Modern

The Fly and the Fish – A Grixis Delver Primer

Hello, my name is Nelson, and I’m a card-o-holic. I’ve been playing this lovely game for almost 20 years. Last summer I made top 8 of a Modern MDSS event in Quebec City playing Grixis Delver, which is the deck I will discuss in this article.

Grixis Delver is often referred to as the “bad” version of Grixis in Modern. Indeed, isn’t it just plain better to reliably turn legendary looting prodigies into planeswalking telepaths, rather than cross your fingers and hope your tiny wizard transforms into a flying monster?

I’m certainly not here to dismiss the more controlling Grixis lists with Jace, because I quite like those decks. I am here, however, to tell you that Grixis Delver is actually quite playable, and that while there are some risks you have to accept when playing it, there are compelling reasons to choose this deck depending on the metagame.

This is my current decklist:

Grixis Delver – Nelson Guilbert

[deck]
[Lands]
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
1 Mountain
3 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Spells]
1 Dismember
1 Electrolyze
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mana Leak
2 Remand
4 Serum Visions
1 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Terminate
4 Thought Scour
2 Vapor Snag
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Gurmag Angler
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Sideboard]
1 Negate
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Thoughtseize
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Dispel
1 Flashfreeze
2 Rending Volley
1 Vandalblast
2 Rough // Tumble
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

So, why would you ever want to play this deck over the more controlling Grixis lists? The main reason, obviously, is that its fundamental strategy is quite different. This deck is all about taking the initiative and putting pressure on your opponent: this is a tempo beatdown deck first and foremost, with light control elements that are used to slow down your opponent and further your own gameplan. While most of the Grixis control lists have the ability to close games rather quickly when they take over, the fact remains that they are reactive, can be comboed out if their answers don’t line up correctly.

This deck, on the contrary, is built with the idea to force opponents to react to it, and to give them as few turns as possible to do so. As such, it is usually good against most combo decks. It’s very potent against Amulet Bloom and Twin, most notably. It is, however, very liberal in its use of life as a resource, and can be difficult to play effectively in more aggressive metagames. It can, however, punish anyone that stumbles in the early turns, which means you always have a chance to steal games, and that can matter a lot in an unknown, diverse, and wide-open metagame. The deck is also quite consistent, draws lots of cards, can operate with 2-3 lands on the battlefield and is not very prone to flooding out.

Card Choices

[card]Delver of Secrets[/card]: Of course, in a world without [card]Brainstorm[/card], Ponder or [card]Preordain[/card], The Fly is somewhat less likely to puke all over itself and turn into a giant flying insect. Aside from the obvious [card]Serum Visions[/card], maximizing [card]Delver of Secrets[/card] involves many deckbuilding decisions: this is why the deck runs 18 lands and eschews the fourth [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], to play as many spells as possible while maintaining high enough threat density. Still, sometimes you just have to get lucky, but the upside is huge, as an [card]Insectile Aberration[/card] backed with countermagic and burn can end games in a hurry. You almost always want to play this on turn one when you can, because if it flips and your opponent can’t kill it on the spot, it’s hard to lose. When still in his human form, the secrets Delver provides can also be used to your advantage. It is often quite useful to keep a fetchland in play, or wait on casting [card]Thought Scour[/card], until Delver shows you a card you don’t want to draw.

3 [card]Gurmag Angler[/card]s, 1 [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card]: In my opinion, [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] is the primary reason to play this style of deck. Aside from the flipped Delver, this is your primary source of damage. Most of the time, it’s bigger than [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]. It often forces your opponent to block unfavorably just to survive. The big zombie fish is usually better than Tasigur in this deck, hence the 3-1 split: the extra point of power is very relevant, as it enables it to win fights against Goyfs, Rhinos and opposing Tasigurs. On an empty board, it also clocks a turn faster. You never want to draw double Tasigur, and because you don’t run a lot of lands, his activated ability is not relevant as often as it would in more controlling lists. However, it does matter sometimes, especially in longer, grindier games, and the Banana Master really shines when that’s the case, so the one copy can be helpful there.

1 [card]Terminate[/card], 1 [card]Dismember[/card]: [card]Terminate[/card] is a useful card: however, in a deck such as this, where you have to operate on very few lands, it can sometimes be difficult to cast, even more so when you need to Snapcaster it back. Mana efficiency is usually more important here than your life total. [card]Dismember[/card] also offers a lot of flexibility, allowing you to pay the mana when you can afford it to preserve your life total, can be cast off any land which can sometimes catch unsuspecting opponents off-guard, and is always castable under a [card]Blood Moon[/card]. When you expect a lot of burn decks, however, it’s probably correct to run the second [card]Terminate[/card], [card]Go for the Throat[/card] or [card]Murderous Cut[/card] in that slot.

2 [card]Vapor Snag[/card]s: I like this card over [card]Terminate[/card] for a few reasons. First and foremost is the mana issue: at its core, the engine of the deck is blue, and cannot function without blue mana. Which means that if you have a playable hand, you can always cast this card. The life loss and tempo it provides can matter a lot, and it is also quite versatile, as it can protect a threat in a pinch or rebuy [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card].

3 [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]: I have heard people saying it’s wrong to play less than 4. However, I don’t think you want to cut any of the other creatures, and every instant or sorcery you cut from the deck makes Delver less reliable. Furthermore, there are many spots where you need to delve away your entire graveyard to cast [card]Gurmag Angler[/card], which turns Snapcaster into a glorified [card]Ambush Viper[/card] for a while. It’s an awesome card, for sure, but I’d say it’s more of a secondary line of offense in this deck.

1 [card]Vendilion Clique[/card], 1 [card]Kolaghan’s Command[/card], 1 [card]Electrolyze[/card]: Those three cards are very useful, but you can’t realistically run more than three 3-mana without risking being bottlenecked if you draw too many of them in the early turns. Be aware that Command and [card]Electrolyze[/card] are also very hard to Snapcaster back in this deck.

3 [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card]: In some matchups the full four would be awesome, but the presence of burn decks running [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card], combined with the fact that this deck often needs to fetch untapped shocklands in the early turns for proper sequencing, makes running four a bit risky in some metagames.

2 [card]Remand[/card], 2 [card]Mana Leak[/card], 2 [card]Spell Snare[/card], 1 [card]Spell Pierce[/card]: I think it’s a good idea to mix up the counterspell suite to keep your opponents guessing, especially when you can see a lot of cards with [card]Thought Scour[/card] and [card]Serum Visions[/card]. When [card]Remand[/card] is good, it’s really good, but sometimes it’s just a dead card. The same goes for [card]Mana Leak[/card]. You can run less permission and more removal, but I like the counterspells’ versatility more in a wide-open metagame. They have less chances of being dead in some matchups than [card]Terminate[/card]s would be, for example.

Notes on Matchups and Sideboarding

First, let me stress that there are many, many good maindeck and sideboard options that are not found in the decklist above, but can be very relevant depending on what you expect to face ([card]Inquisition of Kozilek[/card], [card]Rise // Fall[/card], [card]Hurkyl’s Recall[/card], [card]Slaughter Pact[/card], [card]Pia and Kiran Nalaar[/card], [card]Tribute to Hunger[/card], [card]Painful Truths[/card], [card]Surgical Extraction[/card], among others). As such, the following is not a card-by-card sideboard guide, but rather a strategic guideline for most of the popular matchups. If you pick up the deck, adjust accordingly.

Burn: Because the Delver deck is so masochistic with its manabase, this can be a very challenging matchup. You want to fetch basics, jam a [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] as fast as possible, and try to race them by countering a key burn spell or two. If you’re really worried about it, adding [card]Vampiric Link[/card] to the sideboard and putting it on [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] can be effective to some degree, but your draw needs to line up well for that plan to work out. Better yet, if you think burn decks are going to be everywhere, choose another deck!

Twin: This is a good matchup. Try to put pressure on them while keeping their combo in check with [card]Vapor Snag[/card], [card]Dismember[/card] or countermagic. They usually can’t combo or race you and will try to be more controlling after sideboard. Most of the time, they will board out most of their [card]Splinter Twin[/card]s, if not all of them. As such, one [card]Rending Volley[/card] is probably enough. [card]Flashfreeze[/card] out of the board plays a key role here as it can stop both Twin and Keranos, so you can cover all your bases by being patient with that card. If they scry one or two cards on top of their deck with [card]Serum Visions[/card], Thought Scouring them away can be backbreaking.

Affinity: [card]Engineered Explosives[/card] is awesome here. So are [card]Izzet Staticaster[/card] and [card]Kolaghan’s Command[/card]. [card]Vandalblast[/card] is self-explanatory, though you won’t get to overload it most of the time, unless the games drags on and you topdeck it. You want a more controlling configuration here, boarding out most countermagic for removal, and aim to be the player with the last threat standing. [card]Etched Champion[/card] can be a problem, but on the flipside, Gurmag and Tasigur are especially hard for them to remove once they hit the table.

Infect: Here you can go all-out with your life total, and prioritize mana efficiency. The first turns are very important. [card]Vapor Snag[/card] gives you some game against things like [card]Wild Defiance[/card], which is otherwise very effective against you. Information is key, so you can know when to tap out for a threat or when you need to hold back. [card]Thoughtseize[/card] is clutch, as is [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card]. Sure, they also have Probes and sometimes Thoughseize too, but their life total actually matters. A good matchup overall, but be very careful.

Amulet Bloom: Another good matchup, because usually you can pressure them and slow them down long enough. Stick an early threat and counter or destroy everything that would kill you before you kill them. This is where the extra countermagic shines, as do [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] and [card]Thoughtseize[/card] out of the board.

Jund or Abzan: Not the easiest matchup. You want to play a tempo game and put them on the backfoot before their superior card quality takes over. [card]Remand[/card], [card]Mana Leak[/card] and [card]Vapor Snag[/card] can be quite strong here. They’re more prone to flooding out than you are, so you can gain some ground there. If the game goes long you can try to gum up the board and overwhelm them or race in the air. If you can keep [card]Insectile Aberration[/card] or [card]Young Pyromancer[/card] alive, you’re usually in good shape. If they’re on Abzan with [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]s and [card]Wilt-Leaf Liege[/card]s, [card]Rending Volley[/card] helps a lot. Beware of Choke: the [card]Darkslick Shores[/card] and [card]Sulfur Falls[/card] can help there, so if you see them in a [card]Serum Visions[/card], keep them if possible. Note that most of this applies to G/W Hatebears as well.

B/W Tokens: Not an easy matchup. Countering their mass pump and racing the tokens is your best bet. [card]Engineered Explosives[/card] can be backbreaking if they don’t see it coming. [card]Izzet Staticaster[/card] can be pretty good if you manage to keep Intagible Virtue off the table.

Elves: Rough matchup game one, but after board you have access to one-sided sweepers, [card]Rough // Tumble[/card] and [card]Engineered Explosives[/card]. Still, you often have to hope [card]Insectile Aberration[/card] gets there, as they can block for days on the ground.

Merfolk: [card]Aether Vial[/card] might look like it’s pretty good against you, but it actually is one less creature you have to kill. [card]Vapor Snag[/card] and [card]Dismember[/card] are good at taking out [card]Master of Waves[/card], which [card]Terminate[/card] can’t. Board out most of your countermagic, except [card]Spell Snare[/card], which can counter the annoying Speading Seas. [card]Rending Volley[/card]s shine here, especially against the [card]Kira, Great Glass-Spinner[/card] they will probably board in against you.

Snapcaster-Based Control (Grixis, Esper, Jeskai, U/W): These matchups are rough, because they often will be able to kill most of your relevant threats, and you end up sitting on a bunch of lands and cantrips while they kill you. You want to take a very aggressive stance here and try to keep them off balance long enough to kill them. If they’re white, they might board in [card]Timely Reinforcements[/card]: [card]Izzet Staticaster[/card] can be useful there, especially if they also run [card]Lingering Souls[/card]. This is where you want to bring in the [card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card], which is there as a win condition that can’t be hit with creature removal (though I’m still looking for a better option in that sideboard slot).

Tron: This matchup used to be good, but Ulamog complicates things a lot. The best plan is to play [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] early, counter their big plays, bounce [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] with [card]Vapor Snag[/card], and hope you get there before they can [card]Oblivion Stone[/card] or Ulamog your relevant threats. [card]Thoughtseize[/card] can be good here. Adding some number of [card]Crumble to Dust[/card] to the sideboard can be a big help if you’re worried about that one.

Lantern Control: I have never played against this deck, but from what I can gather, your plan is to counter, destroy or discard [card]Ensnaring Bridge[/card] at all costs, and try to kill your opponent before it’s too late. Chandra is kind of a sketchy backup plan, as [card]Pithing Needle[/card] can stop it cold, but if you steal game one perhaps they won’t see it coming game 2, and might board out the Needles, which otherwise do nothing against you. In a desperate situation you might be able to sneak in the last points of damage by Vapor Snagging their [card]Spellskite[/card] and attacking with a Delver you intentionally left unflipped, or some elemental tokens from [card]Young Pyromancer[/card]… Can you tell I’m not confident in this matchup?

Conclusion

Overall, this deck certainly has some weaknesses ([card]Lingering Souls[/card] backed by infinite removal spells is annoying, and so far I have also lost to [card]Dryad Militant[/card], [card]Rest in Peace[/card]… and, of all things, Surrak freaking Dragonclaw), but it’s powerful, fun to play and gives you a chance to win against almost any deck. If you like giant mutant flies and voracious zombie fishes, insane tempo plays and intricate sequencing decisions, perhaps this is the deck for you!

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