Split the finals of an EE Silver Qualifier at TOA with Grixis Delver

[brenden2000]

Hello, my name is Brenden McCarley and yesterday I split the finals of the BMG Extra Weekend Legacy 1.5K. After going 3-3 at my first vintage event the day prior (I played Doomsday :P) I last minute decided I wanted to play legacy on Sunday and redeem myself. I registered the following decklist

MB -60
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Gurmag Angler
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Spell Pierce
1 Dismember
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
3 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland

SB-15
3 Pyroblast
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
2 Baleful Strix
2 Pithing Needle
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Snuff Out
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Cabal Therapy

Round 1 (2-1) False Cure

I sit across from this gentleman and immediately can tell that he has been playing this deck for a while. Foil Catacombs into Invention Petal into Foil Kavu Predator. It resolves and he wins in quick fashion with an invigorate. Game 2 I have a Young Pyromancer long with a Therapy and a daze and shred his hand apart. Game 3 he plays 2 petals and a Kavu Predator on the play and I force the predator. He misses his first land drop and loses in quick fashion
Round 2 Tyler Bailey on Reid Duke Bug (2-0)

Game 1 we have Deathrites staring each-other down while I have 2 delvers crashing in for 6 a turn. I double daze his brainstorm on the final turn so he wouldn’t have mana to cast an abrupt decay he could have drawn into and we go to game 2. Game 2 consists of me bolting his DRS on 1 and then playing a pyromancer with daze backup and then 3 Gitaxian Probes. A dismember on his Baleful Strix seems to be all it takes and not even a TNN can stop my army of Elemental Tokens that the pyromancer generated.

Round 3 Reid Duke Bug (1-2)

Game 1 he has no removal and 2 Delvers put in work. Game 2 he wastelands me and I have no other land, and concede as soon as a TNN lands on my opponents board. Game 3 is an insane grindfest, where my Turn 2 Delver NEVER flips. My opponent draws lots of removal but was wastelanded off of Black mana. I eventually had 2 Gurmag Anglers in play to his TNN and Leovold. He double blocks my Fish with TNN and Leovold turning my cantrips online for a turn and putting him to 3. I never find the bolt and also got wasted off of red mana. Overall the game was well played and very very grindy.

Round 4 Samuel Delong on U/R Delver (2-0)

Game 1 we both have 2 Delvers down and mine blind flip while his will not cooperate. The game ends when I topdeck a bolt for lethal. Game 2 I land a jitte on my DRS and the game ends very quickly after that.

Round 5 Ryan Glackin on Junk Maverick (2-0)

Game 1 I make the most brutal play of the day. I lead with a Deathrite and pass. He plays a Savannah and Green Sun Zeniths for a Dryad Arbor. I wasteland his Savannah, Bolt his Arbor, and then play a Delver holding up Daze. He misses land drops and we quickly move to game 2. Game 2 I have enough permission to fight through his theats and a Delver gets there.

Round 6 Chris Brill on Sneak and Show (ID)

An ID lands us both into Top 8. If I had known he was on Sneak and Show I would have played it out but I wanted to get Burger King and listen to a bit of Wu-Tang before Top 8 started.

After Swiss I end up in 6th place, playing against my friend Michael Mapson on Painter. Mapson wants to leave to get a reasonable amount of sleep for work and we agree to chop.

Semifinals Chris Brill on Sneak and Show (2-0)
Game 1 I probe him and therapy off both of his sneak attacks. He draws air and dies to a Delver and Deathrite in quick fashion.
Game 2 I needle his Sneak Attack and pyroblast anything he plays. Therapy off his combo pieces and win.

Sneak and Show is one of my favorite matchups in legacy. They are very susceptible to Wasteland and I have so much permission as well as Therapy which is a beating against them.

Finals (Split) Legacy Champs Finalist Daniel Miller on Miracles

A split gives each of us $450. I didn’t care about the bye as much as he did and knowing the matchup was favorable on his end I decided I’d split. After chopping with Mapson I ended up being the proud owner of an Underground Sea.

Thoughts after the event: I really liked Thoughtseize, it did more in so many matchups than the winter orb that I did have in the sideboard did, really glad I made that change. I think I played well and will most likely run this list back at the next event.

[ESG]

Game 3 he plays 2 petals and a Kavu Predator on the play and I force the predator. He misses his first land drop and loses in quick fashion

Holy cow. What a madman. His hand must have been all Invigorates to even consider that a keep.

If I had known he was on Sneak and Show I would have played it out but I wanted to get Burger King and listen to a bit of Wu-Tang before Top 8 started.

Bringing back the '90s!

I really liked Thoughtseize, it did more in so many matchups than the winter orb that I did have in the sideboard did, really glad I made that change.

Not that Thoughtseize isn't a great card, but you didn't play against Miracles, which is the main matchup for Winter Orb.

Congrats on the win and the Underground Sea!