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Could Blue-Green Be a 'thing?'

Just as a heads up I tend to rant after a RebBull and slow morning at work. With that said, let's talk MtG:

It's that time of year again. Another Core Set is ushered in and the metagame we knew begins to evolve into another beast, a result from having two Core Sets overlap, and we- standard competitors anyways- have one simple question on our minds: 'What's next?'

It's something I've been asking myself for the past few weeks and still have not figured out an answer for. Nothing that sticks anyways. For the last few months- okay, since January or so- I have been playing Delver. What started off as a Mono-Blue dream eventually took on the form of one of the UW Angel-Delver archetypes.

While it has been a fun bashing face with Sword-Equipped apparitions and flashing in bothersome Angels, the rotation ahead looks to finally take the deck everyone loves to hate and take it down a few knotches. Will it kill the deck completely? Maybe not, but it certianly won't be as bothersome.

One of the alternatives I'm considering is UG Pike, or as I like to call it, GET BIG.

Here's a rough draft of what I'm trying to concoct:
http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=350323

Now obviously we need to replace a couple cards here for it to have a place post fall rotation. Both Mana Leak and Noxious can be replaced rather easily. Honestly Quirion Dryad could fill a couple of those gaps since she knows how to 'get big' pretty easily. As far as creatures go, I've had a couple other runner-ups however we're trying to keep the Mana Costs as simple as possible. Otherwise, I'd be more prone to things like Talrand. I think he has other builds he'd rather be in though.

The card most difficult to replace here is Ponder. It's a favorite draw spell, but is also argueably one of the strongest Blue spells we have in Standard right now, and Index could help you dig deep and set up but the lack of 'Draw of Card' makes it a real draw back in my opinion.

I was curious if anyone else was tinkering around with a UG build. Not necessarily like mine, but certianly one that would be fun to build on MTGO or pack to an FNM. Please check out my deck and any insight would be much appreciated!





Thanks and have a nice whatever part of the day it may be!
Posted 13 July 2012 at 16:25

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8 replies

well i've been running a :manau::manag: deck in standard. I'll miss Ponder, however, but what ill really miss is Reclaim/Noxious Revival, as my deck is in fact a self-mill. So i don't really need mill, all i needed was milling stuff (tons in innistrad block), and stuff to get thing out of my graveyard. But yes in short, :manau::manag: could well be a 'thing'.

Here's my link - :manau::manag: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=323196 :manau::manag:
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Posted 13 July 2012 at 21:39

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First off, thanks for the support and input! If I decide to play more creature heavy, I could definately make use of things like Splinterfright or even Armored Skaab. Presently, I am trying to construct something inspired by your typical Delver package. Specifically: Delver, Snapcaster Mage, Draw cards, and a bounce spell.



I put together my list on MTGO last night, however, I was missing a Wolfir Silverheart and the Cavern of Souls. Which is fine, I at least got to put some theory into practice. I didn't play a lot of games, but I played a few games in the Tournament Practice room.

Initially it wasn't so bad unless I missed a Pike (which I am considering raising from 2 to 3 slots), however last night there were a multitude of Mono Green Drungrove decks being tested and and all I could think after each game was 'thank God Rancor isn't out (on MTGO) yet!' Not that there aren't ways for a Dungrove to gain Trample or more power, but most of games were a race that came down to mere life points and 2 power here and there would have cost me most of the games.

Hexproof is such a.. well. I'm sure you can fill in the blank.

All in all, I liked how the rough draft played and I plan on grabbing the missing cards sometime this week. Luckily, Silverhearts aren't 6 tix any more and even Cavern of Souls is pretty reasonable at under 10 tix on MTGO. Even if I can't sharpen it up enough to break even in queues, this deck could easily be arranged to play in Innistrad Block Constructed.

There are a few spells I wouldn't mind using (or least sideboarding) in the current build- which can be found here. Things like Garruk the Relentless or Ulvenwald Tracker seem like they could both be adequate, effective removal especially when you consider the creatures we're seeing now that you just don't want to Vapor Snag. I'm looking at you, Thragtusk.

If anyone has any more insight or input it would greatly be appreciated, and feel free to share your lists. I will be editing my own in the next day or so and finish up my sideboard so I can complete the list.





The list! Feel free to check it out, like, or comment!
http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=350323
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Posted 15 July 2012 at 20:29

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I must state right now, that i hate delver. Delver (not specifically delver the card, but more the whole archetype of deck it has created) is single-handedly the most played deck right now, and my local shop, literally all but 4 people play it. And they are all the same. Every single one. It's rather funny actually, as all i have to do is play Witchbane Orb, an that's game. HOWEVER, you made a non-mainstream delver deck, where A) delver is not the only creature and B) does not simply fizzle at the sight of Witchbane Orb. You have made a proper deck, and for that i give you kudos.

I have pulled apart my Splinterfright deck, as i need parts for other projects, and it is becoming obselete, too much Graveyard hate coming in, too many helpers (Noxious Revival) moving out.

I on the other hand, have been :: puts on sunglasses :: delving into the world of :manab:. I will NOT be making zombies, or mill (you might have figured out that i have a bit of a thing against mainstream net-decks). This came about when i did well in the M13 Draft with a :manau::manab: deck. This led me to an interesting discovery: Heartless Summoning. I am as we speak, making up a cool combo-ey deck around it (i'm a fan of combo in standard, check out my storm in standard deck). It combos with a surprising number of things, such as Perilous Myr becomes 2 Damage for free. Myr Superion, becomes a 4/5 FOR FREE! Necropede becomes Bird removal - FOR FREE. I'll continue to experiment, then post it up here :)
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Posted 16 July 2012 at 10:13

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how does witchbane orb have any impact against delver decks??

the only spell it shuts down is gitaxian probe
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Posted 16 July 2012 at 12:43

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The variant of delver i see the most is :manar::manau: burn-delver. Hexproof = Can't be damaged by most burn spells.
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Posted 17 July 2012 at 05:11

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Odd, that's the least popular of the 4 main variants.
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Posted 17 July 2012 at 13:47

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@Baron Let me know about that deck you're cooking up. Also for the record, I mainly play Delver variants in competitive enviroments for these two reasons reasons:

1. Ponder. This is my favorite spell in MtG, mainly because I love drawing cards (who doesn't, right?) and this one tends to be the best a measily Island can buy you.

2. Flexibility. Okay, these decks don't answer everything. Perhaps a :manau::manar::manag: variant technically does, but I personally haven't invested a lot of time to put together such a thing. Mostly due to the awkward mana-base I always end up with

Also. I'm not completely sold on Witchbane Orb to combat most Delver archetypes. I have however considered tossing it into my Delver sideboards to combat a real blow out that has shutdown majority of my deck by itself: (a resolved) Curse of Death's Hold. So if you're considering mono-black and running into a bunch of Delver's, in my experience, it's one of the worse things to have drop. Multilate will probably be even worse considering our strongest creature is generally Restoration Angel.

There are still a few cards I think could help sharpen up my :manau::manag: deck. I just don't have- or want- to fork out for, but I would like some removal (even though a well times Revenge of the Hunted can completely overrun someone).

My thoughts drift towards:
Ulvenwald Tracker, because who doesn't like fight-bear?

and

Garruk Relentless. He's just really good, even if you're just nom noming on creatures. Especially effect in Block format.

Tonight once I escape the bonds of my workplace, I believe I will actually attempt some online queues and do some actually testing on MTGO. That's the plan anyways. Results will be posted here sometime tomorrow or later tonight.






If you haven't yet, feel free to check out the deck I've been rambling about:
:manau::manag: 'GET BIG' http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=350323
All likes, comments, and input is always appreciated! Thanks again!
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Posted 17 July 2012 at 21:25

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Well, i investigated a mono-:manab: Heartless Summoning, however i found that making a deck around it wasn't very reliable, for example:

If i didn't have summoning in hand, the deck became just a large collection of spam-blockers, that occasionally did something funny when they died

When i did have it in hand, i discovered that i really didn't want it, as it made many other good/useful things in the deck unrealistic without having some form of pump (which there doesn't appear to be very much of in :manab: at the moment), like Blood Artist, or Skirsdag High Priest or Tormented Soul(in the case of ther priest, he actually became good, however, having 2 other creatures alive to use his ability proved difficult)

So i made some changes, and i found that the deck works far better without summoning, but rather as a sacrifice/reanimator type of deck that abuses ETB/LTB effects. I went on to discover that i still want some good draw to make the deck reliable, which lead me right back to where this all started: :manau::manab:. This made the deck far more potent, as i often have exactly what is needed to adapt to a given situation, using Ponder - yes, one of the best cards ever printed, simple, yet effective - Tandem Lookout, - i love the whole "combat-draw" especially on 2 creatures at once! -. I also included Impaler Shrike as i thought it fit in quite nicely withe the draw/sacrifice/reanimate theme i created.

Then there is Archaeomancer. The Pauper's Snapcaster Mage. I actually prefer 'Archy' to Snapcaster in this deck, as there are some fun loops i can make with him, because he doesn't exile the stuff, meaning i can use it over and over again, especially with the sac/reanimate theme.

Also, i don't deny that delver is a good deck, indeed, it is a very powerful deck, what i dislike is that because of it, nobody makes new/original decks anymore, which is the entire reason i like MTG in the first place, the diversity of ideas and creative/interesting decks!

So check out the link: :manau::manab: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=364321 :manau::manab:
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Posted 21 July 2012 at 00:32

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