RUG Delver takes Top 4 at Empire Games (Kent, Ohio)

[Mark Sun]

Hey everyone,

I played RUG Delver at Empire Games in Kent, Ohio over the weekend, a 45-man event. It was a smaller tournament and not really article worthy, but I love to write for the sake of discussing my decisions and gameplay. I have been meaning to voice record my rounds, but had a pretty low battery on my phone the entire time, so I'll be leaning on my notes.

The last outing I had was SCG Cinci, which I decided to audible last minute to Next Level Threshold despite playing RUG Delver over the past couple of months. After a rather disappointing 1-2 drop, I decided to head back to the club. Worked out well for me. The list is pretty stock:

// Lands
3 [R] Tropical Island
3 [R] Volcanic Island
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [UNH] Island

// Creatures
4 [ISD] Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
3 [OD] Nimble Mongoose

// Spells
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [DIS] Spell Snare
4 [JGC] Lightning Bolt
4 [AL] Force of Will
3 [NE] Daze
4 [M10] Ponder
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
2 [LG] Chain Lightning

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [NE] Submerge
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 3 [CS] Counterbalance
SB: 2 [4E] Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top

Some basic changes to the list. First of all, Legacy has once against shifted to the point where Stifle is pretty bad, which happens as more people play against RUG Delver and learn how to play around this very situational card. Spell Pierce was a great replacement on the day, and I don't think I will look back. Its presence changes the dynamic of Snapcaster decks a little (since they are devoting 1U as an initial cost and you rarely care about the 2/1 body), and is great against UW in game 1, unlike Stifle. The card is just that good.

Otherwise, I chose to play Chain Lightnings over Dismember after good reasoning from Drew Levin's article this week; Chain Lightning can be a removal spell or reach, and against the decks where Dismember might be good, you're probably going to be in a situation where you need to dome them with 3 more points of damage. I expected to see the mirror in Kent, as the metagame is full of good/experienced players and developed archetypes. The last change I made, then, was taking out Ancient Grudge for Krosan Grip in anticipation of the Counterbalance boarding plan for the mirror.

Wake up at 8, pick up The Big R (Riley, who won the event the last time we were there) and two others, and we were off. Riley is on his own list of GWb Elves while the others are on Burn and UW. We arrive on site, register our decks, and off we go.


Round 1) Jon playing UBr Tempo (Stock list from SCG Richmond), Win-Loss-Win

Jon is a nice guy, but I've never met him before so I can't place him on any one deck. I win the die roll and lead with a Mongoose, which he answers with only a Polluted Delta, Underground Sea, Ponder. I put him on Tendrils initially, and then when he plays a second turn Dark Confidant, I identify him as UBx Control or UBx Tempo. I don't find out because I kill his Confidant, Wasteland him, and he gets stuck on 1-2 lands for the rest of the game. I decide that the Grixis List from Richmond is more likely, and board accordingly.

Sideboarding: -4 Force of Will, -3 Daze, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +2 Red Elemental Blast

Now it's Jon's turn to get the explosive start and he curves out into Delver, Confidant (which I counter), then another Delver, cantrip. My unthreshed Mongoose looks really stupid here, and I scoop early when he flips both his Delvers, puts me on a two turn clock, and I Brainstorm to see no removal in sight. I'm on the play for Game 3 and we both have Delvers, but I've learned my lesson from the previous game and my hand is stocked with removal. I play around Perish by only having one green threat in play. The only time when I felt the game was turning a bit in his favor was when he played Jace, I REB'ed, and he revealed that he left in Force of Will, but two bounces later only resulted in a double Time Walk for me. I finish him off with Chain Lightning, show a Snapcaster Mage on top of my library.

Games: 2-1, Matches: 1-0


Round 2) Justin playing GB Aeon Bridge, Win-Win

Justin is a local who loves playing cool brews, which I can definitely respect. I lead off with Mongoose, who promptly gets stopped by Mosswort Bridge, Twilight Mire(!) into Wall of Roots! I imagine that there is a "play a big dude, cast something nasty from Mosswort Bridge" play, so I aggressively use my cantrips to find a Wasteland. I don't get one, but I do get double Delver, which flip and start taking down his life. He shocks me with a hardcast Shriekmaw at some point, followed by a Quicksilver Amulet. I do not want to be down a game against a deck like this with so many unknowns. I swing with my lone Delver, take him to 2, and cast Brainstorm. Snapcaster Mage, Chain Lightning you.

Sideboarding: -3 Nimble Mongoose, -2 Spell Snare, +2 Krosan Grip, +3 Submerge

I decide that too much ground presence means I likely won't have a relevant Nimble Mongoose at any point, and Spell Snare doesn't seem to be wonderful against his deck. I get really lucky here, since I open with a Wasteland on his Bayou, which strands him at 2 lands and a Wall of Roots for the rest of the game. I get double Tarmogoyf in play, he can only Evoke a Shriekmaw this time so I don't care, Submerge his Wall of Roots to lock him out of mana and plays while a 5/6 Goyf takes chunks out of his life total. In Justin's defense, his deck was cool, and I walked by a match later where I watched him activate Mosswort Bridge for Emrakul after activating Quicksilver Amulet for Progenitus.

Games: 4-1, Matches: 2-0


Round 3) Dan Musser playing Zoo, Win-Win

I am very surprised to see Dan here, since he's fresh off the plane from Honolulu after being at the Pro Tour. I don't like my chances here, especially since he just crushed RUG Delver next to me in the last round. But he is the first ringer of the day, so we go to business as usual. I mulligan to 6 while Dan wins the die roll, but he plays intelligently around mana denial strategies, which slows down his board development. I flip my Delver and start the beats, while Dan plays nothing bigger than a Tarmogoyf and I draw a good amount of red removal. I'm pretty happy with the Chain Lightning/Dismember change.

Sideboarding (Not the usual plan): -3 Nimble Mongoose, -1 Spell Pierce, -4 Force of Will, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +3 Submerge

The sideboarding plan was pretty awkward, especially with Daze on the draw, but I do have rationale for it. Most good players like Dan would expect Daze to be boarded out on the draw, but my curve ends at 2 and the 6-Bolt plan works heavily in my favor if I can answer his big guys, which for Dan in his more Sligh-ish build would just be Tarmogoyf. Dan would be boarding out his Goblin Guides in this matchup, taking away some early pressure on me to stabilize. Daze has a neutral card value and the surprise factor will very likely net me something, so it helps with not seeing 1cc followed with 1cc, 1cc to flood the board. My situational cards bail me out of this game, with Spell Pierce hitting a Sylvan Library, and Daze hitting the REB that was there to protect it. My own Goyfs followed up with Snapcaster and burn spells win me the match.

Games: 6-1, Matches: 3-0


Round 4) Vince Diocedo playing Countersliver, Loss-Win-Win

Vince is a local and a friend, who I beat in the last Empire Games event I attended. He's usually a Zoo guy, but I heard rumors that he's playing something with Aether Vial. I have to mull to 5 on the draw, and am surprised when he leads off with Plated Sliver, Crystalline Sliver (Forces my Daze), followed up with Sinew Sliver, Sinew Sliver. I can't scoop up my cards fast enough to head to boards.

Sideboarding: -3 Spell Pierce, -1 Ponder, +2 Krosan Grip, +2 Red Elemental Blast

I can't do the usual tribal sideboarding of -4 Force of Will, etc. There are 8 must counters in the deck, which hinge on him getting Crystalline Sliver into play (cast or via Aether Vial) and blanking every removal spell in my whole deck. I need something to protect my Spell Snares and Red Elemental Blasts of my own and keep Aether Vial off the table. This pretty much happens as planned in the second game, when I keep him off of two Crystalline Slivers. Game 3 begins on a good note for me, when Vince has to cantrip instead of playing out creatures to set up his manabase. He can't find a Crystalline Sliver to shut off me removal, so my Delver and Goblin Pikers (Snapcaster Mages) finish the beatdown.

Games: 8-2, Matches 4-0


After Round 4, I'm pretty confident that I can draw in, so I'm pretty happy. Riley is 3-1, the other guys in the car are X-2 and have dropped. I'm a little disappointed to see that there are three 4-0's and my tiebreakers are the lowest of the three. I can still lose here and likely draw in though, so it isn't terrible. I'm paired against my friend Max Jacob, who I decide to concede to in hopes of getting him into contention and also getting a boost in tiebreakers (he's 3-1) to ID into Top 8. We decide to play it out for fun, and I get smashed. Enchantress is pretty good against RUG Delver, and no one has a random Harmonic Convergence slot in their sideboard I do steal a game from Max when he mulls to 5, though. After Round 5, I'm 8th going into the last round, but with the exception of one 4-1 that gets paired down against a 3-1-1, the rest of the Top 8 is clear cut. I have better breakers than the 3-1-1, so I decide to take a chance and draw. When the final standings go up, I'm in 7th place. Running good.


Games: 9-3, Matches: 4-1-1


Top 8) Eric Fry playing Death and Taxes, Loss-Win-Win

I have never played against Eric, but I know of his success at Jupiter Games and I know what he usually plays. Death and Taxes seems like a rough matchup for RUG Delver, since (1) it's a Vial deck playing 4 Rishadan Port/4 Wasteland, which means your manabase is a lot more vulnerable, (2) packs Equipment that trumps your guys, (3) plays a lot of basics, and (4) has more tricks than a slick street magician. Death and Taxes is not on my list of matchups to test, so when we were shuffling up, I set the game plan as follows: have a turn one play (Mongoose is not too great against the deck, but Delver flies over) to start off as the aggressor, focus countermagic on Aether Vial and taxing creatures (see a trend with Aether Vial and Crystalline Sliver in an earlier round?), and dig aggressively for burn to keep the board clear just long enough to make the magic happen. Eric and I are both pretty animated players, and we do get some laughs at our random facial expressions throughout the match. He's definitely a good sport. I lose the die roll and have to mulligan to 6 without a first turn play, so it's not a good start. I Spell Snare the first Thalia, but another one comes down, and I start to realize how powerful the card is. I miss a land drop, get my Tropical Island Mangara'ed, and die to an army of Leonin Arbiter, Thalia, and Flickerwisp. Brutal.

Sideboarding: -3 Spell Pierce, +1 Sensei's Divining Top, +2 Krosan Grip

I had nothing for boarding, but Spell Pierce is pretty weak in the matchup and Krosan Grip answer Aether Vial/Equipment, and the second Top does help me dig a little. It's Eric's turn to keep a shaky hand and I get to capitalize on a loose keep that hinged on resolving Aether Vial. I did have the Force of Will for it and I ride Delver to victory as Eric's only land is Rishadan Port. I'm on the draw for Game 3 and Eric starts things off with a mulligan. This game is a little more grindy, but I get an early Mongoose followed up with some burn to clear the way for it. When Eric is at 10 Life, my board is a Threshed Mongoose and Tarmogoyf versus his three Plains. I forget about Wing Shards, but I don't play a pre-combat cantrip so I only have to choose between the two. If I sacrifice Mongoose, I can win the game in two turns (Artifact in the bin) with Tarmogoyf, but a Swords to Plowshares puts him back into the game when I have little pressure in my hand. If I sacrifice Tarmogoyf, my win condition is protected, but takes twice as long. I would need some help to finish him off. After deliberating, I bin the Mongoose and take my chances. I brick, but then draw a Snapcaster Mage, which helps clear the way and finish things off. Whew! I shake hands with Eric and let him know he's been the most entertaining opponent of the day for sure.

10-4 games, 5-1-1 matches


I look at the other end of the bracket and obviously Riley is in it. He wins his Top 8 match, and I decide to scoop him into the finals after looking at the other matchups. Combo Elves is losing to Countersliver and RUG Delver is wrapping things up against Maverick. I am pretty confident about the beating the mirror, but am not so sure about things in case Combo Elves wins or I have to play another tight match against Countersliver. Riley and I have tested against his version a lot anyways, and RUG Delver isn't favored against those types of strategies.

I sell some cards to friendly shop owner Carl and look around in the case, and pick up some goodies for myself, which include a Russian Foil Avatar of Woe and a playset of Thoughtseizes for my own trade stock. I also consider the S-Chinese 5th City of Brass, but realize that I have no need for it and would rather own JSS Foils anyways. Meanwhile, Riley takes down Countersliver to win in the Finals and we split our combined prizes of 4 Tundra, 2 Bayou. I do some trading and finds someone who is willing to swap 4 Underground Sea for 4 Tundra for the savage price of a Moorland Haunt throw-in. I snap-take the deal. Overall, pretty good day for $25.

I think RUG Delver is a pretty good deck to be playing right now and is the deck that I would likely take to GP Indy in a few weeks, provided the metagame doesn't shift heavily. I think the sideboard is pretty tight right now, but I would definitely move to a some split of Mind Harness and Submerge in the future. I don't like where Submerge is right now; it's not as conditional as Stifle but when people do play around it, it loses effectiveness very quickly. Mind Harness is stronger and can take a threat to add to your board. I have also debated playing 2 Snapcaster/4 Nimble Mongoose against 8Swords4Snapcaster.dec, but would need to test more. At the moment, Counterbalance out of the sideboard has been pretty good.


All right, that's all I have for now. Thanks for reading,



--Mark

[juppal]

Awesome showing, cool to see this deck doing better and better.

[ImpinAintEasy]

It's reports like these that really make me miss home. I grew up around Findlay, Ohio and our local Legacy scene here in Northwest Indiana kinda sucks.

Great write up. Agree completely regarding Stifle vs. Pierce. I like the grips in board. Do you feel like 3 Surgical will be enough at GP Indy vs. Dredge?

If you go to a 2/2 Split of Submerge and Harness, what are you cutting, Grip?

[Telperion]

Congrats on good performance in the rogue meta. I was the 4-1 T.E.S. player that got paired down and knocked out for the the fun of it at the hands of delver burn.

I had a lot of fun seeing Mindbreak Trap in 4/6 of my matches, and Leyline of Sanctity in 3/6. Apparently Mongeese are more reliable than L.E.D. How do you feel about people cutting back on FoW in these tempo decks?

[Mark Sun]

I like the grips in board. Do you feel like 3 Surgical will be enough at GP Indy vs. Dredge?

If you go to a 2/2 Split of Submerge and Harness, what are you cutting, Grip?

If Dredge continues to be a thing (I'll be monitoring SCG events and larger events), I want to change to 3 Tormod's Crypt eventually. Surgical Extraction is nice, but was there because of potential opponents piloting Lands/Reanimator. Surgical Extraction *can* beat Dredge, but you would have to protect your hand a lot more to make it totally effective (with targets being Ichorid, Narcomoeba, Bridge from Below in that order).

It's funny that you ask about the Mind Harness slot, since I was considering cutting down on REB's completely, and lo and behold, Jesse Krieger Top 16's SCG Charlotte with a board featuring -2 REB, +1 Mind Harness, +1 Ancient Grudge. I like his changes, and will probably go with them.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=44085

How do you feel about people cutting back on FoW in these tempo decks?

I see a lot more degenerate strategies to cut back on 4 FoW at the moment. I also keep in mind that Force of Will is tempo advantage, which is sometimes worth the card that you pitch, so it does have synergy with your core strategy. For example, I would gladly trade 2 cards to keep Crystalline Sliver + Vial (Round 4) or Thalia + Vial (Top 8) off the table if I can.

[Einherjer]

I just recently bought into the whole blue pool and ofc I started playing Canadian. After having some great results in testing and gaming I recognized the discussion on the forums about cutting STIFLE for SpellPierce. And its not just the idea of some kids. Its the ideas of well known and good players, like you.
So Id really like to know why you did cut the stifles. What are Pierces strictly doing better than Stifle. And what MUs did get better?

Thank you and Greetings and ofc congratz on your fabulous finish.

[Mark Sun]

What are Pierces strictly doing better than Stifle. And what MUs did get better?

The issue with Stifle is simply that it has a very cyclical shelf life in Legacy and right now is, I believe, not the correct time to play it. When RUG Delver first came into the format, Stifle was a staple in the deck for its potential to blow out an opponent turn one, and take control of the game. This strategy had a couple of issues.

1. If you don't win the die roll, Stifle instantly loses value. On the draw, when we lose our first opportunity to Stifle a fetchland and need to catch up on board development, holding up mana for Stifle would be incorrect. Since we have no control over whether we win the die roll or not, leaving the value of a 3-of slot in our deck to that seems silly.

2. If you chose to hold up Stifle instead of a 1cc threat in hopes of a blowout and it doesn't happen, you lose tempo. When Stifle was a part of the deck, at times there was a decision in your opening hand on whether you will choose to be the aggressor in this matchup (you pretty much always are) and play a 1cc threat, or whether you will choose to use a control element. If you hit the jackpot and Stifle, you are way ahead. If you miss, then you're incredibly behind.

3. People are adjusting very quickly to Stifle. UW, for example, has increased the number of basic lands that they play, as well as cutting back on the heavier spells in favor of cards like Spell Pierce. This is an attempt to be more mana efficient so even if they are hit with Stifle they can recover faster. They're also playing 25+ lands at times, which allows them to play land-go with RUG Delver and reach a point where Stifle isn't as effective. Decks are also packing Noble Hierarch, and so forth.

Spell Pierce is a logical replacement. It is a card with the same casting cost, but has value in the early, mid, and sometimes late game, making it less conditional than Stifle was. It hits cantrips. It hits Planeswalkers. It can be paired with your spells to protect them and help your role as the aggressor, all things that I would rather do than hold a Stifle in my hand. More importantly, removing Stifle for these slots also increases the value of Brainstorm, since you are potentially drawing into less do-nothings.

I saw some of these trends and shifts in strategies. I played against Justin Uppal at SCG Cinci, and thought that this shift from Stifle to Spell Pierce was just the thing RUG Delver needed to keep up with the evolving metagame.

[Fry]

I enjoyed your report there good sir. Hopefully the next time we meet up in a battle of wits (had to make a bad pun, forgive me a little) that the games are just as good or better! I greatly enjoyed playing against you in the quarters. Still a bit envious of those great bolts, but I got my foil thalia's aquired now, so it's all shine to Indy. Best of luck to you there.