[Free Article] Laboratory Notes

[wappla]

http://puremtgo.com/articles/laboratory-notes

An article in which I overcome my own typos to report findings of playtesting in the first week of the new format. I argue URw Delver gains ground in the metagame, relay some observations about new Workshops, and talk how Gush aggro-control might built and likely mis-built. Even those who would not entertain the thought of playing anything other than broken Vintage right now can read to get some ideas about building a good Delver deck to be the blue buzzsaw in your testing gauntlet. Enjoy

[Islandswamp]

I've seen a Delver list with Null Rod that looked pretty decent...

I'm always glad to read one of your articles. I just started this one, thanks for sharing.

[youhavenogame]

I enjoyed the article, but without a decklist or two it looks incomplete. I also don't think you addressed the replacement for the now restricted Dig well. Actually you even talked about removing Dack from the deck, which would lead to even more free slots, but there are so few options to replace them with. Jace is probably fine, maybe better than Snapcaster Mage. The two just work so differently in a deck like this and right now I'd rather have Jace in my deck than SCM, just because hitting 3 or 4 mana in time for him to be relevant can be tough at times. He also doesn't synergize well with Gush. But then, SCM actually attacks and can flashback counterspells.

There are also a couple of points that I think you didn't address, like how many Delvers you would run right now or how exactly the white splash looks like (how many Tundras, how many Volcanics, is Strip Mine needed or might it interfere with color requirements?).

[xouman]

I enjoyed a lot the article. It's not a complete guide about the optimal delver deck, but how to understand changes and construction decissions. I'm glad that you advise not playing Dack, since it's a card that punishes big blue strategies (stealing a mox is often painful), but I acknowledge that playing dack can mean losing on the next turn.

About Jace, I'm not playing it (even testing it in fact) because of its high price, 300$ for the playset is no joke, but I understand it is as powerful as snapcaster (I cannot say if better or worse, probably depends on which deck). One thing against Jace is that recasting spells must be done in your own turnm as sorceries, and the same argument used against Fayden works here. But overall is a great card with lot of power, and that should be stopped by slower decks or face the consequences :p

Thanks for the reading!

[diopter]

Insanely good article. It is pretty obvious that losing Chalice will change the dynamic of Shop matchups entirely, but I'm glad you spelled it out with examples.

Great insight about Dack. Previously you needed non-1cc maindeck ways to get % against Shops because you weren't able to reliably stop LSG from ending the game. Now? Ha!

I think I implicitly agree with you about Delver getting better, but as you say - we need to test more and THEN declare that the format's heading into combo-control vs anti-combo-control. My early results are suggestive though.

[CHA1N5]

I really liked this and I think you offer a lot of good insight.

[Islandswamp]

I was practicing with a grixis control deck this morning and was paired with a workshop deck.

Null Rod was ok, but it just wasn't enough to stop me from winning with TeZzeret. I'd been able to get enough moxen out that i easily won following an end step hurkyl's recall.

I think that with a mox heavy, shops light draw, rod was pretty bad for them (at least in that case).

[wappla]

Thanks for the feedback

youhavenogame,

- I think Strip Mine is necessary right now as Library is a lot better than before Dig's restriction and Tolarian Academy is the best way Grixis decks have of beating a Stony Silence. My lands at the moment are 8 fetches, 3 volcs, 1 tundra, 1 island, 1 strip. Having just one basic is a real thing, but I expect the Blood Moon decks to move away from their namesake card when they realize it does a lot less work in a world where not everyone is counting on paying UU for Dig Through Time. The Moon-Chalice deck already struggled to beat Delver without Chalice @ 1 because without Chalice it had no answer for Pyroblast. Against Shops, Wasteland is still obviously a card, but it actually gets somewhat less threatening because being able to keep cantripping for more land means that we have functionally more lands than previously. Also, without Chalice sphering off 1 cc spells, Wasteland isn't always that big a deal.

- I strongly believe four Delvers to be the correct number. The deck is so much better when it has one on turn one or turn two. In a lot of matchups the power differential between it and Young Pyromancer is not worth the latter's additional cost and I just want something to put pressure on them and make the deck function properly. It also might be the best card in the deck against Workshops.