Unlocking the Vault #80: Delve and Tell

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  1. I’d be curious how you think this compares to Storm, i.e. is it just a worse Burning Tendrils deck in many ways? Taxing effects still have to be paid on spells cast from Omniscience, so Thalia and Spheres and Thorns and LSG’s wreck it. The advantage of S&T over Storm combo should be that you only have to resolve the single spell, but this requires you to resolve as many as Storm if not more.

    It seems built for a field of 90% blue decks. Jace is the only answer for a resolved hatebear, it can ONLY deal with artifacts not creatures, so Mox + Cavern + Thalia or Spirit of the Labyrinth looks like game-over. Dude needs black mana, a couple more tutors, and some more flexible sideboard options, OR needs a better alternative win-con than Jace for when his glass cannon breaks apart on him. Your suggestion of Echoing Truth, plus maybe a Merchant Scroll, would be reasonable if he wants to stay mono blue.

  2. Thanks for the comments, guys. Yeah, in hindsight, Show and Delve might be more appropriate…

    In relation to Storm decks, there are some similarities. Against Spheres, this deck is not really suited to perform. I think the sideboard has to pull a lot of the weight in that match-up, but really, it’s not all that different from Storm. Storm is hard pressed to win against Sphere’s without winning the die roll and combo-ing out on Turn 1 or 2. In a pinch, you can always throw more Emrakul’s into the SB to make Show and Tell more reliable against Spheres (instead of the Omniscience plan), though Duplicant is always going to be a threat.

    In other ways, this deck is superior to Storm. It’s impervious to color screw and particularly Wasteland and doesn’t use the graveyard besides firing of a Delve spell before it can find the combo. These are certainly positive aspects in its favor.

    In the end, is Storm a better combo deck? Maybe, but this kind of thing is always good to have around. Combo can use the “pick me up” with the number of Control and Tempo decks running around. Shops are always going to be an issue, but that’s hardly any different than every other deck out there.

  3. Another minor aspect that I prefer in this deck over Storm is that your life total is not as important. You don’t have to spend life to Vamp Tutor, or draw cards off of Necro/Bargain. This effectively lets you ignore what Delver players are doing as you can accurately gauge their clock better.