, it is only 10%. You could play a 6 round event and still be statistically favored to not even see it once.
We might see an uptick in Supreme Verdict, which could compliment FoN very well.
I'm coming around to FoN a little, but I still see it primarily as a sideboard card to fight decks that want to tap out for non-creature threats. Karn(s), Blood Moon, Scapeshift, Ensnaring Bridge, etc. things like that.
Consider this:
UW player taps out for JtMS. Brainstorm
Opp EoT Lightning Bolt...
I'm not saying FoN is necessarily bad, but the free part being active only half the time, And only hitting non-creatures, sounds like a sideboard card to me. If anything, FoN might just incentivize more instants being played.
I've been thinking there needs to be another black sweeper. Most the 3 CMC ones only do -2/-2 and that just isn't enough a lot of the time.
Improved Infest 1BB
Sorcery
All creatures get -3/-3 until end of turn.
They could also just reprint Toxic Deluge, but that might be too strong.
One, it answers anything. This deck is very reactive, and there will be things that slip through the cracks, so gifting a land is preferable to scooping to expensive or unexpected threats.
Two, there is such a thing as overloading on gifting lands. UW Control does this with Path to Exile + Field of Ruin. The average Modern deck runs around 3 basics, and if you have enough of these effects, by the mid to late game the opponent won't have anymore basics to get. This is actually a backdoor win-condition in my build with the Life from the Loam engine, especially if you find the Ghost Quarter.
And I agree that ramp is strong in the deck, I've just opted for spell-based ramp like Farseek to help fuel Dark Petition.
Still very speculative, but here is my first list to try.
3 Assassin's Trophy
1 Batterskull
3 Dark Petition
2 Death Cloud
2 Explore
4 Farseek
4 Fatal Push
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Life from the Loam
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Phyrexian Arena
2 Thoughtseize
1 Worm Harvest
1 Forest
4 Barren Moor
3 Blooming Marsh
3 Field of Ruin
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Treetop Village
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Verdant Catacombs
15 No idea
My best guess at what they would make is probably something like:
BR
Fulminate
Sorcery
Destroy target nonbasic land.
Or, if they really want to go for it, they can reprint From the Ashes.
B
Super Scarab Feast
Instant
Exile up to three target cards from a single graveyard.
Cycling B
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
And I agree that Braingeyser / Mind Spring is the precedent for sorcery speed Draw X cards, but again they see no play. Perhaps an effective split card of Divination / Concentrate / Tidings / etc would be good enough to see some play, even though none of those cards are good enough on their own.
One of these two would be nice.
1UU
Cheaper Concentrate
Sorcery
Draw three cards.
or...
XU
Cheaper Mind Spring
Sorcery
Draw X cards.
Agreed. Hitting Phoenix is the more Surgical Extraction.
Dredge has also been talked about about as a reason to ban looting, but it doesn't appear to be warping the format like Phoenix. Have to keep an eye on Dredge after Phoenix eats a ban.
Sorcery
Magma Slash deals 4 damage to target creature. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
But, graveyard strategies are a problem right now. Maybe we should consider a Stinkweed Imp ban. Dredge gets new toys so often, its possible it needs to just be taken down a notch. Coupled with new exile/tuck removal likely to be printed in MH1, if not sooner, this would allow looting to stay and help reign in the graveyard issue.