60 to 100: Legacy Delver

Upkeep, Flip Delver...

Hello! Welcome to 60 to 100, a series where we convert beloved decks from 60-card formats to Commander.

In this installment, I'm going to be looking at one of the most enduring archetypes of all time: Legacy Delver. From the printing of Delver of Secrets

Over the years, Delver decks have had quite the propensity to get cards banned. I've chosen to use a version of the deck from after the release of Modern Horizons 2, which shook up the archetype tremendously, but before the relatively recent banning of Expressive Iteration

How Does Izzet Delver Work?

Izzet Delver is the ultimate tempo deck. It seeks to play a cheap threat, like Delver of Secrets

Delving Into Commander

Ideally, a Commander for this deck would be low cost, difficult to block, and have some other upside. Thanks to Outlaws of Thunder Junction, such a creature does exist! Behold: Malcolm, the Eyes

Malcolm's additional upside is perfect. Casting two spells in a turn with a deck like this is fairly trivial, and the Clue tokens can be sacrificed for additional card draw or used with artifact synergies. However, attacking for two damage every turn isn't all that impressive. That is a key hurdle we'll have to address when building Malcolm. I don't think a deck that wins in 60 attacks would be playable at even the most casual of tables. 

Eyeing the Vision

So how does one win a game with Malcolm, the Eyes

Step 1: Cast Malcolm on either turn two or three, ideally with a free spell to cast afterward to trigger Malcolm and get a Clue token.

Step 2: Establish one of the deck's many Curiosity

Step 3: Increase Malcolm's damage output with cards like Nettlecyst

One of the things that defines Delver decks, and by extension this Commander deck, is a blend of proactive and reactive cards. Despite having a relatively fast and combat-focused gameplan, the deck is overflowing with reactive cards. The tension that exists between those two halves of the deck renders game play pretty nonlinear. You're going to spend a lot of time holding back the cards in your hand and waiting to see what your opponents are up to while you do little more than attack with Malcolm and draw cards.

Win Conditions

The tradition in games of Commander is to "spread the love." Spreading out your attacks between players is a good political tool that allows you to avoid angering any one opponent too much. That is not the way of this deck. When I cast Malcolm on turn two, I have already picked my first target. The player that has the most threatening commander or that had the most explosive turn one is going to get beaten to a pulp by my 2/2 until they're out of the game. Then you move on to the next person. A common pattern of play is using pump effects, like Nettlecyst

An advantage that I've noticed from focusing down one player at a time is that only one opponent at the table has an incentive to kill Malcolm, the Eyes

Ramp

I've omitted traditional two-mana rocks, like Arcane Signet

Draw

Our primary draw engines are Curiosity

In addition to the plethora of Curiosity

Eagle Vision

Interaction

The vast majority of this deck's counter magic can be cast for zero mana, which feels very true to its Legacy roots. Generally, your counters will be used to protect Malcolm, stop opponents from winning the game, and keeping creatures that could block Malcolm off the board. There's nothing worse than someone with a giant Dragon as their commander sticking it on the battlefield and halting your progress.

Fiery Cannonade

Single-target removal spells have one purpose in this deck: getting rid of creatures that can block Malcolm. Some have additional upsides, like Fury

Re-casting Malcolm is a pain that I try to avoid if at all possible. Most games that you lose with this deck follow a similar sequence: you cast Malcolm, someone kills it, you wait another turn or two and try to redeploy him, then he dies again. Not good.

Alongside the deck's suite of counterspells, a couple protection spells are included to prevent this death spiral. Dive Down

Artifact Synergies

Urza, Lord High Artificer

While Murktide Regent

Tutors

I decided to keep this deck pretty light on tutor effects as the deck draws a lot of cards over the course of a game and doesn't struggle to find what it needs. However, Drift of Phantasms

Lands

As always, I've maxed out on fetch lands to find Steam Vents

Seat of the Synod

Typically a deck includes Urza's Saga

I don't actually have a lot of insightful commentary on Riverpyre Verge