In the wake of the Sensei's Divining Top ban in Legacy, players are exploring all manner of tempo decks now that they can play without fear of Terminus. We’re seeing the return of Temur Delver decks with Tarmogoyfs and Nimble Mongoose. We’re seeing people exploring Death's Shadow builds. And now, ItIsUnfair is going a step further to find out what Nivmagus Elemental can do in this format:

Blue-Red Spells - Legacy | ItIsUnfair, 5-0 Legacy League

• Creatures (13)
• 2 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
• 3 Nivmagus Elemental
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Thing in the Ice

• Instants (21)
• 1 Misdirection
• 1 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Gut Shot
• 2 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Punishing Fire
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Flusterstorm
• 4 Force of Will

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder

• Lands (18)
• 3 Island
• 3 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Volcanic Island

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Hydroblast
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Arcane Laboratory
• 2 Blood Moon
• 2 Izzet Staticaster
• 2 Pyroblast
• 2 Submerge

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The other key threat in this deck is Thing in the Ice. This card is incredible for turning the corner against Delver of Secrets decks. You get to bounce their board and hit for seven using a threat which is resilient to Lightning Bolt and blocks Nimble Mongoose and early Tarmogoyfs pretty freely.

The last interesting piece of this deck is the inclusion of Erayo, Soratami Ascendant. This comes down relatively slowly, but is a powerful tool if you have to play a longer game. It means you can play largely unimpeded on your own turn, since your opponent would need multiple instants in order to be able to resolve a spell. It also means your opponent needs to have access to enough mana to cast multiple relevant spells in order to make any progress at all, which isn’t guaranteed in mana-light Delver mirrors. Lastly, it substantially improves the value of your own counterspells, since each one is effectively a two-for-one since your opponent has to play into Erayo first.