OK, call it a comeback: BUG Delver at SCG Portland

[ESG]

I picked up BUG Delver more than a year ago and rattled off a string of good finishes, including the one alluded to near the end of this report, but I rotated into other decks as a consequence of frequently losing to Deathblade, Elves, and a variety of Tier 2 decks (Imperial Painter, Merfolk, Jund Depths) and Tier 3 decks (Werewolf Stompy, Slivers) at weekly local events. After excursions with Elves, Shardless BUG, Jund, Sneak and Show, Reanimator, Big Zoo, Dredge brews, and various Loam strategies, I returned to BUG Delver and found it welcoming me back. I spent a long time testing matchups in my lair and ironing out the numbers until the deck felt consistent and flexible enough for me to take it back into battle. I ran it in a Super IQ the week before SCG Portland and went 5-2, beating Grixis Painter, RUG Delver, the mirror, BUG Delver with TNNs, and a wild RW Stax deck, and losing to Patriot and Death & Taxes. I also played it at a couple of small local events to get more practice with the list and identify weaknesses. This led to me adopting a one-of Maelstrom Pulse in the main and a one-of Tormod's Crypt in the sideboard. I have a small box of cards vying for a spot in the sideboard, but this is where I'm at now and what I took to Portland:

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Tombstalker
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Thoughtseize
4 Disfigure
2 Abrupt Decay

2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:

2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Engineered Plague
2 Dread of Night
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mind Harness
2 Krosan Grip
1 Sylvan Library
1 Bitterblossom

If you haven't already read Danyul's tournament report from this event, you should, especially the prologue. We traveled down to the event together, and some people in my report are mentioned in his report. There were 296 players for Legacy at SCG Portland, so there would be nine rounds of Swiss.

Round 1: Kenny Saeter

Game 1: Kenny wins the die roll. I mull a land-heavy seven into a decent six-card hand. Kenny begins with a Cloudpost and plays another on his next turn, while I curve into Hymn to Tourach and strip a Glimmerpost and an Eye of Ugin. This indicates to me that he is running 12-Post/Turbo Eldrazi rather than MUD, and I'm very happy to have nabbed Eye of Ugin. I mount an attack, but he's able to build a quick Marit Lage via a surprise Into the North and a Thespian's Stage from his hand. I try to work around it, putting a Delver on chump-block duty and aiming to take him down with a Tombstalker and a Deathrite Shaman, but his land drop of Glimmerpost gives him a bigger cushion. The next turn I Disfigure Marit Lage and eat the dead Delver to buy myself another turn, falling to 1 after the attack. Kenny then seals it up with yet another Glimmerpost.

See you at the North Pole.

Game 2: At this point, I know Kenny is on the Mono-Green version of the deck, even though I saw a Misty Rainforest in Game 1. I lead off with a very strong hand, getting out Deathrite Shaman and two Delvers and Wasting Kenny's Cloudpost. I strip a Green Sun's Zenith from a hand of Crop Rotation, Crop Rotation, Vesuva, Cloudpost. He stalls the board for a bit, using Expedition Map for The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and forcing me to lose a creature (I elect to lose Deathrite because he doesn't have many land in play and thus probably can't Glacial Chasm). My board becomes Tarmogoyf and two Delvers. He buys himself another turn with Moment's Peace, but I'm able to seal things up with Force of Will the following turn when he tries to flash it back.

Game 3: I receive two unkeepable hands and move directly to Fivetown. Kenny starts with a Leyline of Sanctity in play and goes Savannah into Green Sun's Zenith for Dryad Arbor. I open with fetch into Deathrite Shaman, and Kenny's next play is Bojuka Bog. He later turns off Deathrite permanently with Pithing Needle. Shortly after, I am compelled to Force of Will his Expedition Map, and the game proceeds with me plinking in each turn with Deathrite Shaman while trying to find Wastelands and creatures and with him making land drops. He eventually resolves a Green Sun's Zenith and puts in Primeval Titan, which is basically game over, but I play on and he hardcasts Emrakul, who tears down my meager board.

I don't think the Mono-Green matchup is too much under 50 percent. Wasteland is obviously key, with the dream play being destroying a Cloudpost and exiling all copies with Surgical Extraction. The traditional UG build is harder because of Show and Tell. Both versions are more challenging if Liliana isn't in your 75, as was the choice I made before SCG Portland. I've gone back and forth with Liliana in this deck and will likely do so again. Ultimately, I didn't expect this matchup at all, and I was disappointed that I drew so few Wastelands over three games.

Kenny mentioned that he was new to Legacy, but I thought he piloted his deck admirably.

Round 2: Andrew "Dante" Zickler

Dante is from the Bellingham-area crew who is linked to our Seattle/Eastside Boldwyr group. He won a Mox back in May for taking down the Spring Legacy Classic in Vancouver, B.C., with Esper Stoneblade. I think he's brand-new on these boards as TallHeart. He's a sharp player, and we've Cubed together a couple of times, but this would be our first time battling.

Game 1: I win the die roll and in short order begin an assault on his life total with two flipped Delvers. Dante, on Miracles, defends himself with Spell Pierce from what I think was my second Hymn to Tourach. At 10 life he finds a Terminus. I'm Force-less, so the board is reset. The lowest his life sinks is 8, and he puts together Vendilion Clique plus Karakas to meddle with my draws. He resolves Jace before I find another threat, and the game slips away from there.

Game 2: This game really went awry. I had a one-lander with Deathrite Shaman, two Ponders, and assorted business. Two lands is ideal, but one fetchland is ordinarily OK here and is certainly better in this matchup than a four-lander would be. I opened on fetch into Deathrite Shaman; he opened with Relic of Progenitus, which surprised me because I expect to see Rest in Peace from Miracles. Relic seems very solid, though, with the card draw potentially enabling the Miracle mechanic. It certainly was strong in this particular game. I drew, Pondered into three non-lands, shuffled, and drew a Force of Will. I repeated that the next turn, again finding no lands, shuffled and drew a Thoughtseize. Dante's hand when I fired off Thoughtseize was Brainstorm, Swords to Plowshares, Counterbalance, and Supreme Verdict. I took the Verdict. I drew a Wasteland one or two turns later and used it on one of his lands in order to get at least one colored mana out of my Deathrite Shaman, who had been chipping in for damage in the meantime. At some point I cast a Tarmogoyf and got a hit in, but Dante made Angels and swiftly closed out the game.

Frankly, this game was an embarrassment for me, and I'm itching for a rematch.

Round 3: Brandon Juntz

Game 1: Brandon wins the die roll. My ordinarily very good seven-card hand wilts when he begins with Gitaxian Probe, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Desperate Ritual, Seething Song, Empty the Warrens. Since I was on the draw, the Daze and Thoughtseize in my grip are pretty dead. I have one out maindeck in the form of Maelstrom Pulse (in what is usually my Liliana slot), but it does not appear, so we're on to Game 2. Yeesh, what a rough start to an SCG Open.

Game 2: Brandon is on Charbelcher, so I am quite familiar with what cards I need to see in order to have a keepable hand. I tank on my seven, which has two Ponders and a Brainstorm, but I decide that I want to try again for a hand with Force of Will, Thoughtseize, or a way to answer a bunch of Goblins. I don't want a speculative hand that cantrips into nothing if I can help it. Unfortunately, my deck decides to tease me by presenting me with hands that contain none of these cards. One hand has a Wasteland as its only land. One hand has zero lands. With every new hand, I feel my chances of winning decrease, as if there were a giant calculator above my head spitting out dire percentages. On three cards, I open Force of Will, Daze, Underground Sea. KEEP. Brandon runs out Land Grant and shows me what I'm up against:





I allow him to search up his Stomping Grounds and start the chain, leading up to Seething Song. I pull the trigger on Force of Will. I draw a Brainstorm and find a Tarmogoyf and a second land. I get in with Tarmogoyf while he rebuilds for a second combo attempt. He generates enough mana to make six Goblins, and I am briefly stalled. My Ponder offers me the intriguing choice of making another Tarmogoyf and beating through his Goblins while draining with Shaman, but there is also an Engineered Plague. I would rather conceal the Plague and blow him out with it in Game 3 when he goes for a million Goblins on Turn 1, but I decide to just take the conservative line and land Plague immediately, which allows Tarmogoyf to bash in. Brandon cycles a couple Street Wraiths, but his hand is basically skin and bones.

Game 3: Now the onus is even more on my deck to deliver a Force of Will, since Brandon will be on the play. And since he knows about Engineered Plague, he'll be prioritizing Charbelcher. I again have to mull deep into uncertain territory before I find a keepable hand, stopping at four cards. His Land Grant reveals Tinder Wall, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Seething Song, Seething Song, and Pyretic Ritual. I have a Wasteland in my hand, so I allow him to search up Stomping Grounds and cut him off with Force of Will before he can get to Empty the Warrens mana, then I blow up Stomping Grounds. I clock him with a Delver of Secrets and a Deathrite Shaman, and I have an Engineered Plague waiting for any Goblins. When he manages to find a Chrome Mox, I blow it up with Abrupt Decay.

Charbelcher is a favorable matchup, but things can get dicey when you lose the die roll. If you know what your opponent is on, the matchup is significantly easier, but a Turn 1 Empty the Warrens or Goblin Charbelcher when you're going in blind is always somewhat scary. Non-pro tip: If you have 1CMC creature removal, leave it in for the Xantid Swarms that the Belcher player is likely boarding in. Board out all copies of Hymn to Tourach against all-in combo decks like this one because there won't be a hand there to demolish. There are a few cases where a Belcher player will be one card off and might not go off Turn 1, but most of the time, he or she is going to be throwing a pile of cards at your face right away. And on that note, someone told me about this video:





I don't think it's necessarily fair or accurate, but I still laughed.

Round 4: Dan May

Game 1: I win the die roll. I initially think Dan is on Elves due to his Elf opening (Fyndhorn Elves or Deathrite Shaman, I think), but when I Thoughtseize him, I see Eternal Witness among the otherwise standard Elves cards of Deathrite Shaman, Gaea's Cradle, and Craterhoof Behemoth. I have a removal spell in hand for the Deathrite, so I take the Hoof. I know he can retrieve it with Eternal Witness, but I have a high possibility of having a Daze or a Force by then, and he has to spend a turn getting it back with the possibility that I will simply hit it with more discard. I put him firmly on Natural Order but also "not Elves" when he plays a Khalni Garden and makes a plant token and when my Hymn to Tourach hits a Tangle Wire. His life total drops from 19 to 14 to 4, so I'm pretty sure two Tarmogoyfs took this one.

Game 2: He begins the next game with Inquisition of Kozilek, but my cantrips find plenty of disruption. The Delver-Deathrite team chews away at his life while I snipe his Deathrite Shamans. I feel a bit remorseful when I cash in my Disfigure on a Shaman and he drops a Rofellos(!) the next turn, but fortunately for me, the Elf Legend doesn't enable any huge plays before I find another removal spell. One of my late Hymns hits a Woodfall
Primus, which would be more fearsome if it could blow up creatures, but I'm far enough ahead that I think I could have raced it even if it came down.

I had to ask for a look at Dan's deck after the match because it had kept me guessing. Turns out he had built something similar to Secret Force from the old Extended, only with discard to clear a path. He was playing Overgrown Tombs in addition to Bayous in order to support some number of Hymn to Tourach. His creature-heavy, disruption-light starts allowed me to make short work of him, but I can imagine games where mana elf into T2 Tangle Wire would be quite strong.

Round 5: Robin Hartshorn

Game 1: I've faced Robin numerous times before, so I suspected he was running either Jund or Storm. His first Lightning Bolt confirmed for me that it was the former. I secured the Deathrite advantage and tore through his hand with double Hymn. He got to clock me with a Tarmogoyf while I beat in with a flipped Delver, but I Decayed his Goyf and won before he could climb back into the game.

Game 2: We played the resource-denial game for several turns, and I goaded Robin into using up two Wastelands, happy that he obliged, given my land-heavy hand, and I tried to sculpt the board state to where I could strangle him on colored mana. I thought I was going to make short work of him with Delver and Deathrite, but he managed to get Punishing Fire online and landed a Grove of the Burnwillows, and that allowed him to survive to the midgame. I had a Surgical Extraction, but he was playing around it, so my plan now hinged on finding a Wasteland or a threat that could weather the Fire. The Tarmogoyf I thought would go the distance fell to a topdecked Liliana, and that complicated matters. I used Ponders to set up my draws a turn ahead, feeding my dead cards or lesser cards to Liliana while I kept up a Decay. I ended up cashing in the Decay on Liliana, then decided I didn't want Robin topdecking any other copies of Liliana (even though I had hit one with a Hymn earlier), so I Extracted them and took a look at what other threats I might face. There were no big surprises lurking, so I settled in for the long game. My Sylvan Library, which I drew soon after, won me this game, combining with Robin's Grove of the Burnwillows to be a card-advantage machine. Robin made it up to eight lands, so he was able to kill off Tarmogoyf (this was a drawback to Extracting his Planeswalkers), and did kill one. I reduced that pressure when I found a Wasteland to kill one of his two Groves, then I used the Library to set up a turn where I could mount a charge with Tombstalker, another Goyf, and a Delver that would flip on the next turn. This allowed me to get in some needed damage. Robin drew a clutch Lightning Bolt and was able to clear away the board, but not before he lost a chunk of his life total. I killed any Dark Confidants he drew. I couldn't get too greedy with my Library, lest he switch to burning me out, but Library was the single biggest card in this game. Later I drew a Wasteland to end the Fire recursion. Eventually, I exhausted Robin's removal and I was able to get there with a Delver. This was a marathon game.

Round 6: Ricky Sidher

Game 1: Having watched numerous SCG Opens, I was familiar with Ricky and his usual deck choice of RUG Delver. I won the all-important die roll and kept my opening seven, which was just what I was looking for in a tempo matchup. I prioritized Deathrite Shaman and played around Stifle whenever possible. I took him down from the air, racing his Tarmogoyf with Delver and a Deathrite. I think he killed one with a Bolt and I got a second one airborne. After the match, he told me his opening hand had Stifle and double Daze, so I assume his hand was just heavy on permission and cantrips whereas mine was business-heavy, and I had the twin advantages of being on the play and guessing correctly what he was playing.

Game 2: I took some early hits from Nimble Mongoose and went to zero permanents very early in the game, but my deck bailed me out with a land and I cantripped into more. He got in four times with the Mongoose and once with Tarmogoyf and a Mongoose. My key decisions were based on how many turns I could afford to spend on Hymn to Tourach before sticking my Tarmogoyfs. As long as he had cards in hand, I couldn't profitably block without risking my Goyf's death to a Lightning Bolt. My first Hymn hit a Submerge, which was huge. I then played out both my Goyfs, and he had a Daze for the second one, but I didn't have enough life to wait a turn to play around Daze. My sideboard tech of Mind Harness came up big here, stealing his Goyf and allowing me to counterattack. Ricky found a second Mongoose, and I traded a Goyf when his Mongeese doubled up to block. I wasn't going to risk cracking the most recent fetchland I drew, given the chance of Ricky having another Submerge; I just had to be mindful of the odds of getting burned out. I was in control but at a precarious six life, with Ricky having spent one Lightning Bolt early in the game. My Mind Harness ticked up. I resolved a Deathrite Shaman, and that sunk Ricky. I felt I played very tight in these games. I was proud to hear Ricky say that I was his only opponent, up to that point on the day, who played around his Stifles.

At this point, having won eight straight games and dispatched a pro player, I was feeling a sense of destiny dawning. Top 8 contention was out of reach due to the size of the tournament and my early losses, but I started focusing on my chances for Top 16.

[ESG]

Round 7: Anson Miyamoto

Game 1: Anson won the die roll. I mulled to six. Anson revealed himself to be playing Merfolk. Seeing Cosi's Trickster, I assumed his deck would be dude-heavy and light on countermagic, with likely no removal spells in the main. I anticipated facing True-Name Nemesis and probably Phantasmal Images copying them if we got to that stage. I kept a Lord or two off the board, and the game progressed to where my Tarmogoyf was holding off a small school of fish. My mana was constricted by his Cursecatcher, and I knew from Silvergill Adept that he had a Merrow Reejerey in hand. Wasteland had been good against his early-game Mutavault and slowed him down. No Aether Vial meant that I had a chance of pulling out a longer game. But when he drew more Islands, Reejerey came down and the fish came to nibble.

Game 2: I was very happy with my opening grip, and I swiftly deployed two Delvers, then drew into a third a turn or two later. Anson dropped a Cavern of Souls and made a Cursecatcher and a Silvergill Adept (revealing Lord of Atlantis), but I Wasted the Cavern, and my clock was way too fast for him to deal with.

Game 3: He led with Cursecatcher, and I dropped and spent my fetchland immediately to play around Cosi's Trickster. He missed his land drop, making a Cosi's Trickster, and when I attempted to Hymn him, he sacrificed the Cursecatcher and Dazed it, which was a trade I was mighty happy with. He replayed the Island and played a second Cosi's Trickster. I resolved a Tarmogoyf, then a second one, to give my Deathrite Shaman some comrades. I purposely held my Ponder and fetchland to keep his Tricksters tiny, and I swung in with the Tarmogoyfs. I was rewarded for holding the Ponder when I drew a Force of Will, which would afford me another turn of uninterrupted Goyf aggression. When I drew my fourth land, a Wasteland, I used it on myself before damage in order to grow the Tarmogoyfs. Ultimately, him missing some land drops and setting himself back a turn with Daze made it easy for me to tempo him out.

Round 8: Michael Nixon

I know Michael as Nixon, as that is the way he was introduced to me in the past. I had never played against him before, so I didn't know what to expect.

Game 1: I won the die roll. When I Thoughtseized him, I saw Counterspell, Sensei's Divining Top, Sensei's Divining Top, Scalding Tarn, Spell Pierce, Island. I don't know if he mulliganed and I just didn't note it on my notepad or if I failed to note one of his cards. I suspect the former. I took a Top. He resolved a Top. I hit him with two Hymns in successive turns, and he responded to the second by flipping his Top and Forcing it, telling me that I wasn't getting his second land. I Wasted his Tundra on the next turn and dropped a Tarmogoyf. He was able to find a white source and a Swords to Plowshares for the Goyf, but I found a replacement Goyf. I think he tried for an Entreat and I countered it with a Daze. The Tarmogoyf went the distance.

Game 2: Nixon was stewing after Game 1, so I was hesitant to chat. The next game worked out better for him, with him able to answer each of my threats, including Bitterblossom with a Council's Judgment, and land a Jace, then tick the Jace up to 12 and ultimate me.

Game 3: We both mulliganed once in this game. Nixon Forced my Thoughtseize, pitching a Vendilion Clique. I don't remember much of this game, but he got stuck on lands, and I knew I was in terrific shape when he Forced a Delver, pitching a Jace. I took a chunk of his life with Tarmogoyf and a Deathrite Shaman, and while he was able to Plow the Tarmogoyf, the Shaman stuck around to end it.

Round 9: Daniel Nguyen

Hey, I know this guy ...

Due to bad tiebreakers from early losses, we were far enough down in the standings that winning wouldn't do much beyond maybe getting one of us into the Top 16, and the prize money is the same if you finish in ninth place or 32nd place, so we had a large incentive to ID and likely lock Top 32 and $100 for each of us. The round ended and the final standings were:



Amusingly, Greg Mitchell (also on BUG Delver), who was also in our car driving down, finished right next to us.

I made it through the fire, man: From 0-2, down a game and on a mull to 3 to 6-2-1 and finishing in the money.

[lordofthepit]

Well done, man. Way to finish strong!

[Petal Collector]

Having now read both danyul's and your reports, I'm itching to free up some weekends to play again. Nice report, and way to battle back.

[danyul]

This was a great trip and writing up conjoined reports was a great idea. The ESG/Jeremy Edwards/Leremy Deadwards/Golgari Lord of Seattle will not be stopped! 0-2 means nothing to him!

@Petal Collector
We wanna see you battling!