Modern has always been one of my favorite formats. I started playing Magic right around when the “modern” card frame was introduced, so I can relate to the Modern card pool better than that of Legacy or Vintage.
I spent the first half of the summer PTQ season playing all sorts of blue decks: UWR Twin, Kiki Control, Tempo Twin, and various Gifts decks. Through all this experimentation, I continued to play mostly just UR Delver on Magic Online.
It might surprise you that Delver is a well-represented archetype on MODO, putting up consistent results in Daily and Premier Events. But this hasn’t really translated to large paper events, like Grands Prix and PTQs. It took me a while, but I finally realized that I should just be PTQing with Delver for the remainder of the season; I had the practice, and it was winning more compared to other decks.
My first “PTQ” with UR Delver was actually Grand Prix Boston-Worchester. I entered with three byes and finished day one at 7-2. I went 4-1 on day two before drawing into Top 64 in the final round with Josh McClain. An 11-3-1 record meant that I fell short of the x-2 Pro Tour invite, but I was happy to cash and earn my first-ever Pro Point.
A few weekends ago, I played in the 320-person Mississauga PTQ (the WMCQ scheduled for the following day contributed to the huge attendance number). I started 5-1 but fell to 6-3 and ended in 34th place after a couple rough beatings. Apparently, there is a card called [card]Field Marshal[/card], and it marshalled me right out of the tournament field.
At the final week of the season which was my final shot at qualifying for Honolulu, I registered the following, which is my latest list and the one I would currently recommend:
[deck title=UR Delver – Alex Bianchi]
[Creatures]
4 Delver of Secrets
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
1 Batterskull
[/Artifacts]
[Spells]
1 Forked Bolt
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Serum Visions
1 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
3 Vapor Snag
2 Mana Leak
3 Remand
1 Electrolyze
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Island
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Dispel
1 Magma Spray
1 Mizzium Skin
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Combust
1 Flashfreeze
1 Negate
2 Blood Moon
1 Dismember
3 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Keranos, God of Storms
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
I ended up going 6-1-1 in the 200-person PTQ to finish in…10th Place.
Regardless, the deck felt strong all season long. It has good matchups versus Affinity, Pod, and GBx decks, which is a strong reason to consider playing this deck.
Recently, prominent writers such as Caleb Durward and Chris Van Meter have advocated UR Delver, specifically with [card]Batterskull[/card] in the maindeck. It might seem odd to play a five-drop in a nineteen-land deck, but in typical Delver fashion, we are able to cheat on lands by playing cheap cantrips like [card]Serum Visions[/card] and [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card], and Remand to some extent. It is not uncommon for this deck to hit five lands or more, and fetchlands and scry can help regulate how many lands you draw.
Adding [card]Batterskull[/card] and [card]Keranos, God of Storms[/card], was a change that I just adopted in my own list recently. While those two cards are great in the Rock, Jund, and Junk matchups, we really don’t need the help there. The real boon is in the Twin and UWR Control matchups, where that type of trump card is necessary.
Despite UR Delver’s being a low-curve deck, it’s still capable of winning longer games. Even without the added inevitability of [card]Batterskull[/card] and Keranos, we can beat other decks in topdeck wars. Our low land count translates to having more spells to draw in the late game. [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] is also one hell of a topdeck. [card]Serum Visions[/card] certainly helps as well.
Just to demonstrate some of the complexity that can come with UR Delver, here are some wide-to-narrow strategies of the deck:
– Deciding when to use fetchlands. There are several considerations here. People talk about deck-thinning and how low of an effect it has, but every percent matters, especially when playing a deck, such as Delver, that is trying to execute a delicate gameplan. Try not to use fetchlands when you want to draw more lands, and fetch aggressively when you don’t. Manage your life total well, and use [card]Misty Rainforest[/card] over [card]Scalding Tarn[/card] when you know you’re going to fetch a shockland. Crack fetchlands before casting [card]Serum Visions[/card]. Combine fetchlands with Delver triggers to shuffle away bad draws.
– Note that my manabase is built to maximize the number of turn-one, untapped blue sources because I really don’t want to be held back from casting [card]Delver of Secrets[/card]. One [card]Breeding Pool[/card] comes at a low cost for an excellent sideboard card, and one [card]Sulfur Falls[/card] means we have an out to Choke.
– I will almost never play a [card]Young Pyromancer[/card] without guaranteed value. This might mean a [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] after a turn-two Pyromancer or waiting until turn three to play a Pyromancer plus [card]Vapor Snag[/card], [card]Lightning Bolt[/card], or [card]Serum Visions[/card]. Cycling Remand by putting a spell on the stack, holding priority, and then Remanding it becomes an even more aggressive play when it generates Elemental tokens. I’ve also, on occasion, knowingly countered an uncounterable spell ([card]Spell Snare[/card] on [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]) to make a token.
– UR Delver is highly customizable. I think that [card]Twisted Image[/card], [card]Thought Scour[/card], [card]Gut Shot[/card], [card]Vendilion Clique[/card], [card]Runechanter’s Pike[/card], [card]Burst Lightning[/card], [card]Deprive[/card], [card]Counterflux[/card], [card]Electrickery[/card], [card]Izzet Staticaster[/card], [card]Relic of Progenitus[/card], and [card]Molten Rain[/card] are all reasonable considerations, and some of these cards have been moving in and out of my list as I try out new things.
As I write this, I’m headed to New Jersey for the SCG Invitational, followed by a change in focus to Limited for the upcoming PTQ season and Grand Prix Orlando. But I’m always willing to talk Modern or Standard, if called for. And Khans is sure to shake things up.
Alex Bianchi
@Gemmanite