We're going to start with the most popular and well-known Delver deck known as RUG Delver or 'Canadian Thresh' if you've been around a while.
Creatures (12):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Nimble mongoose
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
1x Forked Bolt
3x Gitaxian Probe
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Ponder
3x Spell Pierce
3x Stifle
Lands (18):
3x Flooded Strand
2x Polluted Delta
3x Scalding Tarn
3x Tropical Island
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland
Sideboard (15):
1x Ancient Grudge
2x Flusterstorm
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Pyroblast
2x Rough//Tumble
3x Submerge
1x Sulfur Elemental
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Young Pyromancer
1x Zuran Orb
This is a deck that has been around in various forms for years before Delver was even printed, but certainly received new life with the Human Wizard and allowed RUG Delver to dominate the Legacy format for the better part of 2012. The deck's game plan is to resolve a threat and then protect that threat using mana denial to keep their opponents behind on resources. This new list features one copy of Young Pyromancer in the board, which is a change I absolutely love since this deck already features a hefty 30 spells. Gitaxian Probe is another change in this list over previous versions that I fully support, since knowing if you'r eplaying your Delver into removal usually doesn't end well for the Delver player. This is a deck I'd mostly suggest to people who like resilient threats and outplaying your opponent.
The next Delver deck we're looking at is very different. Don't think sharing two colors makes the decks similar, since there are some drastic differences. let's take a look at American Delver.
Creatures (12):
4x Delver of Secrets
2x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Grim Lavamancer
3x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Batterskull
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
3x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Ponder
2x Spell Pierce
4x Stifle
3x Swords to Plowshares
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Lands (19):
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Tundra
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland
Sideboard (15):
1x Engineered Explosives
2x Flusterstorm
1x Force of Will
2x Meddling Mage
2x Red Elemental Blast
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Rest in Peace
1x Submerge
1x Surgical Extraction
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Wear//Tear
So here we have a deck list I find absolutely fascinating. Cause what's better than Delver of Secrets? Delver holding a Jitte! We also have way more threat diversity compared to RUG Delver. We do have to add an extra land since a quarter of our threats cost three mana. This deck offers really interesting sideboard choices like Meddling Mage and Sword of Feast and Famine. I'd recommend this deck if you like Stoneforge Mystic but want to be more aggressive than the traditional Stoneblade lists.
Our next Delver deck is one I've been really curious about since we don't see it much in the States, but I've heard it's been big in Europe. Here we have Grixis Delver.
Creatures (13):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Dark Confidant
1x Grim Lavamancer
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Brainstorm
4x Daze
2x Dismember
3x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Stifle
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Ponder
Lands (18):
4x Flooded Strand
1x Misty Rainforest
3x Scalding Tarn
3x Underground Sea
3x Volcanic Island
4x Wasteland
Sideboard (15):
2x Baleful Strix
1x Grim Lavamancer
3x Flusterstorm
1x Red Elemental Blast
2x Submerge
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Bonfire of the Damned
3x Cabal Therapy
1x Perish
Wow, now that's an interesting deck. I mean, where else do you see cards like Bonfire of the Damned in Legacy? This version also runs the highest number of creatures out of all the decks we've looked at (and four of those creatures are even Young Pyromancer!) I think this card will find itself more and more in Legacy where cheap draw spells (cantrips) and low cost counterspells are flying around. Young Pyromancer's interaction with Cabal Therapy is also pretty sweet. We also see Dismember, which is a card you see in some RUG Delver Sideboards to deal with opposing Tarmogoyfs. The ability to maindeck this removal spell and not always have to pay four life is huge. You should pick up this deck if you love Dark Confidant (let's be honest, who doesn't?) but don't want to take a billion damage off revealing a Tombstalker.
The last Delver deck I'm gonig to discuss is one of my favorite decks in Legacy and the deck that sparked my love with Delver of Secrets. We're talking some good old fashioned U/R Delver.
Creatures (15):
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Goblin Guide
3x Grim Lavamancer
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Brainstorm
3x Chain Lightning
2x Daze
4x Force of Will
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Ponder
3x Price of Progress
2x Spell Pierce
2x Vapor Snag
Lands (18):
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
3x Island
3x Misty Rainforest
3x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Volcanic Island
1x Wooded Foothills
Sideboard (15):
3x Flusterstorm
1x Price of Progress
1x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
3x Smash to Smithereens
2x Sulfuric Vortex
3x Surgical Extraction
1x Vendilion Clique
So this deck differs greatly from the other Delver decks we've looked at here because this list can function like a burn deck if necessary and also has some light counter magic to keep the matchups against combo decks fair. Plus you get to play Price of Progress, which is one of the most underrated spells in Legacy in my opinion. Go on, read it a bit and let it soak in.
You'll generally cast this for 6-8 damage on average and it's an amazing spell to abuse with Snapcaster Mage. Vapor Snag is a concession to this deck's weakness against big creatures like Tarmogoyf, since a single one can stop your Goblin Guides in their tracks. being two colors also allows you to play a few more basic lands, making this deck a lot stronger against Wasteland. I'd recommend this deck to someone newer to the format or someone who wants to cast burn spells to the face and likes playing good cards.
So that's my Delver wrap up, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the various Delver strategies in Legacy and maybe even convince you to try the little 1/1.
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-John Wyly
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