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Author Topic: [Modern] BG Modern Delirium  (Read 418 times)

BLIZXEN

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[Modern] BG Modern Delirium
« on: October 08, 2021, 03:16:54 pm »
BG Modern Delirium

I'm working on a budget BG Delirium Modern list, an upgrade from an older casual list of mine. I've got it in mostly working order for an FNM, though it definitely isn't finished, so I have a list of concerns and considerations that I could use some help with:
1: How does the creature curve look? The deck's a little heavy on the 3 drops creature wise, but imo this is for good reason, as the deck is very focused on getting delirium active t2 and profiting turn 3, so three drops make this a lot easier. Then again, it's modern, should I aim a little lower?
2: How good do you think autumnal gloom is? I think it might be good. If you turn delirium on 2, on three this comes down and flips at end step, making for a very serious threat. On its front side, it's an enchantment, making it hard to remove before it flips into a 4/4 trample hexproof, making it a pain in the ass to remove. And, it's activated ability helps you get there if you're not already there with delirium. It also can be gotten off of commune with the gods, making that card a lot better. I think it might be better than it initially seems.
3: How good is inexorable blob? I don't think that it's very good. Without delirium, it's a 3 mana 3/3 with no way to turn on delirium. It's slow, it dies to blot, but if you can get in, it's kinda nuts (a 3/3! Tapped and attacking!). I feel like it's not great, do you think I'm right on that assessment? If not, what should I run?
4: How do y'all feel about mournwillow? I've had good experiences with it being a total blowout (sometimes) in a casual setting, and I think It could have similar potential. On it's floor, it's a 3 mana 3/2 with haste, could be alot worse, and at best it shatters board stalls like it's nothing. I feel like it could be good, but I also feel like it's pretty bad, especially in modern.
5: Given all of my hemming and hawing on my 3 drops, what would y'all recommend? What serves as a powerful payoff for this gimmick in modern at 3 (on a budget!)?
6: How good do you think commune with the gods? My buddy though it was a few too many grisly salvage effects without enough payoff, but autumnal gloom makes it a lot more worth it, because a: you're much more incentivated to have delirium on by t2 with autumnal gloom, as otherwise it's a three mv do-nothing enchantment, so the more salvages, the better, and b: You can find autumnal gloom off of commune. Also, you can find lignify off of commune. That's decent.
7: How do y'all feel about regrowth? The deck puts a lot of things into it's yard, but it only gets use out of so many of those cards and can only really save it's permanents with it's salvage effects. Thus, if I hit a maelstrom pulse or traverse the ulvenwald off of salvage, I can't save it, and if I need it, I'm screwed. That was one addition from the casual days of the deck when I kept losing to that kind of thing. Also, it generally gives the deck more resiliency, which is very important to a slower strategy in modern. You have to be very consistent and reliable for a slower strategy to be worth it. But also, regrowth is kinda not great in modern.
8: How do you feel about terrarion? This is again from the casual days, and it serves as a pretty serviceable one drop: Fixes your mana, digs into your deck, puts an artifact into your yard for delirium, all in all pretty dece. Also, not particularly powerful or that useful for modern. Is it a keep or a cut?
9: How do you feel about lignify? This is a tribal enchantment, and tribal counts towards towards delirium (wow, I know), so it's kinda gas to self-mill. It's efficient and not half-bad in terms of removal, so I really like it for those reasons. Also, you can find it off of commune with the gods. But also, it's not that great as removal and presents a painful blocker, so maybe I should cut it? But that wouldn't be good for my type diversity, I think. Is it a keep or a cut?
10: Is golgari rot farm worth it? This is from the casual days as a way to fix mana and get away with running only 20 lands. Since it taps for 2, you can make more mana than lands, so fewer lands get you farther while theoretically being the same tempo loss as a tap land. With the upgrades, however, the deck's a good deal more lean, the deck already finds plenty of lands off of the salvages, and the tempo loss and sequencing demands become pretty bad in modern. I think I should just cut this for a proper dual land, am I right on this? Maybe I need to cut this and play two more lands.
11: Is deathbonnet sprout a good one drop? I'm really not sure here. Gnarlwood Dryad is undoubtedly nuts in this list, but sprout? One the one hand, it mills you itself, helping you get there on delirium, and when it flips, you just need to exile as many creature cards as you can afford to without blowing delirium, as the growth ability is a may. If it flips t2, you're cooking with pure gas. On the other hand, the deck isn't built to have a high density of creatures in the yard, it's built to have a high density of card types in the yard, so the deck is not very good at flipping sprout. However, the deck is in need of aggressive and productive one drops, and death bonnet could be very good in this role. I don't think it's the move, but I could be seriously underestimating it. What do you think?
12: Should I cut grapple with the past? The reasons for this card are two-fold: one, when I opened my very first fat pack, aslo my first big collection of new cards (it being of eldritch moon), I opened like 3 of these and built a graveyard deck with them. Grapple was always great, so I have fond memories of this being gas. Also, it gets back any land or creature from the yard, not just ones among those that it mills, so it kind of doubles as an additional regrowth. It's pretty good, I think, but I'd love to hear you tear it apart and suggest something better.
13: What would make for a better two drop? The 2 drop slot in this deck is packed, but largely with salvage effects and lignifies. You're mostly focused on turning on delirium on t2, so 2 drop creatures are awkward and slow in this context. However, there are some infamously good 2 drops to run. The current play is Moldgraf Scavenger, which *might* be the next best thing behind grim flayer and tarmogoyf. Disregarding budget concerns for a minute here (both flayer and goyf are out of the budget of the deck right now), which of the two is better? Goyf is the much more capable aggressive option, but flayer helps manipulate your yard in a big way. Regarding budget, is there anything better than moldgraf? I'm thinking about scavenging ooze (fnm promo copies are in my collection), but that's a nonbow, right? Or is it a situation similar to deathbonnet hulk, where you just hit as many creature cards as you can afford. It's also a mana sink, which the deck does not want for the turns immediately after two, so scooze could in many situations just end up being a bear until you would have the mana to pay for it. Despite this, is it still better than scavenger? Or is there budget, synergistic, two drop that I'm totally missing?
Ok that's it. In all, I love the block this is about (SOI), I love the mechanic, I love the deck, and I love the format. I have some considerations, though, and they boil down to these:
Does the deck have an appropriate density of threats to win a game of modern?
Is this strategy and are these threats resilient and tough enough to stand up to powerful disruption?
Does this deck balance these threats with an appropriately flexible and capable spell base, effective at activating delirium, disrupting an opponent's threats, and servicing a healthy balance of card types? and
Is this deck fast enough, consistently enough, to win?
Right now, I don't know, but I am looking at a few changes. I'll probably go up to 4 commune and cut something, and I'll likely go up lignfys and autumn glooms to help balance out card types. Past that, these questions help determine the rest of the improvements. Also, as you may have noticed, I haven't started on the sideboard yet. Ishkanah, Grafwidow goes in, but what else (on a budget)?. Thanks for reading, appreciate any insight!
(p.s I know this would just be better in pioneer but then you lose lignify, affordable artifact lands, and regrowth, and also it's hard to find pioneer events around me rn so I want to focus on modern, thx!)

« Last Edit: October 08, 2021, 08:30:47 pm by BLIZXEN »