Delve in to Duskmantle

"I feel no fear. This shall be a momentous night. The Dimir have offered me power at a price. But it is power none the less. 
"Now I shall glimpse unblinking into the void - and draw strength from the suffering of others."  Varzatha, Seer of Duskmantle

Having been out of the Magic scene for a while now I thought I'd spend a bit of time writing for the blog instead of the news. 

I'd wanted to build a Grixis control deck but found that it was too slow to deal with the aggressive decks that were dominating the format at the time.
Sticking with the U/B/R theme I wanted to try something different and looked at resurrecting an old enemy of mine, Delver of Secrets.
Although it runs the flipping human wizard I wouldn't call it a Delver deck as such as it's nowhere near as annoying as the white/blue decks that countered everything you did and was, quite frankly, boring to play with and against.

The new deck taps in to the power of cheap Grixis spells and the potential of a mythic vampire with the aim of disrupting and delaying an opponent while slowly building an advantage. It also has the potential to kill them with their own cards, which always makes things interesting.

Here is what I would be running at FNM:

Lands 22

Watery Grave x 4
Steam Vents x 4
Blood Crypt x 3
Drowned Catacomb x 3
Sulfur Falls x 3
Dragonskull Summit x 2
Nephalia Drownyard x 1
Island x 1
Mountain x 1

Creatures 15

Delver of Secrets x 4
Augur of Bolas x 4
Snapcaster Mage x 3
Duskmantle Seer x 4 

Spells 23

Counterflux x 1
Devour Flesh x 1
Dimir Charm x 4
Dreadbore x 1
Izzet Charm x 2
Mizzium Mortars x 1
Runechanter's Pike x 2
Searing Spear x 4
Syncopate x 3
Think Twice x 4

Normally, I wouldn't run a deck comprising 22 lands; but this deck is different in that it can function reasonably well due to the low mana costs of its spells. The highest costing spell is Duskmantle Seer, which I'll discuss later, then one Counterflux. The rest of the deck is made up of spells of two mana or less.

The deck plays few creatures but they are all quite effective and interact well with the spells that make up the majority of the deck.
Delver of Secrets has already proved to be one of the best one-drops in standard, attacking for three in the air on turn two in most instances, and with lots of instants and sorceries in the deck it's unlucky when a Delver doesn't flip in to an Aberration.
Augur of Bolas provides an early blocker while filtering three cards for a spell to stall and disrupt an opponent. The trick is knowing when to cast him as you may end up sending lands you need to the bottom of your deck.
Snapcaster Mage - enough said. Provides a surprise blocker, reuses spells etc etc etc.
Duskmantle Seer. The grim looking bloodsucking wizard has received mixed opinions since being spoiled and is a card that I think is slightly under-rated. In the current format the seer is hard to kill, avoiding Searing Spear, Ultimate Price and can block Restoration Angels all night long. It's also a 4/4 flyer for four mana and can drain your opponents life total in the upkeep.
Sure it gives them an extra card but with so many creatures at four mana or more seeing lots of play in standard, draining that amount of life is crucial. Even playing Thragtusk to gain back the five life they just lost having revealed it isn't so swagtusk. In addition, you know it's coming up and can react accordingly. 
I know it's an ideal example but let's say it's your upkeep. Both players reveal the top card. You flip a Searing Spear, two life lost, they flip Angel of Serenity, seven life; gone. You then swing for four with the seer and then cast Searing Spear; that's 14 life essentially all through Duskmantle Seer.

As for spells, most are pretty self-explanatory. Counterspells and burn spells disrupt an opponent's plans and work well with Delver, Augur and Snappy.
A card I'd like to highlight is Dimir Charm. In this deck the charm that is dangerous to recognise and deadly not to plays a key role in the machinations. It acts as a removal spell that can kill most creatures in the format, from the humble Avacyn's Pilgrim to the hasty Ash Zealot. While the second mode isn't that handy, as Supreme Verdict can't be countered, there are still viable options for disruption, Farseek, Dreadbore, Pillar of Flame, Unburial Rites and Bonfire of the Damned to name but a few.
But it's the third mode that is the charm which shines from the depths of the Dimir shadows.
Take a look at the top three cards of your deck to find the card you need, either to remove a creature from the board or to a flip a Delver. Remember you can cast it during your upkeep after the Delver trigger to put an instant or sorcery on top. You can also target your opponent's library with a Duskmantle Seer so they lose the maximum amount of life possible, again this can be done in your upkeep.

Without having a metagame to sample, the sideboard is a little under tested and thrown together like a Hungarian horse/beef burger.
Currently it's made up of:

Izzet Staticaster x 2
Appetite for Brains x 3
Devour Flesh x 1
Dreadbore x 1
Mizzium Mortars x 1
Rakdos's Return x 1
Negate x 2
Skullcrack x 2
Counterflux x 1
Slaughter Games x 1

I'd like to say the deck performs nicely but I'd be damn-right lying if I did, due to a lack of testing in my new surroundings. I miss being able to test decks at the Gambit FNMs but hopefully I'll able to keep playing at pre-releases and find somewhere to play casually. 

So concludes this Magic musing. Happy brewing and I'll Seer (See yer) at the Dragon's Maze pre-release.

John, Runechanter's Herring (Pikes are over-rated, sorry Mike)

Gatecrash Gameday

This weekend is Gatecrash Gameday. Every player will receive a full art promo Zameck Guildmage and the top eight will each get a foil full art Firemane Avenger!!!

  

In addition the event winner will get a special 'champion' playmat...

This will be a 'STANDARD' event and will cost £2 to enter. We will be holding the event at the Gambit Games hall in Vale Park this Sunday. The event will start at 6pm once the Pokemon City Championship finishes! The event will consist of 4 rounds of swiss and end at about 9:30pm!

There will only be one Gameday this weekend, due to the amount of activity I have decided to run one next Tuesday evening from 7pm - This will be at the usual Skirmish Tuesday held at Kids Dreams in Shoreham!

Please confirm your attendance at this event in advance!

Gatecrash Keyrune Art

ARTWORK for the five remaining Keyrunes has appeared on various sites.

Boros Keyrune

Tony Stark had an input on this one

The Boros Legion upholds the law in Ravnica. This Keyrune will probably turn into a soldier. Either a 2/1 with First Strike or a 1/2 with Double Strike.

Dimir Keyrune 

The Dimir always get to the point

House Dimir is the shadowy guild of manipulation and secrecy. The Keyrune may become a 2/1 Illusion, Spirit or Vampire or even Shape shifter which is unblockable.  It could have an Izzit Keyrune ability where if it deals combat damage to a player that player discards a card and you draw a card.

Gruul Keyrune

Could this be a beast of a Keyrune?

The Gruul Clans represent the wild and untamed elements or Ravnican society. The Keyrune may transform into a 3/2 Trampling Beast.

Simic Keyrune

There's something fishy about this Keyrune

The Simic Combine has changed since the original Ravnica bloc. Large sink-holes have appeared on the plane and Merfolk now head the guild. The Keyrune could transform into a 2/4 Octopus or Kraken and have Hexproof or Islandwalk as these abilities seem to fit with Simic colours. 

Orzhov Keyrune 

Will this Keyrune drive your opponents batty?

The Orzhov Syndicate believe that with wealth comes power and the dead exist only to rule. This Keyrune looks like it will transform into a 2/2 Vampire with Flying, Deathtouch or Lifelink.        

That's all there is for now. It would be good to see your thoughts on the Keyrune Cycle or proposed mechanics in the comments.

John of Team Gambit.