Grand Prix New Jersey was a wild ride. In short, I finished 145th, good for a min cash. Realistically, I finished in the top 5% of the tournament playing a
deck I loved. As is always the case, there is far more to the tournament than just my finish.
Learning How To Play Magic
In 2012, I played a Legacy Grand Prix in Indianapolis. Despite being 5-1, I dropped after round six because I hated my deck, which I got courtesy of AJ
Sacher.
That deck?
U/R Delver.
Oddly, I found myself a little over three years later making potentially the same mistake. “Things are different now,” I told myself. “Treasure Cruise
makes the deck better.”
The real reason I was willing to play a deck that I used to think was so bad that I didn’t expect to do well, despite sitting at 5-1, was that I had
learned a thing or two since then. The U/R Delver deck I played at GP Indianapolis might not have been very good, but the more likely thing is that I was
playing the deck incorrectly.
Magic, for me, has generally been answering my opponent’s threats, or basically dominating them on everything they do. A deck like U/R Delver is scrappy —
it uses mediocre cards, wins by inches, and has little in the way of things that can protect itself.
It wasn’t just my inexperience with the deck that likely cost me percentage points, games, and even matches. The fact that I didn’t know how it should
operate led me to build it incorrectly as well, and that was the biggest issue. I probably had some card disagreements with AJ, all because we weren’t even
arguing about the same stuff, but that wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know how stupid I was.
The funny thing is that once you put me into a gamestate where I have to be the aggressor, I can take that role, to the point of suicide if necessary. When
looking at decks like U/R Delver, I don’t want to design them to be forced into that role all the time, but that’s a mistake. That’s where the deck thrives
and that’s when the deck is at its best. Much like U/W Delver from Standard, I learned that lesson too late.
So two years later, I was put into a similar situation, but this time I was more confident. For everything I know about Magic, it seems like there are many
more things that I have yet to learn. This time, I felt like I knew what was going on.
My result doesn’t necessarily indicate that, but my mindset throughout the tournament and how I felt I did on a turn by turn basis does indicate that. When
I sat down to fill out the tax form on day two, I honestly thought, “What are the odds me filling this out will actually matter?”
I was pleasantly surprised.
The Deck
Creatures (12)
Lands (16)
Spells (32)
I stayed pretty close to what I wrote about last week,
although with some sideboard changes. Patrick Sullivan suggested the Snapcaster Mage to function as additional sideboard cards and for matchups that went
long. Since it allowed me to cut the Ancient Grudges (and the real offender, the Tropical Island), I was ecstatic.
Patrick Sullivan also recommended Zuran Orb, a card I considered for Magic Online but dismissed in real life. Some of my sideboard cards went unused,
including Zuran Orb, but it did help Josh Cho win his round two feature match, so I guess that makes it worth it. My Sulfur Elemental also collected dust,
but I guess that’s fine considering those matchups aren’t great anyway. If people start adopting Absolute Law, things get even worse.
Maybe my sideboard slots could have been used better, but I think a lot of it was just the matchups I got. Other than two rounds late into day two, I
played against all blue decks. That’s a good place to be for U/R Delver, so I’m not complaining, but it was odd to never use a card like Grafdigger’s Cage.
What I really wanted was to sideboard a Gamble as the red Enlightened Tutor. Since I was already playing a couple copies of some high impact cards, Gamble
could have made the entire sideboard feel tighter. While it’s a risky card, it’s good before and after Treasure Cruise, so I wasn’t too worried about
missing.
The more important thing is being able to go into the Burn matchup feeling like I had two copies of Zuran Orb instead of just the one. Bryan Gottlieb has
been using Gamble in his Jund deck to great success, and it’s something that probably should be utilized more. Yes, there’s a little risk involved, but the
bigger risk is hoping your one-of shows up at the right time.
Round 7 VS Michael Majors
This was a weird one.
I know Michael’s range, but I didn’t know exactly what he was on. He got to go first and lead with Tundra, Ponder, and kept them. I played a Volcanic
Island, Delver of Secrets, and Dazed his Stoneforge Mystic. My Delver didn’t flip, and my Ponder showed me Chain Lightning and some threats but no second
land, so I shuffled.
He had a second Stoneforge Mystic, searching up Batterskull, with Volcanic Island, Tundra, and Island in play. I know Michael played Jeskai Delver in the
past, but the basic Island was a dead giveaway that he was one of the more controlling versions.
My Delver didn’t flip again (which wasn’t all bad, since it revealed a second land), but I turned it sideways right into the Stoneforge Mystic.
I couldn’t kill the Stoneforge Mystic and my hand wasn’t great, so I was probably going to be conceding in a few turns anyway. In the off chance my Young
Pyromancer survived, the game could potentially go long and that one point might matter. If he blocked, oh well.
But I knew he wouldn’t.
Even though his hand was Force of Will, Brainstorm, Stoneforge Mystic, Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, I don’t think it’s right to block there. If I had a
Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, or Forked Bolt, I probably would have tried to kill the Stoneforge Mystic anyway. The only different card I could possibly
have is Mutagenic Growth or Electrickery.
Mutagenic Growth isn’t likely, but if Michael had been paying attention to my articles, he would know I’d been using the card in Modern U/R Delver to some
extent. Dirtying up my Legacy deck with a Mutagenic Growth or two doesn’t seem that outlandish.
Regardless, why would I make that attack unless I had something or was going to lose? In either case, Michael shouldn’t block because it’s not worth it. If
I have the Growth, it’s kind of useless, and if I don’t, Batterskull should beat me.
Basically the only way the game goes south for him is if he blocks, I Growth, he Forces, I Force back, and then I flip Delver revealing a burn spell for
the Stoneforge Mystic or a cantrip that helps me find one. The risk reward is not there, so attacking felt safe.
After muttering to himself, calling me a psychopath, and then asking me if I’d show him after, he eventually took the one damage.
My Young Pyromancer was Force of Willed and my Gitaxian Probe revealed how stacked his hand was. I conceded on the next turn. Awkwardly enough, to sell
Mutagenic Growth even more, the better play might have been to tap out for Young Pyromancer before attacking. That really narrows the range to basically
Mutagenic Growth as the card I had, but since I played Pyromancer in my second main phase, it completely removes the bluff.
Unfortunately, I potentially mis-boarded and ended up playing sloppy in game 2 when I drew runner, runner perfects to win a game I thought I couldn’t.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t beat the perfects he already had, but perhaps I could have won if he made a mistake and I wasn’t sloppy.
Overall, it was a moral victory despite the actual loss. I’ve been struggling with “shaking off the rust” after my break away from competitive Magic, and
that match showed that I can make outlandish, good plays when necessary. As for the sloppiness, I know that I won’t ever do that again.
Going Forward
U/R Delver is legit. There was only a single copy in the Top 16, but there weren’t many copies of any one deck in that Top 16, so I don’t think U/R Delver
“only” having one copy is particularly indicative of anything. I don’t think it’s the best deck by a wide margin, but I do think what the deck is doing is
one of the most powerful baseline strategies in the format.
Going into Grand Prix New Jersey, I had three different ideas for decks that would be good for the tournament. I chose to stick with my guns because I
liked the deck and wanted to play it. While my other decks could have potentially been better, I knew exactly how good U/R Delver was and I knew how well I
would play it.
With the Season Four Invitational looming, I’m on the lookout for something a little bit better than U/R Delver. However, if it comes down to it, I
wouldn’t mind running it back. The matches I lost could have been avoided, and the matchups I won felt firmly within my control.
One of the biggest things I think Magic players do wrong is say “Combo would be great, but I don’t want to play a combo deck that’s weak to Pyroblast.”
Inherently, that statement is wrong, but if you know everyone is going to be trying to Pyroblast you, it should make your job easy. Play things that make
their Pyroblasts bad!
Overmaster and Defense Grid are two options that make Pyroblast downright embarrassing, and I was downright frightened to be playing against those cards.
At the end of the day, those two cards make your Pyroblast matchups quite good. The only thing I needed to do was find the right shell for them. Sneak and
Show was alright, but it still had the same old issues in addition to Containment Priest.
Playing a couple of Omniscience maindeck solves the Priest issue to some extent, but you also need the time to find it, and sometimes that’s difficult.
Fire//Ice is another option for fighting Containment Priest at instant speed.
Another option for Show and Tell decks was to ignore Containment Priest entirely, either by using Omni-Tell or Hive Mind. I think both of those are fine
options, but again, finding the best shell is something I’m not great at doing.
Shardless Sultai, despite me thinking the archetype was outright dead, might actually be very good. It was one of the few decks I was actively losing to on
Magic Online, as Tarmogoyf plus removal is very difficult to beat. Decks like Temur Delver and Zoo also gave me problems for the same reason.
Overall, U/R Delver is very beatable, and I think the format will shift to accommodate that, but it might be a slow process. Legacy tends to be very
slow-moving, but the Season Four Invitational is coming up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people showed up with a lot of hate despite U/R Delver’s
supposed lackluster performance at Grand Prix New Jersey.
I’ll likely be trying to beat ’em.