Through the most fortunate turn of events possible, I was able to claim the title of SCG Syracuse Open Champion this past weekend. The entire experience was completely surreal, and I am still reeling from the result.

This week, it seemed appropriate to do a full tournament breakdown as opposed to my usual report-style. You can find my updates and sideboarding at the end of the article, but I hope you come along with me on the ride. The only time I was covered this past weekend was in the finals, and a lot of people have asked me how my event went. I’m going to go into a fair amount of detail, so I am going to jump right into the content!

UW Stoneblade (Loss 0-2)

We started off the tournament strong with a quick loss. I wasn’t able to keep any creatures around to apply pressure, nor leverage my Wastelands to buy time. On top of that, I drew 10 lands in the first game, and, after a Wasteland, never found a second source of colored mana in the second.

BG Turbo Depths (Win 2-1)

I kept a burn heavy hand on the play with a Young Pyromancer and a Wasteland, as my opponent mulliganed to 6. I led with Mountain, my opponent cast a ton of spells and ended up with 1 card in hand, an Urborg in play, and a Vampire Hexmage. I was able to Bolt/Pyromancer/Waste him over the next few turns and that was that. I died on turn 2 in game 2, and game 3 I had a Delver/Wasteland draw to take it down.

BG Slow Depths (Win 2-0)

My opponent had a removal heavy draw, which didn’t line up well with my slower, threat-heavy hand. I suspected that they had Crop Rotation for a few turns, and they turn that they had enough mana to use it and make a 20/20, I not only drew a Daze to stop it, but Stage’d into a Vapor Snag. They conceded before I could find out if they had it or not. Game 2 I had Wasteland/Surgical, backed up by early pressure to take the game.

Goblins (2-1)

In every report I write I seem to play against this deck exactly once, which is always a big surprise. Regardless, there’s nothing really interesting to note here. I applied a lot of pressure in games 1 and 3 as my opponent tripped up on mana, and I lost game 2 to a turn 2 Chalice of the Void.

After this match, I went to go get some coffee from a delightful shop in Syracuse. I told my friend if I lose the next 2 I would just come back here for some food.

UB Shadow (Win 2-0)

These games always have some aspect about them that are close. When my goal is to simply to get them to 0, and their goal is to get their life total somewhere between 4 and 9, there’s a lot of tension. That being said, Young Pyromancer is absolutely dominant in the matchup, as they don’t really have any ways to get through it. As such, I generally try to fight over my Pyromancers as much as possible, or dig for them when I don’t have them.

This match played out exactly as planned, which generally means that a few big Death’s Shadows are going to stare down some tokens, get chump blocked for a few turns, until a few cantrips or a burn spell can close it out.

UW Stoneblade (Win 2-1)

I honestly don’t remember much from this match, other than game 3 coming down to my early Wastelands stealing the game. I didn’t board any out because my opponent kept showing me non-basics to hit, so it seemed like I could get some value out of them. They mentioned they only had 2 or 3 targets after the game, so they were surprised, but people tend to assume that Daze and Wasteland get sided out all the time and don’t respect them. Leaving in relatively high numbers can be really punishing to that line of thought.

UW Miracles (Win 2-1)

Game 1 here was a long, drawn out affair. My opponent fetched a Tundra early, so I didn’t put them on Back to Basics, but lo and behold it came down on turn 4, locking down 2 lands. I was able to get my basics and play a close, grindy game, but Teferi eventually took over the game. My opponent did play a Venser and a Karakas, so I kept that in mind and left in all of my Wastelands again.

Games 2 and 3 I was able to get ahead early, and after they answered my early pressure, leverage the damage with difficult to answer threats and Lightning Bolts. This is my general plan against Miracles and it sounds simple on paper The games always end up being really close, though, and this matchup is certainly one of the most intense ones in the format. My opponent did play Back to Basics in game 3, which was surprising as I searched up my basics, and that probably helped me out a bit.

Grixis Control (2-0)

I have honestly found this matchup to be pretty good, which isn’t what I expected on paper. They’re well set-up to deal with Delver, but not Young Pyromancer with Light Up the Stage. It’s not too difficult to take over the game with those cards, and close it out with some Bolts or a True-Name Nemesis. This is what happened in the first game, and I Wastelanded them out in the second.

UW Miracles (2-0)

While this was a good match (Sam Roukas and I always have good games), the games played out according to my game plan: Apply early pressure, use Young Pyromancer to put them in an awkward spot, and close the game with Lightning Bolt. Sam’s list is definitely a bit outside the norm of Miracles these days, but it’s in line with lists I prefer to play, so I pretty much knew what was going on. I did get Supreme Verdicted, which I prefer to Terminus most of the time, but it caught me off guard just a little bit. Considering how many Tundras I played against that weekend, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see so many Verdicts, but it was a relatively popular card.

With that, I ended 8-1 on day 1! While I did feel prepared for the weekend, I never really anticipate it will always pay off. I felt very fortunate to be in this position, but knew there was a lot more Magic ahead of me. I started to feel quite a bit more nervous as the night went on, but knew that the most I could do was look forward to my next challenge.

After a great dinner at Dino BBQ the night before, and a great breakfast from Kubal’s Cafe, I was ready to run it back.

UW Miracles (Loss 1-2)

I saw my opponent play the day before and knew they were on Miracles. We split games 1 and 2 in a relatively uninteresting manner. Game 3 was really close, though. I played Delver and Pteramander early on, and my opponent Brainstormed and didn’t shuffle. At first, I assumed they were setting up a Terminus and was content to take the 2 for 1, but then they cast Plow on the Delver. I was able to Daze that, and started to feel comfortable that they didn’t have a Terminus. Then, they drew, and attempted to Snapcaster>Plow my Delver. I used a Pyroblast on this one, and really felt like I could start to take over the game without a Terminus showing up, so I played another Pteramander.

It turns out this was all an elaborate bait, and my opponent’s second card down was Terminus. I was legitimately impressed with how they played that. They ended up getting a Mentor down, and I responded with a True-Name, which is not a winning situation for me. Sulfuric Vortex showed up on top, and the game ended up being extremely close, with them ending up at 1 life, tapped out of Blue mana which gave me a window to draw a Bolt to end it. Alas, it was not to be, and I picked up my second loss.

BG Depths (Win 2-0)

My opponent kept what seemed to be a good hand game 1, but never found a Dark Depths, making it much easier to win. Game 2, I clocked him with as much pressure as I could. I had a Wasteland in play and a Surgical in hand which I was planning to save for a Dark Depths, but he played Ghost Quarter and Thoughtseized me, so my hand was forced. Fortunately, he never found a Hexmage nor a Depths, so I was able to cross the finish line safely.

UW Stoneblade (Win 2-1)

While I think the Stoneblade decks have a good proactive plan against Izzet Delver, I find their removal suite to be limited in the matchup. Simply having 4 Swords to Plowshares, a Council’s Judgment, and some Snapcasters doesn’t quite give them enough tools to always answer the threats on time. It basically means they have to find a Plow early, and if they don’t it isn’t too hard to kill them before they stabilize.

This is what happened in the first game and I was able to kill them with an early Delver. Game 2 they just resolved a turn 3 True-Name Nemesis, so I fired back with one of my own and we started racing. They got held up on mana, and didn’t really play much more, but I flooded out and lost the race with them at 1 life. Game 3 looked quite grim, as it turned into Batterskull racing Delver, but my opponent was held up on mana again so they never did too much more. They made a misstep late in the game and used a Blue Blast on a Young Pyromancer when they were at 5 and knew I had a Bolt in hand. They attacked up to 9, I drew another Bolt and dealt them exactly 9 with the Delver in play and 2 Bolts.

Phew.

UW Miracles (Win 2-1)

...or lack thereof.

This particular match showcased an important lesson: Sometimes they don’t have Terminus. I lost game 1, but in games 2 and 3, my opponent never found a Terminus. Supreme Verdict was cast, but that takes a lot of time and resources. While the deck sees a lot of cards, they don’t always find it with consistency and pressuring them to the point where they need it is key. If you don’t apply enough pressure where they need to Terminus, you risk losing to Counterbalance and Swords to Plowshares.

UR Delver (Win 2-0)

It was win and in time, and I was nervous as hell. It’s so difficult for me to keep my eyes looking forward in between rounds, as i’m really prone to thinking about what could go wrong or right. My friends helped keep me focused with humor and assurance, and I was able to keep it together for the match.

We both knew it was a mirror match. I didn’t know how different our lists were, so I played as if they weren’t. It turns out he wasn’t playing Light Up the Stage, but instead had Spell Pierce. Also, he played 3 different arts of Islands, so I noted that he had 3 Islands in his deck. I figured Pteramander would really dictate the pace of the game, as it can escape Lightning Bolt range and start to hit really hard. I try to lean into Pyromancer whenever I don’t think I can control the game, because people can’t generally turn their creatures sideways in the face of a Pyromancer.

This is exactly what happened in the first game. A 5/5 Pteramander was staring down my elemental army, which bought me enough time to find 2 burn spells and take over the game. While I did get something Spell Pierced, and it mattered (I don’t remember what, though), Light Up the Stage really pulled through and found me the resources I needed.

DRAW

I was unbelievably elated at this point. It has been a few years since my last top 8, and I really started to feel like it was a fluke. I have had a lot of top 16s since, and I know logically that there’s only a single game difference in many cases between a top 8 and top 16, but it’s really hard to differentiate that in my illogical, Human brain.

In my last top 8, the top 8 was the goal. While I still tried my hardest in the Quarters, it was hard to shake the feeling of accomplishing that goal and I did lose the Killer Instinct I had throughout that whole event. This time, while my goal at the onset wasn’t to top 8, that became my goal as it became more achievable throughout the event. I didn’t want the same thing to happen again, and wanted to go as deep into the event as I could. My partner knew this was happening and gave me some key pep talks that really helped keep me focused.

After we took some pictures and filled out some forms, we were ready to get started!

UW Miracles

I was the 4 seed, so I would be on the play for this match. My hand was pretty weak, containing a few too many lands, but it had an early Delver so my goal was to leverage early damage as much as I could so my burn spells could be more effective. Between Delver and a follow-up Young Pyromancer I was able to get them down to 4 before they were able to remove my sources of pressure and play a Mentor. This left a board state of Mentor vs 3 tokens, which wouldn’t be enough to get the job done. I used the tokens to get them down to 3 and had to trust my deck. I flooded a bit and my opponent ended up getting a Jace and a Counterbalance down. Things were looking horrible, but I drew Light Up the Stage, which their Brainstorm in response couldn’t counter, and this found a True-Name Nemesis. Apparently on their turn they were able to dig into a Council’s Judgment, but not the second white source, so I was able to take the game home!

Game 2 wasn’t quite that interesting, as they got help up on 3 mana as I used a stream of Pyromancers to apply pressure. At some point, I forced a Brainstorm just to keep applying pressure and they never found a Terminus, nor the 4th land for their Supreme Verdict.

Aiden was a very pleasant opponent to play against, and we had some really good games. He wished me luck, and I moved onto the Semis!

UW Delver

“You have Null Rod? That’s not fair!” Harlan and I have known each other for a while, so the air was a little bit less tense than some of my other matches. While this is still a close matchup, I do think i’m a bit favored going into it. Having 7 Bolts and the ability to really put the pressure on their removal early, I don’t think it’s too difficult to capitalize on an early start.

This is basically what happens game 1, and i’m able to start with a Pteramander and use a Light Up the Stage to pull ahead on cards. While I get a Young Pyromancer out, he flips a Delver and resolves a Stoneforge Mystic. I make a few tokens with Pyromancer, but can’t find a removal spell for the Stoneforge, so I decide to trade off the Pyromancer for the Delver and play a Delver of my own. Batterskull comes down, but he didn’t play a Swords, and Pteramander was already a 5/5, so I figured I could race pretty effectively with the Delver and the 5/5 Salamander. Lo and behold, he plays his 4th land, puts a Jitte into play and attacks with the equipped token. This looks pretty bad, but I know I have a Pteramander on top of my deck, so I decide to trade off 3 tokens and a Delver for the Germ and just count my losses and try to race. I make the new Salamander a 5/5, and establish a spot where he needs to have a Plow because just Stoneforge and Jitte won’t cut it. He doesn’t, and i’m able to steal a win what looked like a pretty terrible situation. Fortune was my friend that weekend.

Game 2 was way more drawn out, and really came down to my Null Rod answering his Jitte as I top deck a little better and start to go wide and Burn him out with Pyromancer. These were honestly great games, and I really enjoyed them and felt very pleased to make my way into the finals!

BG Depths

Making it to the semis felt completely ethereal, so I can’t even explain how the finals felt to me. I never imagined this for myself, and was so grateful to have this chance. I tried desperately to find the balance between letting loose and being happy regardless of the result and knowing that I needed the killer drive to win the event. My partner reminded me of my old mantra, “2nd place is the worst place in the event besides 9th.” I’ve come in 9th at an Open before, so i’ve felt that. I did not want to know what 2nd felt like.

You can watch the whole match here. I was not optimistic about my chances. Dave Long is an incredible player, and despite doing well against the deck all weekend, I don’t find this to be a good matchup.

My draw game 1 was about as good as it gets. I had Vapor Snag in my opening hand, and scryed a Wasteland to the top. I knew Dazing the Safekeeper would give Dave pause that I might have Snag in hand, but if I didn’t, Snag wouldn’t do much. I tapped the Wasteland to play the Pyromancer to bait out the 20/20, which worked, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. I could have held my Chain Lightning instead of going for the face, but it cut a full turn off of the clock, and with Wasteland up I figured I didn’t need to play around Vampire Hexmage. I still think a 3 turn vs a 4 turn clock is better than holding the Chain, but it’s definitely a close decision.

Game 2 he had a draw I was ready to deal with. I wasn’t expecting him to bring in Hymn to Tourach, but he cast 2 that game so he at least brought in an extra copy. Either way, I was able to trade my cards for his and apply pressure, which is all I can ask for.

In the final game of the tournament, I drew the Vapor Snag in my opening hand again, which is not where I want it. Fortunately my hand was very strong, sans a Wasteland, but had a Force of Will to protect the Snag. I deemed that the Needle wasn’t going to matter, as my goal was to finish the game before he could make 2 20/20s with Snag + Pyromancer. The first 20/20 went off without a hitch, but I immediately started to think about beating the second. On the penultimate turn of the game, i’m resolving my cantrip and thinking about playing Delver as a blocker for a future 20/20, but then I start doing some math. If he makes a 20/20, I can Lightning Bolt him, Force the Bolt, and then Force the Force, which puts him from 10 to 7, he can block the Pyromancer and take 7.

Turns out he didn’t have it, and I was the SCG Syracuse Open Champion!

Fortune’s Favor

I never expected this to happen, and I am so grateful for the result. I really love this format, and i’ve been playing it for so long. I never once thought that this is something I deserve, nor do I go into any evert expecting to do well, but it was incredible to see my hard work pay off this time. I’ve been playing this deck, and on a larger scale, this new post-DRS Legacy, a lot, and I really think I have a great understanding of what’s going on.

On top of that, the outpour of support I received is unimaginably touching and overwhelming. I want to take another opportunity to thank everyone for their love and care as I accomplished an incredible milestone in my Magic life. Even if I lost, knowing that I have so many people that care about me and are invested in me would have made everything wonderful anyway. Thank you everyone for being so kind to me.

The Deck

As for the deck, I am not considering any changes to the main deck at the moment. The field I played against was incredibly fair, but I think that’s pretty indicative of Legacy at the moment. Against a fair field, I don’t see any great holes in the deck that need to be fixed. On top of that, this deck has the ability to apply a fast clock, and using Light Up the Stage to find an extra Bolt or threat can sometimes be more meaningful against combo than having a Spell Pierce, so I feel comfortable with the deck for now.





As for the sideboard, the cards i’m considering cutting are Grafdigger’s Cage, Null Rod and Sulfuric Vortex. It’s not that these cards are bad, but i’m not sure that they are diverse enough. Considering how much BG Depths I played against, I think the 2nd Vapor Snag is going to find it’s way into the sideboard. Surgical Extraction is helpful in that context, as well, while being a bit more efficient against Reanimator and useful against Lands. Finally, Winter Orb is always on my radar as anto-Miracles tech, and I think that’ll be the next direction I go.

I have had a lot of questions regarding whether I think this is a good deck going forward. Yes, I think it’s very good, but it’s not broken enough to consider playing above all other options. If you’re looking for a good Delver deck, I think this is a new contender entering the fray with the likes of Grixis Delver. I do think this is better than the Prowess version of Izzet, but it also fits my playstyle more than that deck.

I’m probably going to be playing the Philly Open in 2 weeks, and if I don’t do well enough in Modern, i’m probably going to run this back. Depending on how that, and the following week of testing goes, I might play it again in the MTGO Legacy MCQ in 3 weeks.

Thank you everyone for reading, and i’ll see you next time!

Sideboarding:

Miracles:

-3 Chain

-1 Snag

OTD -2 Daze

OTP -1 Daze

OTP -1 Wasteland

-1 Stage

3 Flusterstorm

3 Pyroblast

1 Sulfuric Vortex



Grixis Control:



-3 Chain

-1 Vapor Snag

-1 Force

-1 Daze

3 Pyroblast

2 Flusterstorm

1 Forked Bolt



Stoneblade:



-3 Chain

-1 Snag

OTD -1 Daze

OTP -1 Force

1 Null Rod

3 Pyroblast

1 Abrade



BG Depths:



-3 Chain

-1 Stage

-1 Daze

3 Flusterstorm

2 Surgical



Grixis Delver:



-1 Vapor Snag

-1 Daze

-1 FoW

-1 Chain

-1 Stage

2 Forked Bolt

2 Pyroblast

1 Flusterstorm

