Many people thought that Wizards of the Coast was going to “fix” the Delver “problem” with some bannings, perhaps of Snapcaster Mage, Ponder, or even the actual Delver of Secrets. Well . . . they didn’t, so now we have to figure out how to deal with it on our own.

The key cards in my main deck against Delver have been Thrun, the Last Troll and Sigarda, Host of Herons. My latest sideboard strategy has involved bringing in Thunderbolts and Wolfir Avengers. Thrun and Sigarda are great because they can’t be Vapor Snagged. Thrun can’t be countered, and Sigarda is a flyer that’s bigger than all of Delver’s creatures. The Thunderbolts are excellent because they deal with the creatures I care the most about in Delver, and they’re never dead cards. The Avengers are good because they help me play around Mana Leaks—since they have flash—and because they’re good for racing.

While this strategy had merit, I’ve learned it’s still flawed. Given that I have only one Thrun, he’s mainly in the deck to search for, so the fact that he can’t be countered isn’t that big a deal. When I use a Birthing Pod against Delver, I usually prefer to fetch Solemn Simulacrum at 4. When I use Green Sun's Zenith, I usually prefer to find Huntmaster of the Fells at 4. While Sigarda is more exciting to search for against Delver as 5-drops go than Thrun is at 4, they both have the legend problem against Delver. After sideboarding, they both become creatures that Delver can kill for 2 mana with a Phantasmal Image.

I’ve been pretty happy with Thunderbolt, but not the Avengers. Like Thrun, I never want to search for them, they’re only good for racing, and they don’t help me gain more board control, which is generally how I would prefer to play my deck. All too often, Delver can just ignore them and outrace them through the air. In addition, the Delver player can surprise-block my Avenger with a Restoration Angel and make me use 2 mana to regenerate while preventing 3 damage and generating more pressure on the board to attack me with.

Based on the extraordinary number of Delver decks in the format and my 1–6 record against them, I made major changes to my list. My most recent version was:

"Toolbox"

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1 Blade Splicer
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Daybreak Ranger
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Primeval Titan
• 1 Restoration Angel
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 3 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Strangleroot Geist
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1 Thrun, the Last Troll

• Spells (8)
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 4 Birthing Pod

• Lands (24)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 9 Forest
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Razorverge Thicket

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Thunderbolt
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 4 Wolfir Avenger
• 1 Viridian Corrupter
• 1 Hollowhenge Scavenger
• 1 Goldnight Redeemer
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

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My new version looks like this:

"Toolbox 2.0"

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Primeval Titan
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 3 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Borderland Ranger
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 4 Strangleroot Geist
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

• Spells (8)
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 4 Birthing Pod

• Lands (24)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 9 Forest
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Razorverge Thicket

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Thunderbolt
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 2 Zealous Conscripts
• 3 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Viridian Corrupter
• 3 Bonfire of the Damned

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The primary changes to the main deck revolve around Borderland Ranger and Restoration Angel. I’ve found that with four Pods, four Zeniths, and six to seven creatures costing 5 or more mana, many of my games just came down to whether I drew enough lands. I rarely lost games in which I played a turn-two Borderland Ranger, and that will obviously happen much more often if I run four of them. While all of my 3-drops were useful in some situations, the Borderland Rangers were good in almost every situation. Daybreak Ranger could occasionally dominate a game, but the fact that she doesn’t do anything when she enters or leaves play means that she’s not very good with Pod or Restoration Angel. I also rarely searched for her with Zenith. The same things can be said about Champion of Lambholt. Blade Splicer is obviously much better with Pod and Angel, but I can’t search for it with Zenith, and I find that with this deck, mana is generally much more important than random 3/3s.

Given the plethora of Delver decks in the format, it’s critical to make the main deck a good matchup against Delver. As a result of the changes, I no longer need or desire to make sweeping changes against Delver when sideboarding. My plan is to just bring in the Thunderbolts while lowering my curve a little bit by taking out Primeval Titan, Wolfir Silverheart, Zealous Conscripts, and one Green Sun's Zenith. I need to keep at least one 5- and 6-drop, to keep my chain up to Elesh Norn intact, but taking out the Titan and the Silverheart does weaken the Zeniths a bit. I still like to have them to ensure I have mana creatures early and to be able to save one for when the opponent taps out, so that I can find either a Huntmaster or my Acidic Slime, depending on the game state.

If it were easy to beat Delver, it wouldn’t continue to be dominating Standard for so long. Have no doubt, however, that Delver can be beaten. You just need to give yourself the proper tools and play them properly. Of course, even then, a good Delver deck with a good draw and in the hands of a good player can still beat you. Most of my games against Delver with the first Toolbox went to three games and were very close, but 1–6 is unacceptable. Wizards may not feel changes need to be made in Standard, but it’s clear that we the players need to make changes to our decks until Delver no longer owns the format.