What will replace Treasure Cruise?

Modern forum

Posted on Jan. 19, 2015, 12:08 p.m. by 8vomit

Treasure Cruise is banned now. So what am I to do with my UR delver deck? Do you think the deck will slowly fade out of the meta, or is there something we can all use as a replacement to keep rolling?

No one was surprised about this banning. If you were, again, you are living under a rock.

CookieJedi says... #2

UR Delver was a thing long before treasure cruise came around. Just go back to one of the old decklists. Throw in some Grim Lavamancers and a couple extra copies of Monastery Swiftspear if you already aren't running 4

January 19, 2015 12:11 p.m.

slovakattack says... #3

Probably back to a full set of snapcasters, I would say.

January 19, 2015 12:12 p.m.

8vomit says... #4

The deck needs draw power so it doesnt fizzle after dumping most of its hand, neither of those cards fill that hole.

January 19, 2015 12:14 p.m.

ChiefBell says... #5

Delver will go back to being a fringe T2 deck. You have Serum Visions, Remand and perhaps a copy or two of Think Twice. That's about it.

January 19, 2015 12:18 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #6

Since this seems to be more about the archetype than about a specific decklist, I'm going to nudge this over into Modern.

January 19, 2015 12:18 p.m.

4x Snapcaster Mage to flash back ur cantrips seems like the best option but i agree with ChiefBell delver will probably be t2 again

January 19, 2015 12:40 p.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #8

I think Snapcaster Mage is now a must and also Think Twice or Grim Lavamancer might start to see some play.

January 19, 2015 12:59 p.m.

badmagic says... #9

Would you not run Divination or Concentrate ?

January 19, 2015 2:22 p.m.

ChiefBell says... #10

Sorcery speed.

January 19, 2015 2:27 p.m.

KrosanTusker says... #11

Um, no. Those cost far too much mana. Nobody would ever run Concentrate while Cryptic Command exists at the four-drop slot.

As for delver, 2-4 Snappies seems like the best thing to do, perhaps with 1x Think Twice (as opposed to just the miser's Snappy, at most). Which is a shame, since he's expensive.

January 19, 2015 2:29 p.m.

KrosanTusker says... #12

Yeah, sorcery speed is a big issue too. Cruise got away with it because it was Ancestral Recall, but Divination? Eugh.

January 19, 2015 2:31 p.m.

If wasn't banned, would be immediately replaced by Dig and still remain an excellent T1 Deck, but Wizards of the COast was smart to ban both. You do have to put into consideration that Treasure Cruise is hurting much more than Delver, even though Delver is taking the extent of the damage. For example, Jeskai Ascendancy Combo relies on to get to it's combo pieces faster. The format was also hurt with the ban of so now Kiki Pod and Angel Pod are non-competitive. Dredge may see rise, we have yet to see, along with the irritability of Jund. So yes, I do have to agree making a four of is essential, but not on the weight that Delver becoming T2 has. Delver's are game defining decks. Before Treasure Cruise, they used to be THE deck. Of course, that has changed, but don't forget that Blue/Red Delver decks are still a huge threat.

So what now? Flashback is HUGE. Think Twice and Snapcaster will allow for you to draw further through your deck to cause delays for the opponent.

January 20, 2015 3:42 p.m.

lodestar says... #14

Been trying to remedy it with Compulsive Research but it's still too slow.

February 6, 2015 7:20 a.m.

8vomit says... #15

Yeah it gives you 3 cards but its 3 drop sorcery.

February 6, 2015 9:24 p.m.

JexInfinite says... #16

AstralManhattan Dig would have made the deck a fair deal slower.

I reckon that Delver decks should add white and have access to an amazing sideboard and Lightning Helix.

February 7, 2015 2:40 a.m.

Jojja says... #17

I'm going U/B for my delver deck and I'm running stuff like Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Soulflayer, Oona's Prowler. The deck has a really nice clock and plays the tempo game really well while dropping undecosted creatures while holding up counters.

With Treasure Cruise gone I think you want to think about the deck in a different way and not just dump everything in your hand as fast as possile. Just trying to use your evasiv creatures to kill the opponent while playing a classic tempo game.

February 7, 2015 5:39 a.m.

lodestar says... #18

For players running UR Aggro (while I don't think its very common). It's a deck that runs Monastery Swiftspear and Blistercoil Weird and Delver of Secrets  Flip, I found that adding 3 Manamorphose with 3 Compulsive Research help refill your hand as well as triggers a lot of prowess in conjunction with Gut Shot and Mutagenic Growth and other "free" spells.

While not the "Delver" deck many play, I feel this information might help some if not a little.

February 9, 2015 3:29 a.m.

KrosanTusker says... #19

That is actually helpful. Thanks very much, I'll consider a lot of that.

February 9, 2015 11:17 a.m.

This discussion has been closed