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Thread: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

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    GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    So I finally got around to consolidating my notes and writing a report for Columbus. I am going to try and remember as many details as I can, but if you were one of my opponents and I got something wrong, please correct me. The list for reference:

    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Tarmogoyf
    1 Gurmag Angler

    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Force of Will
    4 Daze
    2 Spell Pierce
    3 Stifle
    4 Lightning Bolt
    3 Abrupt Decay

    4 Wasteland
    3 Misty Rainforest
    3 Flooded Strand
    3 Polluted Delta
    2 Underground Sea
    2 Tropical Island
    2 Volcanic Island

    Board:
    2 Pyroblast
    1 Flusterstorm
    1 Vendilion Clique
    1 True-name Nemesis
    2 Painful Truths
    1 Diabolic Edict
    1 Murderous Cut
    1 Forked Bolt
    2 Golgari Charm
    1 Ancient Grudge
    2 Surgical Extraction

    On to the tournament...if you played me and read this, and I get your name wrong, I apologize.

    Round 1, Nic Fit Blue (Andrew Confer), I lose the die roll
    Game 1 is a drawn out affair with me sticking a threat at a time and trying to figure out what he's playing. I assume shardless bug at first but then he plays a morph (Sagu Mauler), which I bolt and then proceed to wtf my way into putting the pieces together that he's on some version of Nic Fit. He is able to stick a Jace after answering all my threats and I am pretty much playing it out to see what he's playing before scooping. Turns out I am able to just stick a couple of threats and bolt him to death before he can find any action. Game 2 he is able to get me with a pernicious deed that puts him too far ahead for me to recover. Game 3 we have about 5 minutes left to play, so I mull to a relatively aggressive 6 card hand and get there just in time after he plays a thragtusk to go to 10, then getting in for exactly 10 with a 5/6 goyf and an angler after bolting the thragtusk and stifling the trigger.
    WIN 2-1
    1-0

    Off to a good start after a close match. Turns out a lot of these matches are really close. This build is very unforgiving but rewarding as there is almost always some way to win most games.

    Round 2, Tezzerator (Tristan R), I win the die roll
    Game 1 is kind of long and back and forth, but Tristan is able to assemble thopter sword and I am never able to find a decay. He eventually gets enough lands that I can't do much about it. Game 2 I mull and keep a one lander on 6 with a decay in hand and a turn 1 delver. I bottom a non-land, and play the delver. He is able to resolve a chalice on 1 and I can never find another land after he wastelands me.
    This match seems extremely swingy and I think you have the tools to win, I just got blown out this match.
    LOSE 0-2
    1-1

    Round 3, RUG Delver (Erik C), I win the die roll
    All 3 games were relatively typical RUG vs BURG. I think you are ahead in general as you can kill their goyfs and they can't really kill yours out of combat, but you still have to play safely and not let them manascrew you if you can help it. Deathrite is obviously huge here.
    Game 1 I win quickly, game 2 he wins quickly by playing multiple geese and bolting my delvers/submerging a goyf to swing for lethal. Game 3 I just run more threats out there than he does.
    WIN 2-1
    2-1

    Round 4, UR Delver (Mackenzie Roberts), I win the die roll
    I don't remember much about these games other than he is able to get in enough damage Game 1 that his barrage of burn makes short work of my life total. Game 2 I just stick goyfs and kill his guys, while being able to safely play around price of progress with wasteland up and daze in hand. Game 3 is close, he gets me to 6 after I kill most of his guys and stick a goyf. He drops low enough that my goyf can start swinging and I am able to stick a deathrite. He kills the deathrite but has to start chump blocking the goyf with swiftspears, which delays the inevitable as I put myself in a position to play around price again.
    WIN 2-1
    3-1

    Round 5, Affinity (Alex Pritchett), I lose the die roll
    Game 1 Alex tells me that he generally plays modern and then shows me that he is on Affinity. I think this matchup is favored but it is always scary as they can win out of nowhere. He does just that after I get him to 4 life with a superior board position but getting Tezz out, ticking him up, and ulting me from 11 to dead. Game 2 isn't a game as I draw ancient grudge and blow up his mana after he mulls. Game 3 is back and forth, with me finding plenty of removal and a few threats while he is able to assemble a pair of etched champions. I draw the grudge this game and am able to deal with his fliers to get damage in with delver, but he still has the out of drawing ravager to kill me with the champions. Plating wouldn't do it as I had grudge flashback. He doesn't draw what he needs and I win.
    WIN 2-1
    4-1

    Round 6, Eldrazi (Robert Chase), I lose the die roll
    I don't remember much about these games other than they were extremely close. Game 1 I just get him down low enough that he needs to top deck really well to come back and he doesn't. Goyf was spectacular here. Game 2 he is able to get a good start and eventually sticks an endbringer that I can't answer. Eventually he kills me with large aliens. Game 3 I just overrun him with goyfs while answering his chalice and wastelanding him.
    WIN 2-1
    5-1

    Round 7, ANT (Jon Finkel), I lose the die roll
    So I look at the pairings and see I'm paired against Johnny Magic himself. I am pretty stoked about getting to play against him and getting to play leagcy against MTG legends is one of the reasons I really love GPs.
    Game 1 Jon leads with Underground Sea and ponder, and I guess that he is probably on some kind of combo deck or perhaps shardless BUG due to the perceived advantages it had vs the expected meta. My hand this game just gets stupid as I draw mostly blue cards and delver, plus a couple of wastelands. He is never able to go off and I kill him with delver. Game 2 I mull to 6 and keep the loosest 6 I have ever kept vs storm: 4 colored lands, golgari charm, and spell pierce. I scry a wasteland to the bottom and he leads with sea, ponder. I then draw another land (FML), play a land and pass. Jon then fetches underground sea #2 and plays ponder. Then he goes lotus petal, lotus petal, tap sea to duress me. I spell pierce and he tanks. He lets the pierce resolve, then sacrifices a lotus petal to play rain of filth. He thinks for a while and says that he "miscounted" and passes the turn. I draw nothing but gas from here on out as I have already played half the lands in my deck and just take control from here.
    I think the rain of filth play was a true mistake and not a bluff, as there was no reason I would counter that card anyway. It goes to show you that if you play tight no matter what and don't give anything away, even the best players make mistakes sometimes.
    WIN 2-0
    6-1

    Round 8, Shardless BUG (Kegan S.), I lose the die roll
    I really don't remember these games very well at all, but I do remember just barely winning games 1 and 3. People generally try to board force of will out vs shardless, which I think is a mistake, so there isn't really much I can bring in here other than murderous cut and possibly a pyroblast or 2. I tried the truths in game 2 and didn't like them. This matchup is all about tempo and that's how I played it here in games 1 and 3.
    WIN 2-1
    7-1

    Round 9, Blood Moon Stompy (Davis M.), I lose the die roll
    These weren't really games at all and the match takes 5 minutes. Game one he goes turn 1 magus of the moon off of city and an ssg, and I almost have that twitch "scoop now" response from always playing bug. Then I look at the bolt in my hand and smile. I answer magus and play tarmogoyfs. Game 2 I Force a blood moon and play tarmogoyf. Fin.
    WIN 2-0
    8-1

    I was feeling pretty good about 8-1 after day 1. All my opponents were class acts and I had a great day of magic. Day 2 I wake up ready to play.

    Round 10, Burn (Tyler Pressley), I win die roll
    Game 1 Tyler goes goblin guide, attack (revealing abrupt decay), pass. Burn, here we go. I eventually get rid of the guide, stick a deathrite that gets lit up, then get a goyf down and an angler. I stabilize at 11 life with a couple of monsters in play and he can't price me out due to my wastelands. Game 2 is pretty much a mirror of game 1, only he floods out and it is not as close.
    WIN 2-0
    9-1

    Round 11, Grixis Delver (Isaac Davis), I win the die roll
    Game 1 I see Isaac is on a delver deck pretty early. I stick threats while he cantrips, which leaves me ahead on tempo from the start. He can't recover and I win at 19 life. I think I see a pyromancer this game and am able to put him on grixis. Game 2 is a very close one though, and I wind up in a board state with 2 flipped delvers to his gurmag angler, deathrite shaman, and young pyromancer. We race back and forth but eventually I need to block the angler to play around lightning bolt after I kill his deathrite. I murderous cut the angler and still have my delver vs his board of young pyromancer, unflipped delver. I'm at 5 and he's at 4, and he plays a baleful strix that I am cold to unless I draw the green source for the golgari charm in my hand. I rip tropical island right off the top and plague wind his board, then swing in and bolt him. Close game.
    WIN 2-0
    10-1

    Round 12, Miracles (Christopher Walton), I win the die roll
    This is the first time all tournament that I play against miracles. Game 1 is kind of back and forth for a while but Christopher is able to stick a maindeck back to basics when I tap low that lets him pull ahead and win. Game 2 I am able to disrupt his mana and stay ahead of him until I can finish him off with burn once he tries to stabilize. Game 3 I make a bad mistake and fight over a deathrite shaman that he plows, which costs me when he is able to stick a counterbalance with me having not found any decays. I tunneled on playing around terminus to ramp threats with stifle and clique backup, but that meant I just lost to counterbalance. You live, you learn. I resolve to get out of my own head if I play against miracles again, as I was really concerned with the matchup but in reality it's not bad at all if you play well.
    LOSE 1-2
    10-2

    Round 13, 4 color loam (Jacob Dembinski), I win the die roll
    I win this match in 2 games by just staying ahead on board and countering his limited number of actual threats with force of will. In game 1 he leads with a wasteland to my fetch, and then I play my own wasteland and pass with stifle up. He plays a fetch and cracks it, I crack mine hold priority and waste his wasteland, then stifle his fetch. This puts him behind and goyfs get there I believe. Game 2 I just line up my countermagic with his threats and eventually spell pierce a key Liliana that lets my guys finish the job. Another matchup that is all about tempo, and where force of will really shines.
    WIN 2-0
    11-2

    Round 14, Miracles (BBD), I lose the die roll
    This is a feature match vs BBD and I tell myself to focus up and not make the same mistakes I made before.
    Game 1 is very long and drawn out and winds up with both of us hardcasting force of wills and fighting over threats. He sticks a mentor at some point that I am able to bolt, but he deals with everything I play as well. Counterbalance comes down at some point where I don't have an answer after decaying the first one, but he has no top as I decayed it in response to a fetch. I cast a delver that he flips a non-one mana spell to. He responds with predict targeting himself, and I respond with a bolt. He responds by fetching into another non-one mana spell, predict resolves, and then my bolt and delver both resolve. I am able to swing in for the win after I stifle a snapcaster mage trigger that doesn't get counterbalanced.
    Game 2 I just win by stifling his fetchland and running him over while he uses top to try and find lands.
    I'm happy to win this one as Brian is a very scary opponent to play against, as nice a guy as he is. We chat after the match a bit about how overpowered miracles is right now, and although I'm not sure a top ban is coming, I think it might shake things up a bit at least. To be fair though this tournament has been extremely diverse, at least for me.
    WIN 2-0
    12-2

    Round 15, 4 color loam (Peter), I win the die roll
    For the last round of the day I sit down against Peter on 4 color loam. At first I think he is on lands with how he sequences his play and the presence of maze of ith, but when he plays a knight game 1 the charade ends. He proceeds to value me out even though I lead on a shaman and had a pretty reasonable keep. I think I just die to knight here without finding an answer in time, and a few wastelands make my life hard as well. Game 2 I am able to get an aggressive start with delver and force of will on something key. Eventually he has to deluge for 5 to kill my angler and goyf, and I have the spell pierce. He went to 3 after that and I think I had the bolt anyway. Had a real good hand this game. Game 3 a similar thing happens as game 2, with me deploying double delver and then an angler to try to tempo him out. The only thing that can save him is drawing deluge on a turn where he is at 13 with me having 11 damage on the table. He doesn't and I swing in for lethal.
    WIN 2-1
    13-2

    After 15 long rounds I'm pretty happy to end up x-2. I tell myself before the final standings are even announced that I probably made 9th, but am still happy to get the invite and the plane ticket to Hawaii.

    So that about wraps it up. This deck is not forgiving at all, but it is extremely aggressive and rewarding. If Pyromancer isn't your thing I'd give this build a shot.
    they haunt minds...

  2. #2
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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Hey. Great job at the GP, and thanks for the report. It's awesome that you got to face Finkel himself. I read that Rain of Filth play as a bluff (maybe getting to lethal storm after a spell from you), but I agree that even the game's greatest make mistakes.

    I agree with most of your matchup analysis, and many of those games mirrored ones I have played in the past. You mentioned your apprehension about the Miracles matchup. I assume you tested a Young Pyromancer build at some point? If so, what did you like or not like about it? Rest in Peace is a very common sideboard card here, so that's one of the reasons I shifted away from Tarmogoyfs when I played this deck regularly, but Tarmogoyf is obviously a powerhouse in many matchups.

    I'm curious about what you expected to face going into the GP. Do you think your pairings were relatively consistent with what was being played that day? I noticed you didn't face Lands or Death & Taxes in this event. Besides Painful Truths, how did the sideboard fare? I tried the card in this deck and in BUG Delver and didn't feel it was strong enough to compensate for deviating from the tempo or resource-denial plan.

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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    The rest of the sideboard outside of truths was pretty great.

    As far as why play Goyf over Pyromancer, I think my reasoning came down to the fact that I wanted to play decay in this tournament. My testing with BUG delver vs miracles did not go so well, so I decided to add red back in and I was faring much better after that. So I wanted deathrite, bolt, decay, and delver in my deck, and with the manabase to support that goyf seemed better. Goyf is also great vs eldrazi and other chalice decks, which was another reason I wanted decay.

    Grixis is a great deck for sure, I was mainly afraid of chalice and counterbalance. If just one or the other was really popular I would feel better about not running decays main, but for the expected environment I went with this list. Pyromancer is certainly a better threat vs miracles, though.
    they haunt minds...

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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by nitewolf9 View Post
    The rest of the sideboard outside of truths was pretty great.

    As far as why play Goyf over Pyromancer, I think my reasoning came down to the fact that I wanted to play decay in this tournament. My testing with BUG delver vs miracles did not go so well, so I decided to add red back in and I was faring much better after that. So I wanted deathrite, bolt, decay, and delver in my deck, and with the manabase to support that goyf seemed better. Goyf is also great vs eldrazi and other chalice decks, which was another reason I wanted decay.

    Grixis is a great deck for sure, I was mainly afraid of chalice and counterbalance. If just one or the other was really popular I would feel better about not running decays main, but for the expected environment I went with this list. Pyromancer is certainly a better threat vs miracles, though.
    Hello nitewolf9 and congratulation for this result !
    Grixis Pyromancer it's a great deck but i prefer to play decks with decay MD (Shardless and 4-Color are my best choise) .

    I play in Italy , where there are so many players of Miracle (I hate this deck :-( ).
    Please , can you write your side in / side out VS others decks ?...

    Thanks and congratulation !!!

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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Excellent job! Sounds like you had some tough matches but played tight.

    I ran BURG at Prague for the exact same reasons as you (with worse results though ) and think this deck is in a great position right now. I like the idea of Stifles a lot and will definitely playing your build soon, anything you'd change going forward? Did the Truths underperform?
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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by Leonardo77 View Post
    Please , can you write your side in / side out VS others decks ?...
    I'll write up a sideboarding guide soon.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dissection View Post
    I like the idea of Stifles a lot and will definitely playing your build soon, anything you'd change going forward? Did the Truths underperform?
    The maindeck felt really good, the only thing I can think of is cutting the truths from the board.
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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by nitewolf9 View Post
    The maindeck felt really good, the only thing I can think of is cutting the truths from the board.
    Could you talk a bit about why you chose Gurmag Angler over True-Name Nemesis? At first glance, Tarmogoyf and Gurmag are hit by the same sideboard cards (RIP and Relic being the first two to come to mind).

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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by mgrinshpon View Post
    Could you talk a bit about why you chose Gurmag Angler over True-Name Nemesis? At first glance, Tarmogoyf and Gurmag are hit by the same sideboard cards (RIP and Relic being the first two to come to mind).
    Simply put I didn't want 3 drops in the main deck, and angler has just been really good. Keeping things as efficient and aggressive as possible. Tnn is a very resilient threat for sure though, I liked being able to bring it in vs eldrazi and miracles.
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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    I think something people might miss since it isn't mentioned, is that this is not a Tempo deck. It's an Aggro Control deck. And there's a difference. While it can't do so in every situation, it always wants to be the Aggro in every matchup. It's why Truths doesn't work. This deck is awful at resource management. That's all up to the player. Playing cards that are costly, but resilient or efficient like TNN don't fit with that primary strategy. If you aren't directly threatening your opponent, or putting yourself into a position to immediately do so, you run the risk of rapidly falling behind. There may be cards that can alleviate that and fit with the deck's strategy, but Truths is unlikely it.
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    Re: GP Columbus 9th with BURG Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by nitewolf9 View Post
    I'll write up a sideboarding guide soon.
    Congrats, man. Still waitin' for the guide!
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