EDIT
Huge changes! The ban announcement came and went before I even went the Cruise route with this deck. That said, there have been a TON of new cards that seem insane in this deck, plus several current staples that have found their place. No time for a detailed in out list, but I've archived the last iteration for comparison/analysis that will thankfully be much more frequent due to the adoption of Modern @ FNM!
Void Snare
, despite being a sorcery, gives Enchantment and Walker removal... and with a tempo deck should be easy to have single or double counter backup.
Reality Shift is great removal that Blue desperately needs, and a 2/2 usually shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Khans brought fetches that, while Foothills is our best option, still keeps us on color, hitting shocks, and WELL more within budget than the unfortunate combo of Tarn and Misty have been.. strangling Izzet and RUG builds.
Typically taking a slower approach to other similar Eternal brews, but trying to return to a Gro-Control style.
I'm not looking to necessarily stick a Delver turn one anymore, but i do want to get to the point where I can dump a hand worth of cards and/or triggers onto a threat late game, and beat face in two or three turns with counter backup and protection. Glad i didn't get used to Cruise, but have debated Manamorphose to keep chaining even though it make the deck feel too stormy. I want to trade counters or tempo out threats without over committing until i can land one with enough tricks to take it over the top.
I'll update with new interactions as i'm able to test and tune, definitely feeling the lack of Gitaxian Probe right off the bat, but the way Swiftspear can still chain out:
Imagine Turn X (6-9 maybe) going Swiftspear, Remand your response, Titan's Strength, Armed, swing with an 8/9 Double Strike...
More to come!
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The quest for maximum value in a homebrew deck:
Draw a creature, and dump as much value into it over the first few turns as possible. Everything but
Explore
will put counters on the Quirion Dryad, landfall tricks for the
Plated Geopede
, and enough slingable spells to flip Delver of Secrets
. That's right, 29 Instants and Sorceries!
For example:
T1: Blue Source, Delver
T2: Reveal to flip Delver, Red source, Cast
Armed
Swing for 4 double strike (Opp to 12)
T3: Red Source, Cast
Titan's Strength
, Cast
Armed
Swing for 14, Game.
On T4, with a Quirion Dryad on the board:
-Cast Lightning Bolt Opponent goes to 17, Quirion gets a +1/+1 counter.
-Cast
Titan's Strength
(Quirion gets another counter making it a 3/3) and gets +3/+3 until EOT.
-Cast
Artful Dodge
(Quirion gets a counter, to 4/4 with +3/+3).
-Cast
Armed
(Quirion to 5/5 (+4/+4) > Swing for 9 unblockable double strike, Game.
Dropping Fetch Lands with
Explore
to get 3 or more Landfall triggers for the Geopede = +6/+6 or more, yes please!
The Board:
Bring in Invisible Stalker against removal heavy decks, or all 4 Young Pyromancer for Geopede to swarm with creatures. Scooze more for life gain with the other grave hate, and Fling is a great surprise after attacks with a huge Quirion Dryad.
The Maybes:
Serum Visions could be a great filter, but with the low land count it feels like wasting a spell, the draw is great but there is other draw in the deck, and the scry while good seems like its not going to do that much manipulation. Still, the spell adds a counter to the Dryad, and if I went for a longer game would help fuel the Chasm Skulker too.Chasm Skulker seems like a better Lorescale Coatl but since nothing else breaks 3CMC it feels too slow.
Apostle's Blessing
and Gut Shot are kind of stolen from the Nivmagus deck Brad Nelson played a while back, but while free triggers for Quirion Dryad and Young Pyromancer they still feel like they should do more for the investment. pro-color of choice is great, but flashing back
Artful Dodge
or a free copy of
Distortion Strike
take care of the blocking problem with Remand for protection against most but definitely not all threats. Path can be countered, but Abrupt Decay is a problem here.
- - - BIG EDIT - - -
Well well well... Khans has been pretty sweet and I think it's got some tricks for this deck.
Monastery Swiftspear - So good i can't even figure it out yet. I feel like this is a midgame creature in this deck, and with all the cantrips it makes me want to maybe run some rituals too so i can run him out and try to dump my hand into him for value. I love haste because he can back up Delver, and tossing mu hand at him makes is super easy to follow up with...
Hooting Mandrills - Only a one of right now because he feels like a finsher, but i'm debating trying other delve in Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time and they don't play that well together all the time, though there are some xmas scenarios.
