why not Rancor

...very good question. That will go in immediately

I feel like you need less land. 21 or even 20 would be fine. you have such a small manna curve. You could even put Blessings of Nature in here, for extra pump. Every time i draw, i never get to transform delver.

@PrestonShackelfurd: The deck runs best with a land drop every turn, so I feel the excess in land is necessary. I also have found a difficult time flipping Delver of Secrets  ^Flip , but I'm having a hard time deciding what to cut for more instants/sorceries. I thought about Blessings of Nature when I put in Revenge of the Hunted and might just swap them 1 for 1 considering the counters will stay.and it can be hard cast a turn sooner. Thanks for the suggestions.

Any Reasons for Syncopate other than random countering?

Cut Syncopate , Add 1 Rancor , 2 of any other Sorcery/Instant? Not Quite sure.

azulalbi has a good point... You could Fog in... i can't imagine blocking often.Or something to stall/take care of cards like Guttersnipe -.-hate that guy lol

Syncopate is pretty much to take care of any mass removal that would get rid of my stalkers. It's also another instant to flip delver. I'm not worried about Guttersnipe cause by the time he gets going I should have my opponent on the ropes.

That being said, if I find something better to replace it it'll move to the board, but for now I like it's versatility against removal, zombies, and any other major threats.

Thanks for the suggestions though! Much appreciated!

This definitely seems like a solid deck. I did a few sample draws and the set-up seems wicked. I think I might try this deck idea out against some of the guys in my area who all run bonfires, resto angels, thragtusks, and the works. I always like beating them with cheaper cards.

Will let you know if I put it together for play! +1

I would totally like to hear if it works out against some top-notch decks so let me know for sure!

I've done a few games where I've substituted Ring of Evos Isle with Silver-Inlaid Dagger . It's a nice turn one drop and a ready-to-equip by turn 2 or 3 depending on the creature you start with, and deadly on both Invisible Stalker and Delver of Secrets  ^Flip since they're both human (even the flipped version). The only problem is that you may get stuck awkwardly deciding to equip or cast card:Inquisitor's Flail in turn 2 or 3. Right now, I'm running four Daggers, taking out the ring and Syncopate . There have been a few spells that have ruined my delvers, but I figured that with the early removal, syncopate wasn't going to help, especially since I often tap out every turn. The increased chance to flip is important, though, which is why I'm thinking of subbing out the Latch Seeker s with Revenge of the Hunted . Will keep you posted on more results. This has been a great deck to try!

@cptramsey: Thanks for the time playtesting. Through my last few times playtesting myself there is a need, I feel, to increase delver's flip chance. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want in/out and I'll update soon with what I choose. Right now I'm thinking about Temporal Mastery (of which I have 2 on hand) to get an extra swing in without them being able to react. I'm also thinking of putting Revenge of the Hunted back in as you mentioned you were doing.

Delver is dead. I'd just Supreme Verdict , Terminus , or even Feeling of Dread his little insect ass and his wimpy friends.

I can't stop Supreme Verdict , but I can easily counter Terminus and Feeling of Dread doesn't stop Invisible Stalker and card:Ranger's Guile can VERY easily stop it.

I see your contingency plan is, if delver dies, you turn to Latch Seeker or Invisible Stalker my version's similar. Except GU Delver, Deliverer of Pain tries to power out Wild Defiance by turn 2 if delver isn't in my opening hand. In which case my offensive force becomes Arbor Elf and card:Avacyn's Pilgrim. I don't think you need Rancor here. Your creatures already have evasion and there are enough things that could be more useful in the slot.

@gheridarigaaz: Actually Delver is sort of the contingency plan. I much prefer having Invisible Stalker out since he's naturally hexproof. The only problem being he's 1/1 for 2 instead of possibly 3/2 for 1 (post flip). I like your version, but they're actually not that similar. You're more trying to overpower where as I'm pretty much just sneaking behind enemy lines.

Also, Rancor definitely needs to be in the deck. You're getting 2 bonus damage permanently for just 1 mana. Plus, if they kill the enchanted creature somehow, it comes back. Thanks for the input though.

I just re-checked the deck anyway. Skirting 17 instead of 20 lands is extremely risky, even for me. it's never been tested, nor is it made yet, but i'm hoping gatecrash will have a few decent pump spells to it. I've also looked over a few pump spells... Joint Assault , although very niche in terms of maximizing it's usefulness, still gives a total boost of +4/+4 so i might try re-tooling the deck to use soul bond for stuff like evasion and card draw In Tandem Lookout , Wingcrafter and Diregraf Escort as possibly an extremely narrow sideboard option

As for this deck, it feels like you might need more creatures to get the most out of your pump spells. 1 in every 6 cards is going to be a creature which IMO is another risky decision, it doesn't guarantee you'll have a creature to pump early on. Might want to consider token producing spells, though there aren't any decent ones available to the deck's colours that don't require external input, Fungal Sprouting and Cackling Counterpart . If not i'd suggest Tandem Lookout or some other Ophidian -like creature to fall back on as a draw-engine. All i'm saying is the deck runs the risk of running out of steam if you commit any number of creatures to the board. Pretty bad against removal-heavy decks...

Very true. It is a very very risky deck, and that's why I like to play it. Usually I'll mull til I get a creature in my hand (which is also quite risky). I didn't design the build to stand up to aggro and heavy-creature decks. I built it to pretty much ignore the other player's board presence and push forward. I definitely appreciate the input, but it doesn't really fit the goal of the deck.

I would replace the Temporal Mastery s with Think Twice . The Mastery is just too risky, especially when you only have 21 lands, so having it in your opening hand is effectively a dead card. Having the ability to draw cards is very relevant, as it can help you find your creatures if you run out. And drawing cards is just good generally.

@Eskimole: Definitely an interesting suggestion. I'll playtest it a bit with Think Twice and see how it goes. It's a safer option for sure, but the potential game-changing ability of Temporal Mastery is huge.

Distortion Strike would be a alternate way to go instead of Artful Dodge . +1 from me.

@nicktack15: Distortion Strike would be great if it wasn't built for standard. Thanks for the +1 though

Yeah that's the only down side to it. :(

Snapcaster Mage to re use your stuff?

Comments were getting long so I reset them with the latest update.

@krazeboi: I thought about Snapcaster Mage but 1) they're expensive and I don't have any and 2) I'd rather spend his 2 mana on something I have in my hand instead of forcing a flashback. The deck is 1/5 instant speed pump, so I should always have at least something to play without fear of having to flash it back