[Deck] DeathBlade

Still trying to figure out myself the best way to position against the UR Delver matchup. Like burn, it's cheap to build other than the duals and force of will, so there's a high chance of seeing it in the early rounds of the upcoming GP. The deck is really fast against us and controls tempo pre and post board. The only outs I can see if post board having a very proactive shift into your deck, and play mostly action spells rather than win a counter war and just jam everything you can, force out their dazes and counter magic and hopefully stick a batterskull or merfolk rogue with a blade to swing at their face long enough to turn the game in your favor. The problem I have had is that sometimes I could be low in life by the time establishment arrives that they just can flip a delver or throw a couple burn spells to the dome and we lose.

Preboard games the only things I can think of is not have their pyromancer loose or it will run away with the game. Bait out and play around daze and be proactive. Game 2 watch out for blood moon effects, and jam all your threats and try to overload them (debatable, they won't run out of gas thanks to cruise control), if you don't board out your counters (Spell Pierce and such aren't as useful, and even cutting force of will for proactive spells might be better, but they can equally be left in) hold them until you need to protect a spell and let it resolve.

In this regard i'm considering something similar to ben's deck. Much more proactive, and since we are in blue we might as well hop aboard the party boat, but I feel like it has a harder time against decks like Miracles and maybe even combo decks, which are still big problems in the metagame.

The current list i'm looking to try, with flex slots still hanging out:

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendilion Clique

1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Brainstorm
4 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
2 Ponder
2 Treasure Cruise

4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Tropical Island
2 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Pithing Needle
2 Meddling Mage
1 Force of Will
1 Supreme Verdict *flex slot*
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Flusterstorm *flex slots*
1 Council's Judgment *flex slot*


Flex slots: 3rd spell pierce, i feel it's necessary with combo on the rise, and the jace's but with Miracles still being a deck and played a lot, i still don't want to cut them. Maybe in the sideboard, so my main board can have 3 Ponder/3 Cruise or 4 Ponder/3 Cruise/2 Pierce? Speed and being proactive is necessary for the match up, and I feel the success against the UR Delver matchup is jamming your cards and if they get countered whatever, go on a cruise and reload.

Sideboard is still a mess. I'm wondering if Verdict is still necessary and there's a few more cards to consider for it. The goal is to have it completely versatile and as it works now I can shift half the sideboard into most matchups to give me a strong post board matchup.

Well, it's been quite a while, but it is with a somewhat hesitant mindset that I again return to playing DeathBlade. I have a small Legacy Win-A-Box (Khans) tomorrow and since it's a.) a new venue in a new city as far as Legacy is concerned, and b.) I'm pretty sure the meta is underdeveloped as even the Modern meta there is weak at best. For these reasons, I've bailed on the more control-oriented strategems of Esperblade and Miracles, and even though UWR Delver is probably a pretty solid choice, I am fairly bored of tempo strategies since I play so much UR/UWR Delver in Modern. I know it's more fun with Dazes and FoW and such, but I'm pretty sure I can top4 with DeathBlade without being uber-bored all day long. Anyway, here's the list I plan on running:

Creatures:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Vendilion Clique
3 True-Name Nemesis

Equipment:
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull

Spells:
2 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Counterspell
1 Misdirection
3 Force of Will
3 Thoughtseize
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Council's Judgement
4 Swords to Plowshares

Land:
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Wasteland

And my sideboard so far, looking for a little input, but here:

1 Notion Thief
1 Pithing Needle
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Echoing Truth
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Council's Judgement
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Spell Pierce
1 Force of Will
2 Flusterstorm

The last slot is being debated between the following cards: TNN, A. Decay, V. Clique, Jace, Notion Thief #2, Supreme Verdict. What is your vote, and why?


-ABC

EDIT::: For the sake of argument, let's say I've decided on Clique as the 15th card. If you would like to debate my list/certain card choice/lack of inclusion of anything, feel free to bring it up.

Should be fine given the meta description. My vote order for your SB option in order:

Supreme Verdict
Vendilion Clique
Abrupt Decay
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Notion Thief #2
TNN

Verdict is a sweeper and you don't really have many wrath effects in your SB, i feel it's always good to have the option for them against creature decks so if there's room for it, a way to go.

The second vendilion clique adds disruption and a body.

Abrupt Decay might be clunky in 3's even with the mana base.

Jace is seeing less play because it's most relevant matchup is miracles, and if you have 2 mainboard jace you'll be fine in that matchup pre and post board.

Notion Thief is a one trick pony. I know it can cause blowouts pretty regularly, but there are more consistent cards to consider boarding.

TNN doesn't seem necessary and I can't think of decks you would want a fourth one against.


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My card choice questions:

1) I've been considering misdirection, for the same sliding scale of coolness vs. total blowout that notion thief gets, but being a bit more versatile. The idea of teching at least a singleton over the 4th force has been something I have considered, how is it working?

2) Is council's judgment doing much? At #SCGWOR i found it surprisingly more dead in the current meta. Yeah it can trade with a dude, but it seems too slow and the rest of our mana base would rather curve out to BB or UU before it gets to WW so it seems better in late game or on the topdeck strategy. It has it's uses as being a better vindicate however, so I have kept it to the sideboard.

3) I'm trying to fit sword of fire and ice in the 75 somewhere, and in UR Delver specifically feels like an even better target than Jitte for obvious reasons. how often does it seem relevant in your matches?

with the upcoming GP i figured I would post the list I have been testing.

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendilion Clique

1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
2 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

3 Treasure Cruise
3 Thoughtseize
3 Ponder
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Wasteland
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Tropical Island
1 Savannah
3 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Karakas
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Zealous Persecution
SB: 1 Path to Exile
SB: 1 Chill
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Hydroblast
SB: 1 Vendilion Clique
SB: 1 Supreme Verdict
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Council's Judgment
SB: 2 Meddling Mage
SB: 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
SB: 1 Grafdigger's Cage

the sideboard i think helps with UR and i have fire and ice as i wanted more help vs miricles where i don't think a feast and famine would help very much vs them.
one question i have is what have people been sideing out vs miricles?

Hey guys!

I've been lurking the deathblade forums for a little while now since I started playing this deck 6 months ago. I've played most of the esper blade style decks and although this deck doesn't play the same as others, I feel like the decks playing so many 1 and 2 ofs are throwing away games because of reasons of inconsistency. I really like the Deathblade list that recently won an open because of its ability to have a proper gameplan and have answers to virtually anything you throw at it.

Every Deathblade list that I have found succesfull has this type of shell.

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2-3 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendilion Clique

4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3-4 Force of Will
3-4 Thoughtseize
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte

We can all pretty much all agree that our numbers are in this range most of the time. Regardless of how we think the deck should play out, the core of this deck will remain like this a majority of the time. The mana base and the other cards in this list vary so much that I feel like we are talking about different style of decks some times. Some play a manabase with Wastelands and basics, others prefer all duals, fetches and Creeping Tar Pits. We can argue about the correct manabase for days. What I want to talk about is the number of lands played.

23 lands has been known to work very well in the older versions of the deck that main decks planeswalkers and has the ability to play a good late game. I've often found myself losing games to not drawing the correct half of my deck in against delver and similar aggressive matchups because of the long list of 1 and 2 ofs that I draw when I don't want them. Jace, the Mind Sculptor, for example, is a terrible draw when you're under pressure. The 23 land version of the deck is what I want to play if I'm expecting lots of Miracles. But if I'm expecting to see more Delver decks, I would rather be playing our new 21 land version.

Going into GP NJ, I expect to see Delver more than anything else at the top tables. I could be wrong, but if its what I think it is, I would want to sleeve up something along the lines of what won the SCG Open a couple of weeks ago but with a different sideboard plan than what we normally see.

One of the previous comments on this thread talked about playing a basic plains as a way to play around blood moon effects. This seemed odd at first since I don't normally advocate playing basics at all but if we had a single plains in the sideboard along with disenchant as a way to fight one of our biggest weaknesses. This plains can also allow us to stay in the game via Stoneforge Mystic and Swords to Plowshares which is way better than having the hope to draw Batterskull. We can also use the extra land to give our deck the higher curve it gets post board against certain matchups like Miracles.

Here is what I'm thinking for a deck list.

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendilion Clique

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
4 Thoughtseize
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Treasure Cruise

1 Liliana of the Veil

4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Marsh Flats
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Tropical Island
1 Karakas
2 Wasteland

Sideboard

1 Force of Will
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Meddling Mage
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant
1 Plains
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Vendilion Clique

I normally had 2 Liliana and 1 Jace main deck and 23 lands. This allowed me to have more slots in the sideboard but I kept finding myself boarding them out against so many aggressive strategies that I stopped playing them entirely right up until I seen the latest SCG list.

Now I have to admit that I have not tested this deck yet and I could easily regret posting this entirely but I was wondering what everyone else thought about this plan. Is it too gready?

Played deathblade at the local today for the first time since... like page 2 of this thread. Played This deck, slightly tweaked and with a almost completely remade sideboard. Went 3-1, only losing to a cloudpost/forgemaster MUD deck.

Against Miracles, Death and Taxes, and UW Stoneblade, I felt thoroughly in control the entire time. I enjoyed it enough that I'm now heading this direction as my deck selection for NJ.

The only thing I didn't like was the thoughtseizes maindeck. While I'm sure they're quite good against combo decks, I sided them out in every match this week. I think that with the format the way it is, it's safe to move those to the side to bring the extra walkers into the main.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thecrav

Played deathblade at the local today for the first time since... like page 2 of this thread. Played This deck, slightly tweaked and with a almost completely remade sideboard. Went 3-1, only losing to a cloudpost/forgemaster MUD deck.

Against Miracles, Death and Taxes, and UW Stoneblade, I felt thoroughly in control the entire time. I enjoyed it enough that I'm now heading this direction as my deck selection for NJ.

The only thing I didn't like was the thoughtseizes maindeck. While I'm sure they're quite good against combo decks, I sided them out in every match this week. I think that with the format the way it is, it's safe to move those to the side to bring the extra walkers into the main.

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Mind posting your list?

Been testing the following, and it has performed pretty well. Didn't drop a game in testing against Reanimator and UR Delver today.

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 True-Name Nemesis
4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Abrupt Decay

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh Flats
2 Tropical Island
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou

Current sideboard strategy includes a NO package, which has been catching lots of people off guard, but I could retool it a bit after more extensive testing.

3 Natural Order
1 Progenitus
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
1 Wrath of God
2 Meddling Mage
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Ethersworn Canonist

Again, sideboard could use some work as I haven't updated it in months. I was also trying to see if I could fit a Depths/Stage package into the main by cutting the Jaces and maybe some of the Stoneforge package, and adding a couple Crop Rotation and a land toolbox (Depths, Stage, Wasteland, Maze, Tabernacle, Karakas, etc.). Just a thought, though I know that could be attempting a bit too much. Anyway, let me know what you think, and feel free to offer suggestions on how you think the main/side can be improved given the current meta. Thanks!

11 Days to #GPNJ and just a few more things i've been considering while I finely tweak the last few cards in my 75.


1) I agree with a post above that 23 lands seems too much. 21-22 seems right, especially with the way the deck is building into cantrips and ponder. With a low curve anyway, 22 seems enough not to get flooded/screwed.

10 Fetches is key, but I might be able to cut to 8-9 because ponder and stoneforge give out additional shuffle effects for our brainstorms, but then with 8 duals and 3 basics, 8 fetches doesn't seem like enough to get the right fixing when you need it. I might keep it to 9, cutting one of the marsh flats.

The other argument is while 23 is a lot of lands to play, in a lot of matches you can realistically board out the tropical island for a real magic card post board anyway, but you can't cut it from the main under any circumstances. Karakas is another candidate as well if you go with all nonbasic lands.


2) On the note of lands, i'm still debating things. I originally cut Karakas which I feel was becoming irrelevant but combo is starting to return and Reanimator and Show and Tell decks will still be pretty strong going into the GP, so the card still has its uses. I just feel being untutorable and having little synergy with our own board makes me feel it's not worth running in the first place, but then again there are a few times where I feel a Karakas can be relevant enough to have in the deck or board somewhere. Also, my other contention is basic lands. While Deathblade has good countermagic and disruption, if a noncreature sticks, we pretty much have very little for answers without maindecking things like Council's Judgment/Vindicate type effects which while good on utility, singletons feel like it ups the variance too much of the deck and makes clunky hands. I like the more streamlined ponder/treasure cruise builds because you have so many live cards, digging options, and card advantage to bury your opponent with it win generally not matter, but UR Delver is still running Blood Moon which is game over. At #SCGWOR I got blood mooned 4/5 games I played against the deck, one of which only mattered because eventually I drew into my basics long enough to start coming back. On the blood moon side of things, it's what has kept me in the whole keep one of each basic in the board, however in any match up where blood moon is not something to worry about, the basics are more or less dead weight.

My argument for the basics also has to do with what to expect at #GPNJ. 1,300 have already preregistered and SCG is already talking about expecting numbers upward of GP Richmond earlier this year. Red will be everywhere. If it's UR Delver or Burn doesn't matter. There's a lot of hype surrounding GP Brainstorm and the early rounds will be filled with all the budget legacy decks run by people who probably came out for the sweet swag they get just for making it to the player meeting (understandably so, most of what convinced me to make the drive down was getting one of those mats and a chance to play a format I haven't gotten to play locally, also finally time to break my GP cherry,might as well be what will be the biggest legacy tournament) so avoiding blowouts from blood moon or price
of progress is a real threat. Having your basic lands to fetch against burn decks and play around blood moon effects in the U/R Delver matchup will matter, for this reason I'm still trying not to cut them, but in 23 lands, something has to go.

3) Forever i've said 3 MB Force of WIlland 1 side was great, now I think 4 MB force of will is very important again. U/R Delver at its core is a tempo based aggro deck. The way people are beating it and cruise is simply to play a combo deck with a faster clock and results are finally showing with Storm, Dredge, and Reanimator showing up in larger numbers at events, and I have heard quite a bit of talk about people dusting off their show and tell decks. This is great for us because Deathblade doesn't have a real clock in the first place so we get outpaced by aggro, and have no late game plan against control decks so as the lame duck of the format, we at least can claim a strong combo match up. We have neough counters and disruption for them to get through and our side board is completely impacting on most of the legacy field that anything we lack in the main will be found in the side board. Considering this in addition to all the Delver decks, combo will be everywhere. Also UR Delver is a deck that is easy to pilot, but given the size of the field and the target on its head, there will be a lot of people scrubbing out with this deck early on. If you get through the first 2-3 round grind, the next few matchups will probbly be decks that are good against Delver matchups, or you will free roll and play combo early on anyway and get some "easier" wins if you are properly prepared for a large field of it. I'm also expecting a lot of Rogue decks that are good to be prepared for.

4) I might be over thinking it but once again, I'm pretty sure once the player meeting starts, GP Brainstorm will be the largest Legacy GP and probably therefore largest Legacy tournament ever for this game so far. Its central location, East coast traditionally being a strong region for the format, and the way that SCG basically gives you enough cool stuff that signing your whole family up is basically free there will be a lot of people. Finding the perfect 75 is very important and I'm still not sold on at least a few cards in my own. Deathblade is only as good as the person playing it, and keeping your plays tight is the only way to really get it through the day when it all comes down to it. That said, i think the sideboard is the most important thing left to solve with the deck going in to this event.

So what's the plan vs. U/R Delver?

I have found that I can't stick a threat vs. them as the only ones that matter on my side are True-Name/Batterskull/Jitte. They can just save FoW for those and just beat me by having more Treasure Cruises than me. I initially have been siding out FoW for additional removal/answers but I think I need them in my deck postboard just so I can force through my threats in games 2 and 3.

Games 2 and 3 are always long/grindy where I get to see 50% of my deck and they get to see 75% of their deck and I just eventually run out of gas since they run more cruise and less lands.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chaam

So what's the plan vs. U/R Delver?

I have found that I can't stick a threat vs. them as the only ones that matter on my side are True-Name/Batterskull/Jitte. They can just save FoW for those and just beat me by having more Treasure Cruises than me. I initially have been siding out FoW for additional removal/answers but I think I need them in my deck postboard just so I can force through my threats in games 2 and 3.

Games 2 and 3 are always long/grindy where I get to see 50% of my deck and they get to see 75% of their deck and I just eventually run out of gas since they run more cruise and less lands.

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Finding a solid plan against UR Delver is actually something I've been having trouble with also. Having to jam threats in their dazes and Force of Wills and then having them refuel with treasure cruise has been troublesome for me too. I feel like spell pierce and playing around daze every chance you get is the best way to play against this type of deck. Chill from my sideboard has been one of the best options for me so far. It might not sound ideal but it's all I could really come up with. Main deck Notion Theif has been good too but I felt like at 4 mana I could just play jace and be done with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TLK

Been testing the following, and it has performed pretty well. Didn't drop a game in testing against Reanimator and UR Delver today.

...

Current sideboard strategy includes a NO package, which has been catching lots of people off guard, but I could retool it a bit after more extensive testing.

...

Again, sideboard could use some work as I haven't updated it in months. I was also trying to see if I could fit a Depths/Stage package into the main by cutting the Jaces and maybe some of the Stoneforge package, and adding a couple Crop Rotation and a land toolbox (Depths, Stage, Wasteland, Maze, Tabernacle, Karakas, etc.). Just a thought, though I know that could be attempting a bit too much. Anyway, let me know what you think, and feel free to offer suggestions on how you think the main/side can be improved given the current meta. Thanks!

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There's a fair amount of discussion about these 8-dork lists in the Bant thread (last 5ish pages span 8 months). I think I would currently be playing, wrt your list, 3 TNN, 2 Geist, 1 Clique, 0 Jace, 2 Ponder, 3 Cruise, 20 lands (0 arbor), 0 Thoughtseize.

I've also been playing with NO decks currently, as grindy-game trump cards are nice. But, it does have downsides, not least that awkward maindeck Arbor.

Is this you, or where you got the list?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by anwei

There's a fair amount of discussion about these 8-dork lists in the Bant thread (last 5ish pages span 8 months). I think I would currently be playing, wrt your list, 3 TNN, 2 Geist, 1 Clique, 0 Jace, 2 Ponder, 3 Cruise, 20 lands (0 arbor), 0 Thoughtseize.

I've also been playing with NO decks currently, as grindy-game trump cards are nice. But, it does have downsides, not least that awkward maindeck Arbor.

Is this you, or where you got the list?

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That link doesn't open on my phone for whatever reason, but yes I think I found something similar to this list in the Bant thread months ago. I will probably drop the Jaces as well. I like the idea of Geist, though there seems to be a lot of ground blockers running around. The list I posted seemed pretty well suited to fight UR Delver. I countered/contained their threats then dropped a TNN and won. I think I'll test the Ponders (I originally had them in there), and if I find room for Geist I may try to fit in a Spectral Flight or two.

so I posted my decklist a few post back, but is the general thinking now that jace is just bad? like i don't want to be just a dog to miricles but i want to beat UR.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neckfire

so I posted my decklist a few post back, but is the general thinking now that jace is just bad? like i don't want to be just a dog to miricles but i want to beat UR.

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I think our deck needs to evolve to beat Delver decks first and have a Miracles sideboard plan. Jace is bad against Delver most of the time because of how much pressure Delver puts on you and by the time you hit 4 mana, Bouncing a guy or Brainstorming once or twice might not be what we want to be doing against Delver anyways.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thecrav

Played deathblade at the local today for the first time since... like page 2 of this thread. Played This deck, slightly tweaked and with a almost completely remade sideboard. Went 3-1, only losing to a cloudpost/forgemaster MUD deck.

Against Miracles, Death and Taxes, and UW Stoneblade, I felt thoroughly in control the entire time. I enjoyed it enough that I'm now heading this direction as my deck selection for NJ.

The only thing I didn't like was the thoughtseizes maindeck. While I'm sure they're quite good against combo decks, I sided them out in every match this week. I think that with the format the way it is, it's safe to move those to the side to bring the extra walkers into the main.

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First, nice job on the 3-1 record. :-)


That said, I think Thoughtseize is a necessary evil, especially in a climate of expanding combo decks. Consider that Deathblade is a very midrange, very fair deck and it needs a way to force interaction with decks that it otherwise potentially can't interact with. Furthermore, it fits the proactive game plan; is great at protecting Stoneforge Mystic when played turn one; is great at defending against Stoneforge Mystic (strip their equipment); the list goes on.

I do agree that it's not super great against the UR Delver deck, but I'd only sideboard out one. The information gained by seeing their hand as well as potentially taking away a key cantrip, Cruise, or sideboarded hate card can make a huge difference.

Furthermore, if you do cut them [Thoughtseize], I'd replace them with different low-cost, high-impact idsruptive elements. I don't think slow, clunky Planeswalkers is where any deck wants to be in a world of fast, tempo-oriented decks filled with soft permission. Liliana also looks rather silly against Young Pyromancer.

Agreed, you need thoughtseize right now for this deck. It's a card that needs to be played optimally however. I feel the problem most people have with the card is that they jam it into a deck playing black and drop it on the table as soon as they get it, or lament on drawing it in stages of the game it's more irrelevant.

The key to thoughtseize is to hold on to it until the right moments. G1 Turn 1 thoughtseize blindly is not really worth it, and i would only consider thoughtseizes if you're playing against combo and its game 2 or 3 in this position, so you know what they are up to and can keep them off it.

Against non combo decks thoughtseize is relevant mostly for information in games you would board it out. THe earliest to pull the trigger would be turn 2 if you're on the play. If they are tapped out you don't have to worry about them hiding key cards with brainstorm shenanigans, and if you can trade it with a daze or force of will you're already in a good spot because you can follow it up with a threat.

Turn 1 play a black source, deathrite shaman, turn 2 drop a fetch, thoughtseize. If they daze it then you can either pay the daze and get info, if it trades with daze you can set up for SFM or something and keep impacting the board.

If you are holding countermagic you have protection. Thoughtseize, if they brainstorm? Spell pierce the brainstorm, and you basically got two good cards.

If they force of will in either of these situations, you're getting card advantage and know they are holding key cards, and again, if say you set up turn 1 with something like DRS you can usually just stoneforge at this point, or against delver use removal on their threat (which was more impacting than the thoughtseize) or know whether you can use that removal optimally or not if thoughtseize does resolve.

These kind of positions I feel keep us ahead of our usual losing games.

LAter than turn 2 is still relevant. If you're playing against a stoneforge deck either as a mirror, or in D&T or the miracles build that runs the package, etc. You can hold your thoughtseize until they stoneforge then pull the trigger leaving them with a 1/2 and without a worse threat to handle, especially as our decks are soft to them vialing in a batterskull and sometimes such matchups can depend on who can get their stoneforge threats on board first.

Even in worst case scenarios i'm a strong supporter of the 3-4 ponder and 4 brainstorm plans the deck is having lately. Enough library manipulation and you can avoid drawing all your thoughtseizes when they are least relevant.

In a lot of ways Thoughtseize is the best card in the deck. I can unerstand the argument for 3, but with the format shifting to a rise in combo in order to beat Delver's clock, I think it's even more important to have 4 thoughtseize to serve as more proactive disruption and so you can set up your countermagic properly against their gameplan with proper information.

I decided to try one of the newer no-Planeswalker list at a local tournament last week. I never played Deathblade before, so I don’t have any past experience, but the deck ran pretty smooth.

This is what I played:

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 True-Name Nemesis
2 Lingering Souls
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Force of Will
4 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Treasure Cruise

3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Tropical Island
2 Marsh Flats
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Wasteland

Sideboard:
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Meddling Mage
2 Flusterstorm
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Chill
2 Seal of Cleansing

It’s basically the list that won the SCG Open 2 weeks ago without Liliana and with Lingering Souls to block Delvers and for even more grinding power.
I swapped Karakas for the 3rd Tundra, because it has been a long time since I last saw a Griselbrand. Having another Tundra against Wasteland decks is definitely nice.

Seal of Cleansing in the sideboard maybe looks weird, but it’s the best card I could come up with against Blood Moon. Against UR Delver or Painter with Moon, we can’t afford to keep up Decay mana all the time and do nothing else. With Seal, we can just play it and not care anymore.
It’s also nice against Miracles, if we can resolve it before they play Counterbalance.


Match 1, Miracles (2:0)
G1: The game was pretty ridiculous. I resolved a TTN and he got CB/Top online. He brainstormed, topped and pondered like a champ but couldn’t find a Terminus and died to the Nemesis. I never managed to resolve another Spell btw.
G2: This time he found his sweepers but no Counterbalance, so I could rebuild and grind him down.
SB: -1 Jitte, -4 StP, +2 Seal of Cleansing, +2 Clique, +1 Sword of Fire/Ice

Match 2: Team America (0:2)
G1: We killed each other’s stuff. He finally plays a Liliana on the empty board while I have no cards in Hand. I don’t find a Treasure Cruise to overload Liliana and die.
G2: He had a nice triple Wasteland draw. My deck was kind enough to give me enough lands to almost get back into the game. Then he topdecked Treasure Cruise and buried me.
SB: -4 FoW, +2 Clique, +1 Sword of Fire/Ice, +1 Supreme Verdict

Match 3: Punishing Jund (2:1)
G1: He couldn’t answer a Batterskull + the Mana to recast it every round.
G2: I lost the game because I’m dumb. The game went pretty long and I managed to stabilize the Board on 1 Life, with both Batterskull and Jitte gone. I had an active Deathrite but never fetched my Trop. Since fetchlands were off, I had to draw it before he draws Bolt or Punishing Fire. I didn’t get there.
G3: He had no answer to a T2 Mystic with Thoughtseize backup into Batterskull.
SB: -4 FoW, +2 Seal of Cleansing (Choke!), +1 Sword of Fire/Ice, +1 Verdict

Match 4: Goblins (2:0)
G1: I kept a hand with DRS, StP and FoW to stop his early plays. A TNN off the top sealed the deal.
G2: I don’t know why, but he somehow forgot that he saw a StP in game one and put me on Shardless BUG (which I played the months before). So he boarded out his Scrappers/Hooligans. Obviously he got destroyed by TNN + Jitte.
SB: -4 FoW, -2 Spell Pierce, +1 Sword of Fire/Ice, +2 Chill, +2 Zealous Persecution, +1 Verdict

Due to bad tiebreakers, I ended up in 4th place.
I really liked the Deck. The only thing I would do is swapping the Verdict for a Toxic Deluge, since it’s much easier to cast. I still have to play against Blood Moon to test if the Seal of Cleansing plan is actually good.

Hey guys. I am a rug delver player and in search of some sideboard cards against deathblade and other grindier control matchups. Could you tell me what is more troubling for you: price of progress or sulfuric vortex? Or don't you care at all against those cards? Do you have any other tips? Regards, blitzkreuz

I think the new 21-land decklist is very close do the UWR delver build. It uses a full set of ponder, bs, fow and DRS instead of delver.
The mana curve is also very similar and DRS makes it all easier. I just don't understand why not using 4 wastelands in this deck and daze instead of spell pierce. It looks strong and worth to be tested