I’ll be honest: when I first saw this list, I thought it was a strange take on an Aetherworks Marvel deck. After all, the fixing is already in the deck as sources of energy and Bring to Light gives you four more copies of the namesake card. I went up and down the list a few times looking for the Aetherworks Marvels to no avail. Then I noticed that there was only one copy of Emrkaul, the Promised End and the jig was up. This is a control deck through and through.
You have the cheap removal in Harnessed Lightning supported by Aether Hub, Servant of the Conduit, and Attune with Aether. You have the big removal in Anguished Unmaking to handle planeswalkers. And you have the sweepers in Radiant Flames and Fumigate. The latter hasn’t seen much play, since it matches up rather poorly against Vehicles, but it’s very effective in certain spots, making it a valuable tutor target.
Then come the delirium cards. Ishkanah, Grafwidow may just be the most important card in Standard and conveniently slots in as a top end Bring to Light target. Pilgrim’s Eye is an important delirium enabler along with Vessel of Nascency, and both serve as important mana fixers. Tireless Tracker is a great source of card advantage, because green creatures do that now, and the Traverse the Ulvenwalds and Emrakul, the Promised End give this deck the great late-game of B/G Delirium.
But there’s one card that stands out to me in this deck more than any other: Goblin Dark-Dwellers. This is such a smart addition. Suddenly your Bring to Light gives you access to the spell you really want with a 4/4 body coming along for free. There aren’t too many targets in the maindeck, but the sideboard has useful singletons like Pick the Brain and Natural State. The Dark-Dwellers gives you a second copy of any of them and some much-needed card advantage. This kind of addition is what takes a toolbox to the next level because you almost always have access to what you need.
The best part about this deck is you can tune it for any matchup you want. If your local store has lots of B/G Delirium, you may want some planeswalkers as bullets. Aggressive metagames may necessitate a maindeck copy of Arborback Stomper. Play with it a little, massage the numbers to your liking, and you’ll have a deck that no one has any idea how to attack.
Creatures (13)
- 2 Pilgrim's Eye
- 1 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
- 2 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
- 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 1 Noxious Gearhulk
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (23)
Spells (21)
