Hey folks. I'll try to keep it brief, I've done a fair bit of playtesting this deck so far, and I readily admit I'm personally very biased in claiming this, but this may be the next T1 deck to beat. (For whatever that's worth, this site is full of 1000 other great ideas ready to be cracked! =] ) It may be way too early to write a primer, with not half of RtR spoiled yet. But, that's not going to stop you and me from playtesting and brainstorming to try and get a leg up in advance, is it? After all, why are you here? TLDR at the bottom, here's a stab at an early write up. Some of the choices look wonky at first glance, and you really can't gauge the value of it all until you've played it. Conversely, I'm very open to suggestions, but unless it's a "pure upgrade" for the card in it's slot, I'm probably not going to deviate too much from this list for playtesting purposes. This deck really wants a replacement for Ponder, as we all know may likely be spoiled, especially since traditional Delver lists run 8 sources of cantrip draws.
Also a note on the mana-base, yes, it's all over the place. The simplest way I can put it, if the Simic Shockland was coming in next month, it would take the place of Hinterland Harbor obviously. Getting a blue on T1 is absolutely imperative and non-negotiable. We really want a green on T2 for Mayor, 10 sources of green has been enough in playtesting so far. There's far more white costs in the deck as opposed to green which is the light splash color, BUT, the green demands to be cast first.The white spells really do not need to be cast until T3.
With that in mind, line by line evaluation:
Delver of Secrets: Yeah we all know already why he's good. Guess what, he's slightly upgraded in this list. Possibly very overlooked relevant fact: he is a Human on Both sides.
Mayor of Avabruck: I could devote a whole page to this guy, he is winning me games on his own. He has always wanted to play alongside Delver and a very instant heavy reactive aggro-control deck. Why isn't he played now? Gut Shot and Snag. A few of the new combo pieces for RtR are what make him absolutely nuts in here, and essentially the deck has 8 creature win con cards - Mayor AND...
Geist of Saint Traft: MVP of any UW Delver deck, self explanatory. What's different here? I'm glad you asked. Well for starters, with Whipflare, Geth's Verdict, Phantasmal Image, and Phyrexian Metamorph rotating, expect to see Saint Trafty the new public enemy #1 of Standard. Hands down. He will single handedly steal games. But, that's not exclusive to just this deck, I'll grant that. The most fun combo in here though - Geist + Rootborn Defenses.With all the combat shenanigans you can do in this deck, Geist is pretty much never afraid to swing, and with Populate triggers, you get to make a permanent 4/4 Angel.
Snapcaster Mage: No explanation needed
Shenanigans Package:Thought Scour: Mandatory.
Azorius Charm: Hands down the best instant in the deck. Huge lifelink swings are very possible when needed, as well as crushing tempo plays on your opponents' good creatures. AC does NOT want to be played as card draw, only draw with it as a last resort. It's primary use is as an upgraded Unsummon that basically reads "bounce target opponents' (attacking/blocking) creature, and they do not draw next turn."
Selesnya Charm: I tried 4 at first, it's pretty lackluster so far. The main use has been pumping Geist so that he doesn't die when swinging.
Rootborn Defenses: Absolutely tailor made for this deck. Even if you do not have a target to populate, this can save you from an unlucky Miracle'd Bonfire of the Damned. It looks situational at first. I tried it at first as a 2 of, now it's become a 4 of staple because it is very easy to generate value out of.
Dissipate: Self-explanatory.
Cackling Counterpart: Okay here's the card you rolled your eyes at when you first looked at this list. I tried it as a 1 of, and many good games with it later, I've cautiously bumped it up to a 2 of. Again, we have so many ways to get value out of it. Quick scenario - very likely curve out: Turn 2 drop Mayor. Turn 3 simply pass the turn and flip him with 3 open. You wait and see if they're going to target the Alpha, and in response clone him, if nothing, go ahead and clone him anyway. A TOKEN Howlpack Alpha stays in werewolf form, and generates us a 3/3 wolf every turn.
Copy a Geists' Angel token, or even a flipped Delver. All are very solid reactive plays that not only interact with the opponent but build your board and apply pressure.
That about wraps it up, thank you for reading the wall. I'm very interested in finding serious dedicated players to test on Cockatrice Post RtR standard stuff. Playtest me with whatever you want and we can help each other! I'm on eastern time if you're interested, PM me! Burning 8 hours a night on this, today's mission is to craft a sideboard. Any critique, go!
