This weekend I won a Modern PPTQ for PT Milwaukee with my old friend Delver of Secrets // Delver of Secrets. The supporting cast is certainly different, but the concept of finding the sweet spot of power and efficiency in large formats like Modern and Legacy remains as effective as ever.

Though I have some ideas that I think are worth exploring with Grixis Delver, I ended up registering the exact 75 that I wrote about two weeks ago. I'm still grokking how the deck should try to operate in what I like to refer to as "Tasigur Modern", and I don't want to make too many changes all at once.

Prior to the tournament, I only hand a couple matches in with Kolaghan's Command, so the PPTQ at Universe Games would serve as a way to feel out how many copies of the card that I wanted. I imagine that there's no way that I want a full four, and having access to three split main and side would give me a good chance to try out anywhere from 0-3 in a given matchup.

The Fighting!

Round 1 vs. Scapeshift

My opponent mulliganed in both games of this match, with both of us mulling in game two. This matchup feels very positive, with cards like Spell Snare keeping them low on mana by countering Sakura-Tribe Elder and the like while you put them under pressure. Countersquall is spectacular out of the sideboard, and serves as a hard counter to most of their good action while also putting them ever closer to Lightning Bolt range.

2-0
1-0

Round 2 vs. Burn

Burn is a super-close matchup, and any silly mistake will often cost you the game. Eidolon of the Great Revel is absurd against our Serum Visions/Thought Scour deck and Searing Blaze embarrasses Delver of Secrets // Delver of Secrets.

The trick is to board Delver out and load up on interaction. Sometimes you can win game one, but you get a lot better post-board. Suddenly the action is entirely on them to be proactive and you have a bevy of answers. Meanwhile, Tasigur is larger than everything they do while you're always able to one-for-one their action.

2-1
2-0

Round 3 vs. Abzan

This match made me realize that I'm running entirely too few copies of Electrolyze. Lingering Souls is obscenely strong against this deck, and you're only ever going to beat that card if you come out in front of it and they're unable to deal with your threats. This is an unrealistically small percentage of games.

0-2
2-1

Round 4 vs. Jeskai Geist

This deck is kind of on the fringes, and I can't say that I have a lot of experience against it. I can say that Geist of Saint Traft is a scary card, and if they're smart enough to wait until they have six mana to cast it then you're in for some trouble.

I drew a billion lands in game one of this match and stumbled to draw my third in game two. If I wasn't on one when I drew a fetchland as my fourth land in the second game, the odds were very high that I would have won. I don't think that this matchup is unfavorable, and I wouldn't make any changes to account for it (in fact, having four Mana Leak and a Goremand is already doing quite a lot for beating Geist), but nevertheless I got crushed.

0-2
2-2

It's not easy to Top 8 a small event from 2-2, but I needed to grind some planeswalker points and there was only one more round to play. As things turned out, there was one 7-point player stopping table four from drawing in what would have otherwise been a clean cut. I was paired against the 7-point player, and as luck would have it a win was likely to put me in Top 8.

Round 5 vs. Abzan Collected Company

Don't confuse what my opponent played for the combo deck. It was kind of a nonsense value deck, and seeing as it didn't have Lingering Souls and it did have a four-mana spell and a bunch of mana dorks, I never really felt disadvantaged. Table four finished before we did, and with my win I was in good position to be the only 3-2 to Top 8, which, obviously, is what happened next.

2-0
3-2

Quarterfinals vs. Abzan Midrange

This go-'round, my opponent didn't bludgeon me with Lingering Souls, but instead came at me with Lilianas, Tarmogoyfs and Siege Rhinos. Mana Leak, Exterminate!, and Snapcaster Mage are all great against these cards, and I cleaned this one up pretty easily.

2-0

Semifinals vs. Jund

Jund can't even play Lingering Souls. I hadn't played Delver against Jund since Bloodbraid Elf was legal, and without Bloodbraid they really don't have anything in their deck that compares to Snapcaster Mage in a way that isn't laughable. You're leaner, you have ways to undo everything than they try, and you have the best card in the matchup.

I was under the gun for a minute against a wolf token and a Thundermaw Hellkite in game one, but I had a Exterminate! in my graveyard and an obscene card on top of my deck...

2-0

Finals vs. Burn

Was I excited to be playing against burn on the draw? No. Not even a little bit.

If they curve Goblin Guide into Eidolon on the play you lose an overwhelming percentage of the time, because you're probably taking three off of your land to choose between Spell Snare and Lightning Bolt if you can even answer either of their threats. With Monastery Swiftspear upping the number of great one-drops in their deck to eight, game ones just aren't pretty.

I lost game one, and game two felt dismal. I faced the problem where a handful of Serum Visions and Thought Scours turns into a hand full of lands. At one point, my opponent controlled a Grim Lavamancer with a few cards in hand versus my nothing, three lands in hand and a Spell Pierce.

Winning from here was equal parts luck and keeping a Mana Leak on top of my deck off of a Serum Visions even though I didn't have any pressure, because it looked like I would need it to live given the number of cards in my opponent's hand. The turn after I drew it I drew Gurmag Angler, and I forced a game three from two life.

My keep in game three was fine (I kind of wish that I wrote it down), but every draw step matched up perfectly against my opponent's. Every exchange favored me, and as the game progressed it was clear that I was going to win when I resolved Tasigur. Tasigur is just miles ahead of any other possible threat for a Delver deck in this matchup, and he really carried his weight.

2-1

Going Forward

As I stated above, I'm not playing enough Electrolyze. I boarded out one Kolaghan's Command in most of my matches in this event, and I like turning the second Command into the second Electrolyze.

The sideboard Electrickery is definitely dated, and I'd cut it for sure, but am not decided on what for as of yet. With the inclusion of Engineered Explosives I have the number of hexproof hate cards I'm used to, but I wouldn't hate having another card for that matchup. Self-Inflicted Wound isn't the worst option that I've thought of. Outside of some minor tweaks, the deck is a pretty well-oiled machine, and I'm quite happy with it.

I'm still considering the possibility of cutting Delver, but the deck might just not have enough oomph in every matchup without it. Just jamming more Gurmag Angler would be the threat substitution, but too many delve cards gum up your hand pretty quickly.

Finance

Snapcaster Mage is still slowly creeping up, but I don't think there's money to be made here at this point. I'm sure Snap has a higher ceiling, but a reprint or banning aren't entirely out of the equation, and the investment isn't exactly low-risk.

That said, Snapcaster Mage is very likely the strongest card in Modern. As such, cards that are great against Snapcaster Mage are worth paying mind to. Relic of Progenitus has a few printings and is unlikely to explode, but it's likely to tick up over time.

The card that I'd pay attention to right now though is Spell Snare.

Spell Snare is not in MM15 and is an invaluable tool in Snapcaster mirrors. It also happens to be awesome against Burn, and just an amazing card in large formats due to the volume of two-drops that players are likely to play. It's already on the rise, and the card was $10 before its inclusion in the first Modern Masters.

The other card to pay attention to is Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Buying in at the market price right now doesn't make a ton of sense, because there are a ton of copies available in the sub $5 range. The spread is huge, too.

That said, there will come a time when this card spikes, and you'll want to be ready. There is a question as to whether the value will decrease with rotation, but if the card continues to put up Modern results and is a player in post-rotation Standard, then we might be approaching the floor in the coming months.

~

I really like this Modern deck. Access to Exterminate!, Mana Leak, Lightning Bolt, and Snapcaster Mage gives you game against everything, and sometimes Tasigur just comes down and ends games.

Very little could stop me from playing this deck for the Modern portion of the Columbus Invitational, and the only big changes I could envision would revolve around finding a way to cut Delver, which I'm not convinced is a great idea no matter how much the concept nags at me.

Thanks for reading.

-Ryan Overturf
@RyanOverdrive on Twitter