• STORE
  • EVENTS
  • ARTICLES
  • DECKS
  • BUYLIST
  • HELP
  • GAME CENTER
  • NEWSLETTER
Advanced Search
Deck Builder
  • LOGIN /
     REGISTER
  • CART
    #
  • WISH
    LIST
  • Magic Singles
    • English
    • Foil English
    • Non-English
    • Foil Non-English
    • Scanned & Graded Cards
    • Misprints and Rarities
    • Wholesale Lots
  • Magic Sealed Product
    • Booster Boxes
    • Booster Packs
    • Box Sets
    • Bundles & Fat Packs
    • Duel Decks
    • Introductory Products
    • Multiplayer Products
    • Non-English Products
    • Tournament/Starter Packs
  • Gaming Supplies
    • Ultimate Guard®
    • Apparel
    • Binders
    • Books & Fat Pack Guides
    • Boxes & Bags
    • Clothing
    • Collectibles
    • Deck Boxes
    • Life Counters & Dice
    • Miscellaneous
    • Playmats
    • Sleeves
  • Specialty Items
    • Creature Collection
    • Gift Cards
    • Lithographs
    • Next Level Library
  • Digital Products
    • Complete Commander
    • Next Level Library
    • OMG: Official Miser's Guide
    • Tha Gatherin'
  • We Buy

Let's Play Legacy Delver In DC!

Dylan Donegan
10/25/17
#Select  #Legacy  #SCGDC 
  •  

Hello, fellow Legacy lovers! I am thrilled to be writing about a format and an archetype that are both near and dear to my heart. For those of you who have closely followed my Magic career, you know that I am a huge fan of Delver of Secrets in Legacy.

I love you.

I have played basically every iteration of Delver you can think of. Everything from Jeskai, Sultai (with Hymn to Tourach and the Stifle build), Grixis, U/R, and of course good old RUG (yes, I'm aware it's 2017 and we refer to this as Temur now, but I will forever live the RUG Life).

I have been playing Delver almost exclusively since I began playing the format back in 2012. The archetype has always been Tier 1 and has never felt like a bad choice to play. It almost feels like a Jund deck in that regard, where every matchup is close and it's never the worst call for the event. Ever since the banning of Sensei's Divining Top, Delver has become arguably Legacy's best deck. The build of the deck that is most popular is without a doubt Grixis "Pyro" Delver.

Grixis Delver
Bob Huang
3rd Place at Test deck on 10/22/2017
Legacy
 

Creatures (15)

  • 4 Deathrite Shaman
  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 2 Gurmag Angler
  • 2 True-Name Nemesis
  • 3 Young Pyromancer

Lands (18)

  • 2 Flooded Strand
  • 2 Misty Rainforest
  • 2 Polluted Delta
  • 2 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Tropical Island
  • 2 Underground Sea
  • 3 Volcanic Island
  • 4 Wasteland

Spells (27)

  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Daze
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 2 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Forked Bolt
  • 4 Gitaxian Probe
  • 4 Ponder

    Sideboard

  • 1 Pithing Needle
  • 1 Grim Lavamancer
  • 1 Izzet Staticaster
  • 2 Ancient Grudge
  • 2 Diabolic Edict
  • 1 Price of Progress
  • 2 Pyroblast
  • 2 Surgical Extraction
  • 3 Cabal Therapy
 
 


Here is the list fellow Delver aficionado Bob Huang used to Top 8 the Legacy Championship in Pittsburgh just last weekend. Some noteworthy things are the fact that he's removed the maindeck copies of Cabal Therapy that started popping up last year for an extra Spell Pierce and another threat.

Most lists nowadays have two to three Young Pyromancers and one or two copies of True-Name Nemesis as additional resilient threats.

One small deckbuilding decision that I absolutely adore is the 2/2/2/2 split of blue fetchlands. Most people don't think about doing this (understandably so), but it's in case someone either Pithing Needles a fetchland or Surgical Extractions one. Believe me, it's happened before and it will likely happen again. When it does, you'll be thankful that you split up your fetches.

If I were going to recommend a Legacy newcomer a Delver list, it would without a doubt be Bob's. I myself might even show up with a list that's either very close or identical to this one. Grixis Delver shines against the combo decks, since Cabal Therapy is just so good against them. The combination of pressure, counters, and discard is potent.

Some people opt to play Stifle in their builds of this deck, and while that is a fine choice, most lists skip it. I prefer Stifle in the builds of Delver that play Tarmogoyf, since they hit harder and end the game quicker.

Temur Delver has traditionally been the version that best takes advantage of Stifle. Here is a hot new take on the old format staple that managed to take second place last weekend.

Temur Delver
Eric Vergo
2nd Place at Legacy Champs on 10/22/2017
Legacy
 

Creatures (11)

  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 2 Hooting Mandrills
  • 4 Nimble Mongoose
  • 1 True-Name Nemesis

Lands (18)

  • 4 Polluted Delta
  • 4 Scalding Tarn
  • 3 Tropical Island
  • 3 Volcanic Island
  • 4 Wasteland

Spells (31)

  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Daze
  • 1 Dismember
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 2 Spell Pierce
  • 2 Spell Snare
  • 4 Stifle
  • 1 Forked Bolt
  • 1 Gitaxian Probe
  • 4 Ponder

    Sideboard

  • 1 Grafdigger's Cage
  • 1 Pithing Needle
  • 1 True-Name Nemesis
  • 1 Sylvan Library
  • 1 Abrade
  • 1 Ancient Grudge
  • 1 Flusterstorm
  • 3 Pyroblast
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 2 Submerge
  • 1 Surgical Extraction
  • 1 Rough
 
 


If you told me two years ago that you wanted to cut Tarmogoyf from your Temur deck for Hooting Mandrills, I would've said that you're crazy. But the times have changed, and with the infamous "Czech Pile" or Four-Color Leovold becoming the premier control deck of the format, moving towards Hooting Mandrills makes a lot of sense.

Good news, budget Magic fans!

Like Gurmag Angler, it is dodges the best removal spells in the format, like Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, and Abrupt Decay. On top of that, Hooting Mandrills is actually a very nice counter to the uptick in True-Name Nemesis in recent months, since it still tramples over for a cool three. It makes me happy to see someone else with Abrade in the Legacy sideboard as well, since that's a card I've been talking about playing for months. Abrade has a lot of utility over Ancient Grudge, since it can kill a Mother of Runes or a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, while also being able to kill things like Magus of the Moon or Goblin Rabblemaster against the big red decks. The card can also just be a two-mana removal spell, which is serviceable against a deck like Elves or even a Delver mirror.

Personally, I do not think now is the time to be playing Temur Delver. As much as I love Nimble Mongoose, Deathrite Shaman both beats it straight-up and is just a much better card. Temur shines when the Swords to Plowshares decks are at the top, but right now Legacy is a Deathrite Shaman world. If you really want to sleeve up your Tarmagoyfs, I'd suggest playing a Sultai Delver build similar to this one.

Sultai Delver
Hans Jacob Goddik
1st Place at Legacy Champs on 10/22/2017
Legacy
 

Creatures (13)

  • 4 Deathrite Shaman
  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 3 Tarmogoyf
  • 2 Tombstalker

Planeswalkers (2)

  • 2 Liliana, the Last Hope

Lands (20)

  • 2 Bayou
  • 4 Misty Rainforest
  • 4 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Tropical Island
  • 4 Underground Sea
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 4 Wasteland

Spells (25)

  • 1 Sylvan Library
  • 2 Abrupt Decay
  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Daze
  • 3 Fatal Push
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 4 Hymn to Tourach
  • 3 Ponder

    Sideboard

  • 1 Abrupt Decay
  • 1 Dismember
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 3 Surgical Extraction
  • 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
  • 1 Life from the Loam
  • 2 Massacre
  • 2 Thoughtseize
  • 2 Toxic Deluge
 
 


This is the list Hans Jacob Goddik used to take down the Legacy Championship last weekend. This build of the deck got more popular when Miracles was dominant, since it could go toe-to-toe with it in the late-game. This was largely due to the presence of Liliana of the Veil, which Hans chose not to play this past weekend. Instead he opted for Liliana, the Last Hope, which I'm sure raised a ton of eyebrows.

But when you think about it, Liliana, the Last Hope is exactly what you want against Grixis Delver to clean up Young Pyromancer and friends. It also is quite nice against Four-Color Leovold too, since it rebuys your threats and kills Baleful Strix and Snapcaster Mage.

My only real qualm with the list is only three copies of Ponder. This is something I cannot and will never support in any build of Delver. Play four Ponder, people. I promise you won't regret it.

All in all, Sultai Delver is going to give you more game in the fair mirrors, but your deck is just going to be clunkier than the other Delver builds, since your curve is higher and your manabase is more complicated, making it less likely for you to have the "Delver draw."

U/R Delver
Hoppelars (5-0)
0th Place at Test deck on 10/10/2017
Legacy
 

Creatures (13)

  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 4 Monastery Swiftspear
  • 1 Soul-Scar Mage
  • 4 Young Pyromancer

Lands (16)

  • 1 Island
  • 1 Mountain
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 4 Polluted Delta
  • 4 Scalding Tarn
  • 2 Underground Sea
  • 3 Volcanic Island

Spells (31)

  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Daze
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 2 Price of Progress
  • 3 Chain Lightning
  • 4 Chart a Course
  • 4 Gitaxian Probe
  • 2 Ponder

    Sideboard

  • 1 Pithing Needle
  • 1 Sulfuric Vortex
  • 1 Dismember
  • 2 Pyroblast
  • 2 Smash to Smithereens
  • 2 Surgical Extraction
  • 4 Cabal Therapy
  • 2 Sudden Demise
 
 


Here is a new take on the less popular U/R Delver featuring the full set of Chart a Course! This list 5-0'ed a League under the Magic Online handle Hoppelars. (Two Ponders?! That's just offensive).

We've seen a bunch of different takes on U/R in the past. Some feature Goblin Guide and heavy burn, some more prowess-oriented with Stormchaser Mage, and of course ones with Young Pyromancer.

The big draw to this build of the deck is that some games you get to basically just be a burn deck. Price of Progress is an important piece to this puzzle that allows you to steal games from out of nowhere. It also helps your Lands matchup, which is traditionally very tough for Delver.

However, my biggest problem with this build is the lack of Wastelands. Not only does the card just provide free wins, but it also plays extremely well with the rest of your deck. Being able to go Turn 1 threat followed by answering their play into Wastelanding their land is a super-powerful sequence that's near-unbeatable for most decks. While this archetype does gain some clear advantages, I'll be sticking to playing Wasteland in my Delver deck.

The last archetype I want to talk about is one that my buddy Kerry Foerst and I created ourselves.

Four-Color Delver
Dylan Donegan
0th Place at Test deck on 10/25/2017
Legacy
 

Creatures (13)

  • 4 Deathrite Shaman
  • 4 Delver of Secrets
  • 4 Gurmag Angler
  • 1 True-Name Nemesis

Lands (18)

  • 2 Flooded Strand
  • 2 Misty Rainforest
  • 2 Polluted Delta
  • 2 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Tropical Island
  • 3 Underground Sea
  • 2 Volcanic Island
  • 4 Wasteland

Spells (29)

  • 4 Brainstorm
  • 4 Daze
  • 1 Dismember
  • 4 Force of Will
  • 4 Lightning Bolt
  • 2 Spell Pierce
  • 3 Stifle
  • 3 Thought Scour
  • 4 Ponder

    Sideboard

  • 1 Abrade
  • 2 Diabolic Edict
  • 2 Flusterstorm
  • 2 Pyroblast
  • 3 Surgical Extraction
  • 1 Vendilion Clique
  • 2 Forked Bolt
  • 2 Thoughtseize
 
 


The deck looks like and feels like the old builds of "RUG Delver." We essentially just changed Nimble Mongoose to Deathrite Shaman and Tarmagoyf to Gurmag Angler (upgrades, if you ask me). I had joked after the banning of Dig Through Time that I was just going to jam four Gurmag Angler in my Legacy deck, but I didn't think it would become a reality.

The idea came up on the way home from SCG Worcester last year, where Kerry made the Top 16 with stock Grixis Delver and mentioned that the Zombie Fish had overperformed all weekend. We built the deck online and proceeded to win 22 Delver mirrors straight before losing.

Like the old blue delve cards, Gurmag Angler is the most important thing in the mirror matches. It's essentially unkillable, bigger than everything else on the battlefield, and ends the game very swiftly. Sadly, this build of the deck hasn't seen a lot of press, but it has seen some success in the hands of both my good friend Ben Friedman (who won a Classic with the deck in August last year) and Tannon Grace, who made Top 8 at two Team Constructed Opens with it. Clearly we're onto something here, whether or not it caught on!

The big advantages of this build are the fact that it's advantaged in basically every midrangey blue mirror (from any build of Delver to Four-Color Leovold) and Chalice of the Void decks; even if you get locked, you can still throw your cards in the bin to cast a quick Gurmag Angler. I'd say I'm most likely to register this deck, since it gives me a distinct edge against the two most popular decks (Four-Color Leovold and Grixis Delver).

Regardless of the build you choose, you really can't go wrong with any form of Delver.

Tricks of the Trade

I wanted to end this piece with a few key things I've learned about Delver that you should know before jumping into an event with the deck.

1. Always have four copies of Daze in your deck on the play.

That's right, ladies and gents. I don't care if your opponent has Aether Vial in their deck or is playing Elves. I don't think there is a single matchup where you don't want them all on the play.

2. Almost always lead on Deathrite Shaman.

Some people will cast a Turn 1 Delver over it for the faster clock. In most instances, this is just wrong, Deathrite just lets you explode ahead of your opponent on Turn 2. When your Turn 2 consists of three one-mana spells or something like Delver, Lightning Bolt, Wasteland, you are never losing that game.

3. Hands of just reactive cards are often traps.

Let's say we open up a hand of three fetchlands, a Stifle, a Lightning Bolt, a Spell Pierce, and a Force of Will. It's super-easy to look at that hand of lands and spells and keep. However, in my experience, these hands are almost always mulligans. Without pressure, these cards don't really do anything by themselves. You almost always want either a threat or a cantrip in your opening hand.

4. If your Turn 1 option is to play a threat or hold up Stifle, play the threat.

This is an easy one, but one I see screwed up often. It's very easy to just want to "get" your opponent and Stifle them out of the game.

The problem with this logic is that too much can go wrong. Plains into Aether Vial, Tropical Island Noble Hierarch…hell, just Underground Sea into Deathrite Shaman makes you look like an idiot. Stifle is better when you're putting them under a clock anyway, and it's a very easy card to play around otherwise.

I hope this article was informative for those of you who are new to Legacy and even those who have been playing the format for years. Sadly it's a format I don't get to play much these days, but it's one that will always have a special place in my heart. It might be the weekend before Halloween, but it sure feels like Christmas when I get to play Legacy. Good luck at SCG Washington DC, and I'll see you there!

  •  
#Select  #Legacy  #SCGDC 
« Previous Article
The State Of Magic
Next Article »
Modern: The Great Self-Correcting Format

About Dylan Donegan

Dylan Donegan's face is immortalized on an Elemental token, courtesy of his big SCG Invitational win in Seattle in 2015. The young SCG Tour star also has SCG Tour wins at the Open main event and Classic level.

@_Dylonegan Twitter
Read more by Dylan Donegan

Dominaria Prerelease April 21-22
ORGANIZED PLAY
  • THIS WEEK
  • NEXT WEEK
  • +
  • THIS Saturday, April 21
  • PRERELEASE WEEKEND
    FIND YOUR STORE!
  • THIS Sunday, April 22
  • PRERELEASE WEEKEND
    FIND YOUR STORE!
  • Saturday, April 28
  • Atlanta OPEN
  • Invitational Qualifiers
  • Danbury, CT - Gamers Gambit
  • Frederick, MD - Tournament City Games
  • Sunday, April 29
  • Atlanta OPEN
  • Atlanta Modern CLASSIC
  • Atlanta Standard CLASSIC
  • Atlanta Legacy CLASSIC
  • Invitational Qualifiers
  • + New Holland, PA - Six Feet Under Games
  • Newington, CT - Tabletop Shop

SCG TOUR ® EVENTS

  • Apr 21 - 22: StarCityGames.com PRERELEASE
  • Apr 28 - 29: Atlanta OPEN
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Modern CLASSIC
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Standard CLASSIC
  • Apr 29 : Atlanta Legacy CLASSIC
  • May 5 - 6: Baltimore OPEN
  • May 6 : Baltimore Modern CLASSIC
  • May 6 : Baltimore Standard CLASSIC
  • May 6 : Baltimore Legacy CLASSIC
  • May 19 - 20: Louisville OPEN

  • Complete SCG Tour® Schedule | Coverage Archive
1 CALEB W SCHERER 175
2 BENJAMIN NIKOLICH 169
3 JONATHAN ROSUM 167
4 JIM I DAVIS 156
5 TODD STEVENS 148
6 DANNY JESSUP 147
7 ZAN SYED 143
8 DYLAN DONEGAN 141
9 COLLINS MULLEN 130
10 PIETER TUBERGEN 125
11 BRENNAN M DECANDIO 118
12 ANDREW JESSUP 105
13 KEVIN JONES 102
14 JODY M KEITH 97
15 KAZU NEGRI 96
16 JULIAN JOHN 95
DECKLISTS
  • STANDARD
  • MODERN
  • LEGACY
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Durham, US
  • 4/07 Grand Prix Seattle, US
  • 3/25 SCG Classic Cincinnati, US
  • 3/24 Grand Prix Kyoto, JP
  • 3/24 SCG Team Open Cincinnati, US
  • 3/10 Grand Prix Madrid, ES
  • 3/10 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 2/24 Grand Prix Memphis, US
  • 2/18 Invi Qualifier Medford, US
  • 2/18 SCG Classic Indianapolis, US
  • 2/10 Invi Qualifier Glassboro, US
  • 2/03 Preliminary PTQ Roanoke, US
  • 1/28 SCG Classic Philadelphia, US
  • 1/27 SCG Team Open Philadelphia, US
  • 1/21 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 1/20 SCG Team Open Dallas, US
  • 1/06 Grand Prix Santa Clara, US
  • 12/17 Invi Qualifier Clarksville, US
  • 12/16 Invi Qualifier Port Charlotte, US
  • 12/03 SCG Classic Roanoke, US
View More Standard Decks - Search Decklists
  • 4/15 Invi Qualifier Cary, US
  • 4/15 Invi Qualifier Niles, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Moore, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Roanoke, US
  • 4/14 Grand Prix Hartford, US
  • 4/14 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 4/14 Grand Prix Sydney, AU
  • 4/08 Invi Qualifier Bernardsville, US
  • 4/08 Invi Qualifier Falls Church, US
  • 4/08 SCG Classic Milwaukee, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Denton, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Lexington, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Kingsport, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Toronto, US
  • 4/07 Invi Qualifier Glassboro, US
  • 4/07 SCG Modern Open Milwaukee, US
  • 3/31 Invi Qualifier Bernardsville, US
  • 3/25 Invi Qualifier Middletown, US
  • 3/25 Invi Qualifier Falls Church, US
View More Modern Decks - Search Decklists
  • 4/08 SCG Classic Milwaukee, US
  • 4/06 Grand Prix Seattle, US
  • 3/25 SCG Classic Cincinnati, US
  • 3/24 Grand Prix Kyoto, JP
  • 3/24 SCG Team Open Cincinnati, US
  • 3/10 Grand Prix Madrid, ES
  • 3/04 SCG Classic Worcester, US
  • 3/03 SCG Open Worcester, US
  • 1/28 SCG Classic Philadelphia, US
  • 1/27 Invi Qualifier Columbia, US
  • 1/27 SCG Team Open Philadelphia, US
  • 1/21 SCG Classic Dallas, US
  • 1/20 SCG Team Open Dallas, US
  • 1/07 SCG Classic Columbus, US
  • 1/06 Grand Prix Santa Clara, US
  • 11/19 SCG Classic Baltimore, US
  • 11/18 SCG Team Open Baltimore, US
  • 10/29 SCG Classic Washington, US
  • 10/28 SCG Open Washington, US
  • 10/22 Invi Qualifier Bristol, US
View More Legacy Decks - Search Decklists

 

Connect with us

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive content, sale notifications, and more!

Need help?
Contact Us
Help Center
Organized Play
SCG Tour
Schedule
Leaderboard
Coverage
Coverage Archives
In-Store Programs
Invitational Qualifiers
Game Night
Prerelease Playmats
Organizers
StarCityGames.com
About Us
Careers
Game Center
5728 Williamson Road NW

Roanoke, VA 24012


© 2018 StarCityGames.com®
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Statement | Refund & Return Policy