20 with 20 Series – Mono U Delver

During the 20 with 20 series I will play with the top 20 decks in the pauper format for 20 leagues each. Then, I will do an in-depth write up for each deck. 

Final Record: 66-34 (66%)
Best 2 Matchups: Dimir Control (6-0), Bogles (5-0)
Worst 2 Matchups: Boros Monarch (1-3), Affinity (2-5)
Similar Deck in Another Format: Mono U Faeries (Modern)

Final List:
Creatures (20)
4 Spire Golem
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Faerie Miscreant

Instants and Sorceries (23)
4 Snap
4 Counterspell
4 Preordain
4 Ponder
2 Gush
2 Daze
2 Mutagenic Growth
1 Vapor Snag

Lands (17)
17 Island

Sideboard (15)
2 Stormbound Geist
2 Dispel
2 Annul
3 Gut Shot
2 Echoing Truth
4 Hydroblast

Intro To Mono U Delver: Mono U Delver is a tempo deck. It aims to land a cheap threat at an opportune time and then hold up countermagic and bounce spells for the rest of the game. The deck will use these spells to protect the cheap threat and bounce opposing threats in order to win the game. This deck has a sub-theme of bouncing its own creatures to hand in order to accrue additional value or tempo. Replaying a Faerie Miscreant or Spellstutter Sprite can win the game quite handily in some scenarios. Possibly the most important aspects of playing Mono U Delver effectively are two-fold;
1. Holding the correct mana up on important turns in order to use counterspells effectively while developing your own game plan.
2. Playing draw spells effectively and effectively as possible so that you will have the right cards at the right times. (There could be a entire books written on some of these spells but a good example (among many others) is generally don’t play Gush on your end step)

Deeper Thoughts on the Deck: The biggest allure to playing Mono U Delver is that it completely destroys control decks in a way that almost no other deck does. During this run Mono U Delver had a 17-1 record against the breadth of control decks it faced. It has the tools to get under counterspells and kill quickly while sporting its own counterspells and disruption.

On the other end of the spectrum it has a trio of currently popular decks (Boros Monarch, UR Delver, Affinity) that is sports losing records against. These decks all have cheap removal and cheap creatures that make the bounce spells and counter magic of Mono U Delver ineffective.

This deck also has the bonus of being great against random decks in the field. Most people don’t realize how different Mono U Delver plays out vs. UR Delver and thus Mono U Delver tends to be good against home brews. This is evidenced by the 16-0 record it sported vs. non-top 20 decks it played against. If you find that an LGS has a lot of random decks floating around then Mono U Delver might be the best deck choice.

Mono U Delver isn’t the easiest deck to play. There is a lot of small micro-decisions to be made every single game you play. A small error while casting a ponder or not keeping up counterspell on a key turn can make this deck lose a lot of games in a hurry. Therefore this deck is not recommended for beginners in fact tempo decks are generally harder to play for beginners in general.

Lastly, the deck is probably not as good without daze despite some players being successful with budget versions. Being able to interact for free with Daze and Mutagenic Growth is key to keeping the opponent just off balance enough to finish them off. Also (as far as card choices) this deck has a key weakness in its sideboard since the deck only gets to choose from blue cards. Therefore it is important to win a lot of game ones in order to win matches. On the other hand the deck being mono-colored has its strengths since lands always come in untapped and you don’t have trouble casting your spells due to mana constraints.

Overall Mono U Delver is a tier 1 deck that can be a killer metagame choice in the hands of the right player.

Sideboarding:
In this section I will go through just a few relevant matchups that I feel confident in. If you want a specific matchup feel free to hit me up on twitch via whisper or during stream (twitch.tv/ponypuddle) or wherever you found the article (Facebook, Reddit, etc.)

-vs. UR Delver & Mono U Delver (Mirror)
OUT:
1x Vapor Snag
4x Snap
2x Daze

IN:
2x Stormbound Geist
3x Gut Shot
2x Dispel

Notes: Its not out of the question that you want some number of hydroblast against the UR Delver matchup but I tend not to bring them in because the only relevant card they hit in my estimation is pyroblast.

vs. UB Control
OUT:
1x Vapor Snag
2x Snap
1x Spire Golem

IN:
2x Dispel
2x Stormbound Geist

vs. Bogles
OUT:
4x Snap

IN:
2x Echoing Truth
2x Annul

vs. Burn
OUT:
2x Mutagenic Growth
4x Snap

IN:
4x Hydroblast
2x Dispel

vs. Mono-White Heroic
OUT:
2x Mutagenic Growth
2x Gush
1x Ninja of the Deep Hours

IN:
2x Annul
1x Echoing Truth
2x Gut Shot

vs. Elves
OUT:
2x Gush
1x Spire Golem

IN:
3x Gut Shot

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please let me know if you’d like to see any other stats or something else as part this series. If you want to see past articles or the stats for all decks I have them listed in the panels at twitch.tv/ponypuddle. If you like what you read and want to leave a tip you can do so at Streamlabs Link but it is in no way expected. These articles are free and will remain free throughout. 

20 with 20 Series – Dimir Control

During the 20 with 20 series I will play with the top 20 decks in the format for 20 leagues each. I will then do an in-depth write up with the final decklist for each deck. 

Final Record: 63-37 (63%)
Best 2 Matchups: Burn (8-0), Mono W Heroic (7-1)
Worst 2 Matchups: Mirror (3-5), 5-Color Tron (4-5)
Closest Deck in Another Format: Grixis Death’s Shadow (Modern)

Final List:
Lands(22)
4 Dimir Aqueduct
4 Dismal Backwater
2 Radiant Fountain
4 Swamp
7 Island
1 Bojuka Bog

Creatures (8)
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Gurmag Angler

Instants and Sorceries (30)
2 Doom Blade
4 Disfigure
4 Chainer’s Edict
1 Moment of Craving
4 Counterspell
4 Preordain
2 Probe
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Mulldrifter
1 Evincar’s Justice
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Echoing Decay

Sideboard (15)
2 Doom Blade
2 Cartouche of Ambition
2 Dispel
1 Evincar’s Justice
2 Hydroblast
3 Duress
2 Stormbound Geist
1 Exclude

Intro To Dimir Control: Dimir Control is a deck that aims to remove your opponents creatures and then win the late game by powerful draw spells (mulldrifter, probe) and flashback spells (forbidden alchemy, mystical teachings). It also has a sub theme of bouncing lands for value. Eventually it will end the game usually with a 5/5 Gurmag Angler.

Deep Thoughts on the Deck: The allure of playing UB Control is the 3-4 maindeck chainer’s edicts the deck plays along with the counter magic suite. This gives you strong game against a swath of voltron strategies that go all-in on one creature. These decks include Mono White Heroic, Bogles and to a lesser extent stompy. On the other hand it will still have fair game against decks that go wide like elves or present threats and disruption like affinity or delver strategies. Where it really struggles is strategies that go bigger than it which include Tron and Bigger Control decks. Keep this in mind when choosing this as a meta deck.

The good news is despite these matchups the deck can win against any deck in the format with solid play. To do this  practice identifying important spells to counter and when you need to hold up mana to counter them. Practice sequencing mana correctly to hit your land drops when you need them and identifying which lands are best to bounce and when (untapped value lands are best). The hardest part of this deck is identifying which cards you need at which time with Forbidden Alchemy or preordain. Taking the wrong cards can cost you an entire game so improving this skill is paramount.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the list itself. Other lists are running slightly more counter magic which probably lead to my poor result in the mirrors. I think deprive is terrible in aggro matchups though so i chose to exclude it so I wouldn’t get … DEPRIVED … in those matchups. The two cartouche of ambition in the sideboard might be overkill as I only bring them in against Burn and no other deck but you can see that having those did work to the tune of an 8-0 record. The two cards that I think might be too cute are the maindeck moment of craving to improve aggro matchups (echoing decay might just be better) and the sideboard exclude (to improve Kudultha boros and Tron matchups). So feel free to replace those two cards first if you don’t agree with the methodology or don’t feel like you need them.

 

Sideboarding:
In this section I will go through just a few relevant matchups. If you want a specific matchup feel free to hit me up on twitch via whisper or during stream (twitch.tv/ponypuddle). 

-vs. UR Delver (8)
OUT:
2x Probe
1x Moment of Craving
1x Mystical Teachings
2x Counterspell
1x Gurmag Angler
1x Forbidden Alchemy

IN:
1x Duress
2x Dispel
2x Doom Blade
2x Stormbound Geist
1x Evincar’s Justice

-vs. 5-Color Tron (10)
OUT:
4x Disfigure
2x Doom Blade
1x Moment of Craving
1x Echoing Decay
1x Evincar’s Justice
1x Chainer’s Edict

IN:
2x Dispel
1x Exclude
2x Hydroblast
2x Stormbound Geist
3x Duress

-vs. Burn (9)
OUT:
4x Disfigure
1x Echoing Decay
1x Evincar’s Justice
2x Doom Blade
1x Mulldrifter

IN:
2x Hydroblast
2x Dispel
2x Cartouche of Ambition
3x Duress

-vs. Mono White Heroic (5)
OUT:
3x Mulldrifter
1x Moment of Craving
1x Forbidden Alchemy

IN:
2x Doom Blade
3x Duress

-vs. Affinity (7)
OUT:
4x Disfigure
1x Moment of Craving
1x Echoing Decay
1x Evincar’s Justice

IN:
2x Doom Blade
2x Hydroblast
3x Duress

-vs. Elves (3)
OUT:
2x Probe
1x Mulldrifter

IN:
1x Evincar’s Justice
2x Doom Blade

 

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you’d like to see any other stats or something else as part of the articles in this series. If you’d like to see some of the work put into these articles you can follow at twitch.tv/ponypuddle. If you like what you read and want to throw down some support you can also do that at Streamlabs Link but it is in no way expected. These articles are free and will remain free throughout. Thanks for reading and until next one!

Pony to Stallion Challenge

 

Hello,

My name is Tyler Horspool (My last name is where the screen name ponypuddle comes from) and I play Magic the Gathering for team Top Deck Keep based in Riverside, California. Recently I’ve become a Magic the Gathering Online fanatic. I, like many pros, realize that playing online consistently makes you a better player significantly faster then traveling to a Local Game Store would (I still recommend both though!). The main two complaints I hear are about how people don’t want to purchase cards online that they already purchased in paper and how expensive it is to buy both paper products and digitial products. My goal with the Pony to Stallion challenge is to take a magic account with very little buyin (in this case around 70 Tix) and build an account that can play any deck (around 1000 Tix). I want to show that not only is it possible to do this but it is relatively easy and just takes time. I will be streaming during large portions of this challenge so if you wanna check us out please do @ twitch.tv/ponypuddle.