Howdy folks, it's Joe again, and we're back on track after our little foray into Vintage last time to talk about what is now considered to be one of the best decks in the Legacy format: Grixis Delver!

For the kids in the class that haven't been paying attention, Grixis Delver is the definitive tempo/control "Xerox" type deck of the format, playing efficient threats backed up with permission and removal to ensure they are able to maintain control of the game while presenting a clock to the opponent. You might be interested in Grixis Delver if you like interactive games where both players are fully engaged.

A Brief History of Grixis Delver

The roots of Grixis Delver jump all the way back to the very release of the Innistrad expansion back in 2011, as players became keenly aware of how strong Delver of Secrets

Grixis began climbing a little once Return to Ravica was printed however, thanks to the little elf that could: Deathrite Shaman

However, Grixis still wasn't quite as popular as other Delver variants, and with the release of Khans of Tarkir, very nearly disappeared from the format entirely. The printing of Treasure Cruise

After the ban of Treasure Cruise

With the banning of Sensei's Divining Top

The Modern Look of Grixis Delver

Let's take a look at a recent list, this one coming to us from Star City Games Worcester Legacy Open from March 2018, the 1st place list from Drake Sasser.

Grixis Delver - Drake Sasser (1st Place - SCG Worcester 3/18)

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Gurmag Angler
2 True-Name Nemesis
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Pierce
1 Forked Bolt
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder

1 Abrade
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Dismember
2 Flusterstorm
2 Price of Progress
2 Pyroblast
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Marsh Casualties

Efficient and powerful, Grixis is a solid and interactive deck. Let's take a look at some of the core card choices.

Delver of Secrets

The definitive name of the deck, Delver presents a flying clock that is sometimes near unbeatable when backed up by permission and removal. With 27 instant/sorceries in the deck, the chances of even blind-flipping Delver are very high.

Deathrite Shaman

The ubiquitous 1-mana "planeswalker", DRS provides Delver mana advantage, graveyard hate, and ways to grind longer games out.

Gurmag Angler / True-Name Nemesis / Young Pyromancer

The deck has seen different numbers of these in its various iterations, but it's a given that the deck is playing these cards for their versatility, efficiency, and synergy with the deck's game plan.

The "Blue" deck suite - Brainstorm / Daze / Force of Will / Ponder

The very reason alone to play blue in Legacy, being able to cast Brainstorm

Wasteland

The most common limiter of the format's greedy manabases, Wasteland

The "Burn" - Lightning Bolt / Forked Bolt

Playing red and not playing Bolt would be a bit of a crime, as its efficiency is unmatched for what it does. Being able to remove creatures and deal damage to the opponent is very important for a deck that wants to present and push through a clock.

Other Card Choices / Lists

The primary stock of Grixis Delver mainly looks like the list above, but there are slight variations on the main deck and sideboard. Take, for instance, the 3rd place list from SCG Worcester by Jeffrey White.

Grixis Delver - Jeffrey White (3rd Place - SCG Worcester 3/18)

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Gurmag Angler
2 True-Name Nemesis
2 Young Pyromancer
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Pierce
2 Stifle
1 Forked Bolt
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder

1 Pithing Needle
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Flusterstorm
2 Pyroblast
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Marsh Casualties

Jeffrey's build is slightly different, with the same core creatures and the same blue suite, except he is also playing Stifle

In addition, Jeffrey's playing a wider variety of fetch lands than Drake's deck, which is smart given the wider array of cards like Sorcerous Spyglass

For the most part however, much of the main deck and even popular sideboard choices have been greatly homogenized to these two styles of lists, as analysis and experience have shown that this is currently the most powerful iteration of the deck.

Sideboard Choices

Let's take a look at these two sideboards and talk about why these decks are playing the cards they are there.

Abrade

Abrade

Diabolic Edict

Thanks to the rise of decks like Lands and Sneak/Show, Diabolic Edict

Flusterstorm

While generally being a powerful card in the Storm matchup, Flusterstorm

Pyroblast

Pyroblast

Cabal Therapy

One of the most powerful and skill testing cards in the format next to Brainstorm

Surgical Extraction

The graveyard hate of choice these days, Surgical provides a lot of utility as well versus combo decks by being able to strip a combo deck of its combo pieces post discard.

Marsh Casualties

For BB this card kills your opponent's small creatures and not yours, which is really strong against decks that like to go wide (like the mirror match with Young Pyromancer

Liliana, the Last Hope

A powerhouse of a card, Liliana does it all. Being able to keep opponent's creatures in check (and possibly make bigger creatures pale in comparison to Gurmag Angler

Pithing Needle

Another solid catch-all answer, Pithing Needle

Wrapping Up

That's all the time we have for this article, I certainly hope you've enjoyed this brief look into one of the best decks this format has to offer. Next time, we're gonna keep up the hype train by continuing to look at various lists from other "Decks to Beat" in the format, by taking a good hard look at the current iteration of Miracles!

Until then, keep promoting and playing Eternal Magic!

Joe Dyer