Hey, I am in the process of building delver as I am wanting to get into modern. This deck looks very interesting. What would you temporarily replace Snapcaster Mage with if I was on a reasonable budget for the moment?

Also have you considered playing a Kolaghan's Command? It can be very useful for getting back Snapcaster Mage's or Tasigur, the Golden Fang's when they are milled or destroyed and double's up as creature or artifact removal.

I just noticed in the sideboard but why is it not in the main?

I appreciate that you looked at my deck, but this is an initial experiment for me. If you're hoping to build a delver deck as entry-level into modern, I'd take a look at the more traditional grixis delver lists. I don't mean to turn you away from my deck, but it's an untested experiment and I have absolutely no guarantees of the success of this deck compared to the other delver decks. That said, it's pretty similar to the list I currently play Delver of Dimir which has had pretty good success despite only having 2 colors. I do have a lot of confidence in this list and its innovations - It has a fantastic burn matchup which is unheard of in delver - so I wouldn't be surprised if Vampire Nighthawk found its way into more delver lists, but no one plays it yet.

The initial problems I have noticed with it are that I need to get to 3 mana to cast Vampire Nighthawk which is my secret weapon in here. Although 3 mana isn't much, it means you likely won't be able to cast a counter in the same turn as the nighthawk. This makes the deck slightly less tempoed and on a slower clock, but this improves the burn matchup significantly because I actually have some lifegain.

Now, if you still want to play this list, here's what I'd recommend:

First, adjust the mana base so if this deck doesn't work, you can swap a dozen cards and switch to traditional delver. I'd put more of an emphasis on the red and less on black. Take a look here for some ideas.

The biggest differences between this list and traditional delver is, of course, Vampire Nighthawk. It is taking the spot of Young Pyromancer. There are other differences as well, though. This deck has 1-2 more land, no Gitaxian Probe, no Remand, more counters, and a drastically different sideboard. Luckily, the changes I have made are relatively cheap so if you do want to switch back to traditional delver, if you get a traditional mana base, the switch won't cost you much. Interestingly, most delver decks these days are cutting Inquisition of Kozilek for more controlling elements, but I prefer the deck as is. It's been better in my experience.

If you want to try this list without snappy you could pull Snapcaster Mage from the main to put in 2 Gurmag Angler and 1 more Terminate. I was running no angler and less terminate because I didn't want to delve as much and I could always recur the removal I needed, so I could get away with less in my deck.

For the sideboard, I am attempting to innovate with Extirpate and Sword of Light and Shadow. They are not run in any other list. Instead, you could run more traditional cards like Izzet Staticaster and optimized removal and counters such as Dismember, Slaughter Pact (I don't recommend this one), Remand, Dispel, and Flashfreeze.

If you do build this deck those are the changes I'd recommend and I think they will make the list more enjoyable and more likely to not crash and fail.

As for your recommendation of KC, I do want to try to find room for a few KC in the main. The spot where most people have them is to replace 2 of the counters in the main with 2 KC and then have 2-3 counters in the sideboard as well. I am considering that change because KC is good in both burn (revive a nighthawk), abzan (more card value), and affinity (artifact hate), so I think it deserves a spot. I'll find a way to include it.

Thanks for the quick response and suggestions. Burn and Abzan are both quite common in my local meta and I like that this list is a lot stronger against them than more traditional lists. I am going to try your idea, have a traditional mana base so I can transition to a traditional build and because the cards that you are running that differ from traditional builds (Vampire Nighthawk, Inquisition of Kozilek, etc) are either quite cheap or I already own them it should be easy to test.

Sounds good! Please keep me updated on how this deck does! I'd love some feedback!

I've updated this deck's mana base so it is much more versatile and transferrable. It is about the same as the 'big delver deck' (more delve cards like angler, less pyromancer). It is relatively painless and tries to live on basics more than shocks. Fetches are still very important though.

One thing I forgot about for a better sideboard: Batterskull, Jace, Architect of Thought, and Keranos, God of Storms. I'd probably run Jace for sure because he's good in a lot of matchups, then choose between batterskull, keranos or neither, but don't run both. Both of them are very strong against abzan and other midrange lists. Batterskull has a more immediate influence and can't be killed by a lili -2, but Keranos is much more controlling and can't be removed by their sideboarded artifact hate. Keranos will also almost never be a creature, which is just fine.

I will be updating this deck a lot so the cards in the list will change. Most notably will be the sideboard. I'll optimize it soon for a general meta and post with some tips for your meta. Spellskite is the best anti-burn card you can run in the sideboard and Blood Moon is pretty solid against abzan. Unfortunately, abzan won't roll over and die to landing a moon. You need to play it fast and if you use Inquisition of Kozilek on them, remove their hand removal so you can land the moon safely. Also, Monastery Siege as 1-2 of in the sideboard is a must if you expect burn and abzan. It can fuel a good delve, protect your dudes from removal, and make burn spells much more costly. In an environment of guaranteed burn and abzan, I'd play 2.

Here are a few tips against those decks for playing: Burn isn't bad for this deck if you play it right. Don't try to play a turn 3 Nighthawk because all it will do is die to bolt. Play as many counters as you can on turns 1-5 and try to disrupt them. Board out Delver of Secrets  ^Flip first because it's the least useful in here. Tasigur and the Angler are still great blockers. Don't worry about actually winning quickly - the win will come on turn 10 or so. Don't play Nighthawk until turn 5 at the earliest (or turn 4 with a Spell Snare in hand) because you have to keep it alive. Feel free to whip out a turn 2 Spellskite and let it die to burn, but don't make it die. Don't let Nighthawk die and don't scry them away unless you have 3 in hand. You need to land 2-3 of them to secure the win, but never play them until the time is right. Tasigur is expendable, Nighthawk is not. That said, don't go out of your way and lose a lot of life to keep them alive. If Nighthawk kills a creature, gains you 2 life, then dies to a bolt, then its done its job and can rest in peace in the grave. This matchup isn't too hard if you're patient. If you have a counter in hand and a fetchland in play, unless you're able to fetch a basic to cast the counter, let their burn spell hit you for 3 life because you'll pay 3 life to fetch an untapped shock to counter their card. Always look at plays in terms of life gained or lost.

For Abzan, you need some luck. Delver is awful against targeted discard so if you ever get your Inquisition of Kozilek, you should probably go for their discard unless there is a more deadly threat or if your hand can resist their spells. In this matchup, I'd find a way to get 4 Kolaghan's Command into the main because recursion and instant-speed discard gives you a 2-for-1 exchange which I'd say is worth it. You can revive a tasigur or angler to re-use and force them to lose their next big threat. I'd also side in Rakdos Charm for this matchup because if they make 4 tokens, then you're holding a Boros Charm. You can also make their attacking goyf from a 4/5 to a 2/3 or worse because you also usually delve your own graveyard away. This is the matchup where having a Batterskull or Keranos, God of Storms is really going to help if you can resolve them. For this deck, I'd recommend Keranos entirely because he's a creature, so you can revive him with KC after milling him or discarding him. He will win you the game in the end. Jace is also crushing against Abzan. Removal is important in this matchup, but don't side out your counters. Almost always side out Delver of Secrets  ^Flip because it is too small to have any effect on the game. You can't race them to death so you need to control the board instead. Good luck because this one is tricky. Extirpate is my favorite anti-abzan weapon, but only if you don't have access to red. For this deck, we have red so KC and Keranos are much better cards to play.

I'm going to be updating the sideboard to help in those matchups soon so keep watching!

MidgetMan3000

I updated the sideboard to be strong anti-abzan and anti-burn. I also updated the mainboard to be without Snapcaster Mage and made the mana base more generic to delver. I am still changing the lands as I playtest, so those aren't finalized. The deck without Snapcaster Mage is somewhat weaker, but also a lot cheaper. It's still very playable though and should do very well.

I think this list could work for you. If Blood Moon is too expensive, then play 2 Monastery Siege instead. Spellskite can become 2 Dragon's Claw and 1 more counter if you want, but I don't recommend cutting him. He's really good against a lot of lower-tier decks. Those are the only budget swaps I'd recommend because everything else is basically required to do very well. This deck can certainly be made cheaper if needed, but this is for me the compromise between competitive and budget. I think this will serve you well and beat a lot of decks given the chance.

Now only one thing remains: Cut 1 card. The list is 61 cards at the time of writing and I am stumped on what to cut. Your choice if you know what to do, otherwise I can ask for help from higher powers that know what they're doing. 61 cards might be fine though.

One last thing: If you have a lot of tradable cards that you don't have any urgent plans for, you could use Pucatrade to trade for the cards you need. It's really easy to use and very available. You can even trade bulk commons and uncommons to get the cards you need. I have probably sent out around $20 in cards out of a single deckbuilders toolkit. It's easy. Here's an invite link and here's a starting guide to use.

Good luck and happy playing!

Thank you! You've helped me a lot with the deck. I'll update you on how well it performs once I've brought it to an FNM.

Either one Lightning Bolt or one Terminate could be removed without being detrimental to the deck. Twelve removal cards should be plenty. This will get the deck back down to 60.

;)

Huh.

I never ever considered pulling Lightning Bolt but surprisingly, it's the right card to go. Terminate has to stay though. I need 3. Thanks for the advice though!

Yep, no problem. Let me know if you ever need anything.

Only 3 bolts seems odd. It is the most efficient burn spell in the format, so playing 4 of them just makes sense to me. As for the rest of the deck, I honestly think that you could cut delver for a different threat. It is insanely less effective in modern than legacy, because there are so few ways to set it up. Yes, a flipped delver on T2 can be very powerful, but it isn't consistent enough and you can't count on it to be a threat.

Discard is incredibly bad in Delver. It actually sets you behind in a tempo deck, which is what Delver is. I'd -4 Inquisition of Kozilek -3 Countersquall for +1 Lightning Bolt +4 Gitaxian Probe +3 Remand. Also, Vampire Nighthawk is just worse than Young Pyromancer, I recommend swapping them. Oh, and -1 Terminate +1 Murderous Cut.

This deck wasn't designed to be a pure grixis delver tempo deck. It certainly qualifies as tempo and can play like tempo, but is designed to be much more flexible than traditional delver tempo. This deck was designed to be able to still have a lot of the same strengths as delver, but with a greatly improved matchup against abzan and burn. I was able to fix the burn matchup, but not the abzan matchup. I agree that 4 Lightning Bolt is probably necessary, so I might pull 1 IoK for the fourth bolt. That seems reasonable.

As for IoK in general, I like it for removing the most problematic cards such as Abrupt Decay and Eidolon of the Great Revel. There are too many cards that throw my entire board into a fit if resolved and IoK gives me a way to remove them before I have to worry. I understand that it destroys tempo, but this deck doesn't use / benefit from tempo as much as the traditional delver. The same is true of Remand. It's fantastic tempo, but tempo is only great if you can win within 1-2 turns before the card you stalled comes back to haunt you.

I chose to abandon maximum tempo for a deck that is better against the decks that traditional delver concedes to. This is why I left Gitaxian Probe and Young Pyromancer behind - they don't help in our bad matchups and removing them doesn't make our good matchups noticeably worse. The only real shortcoming of this deck compared to traditional delver is that this deck has a worse twin matchup, but it's still favorable. This deck can race if it needs to, but doesn't have to in order to win.

For Terminate vs Murderous Cut, no cut is definitely the way to go. Cut's presence only harms me because it's more strain on my delve and only costs 1 less at best. Usually it will cost more. I need the 1 red available anyway so there is no disadvantage to Terminate.

What decks, besides tron, is IoK bad against? I don't think it's awful against twin. What matchups would benefit from having something else in its place? There are just so mane decks out there that become very unstable if they lose 1 card from the hand. Things like infect, other delver decks, bogles, most combo decks... I just see it helping in a lot of games.

Thoughtseize is a no. Too much life loss and not enough relevant cards added. And yes, I know your list very well. I'm glad to see you fixed the page! It was broken for a while, as I'm sure you noticed.

I've been sideboarding and playtesting for the different decks. I don't know how to play affinity or twin well enough to test so I didn't test them (although I need to test twin just to see how it compares to normal delver). Burn I consistently had 10+ life at the end playing both on the play and on the draw. It isn't even fun because it's so easy.

Abzan was more tricky. If I won, Abzan barely put up a fight. If Abzan won, I barely put up a fight. It was very hit or miss which I don't like. I don't mind dedicating 10+ sideboard cards to beating Abzan, but I need to find a better set of cards that can win games 2 and 3 consistently. Usually I just didn't have enough card draw to win. I think it's possible to win just by drawing past Abzan into relevant cards, but I'm not sure what draw engines could work. Perhaps Underworld Connections, but I don't think so. Honestly, I need piles of card draw into removal and counters with a wincon or 2 available in order to win. I thought having Jace and Keranos was going to be enough card advantage, but only 2 high mana cards isn't enough. I need something cheap and efficient that gives me great draw without endangering me too much. Sounds like I need Bob, but he's way to expensive and risky.

If anyone has advice on sideboarding against Abzan, please speak up. I wanna know.

Leyline of the Void is really nice in the sideboard. If the opponent doesn't have a graveyard, how can they use Pyromancer's Ascension, Tarmogoyf, or Living End?

Burn is a little more difficult to defend against. You can either give yourself hexproof (Witchbane Orb), counter all that you can, or prevent the damage. But prevention is pretty difficult with cards like Skullcrack.

Thanks for the tip with the leyline! It's also cmc=4 so it can't be Abrupt Decay'd. I'll have to look at that.

Burn is a walk in the park for this deck. Usually 2-0 or 2-1, almost never 1-2. I counter and then gain life and then win.

Cool, no problem.

Now I'm starting to think that an enchantment-based hate deck could be great against abzan. The 3 enchantments I have in mind are Blood Moon, Leyline of the Void, and Keranos, God of Storms. I think it could be a rough go for abzan, expecially if I can get them down on turns 0, 3, and 5, which isn't unreasonable with good cantrips and some luck. I think 2 Leyline, 2 Moon, and 1 Keranos would be ideal.

Thoughts?

Figag awesome job here! just made a delver build myself would appreciate your opinion of it some time. Id say 2 would be a solid addition to sb.

Thanks! I think I'll try 2 and see how it goes, but I might increase to 3 for consistency and because with their utility lands it's not a bad topdeck imo.

I guess the only other card I am wondering about is Slaughter Games because it improves twin, combo, and abzan to some extent. I'd also love to find room for 2 Rakdos Charm in the sideboard to secure twin and affinity.

I would go with Stone Rain instead of Rain of Tears. The one extra black in the tears could make all the difference.

You might also want to consider Extirpate or Surgical Extraction. They are great ways to get rid of your opponents win-con when they least expect it.

Aah, yes! Stone Rain is infinitely better because if I have Blood Moon and there's no nonbasic clause ..... I like that a lot.

I used to run Extirpate, but with Slaughter Games available, it's not quite as good. Neither can be countered, but I don't need to mill their card to the grave in order to use Slaughter Games, and extirpate really falls out of favor with Leyline of the Void.

Thanks a lot for the Stone Rain suggestion though! I like it a lot more!

No problem. You will need to cut your sideboard down a bit. I don't feel like Rakdos Charm is the best in the sideboard. It can come in handy, but it seems like it's a little too lackluster.

What are your thoughts on Kolaghan's Command? I've seen it played in modern decks, but I don't know if it's worth the play.

I know I need to cut 2 sideboard but I just can't decide on what to cut.

My reasoning for Rakdos Charm is that it's completely secures the Twin and Affinity matchups, which I am trying hard to preserve. The deck can probably function without it, but it is amazing insurance. The last thing I want is to get so focussed on the difficult matchups that I change too much and lose the easy matchups.

I have 4 Kolaghan's Command mainly for the abzan matchup. The recursion is very troublesome for them, but I think I can shave 1.