BUG Delver

-or, #teammurca

For the foreseeable future, I'll likely be playing “real” decks. (That is, unless our titular degenerate wants to Fedex me something spicy.) In fact, this deck is actually jam-packed with good cards. I hope you don't mind an off-theme post.

Here's the listo. (link)

Two of the Underground Seas belong to my roommate Greg, which he borrowed from his Vintage deck. How do I know this? Well, in a game before the tournament, he played Mox, fetchland, and then I had to unsleeve one of the Seas and hand it to him.

Anyway, pairings are up..

Round 1: David w/ Big Red

I won the roll and lead with a Deathrite Shaman. He responded with City of Traitors and passed the turn. My Hymn to Tourach hit another City of Traitors... and a Worldspine Wurm. (?)

So that was confusing. I had tapped Deathrite for mana, so it got shuffled back in, then I played a Wasteland and passed without killing his City. After playing a Lotus Petal and exiling a Spirit Guide, he ran out a Sneak Attack into my Force of Will. His City got taken out, I played another Wasteland and another Deathrite Shaman, and he didn't get past two mana for the rest of the game. Eventually I killed him with a Tarmogoyf.

The Pierces and a Grip came in at first, but while pile shuffling I realized that my sleeves were sufficiently transparent to read the Insectile Aberrations through them. Nobody had extra checklist cards, so I boarded the Delvers out for Golgari Charms and the extra Liliana. I felt this was an acceptable punishment for having marked cards in the prior game.

A second-turn Blood Moon (rude) off Ancient Tomb got Forced, but a Defense Grid made it to the field. I dug with a Ponder, seeing Deathrite, Krosan Grip, Abrupt Decay. The Shaman hit the table, but he followed up with a Pyromancy. (?)

The Hymn I had been sitting on found his Emrakul and a land, leaving him with one card. It was Worldspine Wurm, obviously, and discarding it to Pyromancy left him with no cards and me at 8. After that, I killed all of his permanents, one at a time, and pinged him to death. rite. Zing.

Round 2: Graham w/ Affinity

He won the roll and started on six. We had played next to each other in the previous round, but I'm not terribly observant- I knew he was playing a deck with Orithopter and Memnite, but that was it. I kept a hand with lots of spells but no creatures, in case he was playing a new-border Cheerios deck. (He wasn't. ☹)

His first turn is a Memnite and a Vault Skirge. An Arcbound Ravager ran into a Force of Will, then my Hymn emptied his hand. My hand continued to have no creatures as the pair of 1/1s brought me down to 12. I ate my graveyard to cast a Tombstalker, but he had peeled well for five turns running. Abrupt Decay and Daze did what they could, but by the time I assembled a defense, he had assembled Etched Champion and Cranial Plating.

For game 2, he assembled a pair of early Vault Skirges off an Ancient Tomb and Springleaf Drum. My opening was much faster, though, with a Deathrite Shaman and early Tarmogoyf. Another Ravager got Forced, but the duplicate the following turn resolved.

I attacked with my squad of two Tarmogoyfs into his two Vault Skirges and Arcbound Ravager. Having audibly verified my Tarmogoyfs' sizes, he blocked both of them and dumped all his permanents onto one of them.. which died Abruptly. RIP.

Hymns had come out for that game, but I brought them back along with two of the Golgari Charms, hoping to mise away the multitude of X/1s his deck features.

We both mulliganned in the final game, and I kept a one-lander with Force, Delver, Underground, Deathrite, Decay, Brainstorm. He led with Darksteel Citadel, Mox Opal.. which I Forced, pitching my Delver. You can call that play dubious (and the spectators definitely did), but I felt like I had the soul read. Maybe keeping the Delver was correct. I'm not sure. Regardless, he had a Vault Skirge to start the clock. Tarmogoyf met me in my draw step, and I cast the Deathrite Shaman. He topdecked an Ornithopter, and ran it out along with a Springleaf Drum. I drew Wasteland, and he somehow mananged to guess what I had drawn. 

I think, though I'm not sure, that it's because I picked up his Darksteel Citadel and read the reminder text aloud. 

Anyway, instead of playing the Tarmogoyf, I kept on with the LD plan and blew up his Drum with the Decay from my opener, exiling the fetchland in my graveyard. Tarmogoyf landed as a 2/3 the next turn. I was taken aback when he played Ancient Tomb into Chalice for one, but I was sitting on a Daze and two-drops and wasn't scared. After I drew another Brainstorm (obviously), his Tomb died to Wasteland and Tarmogoyf #2 hit the field. Having sufficiently shut him down, he drained me for one and passed with only Ornithopter to block, sitting at 16. When I draw Abrupt Decay, I go into the tank for a long minute. If kill a creature, I can attack him down to 7, and he'll be dead on board even with the life gain from his flier. It'll be bad if he draws a land, but what two drop can he play that I'm afraid of?

So, I Decay his blocker and put him to 7. His next turn is land into Arcbound Ravager. Well, now this is awkward. I can't attack anymore, but I do peel and cast a Sylvan Library. He follows me with a land and an Etched Champion. My Sylvan feeds me a Decay, which I burn on the Ravager in an attempt to get aggressive. He lets it die with one counter, depositing it onto his Champion, and I battle with my Tarmogoyfs, putting him at 4. Unfortunately, this line leaves me with only Underground and Deathrite Shaman untapped, with Brainstorm in hand stranded by his Chalice. On his next turn, he plays a lethal Cranial Plating, but I do what I can to convince him it's off by 1. After he counts his artifacts, and demonstrates that he is not an idiot, I cast the Brainstorm in a desperation attempt to activate the Force and blue card on top of my deck. He forgets about his Chalice trigger, but claims that I had already let his Plating resolve. I don't really know one way or the other, but I concede anyway while vigorously pointing to his Chalice. 

Round 3: Tanner w/ LoamPox

Our first game is quite drawn out. I assumed he was playing a Pox-type deck, so I keep an opener on the draw with four lands, Ponder, Daze, and Tarmogoyf. He hits me with an Inquisition, which is awkward. I draw a land, cast Ponder, shuffle away some lands, and draw a Delver. He kills my land, I play the Delver, he plays Mox Diamond into Smallpox, I consider suicide, but luckily he doesn't do anything but cast Life from the Loam for a few turns. That gives me the time to topdeck and stick a Tarmogoyf, and his hand is all Sinkholes and Wastelands. I even have the Force in case of another Smallpox. Many lands, wow.

In game 2, he has another Inquisition after I lead with a Delver of Secrets. He strips my Tarmogoyf and sees two Abrupt Decays and two lands. I don't draw anything good, and the Smallpox he plays next turn (discarding Nether Spirit) takes me right out of the game.

The last game is equally interactive- I play a turn 1 Deathrite, Waste his first two lands, and drop an early Tarmogoyf. He plays a Smallpox to set me back, but trading his land for my 1/2 keeps him from developing quickly enough to stop my Goyf. Liliana and another Deathrite put the nail in his coffin.

Round 4: Greg w/ Tin Fins

Greg is playing Tin Fins with Show and Tell maindeck. He wins the roll, and my six-card opener has a card from my sideboard. After my embarrassment fades away, Greg starts with Brainstorm off a Lotus Petal. Then he plays Swamp into Entomb, which immediately dies to my Force. He's sad, then imprints a Griselbrand on a Chrome Mox to Thoughtseize me. Stuck with the blanks on the top of his deck, I have time to develop my lands and resolve a Tarmogoyf. Once he's drawn his two blanks, I topdeck a Hymn and get both a Griselbrand and Emrakul, which blanks both his reanimation spells and the Show and Tells which I imagine must be stranded in his hand. Next turn I summon my own Demon, which meets an eye roll and is lethal.

I board in the Spell Pierces and the Cage for two Decays and two Dazes. It's good to hedge.

He plays a Pithing Needle on turn 1, turning off the Deathrite Shaman in my hand. Tough, but fair. I play a fetch and pass, intending to wait and put the Woodland Druid back later with a Brainstorm. After he plays a Lotus Petal and passes, I crack my fetch. As I have no permanents, he can cast a Lim-Dul's Vault with no fear of the Daze in my hand.  The first five are good enough, and I resolve a Delver and pass. Brainstorm in my upkeep ensures that it flips, and the giant Insect goes to work on his life total. Another land lets him resolve an Entomb soon after, but the Reanimate on his Griselbrand drops him to 3, against my squadron of Insectile Aberration, Tarmogoyf, Tombstalker, and Deathrite Shaman. The men of low cost mount an assault, and the blocked one gets Smited. No feeders, please.

♣

Looking back, I'd say this is probably my favorite Delver deck so far this year. (The Naughty Delver deck doesn't count.) If you can stand to play this many good cards, you could do worse than inspiring misery by revealing Hymn to Tourach to a blind Delver flip. Delicious. 

Until next time, keep it tight.
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