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Thread: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

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    I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    I Am RUG Delver and So Can You*: First at StarCityGames Nashville Open

    *sincerest apologies to Stephen Colbert

    When I woke up, I knew I was going to make top 8.

    How could I not? I mean, I've only played RUG Delver in two opens, but I top eighted both of those! That was a sign that I could not ignore. Clearly, I'm a master.

    Do I sound too arrogant? Let me try again.

    Hello Magic players! My name is Taylor Scott, but most of you know me as... wait, most of you don't know me. I'm just a guy who likes to eat pizza and play Magic with my bros. And I guess, occasionally make top eight at Magic: the Gathering tournaments.

    I rolled into Nashville early Saturday morning with fellow wizards Eddie, Dustin, and Clay, hoping to at least make fifty bucks in the Standard Open; naturally, I changed my mind halfway through Round One and went with the classic "0-2 Drop" plan. That leaves plenty of time to eat mediocre convention center pizza, theorycraft a weird Esper fish deck** with fellow wizard Blair, and sell a pile of cards to Star City, with the proceeds going to, of course, more Magic cards. And more pizza.

    **The deck was a weird Vial deck that splashed Dark Confidant and attempted to abuse the interaction between newcomer Spirit of the Labyrinth and mainstay Vendilion Clique - draw a replacement card? NOPE.

    I suppose I should talk about my deck:

    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Nimble Mongoose
    4 Tarmogoyf

    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder

    4 Force of Will
    4 Daze
    4 Stifle
    2 Spell Pierce
    2 Spell Snare

    4 Lightning Bolt
    2 Forked Bolt

    4 Wasteland
    3 Volcanic Island
    3 Tropical Island
    4 Scalding Tarn
    4 Misty Rainforest

    3 Submerge
    3 Red Elemental Blast
    2 Flusterstorm
    2 Rough // Tumble
    1 Sulfur Elemental
    1 Ancient Grudge
    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    1 Surgical Extraction

    A pretty typical list, but it's the iteration I've been most comfortable with. I've tried playing Gitaxian Probe, but I'm not a fan - maybe I'm just not skilled enough as a player to properly leverage such information against my opponents? In any case, all my cards were excellent throughout the weekend, except for Sulfur Elemental, which was boarded in twice against decks with no white creatures, and Spell Snare, which maybe countered four spells total. I might go up to three Pierce, but I think it's fine where it is.

    Anyway, after the poor Standard Open, I strolled on over to the Legacy Challenge, where I proceeded to get rolled by MUD, play turn one Grafdigger's Cage twice against Manaless Dredge (after helping him play his own deck game one, which is maybe why I lost), and mull to five against Deathblade in a critical game three. Rather than pray my way through a match for three Born of the Gods packs (gross), I cut my losses, headed to the hotel, ate more pizza (notice a theme?) and played Elves! against Punishing Jund (I always draw the turn three kill), and went to bed, feeling remarkably good about the next day despite the present circumstances.

    cut to round one

    Round One v. Mendoza, Robert with UWr Miracles 2-1
    I had actually played against this guy at some Legacy Challenge awhile ago ( I think Atlanta?). I was on RUG, and he was playing Mono Blue Dream Halls/Omniscience and won with Coalition Victory.
    It was rad.
    Anyway, he opens on a Tundra, go - clearly, something different. He Plowed a Delver and stuck a Counterbalance, but without a Sensei's Top, two Tarmogoyfs resolved and make short work of his life total. Game Two sees him stick a top but no balance, and my men get Terminused and Plowed numerous times before he finally sticks a balance and a Jace, at which point I'm feelin' it's time for the scoop phase. Game Three was pretty similar to Game One, except he casts a Thassa, God of the Sea (resolves), a Blood Moon (Pierced), and a Humility (Forced), and a 5/6 Goyf takes it down. He showed me his three Rest in Peace afterwards, and was sad he never drew one.
    I was not.

    in: +3 REB +1 Sulfur Elemental; out: -2 Forked Bolt -2 Daze

    Round Two v. Handy, Sean M with... UWr Miracles 2-0

    Man, I hate playing against this deck. I remember this guy from somewhere, he remembers me (and keeps up with me a couple times throughout the day, props), but we each have no idea what the other is on. Game One, he finds neither Top nor Balance, but a Venser pitched to Force on turn two tells me what he is on, and a Supreme Verdict is not enough to save him. Game Two sees a Terminus stifled, another resolve, but his topless Counterbalance lets all my relevant spells through, and an Arid Mesa is revealed to a lethal Lightning Bolt. Due to his Volcanics not arriving in time, he had to play a Steam Vents, which partially caused him to lose Game Two. I say partially, because even if he hadn't shocked himself, his blind Counterbalance still would not have been enough, as it turns out.

    board as above

    Round Three v. Mcconnell, Jeremy with Buuuuurn 2-0

    At last, a deck I enjoy playing against! Is that weird? I know a lot of RUG players can't stand it, but I've always had success in the matchup. Game One was quick and dirty - he threw burn spells at my head while I thresh'd a Goose or two, and a Price of Progress was Snared (although I had dual, dual, waste in play and Daze in hand to take zero anyway) and I won at a healthy nine life. Game Two was terrifying - my Geese couldn't get threshold, and my opponent played a ton of creatures rather than spells, which made Pierce and Flusterstorm sit dead for awhile. But the Geese eventually grew, Goblin Guides were blocked (after giving me four lands, three blind, thank you), and I won at two life. My opponent showed me his hand of four lands and his board of six and we mutually lamented his fate.

    in: +2 Flusterstorm; out: -2 Forked Bolt

    Round Four v. (top 8er) Yu, Eric with 42 Lands (w/ Fires) 0-2

    I'll be honest: I don't exactly know how to beat Lands. I'm sure it involves drawing a lot of Geese, Stifles, and perfectly placed Wastelands. Sadly, I did not do these things. Game One he assembled a virtual lock pretty early, and although I may have scooped a turn too soon, he had a Chasm and Orb already in play with a Wasteland in the yard and a Loam in the hand. Game Two he drew Ensnaring Bridge (grudged), Crucible of Worlds (grudged again) and... Ensnaring Bridge, which I had no more outs to, and that was that. He went on to make top 8 - congrats, dogg! I'm super glad I did not have to face him in the top 8. Obviously.

    in: +1 Ancient Grudge, +1 Surgical Extraction, out: -2 Forked Bolts

    Round Five v. Milan, Kerry with UWr Delver 2-1

    This was the only time I played against True-Name Nemesis all day, and it was actually a non-factor in the match, I think. Game One I Stifled and Wasted him just enough to get two Delvers to flip and rode them to victory, while bolting an opposing Delver and Dazing a Trune. In Game Two, he bolted one of my Delvers before losing it to a Red Blast, but when he stuck a Rest in Peace followed by a Batterskull and I didn't draw Ancient Grudge, I thought it prudent to move on. In Game Three, on turn three, the board state was dual dual Goyf to his... well, nothing. The power of RUG Delver, people! After he started discarding, and I played a second Goyf, he knew it was over. A sad way to end the match, but I felt relieved about winning this one after losing to it horribly in Atlanta.

    in: +3 REB +1 Grudge; out: -4 Daze/Force

    Round Six v. Hefner, Jessy E with RUG Delver aka Don't You Wish Your Goyf Was Hot Like Mine? 2-1

    I love playing the mirror. As we discussed after the match, it's mostly about who draws the most Goyfs, Geese, and Brainstorms. I think he had more Brainstorms, but I had more green men. I don't remember a whole lot about the match, but judging from my written life totals, I scooped early in Game One and I killed him with Gooses in the second. I know he saw my hand Game Three after a Surgical Extraction on Lightning Bolt, and he was sad - Tarmogoyf, Tarmogoyf, Spell Snare. He tried to make shenanigans with Young Pyromancer, but my team of Goyf - Goyf - Goose versus his one card hand couldn't save him for very long.

    in: +3 Submerge +3 REB; out: -1 Pierce -5 Daze/Force

    Round Seven v. Robar, Bryan with Punishing Jund 2-1

    Argh. Jund. Well, it's not great, but I've beaten it before. Roudn Six is where I start forgetting exactly what happened, but I'll try and piece it together. In the first game, a protected Delver started making short work of his life total, but a Bloodbraid Elf into Tarmogoyf made his clock much faster. He didn't get much going Game Two thanks to his awkward mana base coupled with my disruption, and some three power creature did all the heavy lifting. Game Three is where the magic happens: I draw a Forked Bolt and three Lightning Bolts to help kill a Tarmogoyf and his three Dark Confidants. Eventually though, he draws out of his mana screw and the board is stalled with him at four life and a Tarmogoyf versus my Goyf and Goose. Then, unfortunately for him, he threw this game away. He had been working with double Grove as his only green sources, but he draws a fetch land and uses it to find a Bayou - which turns on double Submerge in my hand. From here, winning was elementary.

    in: +3 Submerge +2 Rough; out: -5 Daze/Force

    Round Eight v. Braun-Duin, Brian with ANT (oh noooo) 2-0

    Man guys, this guy is famous and junk and they called my name wrong to the feature match area and my tournament life here is over and wait, he's on storm?

    Never mind!

    When I learned he was on Storm, most of my fear just evaporated. I feel that it's definitely in my favor, and BBD is certainly quite adept at storming, but I'm pretty sure he's not expert-level with it yet. In Game One, I didn't draw many counterspells, but I put on a quick clock with blue men, double Lightning Bolt, and double Wasteland, and that turned out to be enough. In Game Two, nothing much other than an unthreshed Goose and an unflipped Delver happened for a little while. I Pondered into Stifle, Force, Force, and when my hand had all those in it, his Cabal Therapy met a Force, pitching the Stifle. He put me on the read for having the second Force despite a lack of Probes, but what he didn't know is that I had no blue card to pitch, so he waited. I drew a blue card two turns later though, and his LEDs and rituals into Infernal Tutor met it. He still had one more turn though, with me not dealing quite enough damage and him having left his LEDs uncracked. He ripped a Preordain into a Ponder, cast Ponder and cracked LEDs in response, shuffled... and missed. A good thing, too - I had nothing but lands.

    in: +2 Flusterstorm; out: -2 Forked Bolt

    Round Nine v. Mcguire, Cody with ANT, again! 2-0

    Sadly, I was in seventh after Round Eight, and with my opponent being in eighth, I couldn't mise the ID into top 8. Game One, his Underground Sea into Preordian start made me want to leap with joy - Storm again! I had a brutal clock, and my opponent had seen a Lightning Bolt and not much in my hand with a Probe. He resolved Ad Nauseum from 12 life, but was unable to find the kill before he flipped his way to two life against my uncracked fetch. Game Two, sadly for my opponent, wasn't much of a game - he mulliganed to six, found little or no disruption, and at the end of the game my hand was triple blue card and triple Force. I didn't want to show him afterwards, but the audience convinced me to, and he felt a little better. I think.

    board as above

    Having to play Round Nine turned out to be perfect - as the only 24 pointer, I ended the Swiss in first! Getting the play all top 8 made me feel incredible about my chances, until I saw my quarterfinal matchup - Andrew Tenjum with Shardless BUG. Not a great matchup, and against a seriously good player - the odds were perhaps against me!

    I'm gonna go into the top 8 matches too much; I don't remember a ton about it and they're all covered by video and/or text. I'll go over some highlights:

    -In G3 v. BUG, when I Pondered instead of playing Wasteland and Tarmogoyf? Yeah, I screwed up. I know I was trying to find another land in case he wasted me off blue, but it was weak logic compared to just having a threat in play.

    -In G3 v. Elves, I showed my opponent the Lightning Bolt off of the Ponder on the last turn, and he conceded. Then he realized he wasn't dead - he could bounce Visionary to untap Dryad Arbor, tap Shaman and Ranger for a black, and Decay my Aberration. But I showed him the second card from the Ponder - Rough // Tumble.

    -In G2 v. Sneak and Show, when I Brainstormed instead of keeping it as a pitch card for Force, I knew I had the advantage because I had a three turn clock and both our hands were depleted. I was sure that the odds of finding a blue card and maybe something else to help were very high. Obviously, I hit the nuts. The commentators seemed surprised that I won, but I do have something like eighteen counterspells in my deck for postboard games.

    The final round was actually the most fun I had all day! Dylan Jones was a super cool guy, and the laughter you can hear during the finals was actually coming from both of us and the jokes we were telling to the audience. In the end, with thanks to some good plays and a healthy amount of luck, I managed to take home the trophy! This was my third top 8, and not the first open I expected to win. I feel like I definitely played tight just about all day, but yeah sometimes I Brainstormed into exactly what I needed or had my opponents get unlucky for awhile, but that's just what the deck does sometimes!

    Props to Eddie, Dustin and Clay for being good car partners and their patience with the top 8, all my opponents for being rad dudes, and to the audience of the top 8, especially the finals. Special props to Sourcer Feline, who watched the whole top 8 and gave me her respect as a RUG player. Feline - I wanna play you at an open!

    Slops to work, for scheduling me at 5am Monday when I got home at 345am, mediocre convention center pizza, and standard, for being dumb.

    Until next time, Magic players, don't spend an entire match flexing your biceps and pecs at me while speaking in a strange high-pitched voice (it happened), and have fun!

  2. #2

    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Hey Taylor, Eric here! Unfortunately Sneak and Show snuck by me and stopped us from having a rematch in the finals. Grats on the win!

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Thanks for the shout out, and you might want to play against me, but if you're on RUG and know what you're doing, I don't wanna play against you ha ha! Those RUG players are dangerous! Also enjoyed the read and how you wrote everything out, keeps it exciting! People say RWU is the new Delver deck but I still think RUG is pulling the same numbers, the last meta overview I did I believe RUG was still higher, between Oct and the end of 2013, have to do another one at the end of FEB-early March.
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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Congrats on the finish with the one and only real Delverdeck! :D

    Just wondering... why did you Play 3 REBs and not atleast 2 Pyroblast 1 REB? Besides the splitting-upside playing Pyroblast enables you to thresh your Mongoose quicker should you wish to do so and can also up the Stormcount for Flusterstorm... Is there any reason behind it?

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Thanks for the report!

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Congrats! Enjoyed reading your report. Keep on rockin'

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Quote Originally Posted by Exuberance View Post
    I'll be honest: I don't exactly know how to beat Lands. I'm sure it involves drawing a lot of Geese, Stifles, and perfectly placed Wastelands.
    Great article and as for the lands match that’s exactly what you need. There’s a person my lgs who plays it semi regularly and is pretty good at going 4 – 0 every now and then when he doesn’t run into combo. The games I do beat him are usually a delver + disruption for the early exploration and loams or multiple geese. I do have a few questions about your sideboard.
    A lot of people have on the forums have said we don’t need 3 submerge anymore since we see a lot more TNN then we do Knight or Goyf what do you think?
    Why only one artifact hate? It seems like every list I see top 8 or not run 2 for their stoneforge hate package.

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Thanks everyone!

    Quote Originally Posted by Einherjer
    Just wondering... why did you Play 3 REBs and not atleast 2 Pyroblast 1 REB? Besides the splitting-upside playing Pyroblast enables you to thresh your Mongoose quicker should you wish to do so and can also up the Stormcount for Flusterstorm... Is there any reason behind it?
    Honestly, it was because I think I gave my Pyroblasts to someone awhile back and I could only find REBs. I'd rather play a split actually! But the quick thresh or storm count things have never been relevant for me.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tyrio
    Hey Taylor, Eric here! Unfortunately Sneak and Show snuck by me and stopped us from having a rematch in the finals. Grats on the win!
    Thanks man! I was pretty relieved I didn't have to face you again, haha. I can definitely respect and even fear a skilled lands player. Not a deck I ever want to meet! :P

    Quote Originally Posted by Contract Killer
    I do have a few questions about your sideboard.
    A lot of people have on the forums have said we don’t need 3 submerge anymore since we see a lot more TNN then we do Knight or Goyf what do you think?
    Why only one artifact hate? It seems like every list I see top 8 or not run 2 for their stoneforge hate package.
    Somehow I always manage to run into the decks where Submerge is boss, and I rarely play against the Mystic decks. I don't feel too bad about playing against Mystic, tho. I can just kill or counter every creature, especially out of UWr. At the next open, I'll probably cut the Elemental or something for another Grudge. It just feels so miserable drawing more than one.

    Quote Originally Posted by feline
    Thanks for the shout out, and you might want to play against me, but if you're on RUG and know what you're doing, I don't wanna play against you ha ha! Those RUG players are dangerous! Also enjoyed the read and how you wrote everything out, keeps it exciting! People say RWU is the new Delver deck but I still think RUG is pulling the same numbers, the last meta overview I did I believe RUG was still higher, between Oct and the end of 2013, have to do another one at the end of FEB-early March.
    Aw, it'd be fun! And I'm looking forward to your review. I honestly think UWr Delver is a bad Delver deck, a bad Mystic deck, and a bad Trune deck. But you can't argue with results, and it keeps putting up the numbers!

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Quote Originally Posted by Exuberance View Post
    Honestly, it was because I think I gave my Pyroblasts to someone awhile back and I could only find REBs. I'd rather play a split actually! But the quick thresh or storm count things have never been relevant for me.
    Pyroblast won me a game against Storm where REB would not.
    It was a long grindy game and we both had lots of lands out. He drawn a card, passed, next turn he drawn a card and went Dark Ritual->IT. I had just Pyro and Flusterstorm against his several untapped lands, but thankfully I was able to Pyroblast and then Flusterstorm made enough copies to not let the IT resolve.
    Yep, one may argue that Blasts are bad sb choice aganst Storm, however hitting their cantrips is never bad and moreover, this example is not about good sb choice, it's about Pyro vs. REB.
    But yes, it may matter in one out of fifty games, so it's not really important.



    Quote Originally Posted by Exuberance View Post
    I honestly think UWr Delver is a bad Delver deck, a bad Mystic deck, and a bad Trune deck. But you can't argue with results, and it keeps putting up the numbers!

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    That was a fun read and congratulation on finishing first.
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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    I try to have no burn in my deck post board against Mircales. Is there a reason you are at least not sideboarding 2x Lightning Bolt for 2x Flusterstorm?

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Quote Originally Posted by BKclassic View Post
    I try to have no burn in my deck post board against Mircales. Is there a reason you are at least not sideboarding 2x Lightning Bolt for 2x Flusterstorm?
    I guess the only reasonable idea is to have some reach to close the game a turn sooner and/or kill the SFM. I neither like nor dislike this; I'm always stuck with the wrong card, except for the one game several weeks ago, when I simply drawn every necessary card in a row and finished the opponent with a 1/1 Mongoose.

    Bolt does nothing against Terminus
    Flustestorm can't deal the last three dmg.
    Choose wisely, my Lord.

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Huh? Miracles doesn't play SFM, maybe you meant Jace? Even then, any decent player knows to fateseal first most of the time against decks with Bolt.
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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    Quote Originally Posted by HammafistRoob View Post
    Huh? Miracles doesn't play SFM, maybe you meant Jace? Even then, any decent player knows to fateseal first most of the time against decks with Bolt.
    My bad. But wasn't there a time frame when UW Controls played SFM?
    However... maybe they plan to kill the one-of Vendilion Clique? Idk.
    Yep, I know they'll fateseal JTMS above Bolt range. That - and all the above - is why I take Bolts out.

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    I think some peeps tried her out and dismissed her shortly afterwards. A lot of people play more than 1 Clique as well, I like 2 personally. Yes bolts should be the first card to come out against Miracles, if a Clique is killing you you're most likely in bad shape even if you have a Bolt for it.
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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    I don't agree - as a miracles player I usually lose to bolt once I think I've stabilized because it can be timed whenever. The all dudes plan is really loose unless you have Sulfuric Vortexes.

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    Re: I Am RUG Delver and So Can You: 1st at SCG Nashville

    I debated bringing in Flusterstorm, but I figured it's mostly just a worse Spell Pierce. It's hard to keep them off enough mana to make them live anyway (especially since I save Stifles for miracles). Lightning Bolt actually got the job done in at least one of the post-board games. Bolting a Clique so they can't block your Mongoose or Delver is also quite relevant sometimes.

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