kadonian- Because this functions more as an aggro/control or tempo build and less so as a control build I typically like to operate on 5 mana or less. I also normally start the game with a Delver of Secrets  ^Flip or Grim Lavamancer on the board and try to land a Geist of Saint Traft . That's why I don't have spells like Wrath of God and Supreme Verdict in the main deck. I do agree that swarm decks and token decks are some of the worst matchups I can face. The Engineered Explosives in the side board are to help with these matchups. You are correct that I may need more especially if these types of decks become more popular in my meta. If these types of decks pick up in my meta I will also add a Anger of the Gods to my sideboard. I also have a Detention Sphere in my 20 card rotating sideboard. It's member's such as yourself that can see weaknesses in decks that really help make decks better on TappedOut. Not everyone has that ability or skill. Thank you for your input.

sirbar- I think the new Jace is great if you can ultimate him very quickly. Maybe a deck with Tezzeret's Gambit or Doubling Season or even a grixis control build with him and Liliana. I think he is better than most people may think at first glance. I haven't tried testing him yet in this build, but I am willing to try anything to make the deck better. I will sleeve it up and give it a try.

Thanks to both of you for your help and any +1's.

Never fail to amaze with your deck ideas. +1

Forgot to add some of my advice, take with a grain of salt. I feel Boros Charm is too good to pass up as a 1x, I think it has great potential as a finisher and pseudo-counterspell for dodging most removal. Take out some Lightning Helix or a Spell Snare In addition I think Cryptic Command is a bit too steep for a 20 land deck, another Remand in its place?

Take with a grain of salt.

NateJH- Your advice is always helpful. I was actually thinking of adding another Boros Charm to the deck. Great minds think alike ;).

I'm going to test the deck tonight with another Boros Charm instead of the Cryptic Command .

Thank you for your help and for the +1.

I would take out the Cryptic Command and the Spell Snare in favor of more Boros Charm and more Spell Pierce . And maybe put in different counter spells in favor of Spell Snare , as not all spells cost 2 mana. I think that I might make this if it didn't cost so damn much money. Also I do not love its consistency, or lack thereof. That being said, I do love the deck and the idea. +1 from me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR USA DELVER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

In honor of this special day, would you pleas convince me to pick up this deck?

nutellaisgreaterthanlife- I think you might be right. I am currently trying the deck without the Cryptic Command with an additional Boros Charm .

Spell Snare has been very good at countering problem creatures like Tarmogoyf , Scavenging Ooze , Dark Confidant , Archbound Ravager, Young Pyromancer , etc and hits some removal spells such as Terminate , Lightning Helix , Izzet Charm , etc. It has been very good, but does get sided out in some match ups.

The deck has a TON of reach with Gitaxian Probe and Serum Visions and many of the cards offer similar utility so the deck has been extremely consistent even though it does have several one of's. Thank for the advise and thank you for the +1. Whenever it adds your +1 I will be closer to my goal of 50 upvotes. At that time I will be posting a picture of the foiled out decklist.

LineDart- This is my favorite post of all time! I highly suggest picking up this deck. It has been ridiculous in testing. Thanks as always for your support!

My dilemma us this vs UWR Midrange. The only major difference is Delver, so I'd like to hear your reasoning as to why you picked this one. Also I'm in CA right now so not able to order the stuff I need to build it. Abd lastly, you're welcome for the comment.

:D

Also, I'm playing Twin now and love it, so if I'm switching over to a fair-er deck it better be good.

That is a great question LineDart. The UWR midrange variants are as solid as a deck can get in modern. They have answers to any deck that can be thrown at you. Obviously I love my deck as well and it too contains many of the same answers. As for which to chose between the two there are several variables:

1. Play Style- The main consideration between the two is play style. In modern you REALLY have to test and become very comfortable and knowledgeable on your deck. Therefore, I highly recommend playing something that fits your play style. If you are more of a control player, than the UWR midrange is probably more up your alley because it can offer Anger of the Gods , Cryptic Command , and more counter magic. It also has a more powerful top end with the option of having the Kiki-Resto combo. If you are more of a tempo player like myself, this deck is definitely the better option.

2. Speed- If you like to be the aggressor (even in a control or semi-control matchup), then this deck is a much better option. In the current meta, I wanted to be the aggressive deck. Like I said in the intro, the UWR midrange variants start on the heels and begin the game with defense such as counter magic, removal, or Wall of Omens . I prefer to put some pressure on the opponent. The pressure helps in multiple ways, making them play worse and also making them play more hastily then they prefer. The current meta has slowed down and there are many multi-colored decks with fetches. Any decks with burn or early pressure can get free wins. The entire reason I actually made this deck was to be more aggressive. I was playing my Lightning Blitz deck which was more of a UWR midrange deck. I love the blitz deck, but always felt like I wanted to be the one that was dictating the action and with so many decks in the meta currently trying to "combo off" on the top end, I really didn't want to let my opponent set up their strategy.

3. Information- This deck is much better in the unknown meta or PTQ in my opinion. UWR is highly dependent on having the right answers to hose the opponent. In an unknown meta it's tough to have all the answers. Also, because this deck maindecks Gitaxian Probe it can get information on your opponents deck that can be highly valuable in games 2-3 and sideboarding. If you are choosing a deck to take to your local shop each week, this doesn't apply near as much. In addition, having a somewhat rogue deck gives the opponent less information on what to do.

4. Land destruction. It seems as though everyone is putting Tectonic Edge , Ghost Quarter , Molten Rain , etc in their decks to deal with the increase in Tron and to deal with pesky utility lands. This deck operates on very few lands (four is plenty). In the current meta in my area this is a huge advantage,

Basically you can't go wrong with either deck. If you are more of a control player I would suggest a UWR Control/Midrange variant; possibly the Kiki-Resto variant so if feels more like your twin build. Another plus of the UWR colors in general is that they can be tweaked for your own unique build. If you want to be more aggressive I would recommend this build. The best news is that they have many cards in common so you can build both and try them without too much additional cost. Then you can be the aggro/tempo player if that's what the meta calls for or the control player if that is better in your meta.

Please keep us all posted on which one you go with and how your testing is going. Thanks again for your help with the deck and your interest!

Great, thanks for that! I do love to be the aggressor though, and force my opponent to have answers. The reason I want to play Delver though, is because I can put the pressure on while having counters and other answers of my own.

LineDart- This sounds like a deck you should try. That is exactly why I play this Delver deck. There is nothing better than flipping your Delver of Secrets  ^Flip on turn two with a Lightning Bolt or Path to Exile and Spell Snare in hand to deal with whatever they may throw at you on turn three :). It's hard to lose a game if you flip and early delver and/or land a Geist of Saint Traft . The rest of your cards just become about protecting your beaters.

This deck does take a good amount of practice to master (if it can be mastered) but that is true of all UWR decks and true of modern decks in general. If you have been playing twin successfully than you already have a firm grasp on how to play UR decks with counters and action.

I think Delver decks are in a really good place in modern right now and this is the best of the Delver decks in my opinion. Please keep us all posted if you do end up giving the deck a try. I would love to hear how other perform with the deck and what changes they make for their meta or playstyle. Thanks again for your help and comments!

How would you say this deck fares against other Midrange and Aggro? So far you have me convinced but now I need to know about the matchups and mentally test it in my meta. I would assume the matchups are decent for Midrange and probably (hopefully) Pod, but how would you say this deck plays against Zoo or Affinity? Based on the fact that you have approximately 0 sweepers, I would assume it's a race while you pick off what you can. Thoughts?

PS when I get back I will be picking up this deck. I have most of the UR pieces, missing Mesas, some non UR shocks and helixes.

Engineered Explosives is a sweeper. It just hits a certain CMC, which should be 2 against affinity, and 1 against zoo, hopefully.

Yup you're completely right. Just missed it when I skimmed that one. Anyways I have a funny story with Explosives. TDed it against Affinity game 3 after he had played not 1, not 2, but 3 Etched Champion . I fist pumped : p, went to fetch for my 1 of Stomping grounds, realized I had forgotten to put it in, and scooped. Remember kids, always check your deck before you wreck (yourself)!

It was like 3 days ago and I'm still mad :L

Haha, I've Ghost Quarter 'd my own land before only to realize that I had no basics left... I now count relevant cards and memorize deck lists so mistakes like that don't happen anymore. I feel stupid mistakes like that help to make us better players, because you don't do them more then once (hopefully).

LineDart- We have all made these type of mistakes. When I first started with this deck I played Snapcaster Mage to flashback a Gitaxian Probe at the end of my opponent's turn and then remembered that probe was a sorcery, not an instant. It was just a brain fart and Snapcaster Mage had to enter the battlefield with his pants down :0

Back to the deck.... as nbarry223 said, the Engineered Explosives have been extremely good in most aggro and token matchups. Because the only permanents in the main board that are 2 drops are our Snapcaster Mage s, explosives set to 2 has been a blowout on many occasions. It works especially well against the Tarmogoyf , Scavenging Ooze , Voice of Resurgence , Dark Confidant style decks and the hate bears deck. Qasali Pridemage is a problem, but we have ways to play around him.

If there is a lot of pod in your meta I would suggest running 4 Path to Exile s. I really wanted to run a Anger of the Gods in the sideboard, but just couldn't waste the spot for something that could kill our Geist of Saint Traft , The the speed of the deck and our sideboard, the deck is pretty good against pod decks. It isn't an overwhelming favorite, but I do feel like we are favored, especially after board.

Against zoo the explosives are awesome again and the Lightning Helix s are also extremely good. An early grim lavamancer can pick off their little guys and all of our removal slows them down. They have a tough time dealing with flyers so we can get some damage through. If your meta has a lot of zoo, I would recommend adding a Batterskull to the sideboard and removing what ever is not necessary. I may be removing one Wear / Tear for a Batterskull if my meta goes more aggro.

Midrange decks are some of the decks that we matchup somewhat well against. We want to start off fast and basically counter/remove anything they do. With that said, cards like Lingering Souls , Anger of the Gods , and Liliana of the Veil are our worst enemies so Jund is a tough matchup, especially the Ajundy version with white. Our low curve allows us to to play more spells for card advantage so we just can't let Dark Confidant s and Courser of Kruphix s sit on the board to long. Mirran Crusader has jumped in and out of my sideboard for this matchup. If jund begins to increase again I would probably put him back in to the sideboard.

Merfolk is another tough one because we play islands. If we get a Engineered Explosives on 2 it's a complete blowout. This one plays out very similar to zoo.

Any deck running UW is completely destroyed by a Geist of Saint Traft most of the time.

The real positive I have noticed about the deck is that it has play against almost any deck. Like most other UWR decks in modern, you aren't a dog against any deck in the format and there are not big time hate cards (outside of Choke ). Also the deck can be customized to your meta. A faster opening hand can kill many decks before they can get going so you can steal some free wins.

The good news for you is the Arid Mesa s are some of the cheapest fetch lands and Sacred Foundry is one of the cheapest shock lands. I think the first time you Lightning Helix someone and have a 6 life swing in your favor you will fall in love :). Keep us posted on how your testing/purchasing goes and which matchups you like/dislike. I am still testing this puppy to find the perfect 75 so I can use all the help I can get, especially from some of the knowledgeable players and brewers like yourself.

Good thing I have tons of Pod and little to no Jund :D

Seems like everything is bad against Jund but if you really want to hose them play some more Leyline of Sanctity . Also for the Jund matchup SoFaF is a colorless Mirran Crusader. Don't you forget to side it in.

Another sidenote: I onced got T2 choked against zoo. I had the Sulfur Falls by he had the Ghost Quarter. After the match (which I lost obv) I asked the judged if it was legal for my opponent to choke me.

Nah, not everything is bad against Jund. My combo deck I run rarely loses best of 3 against Jund, but I also play 3x Leyline of Sanctity in the board. The targeted discard is honestly one of the hardest things to fight with any deck that isn't simply play 1 or 2 drops and swing with them (looking at you Hatebears and Zoo). It is just shear advantage ripping a hand apart for a single mana. They don't even lose card advantage on the play either, as both players' hands go down one.

Leyline of Sanctity is definitely a powerful card, and I feel you have to run 3-4 to get the full advantage of it. Here's some numbers to demonstrate my point:

Running 3 Leylines (my preference): 31.5% chance of having at least one in your opening hand, followed by a 27.5% chance if you decide to take a mulligan.

Running 4: 40% chance of at least one in the opener, followed by a 35% chance, and a 30% chance if you are really willing to risk it for the biscuit.

Running 2: 22% chance opener, with 19% on the mulligan.

So basically, you are jumping up from a 1/4 chance to a 1/3 chance on just the opener by going from 2 to 3. It's a very powerful jump in consistency, especially if you find discard/burn to be a major problem.

I should mention, If you like the idea of using statistics to help you figure out card odds when trying to figure out certain counts on various cards, I suggest using this website as it does the math for you, and is explained to a simplistic enough level that even a non-math major can do it (I think).

On an unrelated note, would Pithing Needle be a better option than Celestial Purge if its main use is dealing with Liliana?

I think Purge has more uses. He said that one of his worst matchups was Jund and that hits Liliana, Bob, Raging Ravine...

Plus Purge is instant speed.

And even though Needle hits all future Lilianas too, Jund has Decay for it, and if they saw the MD Sword game 1 you bet there'll be some artifact hate.

And that's just my opinion against Jund.

I think you guys are right. With only 2 Leyline of Sanctity s in the sideboard, my chances are not high enough to hit it in my opening hand. Also my meta has very little burn and 8 rack so they really aren't necessary. I have added in my personal favorite Mirran Crusader to make my Jund and G/B matchups better and the trusty Batterskull . I'm not sure if Batterskull will stick because of the high casting cost, but it's a stupendous card. I may be adding an Anger of the Gods for the merfolk and small zoo matchups if they keep growing in meta percentage.

I don't think you can go wrong with Pithing Needle or Celestial Purge . I have used the Celestial Purge in storm on Pyromancer's Ascension and against a Blood Moon . I do agree that Pithing Needle is a better option to stop Liliana before she gets us, but my deck lives on instant speed and versatility and on a very small note Celestial Purge has the advantage because it can flip Delver of Secrets  ^Flip .

Thanks again to everyone for their support and +1's. Special thanks to LineDart and nbarry223 who have been an integral part of the creation of this deck in it's current setup.

I was actually suggesting to up the count on it, but just cutting it is definitely an option too, haha. I feel you generally have to run 3 or more of the leylines, or none at all. If your only problem is targeted discard from jund and rock etc, then yeah, they probably aren't worth it.

I'm surprised you have a problem against Blood Moon running 6 fetches where you only have Vendilion Clique and Geist of Saint Traft as double costed spells. Everything else has 1 non-red cost at most. When running mulicolored decks, I think it is always best to play around the possible Blood Moon when you are facing a heavy red deck game 2. If you can play around it effectively, it's better than removing it, as you have that removal for something else. Also, have you considered AetherSpouts at all in any of your decks? I think it has some promise as a potential sideboard card at least.