Legacy - Izzet Delver: Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! When I wrote this article, I remembered a scene from Avengers: Endgame, when all the heroes meet the villain, Thanos, and he says: "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me."

That seems to be the ultimate truth for Legacy: whenever another chaotic meta ends, we return to an old friend - Delver. In this post-ban meta, we're still getting used to all the Tarkir cards and debating what is the best blue tempo list, but we can't deny Izzet Delver has been getting a lot from one of the most popular cards from the new set:

Delver is Legacy's safe haven. Even when it isn't the best deck, it is always reliable and can beat any other archetype in the format. Nonetheless, it is rarely dominant against any other deck in particular.

Cori-Steel Cutter gives this deck another way to attack, that is, a strategy we had left behind since the Young Pyromancer days. It gives us a way to fill the board with creatures, but doesn't force us to give up what this deck already does naturally: play many low-cost spells in a row and put pressure on the opponent.

I must have written more articles about Delver variations than any other deck throughout all of these years at Cards Realm. The core of today's list, played by _INF_ to win a Magic Online (MTGO) League, is very close to the same skeleton we've discussed over and over: Delver of Secrets, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Lightning Bolt, Force of Will, Brainstorm, Ponder, Daze, Murktide Regent, Wasteland, and a sly Brazen Borrower to save us from unexpected situations.

Just like the lists with Dragon's Rage Channeler, 4 Mishra's Bauble are also the standard, as they let you activate the Channeler's Delirium.

This is where the spice comes in, though.

Cori-Steel Cutter reminds me of Monastery Mentor: both create tokens that can become oppressive quite quickly. Though it doesn't do that as efficiently as Monastery Mentor, Cori-Steel Cutter is much harder to deal with, and costs 1 less mana, which is a brutal difference in a format as efficient as Legacy. Keep in mind that Cutter's ability triggers on both turns, so casting 2 spells on your opponent's turn will give you another token.

As the idea is to start creating tokens with it from the second turn it is in play onwards, the best way to use it is to put it on the board on turn 2 and follow up with a 0-cost spell. And that's why, besides Mishra's Bauble, this list also uses Urza's Bauble!

Three Urza's Bauble complement the rest of the list. Besides feeding Cori-Steel Cutter, they accelerate this entire strategy, as they enable Murktide Regent's Delve and Dragon's Rage Channeler's Delirium. On the other side, as Urza's Bauble's card draw doesn't work like Brainstorm and Ponder, sometimes it can make you too much at ease but not bring you the answer you need.

I may sound a bit repetitive, but here goes my standard advice for all decks like this: this deck plays a lot of card draw and can work with just a few lands. So, ideally, look for hands with 1 or 2 lands and ways to make it work. A third land would only be acceptable if it is a Wasteland, if the rest of your hand is fire, or if you have a Brainstorm to get rid of dead cards.

Another common mistake is keeping hands that are too reactive. Remember, this is an aggro deck!

For instance:

This hand might not be able to put a creature in play on turn 1, but it is the sort of hand this deck loves: it has Force of Will for protection, a truckload of card draw, Wasteland to disrupt your opponent, and can also fit a Murktide Regent quite early on.

Verdict: Keep.

This is the type of 3-land hand that you can keep, as it has enough pressure for the first two turns, and Brainstorm can not only find you protection or action, but also prepare your Delvers so you can transform them. The fetch land will shuffle any unwanted cards you might draw.

Verdict: Keep.

This one is a no-go, though it seems tempting. As it doesn't have any card draw, you'll have to rely on Channeler's ability to filter cards, and a Wasteland can completely ruin your match.

Verdict: Mulligan.

This hand is interesting. Brazen Borrower offers some defense, and the Baubles will make sure Delver transforms: you'll activate one of them at the end of the opponent's turn. If your top card is decent, set up the stack at your upkeep to reveal it before you draw it. If it isn't, draw it before you reveal it, and get another shot to evolve your 1/1 into a 3/2.

Verdict: Keep.

_INF_ was relatively straightforward when they built this sideboard. With lists that play this many cantrips, players often use several singles to cover more threats in the format, but the list we're working with is more redundant. Pyroblast (and its sister, Red Elemental Blast) is the most straightforward and efficient answer for any blue deck, and so we play 4 of them. There's nothing else to say. This sideboard also plays two copies of its counterpart, Hydroblast, which is great against Red Stompy and useful in the mirror. You can use it to kill Dragon's Rage Channeler or Cori-Steel Cutter, or counter the counter, (Pyroblast).

Price of Progress destroys slower decks with extensive mana bases, like BUG Beans, Cloudpost Ramp, and Eldrazi. Surgical Extraction and Grafdigger's Cage cover graveyard matchups, and Force of Negation is another 0-cost answer for super-fast combos.

Finally, Meltdown is excellent against decks like Forge or Painter, which fill the board with low-cost artifacts.

Other common cards in this sideboard are Abrade, Blood Moon, Brazen Borrower, Consign to Memory, Counterbalance, Engineered Explosives, and Unlicensed Hearse.

Dimir Aggro

The key card in this matchup is Barrowgoyf. If it enters play, you're in trouble. You can even sort of control its size with Murktide Regent's Delve, but that's not always enough. As a result, you won't follow the standard rule for all Tempo decks and remove all your Force of Will. You'll still need a few answers.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

This is a race: you'll try, at all costs, to prevent them from resolving Show and Tell or Sneak Attack, and also pray one of your creatures wraps it up, fast.

Post-side, you'll add even more counters. Lightning Bolt doesn't do much in this matchup, so we'll remove it.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

Chalice of the Void and Blood Moon can be disruptive, but the opponent will need to push spells over your counters, and will end up spending too many resources.

Wasteland is still brutal when you use it on an Ancient Tomb.

Overall, Delver is slightly favored in this matchup. Daze isn't that reliable because they often play around it with Simian Spirit Guide.

In:

Out:

Reanimator

The king is dead - long live the reanimated king of the dead. Even without Troll of Khazad-dûm, Reanimator is still a threat. Currently, these lists are quite diverse: some play blue and Tempo elements, and others are Monoblack.

Against Blue Reanimator

In:

Out:

Against All Other Reanimators

In:

Out:

Painter

Painter is dangerous: besides comboing out of nowhere, it plays several Blasts in the main deck, which will make your life harder. Painter's Servant needs to die as soon as possible because it makes their Blasts even more powerful and can begin the combo at any moment.

Murktide Regent is often a risky investment in the middle of all of this, whereas Cori-Steel Cutter doesn't have as much trouble.

In:

Out:

Delver, as usual, is still a force to be reckoned with. Cori-Steel Cutter has shown its strength in other formats, and apparently found a home in Legacy as well. All we have to do now is keep an eye on the meta and see which archetypes start playing Tarkir cards.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!