Top 10 Worst Delve Cards in Magic: the Gathering

[@trubica]

Shambling Attendants actually saw competitive play in a Pauper combo deck named Fishelbrand, where it was the most expensive mana cost creature you could cheat out and then use Energy Tap and Burnt Offering to turn it into mana and/or cast Rush of Knowledge to draw 8.

[@superbaas8822]

And he actually noted it being playable in pauper when putting it above some of the others.

[@Spooky_Bard]

You can't really blame Death Rattle for being weak. It was the first delve card ever released alongside tombstalker, back in Future Sight when the mechanic was more of a fun little oddity than anything they'd base a set around.

[@fernandobanda5734]

It has a reason to be weak, but that doesn't mean it isn't weak.

[@tubebrocoli]

Also, at the time unconditional Black creature renoval wasn't a thing. It was always nonblack breatures that they destroyed. Dearh Rattle was very unique in that you could kill black creatures with it, and this came up so many times in our tables.

[@hilleleisenberg6382]

top 10 worst storm cards would be cool to, in the same vain as this vid. seeing where a famously busted mechanic doesn't save a card from obscurity is really interesting.

[@DJFracus]

top 10 worst dredge would just be whichever cards have the lowest dredge counts lol

[@superbaas8822]

@@DJFracus as you can see from actually watching the video, this is far from the case.

[@DJFracus]

@@superbaas8822 this video is a completely different case, basically the only thing that matters on Dredge cards is the Dredge count. which is why Golgari Grave-Troll is the best one.

[@superbaas8822]

@@DJFracus Actually the issue was my brain confused Dredge and Delve, that's on me.

[@nicolinrucker5181]

it's funny. in LoR there was a card called Homecoming that was basically Rite of Undoing but no Delve and cost 4, players used to run three of them(the max number of copies) and three Ionian Tellstones(where you paid 1 to get a copy of one of three spells that you paid full price for anyway) because Tellstones made six copies of Homecoming, because that effect is really good in LoR.

[@archwing3441]

Funny, As someone who tries to make Yasuo work every season, I was thinking the exact same thing. I don't know if it's because MtG never really made a self-bounce archetype or the fact that in Runeterra, because damage carries over between turns, a self bounce doubling up as a heal is a lot more beneficial in Runeterra. It could also be because you can develop board during both player's turn so it's much easier to always have a creature out.

[@selectivepontification8766]

Mana is also a big factor since you get mana for free in LoR, and it refreshes on each turn instead of only on your turn Also, spell mana means Homecoming can potentially come down for the equivalent of 1 mana at minimum; combine that with the overall smaller boards and creatures often having higher mana costs than things in MtG, and you get a card that can make a huge tempo minus for your opponent

[@thaddeusgenhelm8979]

Also, to be fair, the basic "bounce anything" spell in LoR *also* costs 4, as opposed to 2, so it's clear the mana of the two games aren't exactly comperable.

[@screamyhawk4004]

I don't think Tasigur's Cruelty is that bad. When you're playing discard in commander, you don't need your opponents to start discard until you have some payoffs. In that time, it's easy to have like 2 another cards in graveyard, or even 3. At that time 4 CMC for making discard 6 cards in total from your opponents really worth it. Obviously it's not for cEDH.

[@indykwatra2237]

I agree that the card works fine in low power edh. However In every other format, the card is garbage and should absolutely make the list.

[@awwkieb3864]

11:23 I think that's is also important to remeber that what makes thoughtseize so strong is that YOU choose the card that gets discarded. It's good in pretty much all matchups and is absolutely devastating against combo decks. The only thing preventing it to be banned inot oblivion is that it's a sorcery and not an instant

[@normanbromley-xd7ls]

It seems to me that WOTC didn't want to deal with the headaches of instant speed disruption where turns would take forever anytime a player takes an action, thinking and choosing what they need first in case instant speed hand disruption would foil their plans.

[@baconsir1159]

I wonder if Set Adrift would have dodged this list if it was an instant

[@theemathas]

Shambling Attendents saw some play in pauper as a combo piece in Fishoalbrand.

[@baconsir1159]

I’d imagine Tasigur’s Cruelty could be good in a Commander Tergrid deck

[@Mavczers]

When I was playing Prerelease of Khans of tarkir I remember that self milling and having almost any delve card would win the game.

[@themantyf1116]

There is a thing you have overlooked for Tasigur's Cruelty, which is "each opponent". Since magic has a number of multiplayer formats, including his most popular one as of now, effects that target multiple opponents can turn out much stronger there even if not competitively viable, particularly since they tend to be slower and less aggressive in general, even more so in commander with the higher life total. While Tasigur's Cruelty isn't exactly great there, it's still a card you are fine casting later on, takes out a total of six cards and only requires to exile three cards to get a better cost than similar cards, which means it can be played, and makes it better than Dead Drop which gets worse in multiplayer. This is also what can make paralysis spells like sleep useful in those formats, but just like Dead Drop the limited targets of Will of the Naga preclude it from being useful there as well.

[@hatredlord]

The real competition to Set Adrift would have to have been Commit//Memory. 4 mana is worse than the 3 from Time Ebb, but it's an instant AND it hits spells. Either of those would be easily worth that extra mana. The aftermath may also help eventually, i guess.

[@javierpatag3609]

I have a pauper deck that runs a lot of cards like Time Ebb. Even if Set Adrift was common and legal for Pauper, there are just too many better cards of that effect to make it worth including, even if it has delve. For that matter, where most of those cards are costed around 3 and can go up to 5 at most, delve being able to reduce Set Adrift's cost to just 1 is too narrow an advantage to make it worth using.

[@cream3148]

me seeing shambling attendants and remembering Caleb Gannon's pauper storm decklist: Fishelbrand. The deck ran a playset of them.

[@pedromunoz7144]

Are there good freeze effects? Or can you do a failed mechanics about freeze?

[@DmonikChris]

Flying can also be blocked by creatures with reach

[@Aleph3575]

One of the problems with Delve cards is that they kinda have to be somewhat underpowered and/or overcosted because with the Delve mechanic, you can gain so much tempo. Like with the first card on this list, this is a huge tempo loss for your opponent if you hit this at a reasonable time, and it basically timewalks them and eats their next draw step. Of course most of this is only true in draft or sealed formats, especially sealed since you get more packs and generally have slower games. imagine you pay 5 mana for a card and your opponent taps one blue and exiles some stuff to waste your turn and your next draw step. Then uses their remaining mana to drop a bomb you don't have an answer to. I know you aren't super invested in Limited formats, but remember that most of these Delve cards are the way they are because of Limited. 2:41 See, this card is absolutely insane in Limited where a 3/3 Flyer requires premium removal to kill or higher mana costs to trade. 3:43 Another insane Limited all-star. This card is literally unbeatable if your opponent drops it on you and you didn't have one of the like 2 cards in the entire Khans set that could deal with it during Khans limited. 13:55 Yeah this is probably the second card that is ACTUALLY bad on this list even in the context of Limited format, the first being Tasigur's Cruelty because Mind Rot effects are really bad in Limited . Don't get me wrong, I know that the VAST majority of these cards are only good in limited, but this was not a card you wanted to spend cards or mana to cast unless you knew you would win the game doing so. The problem being that this card does almost nothing to actually help you win the game, or help you catch up if you are behind.

[@afriendofafriend5766]

Could you do a ranking of the best constellation cards?

[@7Alberto7]

Amazing!

[@LarsIsReal]

There are bad cards with Delve, whaaat?!?

[@gerudo4sale861]

Definitely heard something other than "Murderers Cut" 🤣🤣🤣

[@ВасяПупкин-ш3ф4у]

there is 3 mana card in m21 that has will's of the naga effect but has no delve

[@Pedun42]

Top ten epic cards next please. Maybe for April.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Epic? Aren't there only five of them?

[@Pedun42]

@@fernandobanda5734 that's the joke, yes.

[@FloTaishou]

Top 10 Vehicles

[@plytachodnik]

Does anybody know the mamę of the outro music?

[@samorottheraccoon754]

Top 10 worst Planeswalkers Top 10 most beloved sets

[@bbancaking1298]

Top 10 best madness cards

[@panzerjaeger3847]

I’ve had ppl actually play cards that you mentioned were bad in edh but get pissed when told they were bad 😂

[@apoena-allnitemusic7203]

Delver of Secrets had "some success"...

[@florianb107]

Those spells are only good with Yuriko

[@nanya524]

Empty the Pits works with cards that turn the black pips into black phyrexian mana. Now you pay 8 life and however much mana you can spare (Urborg and Cabal Coffers helps with that) and get a bunch of 2/2 zombies.

[@hobez64]

I'd argue its spot on the list is still exactly where it should be. Seeing a bit of play in Krrik decks in commander won't do much to adjust the placement, especially since it isn't cEDH viable due to how slow and meaningless the card is in such a fast format

[@shikabaneconga]

destruction tends to be worth 2 mana actually.

[@zebrastripedyt6050]

top 10 bad cards that are banned in a format

[@thedandygun7924]

Good to know all these cards have Delve, would have never guessed

[@AT-il2ej]

Lists like this aren't fair because sets are designed with limited in mind.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Fair to who? It's just cards and some cards have to be the worst.

[@akumamatataaa]

Woot

[@Shahid2971]

Second

[@dylanevans9]

AHAHAHA FIRST!!!! Notifications gang

[@SpongyeWest]

I feel like there are way more compelling themes for this video formula then “let’s dunk on draft commons for being draft commons”.

[@williamdrum9899]

Honestly these cards don't seem bad, just mediocre at best

[@kennydarmawan13]

6:58 Ee-deek, not E-deck.

[@akumamatataaa]

😕

[@akumamatataaa]

E-dict

[@ashleychim]

Some of these cards were just fine in limited. You don't seem to take that into consideration.

[@fernandobanda5734]

They might be fine but are they not the worst anyway? Some card has to be the worst.

[@ashleychim]

@@fernandobanda5734 That's fair. I'm just saying that cards that have no limited or constructed use should be the worst. Dead Drop and Set Adrift did what they tried to do quite well and I remember being very happy to have both during Khans limited, as were other people.

[@dark_rit]

Some of these are alright in limited, like making an opponent sacrifice 2 creatures was at least passable kind of. The problem with these in limited is that a deck could only support so many delve cards in limited and you'd rather have more powerful options than stuff like will of the naga because treasure cruise was a common and was way, way better than will of the naga in limited.

[@Aleph3575]

@@fernandobanda5734 Yeah the earlier cards like Death Rattle, but cards like Dead Drop, Set Adrift, and especially cards like Sultai Scavenger and Empty the Pits (which was basically unbeatable in Khans Limited) were all big limited players. His complaint about Sultai Scavengers was "its easily killed by Lightning bolt". Yeah, now imagine playing a format where most Lightning Bolt equivalents cost 3-5 mana and are either rare or uncommon at the lowest rarities and as a result someone playing red might not even have a single copy, nevermind a playset like someone playing red in Modern would. And creatures of the same stat line and ability for other mechanics cost 5 mana without the ability to make it cheaper or had drawbacks. This is why Jeskai was so bad in OG Khans limited, as only a couple of their cards had statlines that lined up with their mana costs and usually required other spells to make them better via prowess (if you cast a non-creature spell, this creature gets +1+1 and usually some other benefit) the actually good Prowess cards like Ojutai or Monastery Mentor came out in Fate Reforged. So imagine you play Jeskai against a Delve deck that pays 2 mana for a 3/3 flyer and the card you have to match it is a 2/2 for five mana that only gains flying if you cast a non-creature spell lol.

[@cax1175]

These cards see very little play in edh as well, also hurting their cases. Cards obviously are better in limited where they have less competition.