A budget version of Azorius Delver for Legacy -- I don't have Tundras and I don't have $900 to acquire a playset. TCGPlayer price for this deck on the day of posting is $343.69. While Flooded Strand isn't exactly budget, in Legacy I feel it's necessary.
The idea is basically like any other Delver of Secrets deck -- play counterspells and removal so Delver can hit your opponent in the face for 3 every turn until they die. My version runs Myth Realized -- an enchantment that turns all your instant and sorcery spells you're playing anyway into a big creature to hit your opponent with. With twelve counterspells in the deck I should be able to protect my enchantment creature, and attempting to kill it with removal if I have counter magic up makes it bigger since it gets another counter. As an enchantment it can be tricky to remove, and it grows with every spell I cast. Cards like Preordain and Ponder will help me draw into my Delver and Myth Realized.
Edit: In early playtesting I'm finding that Force of Negation is rarely ever being cast for its alternate cost -- practically every time I want to cast FoN, I either have the mana to hard cast it (in which case Dovin's Veto is strictly better since it can't be countered and costs 1 less), or I don't have a blue card in my hand to pay the alternate cost (my hand only contains some combination of Swords/Path/Terminus and lands). The original version of this deck ran 2x Force of Negation -- these have been replaced for 2x Dovin's Veto. If I were to increase the budget of this deck, these would be replaced by two copies of Force of Will as the first changes.
I'm also finding out that Abrupt Decay is one of this deck's biggest weaknesses -- a removal spell that can hit Myth Realized as an enchantment that also can't be countered. Hence the Narset's Reversals -- Narset's Reversal can "counter" Abrupt Decay (the only other cards that can do that are Spell Queller, Ashiok's Erasure and Unsubstantiate).
I chose Narset's reversal over Spell Queller for the following:
- Spell Queller costs 3 and Reversal costs 2.
- Spell Queller can be removed by 1 mana removal spells, while Reversal forces them to replay the Decay and spend two more mana on it.
- Reversal lets me blow up an enemy permanent if it stops an Abrupt Decay.
- Reversal can act as an extra copy of any of my instants or sorceries for two mana.
- Reversal counts as an instant or sorcery for Delver of Secrets and a noncreature spell for Myth Realized.
- Reversal can be used on certain spells the enemy is running other than Abrupt Decay. Sometimes opponents will cast spells that I would like a copy of, including removal, burn spells and board wipes.
I see the downsides of Reversal and believe the upsides are more relevant.
- Spell Queller is a 2/3 with flash and flying and can be used as a threat.
- If an opponent interacts with Spell Queller while the ETB is on the stack, their spell vanishes forever (but opponents know that and won't removal Spell Queller until after the ETB resolves to get their spell back).
