Unfortunately I had to work late so I was unable to make it to play last night. I did get the cards I needed in the mail though so I am ready to sling some spells. I do plan on getting in some play testing this weekend if only to understand the deck better.
Reading through about 7 pages of the old thread there are some cards I thought of that I do wish to try out. Steam Augury is a card I feel could be useful even as simply an additional Gifts as it lets us create the piles, and given that when we "go off" we really don't care what cards are where for the most part, so we can set up the piles to just be great either way. That is one thing I really like about Gifts in this deck, it's quite easy to have a hand where the piles don't matter. You're going to win next turn regardless. I do know that someone tried it before and dismissed it, but it may be something I just need to see for myself to understand why it isn't very good.
I also feel that maybe 1 Muddle the Mixture isn't a terrible idea. Worst case it allows you to tutor for a Morphose/Ritual in preparation to go off if you already have a Gifts, something the scroll doesn't let you do. With my side board containing Ray of Revelation and Ancient Grudge I can also tutor for those with the card. Is it necessary? Probably not, but again it was in the lists before so it may hold some merit. (I also found a foil one in an old box, so there's that.)
Reading your changes I can agree with the reasoning. Izzet Charm just does good things and can be tutored with either Scroll or Muddle, and a main deck Echoing Truth gives you an temporary answer to troublesome permanents. I know that some people play Tezzeret or Enchantress style decks (I do understand they aren't T1 T2 or anywhere in between, but they can show up early rounds of a GP or at FNM, etc.) which will main deck hate like Cage and Rest in Peace or what have you, and if they slip through counter magic it can be a tough game 1 to win as all we have is Snap beats and a few bolts. It can also bounce annoying walkers (Lili) in addition to performing Vapor Snag's duty.
Why don't we need both Rituals? I obviously haven't played real games yet, but is it worth it to drop the second one completely?
Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
Steam Augury could be interesting as a Scroll target. I have always been on the fence with that card though. I have tried it in another deck before and it never seemed that great. I could be wrong though.
You're right about Muddle the Mixture. That card is definitely great in the deck, and provides some good versatility.I can't really argue with you if you wanted to play 1, and i could be wrong for not playing it right now. I guess my reasoning for cutting it in my list, is the fact that in all the games i've played with this deck, i have used it's tutoring ability like 2-3 times tops, and it's not the best counter otherwise, so i cut it for something more efficient. Like i said though, it does provide some cool lines, and i can't really say anything if you end up playing it.
About the Rituals, really most often what that 1 Ritual does is turn (1)(r) into (r)(r)(r) so you can Mana Seism and still have (r)(r) for Increasing Vengeance. Running the extra Ritual does have it's benefits though. You will draw them more often which can make going off easier sometimes, but more often than not they just end up sitting in your hand dead until you combo out. What i was trying to do is get the combo to take up as little space as possible and still be effective. Right now the only "dead" cards in my list are 2 Past in Flames, 1 Channel the Suns,1 Mana Seism and 1 Pyretic Ritual. Everything else can be used in some way or another outside the combo. While yeah you do want to draw those cards, so you can run the combo, they don't actually do anything until you combo, so you really don't want to flood out on combo pieces. I could be wrong for cutting the 2nd Ritual, but it hasn't got me into trouble yet.
I've been following this thread for a while now, and I'm very interested in this deck, and I'm thinking about making a paper version of it, and trying to go for no proxies. This presents me with a challenge since I cannot afford to go in on fetches at the moment.
So - do you think it would be possible to make this deck with a straight UR manabase (no green)? I would assume that manamorphose would then be the only source of green to cast channel with, perhaps necessitating more copies of manamorphose.
Also, if the UR plan would not work to reliably cast channel, is there any other cheap (price wise) mana base configuration that you can think of that would work?
I've been following this thread for a while now, and I'm very interested in this deck, and I'm thinking about making a paper version of it, and trying to go for no proxies. This presents me with a challenge since I cannot afford to go in on fetches at the moment.
So - do you think it would be possible to make this deck with a straight UR manabase (no green)? I would assume that manamorphose would then be the only source of green to cast channel with, perhaps necessitating more copies of manamorphose.
Also, if the UR plan would not work to reliably cast channel, is there any other cheap (price wise) mana base configuration that you can think of that would work?
Thanks.
The only problem with more Morphose is you have to cut cards for it. Only your control elements are available to be cut because you need to have the minimum pieces of the combo still in. Really it shouldnt be too difficult to just use a Pain, Shock and Check mana base but it means that you have to be much more careful when comboing off to ensure you make at least one green with Morphose.
Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
Why are there two copies of past in flames? I can think of two reasons: 1) disruption and 2) firing off twice.
The only disruption we care about with PiF is exile effects, so basically grave hate. Most grave hate effects will have to be answered before the combo turn anyway, after which PiF will be clear to use. It is theoretically possible that someone could hit your PiF before you have a chance to deal with their grave hate effect (if they use a discard and surgical extraction or rest in peace, for example), but most scenarios I can think of we have a chance to answer the hate piece before making PiF vulnerable.
How often does it come up that you actually need the second copy? How often is one copy (but not both) of PiF dealt with and you need the second one?
The reason you need 2 copies of Past in Flames is in case the first copy goes to the graveyard when you Gifts ,and you're forced to exile it when you flash it back. Then when you go make the win pile for Grapeshot, you wont have a solidified way to get Grapeshot into your hand.
For example. Without a second PiF, and assuming the first gets exiled on flashback when going for the combo, a sufficient win pile would be (Snapcaster Mage, Noxious Revival,Grapeshot, xxx) The problem with this pile comes when you don't have a Manamorphose/draw spell, or a Remand already in the hand or grave before going for the win pile. Without PiF there will be no way to get Grapeshot and Remand/Morphose consistently.
I have played quite a few matches without the second PIF before it actually came up in a game, so it is possible to get away with not running it. But one of the best things about this deck is the guaranteed storm combo, rather than the sort of engine combo that UR storm is, that just hopes to keep drawing cards and making mana, and trying to find a way to win. I love the fact that once i go for the combo, there is no way it can fizzle. Without that 2nd PiF that guarantee isn't always there.
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Not just the Tendo King, the power of the Galactic Leyline surpasses that of the Tempa Emperor, No!, It's magnificent power is even greater than that!
As long as the only reason for the second copy of PiF is to enable flashback on the win-cons from the final gifts pile, I think that there may be a better option in Call to Mind. A pile of [Snap, Call to Mind, Remand, Grapeshot] will give you the double casting of grapeshot that is necessary with a total of 15 mana spent, including the 4 for gifts, which is exactly what vengeance-channel produces. This also allows call to mind to regrowth a useful spell from the yard earlier in the game as added utility, instead of a mostly dead copy of PiF.
Other options that almost work include mystic retrieval and pull from the deep. Retrieval costs one too much, and pull from the deep self-exiles, negating its pre-combo utility.
Using my old list above, I did a quick shuffle and goldfish game to just display the basic way to combo kill. Obviously depending on what your opponent is doing and what you draw can easily change how exactly and in what sequence you go off. I've done it as late as T10 against UWR, and the later you go the easier it is to avoid whiffing due to mana concerns, along with having additional fuel in the yard to find additional pieces or to add to Storm count. (Serum Visions) Don't forget that once you Past in Flames your previously played counters will also be available to you to help fight disruption mid-combo.
Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
So say on the turn that you want to combo off you have the following cards in their respective zones:
-gifts, ritual, and mana seism in the yard
-5 untapped land in play
-PiF, channel the suns, manamorphose, and increasing vengeance in hand
You have all the pieces and five land, but how do you win with that specific combo. It's the only scenario that I haven't been able to figure out.
Ok so unfortunately, that seems to be the one configuration where 5 mana wont cut it. You're going to need a 2nd Ritual, or a 6th land. There is no way to get (r)(r)(g) after PIF for the double fork.
That being said, most games i do end up going off with about 6 lands in play just because games can get pretty grindy sometimes.
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Not just the Tendo King, the power of the Galactic Leyline surpasses that of the Tempa Emperor, No!, It's magnificent power is even greater than that!
Took the deck to a little tournament tonight, just three rounds.
Round 1: White midrange (pretty casual deck)
-Simply put, his clock wasn't fast enough to not roll over to a deck that consistently wins turn 5/6 with disruption leading all the way up to it.
-Win games one and two, no big deal
Round 2: Burn
-His clock was better than mine, but if I played the deck again I would sideboard a couple of wurmcoils/batterskulls (forgot to put them in the SB before the tournament started)
-Lose both games within a turn of going off, not that that's any consolation because that's always the case with burn
Round 3: Melira Pod
-Game 1 is pretty interactive, and I combo off with seven lands and only one piece in hand, but I don't need the rituals with that many lands and it goes pretty well. My opponent was a little overwhelmed with the complexity of the winning turn.
-Game 2 he just barely gets me by swarming the board a couple of times and attacking with the angel that has lifelink and puts counters on creatures whenever you gain life - really close, I only had 5 mana when I needed 6 at the point where the combo bottlenecks with mana when you're trying to flashback channel and increasing vengeance.
-Game 3 Go off on turn 5 with interaction from turns 2 and 3.
Final record:2-1
All in all, really fun deck to play. I don't have the fetches, so I play with shocks and a few city of brass (which obviously made my life harder against burn).
reaper64, very cool! It's sweet to see that the deck worked pretty well for you.
Burn can definitely be a pain in the ass if they are drawing hot. Like you said, the extra pain from the land base your running doesn't make things any easier either. But yeah, siding in the Skull can help tremendously sometimes. He normally comes out just in time, when they start running out of gas. If you don't find him quick enough, or they just have an insane hand, sometimes he won't even have a chance to do much though. What i normally try to do against burn is just counter a few of their burn spells and hope they gas out. As simple as it sounds it actually seems to work out most of the time. I really feel like they gotta get lucky to beat us.
So anyway, what list where you running? There are so many ways to construct this deck, so i'm pretty curious what you ended up going with.
I just got a new job, and i'm finally off 2nd shift. So i'm hoping i'll be able to get out to some of the local Modern events sometime in the future. It would be sweet to see some more tournament reports with this deck. Not to mention, finally getting a chance to play the deck outside of Cockatrice is gonna feel so good.
I play the latest version, the one with four serum visions and two merchant scroll. I might drop the scrolls and the mainboard muddle the mixture in my list for three peer through depths to add consistency as well as protection in case I need a red wrath, so we'll see about that. Other than that the list is the the same except more shocklands and city of brass. I might also try sac 'em tribe elders and a few more basics, but we'll hafta see about that as well.
Been fiddling with lists for this deck. Sylvan Caryatid seems a fine way to ramp. It will cut me off Anger and Slagstorm (both of which I was really hoping to play) but perhaps Pyroclasm and Flameslash will do the trick.
Would Tribe Elder be better given the synergy with Mana Seism?
I also noticed that -- back when this deck was putting up results with the better ritual -- some decks sided in the Twin combo. Is this still viable? Or is the meta too diverse and necessary control cards have to go in it's place?
Sakura-Tribe Elder is definitely better than Sylvan Caryatid here. For exactly the reason you already mentioned. The synergy with Mana Seism is just too good. I have tried jamming some STE into the deck before and it's definitely pretty decent. It's worth more testing for sure. He's great at finding that 4th/5th land you'll need, enables t3 Gifts, and a possible t4 win. There's always the chump-sak trick as well.. Can't argue with stalling and ramping in this deck.
What you have to decide is if a heavier splash in green is worth STE. Also worth note, is if you tap down for STE, that means you can't hold up mana for Remand/ Mana Leak. It really depends on the match, but a lot of the time, i feel it would be better to keep your mana open.
There's just so many ways you can take this deck, it's hard to decide what actually works well and what doesn't.
I suppose a transformational sideboard is possible, but i have never been a huge fan of transformational boards. I would rather focus on doing 1 thing as good as possible than try to play a sub-optimal Twin list g2 and hope it works out. What matches would you swap combos for? and is it worth neutering your sideboard against other decks for it?
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Not just the Tendo King, the power of the Galactic Leyline surpasses that of the Tempa Emperor, No!, It's magnificent power is even greater than that!
So can someone help me out here? I don't know how to continue the combo with 5 mana from here:
Lands: 2 Steam Vents, 2 Islands, 1 Sulfur Falls
Hand: Pyretic Ritual, 2 Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Echoing Truth, Lightning Bolt
Yard: Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, and 9 other cards irrelevant to the combo.
Any help would be appreciated! I really want to play this deck.
I must apologize for the late response to Mr.Jack. I registered this account with my college email and after I graduated I lost it, but once I registered for grad school I got it again and saw your message. After seething song was banned I tried playing a gifts deck with twiddle (you can read about it here http://legitmtg.com/competitive/gifts-into-unburial-rites-combo-deck-fail-to-find/) But I kept losing to stone rain effects. Then I played affinity with boros charm with varying consistency, then I tried goyros vengance reanimator with about the same consistency. I would either do miserable or win easily. But something felt wrong and I realized I wasn't playing gifts. I built a 4 color gifts list with about the same success as the previous decks (win and event, 0-2 drop, 1-3) and I longed to play the list I had before seething song was banned. I had tried building various lists like the ones in this thread and when I saw your message Allyway Jack I scrolled through and tried to play your list. I am probably bad, but I just felt like it was reaching way way way to far my liking. Seemed like you needed too many things to all go off perfectly. I tried channel the suns too. I tried fungal reaches and merchants scroll, teachings, etc. But they all seemed too inconsistent. Then I decided to try my old list cutting seething song for mana siesm and decided to try the old stand by, with some modifications since song has been banned.
It seems that running a lot of lands makes Mana Seism as good as seething song. I went up to 4 electromancers. Today in testing I won on turn 2 with this deck. Ritual, manamorphose, electromancer, ritual ritual pif ritual ritual manamorphose gifts...
Electormancer is as crazy as ever. I have not tested the sideboard as much as I would like. I think that it might just be better to sideboard into a set of empty the warrens and maybe a few storm breath dragons. With electromancer being so huge I imagine people won't be taking out removal game two and three which really make twinning hard.
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legacy: Tes, Affinity, Dredge
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
So can someone help me out here? I don't know how to continue the combo with 5 mana from here:
Lands: 2 Steam Vents, 2 Islands, 1 Sulfur Falls
Hand: Pyretic Ritual, 2 Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Echoing Truth, Lightning Bolt
Yard: Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, and 9 other cards irrelevant to the combo.
Any help would be appreciated! I really want to play this deck.
You can't because you can't make green mana
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legacy: Tes, Affinity, Dredge
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
I tried all the ways I could think. I think you need another mana. If you go ritual, channel the suns, pif you have rrg. You need to flashback increasing vengance on channel the suns, for this you need 1rrrg, 1r for mana seism and rr for vengence. There is a way to cast gifts with rrg in pool and maybe you could gifts into something but I think you have to hope to draw the right cards with manamorphose in that case.
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legacy: Tes, Affinity, Dredge
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
So can someone help me out here? I don't know how to continue the combo with 5 mana from here:
Lands: 2 Steam Vents, 2 Islands, 1 Sulfur Falls
Hand: Pyretic Ritual, 2 Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Echoing Truth, Lightning Bolt
Yard: Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, and 9 other cards irrelevant to the combo.
The problem here came before you even got to this state. With those cards in hand, that means you must have cast Gifts with 2 Past in Flames in hand. That's not going to win you the game. For the most part, generally speaking you need 2 different combo pieces in hand before you cast Gifts for the other 4.
But yeah, if you had a 6th land you could combo off with just PIF and Gifts, but it's not guaranteed. If they give you Increasing Vengeance and Mana Seism, you still lose.
This has got me thinking though, someone needs to go through and chart out all the possible hand configurations and what the minimum requirments are for a guaranteed win. I guess that person is going to be me..
For these, the "what the opponent will give you", is what their best choice is, not the best choice for us.
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Pyretic Ritual, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Past in Flames, Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Mana Seism, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Mana Seism Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Past in Flames, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual, Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Pyretic Ritual What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Revival, Ritual, Gifts
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then cast Mana Seism for - 5RRG - 1 storm
- now you can Vengeance your Channel and cast PIF - RGGUUWWB - 4 storm
- Ritual from the grave, then Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Ritual, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Ritual
To Win-
- Manamorphose into Vengeance on Channel - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- PIF into Ritual, into Seism - RRGGU6 - 6 storm
- Vengeance on Channel again - 3RRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Mana Seism Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Ritual, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Ritual, Channel
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Ritual Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns, Mana Seism What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Manamorphose, Ritual, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual, Mana Seism What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Manamorphose, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Lands in Play- 6 Lands In Grave- Gifts,
To Win-
- Manamorphose into Vengeance on Channel - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- PIF into Ritual, into Seism - RRGGU6 - 6 storm
- Vengeance on Channel again - 3RRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Ritual, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Ritual
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then cast Mana Seism for - 5RRG - 1 storm
- now you can Vengeance your Channel and cast PIF - RGGUUWWB - 4 storm
- Ritual from the grave, then Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns What the opponent will give you- Manamorphose, Past in Flames
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Ritual, Manamorphose, Past in Flames Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Revival, Ritual, Past in Flames, Mana Seism What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Ritual
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Ritual Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Mana Seism
To Win-
- Ritual then Vengeance your Channel the Suns - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- play PIF, then Ritual and Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Mana Seism, Ritual Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Channel the Suns, Manamorphose What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Mana Seism, Ritual, Past in Flames, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then play Mana Seism - RRG5 - 1 storm
- play Manamorphose into the Ritual to RRRRG4 then play Past in Flames - RRRG1 - 4 storm
- Manamorphose into the Ritual again to RRRRGG then Vengeance Channel - RRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Manamorphose Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then play Mana Seism - RRG5 - 1 storm
- Channel the Suns to RRRGUWB2 then Manamorphose - RRRGGUWB1 - 3 storm
- Past in Flames which brings you to RRGGU then Ritual - RRRGGU - 5 storm
- now you can Vengeance the Channel - RRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Mana Seism What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts In Hand- Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Lands in Play- 5 Lands In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Mana Seism
To Win-
- Ritual then Vengeance your Channel the Suns - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- play PIF, then Ritual and Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
So out of all 15 possibile configurations, only 6 of them need 6 mana to guarantee a win no matter what you get.
Past In Flames - Manamorphose
Past In Flames - Increasing Vengeance
Past in Flames - Mana Seism
Manamorphose - Channel the Suns
Manamorphose - Increasing Vengeance
Manamorphose - Mana Seism
A few of these can get wins with 5 lands, but there's a possibility for your opponent to pick the right 2 and cut you off. With 6 lands they are assured. The other 9 Configurations however, can guarantee a win on just 5 lands
These ones are interesting because they can win on 5 lands, but you wanna Gifts for Noxious Revival rather than Manamorphose with these ones.
This guys was talking about how bad storm was as a deck and how it wasn't competitive. I remember probing him and seeing arcbound ravager and master of etherium, and I remember him attacking with a signal pested team to play around counterspells. He had two battle cry inkmoth nexi that had me dead on board and end of his turn I played manamorphose, drew pyretic ritual, gifts (I have 3 lands in play). The pile was pif, mana seism, pyretic, desperate. He gave me mana seism and pyretic ritual. Then I untapped and drew land 4, played ritual and seism making 7 mana, then played past in flames, probe, ritual, ritual, manamorphose, (drawn with manamorphose), probe, manaseism, grapeshot remand grapeshot. Game 2 I sided into twin combo. I probed him seeing spell pierce, cranial plating, and galvanic blast. He led with some free dudes and a vault skirge from a blinkmoth nexus. He missed his second land from and I remanded his springleaf drum. On his next turn he tapped out from plating and equiped when he tried to attack I tapped it down with pestermite then untapped and played splinter twin. He said game 1 he thought I was a control deck so he was playing around counterspells. Also no mention of how bad storm was.
1-0(2-0)
Round 2 Affinity (win)
I played turn 2 goblin electromancer and turn 3 gifts getting pif manamorphose and two rituals. He was threatening lethal inkmoth nexus and I drew remand to get him for grapeshot remand grapeshot.
Game 2 I time walked him with remand on his rest in peace. He was hitting me for 3 with free guys. I started tapping his cards at his upkeep with a string of 4 exarchs/ pestermites. He was in a position where his steel overseers would kill me in two turns if he played it right, but then I drew Splinter twin.
This guy also whined like a girl the whole time and for the rest of the tournament about how stupid storm was.
2-0 (4-0)
rg Tron (lose)
He led with a tron land. I mulliganed and kept a hand with empty the warrens and goblin electromancer. I probed and saw a pyroclams, and tron along with Karn. he played turn 3 Karn and took out the electromancer I played the turn before. He then played oblivion stone and I resolved gifts but could not win unless I drew a ritual, I didnt- he exiled my land and I conceded. Game 2 he played thorn of anythest and I tapped down his tron land at his upkeep with pestermite. He played another one and cast karn exiling pestermite. I played another pestermite turn 4 but he killed his Karn to get rid of it. On turn 5 I cast gifts and got halimar depths, izzet charm, serum visions, gitaxian probe. He split them like fact of fiction and ask me which one I wanted, so I picked the one with halimar depths (thorn kept me off the other ones). I saw a pestermite and 2 lands one a fetch. I put pestermite on top. He played eye of egin next turn. On my turn I drew pestermite and played a fetch land. He end of turn got emrakul. He cast and I remanded it (to draw a card obviously he cant be countered). He took another turn and I tapped emrakul with pestermite. I had one turn to draw splinter twin or kiki and didnt and next turn he tutored grim poppet and killed it. Twin was 2 cards down.
2-1 (4-2)
Round 4 junk midrange (win)
He inquisitioned me turn 2 after a turn 1 woodland cemetary, he took manamorphose (over goblin electormancer). I probed him seeing wrath of God, underworld connections (he said he couldnt find a 4 pyrexian arena before event) abrupt decay, elspeth and a plains. I planned to sandbag the electromancer for my combo turn. He played land on next turn and played underworld connections. I played electromancer and tried to go off but he abrupt decayed it in the middle and I cast empty the warrens for 16, he played wrath of God. On my turn I played land 4. He thoughtseized me on the next turn and I played gifts in responce getting epic experiment, past in flames mana seism and a ritual. He put pif and epic in yard and thoughtseized mana seism. I hit 7 straight land drops and flash backed the whole graveyard winning by targeting an epic experiment with x=7 with an increasing vengeance. I did not sideboard into twin game 2. He would keep in abrupt decay and I thought he was slow enough the storm was going to be more redundant. I electormancer and started to go off. Turn 4 I had no gifts or action, just mana, 3 lands and electromancer but I could cast some probes and serum visions from the graveyard. I had remanded him. So I started to go off and remanded my rituals to draw cards. Once it ran out of flashbacked draw spells I stopped. He played something irrelevant and I drew gifts and he lost.
3-1 (6-2)
We had top 4 for the goyf, second got a fat pack and 3,4 got 4 packs. This was pretty awesome for a $10 entry.
Semifinals
Affinity (win)
This was the whiney guy. Game 1 he dropped his hand turn 1. On his turn 2 he was threatening lethal while complaining about how unfair my deck was. I had electormancer and 2 lands in play. I played pyretic ritual gifts. I got pyretic, manamorphose, past in flames, desperate. He wins here if he gives me past in flames and manamorphose because I only have 1 mana floating. If I draw land I still cannot cast past in flames and if I draw a ritual I can cast past in flames but not flash it back. This guy gives me a ritual and manamorphose. I cast ritual, manamorphose and draw another ritual, then preoceed to cast past in flames and the rituals and manamorphose. I draw grapeshot and an able to grapeshot remand grapeshot.
*As a note in testing I never got grapeshot remand grapeshot as much as I did today. I could have just as easily won by flashing back gifts (thats what I normally do)
Next game I twinned him on turn 5. I countered his thoughtcast with izzet charm and his hand was double plating overseer. I was about to tap down his cranial plated guys to fog twice until I found the splinter twin with a halimar depths.
4-1 (8-2)
Venue was awesome as always. I really recommend Taylorville, Il. Guy is awesome, he got us free Pizza! Also prize payout was insane. We had 10 people and he gave out a tarmagoyf,fat pack, and 8 packs. Me and the finalist agreed on a split. It was the affinity guy from round 1.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
legacy: Tes, Affinity, Dredge
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
Great report ABoss. Your list is pretty interesting. I have been playing a very similar list for a long time now actually. I had tried talking about it on the UR Storm thread a while back, and the old Ritual Gifts thread but no one seemed interested unfortunately.
The only thing i'm not sure about with your list, is it seems like you're really gonna need an Electromancer out or you can't combo. Mana Seism really doesn't seem like an all star here, and you don't have an EOT Gifts pile that can get a win. It's a lot more all-in in than a traditional Ritual Gifts list would be, but that may not be bad. The reliance on Electromancer is the big thing that turns me off though.
This is the list i have been using. I call it RGS, for Ritual Gifts Storm.
It's not really Ritual Gifts in the way traditional Ritual Gifts is. I would almost call it a split between Ritual Gifts and UR Storm. If you were to compare to Legacy i would say UR Storm is like Belcher or Spanish Inquisition, Ritual Gifts is akin to DDFT, and this hybrind would be something like TES or ANT.
The deck works really well though, and in my opinion is a lot better than the traditional UR Storm list is. Gifts Ungiven in a similar shell just makes the deck so consistent. I mentioned a comparison to ANT or TES because it feels similar. It's still a fast combo deck, but it actually has a way to protect itself. Plus your not just making mana, drawing cards and hoping to find a win condition. You get to run sweet Gift loops into a guaranteed win.
Here is exactly what you would need in hand to have a guaranteed win with Electromancer, assuming you cast him that turn.
On field > In hand
-----------------
3 lands > Goblin, Ritualx2, Morphose, Gifts
3 lands > Goblin, Ritual, Revival, Morphose, Gifts
Here's an example of how the combo turn of the first option play's out.
Play Mancer(1), Ritual(2), Ritual(3), Morphose(4), Gifts(5) for [Ritual, Ritual, Morphose, PIF] that leaves 3 mana floating and no matter what they give you your set. Their best option is to give you Morphose and PIF. Morphose(6), PIF(7), Ritualx4(8)(9)(10)(11), Morphose(12), Gifts(11) for [Grapeshot, Remand, Revival, PIF] that leaves 7 mana floating. I think their best option is give you PIF and Remand, but no matter what your gravy. PIF(12), Revival(13) grapeshot to the top of your library, Morphose(14), Grapeshot(15), Remand(16), Grapeshot.
Just remember to keep 1 draw spell in the grave before your last Gifts pile so you can draw into Grapeshot
The key with Electromancer is if you can cast Gifts and have 3 mana open, the pile (Ritualx2, Morphose, PIF) is a guaranteed win.
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As far as Ritual Gifts goes though, i have actually been tuning a new list. It's a step in a slightly different direction than my previous efforts, but feels almost more in the spirit of the older lists. I have been having some decent results in testing the deck. It has been feeling a lot more consistent than the older lists were. The main problem i think everyone was having is mana screw; Not finding enough lands to get Mana Seism live. The Serum Visions/ Tempo Shell definitely works, but here is what i came up with to try and combat the issue in a more consistent way.
Sporting a fairly similar shell as Scapeshift now. But the ramp makes reaching that 5-6 mana threshold much easier, and faster. To fit the ramp though i had to nix the Serum Visions, and dramatically alter the control suite. The extra lands actually makes Merchant Scroll feel a bit better. I'm also now running a nicer Scroll package, which gives you outs to all kinds of problems. There are so many ways you can take this deck so it's really hard to figure out an optimal set up, but this is feeling like the best effort yet.
Unfortunately I had to work late so I was unable to make it to play last night. I did get the cards I needed in the mail though so I am ready to sling some spells. I do plan on getting in some play testing this weekend if only to understand the deck better.
Reading through about 7 pages of the old thread there are some cards I thought of that I do wish to try out. Steam Augury is a card I feel could be useful even as simply an additional Gifts as it lets us create the piles, and given that when we "go off" we really don't care what cards are where for the most part, so we can set up the piles to just be great either way. That is one thing I really like about Gifts in this deck, it's quite easy to have a hand where the piles don't matter. You're going to win next turn regardless. I do know that someone tried it before and dismissed it, but it may be something I just need to see for myself to understand why it isn't very good.
I also feel that maybe 1 Muddle the Mixture isn't a terrible idea. Worst case it allows you to tutor for a Morphose/Ritual in preparation to go off if you already have a Gifts, something the scroll doesn't let you do. With my side board containing Ray of Revelation and Ancient Grudge I can also tutor for those with the card. Is it necessary? Probably not, but again it was in the lists before so it may hold some merit. (I also found a foil one in an old box, so there's that.)
Reading your changes I can agree with the reasoning. Izzet Charm just does good things and can be tutored with either Scroll or Muddle, and a main deck Echoing Truth gives you an temporary answer to troublesome permanents. I know that some people play Tezzeret or Enchantress style decks (I do understand they aren't T1 T2 or anywhere in between, but they can show up early rounds of a GP or at FNM, etc.) which will main deck hate like Cage and Rest in Peace or what have you, and if they slip through counter magic it can be a tough game 1 to win as all we have is Snap beats and a few bolts. It can also bounce annoying walkers (Lili) in addition to performing Vapor Snag's duty.
Why don't we need both Rituals? I obviously haven't played real games yet, but is it worth it to drop the second one completely?
You're right about Muddle the Mixture. That card is definitely great in the deck, and provides some good versatility.I can't really argue with you if you wanted to play 1, and i could be wrong for not playing it right now. I guess my reasoning for cutting it in my list, is the fact that in all the games i've played with this deck, i have used it's tutoring ability like 2-3 times tops, and it's not the best counter otherwise, so i cut it for something more efficient. Like i said though, it does provide some cool lines, and i can't really say anything if you end up playing it.
About the Rituals, really most often what that 1 Ritual does is turn (1)(r) into (r)(r)(r) so you can Mana Seism and still have (r)(r) for Increasing Vengeance. Running the extra Ritual does have it's benefits though. You will draw them more often which can make going off easier sometimes, but more often than not they just end up sitting in your hand dead until you combo out. What i was trying to do is get the combo to take up as little space as possible and still be effective. Right now the only "dead" cards in my list are 2 Past in Flames, 1 Channel the Suns,1 Mana Seism and 1 Pyretic Ritual. Everything else can be used in some way or another outside the combo. While yeah you do want to draw those cards, so you can run the combo, they don't actually do anything until you combo, so you really don't want to flood out on combo pieces. I could be wrong for cutting the 2nd Ritual, but it hasn't got me into trouble yet.
So - do you think it would be possible to make this deck with a straight UR manabase (no green)? I would assume that manamorphose would then be the only source of green to cast channel with, perhaps necessitating more copies of manamorphose.
Also, if the UR plan would not work to reliably cast channel, is there any other cheap (price wise) mana base configuration that you can think of that would work?
Thanks.
The only problem with more Morphose is you have to cut cards for it. Only your control elements are available to be cut because you need to have the minimum pieces of the combo still in. Really it shouldnt be too difficult to just use a Pain, Shock and Check mana base but it means that you have to be much more careful when comboing off to ensure you make at least one green with Morphose.
The only disruption we care about with PiF is exile effects, so basically grave hate. Most grave hate effects will have to be answered before the combo turn anyway, after which PiF will be clear to use. It is theoretically possible that someone could hit your PiF before you have a chance to deal with their grave hate effect (if they use a discard and surgical extraction or rest in peace, for example), but most scenarios I can think of we have a chance to answer the hate piece before making PiF vulnerable.
How often does it come up that you actually need the second copy? How often is one copy (but not both) of PiF dealt with and you need the second one?
For example. Without a second PiF, and assuming the first gets exiled on flashback when going for the combo, a sufficient win pile would be (Snapcaster Mage, Noxious Revival,Grapeshot, xxx) The problem with this pile comes when you don't have a Manamorphose/draw spell, or a Remand already in the hand or grave before going for the win pile. Without PiF there will be no way to get Grapeshot and Remand/Morphose consistently.
I have played quite a few matches without the second PIF before it actually came up in a game, so it is possible to get away with not running it. But one of the best things about this deck is the guaranteed storm combo, rather than the sort of engine combo that UR storm is, that just hopes to keep drawing cards and making mana, and trying to find a way to win. I love the fact that once i go for the combo, there is no way it can fizzle. Without that 2nd PiF that guarantee isn't always there.
Other options that almost work include mystic retrieval and pull from the deep. Retrieval costs one too much, and pull from the deep self-exiles, negating its pre-combo utility.
Another possible change to the main deck I had thought of is into the roil or cyclonic rift over echoing truth. How often does echoing truth bounce multiples?
Seem reasonable? You guys are the ones with the experience playing the deck, let me know if I missed something.
T1-4: Play the RUG Scapeshift game in the sense that you're dealing with threats and digging for combo pieces.
T4 (endstep): Gifts Ungiven for Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, and Desperate Ritual?
T5: Channel the Suns, Desperate Ritual, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance with Channel the Suns, Gifts Ungiven for Grapeshot and Remand, flash back Past in Flames, Grapeshot, Remand Grapeshot, Grapeshot.
Where does the mana and spells come from?
My decks:
Modern
B[url=http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive/220250-dredgevine?page=89#c2235]Dredgevine[/url]G
Amulet Bloom
T1: Breeding Pool tapped.
T2: Draw Misty Rainforest for turn, play Misty.
Opp casts spell. In response -> Crack Misty, getting Steam Vents untapped. Life: 17 Opp: 20. Cast Manamorphose, creating . Draw Increasing Vengeance. Cast Remand with floating mana, draw Gifts Ungiven.
T3: Draw Sulfur Falls, play Hallowed Fountain tapped.
T4: Draw Sulfur Falls, play a Sulfur Falls. EoOT cast Gifts Ungiven fetching Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Mana Seism, Manamorphose. For this exercise they gave us Past in Flames and Manamorphose.
T5: Draw Snapcaster Mage. Play Sulfur Falls. Storm time:
-gifts, ritual, and mana seism in the yard
-5 untapped land in play
-PiF, channel the suns, manamorphose, and increasing vengeance in hand
You have all the pieces and five land, but how do you win with that specific combo. It's the only scenario that I haven't been able to figure out.
That being said, most games i do end up going off with about 6 lands in play just because games can get pretty grindy sometimes.
Round 1: White midrange (pretty casual deck)
-Simply put, his clock wasn't fast enough to not roll over to a deck that consistently wins turn 5/6 with disruption leading all the way up to it.
-Win games one and two, no big deal
Round 2: Burn
-His clock was better than mine, but if I played the deck again I would sideboard a couple of wurmcoils/batterskulls (forgot to put them in the SB before the tournament started)
-Lose both games within a turn of going off, not that that's any consolation because that's always the case with burn
Round 3: Melira Pod
-Game 1 is pretty interactive, and I combo off with seven lands and only one piece in hand, but I don't need the rituals with that many lands and it goes pretty well. My opponent was a little overwhelmed with the complexity of the winning turn.
-Game 2 he just barely gets me by swarming the board a couple of times and attacking with the angel that has lifelink and puts counters on creatures whenever you gain life - really close, I only had 5 mana when I needed 6 at the point where the combo bottlenecks with mana when you're trying to flashback channel and increasing vengeance.
-Game 3 Go off on turn 5 with interaction from turns 2 and 3.
Final record:2-1
All in all, really fun deck to play. I don't have the fetches, so I play with shocks and a few city of brass (which obviously made my life harder against burn).
Burn can definitely be a pain in the ass if they are drawing hot. Like you said, the extra pain from the land base your running doesn't make things any easier either. But yeah, siding in the Skull can help tremendously sometimes. He normally comes out just in time, when they start running out of gas. If you don't find him quick enough, or they just have an insane hand, sometimes he won't even have a chance to do much though. What i normally try to do against burn is just counter a few of their burn spells and hope they gas out. As simple as it sounds it actually seems to work out most of the time. I really feel like they gotta get lucky to beat us.
So anyway, what list where you running? There are so many ways to construct this deck, so i'm pretty curious what you ended up going with.
I just got a new job, and i'm finally off 2nd shift. So i'm hoping i'll be able to get out to some of the local Modern events sometime in the future. It would be sweet to see some more tournament reports with this deck. Not to mention, finally getting a chance to play the deck outside of Cockatrice is gonna feel so good.
Would Tribe Elder be better given the synergy with Mana Seism?
I also noticed that -- back when this deck was putting up results with the better ritual -- some decks sided in the Twin combo. Is this still viable? Or is the meta too diverse and necessary control cards have to go in it's place?
What you have to decide is if a heavier splash in green is worth STE. Also worth note, is if you tap down for STE, that means you can't hold up mana for Remand/ Mana Leak. It really depends on the match, but a lot of the time, i feel it would be better to keep your mana open.
There's just so many ways you can take this deck, it's hard to decide what actually works well and what doesn't.
I suppose a transformational sideboard is possible, but i have never been a huge fan of transformational boards. I would rather focus on doing 1 thing as good as possible than try to play a sub-optimal Twin list g2 and hope it works out. What matches would you swap combos for? and is it worth neutering your sideboard against other decks for it?
Lands: 2 Steam Vents, 2 Islands, 1 Sulfur Falls
Hand: Pyretic Ritual, 2 Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Echoing Truth, Lightning Bolt
Yard: Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, and 9 other cards irrelevant to the combo.
Any help would be appreciated! I really want to play this deck.
2 Pyretic Ritual
4 Serum Visions
2 Past in Flames
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Island
3 Mountain
2 Steam Vents
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Shivan Reef
1 Epic Experiment
2 Mana Seism
4 Remand
3 Halimar Depths
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Empty the Warrens
4 Splinter Twin
3 Pestermite
4 Deceiver Exarch
2 Izzet Charm
1 Noxious Revival
It seems that running a lot of lands makes Mana Seism as good as seething song. I went up to 4 electromancers. Today in testing I won on turn 2 with this deck. Ritual, manamorphose, electromancer, ritual ritual pif ritual ritual manamorphose gifts...
Electormancer is as crazy as ever. I have not tested the sideboard as much as I would like. I think that it might just be better to sideboard into a set of empty the warrens and maybe a few storm breath dragons. With electromancer being so huge I imagine people won't be taking out removal game two and three which really make twinning hard.
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
vintage: burning oath
my affinity primer
http://legitmtg.com/competitive/metalcrafting-for-the-win-an-affinity-primer/
You can't because you can't make green mana
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
vintage: burning oath
my affinity primer
http://legitmtg.com/competitive/metalcrafting-for-the-win-an-affinity-primer/
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
vintage: burning oath
my affinity primer
http://legitmtg.com/competitive/metalcrafting-for-the-win-an-affinity-primer/
The problem here came before you even got to this state. With those cards in hand, that means you must have cast Gifts with 2 Past in Flames in hand. That's not going to win you the game. For the most part, generally speaking you need 2 different combo pieces in hand before you cast Gifts for the other 4.
But yeah, if you had a 6th land you could combo off with just PIF and Gifts, but it's not guaranteed. If they give you Increasing Vengeance and Mana Seism, you still lose.
This has got me thinking though, someone needs to go through and chart out all the possible hand configurations and what the minimum requirments are for a guaranteed win. I guess that person is going to be me..
For these, the "what the opponent will give you", is what their best choice is, not the best choice for us.
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Pyretic Ritual, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Past in Flames, Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Mana Seism, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Mana Seism
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Past in Flames, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Ritual, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
Before resolving Gifts
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual, Increasing Vengeance, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Gifts
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Pyretic Ritual
What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Revival, Ritual, Gifts
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then cast Mana Seism for - 5RRG - 1 storm
- now you can Vengeance your Channel and cast PIF - RGGUUWWB - 4 storm
- Ritual from the grave, then Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Ritual, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Manamorphose, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Ritual
To Win-
- Manamorphose into Vengeance on Channel - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- PIF into Ritual, into Seism - RRGGU6 - 6 storm
- Vengeance on Channel again - 3RRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Mana Seism
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Ritual, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Manamorphose, Mana Seism, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Ritual, Channel
To Win-
- Vengeance your Morphose - 2RRRG - 2 storm
- Mana Seism up to 7RRG and cast PIF - 4RG - 4 storm
- Ritual to 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG -7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Ritual
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns, Mana Seism
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Manamorphose, Ritual, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Manamorphose, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 6 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual, Mana Seism
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Manamorphose, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
Lands in Play- 6 Lands
In Grave- Gifts,
To Win-
- Manamorphose into Vengeance on Channel - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- PIF into Ritual, into Seism - RRGGU6 - 6 storm
- Vengeance on Channel again - 3RRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Ritual, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Mana Seism, Past in Flames, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Ritual
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then cast Mana Seism for - 5RRG - 1 storm
- now you can Vengeance your Channel and cast PIF - RGGUUWWB - 4 storm
- Ritual from the grave, then Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGGUUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
What the opponent will give you- Manamorphose, Past in Flames
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Ritual, Manamorphose, Past in Flames
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- Vengeance your Ritual, then Morphose into - RRRRRRG - 3 storm
- Cast PIF which bring you to RRG, then cast Mana Seism - 5G - 5 Storm
- use Manamorphose to 4RG, cast the Ritual 3RRRG, then Vengeance the Channel - RRRRWWWBBBUUUGGG - 9 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Revival, Ritual, Past in Flames, Mana Seism
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Ritual
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Ritual
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Mana Seism
To Win-
- Ritual then Vengeance your Channel the Suns - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- play PIF, then Ritual and Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Mana Seism, Ritual
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance Channel the Suns, Manamorphose
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Mana Seism, Ritual, Past in Flames, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Channel the Suns
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then play Mana Seism - RRG5 - 1 storm
- play Manamorphose into the Ritual to RRRRG4 then play Past in Flames - RRRG1 - 4 storm
- Manamorphose into the Ritual again to RRRRGG then Vengeance Channel - RRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 8 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Mana Seism, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Manamorphose, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Manamorphose
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Mana Seism, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Manamorphose
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Increasing Vengeance, Ritual
To Win-
- tap your lands for mana then play Mana Seism - RRG5 - 1 storm
- Channel the Suns to RRRGUWB2 then Manamorphose - RRRGGUWB1 - 3 storm
- Past in Flames which brings you to RRGGU then Ritual - RRRGGU - 5 storm
- now you can Vengeance the Channel - RRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- cast Gifts from the grave for the win
In Hand- Gifts Ungiven, Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns
Lands in Play- 5 lands
Gifts for- Noxious Revival, Increasing Vengeance, Past in Flames, Mana Seism
What the opponent will give you- Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
After resolving Gifts
In Hand- Pyretic Ritual, Channel the Suns, Past in Flames, Increasing Vengeance
Lands in Play- 5 Lands
In Grave- Gifts, Revival, Mana Seism
To Win-
- Ritual then Vengeance your Channel the Suns - RRGGUUWWBB - 3 storm
- play PIF, then Ritual and Vengeance Channel again - RRRRGGGUUUWWWBBB - 7 storm
- Cast Gifts from the grave for the win
So out of all 15 possibile configurations, only 6 of them need 6 mana to guarantee a win no matter what you get.
Past In Flames - Manamorphose
Past In Flames - Increasing Vengeance
Past in Flames - Mana Seism
Manamorphose - Channel the Suns
Manamorphose - Increasing Vengeance
Manamorphose - Mana Seism
A few of these can get wins with 5 lands, but there's a possibility for your opponent to pick the right 2 and cut you off. With 6 lands they are assured. The other 9 Configurations however, can guarantee a win on just 5 lands
These ones are interesting because they can win on 5 lands, but you wanna Gifts for Noxious Revival rather than Manamorphose with these ones.
Past in Flames - Channel the Suns
Increasing Vengeance - Channel the Suns
Increasing Vengeance - Mana Seism
Pyretic Ritual - Channel the Suns
Meta was 1 ritual gifts, 3 burn, 2 affinity, 1 uw control, 1 rg tron, 1 elf combo, 1 junk midrange
3 Pyretic Ritual
4 Serum Visions
2 Past in Flames
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Shivan Reef
1 Epic Experiment
1 Mana Seism
4 Remand
3 Halimar Depths
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Increasing Vengeance
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
4 Splinter Twin
3 Pestermite
4 Deceiver Exarch
2 Izzet Charm
1 Swan Song
Round 1 Affinity (win)
This guys was talking about how bad storm was as a deck and how it wasn't competitive. I remember probing him and seeing arcbound ravager and master of etherium, and I remember him attacking with a signal pested team to play around counterspells. He had two battle cry inkmoth nexi that had me dead on board and end of his turn I played manamorphose, drew pyretic ritual, gifts (I have 3 lands in play). The pile was pif, mana seism, pyretic, desperate. He gave me mana seism and pyretic ritual. Then I untapped and drew land 4, played ritual and seism making 7 mana, then played past in flames, probe, ritual, ritual, manamorphose, (drawn with manamorphose), probe, manaseism, grapeshot remand grapeshot. Game 2 I sided into twin combo. I probed him seeing spell pierce, cranial plating, and galvanic blast. He led with some free dudes and a vault skirge from a blinkmoth nexus. He missed his second land from and I remanded his springleaf drum. On his next turn he tapped out from plating and equiped when he tried to attack I tapped it down with pestermite then untapped and played splinter twin. He said game 1 he thought I was a control deck so he was playing around counterspells. Also no mention of how bad storm was.
1-0(2-0)
Round 2 Affinity (win)
I played turn 2 goblin electromancer and turn 3 gifts getting pif manamorphose and two rituals. He was threatening lethal inkmoth nexus and I drew remand to get him for grapeshot remand grapeshot.
Game 2 I time walked him with remand on his rest in peace. He was hitting me for 3 with free guys. I started tapping his cards at his upkeep with a string of 4 exarchs/ pestermites. He was in a position where his steel overseers would kill me in two turns if he played it right, but then I drew Splinter twin.
This guy also whined like a girl the whole time and for the rest of the tournament about how stupid storm was.
2-0 (4-0)
rg Tron (lose)
He led with a tron land. I mulliganed and kept a hand with empty the warrens and goblin electromancer. I probed and saw a pyroclams, and tron along with Karn. he played turn 3 Karn and took out the electromancer I played the turn before. He then played oblivion stone and I resolved gifts but could not win unless I drew a ritual, I didnt- he exiled my land and I conceded. Game 2 he played thorn of anythest and I tapped down his tron land at his upkeep with pestermite. He played another one and cast karn exiling pestermite. I played another pestermite turn 4 but he killed his Karn to get rid of it. On turn 5 I cast gifts and got halimar depths, izzet charm, serum visions, gitaxian probe. He split them like fact of fiction and ask me which one I wanted, so I picked the one with halimar depths (thorn kept me off the other ones). I saw a pestermite and 2 lands one a fetch. I put pestermite on top. He played eye of egin next turn. On my turn I drew pestermite and played a fetch land. He end of turn got emrakul. He cast and I remanded it (to draw a card obviously he cant be countered). He took another turn and I tapped emrakul with pestermite. I had one turn to draw splinter twin or kiki and didnt and next turn he tutored grim poppet and killed it. Twin was 2 cards down.
2-1 (4-2)
Round 4 junk midrange (win)
He inquisitioned me turn 2 after a turn 1 woodland cemetary, he took manamorphose (over goblin electormancer). I probed him seeing wrath of God, underworld connections (he said he couldnt find a 4 pyrexian arena before event) abrupt decay, elspeth and a plains. I planned to sandbag the electromancer for my combo turn. He played land on next turn and played underworld connections. I played electromancer and tried to go off but he abrupt decayed it in the middle and I cast empty the warrens for 16, he played wrath of God. On my turn I played land 4. He thoughtseized me on the next turn and I played gifts in responce getting epic experiment, past in flames mana seism and a ritual. He put pif and epic in yard and thoughtseized mana seism. I hit 7 straight land drops and flash backed the whole graveyard winning by targeting an epic experiment with x=7 with an increasing vengeance. I did not sideboard into twin game 2. He would keep in abrupt decay and I thought he was slow enough the storm was going to be more redundant. I electormancer and started to go off. Turn 4 I had no gifts or action, just mana, 3 lands and electromancer but I could cast some probes and serum visions from the graveyard. I had remanded him. So I started to go off and remanded my rituals to draw cards. Once it ran out of flashbacked draw spells I stopped. He played something irrelevant and I drew gifts and he lost.
3-1 (6-2)
We had top 4 for the goyf, second got a fat pack and 3,4 got 4 packs. This was pretty awesome for a $10 entry.
Semifinals
Affinity (win)
This was the whiney guy. Game 1 he dropped his hand turn 1. On his turn 2 he was threatening lethal while complaining about how unfair my deck was. I had electormancer and 2 lands in play. I played pyretic ritual gifts. I got pyretic, manamorphose, past in flames, desperate. He wins here if he gives me past in flames and manamorphose because I only have 1 mana floating. If I draw land I still cannot cast past in flames and if I draw a ritual I can cast past in flames but not flash it back. This guy gives me a ritual and manamorphose. I cast ritual, manamorphose and draw another ritual, then preoceed to cast past in flames and the rituals and manamorphose. I draw grapeshot and an able to grapeshot remand grapeshot.
*As a note in testing I never got grapeshot remand grapeshot as much as I did today. I could have just as easily won by flashing back gifts (thats what I normally do)
Next game I twinned him on turn 5. I countered his thoughtcast with izzet charm and his hand was double plating overseer. I was about to tap down his cranial plated guys to fog twice until I found the splinter twin with a halimar depths.
4-1 (8-2)
Venue was awesome as always. I really recommend Taylorville, Il. Guy is awesome, he got us free Pizza! Also prize payout was insane. We had 10 people and he gave out a tarmagoyf,fat pack, and 8 packs. Me and the finalist agreed on a split. It was the affinity guy from round 1.
modern: 4 color Gifts, ritual gifts, goryo's vengeance, affinity
vintage: burning oath
my affinity primer
http://legitmtg.com/competitive/metalcrafting-for-the-win-an-affinity-primer/
The only thing i'm not sure about with your list, is it seems like you're really gonna need an Electromancer out or you can't combo. Mana Seism really doesn't seem like an all star here, and you don't have an EOT Gifts pile that can get a win. It's a lot more all-in in than a traditional Ritual Gifts list would be, but that may not be bad. The reliance on Electromancer is the big thing that turns me off though.
This is the list i have been using. I call it RGS, for Ritual Gifts Storm.
4 Goblin Electromancer
3 Pyromancer Ascension
-Search-
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Peer through Depths
3 Gifts Ungiven
-Ritual-
4 Manamorphose
3 Pyretic Ritual
3 Desperate Ritual
-Disruption-
4 Remand
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Past in Flames
1 Noxious Revival
1 Grapeshot
-Land-
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Shivan Reef
3 Steam Vents
3 Island
1 Mountain
3 Blood Moon
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Spell Pierce
3 Echoing Truth
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Shatterstorm
It's not really Ritual Gifts in the way traditional Ritual Gifts is. I would almost call it a split between Ritual Gifts and UR Storm. If you were to compare to Legacy i would say UR Storm is like Belcher or Spanish Inquisition, Ritual Gifts is akin to DDFT, and this hybrind would be something like TES or ANT.
The deck works really well though, and in my opinion is a lot better than the traditional UR Storm list is. Gifts Ungiven in a similar shell just makes the deck so consistent. I mentioned a comparison to ANT or TES because it feels similar. It's still a fast combo deck, but it actually has a way to protect itself. Plus your not just making mana, drawing cards and hoping to find a win condition. You get to run sweet Gift loops into a guaranteed win.
Here is exactly what you would need in hand to have a guaranteed win with Electromancer, assuming you cast him that turn.
On field > In hand
-----------------
3 lands > Goblin, Ritualx2, Morphose, Gifts
3 lands > Goblin, Ritual, Revival, Morphose, Gifts
4 lands > Goblin, Ritualx2, Gifts
4 lands > Goblin, Ritual, Morphosex2, Gifts
4 lands > Goblin, Ritual, Revival, Morphose, Gifts
5 lands > Goblin, Ritualx2, Gifts
5 lands > Goblin, Ritual, Morphose, Gifts
5 lands > Goblin, Morphosex2, Revival, Gifts
Here's an example of how the combo turn of the first option play's out.
Play Mancer(1), Ritual(2), Ritual(3), Morphose(4), Gifts(5) for [Ritual, Ritual, Morphose, PIF] that leaves 3 mana floating and no matter what they give you your set. Their best option is to give you Morphose and PIF. Morphose(6), PIF(7), Ritualx4(8)(9)(10)(11), Morphose(12), Gifts(11) for [Grapeshot, Remand, Revival, PIF] that leaves 7 mana floating. I think their best option is give you PIF and Remand, but no matter what your gravy. PIF(12), Revival(13) grapeshot to the top of your library, Morphose(14), Grapeshot(15), Remand(16), Grapeshot.
Just remember to keep 1 draw spell in the grave before your last Gifts pile so you can draw into Grapeshot
The key with Electromancer is if you can cast Gifts and have 3 mana open, the pile (Ritualx2, Morphose, PIF) is a guaranteed win.
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As far as Ritual Gifts goes though, i have actually been tuning a new list. It's a step in a slightly different direction than my previous efforts, but feels almost more in the spirit of the older lists. I have been having some decent results in testing the deck. It has been feeling a lot more consistent than the older lists were. The main problem i think everyone was having is mana screw; Not finding enough lands to get Mana Seism live. The Serum Visions/ Tempo Shell definitely works, but here is what i came up with to try and combat the issue in a more consistent way.
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Search for Tomorrow
-Search-
3 Merchant Scroll
4 Gifts Ungiven
-Control-
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
1 Spell Snare
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Izzet Charm
1 Electrolyze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Snapcaster Mage
-Ritual-
2 Manamorphose
1 Pyretic Ritual
1 Mana Seism
1 Channel the Suns
2 Past in Flames
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Noxious Revival
1 Grapeshot
-Land-
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
2 Breeding Pool
4 Island
1 Mountain
1 Forest
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Dispel
2 Inferno Titan
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Damping Matrix
1 Torpor Orb
1 Combust
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Into the Roil
1 Hurkyll's Recall
Sporting a fairly similar shell as Scapeshift now. But the ramp makes reaching that 5-6 mana threshold much easier, and faster. To fit the ramp though i had to nix the Serum Visions, and dramatically alter the control suite. The extra lands actually makes Merchant Scroll feel a bit better. I'm also now running a nicer Scroll package, which gives you outs to all kinds of problems. There are so many ways you can take this deck so it's really hard to figure out an optimal set up, but this is feeling like the best effort yet.