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Modern Delirium Beatdown

Modern* BG (Golgari) Midrange

Mortiferus_Rosa


Sideboard


Maybeboard


I love the delirium mechanic and am trying to make it work in modern. This deck works as a midrange beatdown.

I did try the blue splash for a while, but Wizards have just been printing more and more answers that can be run in a straight BG deck.

Comments, suggestions, and advice always welcome if they are constructive. (I know the deck breakdown section needs refined because it has alot of stuff in it from back when the deck was splashed with Blue)

On another note, as fun as this deck has been to design and refine, I am ultimately going to be retiring this list and moving to a traditional BG Rock list. Because this deck is reliant on getting delirium online it significantly narrows the "flex" slots available and as a result I think too many sacrifices have to be made (lower hand disruption count, lower kill spell count, too many creatures that dont stand as well alone as they need to be, and too easy to be disrupted by even incidental graveyard hate) to make it work which makes it brittle and weaker than other BG decks.

Deck Breakdown

Below is a list of the card types and the number of each for enabling delirium (Maindeck). I can very reliably enable delirium with this setup, potentially as early as turn 2.
  • 7x Lands
  • 15x Creatures
  • 7x Instants
  • 8x Sorceries
  • 4x Planeswalkers
  • 4x Enchantments
  • 3x Artifacts
  • 2x Tribal
  • Grim Flayer and Tarmogoyf are the main beaters in the deck. As such, i run four of each. By running the number of card types that I do, Grim Flayer can quickly and easily become a 4/4 trampler who's ability to fix your draws is nearly unparalleled. Enabling delirium with this deck is so easy and is even achievable as early as turn 2. Due to the synergy with my delirium subtheme Tarmogoyf also can quickly and easily grow to be a 4/5 and even has the potential to become a large as a 8/9. For two mana I cant complain.

  • Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is run as a singleton to answer a number of issues. Primarily, he is there to serve as an alternative threat that does not rely on my graveyard. Additionally, he helps mitigate dredge decks and decks that like to abuse the persist mechanic and Vizier of Remedies (these GW combo decks are very prevalent in my meta) or other self sacrifice decks, he helps gain life, and against the right decks can by himself run away with the game.

  • Tireless Tracker I run two of them. Left unchecked, they can amount to a significant number of extra cards drawn (through the clue tokens) and grow to a significant size.

  • Courser of Kruphix is a creature I run two of. It is great for helping stabilize the field against aggressive decks and also provides incidental lifegain and card "draw." Also provides additional sources of "enchantment" when it dies in addition to the creature type.

  • Architects of Will serves as an artifact source that can easily be sent to the graveyard without losing you on card advantage (yay cycling). I have elected to run this card over Mishra's Bauble which accomplishes the same objective in a similar manner. The reason for this was, at first, due to budgetary reasons (iconic masters was not released yet and the bauble was going for upwards of $20 apiece). Now as I have played with this deck more I have found out that because Architects of Will is an Artifact Creature I can enable delirium easier. It can even be used as a pseudo combat trick by cycling before damage is dealt to pump Grim Flayer or Tarmogoyf. Another small plus is that he can be hardcast for a creature/fix the top three cards in a pinch. I run three to ensure I see one in a game but not to be flooded with them.

  • Bitterblossom is a card I am still playtesting with. It does put me on a clock but (this is the burn player in me talking) unmolested I can kill you faster with the tokens it generates each turn or they are free chump blockers/deterrents preventing larger life losses. It can also be my enchantment and tribal source for delirium if it gets destroyed or I pitch one to the yard.

  • Traverse the Ulvenwald is a one mana tutor when delirium is online. Being able to grab a creature or land of choice is powerful, especially games 2 and 3 where i have sided in some answer creatures. I only run two because it is a card i want to see once delirium is online and ideally not before. If i cant get delirium online it is still useful for grabbing a basic but it is not the ideal use for it.

  • Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize are my hand disruption spells that I am currently running as a 3/2 split. Pretty self explainable imho; I am running a BGx deck afterall.

  • Maelstrom Pulse is a singleton kill spell that is exceptionally versatile. While sorcery speed and three mana it hits any non-land permanent and sometimes can kill multiple permanents.

  • Liliana, the Last Hope is my primary planeswalker choice. I run two and elected her over Liliana of the Veil as my primary walker because her +1 ability helps push through the larger blockers (opposing Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, etc.) or kills tokens and more importantly her -2 ability is fantastic for recurring creatures to maintain boardstate. Her ultimate is not an ability I ever really expect to use but it isn't something I would be upset for using either.

  • Liliana of the Veil I run a one of because she is still a fantastic planeswalker and I am never sad to see her. She works great with the midrange formula. Her +1 ability is hand disruption and her -2 ability is creature removal that is difficult to get around and finally the threat of her ultimate is something that is always looming over your opponents shoulder. I also dont want three LtLH.

  • Collective Brutality is a phenomenally versatile card. It attacks spell decks, it attacks creature decks, and it can also provide a 4 life point swing for those races as well. There is a reason this card shows up in most decks with black mana. The discard effect for escalation is even less of a "cost" for us since not only can we just discard a dead card in hand but we can also sculpt our graveyard to help get delirium online as well. I currently run two mainboard but as long as I have two in the seventy five I will be happy.

  • Fatal Push is the "new" great kill spell for black decks. Being able to kill most creatures in the format for one mana is efficiency unparalleled.

  • Hissing Quagmire is included to provide deterrence from attack when my creatures are tapped out and additional late game reach in the event of a stalemated board. I run two for an increased, but not excessive, draw and in case one is killed.

  • Ghost Quarter is included to deal with troublesome lands. I only run one to minimize the chance it is in my opening hand (it is hard with a three color deck to have a colorless land in your opener) and because I can easily fetch it with a Traverse.

  • - Flaying Tendrils is brought in against decks that like to go wide with weenies and once delirium is online your creatures are not affected.
    • Emrakul, the Promised End is a finisher. Possible to cast with as little as 5 mana it is a rare game that if you get her to stick that you still lose. She isnt required to win games and I have won many games without ever even seeing her but as a singleton she is a powerful addition. Most useful in slower/grinder games. Since my meta is much more aggressive she has been moved to the sideboard. I would bring her back to mainboard if the meta ever shifts.

    • Scavenging Ooze additional sideboard hate against decks that rely on the graveyard.

    • Seal of Primordium additional artifact/enchantement hate. Also serves as enchantment cardtype for delirium so i will often side out the Phantom Wings when i bring these in. Often, but not always.

    • Damping Sphere Wizards of the Coast was kind enough to print a dedicated hate card for Tron and Storm (two decks that BGx midrange struggles against). Too good to not run for that reason. It is also effective against affinity since they are unable to vomit their entire hand onto the field at one time.

    • Maelstrom Pulse see description in card choices section. I run a second in my sideboard for an additional leg up in the matchups where I need the extra kill spell for high CMC decks.

    • To the Slaughter I will bring in against Tron, Boggles, and Superfriends decks. An edict that also hits planeswalkers? Cant ask for more.

  • Tasigur, the Golden Fang is almost an auto include in most black and green/blue decks but I dont run it because it is counterproductive to this decks goal. Using delve sets back establishing delrium by several turns and his ability of getting a card back often backfires as opponents can also pick cards out of the graveyard to turn off delirium.

  • Bojuka Bog is a great sideboard card to run as a one of if your meta is heavy with graveyard/dredge decks.

  • Life Goes On or Feed the Clan are a two of sideboard option if you are really concerned about your life total for certain aggressive matchups. Given the amount of incidental lifegain already in the deck i dont see this being super necessary.

  • Golgari Charm is the most useful of the charms available to BUG imho. I don't run it in my sideboard now because of my local meta, but I would heavily consider running on or two in my sideboard if I was going in to a blind meta.

  • Thragtusk Useful against aggro decks due to the lifegain and serves as a blocker against eldrazi decks. Practically negates Eldrazi Displacer with its enter and exit the battlefield effects.

  • Prowling Serpopard is brought in against heavy counterspell decks to ensure that your creatures make it to the battlefield. Since my meta is very aggressive I am no longer running this sideboard. I would bring this in sideboard and put Emrakul mainboard if the meta shifts.

  • This Section is going to be my suggested sideboard plan for playing against certain decks. Still working on building the section as I get more experience. Also, I need to redo everything since I dropped the Blue splash... so ignore this section for now.

    vs. Hollow One

    Basically this is a matter of taking out virtually useless cards. Fatal Push and Abrupt Decay have only one realistic target and it is Flameblade Adept. Instead, we bring in additional kill spells to deal with their big creatures and scoozes for exiling their Bloodghasts and Flamewake Phoenixs. Hollow One is a deck that can very easily drop multiple Hollow Ones onto the field on their first turn if they are lucky with their Burning Inquiry. All star cards are Tarmogoyf, Bitterblossom, and any of the planeswalkers.

    vs. Burn

    Burn actually isnt that bad of a matchup and just gets better post sideboard. Thoughtseize comes out because they dont have any spells that cost more than 3cmc and the 2 points of damage matters. I bring in Spellskite to help redirect damage away from my face and with 4 toughness it requires two burn spells to destroy. I also bring in Scavenging Ooze because every bit of lifegain matters. The objective is to stabilize and maximize the incidental lifegain (which minimizes the usefulness of Skullcrack). All star cards are Courser of Kruphix, Collective Brutality, and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet.

    vs. Grixis Control

    • Side Out
    • Side In

    vs. Lantern Control

    This is a long and grindy game. The first phase is how much damage you can stick before they slam an Ensnaring Bridge. The second phase is trying to create openings to get lethal damage in. The entire time they are going to be filtering the top of your library to remove cards they dont want to deal with. They dont run creatures and dont win by getting your life total to 0, so Fatal Push is worthless. Kalitas and Nissa are both less than optimal compared to what we are bringing in. We do have an advantage in that we can respond to their attempt to remove the top card of our library with a few options of our own; Cycling Architects of Will or sacrificing a clue token from Tireless Tracker. All stars in this matchup are Tireless Tracker, Courser of Kruphix and anything that blows up artifacts.

    vs. Elves

    • Side Out
    • Side In

    vs. Boggles

    The goal of the Boggles deck is simple; stick a hexproof creature and cram as many enchantments onto it and beat you to death with it. Because of that, Fatal Push and Collective Brutality are completely useless cards and must be swapped out for cards that destroy what we can target (enchantments) and sacrifice effects. Goal is to keep the creature as small as possible and swing in for damage when you can. Spellskite is a must bring due to its ability to steal the enchantments as they cast them. All stars in this matchup are Spellskite, enchantment removal, and sacrifice effects.

    This section is really just my personal musings for this deck. Things i am thinking about changing and such.

    • Do I want Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin?

    • 23 or 24 Lands?

    • Thragtusk or Kitchen Finks?

    • Advice on building midrange "If aggro is constantly at the top of the standings, you'll want to skew your deck toward stabilization, board control, and life gain. If control is on the upswing, you'll want to focus your efforts more on efficient, powerful creatures that can swing in for big chunks of damage or that can help your team survive wrath effects. You'll also be more likely to lean on discard spells, if they're available, or on your own smaller suite of pinpoint counterspells, since depriving a control deck of the right answer at the right time is crucial."

    Suggestions

    Updates Add

    With the flexibility Assassin's Trophy now offers (and other cards recently printed) I see very little point in trying to splash blue.

    As fun as this deck has been to design and refine, I am ultimately going to be retiring this list as is and moving to a traditional BG Rock list. Because this deck is reliant on getting delirium online it significantly narrows the "flex" slots available and as a result I think too many sacrifices have to be made (lower hand disruption count, lower kill spell count, too many creatures that dont stand as well alone as they need to be, and too easy to be disrupted by even incidental graveyard hate) to make it work which makes it brittle and weaker than other BG decks.

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    Date added 6 years
    Last updated 5 years
    Legality

    This deck is Modern legal.

    Rarity (main - side)

    15 - 2 Mythic Rares

    26 - 6 Rares

    10 - 4 Uncommons

    3 - 3 Commons

    Cards 60
    Avg. CMC 2.11
    Tokens Clue, Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Emblem Nissa, Vital Force, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
    Folders Decks i stole, Decks I Like, DECKS
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