MTG Salvation

I've always tried to build a storm deck in duel commander but it never quite worked out... has such a deck finally been made viable with the advent of Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder and the recent un-banning of Yawgmoth's Bargain & Necropotence? This is my current idea:


Like in most storm decks, the objective is to kill your opponent with a lethal Tendrils of Agony. Surprisingly, actually casting your commander is more of a backup plan, but if you do get to cast him and manage to get at least 1 damage in, it's game over for your opponent >95% of the times because of the insane synergy with storm-related cards. He's extremely vulnerable, though, because your opponent will probably have his hand full of removal because you run (virtually) 0 other relevant creatures.

And well, there's nothing much to say if you know how a storm deck functions. Something to keep in mind is that Bubbling Muck & High Tide are extremely powerful cards in this deck, and you should try fetching for Islands/Swamps whenever possible.

Thougts? Am I missing any relevant tutor / ritual card?

Looks really fun! Don't you think baby baby Jace has a place here? Or is he too slow/bad draw? FYI Gifts is banned.

Quote from Drinkme »

So - finally got some time writing stuff. First, my list:

Yidris StormMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 1 Cascade Bluffs 1 Flooded Grove 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Tolaria West 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Steam Vents 1 Flooded Strand 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Blood Crypt 1 Polluted Delta 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Drowned Catacomb 1 Bayou 1 Badlands 1 Breeding Pool 1 Sunken Ruins 1 Taiga 1 Volcanic Island 1 Underground Sea 1 Hinterland Harbor 1 Tropical Island 1 Sulfur Falls 1 Watery Grave 1 Command Tower 1 Arid Mesa 1 Stomping Ground 1 Marsh Flats Ramp 1 Lotus Bloom 1 Lion's Eye Diamond 1 Sphere of the Suns 1 Pentad Prism 1 Gruul Signet 1 Izzet Signet 1 Lotus Petal 1 Rakdos Signet 1 Simic Signet 1 Dimir Signet 1 Golgari Signet 1 Talisman of Dominance 1 Talisman of Impulse 1 Talisman of Indulgence Tutors 1 Beseech the Queen 1 Dark Petition 1 Lim-Dul's Vault 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Gamble 1 Bring to Light	Rituals 1 Desperate Ritual 1 Rite of Flame 1 Rain of Filth 1 Seething Song 1 Dark Ritual 1 Squandered Resources 1 Cabal Ritual 1 Pyretic Ritual Draw 1 Thirst for Knowledge [I'll might cut this one for a Spirit Guide] 1 Ancestral Vision 1 Frantic Search 1 Compulsive Research 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Opt 1 Peek 1 Night's Whisper 1 Sylvan Library 1 Painful Truths 1 Wheel of Fortune 1 Manamorphose 1 Preordain 1 Gush 1 Ponder 1 Impulse 1 Brainstorm 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Serum Visions 1 Timetwister 1 Memory Jar [Never drew this card - might cut it] 1 Yawgmoth's Bargain 1 Time Spiral GraveyardStuff 1 Past in Flames 1 Yawgmoth's Will 1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy WinCons 1 Grapeshot 1 Mind's Desire 1 Aetherflux Reservoir 1 Tendrils of Agony Protection 1 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Duress 1 Thoughtseize 1 Force of Will 1 Cryptic Command 1 Defense Grid 1 Lightning Greaves [Not sure about this one] Removal 1 Abrupt Decay 1 Terminate 1 Toxic Deluge 1 Chain of Vapor	Sideboard 1 Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder

First of all: you're not playing any removal, which makes you softlose to Gaddock Teeg for example. I don't like High Tide and Bubbling Muck - you don't want to play that huge amount of Islands and Swamps I think - I'm playing Squandered Resources as an additional way of generating absurd amounts of mana.

I'm playing a lot of the two mana ramp artifacts, so my commander is getting down on turn three most of the time and my opponent has handle it or will most likely lose turn four. If they handle it, you can keep going on with the normal storm kill (there is enough draw to sculpt a good hand) because he used a lot of resources to kill your commander in general (especially if you're on the play).

I'm not a big fan of Empty the Warrens because it is one of the worse storm kills - at least in duel commander and the new 20 hp rule. So much creatures and removal running around. I originally had in my list, but cut it for Grapeshot

You may check out Bring to Light (especially since you're playing City of Brass and Mana Confluence for white). This is usually a tutor for anything with CMC <= 5. I should find a space for Tainted Pact as soon as possible. How did I forget this card? I absolutely forgot about the two spirit guides and need to find place for them right now.

I don't like Chrome Mox: It's straight card disadvantage and you don't want to cascade into it. But my build is a little bit more reliant on my commander I guess.

You should btw really include Aetherflux Reservoir - this card is insane: buys time against aggro and is a win condition on its own - behold the stunning synergy with Yawgmoth's Bargain.

But yes: if Yidris sticks, I'll usually win on turn 4. If not it is dependant on my opponent and what he is playing. I had no chance to play against a real control deck sadly, because I want to know, how he does against control.

My 2 cents
Keep Storming

Thanks for the suggestions! Let's see:

The cards I like the most from your list that I'm definitely adding to mine are bring to light and Squandered Resources. We can't actually add white mana for Bring to Light, even with City of Brass or Mana Confluence (commander rules), but 4 is enough for it to act as a second copy of Tendrils.

I strongly disagree the addition of non-draw seven draw spells, these are too slow in my taste for what we're trying to do and have 0 synergy with draw 7s (I.E. you cast Painful Truths and draw into a Timetwister or Wheel of Fortune with 6 or 7 cards in hand). Making good use of draw 7s (or cards like Necropotence / Yawgmoth's Bargain) is one of the most broken things about this deck, and that's why the card disadvantage from Chrome Mox / Mox Diamond is highly irrelevant and prefer them over "slow" artifact acceleration.

I also don't like the addition of removal spells. If you take a look at legacy storm decks most builds run 0 removal, because this deck really only wants cards that either help you get your combo going or protect your combo (duress, thoughtseize). Drawing removal spells while going off instead of tutors / rituals / card draw / selection is so, so bad and can easily make you lose the game. Yeah, we do lose hard against Gaddock Teeg, or Ethersworn Cannonist, but that's about it. If we do add removal, I'd favor more versatile cards like Abrupt Decay and Chain of Vapor, but still think this deck really doesn't care enough about most other creatures to warrant adding removal spells in my opinion.

Other cards from your list I'm considering including are Gush, Force of Will, Defense Grid, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Opt, Peek.

Have you tested High Tide & Bubbling Muck? These cards have been the most powerful "rituals" in my testing thus far, they're super easy to get going on and I only play two basic Swamps & two Islands. I run 3 duals that are both Islands & Swamps: Underground Sea, Watery Grave & Sunken Hollow in addittion to all the other duals that are either Islands or Swamps, all the fetchlands to consistently get them and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth that turns all your lands into swamps. Also, running a couple basic Islands & Swamps brings some protection against Blood Moon.

About Aetherflux Reservoir, I had it in my initial build but didn't quite like it, too slow from my limited experience with it, and also competes with Yidris as a 4-drop. Could be wrong about it though, didn't test it that much.

Quote from Bal »

Quote from Desertwalk »

We can't actually add white mana for Bring to Light, even with City of Brass or Mana Confluence (commander rules), but 4 is enough for it to act as a second copy of Tendrils.

This rule no longer exists, you can produce any color with City of Brass, despite the color identity of your commander.

Nice! Then Bring to Light is going in for sure, searching for a Dark Petition with spell mastery is excellent.

Also, what do you guys think about Demonic Consultation? It's a high-risk card in the sense that you lose the game if the named card is in the first 6 cards, but I think the risk in a deck with 99 cards may be low enough that the risk-benefit of playing it is worth it as an extremely efficient way to get your win condition.

Is the green splash really valuble? I know some mtgs users have developped a pretty good looking grixis storm deck with Jeleva (on the multiplayer section). I've also been working on 3 or 4cc storm builds (UBwx ad nauseam combo based on the modern deck and UBrx storm Ill post the lists soon. Not decided yet on 3 vs 4 colors and the general(s) )

Edit: http://www.magic-ville.com/fr/decks/showdeck.php?ref=489909

http://www.magic-ville.com/fr/decks/showdeck.php?ref=489899

Those are my first drafts, so ive not been able to test yet)
Also memory jar seems to be missing from both mylists but its definitely in there)

A storm list top8ed a small event on mtgtop8: http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=14018&d=283169&f=EDH

It doesnt seem to run the recently unbanned cards, so it could be upgraded with those cards and the green splash?

I have also built a list which I am gonna test tomorrow (until now just some goldfishing).


One more question came to mind: How often do you guys win without the Commander Trigger? Does it come up regulary? What turn on average?

Kind regards
Markus

Another question since I am still unable to test the list(s) (waiting for the cards to arrive!): how resilient is it to interaction? (Discard, counterspells, common hatebears)?

What's y'all's opinion on Nightscape Familiar and Goblin Electromancer? I don't run Bubbling Muck or High Tide in my list (not enough duals to consistently get the swamps or islands I need to make them good), and often find myself in a pinch with regards to mana.

Aether Revolt brought us a couple goodies for this deck!

1. Fatal Push: Nothing much to say about this, ultra-efficient instant speed removal
2. Whir of Invention: Puts a Lion's Eye Diamond or Lotus Bloom directly onto the battlefield at instant speed to go off the next turn.
3. Baral, Chief of Compliance: A more resilient Goblin Electromancer

This is my current build:



Cards that I've been unimpressed with that I removed / might remove from my build:
Fact or Fiction - Have found that a 4-mana draw spell is way too clunky for what we're trying to do, 90% of the times I have this card on my hand I wish it was something else.
Diminishing Returns - Again, 4 CMC too clunky.
Necropotence - This is way, way worse than Yawgmoth's Bargain. The fact that you have to wait a turn to take advantage of it combined with the life loss in the current aggro environment makes this card a poor choice. The triple black is also somewhat prohibitive.

This is the list I'm currently running, wondering if you guys had any suggestions for improving it.