UR Delver (Modern)

Blue-Red Delver is an archetype centered around cheap creatures and efficient spells, aimed at steadily gaining advantage while disrupting the opponent's plans.

This budget version of the beloved tempo strategy tries to accomplish these goals while spending at most 5€ for a single card... so, no Snapcaster Mages, Fetchlands and even Shocklands! But, while good, these cards are not necessary for enjoying (and maybe winning!) a game of Modern.

The most important criterion to respect while building a budget deck is, I think, to not simply replace an expensive card with an inexpensive "alternative" in a 1:1 ratio, but to develop it around an idea, a formal structure of what a good deck should try to accomplish. For example, not having Snapcaster Mage, you shouldn't play Torrential Gearhulk or Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but additional copies of the spells Snapcaster would have re-cast from the graveyard.

The structure of this deck is as follows:

• 19 Lands, of which 13 produce Blue mana, and 12 Red by turn 1. For better consistency (90% of probability to have the land you need by turn 1), you should replace 1 Island and 1 Mountain with 2 Steam Vents, if you can afford them. It should also be noted that, thanks to our numerous cantrips, having 19 lands is more or less equal to playing 23-24 lands in a non-blue deck, so if we need them we should always have 3 lands in play by turn 3. MH1 brought us Prismatic Vista, which would be a wonderful "budget" fetchland... if it didn't cost so much. We can only hope it will decrease in price, but it's a rare, and packs of MH1 cost 7€, so it's not very probable.
• 12-14 Creatures, 8 of which are 1CMC. They are so few because: we can protect them with counterspells, we can draw into more of them if they are removed, and we need consistency in flipping Delver. You could also try to play only 1CMC creatures, removing the 2CMC slot, so you could almost always have a creature out by turn 1, while losing ground in the mid to late game. After the printing of Saheeli, Sublime Artificer we now play only 10 creatures. This is not a problem because Saheeli is such a good card, but it could be possible to add some utility creatures -- Grim Lavamancer, Soul-Scar Mage and so on -- and remove some counterspell. Maybe even Bedlam Reveler?
• 8 Counterspells, to reasonably have an answer to the variety of threats the format presents (I don't count Remand as a counterspell, but as a cantrip). After the addition of Mission Briefing, we had to remove 1 Opt and a flexible card like Izzet Charm. Unfortunately, the deck became a little too "clunky" in the lategame. So, lately, I've been testing +1 Opt +1 Vapor Snag and -2 Logic Knot. Knot is a wonderful card, but it can be a dead draw, if too early or too late in the game. Plus, we really need all the cantrips possible. Now the deck is a lot more fluid, but it only has 5 counterspells However, in the early game nothing changes, thanks to the cheapness of Spell Snare and Spell Pierce. I'm even thinking about replacing the 2 Mana Leak with additional copies of Spell Pierce/Snare, but they are a bit too narrow vs an open field.
• 12 Cantrips, 8 of which are instant-speed, to smooth our draws and fuel Delve, Prowess and Bedlam Reveler. (Now 15, if we count Mission Briefing as a semi-cantrip).
• 8 Removal spells, 6 of which are also damage-based (and can directly hit the opponent).

The cards included in these categories can change, but I think that this is a reasonable structure for a tempo deck against an open field.

Critiques and suggestions are very welcome.