Dies to Removal

Nope.

You're ~ two red mana short to reliably turn 3 it.

Spreading Seas is fine, not exciting. It's quite helpful vs. Merfolk and Affinity.

Stone Rain is more crushing in harder matchups and us brutal with Snapcaster Mage. It also has a favourable interaction with Delver as it keeps you spell count higher.

I think you've just convinced yourself, James.

Excellent points. I didn't think it was capable of handling it either, but I did wonder if that was an option you did consider.

Well no, affinity is much more popular than Scaleshift or Tron and Seas is gas there. It's also better vs UWR like I said; I dunno, there's an argument. I'll speak to hoogland today.

Hoogland is the best name ever... The land of Hoog.

Amulet of Hoog

Stop saying gas, you sound like Todd Anderson.

#shots_fired

I thought that was more of a Travis Woo thing.

Heyo!

#Woo_Believer

Just started testing your list a bit more thoroughly Zemanjaski, it feels really good so far. I need to play a few matches vs BGx and UWR before I'm sold, but I LOVE its Pod, Affinity, and combo matchup. This could be my PTQ deck.

Spreading Seas it is.

UWR is pretty easy if you don't try to fight over their removal against your creatures.

You can fight over Electrolyze, Cryptic, Resto and Snapcaster. More or less ignore everything else unless you're Remanding your own stuff.

Relic could be a Sword or Pike if you're that way inclined; Lavamancer is pretty weak vs UWR and combo so pike is ok but I'd probably rather a sword. Relic is the most conservative / reliable option. Fire / Ice, War / Peace, Feast / Famine and Light / Shadow are all reasonable picks.

I definitely want to find room for a sword, I think. So far in testing I'm 1-0 vs Affinity, 2-0 vs Melira Pod, and 2-2 vs Junk. If that's slightly representative of how the decks matchups are, I'm pretty happy with it.

This deck hoses affinity and has a good Pod matchup. It's the BGx matchups that can be difficult. I've been reading up on others' attempts at UR Delver and am shocked when anyone says the deck has a bad UWR control matchup. You have to be doing something VERY wrong to feel it's a bad matchup.

While playing Hooglands list it felt like literally the worst matchup not even slightly close. What is your general game plan there?

Exactly what Zem said. The problem I think people are having is that they aren't properly prioritizing what to fight over. The matchup is a test in patience since you're both effectively control decks in the matchup. He's running more powerful spells while you're running more efficient ones, so the key is to fight them on your terms. Sandbag your cheap counterspells and look to win the late game counter wars. They have Cryptics but you have more Leaks, Remands, Spell Pierces, and Snares.

You win by stopping their card advantage: cryptic, electrolyze, Snapcaster, Resto. You'll naturally draw substantially more gas over the course if the game so the aim is to run them out if resources and kill them with leftovers. You're not winning by fighting over path or bolt early; just let delver die.

YP$ also does respectable work against them because they have no sweepers. Electrolyze is their best card to fight it and if you choose your time to move in properly you can win that counter war.

The matchup is even better postboard if you're running a board like mine.

That seems like a good plan, I probably just wasn't as strong a player back when I was piloting this deck. I'll give it another go now. What does your board look like currently?

If you burn your counters early on cheap removal you'll be powerless against their really powerful spells.

[Deck]
4 delver of secrets
2 grim lavamancer
4 snapcaster mage
4 young pyromancer

4 gitaxian probe
4 serum visions
4 lightning bolt
2 burst lightning
3 vapor snag
2 spell pierce
2 spell snare
4 remand
3 mana leak

4 steam vents
1 sulfur falls
4 scalding tarn
2 misty rainforest
1 breeding pool
4 island
2 mountain

2 dispel
2 magma spray
1 grim lavamancer
2 ancient grudge
2 flashfreeze
2 combust
3 hibernation
1 counterflux
[/deck]

What's hibernation for?

I'm glad you're not wasting space with Incinerate anymore!

What's hibernation for?

I'm glad you're not wasting space with Incinerate anymore!

Hibernation is for Bogles. It also does work against more obscure decks like that stupid mono green beatdown deck and the green devotion deck.

I'm also glad I could get away from Incinerate and back to Burst Lightning. My local meta is now developing properly and moving away from the budget small zoo lists that were running rampant. Running Spell Snare helps too.

Is it so skewed you can't run Spellskite / EE?

Fuck your metagame basically.

Basically, yeah.

EE/Spellskite could be a better option due to their flexibility in multiple matchups. I like EE most since it's a better topdeck. Good suggestion! It's worth noting that Hibernation can be targeted by Snapcaster Mage, but if I've blown EE vs Bogles I've probably already won anyway.

EE?

Engineered Explosives.

I can even tick it to three if necessary thanks to the singleton Breeding Pool.

Basically they're good cards against many decks and Hibernation is a terrible Travis woo card.

[deck]
Creatures (14)
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer

Spells (28)
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Burst Lightning
3 Vapor Snag
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
4 Remand
3 Mana Leak

Lands (18)
4 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Breeding Pool
4 Island
2 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Dispel
2 Magma Spray
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Dismember
1 Electrolyze
1 Counterflux
[/deck]

EE really cleans some things up.

Looks reasonable. SB looks very meta specific which is fine; would need to change it for large events.

What would you suggest for larger events? I can see doing without a third Lavamancer, second Dispel, and maybe a Counterflux. Dismember could be Flame Slash.

My meta: lots of Affinity, Twin, and UWR control with still a few rogue brews lingering.

Yeah it's mostly about having more generic answers; right now you're soft to Scapeshift and Tron for example, which while they're not great decks, will be a thing at any large modern event; maybe you'll dodge them, perhaps you won't. I run the negates because even if you overpay sometimes, they do hit everything. If like at least 1 piece of GY hate too; people love playing tier 2+ graveyard decks for some reason.

Not that any of the above is strictly necessary as they're good matchups; but after board they get to catch up a little.

Do you REALLY need 2 grudge for affinity? That matchup is a joke already.