[Masters] Xenan Visions

When they released Cursed Prophet Deleph, I saw an RNG meme in the making. I figured I'd just jam him in a random Xenan list I had from way back and play a few games....

I was very, very wrong.

Deleph is an incredibly powerful card hidden in a fairly innocuous package. A 3 mana 1/4 body with unblockable can be likened to the pre-nerf version of Aurelian Merchant. Deleph stonewalls most aggro decks while not dying to Torch, Annihilate, or Display of Ambition. Against a gummed up board, you can swing through with unblockable letting you chip away at Sites or triggering Deleph's visions.

Let's take a moment to talk about the visions effect on Deleph. Yes, you are giving your opponent a card. Yes, the card choices are random. However, as the controller of Deleph, you will be given the first choice of the two cards. This means that you will be able to pick the best card given the current circumstance and you can actively play around any cards that you might give your opponent. While these cards can lead to some hilarious games, they also fill your hand with market fodder. Similar to the Treasure Trove created by Xo of the Endless Hoard or the Snowball created by Jotun Hurler, Deleph draws you cards that you convert into silver-bullets from the market. While I haven't quite figured out how to best use the market in conjunction with him, I think Deleph wants you to be playing more than 5 merchants though I'm not sure. I currently have 4 but am strongly considering adding more.

Hopefully now that I've sold you on playing Deleph, let's get to the rest of the deck. The core of the deck is a pretty straightforward Xenan midrange list. Your 4 drops are incredibly solid and do a lot of work in a lot of situations. You're able to play some of the best removal in the game in Annihilate and Banish. You also get access to an excessive number of Sites. For anyone who has play Magic: The Gathering, you know how powerful Sagas and Planeswalkers can be. Sites are similar and the options for sites in Time and Shadow are incredibly solid. Praxis Arcanum makes your units cheaper and has a beefy beater that ramps you as it's payoff. Dizo's Office gains you life and kills a problematic unit or draws you a card the turn it comes down. Xenan Temple is the standout card here as every part of the card is relevant. It draws a card and gains life with Xenan Augury, disrupts your opponent's void synergies, and removes a unit with Xenan Initiation. Even Scare can be useful by turning your Delephs into a serious clock by making them 4/1s with unblockable.

I think this deck is in a very strong position in the current meta with the emergence of Praxis Midrange and Hooru Midrange as well as Jennv Peaks. FJS is still a grind but Banish[card[does a lot of good work against them and Passage of Eons can deal with Chains if it comes down. I picked up this deck in Diamond III and tuned it on my way to eventually making Masters so I can comfortably say it's a solid choice for laddering. Overall, I'm really happy with my current build and will update any more changes I make to the list here.

Have fun out there and may your Deleph visions always be straight gas.