Delirious for Kaladesh

Standard* Cragon18

SCORE: 14 | 13 COMMENTS | 3964 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS


Move to Abzan —Aug. 7, 2016

First off, so happy to see Delirium do well in the Pro Tour! After being a fan from the outset in Innistrad, it's great to see the mechanic get the necessary pieces in order to be a viable deck competitively. While my list already differs slightly from Pardee's, I am taking it a new direction still. After some playtesting, I am going Abzan in order to splash for Sorin, Grim Nemesis and Anguished Unmaking. While I have not updated my sideboard, I feel this will allow me to have a more diverse and more robust sideboard as well. I have also added a single copy of Ishkanah, Grafwidow.

Another reason I went Abzan is now that Liliana is a thing, she is far too expensive for my blood and I could not get the 3 copies I wanted in order to run the deck as originally invisioned. Playtesting has proven this list to be very powerful. I will update the description asap. As always I look forward to your feedback.

Have you considered adding Vessel of Nascency? Might wanna take away 1 Tireless Tracker and 1 Autumnal Gloom  Flip to help you get delirium quicker since it adds another card type. Otherwise, like the deck. +1

July 11, 2016 11:33 a.m.

RabidDragon says... #2

Sinister Concoction might be marginally better than Ultimate Price as a faster path to Delirium. Also, Dark Petition and Gather the Pack seem like decent options for filling out your sorceries.

July 12, 2016 2:05 a.m.

Cragon18 says... #3

Thanks blackdahliaburger and RabidDragon for the feedback. I had Vessel of Nascency in the deck when I first built my delirium deck, but ultimately found it to be a little slow compared to Corpse Churn and now Grapple with the Past, albeit those cards are less versatile in what they can bring back from the graveyard. Since I am planning on running Liliana, the Last Hope, it might not be a bad idea to add it back into the deck to go grab her should she get milled or killed.

I had Sinister Concoction in at one point and it was OK, but I most just had it as a delirium enabler with a big setup. Concoction certainly hits more than Ultimate Price, but if I were to add it, it would probably just be as a one of/two of in the deck. Dark Petition is interesting and a really powerful card, but ultimately, what would I go grab? I could grab Liliana, but she is not enough of a gamechanger (my pre playing with her opinion. She could be THAT good, but it is unclear at this point) to really change the game state. Gitrog is good, but not potentially gamestate changing good. If I threw in a Seasons Past it would really change my entire gameplan, but that would be interesting for sure. I'd love to hear your thoughts though.

As for Gather the Pack, other than it being a sorcery, I prefer the versatility of Grapple with the Past being instant speed. Land also gets in the graveyard easily so being able to pull that back out is a nice bonus.

Thanks again!

July 12, 2016 9:25 a.m.

Tammy says... #4

Yo Wtup Wtup boy. I remember you. How's it hanging?

Nice to see you still brewing delirium decks. Solid build. I approve :D

Also I noticed Biting Rain in your maybe board. Why not Flaying Tendrils? Baby Languish is solid anti-tokens, wrecks 2/2 zombies and 3/2 eldrazi horrors and 1/1 spirits/vampire knights/human clerics/human warriors. And B/W allies

July 16, 2016 11:12 a.m.

SpiderFerg says... #5

I'm kinda biased on this, but what about removing 2 Gnarlwood Dryad and replacing it with 2 Hangarback Walker? No one wants to block him because they know why he is there (delirium) and produces a later second blocker at the minimum AND can be thrown away for easy delirium if you need it quick.

I really like what you wrote about Tireless Tracker and I think you're right. They really are such powerhouses while also providing card draw. Duskwatch Recruiter  Flip is my current sub but I think I need to make the jump.

Also, why did you drop Obsessive Skinner? I don't have him in either, but I'm just curious for your reasoning.

July 20, 2016 1:53 p.m.

Cragon18 says... #6

That is actually not a bad idea regarding the Hangarback Walkers. Such a strong card and does work for me in other decks. Unfortunately I only own two Hangarbacks! I am a big flavor person and I love the flavor of Gnarlwood Dryad, so that is why it is in there as a 4 of. It also essentially doubles as more removal in the deck since I would likely use him to trade with a bigger creature.

Yeah, Tireless Tracker is a beast and provides you with a potentially huge creature and card draw. He also draws a lot of aggro which is a double-edge sword. This deck has plenty of other threats so my opponent spending removal on my Tracker is not the end of the world, but at the same time it is great if he stays on the board to become a bigger threat.

I actually went back and forth for a while about Obsessive Skinner. I ultimately tried to find the best G/B cards I could get for the deck and that's the main reason Skinner got the ax. With that said, he is actually an underrated card. He is such a small threat that he rarely gets removed, so once I have delirium he starts pumping my actual threats. Then my opponent is faced with the decision whether to deal with him or my bigger threats. He is also great for taking my creatures out of range of Languish. Skinner works better for grindy games, and I was aiming to make this deck a little more Aggro. Grim Flayer, Sylvan Advocate just fit that roll better than Skinner. I might be working some back in until Grim Flayer drops in price a little bit. Screw Wizards for making him Mythic, since he would probably only be like $2-4 if he were rare.

Sorry for rambling!

Cheers!

July 20, 2016 2:45 p.m.

SpiderFerg says... #7

I like the update. Super heavy on removal with all of the good creatures. It is a great feeling when you keep laying down one big baddie after another and watch them run out of removal. I'd love to play test this against someone. My biggest concern is control decks, but not too many people are playing them now. Although with this much removal you could probably enough mess with a spirit deck pretty well.

July 26, 2016 1:07 p.m.

Cragon18 says... #8

Thanks for the comment SpiderFerg. I am excited to try it out. I need one more Liliana to finish out the list, but other than that I have all of the cards. Let me know if you get to try it out! I am curious to see how it will perform against the current meta.

As an aside, I was playing Liliana mostly for her first two abilities, but I was able to ultimate her the other day. Wow. It is a total game winner. You have no reason not to just attack with your Zombies, knowing more will come in behind them to block. Combine that with Nissa and you have a bunch of 3/3 Zombie tokens. Thalia, Heretic Cathar would be a buzzkill, also Virulent Plague, but I have plenty of removal to deal with her. Cheers!

July 26, 2016 3:55 p.m.

monoblack79 says... #9

Hey there, I have commented on your last version of the deck, pre-eldritch moon and I also run a delirium deck but we have entirely different strategies which is cool. I would recommend Emrakul, the Promised End and or Ishkanah, Grafwidow or Decimator of the Provinces since you like cards that enter with abilities. running one copy of the emrakul or decimator would be enough to make push late game around turn 8-9 if you get into a grindy match.

August 4, 2016 4:37 p.m.

Cragon18 says... #10

Thanks for the comment, monoblack79. I have actually been playtesting an Abzan version of the deck to splash for Anguished Unmaking and Sorin, Grim Nemesis. I also added a single copy of Ishkanah, Grafwidow. It has been playing really well so far. Still needs some tweaking, but I think it is the direction I will be taking the deck. I am not sure about decimator in this deck, but Emrakul is a sweet card and would be worth trying out. Thanks again!

August 5, 2016 8:49 a.m.