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Thread: [Deck] Grixis Delver

  1. #1
    My cat's name is Tarmogoyf!
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    [Deck] Grixis Delver

    Grixis () Delver Primer

    I. Overview
    II. History
    III. Decklists
    IV. Card Choices

    a.) Manabase
    b.) Creatures
    c.) Spells
    V. Reasons to Play Grixis over other Delver Decks
    a.) RUG (Temur) Delver
    b.) UR (Izzet) Delver
    c.) BUG (Sultai) Delver
    d.) BURG Delver
    VI. Match-ups
    VII. Additional Information

    a.) Major Tournament Reports
    b.) Feature Matches
    c.) Articles


    I. Overview

    Grixis Delver is an aggressive tempo oriented control deck. It employs aggressive and synergistic threats such as Delver of Secrets and Young Pyromancer in tandem with disruption and burn to put away opponents. The deck uses Legacy staples Daze, Spell Pierce and Force of Will to fight against the unfair, combo decks, as well as protecting it own threats. The deck uses burn spells like Lightning Bolt and Forked Bolt to clear out opposing threats or to end a game quickly. These powerful effects smoothed out with a suite of cantrips build a very powerful and streamlined killer.


    II. History

    Grixis Delver appeared quickly after the Innistrad expansion’s release of the Legacy all-star Delver of Secrets. The Grixis build has been overshadowed by the RUG, UR, and BUG variants until very recently. RUG has been the long standing tempo veteran in Legacy. However with the printing of Deathrite Shaman in Return to Ravnica (October 2012), many players tried their hands at the BUG version. Then with the printing of Treasure Cruise in Khans of Tarkir (September 2014), UR Delver's brutal efficiency moved to the forefront of the format. WoTC brought down the banhammer of those players trying to be "On a Boat," thereby bringing the various flavors of Delver back to a reasonably similar power level. Grixis has recently risen to the forefront of the format due to its ability to fight other fair decks, as well as, being able to fight Miracles and Omnitell style decks. Many players are trying to determine the best configuration of the maindeck and sideboard. This will likely prove to be an ever-evolving process as the Legacy landscape continues to change.

    For a more comprehensive reading on the other Delver decks, check out the other primers:

    RUG (Temur) Delver
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-Tempo-Thresh)

    UR Delver
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...eck-U-R-Delver

    BUG (Sultai) Delver
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...a-(BUG-Delver)

    BURG Delver
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...DTB-bUrg-Tempo

    And now the deck:


    III. Decklists

    Alex Bastecki; August, 28th 2015 SCG invitational Champion
    http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=90454

    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Young Pyromancer
    2 Gurmag Angler
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Gitaxian Probe
    4 Lightning Bolt
    1 Forked Bolt
    4 Daze
    1 Spell Pierce
    4 Force of Will
    2 Dig Through Time
    3 Flooded Strand
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Scalding Tarn
    1 Tropical Island
    2 Underground Sea
    3 Volcanic Island
    4 Wasteland

    Sideboard
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Dread of Night
    1 Sulfuric Vortex
    1 Ancient Grudge
    1 Dismember
    2 Pyroblast
    1 Red Elemental Blast
    2 Surgical Extraction
    1 Vendilion Clique
    4 Cabal Therapy


    Joshua Taylor; August 28th 2015 SCG Invitational 3rd
    http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=90450

    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Young Pyromancer
    2 Gurmag Angler
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Gitaxian Probe
    4 Lightning Bolt
    1 Forked Bolt
    4 Daze
    1 Spell Pierce
    4 Force of Will
    2 Dig Through Time
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Scalding Tarn
    1 Tropical Island
    2 Underground Sea
    3 Volcanic Island
    4 Wasteland

    Sideboard
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Izzet Staticaster
    1 Dread of Night
    1 Ancient Grudge
    1 Dismember
    1 Flusterstorm
    3 Pyroblast
    2 Surgical Extraction
    1 Vendilion Clique
    2 Cabal Therapy
    1 Thoughtseize


    IV. Card Choices

    a.) Manabase - The lands that comprise Grixis Delver's mana base may seem a little odd. More specifically the lonely Tropical Island. The deck ustelizes fetches that can find islands to be able to selectively find the necessary Volcanic Island, Underground Sea or Tropical Island needed at any given point in a game. The deck usually plays 18 lands broken down as follows: 8 Island-finding fetches, 6 targets (usually 3 Volc, 2 Sea, 1 Trop), and finally 4 Wasteland. The Volcanics and Seas are obviously used to cast the deck's major spells, while the Trop is used to give the pilot the option of gaining life with Deathrite Shaman as well as the option to flashback Ancient Grudge. The deck uses Wastelands to slow oppoents down and generate tempo. This tempo keeps soft counters such as Daze, Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm live longer into a game. Wasteland also serves the additional purpose of feeding Deathrite Shaman and the deck's Delve spells, while also being able to hit problematic lands opponents may bring to the table.

    b.) Creatures - Grixis Delver utilizes a diverse collection of creatures to vanquish its opponents. The namesake of the deck, Delver of Secrets, usually generates a quick and evasive clock that puts opponents one their back foot. Young Pyromancer allows the deck to generate tons of on-board creature value, just by playing their typical Delver-style game plan of casting cantrips and counter spells. The elemental tokens very quickly get out of hand and run over opponents. The Gurmag Angler is a recent addition that plays around many of Legacy's staple removal spells. It manages to dodge Lightning Bolt and Abrupt Decay, leaving it mainly vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares. The Angler is a brutally efficient creature as it typically will be larger that a Tarmogoyf and in this deck gets often cast for just . Finally the guy who helps hold the deck together, Deathrite Shaman, is used to manage opponent's graveyards and to help smooth out the deck's mana. DRS the real MVP as he helps smooth out mana, can quicken your clock, gain you life, and does these things while managing your opponent's graveyard which can make their Delver spells difficult to cast or even uncastable.

    c.) Spells - The spells in this deck are very similar to other Delver strategies. Brainstorm and Ponder have basically found their way into just about every Delver list as four-ofs. This is due to the need to be able to orchestrate Delver-flips as well as crafting a hand that manages what an opponent is trying to do. These cards let you find whatever it is that you need for a given match, when you cast them. Gitaxian Probe takes this idea a little further, in that it allows the Grixis Delver pilot a look at what the opposing pilot is working with. This gives the Grixis pilot information of how to deploy threats and use counter spells, removal, and contrips. It also plays very well with the Young Pyromancer and the sideboarded Cabal Therapy.

    The maindeck removal package is very streamlined. Four Lightning Bolts and a Forked Bolt kill opposing early threats in fair matches and can serve double duty by going to an opponent's dome to close out a game. It is probably worth mentioning that the Forked Bolt could be changed to another burn spell depending on an expected metavgame. For example if you do expect a lot of X/1s in your meta game (i.e. not much Young Pyromancer and/or Death and Taxes) you could reasonably swap the Forked Bolt for a Chain Lightning or even a Price of Progress (be careful with this one though).

    d.) Sideboard Options - I would wager that there are more options for the sideboard but they have yet to be discovered and experimented with. I generally don’t believe in just following a sideboard guide that another person gives you. It detracts from the learning and understanding experience that comes with higher level Magic. Therefore I will outline the cards in the sideboards above. You can make the decision about how to board on your own. However let’s get right to it!


    V. Reasons to play Grixis over other Delver Decks
    a.)–
    b.)–
    c.)–
    d.)-


    VI. Match Ups
    a.)
    b.)
    c.)
    d.)
    e.)


    VII. Additional Information
    a.) Major Tournament Reports
    b.) Feature Matches
    c.) Articles
    Last edited by Sturtzilla; 08-31-2015 at 11:56 AM.

  2. #2
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    Re: Grixis Delver

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    Re: Grixis Delver

    I like the primer, but doesn't this deck already have a thread here?

    Either way, I'm surprised this deck isn't in the Decks to Beat section, given its showings at recent Opens, Eternal Weekend, and the Invitational. I think if you're not prepared for Grixis Delver, you're going to have a bad time.
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    Re: Grixis Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by Delvis View Post
    I like the primer, but doesn't this deck already have a thread here?

    Either way, I'm surprised this deck isn't in the Decks to Beat section, given its showings at recent Opens, Eternal Weekend, and the Invitational. I think if you're not prepared for Grixis Delver, you're going to have a bad time.
    This.

    In regards to the DTB, "Grixis Pyromancer" and "4-color Delver" are the only two decks that resemble Grixis Delver on the DTB stats. Unfortunately this archetype bears too many similarities to either of those decks and is probably lumped in with one or the other. Grixis Pyromancer covers all Grixis decks running Young Pyromancer, so the Tempo and Control get lumped in together. Similarly, we run DRS with a Trop, and Grudge and possibly Decay in the sideboard; even with such a light green dependence, we get lumped in with 4-color (bUrg) Delver.

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    Re: Grixis Delver

    Quote Originally Posted by jrsthethird View Post
    This.

    In regards to the DTB, "Grixis Pyromancer" and "4-color Delver" are the only two decks that resemble Grixis Delver on the DTB stats. Unfortunately this archetype bears too many similarities to either of those decks and is probably lumped in with one or the other. Grixis Pyromancer covers all Grixis decks running Young Pyromancer, so the Tempo and Control get lumped in together. Similarly, we run DRS with a Trop, and Grudge and possibly Decay in the sideboard; even with such a light green dependence, we get lumped in with 4-color (bUrg) Delver.
    I guess I get that, but to be honest that feels wrong. Grixis Delver and Grixis Pyromancer/Control play very differently. The 4c lists play MD ADs and more green sources for access to green SB cards.

    Ehh, oh well. I'll just post on the bUrg thread.
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  6. #6
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    Re: Grixis Delver

    First of all, there already is a topic for Grixis Delver so please don't use this thread and go here.
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...228#post901228

    Quote Originally Posted by jrsthethird View Post
    This.

    In regards to the DTB, "Grixis Pyromancer" and "4-color Delver" are the only two decks that resemble Grixis Delver on the DTB stats. Unfortunately this archetype bears too many similarities to either of those decks and is probably lumped in with one or the other. Grixis Pyromancer covers all Grixis decks running Young Pyromancer, so the Tempo and Control get lumped in together. Similarly, we run DRS with a Trop, and Grudge and possibly Decay in the sideboard; even with such a light green dependence, we get lumped in with 4-color (bUrg) Delver.
    I think there is some mistakes here. I thing bUrg Delver must not be in the DTB section, but Grixis Tempo also called Grixis Green (first thread about the deck is here) must be included in the DTB section.
    Secondly, these archetypes may have a lot of similarities, but they are totally different decks.

    bUrg Delver and Grixis Delver are Tempo decks which are a lot more aggressive than the Grixis Control deck.
    Then bUrg and Grixis/Grixis Green doesn't have the same options in a lot of matchup, because of the main deck green option of bUrg.
    Currently playing
    bUrg Delver

  7. #7
    MTGO Name: Adelorenzi
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    Re: [Deck] Grixis Delver

    Hm, is there a way to consolidate the threads? I didn't even know about the Grixis Green one when I created the other thread. I think a mod might have to clean them up somehow.

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