The Angry Insect (Grixis Delver)
Modern
SCORE: 26 | 52 COMMENTS | 3421 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS
More store credit! —July 26, 2018
First of all, I'm back to the Minnesota magic scene. The Kansas game store was a nice place with nice people, but I'm glad to be home. Now I can actually play magic more than 1 night per week.
Tonight I finished 2-1 after 3 rounds and then split in round 4. $10 entry, $16.50 store credit in winnings. A good night if I do say so myself.
Round 1: RG Titan Shift. Game 1 we both durdled. He got stuck on 4 lands for a bit while I cracked fetchlands and didn't play anything. Eventually I got a snapcaster and then a Gurmag Angler, which he double bolted to death. K-command brought it back. He got a Prime Time, but I Terminated it and got there with Tasigur. Game 2 was very durdly as well. I didn't get a threat for a long time but I was holding Countersquall for awhile. He played Scapeshift, I countered it, then he played a 2nd Scapeshift in the same turn which I didn't have another counter for. Game 3 I also played very slow. I Thoughtseized away a Bloodbraid Elf, Mana Leaked a Ruric Thar, the Unbowed. I held up counters the rest of the game as he failed to do anything relevant.
Round 2: RG ramp devotion? The deck tried to go Primeval Titan into Kessig Wolf Run and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Game 1 he ramped while I played Young Pyromancer and made a few tokens. It was a very close game. He had Wolf Run and many creatures, but Terminate into snap-terminate with Pyromancer and Tasigur beats got there. Game 2 I played 2 Delver of Secrets Flip early. 1 of them died to Huntmaster of the Fells Flip flipping. The other went the distance. He drew a lot of lands.
Round 3: Bant Eldrazi. Need I say more? This matchup is laughable. So unwinnable.
Round 3: Grixis Death's Shadow. We played 1 game (I got color screwed) and then split prizes. Total finish: 2-1-1.
Delver of Secrets Flip was fine tonight, but perhaps Thing in the Ice Flip would have been better. It's tough to say.
SeekerofSecrets says... #2
I'm a huge fan of TiTi but I haven't play tested it in grixis so balancing it with your delve treats could become difficult. I would test 4 TiTi, 4 snap, 4 Cryptic Serpent (you've really sold me on this card) and maybe two young peezy? I know it's odd to play grixis without tas but having an unflipped thing and an early tas can become problematic and bouncing serpent back to your hand, while not ideal, isn't detrimental because it can just be recast for 2 mana. I also really like the idea of the discard suite. I also think that it's better to go all in on thing because they're great in multiples and you really want to hit it on t2, seeing your first just gets worse as the game goes on.
But at the same time it sound's like you having success with the current set up X)
July 24, 2018 9:08 a.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #3
The current setup is okay. It sometimes has a good night and cashes out, but I also play in more tournaments than I write about. It has some bad nights too.
Delve threats and thing in the ice play well enough together. By the time I flip thing I probably have 4ish lands in play, so playing tasigur again isn't too difficult. Besides, I still have a 7/8 in play and they have no creatures. Without thing, the delve threats are much easier to cast than serpent. They come down turns sooner.
The fear with cryptic serpent is graveyard hate from the sideboard. Relic of Progenitus or Nihil Spellbomb will prevent you from casting serpent. Tasigur, not so much. I've cast tasigur through plenty of relics in my day.
If bouncing the delve threats becomes problematic then serpent is definitely a card to consider, but for now I still think tasigur is better to play.
There are still a few things I'm uncertain about. Namely, is thing in the ice better than young pyromancer? Or would I just be better off playing Grixis pyromancer? Also is it possible to play counterspells and discard in the same deck? There are a lot of games I've won just by having mana leak. In particular, it's amazing against Tron. But turn 1 discard to clear the way for thing is also essential.
July 24, 2018 11:15 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #4
I've thought allot about thing vs peezy and I honestly just think it depends on your metta, I think peezy might have a slightly faster clock in a vacume but thing is easier to protect and flipping one is normally game against a deck like humans. I tend to think about the two like peezy being a small short term investment while thing is a long term one. I honestly love having them both in my deck!
I also think that 3 leak and a discard suite is fine! It seemed to be a decent balance when I was testing esper
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #1
Delver has been under-performing. It doesn't beat tron or KCI. It dies all the time. I think I boarded it out most of the rounds tonight and didn't wish for it in any matchup except Jund when he had Leyline in play. For context, I didn't board in Anger of the Gods once, and I still found myself cutting Delver from the deck. It's great when I get 2 of them or when the opponent stumbles and doesn't have removal, but those situations are scarce and I am probably winning those games anyway. When I board it out I definitely feel light on threats, but it still doesn't feel like what I should be playing.
I'm considering Thing in the Ice Flip instead. Bouncing a full board of Humans or Young Pyromancer tokens sounds pretty funny. It dies equally much to Push, except it doesn't die to Bolt or Walking Ballista.
If I switch to Thing in the Ice I might switch over to a discard package again - Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek. They're very good at plucking away a Fatal Push or Reflector Mage on turn 1, opening the door for turn 2 Thing. Maybe a 4-2 Seize-IoK split? I'd want to cut Spell Snare, but I'd like to keep Mana Leak.
I'm not sure where Thing is worse than Delver. Perhaps vs KCI, but even then I doubt it.
The real question is how do I split between Young Pyromancer and Thing in the Ice? I don't think I want more than 4 between the 2 of them. 2-2 split? 3-1? 4-0? I have no clue.
July 22, 2018 3:59 a.m.