[Deck] Team America (BUG Delver)

[KobeBryan]

Have the rules changed? How does Pithing Needle stop LED?

http://blogs.magicjudges.org/rulesti...g-restriction/

it doesnt.

[Star|Scream]

Since we're discussing crappy things divert can do against storm, you could always divert one copy of their tendrils, amirite?

[Sturtzilla]

Since we're discussing crappy things divert can do against storm, you could always divert one copy of their tendrils, amirite?

You are correct. However this line requires your opponent to Tendrils you for exact damage/life loss or within two copies of your life total. Which typically they can get well beyond this number. Example: you are at 20 life and your opponent has Storm 9 and casts Tendrils. They get the Tendrils and 9 copies. You could potentially Divert the copy highest on the stack and choose them as the target. This would save you 2 life. Since your opponent still controls the Tendrils and the copies, they would lose 2 life and gain 2 life back. This would effectively keep you alive assuming your opponent Storms for exact life loss (no overkill) and doesn't have mana floating. I think that this is a poor plan. Divert here seems better to send discard spells back their way in early turns. We can't send Duress back, but all of the other common spells can be sent back their way.

[KobeBryan]

You are correct. However this line requires your opponent to Tendrils you for exact damage/life loss or within two copies of your life total. Which typically they can get well beyond this number. Example: you are at 20 life and your opponent has Storm 9 and casts Tendrils. They get the Tendrils and 9 copies. You could potentially Divert the copy highest on the stack and choose them as the target. This would save you 2 life. Since your opponent still controls the Tendrils and the copies, they would lose 2 life and gain 2 life back. This would effectively keep you alive assuming your opponent Storms for exact life loss (no overkill) and doesn't have mana floating. I think that this is a poor plan. Divert here seems better to send discard spells back their way in early turns. We can't send Duress back, but all of the other common spells can be sent back their way.

Divert really isn't for this matchup.

its for the mirror and RUG

[Star|Scream]

You are correct. I think that this is a poor plan. .

That's why I said it was a crappy idea. So is diverting a discard spell or a probe.

[Sturtzilla]

That's why I said it was a crappy idea. So is diverting a discard spell or a probe.

I would much rather Divert a discard spell. It is a two for one, although a poor one. Against Storm deck every card counts.

[KobeBryan]

I would much rather Divert a discard spell. It is a two for one, although a poor one. Against Storm deck every card counts.

Problem is you cannot divert duress, which is the primary discard spell after the 3 therapies

[Star|Scream]

Problem is you cannot divert duress, which is the primary discard spell after the 3 therapies

Right, and even though you can divert a therapy, the owner of the spell still gets to name the card. So they can name whatever they'd like.

[btm10]

Divert really isn't for this matchup.

its for the mirror and RUG

And Shardless, Show and Tell, Reanimator, Miracles, and Painter.

[Sturtzilla]

Alright guys... I wasn't the one proposing that we board it or even bring it in. I was just saying that if it was in my deck post board in this match up, I would prefer to use it in a different manner.

[defector]

Hey Guys, this is Tom Nelson and I thought I'd report on my Top 8 at SCG Dallas on 3/14. I ended up 7-1 on the day and went in at the number two overall, sadly falling in my first Top 8 match. The short version is here: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...=TX&country=US.

My List:

Mana:20
Polluted X4
Verdant X4
Wasteland X4
U/G Sea X4
Trop X2
Bayou X2

Black:
Hymn X4
Lilli X2

Green:
Tarmo X4

Blue:
Delver X4
Ponder X4
Brainstorm X4
Force of Will X4
Daze X4
Vendillion Clique X2

Gold:
DRS X4
AD X4

Sideboard:
Spell Pierce X2
Disfigure X2
Golgari Charm X2
Grafdigger's X3
Eng Plagued X2
Null Rod X1
Life from the Loam X1
Krosan Grip X1
Toxic Deluge X1

Round 1: Punishing Jund. My first round opponent just had terrible luck in a favorable match up. I was able to get early delver flips and play aggressive hands and he never saw an AD or Bolt or Punishing Fire in both games, which was just a shame. I sided out the dazes for g2 on the draw and put in 2 disfigure, 1 llftl, and 1 Toxic Deluge. All in all I had fast draws and just matrix dodged some bullets.
1-0 2-0

Round 2: Miracles: Karma comes back around. I flounder game 1 and can't disrupt my opponent at all, and then game 2 I see 15 out of my 20 lands. I lose to back to back Jace ultimate's in maybe 20 minutes. I felt like my karma from my Jund opponent was now even. I board out daze and bring in pierces, null rod, and Grip. This is the only match all day where I miss TNN.

1-1 2-2

Round 3: Reanimator: I keep a control heavy hand game one and am able to win enough counter wars over reanimate spells before I can stabilize with DRS. Game 2 sees a T2 Grave Titan and its good enough, game three on the play my opponent mulls to 4(?) and I am able to resolve a cage and get enough pressure on to get the win. I cut the AD's and bring in the Pierces and cages. I think I cut one Lilli as well as she is a little slow for the match up.
2-1 4-3

Round 4: Infect: I played a really nice guy who few in from LA to play. He had just played the mirror vs Tom Ross which is both awesome and intimidating, he hadn't won that round. He gets me to 12 poison pretty quick game 1. Game 2 and 3 I am able to take on the control role and I see my life from the loam to keep the Inkmoth in check and use all my removal before resolving Tarmos for the win. I remember siding out both cliques and both lillis as they just seemed too slow, I kept daze in I think both games just because that deck is so mana light that daze can be live from either side of the die roll.
3-1 6-4

Round 5: Elves: I force 2 Glimpses and Daze a Natural Order with an early delver flip that gets joined by a clique that pulls the Craterhoof out of his hand off and I'm able to get over for lethal. I definitely stole one there, as the game 1 is typically pretty strong for elves, but his hand didnt really develop and I have exactly the permission I needed. Game 2 was very close and grindy, but I was able to ponder into a brainstorm into one of my E. Plagues which gave me the time to get there. He wasn't expecting the E. Plague and I think he only brought in one AD as a miser, and Plague held.
4-1 8-4

Round 6: Robots: I draw one of my friends that I regularly play against at my local. I was hoping we'd find each other later. We'd played the Robots vs BUG Delver mu about 50 times over the last year, and we were both pretty comfortable with the mu. BUG is def ahead there and both games played out that way.
5-1 10-4

Round 7 Merfolk: I played a really nice guy that had destroyed me on a feature match at the last Dallas SCG when I was on Shardless. This time the winds blew my way and Liliana was a house. I was able to resolve Lilli onto emptied boards and that was enough to get there. I boarded out every counterspell I had and brought in all the removal and plagues.
6-1 12-4

Round 8: 12 Post: I draw another friend of mine from my local and we check standings and discover that we have to play. We need to do better next time so we can ID in. He gets me game 1 and I get 2 very close wins to close out the match. The last meaningful play being a hymn that hits the 2 cards he needs to kill me, titan and top, and missing the two lands in his hand. God I love Hymn to Tourach. It was a very intense match against a great player, and like my earlier round I wish we'd met later. I now I brought in Loam, Spell Pierce, Null Rod, Grip and cut the dazes. Playing from Tempo to Control is like riding a fucking donkey with this deck, but it can be done.
7-1 14-5

I enter overall at number 2 and fail to capitilize on it getting blown out pretty quickly by Grixis Delver. I kind of stabilized game two and needed pressure, but found lands. Ces la Vie. Still, my first top 8 EVAR and that feels amazing. I've ground SCG for about five years playing multiple events a year and its really a nice vindicating feeling.

Props: Starcity runs events so well, and they did here as well. Props to all the judges for a great job. Props to all my opponents, everyone I played was a class act which was nice, you rarely get such a nice draw.

Slops: I was sick as fuck the whole day coughing and feverish which was annoying as hell. I didn't take good notes in part because of that and because of that this report is a bit weak. If anyone has any questions or anything to add or anything I got completely wrong, please let me know.

cheers
defector

[Star|Scream]

Great job on the finish!

How did you board against infect?

I played this match last night online and one game I had 5 removal spells (2 AD, 2 charm, 1 disfigure) in my hand plus a wasteland and I still couldn't sequence properly. That deck is tough. Plus pendelhaven + crop rotation make it even tougher.

[ANRoebuck]

maybe a Pithing Needle or two for LED.

Seriously? Seriously?

[defector]

@StarScream.

Thanks:)
I was beaten by Infect twice at SCG Houston last month, both times going to a game 3 and both times taking it on the chin from that stupid Inkmoth Nexus. Coming inot Dallas I knew that the mu needed some commitment. Losing to Infect is very frustrating as it felt like I was about to win each game and then I was dead. I cut -2 Clique -2 Lilli -1 Ponder -1 Daze. +2 Disfigure, +1 Life from the Loam, +1 Grip +2 Plague. My reasoning was that Infect puts you solidly in the control role while simultaneously making Lilli a little slow and clunky, which is bad for the way we'd like to transition. Cut the Lillis, loaded up on removal and try for a loam lock. I never got a plague down and those could just as easily be Golgari Charms if you don't want to run plagues. Any broad sweeper that can hit that stupid land is what you want. After making those changes I still had one close game where he got a clear attack on me after nickle and diming me a bit and got me to 7 or so. The other game I never felt too threatened. The winning is just getting a single goyf into play, so don't worry about winning just worry about controlling them and keeping them from winning.

cheers
defector

[Star|Scream]

@StarScream.

Thanks:)
I was beaten by Infect twice at SCG Houston last month, both times going to a game 3 and both times taking it on the chin from that stupid Inkmoth Nexus. Coming inot Dallas I knew that the mu needed some commitment. Losing to Infect is very frustrating as it felt like I was about to win each game and then I was dead. I cut -2 Clique -2 Lilli -1 Ponder -1 Daze. +2 Disfigure, +1 Life from the Loam, +1 Grip +2 Plague. My reasoning was that Infect puts you solidly in the control role while simultaneously making Lilli a little slow and clunky, which is bad for the way we'd like to transition. Cut the Lillis, loaded up on removal and try for a loam lock. I never got a plague down and those could just as easily be Golgari Charms if you don't want to run plagues. Any broad sweeper that can hit that stupid land is what you want. After making those changes I still had one close game where he got a clear attack on me after nickle and diming me a bit and got me to 7 or so. The other game I never felt too threatened. The winning is just getting a single goyf into play, so don't worry about winning just worry about controlling them and keeping them from winning.

cheers
defector

I see what you're saying, but it seems like they can beat any removal I throw at them. Decay? Vines. Golgari charm when they're tapped out? mutagenic growth.

[iamajellydonut]

Golgari charm when they're tapped out? mutagenic growth.

This isn't something that they run.

[Star|Scream]

This isn't something that they run.

Sorry, I was confusing it with the Modern version (which also gives me headaches). I meant invigorate

[H]

I see what you're saying, but it seems like they can beat any removal I throw at them. Decay? Vines. Golgari charm when they're tapped out? mutagenic growth.

If they have every answer every time, they'll just win. Same goes for every other deck though.

You have counter-magic, discard and removal. There really isn't much more you can do to them. Hit them with discard, always try to kill things on your own turn (so pumps are either protection or Infect, not both) and don't try to "get them." While you might think you can two-for-one them, the chances are good that it will backfire. Oh and of course, save you Wastelands for the Inkmoths.

[defector]

They can't respond to Krosan Grip on that stupid land, but if they have everything you lose, if they have one less than what you have then you win. Block aggressively. You really just want to deplete them to the max.
cheers
defector

[Jo11ygrnreefer]

If your having trouble with infect, try using Melira, basically an auto win if she resolves. Or, a singlton Life From the Loam extends our Wastelands and helps with Delver.