Delver, Treasure Cruise and You!

Christian with www.wizardden.com and Team Rogue T3ch here to talk to you about our second favorite format; Modern! I myself am pretty new to the format but can honestly say I am a huge fan. I will start by saying I will not talk about Jeskai Ascendancy as it is already banned in my head so better to not waste any time. On the other hand, Treasure cruise is not! So with that being so you can expect to see a lot of delvers on the other side of the table. 

Treasure cruise has caused a strange phenomenon in modern causing cards that were considered to be "Insane" now "Unplayable". Format staples such as Dark Confidant have been removed entirely in favor of splashing blue and adding X number of cruise as it simply does his job better than he does. Also from what I have observed Snapcaster mage is falling out of favor as, again, drawing three cards seems to be "Strictly better" than flashing back a bolt more often than not. I personally am not on the archtype but lets look at the deck so you can get an Idea of what cards you either need to build this deck or what you need to be able to beat.

Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer

Instants
1 Electrolyze
1 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mana Leak
3 Remand
2 Spell Snare
2 Vapor Snag

Sorceries
1 Forked Bolt
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Treasure Cruise

Basic Lands
3 Island
2 Mountain

Lands
1 Arid Mesa
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls

Sideboard:
4 Dragon's Claw
1 Blood Moon
1 Dispel
2 Electrickery
1 Magma Spray
2 Negate
2 Spell Pierce
2 Shattering Spree

The deck has one game plan. Play the cheapest/most effective spells in it's colors and gain infinite value from young pyromancer. If that doesn't do the trick it can just burn you out/beat you to death with delver of secrets while keeping a full grip thanks to good 'ole treasure cruise.

Looking at the deck you may have noticed, a good portion (if not the majority of the deck) cantrips. Everything replaces itself so you always have answers,burn, or fodder to fuel pyromancer/monastery swiftspear. I have played against this deck. I play boros burn, which is usually very quick and aggressive but delver is just as aggressive but has the added benefit of always keeping its hand full with cantrips that eventually become bolts and remands... Needless to say it can be a tough matchup.

In short, the deck is very effective at getting the most value at the cheapest mana cost. Also, besides the mana-base. The deck is relatively easy on the wallet and that has only helped it grow in popularity so be prepared to play against a similar list at your local tournament or multiple variation at a larger event.

This is the part where I would give you some tips to beat the deck...
I don't really have any, it's certainly beatable, I just have yet to find a big weakness to exploit. Piloting burn I have found it to be a race. If I use resources to stop it's creatures I don't have enough to kill them before they play more threats. So I just go to the face until I'm hellbent or one of us is dead. That strategy seems to work 50% of the time but it's all I got.

Until next time...
Christian