[Deck] Team America (BUG Delver)

[Sturtzilla]

Hey All,

It has been awhile since my last post. I played BUG Delver at locals this week to a 3-1 finish. I went (2-0) against Lands, (2-0) against Infect, (0-2) against Pyroblade, and (2-1) in the BUG Delver pseudo mirror. I tweaked the maindeck from previous configurations to be better equipped to deal with the rise in Baneslayer Angels in my local meta. Here is the list that I ran.

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Disfigure
4 Daze
1 Sylvan Library
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
4 Force of Will
3 Treasure Cruise
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
4 Wasteland

Sideboard
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
2 Flusterstorm
1 Disfigure
1 Dread of Night
1 Null Rod
2 Golgari Charm
1 Engineered Plague
1 Krosan Grip
1 Dismember
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Vendilion Clique

I don't remember the 60th card.... I will add it next time that I am home. Dismember over performed. I was able to kill Tarmogoyfs and Quirion Dryads in the pseudo-mirror. It was also great against the infect deck giving not only a way to kill guys but also a way to reduce incoming poison counters. I had played three UWR Stoneblade decks the previous week and found myself facing a number of Baneslayers... so the reason this card was included wasn't even faced. Dismember is probably a bit slow versus UR Delver but it has plenty of match ups where it is great. I decided for Dread of Night in the board as there were 2 Death and taxes decks in the field of 15 players. I really was hoping to get a better feel for the Spell Snare... but unfortunately I only saw it once or twice over the course of the event. Once it was pitched to a FoW and the other time it was not needed to win the game... although it may have helped it the game was to continue. I will probably tweak the list a little bit but it felt pretty good in the current meta game.

[Asthereal]

I don't remember the 60th card.... I will add it next time that I am home.

19th land perhaps? That makes the most sense (to me at least ).

[FoolofaTook]

19th land perhaps? That makes the most sense (to me at least ).

Yeah, 18 lands with 4 wastes is tough if you're trying to cast Abrupt Decay on turn 2. That's why BUG Control plays 20 lands even with nothing costing more than 3 in the list and 8 cantrips.

[Sturtzilla]

I am pretty sure that it was 18 land and that it was the values listed above. I keep thinking that it might have been a 4th Treasure Cruise even though I know I don't like that last copy.

[Asthereal]

I am pretty sure that it was 18 land and that it was the values listed above. I keep thinking that it might have been a 4th Treasure Cruise even though I know I don't like that last copy.

If you're sure about the 18 lands and don't like the 4th Cruise, it was probably a creature or a removal spell.
Or maybe you cheated and played 59 cards?

[Sturtzilla]

I know I cut the 1-of TNN this week and the deck for sure counted out to 60 cards. I am thinking it was either an extra counterspell or a test piece of removal. Figuring out the 60th card isn't super important. I think the take away here is that Dismember felt really good to have access to. Again if you are facing a lot of Burn and UR Delver it probably isn't the best. But in Tarmogoyf mirrors and decks that have big threats like Baneslayer it has a ton of value over our normal removal.

[exallium]

Heh only 6 people showed up last night so there were only 3 rounds. The Meta here is kind of not normal on a global scale.

The decks in the room last night were: Pox, Mono White Stax, Mono Black Reanimator Depths, Death and Taxes, Metalworker, and BUG Delver (Yours Truly)

I played against Pox, Mono White Stax, and the Reanimator deck.

Round 1 was Daniel on Reanimator Depths. I keep a bit of a shady hand, but I have double force of will and a wasteland. I never really manage to get much going, as more lands never see the light of day, and he eventually, after trying to T1 Ritual -> Entomb, T2 Ritual Entomb me, he gets both a Hexmage and a depths out, and then plays stage, making my wasteland slightly less relevant. I Die to a 20/20. In game 2, I draw a bit better, and have a for sure plan to stop the reanimation shenanigans with a turn 1 deathrite shaman, but I'm soon punished as I never find a wasteland and a 20/20 kills me again. Oh well. I made a huge mistake in not bringing in VClique from the board. Game 2 I got him down to 5, and managed to stave off his 20/20 for a good few turns, but of course, all the land from game 1 decided to show up and say "sorry" and eventually marit lage used me like a golf tee.

Sideboard was something like this:

-4 Daze
+1 Grafdigger's Cage
+1 Surgical Extraction
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Disfigure

Round 2 was versus Aaron, who was playing Mono White stax, because "There is only so much fun to be had in a room of Magic, and I want to take as much of it as possible". I quickly 2-0 him, as his deck doesn't seem to respond very well to an angry Tarmogoyf. Game 2 was actually vendilion clique that dealt the last point, even after he Helmed me and got to steal a clique from me. Abrupt Decay did a lot of work =P

+1 Krosan Grip
+1 Thoughtsieze
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Null Rod

-4 Daze
-1 Spell Pierce

Round 3 was vs. Sheldon who was playing Pox. Game 1 was completely won off Treasure Cruise, of which I delved 3 of them, paying a total of 3 mana. This card is the nut. I was able to get a stable land base, and start deploying multiple threats, while keeping his locked down. Game 2 went in a similar vein, and we both had a good laugh when he forgot that Tarmogoyf says all graveyards, and therefore his leyline was more of an annoyance than anything else.

+2 Spell Pierce
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Krosan Grip
+1 Null Rod

-2 Thoughtsieze
-4 Daze

2-1 for the night

Overall I came in 4th, which, due to how this store's prizing works, got me $10 in store credit. Damn you, Marit Lage.... *shakes fist angerly*

[wcm8]

Just wanted to bring up this cute tech:

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=15554&iddeck=115705

Essentially, it's taking a BUG Delver list and making these primary changes:
-4 Delver of Secrets
-4 Daze
+4 Putrid Leech
+4 Stubborn Denial

There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. Leech is not Blue to fuel FoW, and also can't be deployed as quickly as Delver. However, it is *always* a 2/2, and pumping it to 4/4 is almost always an option. While it lacks evasion, I suppose it makes up for it by being consistently large -- in fact, large enough to survive Bolt.format, maindeck Pyroblasts, and battles with 3/X critters. Also, without Delver the deck doesn't need to run nearly as many Instant/Sorceries, and you can see the end result in choosing to run 3 planeswalkers, 2 TNN and a Sylvan Library. In a vacuum, this deck is probably capable of racing to 20 damage much faster than typical stock Delver lists.

Stubborn Denial is interesting. Daze is at its best when it's backing up a turn 1 Deathrite Shaman or if you are tapping out for [whatever], but as long as you have 1 open mana SD is practically the same (minus not hitting creatures), and is frequently a hard-counter thanks to the deck running 8 'ferocious' creatures. There are some corner cases where bouncing back lands to your hands is actually an advantage of Daze (e.g. against something like Sinkhole, or shuffling away extra lands in the midgame with Bstorm + fetch), but in general I could see having a 'Counterspell' being a huge trump in certain matchups. It's also nice if you lack any early-turn plays but still want to counter your opponent's [non-creature spell] -- unlike Daze, you're not set back a land drop.

Overall I think this is a better option for a format like Modern where Daze isn't even available. However I thought it was worth mentioning since it shows there is still room for innovation in Legacy.

[FoolofaTook]

Stubborn Denial doesn't stop TNN or SFM or Eidolon of the Great Revel. I'd never pull Daze for it. It might be a good 2-of in a 10 to 12 counter list with a slower game plan and no need to tap out early.

[Grand Superior]

So with Cruise's banning, is it time to go back to the Bayou/Hymn to Tourach/Liliana of the Veil lists?

[sauce]

So with Cruise's banning, is it time to go back to the Bayou/Hymn to Tourach/Liliana of the Veil lists?

Yep... naturally that's the first line of testing.

[Star|Scream]

Tombstalker or DTT? Or both? Maybe a 2/1 split

[Fallacy]

With Tombstalker or DTT you're looking at UU or BB, and if you plan on playing Hymns and Lily I'm not sure I like DTT as much as Tombstalker sine we'll be running likely 2 Bayous and less Trops.

My upcoming testing will be with 12 creatures (pre-TC I was running 14 like many lists) and trying to get some more toys in the deck in place of my previous 2 Tombstalkers. I did enjoy running 2 Disfigure and 1 Spell Pierce MB when Cruise was legal, so might start there. I won't be disappointed if I end up back to my "old" list :)

[wcm8]

Dig Through Time seems better in other style of decks, e.g. UW(r) Miracles, OmniTell. I think RUG also might end up adopting 1-2 copies since they typically want to hold up Blue mana on their opponent's turns.

Team America is an aggressive deck that typically wants to tap out on its own turns, particularly if you are playing a version that runs Hymn to Tourach and Liliana. Sylvan Library is probably the better card for that slot in BUG. Maybe 1 copy of DTT could work its way in.

I am curious as to whether Tasigur, the Golden Fang might be worth considering in Tombstalker slot(s). While lacking evasion and 1 point of power, he's a lot easier to cast and has an ability that could occasionally help out in niche scenarios.

[btm10]

Dig Through Time seems better in other style of decks, e.g. UW(r) Miracles, OmniTell. I think RUG also might end up adopting 1-2 copies since they typically want to hold up Blue mana on their opponent's turns.

Team America is an aggressive deck that typically wants to tap out on its own turns, particularly if you are playing a version that runs Hymn to Tourach and Liliana. Sylvan Library is probably the better card for that slot in BUG. Maybe 1 copy of DTT could work its way in.

I am curious as to whether Tasigur, the Golden Fang might be worth considering in Tombstalker slot(s). While lacking evasion and 1 point of power, he's a lot easier to cast and has an ability that could occasionally help out in niche scenarios.

I'm going to test 2 Dig alongside 1 Sylvan and see how it goes. Tasigur, the Golden Fang seems interesting, but I'm not sure I want to be screwing around with mini-Fact or Fiction instead of killing my opponent. As a sideboard card against Miracles he seems great, though.

In any case, looks like we're the best deck again!

[Fallacy]

Curious, you going with the Hymn suite and Liliana, in addition to 1/2 DTT?

I wonder if we're going to see Wasteland become more prevalent, and if so, double cc spells make me slightly reserved unless it's BB. Lemme know how your play-testing goes.

Finally, Tarmogoyf can grow +1 with a Lily in the bin :) He seemed to be stuck on a 4/5 for the past few months...

[btm10]

Definitely Hymn and Liliana. I've never been a fan of the Stifle builds, even against Cruise.

[Jo11ygrnreefer]

Wow, with Treasure Cruise banning, that should make BUG a threat once a again, huge move in our favor.

[Fallacy]

Definitely Hymn and Liliana. I've never been a fan of the Stifle builds, even against Cruise.

Versus Thoughtseize I where I was going, to help reduce the number of double color spells (i.e. BB, UU). I think TS would be faster to fuel the bin for DTT, but I just don't see the future as a race to DTT as we're used to seeing the race to Cruise.

[btm10]

Versus Thoughtseize I where I was going, to help reduce the number of double color spells (i.e. BB, UU). I think TS would be faster to fuel the bin for DTT, but I just don't see the future as a race to DTT as we're used to seeing the race to Cruise.

Yeah, I agree with this. Dig plays really well with our pre-Cruise game plan of forcing a topdeck war with us ahead or at parity, and then winning said topdeck war with bombs like Sylvan Library, Liliana, and Tarmogoyf, re-invigorating the Delver + protection plan with our opponent out of resources, or just keeping everyone hellbent and grinding them out with DRS. Dig slots perfectly into those plans.

As for Thoughtseize, I'm guessing we just default back to the original Hymn plan being stronger, but I could be wrong. Testing will tell.