THIS DECK IS OUT OF DATE!!! MY NEW VERSION IS Delver of Dimir!!! PLEASE COMMENT THERE!!! THANKS!!!
Introduction
Thanks for looking at my deck! This my own take on a UB Delver with a subtheme of stealing and screwing with the opponent. It focusses on having a lot of card synergy but still have every card able to stand alone. It is a control deck at heart, but it can play like a mid-aggro or midrange deck depending on the match just by changing how we use the cards. It is a delver shell, but with a lot of my own card ideas and flavors. I hope you like it!
I am still in the process of writing the primer so there are several sections that say Description coming soon!. Just use your imagination to fill in the blanks until I get around to finishing it.
I just recently made several changes to my deck as well, so several sections need cleanup to match my current deck. Im getting there.
The Strategy
Polluted Delta
+
Sage of Epityr
: Sage of Epityr to put the cards you want on top, then Polluted Delta to shuffle the cards you dont want after you draw the ones you want.
Delver of Secrets
+
Sage of Epityr
: The main use for Sage of Epityr. Put an instant or sorcery on your deck so you draw it the turn after casting delver. A guaranteed flip in as little time as possible.
Dimir Charm
+
Sage of Epityr
: You can use Dimir Charm to turn Sage of Epityr into a scry 4 by ordering the deck so that when you look at the top 3, you want to ditch 2 of them and keep 1.
Jace, Architect of Thought
+
Sage of Epityr
: Order the deck so that when you use Jaces -2 you reveal 2 you dont want and 1 you do.
Delver of Secrets
+
Dimir Charm
: Another great way to flip delver.
Dimir Charm
+
Murderous Cut
: Putting more cards in the grave to delve away without losing card advantage.
Dimir Charm
+
Extirpate
: This time you use Dimir Charm on the opponent to send a key card directly from their deck to the grave so they never even see it.
Duress
+
Extirpate
: Duress away their Splinter Twin and then use Extirpate to make them cry. Follow it up with a Monastery Siege so they cant burn you and they will concede on the spot. Very funny.
Extirpate
+
Life's Finale
: If you cast several copies of each they will run out of creatures in their deck and thats a bad thing for some decks that need creatures. Its slow, but really powerful when it all comes together.
Sideboarding
Burn: For burn, side in Extirpate,
Far / Away
, and Monastery Siege. Side out Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Dimir Doppelganger, and 2 Delver of Secrets
. Use Monastery Siege on Dragons, Extirpate to get rid of their most deadly cards (Eidolon of the Great Revel, Lightning Bolt) as they hit the grave, and
Far / Away
as removal or to help Vampire Nighthawk dodge a spell. Win with Vampire Nighthawk. For this we side to pure control.
Bogles: Not too bad of a matchup. Side in Pithing Needle, Life's Finale, Extirpate, Black Sun's Zenith, Ratchet Bomb, and
Far / Away
. Side out Delver of Secrets
, Doom Blade, Dismember, Dimir Doppelganger, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, and 1
Sage of Epityr
.
Far / Away
is devastating against them. For this we side into pure control.
BW tokens: Side in Underworld Connections, Life's Finale, and Ratchet Bomb. Side out Dimir Doppelganger, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, and 1
Sage of Epityr
. Their hand disruption in the most annoying thing possible, but everything else is handleable. Side in Pithing Needle only if they rely on planeswalkers. Their creatures are much more annoying then their tokens so be sure to handle them before they make a lot of tokens. For this, side into pure control.
Hatebears: Side in Ratchet Bomb, Black Sun's Zenith, and
Far / Away
. Side in Pithing Needle if they run Aether Vial. Side out Dimir Doppelganger and Countersquall. I think for this its better to keep the play as delver and try to disrupt them and more or less ignore their attacks. Try to remove the creatures as they hit the field so the pillow fort doesnt get too big, but also try to keep them down.
Infect: I hate infect. Its fast and has very evasive creatures. Side in Black Sun's Zenith, Extirpate,
Far / Away
, and Ratchet Bomb. Side out Dimir Doppelganger, Jace, Architect of Thought, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, and 3 Countersquall This match we side into pure control.
Merfolk: Side in Life's Finale, Ratchet Bomb, Pithing Needle,
Far / Away
, and Extirpate. Side out Dimir Doppelganger, Countersquall, 2
Sage of Epityr
, 1 Jace, Architect of Thought, and 2 Delver of Secrets
. Play pure control and use the Extirpate to exile the lords.
Naya Zoo: Side in
Far / Away
, Life's Finale, Ratchet Bomb, and Black Sun's Zenith. Side out Countersquall, Dimir Doppelganger, 1
Sage of Epityr
, and 1 Jace, Architect of Thought. Use
Dimir Charm
as removal if you can. Play pure control.
Soul Sisters: Not a hard match at all. Let their life go to whatever they want it to be. Just remove all of the wincons as they hit the field and mill with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Side in Life's Finale, Black Sun's Zenith,
Far / Away
, Underworld Connections, and sometimes Pithing Needle if they have a backup wincon that this can hit. Side out Delver of Secrets
, Dimir Doppelganger, and 1
Dimir Charm
. Play pure control.
Delver: Side in Black Sun's Zenith,
Far / Away
, and Monastery Siege (on dragons). Side out Dimir Doppelganger, 1 Countersquall, 1
Dimir Charm
, and 1
Sage of Epityr
. This deck plays so much like a control deck that we will side into a counter-heavy and removal-heavy midrange but without Underworld Connections for this matchup.
Blue Moon: This ones a little tougher, but not too bad because we have a 2 color deck, not 3. Side in Extirpate, Monastery Siege, Underworld Connections, Pithing Needle, and Ratchet Bomb. Side out Dimir Doppelganger, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Doom Blade, and Dismember. Pithing Needle is only used for Vedalken Shackles, so leave in Doom Blade or Dismember to handle their other wincons if necessary. Play Cruel Control initially, but switch to mid-aggro once Blood Moon is gone or we have enough basics to last. Lightning Bolt or some counters are other great targets for Extirpate.
Gifts Ungiven: Gifts is weird. Side in Extirpate, Monastery Siege and Underworld Connections. Side out Doom Blade, Dimir Doppelganger, and 1
Sage of Epityr
. Side in Pithing Needle as well if they use planeswalkers or other activated abilities. Use a turn 1 Duress if you can. Play this game as a mid-aggro at first until they stabilize, then try to win by exiling Gifts Ungiven or exile their hand + grave with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Try to stay on the land drops and dont play a lot of spells until you are ready to win. Underworld Connections and Monastery Siege on dragons will make the game much easier.
8-rack: Side in Pithing Needle, Ratchet Bomb, Monastery Siege, Underworld Connections, and Extirpate. Side out Dimir Doppelganger, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, 1
Sage of Epityr
, Murderous Cut, Victim of Night, and Dismember. Use
Dimir Charm
as a counter primarily. Open with cruel control and exile
The Rack
and Shrieking Affliction if you can. Then switch to midrange to win.
Bloom Titan: Side in Extirpate,
Far / Away
, Underworld Connections, and Ratchet Bomb. Side out Dismember, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, 2 Delver of Secrets
, and 2 Countersquall. Play cruel control transitioning to midrange. Exile Primeval Titan if you can, but
Summer Bloom
or Amulet of Vigor can slow them down a lot as well. Save an extra counter for Hive Mind in case they try to go that route to win.
Living End: Side in Extirpate,
Far / Away
, Monastery Siege, and Underworld Connections. Side out Doom Blade, Countersquall, and 1 Delver of Secrets
. This one is a little difficult because of Living Ends resilience. Try to exile Living End and then use removal on their creatures when they hardcast. Use beatdown to win. Play cruel control.
Loam: Side in Extirpate always and exile Life from the Loam if you can. Shouldnt be hard because it hits the grave on average once per turn. Usually side out Doom Blade because a lot of loams have black, but some dont. This one really depends on the type of loam because theres a lot.
Scapeshift: Side in Extirpate, and Underworld Connections. Side out
Splinter Twin: Description coming soon!
Storm: Description coming soon!
Changing the Play Style
This is where the deck gets interesting, so if you're still with me, don't go. This part is fun and probably completely wrong. Specific sideboarding is in the above section, but the strategies to adopt after sideboarding are here.
I've designed the deck to start as a semi-control delver deck with 8 counters, 4 creature removal, and 4 hand removal. Most of the sideboard is more creature removal and pure control cards, but this deck doesn't always have to be semi-control delver. In the right matchups, this deck can switch to mid-aggro, midrange, pure control, or cruel control just by changing card use and a little sideboarding. Usually I recommend this for games 2 and 3. Although it's hard to change the play style effectively after turn 3-4 of game 1, it is still possible, but not recommended.
The trick is in card use, more specifically
Sage of Epityr
and
Dimir Charm
. They both have the remarkable ability to dictate my draws, so if I change how I play with them, I can change my deck. Usually I try to open with a delver and protect it and maybe eventually play a few more threats as my counters run out. This is fine and good, but this deck has a lot more potential than just a delver deck.
Card Choices Explained
Vampire Nighthawk: This thing is just deadly. If the opponent is lucky, itll go down with a Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, or Abrupt Decay because if it ever enters battle its a guaranteed 1-for-1 with any non-firststrike creature AND it gains me life. It can take over games really easily and with 4 of them in the deck, they never stop coming.
Dismember: One of the better removal spells in the format. It hits almost everything and can be cheated out early because of the phyrexian mana. Always a winner.
Doom Blade: Not the greatest removal ever printed, but still very strong. I chose this over Victim of Night because of the much easier casting cost in a mostly deck, Go for the Throat because affinity is a thing that I can't otherwise beat, and
Smother
because there's a lot of higher cost creatures like Wurmcoil Engine and friends. Although it can't hit everything, most of the creatures in the format are nonblack so I think I'm good. I chose to run 2 Doom Blade and 2 Dismember over 4 Dismember because although the 6 toughness barrier is a high one, it is far from impossible to top, so I run a hard kill as well just in case.
Duress
: Budget hand removal with a great art. I interact with creatures enough that I can handle the noncreature clause and just side it out if I need to. I know Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize are much better, but budget. I've chosen this over
Despise
because there are a lot more relevant spells for
Duress
.
Mana Leak: A good fun hits-all counter. Not much to say about it. I am running it over Mana Leak because I can side out 1-2 Mana Leak without losing effectiveness. Also, I dont have to play around Murderous Cuts delve.
Sage of Epityr
: This card is also awesome. It allows us to make a very good game plan for the next 4 turns and give us a chump blocker. Its main use is for setting up Delver of Secrets
, but its also great at digging down for a plan. Its especially good when we need to find a specific card fast, like Extirpate. Because of how well it combos with a lot of the rest of the deck, it does a lot more than just rearrange the top 4. Its almost always a great turn 1 play because of how well we can prepare. Definitely one of my favorite cards.
Sage of Epityr
and
Dimir Charm
: I know we already covered them, but they are important and deserve more talking about them. They are, to some extent, what makes this deck work. They are very similar and knowing when / how to use them is important. A lot of it is matchup dependent. Before using
Dimir Charm
, you need to consider which effect has the most potential benefit. It is perfectly ok to use it as a counter or removal because usually thats what youll be looking for with its third ability. A lot of this deck is future planning so when making a play you have to know how it will affect your plan and whether its more important to be drawing well or stopping them now. With
Sage of Epityr
, it is important to remember that because we have 4
Sage of Epityr
and 4
Dimir Charm
, theres a lot of planning spells so its always likely that you will draw into another. You should almost never use one to find the other unless youre using
Sage of Epityr
to find
Dimir Charm
unless you really need it. Its really easy to spend all of our turns trying to set up and never actually make a significant move otherwise. This is bad because to win in magic you usually have to actually interact with the opponent. If you cast an
Sage of Epityr
, dont do the
Dimir Charm
to send 2 to our own grave unless you have 2 extra mana and the
Dimir Charm
couldnt be better used. Remember that its usually better to screw your opponents draw than improve yours, but thats deck dependent. The [[Sage of Epityr] +
Dimir Charm
combo is really meant for mana fixing or digging for a specific spell, not for common use. Theres enough other
Sage of Epityr
combos that its not always an efficient use of [Dimir Charm]] to help out on the draws. A lot of using these cards is experience, knowledge of the opponents deck, and situational. Theres no absolute answer - every rule has exceptions, and effectively using
Sage of Epityr
and
Dimir Charm
has a very flexible set of rules.
Jace, Architect of Thought
: Hes a lot of fun. His +1 shuts down swarm and aggro strategies. Its also good protection for himself and me as I try to find an answer. His -2 is great for drawing more cards in the late game and also helpful in the early game. Its also pretty good when used with
Sage of Epityr
. His -8 is almost never used, but amazing when I do use it. I can grab a card right out of my deck for later use. Nothing is more scary for a midrange deck than a floating Life's Finale. I also love grabbing another Jace out of my deck to do it all over again. Overall, I like to think of Jace as good long term draw with added benefits.
Extirpate: Lots of fun. This card is absolutely devastating against some decks. Combo decks will usually concede if I can manage to exile a key card that they cannot win without. Split Second is good because it allows us to exile Splinter Twin without being countered, which is very fun. It combos great with Life's Finale, Duress, or
Dimir Charm
, and for the finale combo, against creature based decks we can remove almost all of their creatures from the deck completely. Almost all decks are affected by permanent exile in their deck so this is my method.
Far / Away
: My sac outlet and 2-for-1 card. Both halves are relevant for stopping threats.
Far
is great for narrowing the options for
Away
so they sac the card I want them to. It also is good on tokens and returning my own Vampire Nighthawk or Delver of Secrets
to the hand to dodge removal. Its my only way to beat Abrupt Decay.
Away
is great for hexproof, indestructible, and other nasty effects. As a whole, the card is great because I can use it on turn 2, 3, or 5 without losing any value. Just a great card overall.
Life's Finale: My board wipe. I know theres cheaper cards to run, but I like this one because sending 3 creatures to the grave is brutal against a creature-based deck. If I can resolve it against aggro, its game because of how inconsistent their draws become, especially if I use Extirpate right after.
Pithing Needle: Standard sideboard tech. Great for naming planeswalkers or Splinter Twin or numerous other nasty cards. Its definitely worth the 2 slots, although its personal preference whether you run this, Relic of Progenitus, or 1 of each. I personally dont like Relic of Progenitus, so I run 2 of this instead. Its Pithing Needle. Not much to say.
Ratchet Bomb: Great against tokens, aggro, and Affinity to some extent. Not worth more than 1 spot, but definitely worth the 1. Its a little unconventional, but I like it. I may replace it with Relic of Progenitus, but well see. Ratchet Bomb is also a great political tool and makes them question their plays because if they over-reach, I can detonate this, but if they dont play enough I can lock the field. Just almost never use it on 3 charge counters because that kills avery permanent of ours except Jace and Delver. 2 charge counters is a very common number because it doesnt hurt us at all and hits a lot of scary cards.
Underworld Connections: Pure wholesome drawpower. It gets slaughtered by Abrupt Decay but thats about it. The life loss is nothing because of Vampire Nighthawk with his lifelink, and the card advantage that I gain is amazing. I only run 1 though because I won't side it in for most matchups, but in midrange and control its a Phyrexian Arena that I can turn on and off. Its the only card in here that gives me card advantage every turn, because Jace will die if you only use his -2. Oftentimes Ill side it out if its not useful, but its amazing when I need it. I dont run it in the sideboard for game 1 because I can just scry it away if I dont want it, but some matches are unwinnable without it.
Monastery Siege: Not the best card, but I like it. The Khans effect is great hand improvement in the late game that makes the difference in midrange matches. The Dragons effect helps against burn and control because their burn spells, counters, and removal now cost a lot, so I gain a lot of advantage. I also might replace this card for 1 Relic of Progenitus, but like I said, I dont really like that card. I see Monastery Siege helping me a lot more than the relic, but I might be wrong about that. I like Monastery Siege because of its versatility.
Feedback
I know $200 isn't very budget, but Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver will drop in price a lot when it rotates. Polluted Delta can be plain Evolving Wilds to reduce the cost a lot. Watery Grave is somewhat pointless without Pollued Delta so it can become Dismal Backwater. That reduces the cost by $100 or so, putting this well within the realm of budget.
To un-budgetize this deck, Spellskite and Sword of Light and Shadow are great cards to put in. Also Cryptic Command, Snapcaster Mage, Serum Visions, and Liliana of the Veil.
If you are playing casual, then I recommend running 4
Necroskitter
, 1 AEtherling, 1 Lord of the Void, and 1 Grave Titan. Although they make the deck less effective, they make it a lot more fun.
More description coming soon!
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