Modern: Mono Blue Delver is OP | AnnihilatorMTG

What's up KZbin, this week we are going to be playing some more Modern, featuring cards from Modern Horizons 2! The deck I am playing is Mono Blue Delver. This list was originally inspired many years ago by Arthur Fusco, but the brand new cards in the format really make it feel so much stronger.
Please feel free to like, comment, subscribe, and hit the bell icon. Have a wonderful day!
Decklist:
Lands: 19
3x Scalding Tarn
2x Polluted Delta
2x Misty Rainforest
2x Flooded Strand
10x Island
Creatures: 14
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Brazen Borrower
4x Murktide Regent
Spells: 27
4x Thought Scour
4x Serum Visions
4x Vapor Snag
4x Counterspell
3x Disrupting Shoal
2x Force of Negation
4x Archmage's Charm
2x Dismember
Sideboard: 15
2x Echoing Truth
3x Mystical Dispute
2x Void Mirror
2x Ratchet Bomb
3x Dragon's Claw
3x Soul-Guide Lantern

[@hollandmoser9803]

Great content, definitely some of the best in regards to magic on KZbin.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Kind words my friend, I really appreciate it.

[@coolColombianguy]

You're a great control pilot, I like seeing your content. Didn't think Delver would see play again.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

That’s very kind of you to say. I wish I was better tbh, but it warms my heart to know someone feels that way. I really appreciate it.

[@jeeps95]

Your narration and commentary in the first matchup was quite good- your cadence and tone quickened! It was exciting! Well done! Would you ever consider adding some royalty-free music for added effect?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Definitely not against royalty free music, although my only concern is if whatever company licenses said music as royalty free got bought out, this might retroactively cause a lot of videos to get claimed. I have heard of this happening before. I’m always looking to improve things though, so I can promise you that I’ll do my best.

[@jeeps95]

@@AnnihilatorMTG your right- never thought of that. I love your content, so keep up the great work. It’s very precise and quick stuff. You don’t meander through your plays which I love. I wish I could play like this. Ha!

[@IcyWithItBTD]

Wow regent is lit asf, tempo game is back on the table! I would love to see a thing in the ice brew

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Isn’t it? Makes me super happy. I wouldn’t mind trying out a Thing in the Ice build I’m the future. Thanks for the comment!

[@mrsnezbit7094]

Agreed. Enjoyed the content, trying to make titi work as well with delver and some fae for the etb effects. Would love to see some thing in the ice tested out

[@IcyWithItBTD]

@@mrsnezbit7094 I don’t think delver plays well with titi, I made an izzet tempo faerie deck with titi & snap caster mage that was pretty good

[@romantell9131]

I got thing / heartless act in the sideboard for game 2, always a noce surprise xD

[@trevoris18]

There is something so satisfying about sending snapcaster into the red zone. Like a 2/1 is pretty small but man does he put in work.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I agree 100%. Being able to have an instant speed blocker, or just a dude you can flash in, then start attacking the next turn is incredibly useful. Always loved Snap.

[@Holden_Prio]

This is super strange, I recently subbed your channel, and I also recently built out a mono blue delver list to try for post MH2 release. What are the odds? Great content keep it up bud!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Great minds think alike!

[@lucashamilton7674]

Nice. Vapor snag was always high key underrated in my opinion. You can even bounce your own snaps to cast more counter spells. Wondering about adding red to this list for bolts and maybe sprite dragons? So happy counter spell made its way to modern :)

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Going blue red is definitely a worthwhile choice. It just makes me really happy to know that mono blue is actually on the table. I will likely be playing more delver lists again soon. This meta is gonna be a ton of fun.

[@lucashamilton7674]

@@AnnihilatorMTG for sure. Counterspell just makes all delver variants feel much better. Bye bye mana leak :)

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

@@lucashamilton7674 It served us all well for years, but I agree. Counterspell is here to stay and I couldn't be happier.

[@thisguy5254]

Great content as always! Only interesting thing I noticed at 4:00, you could have cast Serum Visions to stack the top for the Delver reveal and had double delver flips on turn 3.

[@kdmwalks]

Fantastic video and great editing. Really enjoyed. @10:01 just wanted to point out a line of lethal at that point with opponent tapped out which would have avoided another turn cycle for them, which could have lost the game if they played a Lava Dart at that point or alike for example. Line 1: Play Misty, crack grab island and play. Snap into Archmage Charm let's say draw 2 (archmage leaves graveyard via Flashback and triggers Murktide for an additional +1 +1 Counter, thus you had 9 damage on board with your previously flashed and non-summoning sickness Snap and now 7-7 Murktide).

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

My Murktide play can definitely use some work. I tend to be a little forgetful, so I appreciate your patience/suggestions.

[@kdmwalks]

@@AnnihilatorMTG tbh, it's always easier over somebody's shoulder :) but morso wanted to comment on how good the overall video was, looking forward to giving this list a try!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

@@kdmwalks Really makes my day to see such kind words. Here's hoping I can continue to make content you can enjoy. Cheers.

[@TinoPham]

Great deck. Love the 4k content and the time stamps. Hope you get to 1k subscribers soon. Keep up the good work!

[@UniqueisUnity]

Gotta stop endstep cracking fetches. Set a stop during your upkeep then use the fetch to filter your draws with Delver if it’s a bad card shuffle it away

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Bad habit I know. I’ll try to do better next time.

[@UniqueisUnity]

@@AnnihilatorMTG You got it! The decklist looked good! Maybe Snap is too much of a nombo with Regent, though? If Regent is a big part of the deck.

[@Toilet_Clogger1]

Delver back in modern, boy is this exciting

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Back with a vengeance. Hope you like the video!

[@Toilet_Clogger1]

Your channel is honestly my favorite Mtg channel to watch. Just pure magic with great minimal commentary. Keep it up!

[@jeffkoch34]

Whenever a Delver deck is viable in Modern or any format, that format is a HEALTHY one!!!! Finally brought me back to Modern!

[@packfiend3732]

Almost to 1k subs. Great video. First. Early....all that stuff! Also I love delver! Delver in modern for 2021.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Never thought I’d get this far. Always happy to see the Delver crew!

[@mattm9160]

Super tight play and the deck looks like straight gas. Love the content as always. Looking forward to what else you do with MH2 moving forward.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It felt so good to play. Glad you liked the video.

[@diobrando5896]

That deck is powerful

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It certainly feels like it!

[@sergiosanmuahahaha]

Great content as always.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Appreciate the love!

[@pascalraskal9347]

And they scope it up 😄

[@keyzack]

I think just a lil splash to red will really make it better, changing 2 dismembers and 1 shoal and 1 snag for 4 lightning bolts. Also 2 Fire/Ice could be a good card to run cutting 2 Archmage's Charm lowering your curve. And Just for science's sake maybe you could run some of the new Legendary monkeys instead of the Borrowers to see if it pays out?

[@romantell9131]

I really like this deck

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Sounds awesome. The black splash could be quite appealing. Would love to see a list. Either way thanks for the comment.

[@romantell9131]

@@AnnihilatorMTG i got thing in the ice/heartless act vs tribal decks for a turn 3/4 massbounce (if it works) and some thougseize surgical for combo decks.

[@josephdempewolf1708]

Update with Ledger Shredder coming soon??

[@benyseus6325]

Im still of the opinion that playing vapour snag over suspend is incorrect. I would also add the wizard laboratory land and add vendillion cliques to the sideboard if not the main, but the deck looks good.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I like suspend, a lot actually. I only ran the snags because I wanted a little extra damage. In some games it was definitely relevant. Clique is a solid option. There’s work to be done with archetype, specifically mono blue, but I think we’re making good progress.

[@user-cx5qb6wm1o]

I’m a beginner and I’m looking for a mono U deck as my first tabletop modern mtg deck. Do you think this one can still adapt to the meta in 2022? If so I’ll have a try. Anyway, both this video and this deck are awesome!

[@tylerehlert4998]

What deck do you think is the best in the modern format?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Overall best? I don’t think I can say. However, if I was playing in a major tournament , as of right now I would probably take one of the following: Some Cascade build URx (Blue Moon, Jeskai, etc) Griefblade Or as a wildcard I could play Mill.

[@Travis5857]

also againt the leyline why not use the faire adventure?

[@jesperkensen4559]

I might test this! What's your thought on the new card Suspend? Seems like a sweet blue tempo answer. Could in a pinch be used at your own Snaps aswell.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I think the farther we move away from needing to race our opponent, the more appealing suspend is compared to something like vapor snag. Definitely a solid card.

[@romantell9131]

Great vs all kind of tokens!

[@samuelvanetten4324]

Would you to do a mono green stompy idea?

[@scaraddeus4902]

Reeeally nice one!!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Much appreciated! Glad you liked it.

[@MickyThunderV]

Wait how again do you get the dragon on turn 2 ????

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Two Fetchlands with a turn 1 Thought Scour on yourself. That gives you five cards in the yard, with a max of a 6/6 Murktide.

[@Isin01]

Yes

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Cheers. Glad to see ya.

[@Voidload]

You can steal germ for kaldra!!!!!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

That you can!

[@sonsysy4195]

With all those islands, would Tempest Djinn also work here?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I think the big question there is how often do we wanna tap out. If it’s more, then yeah it’s probably a fine card, if it isn’t, then I’d suggest looking elsewhere. Honestly I’d have to do some testing with it.

[@wiemerzijlema6541]

what doyou think of spellstutter sprite in the current meta? alot of relevant stuff gets hit and you seemed to have had removal issues.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I’ve wanted to try some kind of build with Spellstutter Sprite, especially considering Sprite Dragon is also a Faerie. Just haven’t gotten around to finding a build I really like. Great thought though, I’ll have to continue to look into builds.

[@philippwo8]

At 10:01 could you have had lethal by attack with the regent and the snap, flashing in the other snap, casting the charm, and triggering the regent to squeeze out 9 dmg with the 7/7?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Hmm didn't even see that. Little bit rusty with the new cards, but I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

[@Travis5857]

on game 2 it wouldve been much better to preordain to set up double delver since you didnt intend to use the fetch for any strategic purpose

[@MagicMetalMoney]

Delver? Can it be??

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

The one and only

[@SinisterSwiss]

Dumb question I'm sure but how come you have fetches when you only run islands? I'm clearly missing something here but I'm still mostly new so go easy lmao

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Hey don’t worry about it. New to the game or not you’re always welcome. I mainly include fetches so I can fuel the graveyard for our delve threats (Murktide Regent) and to be able to force shuffles on demand. Let’s say you have two delvers during your upkeep. Two triggers go on the stack. If the top card isn’t an instant/sorcery, you can fetch before the second trigger resolves. Giving you another shot at flipping a delver. There are other reasons as well but those are the most important IMO. Anywhere between 6-10 fetches should be fine if you wanna run them. Just go with the cheapest blue fetches available. Thanks for the comment!

[@someperson7622]

this list is sweet, Id have potentially swapped dismember for suspend, but unsure, with delver and regent of oh ur totes fucked I dunno if it matters, just watch out for boil, I got semi wrecked last friday to boil, it only hit 4 lands turn 8ish (im currently on esper control) but it felt super bad and put me off of activating celestial colonnade for a few turns

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Yeah I'm all for suspend, especially when we have the speed, which the list surprisingly has in spades. Boil is a menace for sure, although I don't run into it all that often. Thanks for the comment!

[@alexandergray5134]

what type of islands are you using? they're SICK and I can't find them anywhere

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Guru Islands. Pretty sure the major card sellers have em. They’re much much cheaper online than in paper. But yeah I think they’re sick.

[@MrFarnanonical]

The first 30 seconds of watching you play annoyed the shit out of me, I kept thinking why does he have to call everything out, then 5 seconds later I realized that calling everything out and cutting out all the downtime... pro-level move. It makes this is so easy to watch, especially on x2 speed.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I've been working on trying to make the commentary better with the cuts. The actual approach to talking is way different than just casually doing normal commentary. You really have to watch your speech and make sure to avoid repetitive words, even within the span of like 10 minutes real time, because that'll only be like 1-2 minutes when edited down. Either way, I really do appreciate your patience, and I'm going to continue to try to make it better.

[@omegapen]

like mono blue delver alot you think murktide and snapcaster is a problem in the same deck ?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I can see how they would get in each other's way, but honestly I feel like individually they are both so powerful that its hard not to run both. As others have mentioned, flashing back stuff also boosts your currently resolved regent, which is pretty rad.

[@omegapen]

@@AnnihilatorMTG y it's true will try it when murktide gets a little cheaper on mtgo iem hyped about this card

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

@@omegapen It's a blast to play with, so when the price does drop (hopefully it does) you'll have loads of fun with it.

[@palmitomtg2226]

Delver with red still good ?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It absolutely is. I just went with mono blue because it’s a special deck to me. I plan on making videos with other delver variants in the future.

[@palmitomtg2226]

@@AnnihilatorMTG do you have a list for me ? a ur delver list

[@aaronspoelman4692]

bro needs to learn how to hold cracking his fetch until his upkeep delver trigger. no reason to end step fetch since you don't play shocklands

[@romantell9131]

Teach me please, dont know what you mean.

[@hummingbard4513]

I don’t quite understand why you show games from different leagues like you played a straight league from g1 to g5. It’s not like you have to only show the victories.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I pick the stuff with the best commentary and since my schedule is all over the place I end up dropping a lot of games. Also for what it’s worth, I’m not showing it as if I played a straight league. Some videos have 3 matches, some 4, some 5. Usually whatever comes first between 17-25+ min after the edits, which there are a ton of. This one happened to have 5 matches.

[@werft2266]

a lot of misplays..

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

No doubt about it. I do my best, but it doesn't always go perfectly.

[@mutaharyourmomisinmyharema1373]

Why u talk like that?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Not sure I get what you mean. If you’re talking about how the video is cut / edited. My goal with these videos is to make magic content that can be consumed quickly, to respect the viewers time. If that ain’t your thing, that’s totally cool. I just appreciate the chance.