Had a pretty good FnM this weekend. Took storm for the first time in a while, using a stock list with some spicy one-ofs in the side. It was a small event, only 3 rounds, and mostly inexperienced players. Good practice nonetheless. The field was mostly a get-your-feet-wet night for new players getting into modern, using decks that the shopkeep had on hand.
Mono Black Control 2-1
T1 Thoughtseize. Every. Time. He discarded all my relevant stuff, and I never drew into more reducers. Game 2, I thought was an auto-lose, but the guy was pretty new to modern and didn't understand the importance of sideboarding. I know the shopkeeper's deck, and knew he had leyline of the void as well as surgical extractions. I figured it was an auto-lose, but didn't see any of them in game 2. Brought in Wear/Tear, and spicy one-of Elesh Norn. Spent T3 going Ritual, Ritual, Ritual, Manamorphose for white, Elesh Norn. I swept his bitterblossom tokens, his Geralf's messengers etc, and he scooped because his dismembers weren't big enough to kill Norn. Game 3 was a straight-forward combo out on T4, Grapeshot to death. Having not seen any grave hate, I figure he was just not using it. I was right. New guy just didn't board in grave hate.
Eldra-tron??? 2-0
Game 1, he kept a 1 lander Eldrazi Temple with an Expedition Map. Never saw the 2nd land. I combo'd out and killed him with no opposition. I sided out my grapeshots and boarded in Empty the Warrens and my sideboard package of Elesh Norn Rites. Game 2, he starts off with Yavimaya Coast, and Noble Hierarch. Okay, Bant Eldrazi. This time his deck does what it's supposed to, and he Thought-Knot's away two of my Gifts Ungiven and a PiF. He gets me to 5 life via Smasher, Thoguht-Knot, Thought-Knot. I stabilize with an EtW for 10 goblins, and another Gifts in hand. I manage to chump his fatties, getting down to only 4 goblins left, EoT gifts, into Rites Elesh Norn. The game stalls out for a while as his 3/3 eldrazi stare at my 3/3 goblin tokens. He's not able to find his Path for Norn, and I get another PiF to combo from graveyard.
Ad Nauseam (Bring to Light version)
Game 1 got foiled by a Pact of Negation on my PiF. No Point in Remanding it. He Angel's Graced away the upkeep trigger, then combo'd out with Ad Nauseam. Game 2, I didn't draw my pieces, and he combo'd out with natural T3 Unlife, T4 Bring to Light, Ad Naus.
I expected the field to be full of itty bitty creatures that go wide, and boy was I right. Tribal decks as far as the eye could see.
Match 1: UB Faeries
2-1
Played against a guy who borrowed the deck. He T1 Thoughtseized me, and spoiled the surprize spice of Cruel Ultimatum, but what can you do, right? Kept a hand of Snap, 3 lands, Bolt, Mana Leak, Ultimatum. He takes Leak. Games 1 and 2 weren't that interesting. Game 1, I landed a Tar Pit and Snap, hitting him for 5 every turn, and his Bitterblossom wasn't generating tokens fast enough to keep up with electrolyze. Efficient removal of blockers, and countering the big stuff won me that. Game 2 was the reverse. Got Mutavaulted to death, seeing no Terminates to deal. No answers, lost quick. Game 3 of this match has convinced me that going up to 3 Kommands is where I want to be. I got to pull of some shenanigans with Kommand. Me with card in hand, he plays Liliana, +1. In response, I Kommand to 2 dmg return Snap from grave to hand, cast snap. Attack and kill Liliana next turn. I draw the other Kommand soon. I block and trade snap for his Mutavault, then immediately Kommand it back to hand, stripping his hand again. Snap again, to Electrolyze his silly Bitterblossom tokens. By the end of it, he had 2 Mistbind Cliques stuck in his hand and no faeries to champion. Felt good. I boarded in Countersqualls for Bitterblossom, Pyroclasms, and Staticasters for the tokens, but I never saw the Staticasters once.
Match 2: Co-Co Allies
2-1
Game 1, was pretty straight forward. T3 Anger of the Gods sent him back to the stone age, and he never drew a 4th land to Collected Company. Bolt, Kommand, and Terminate kept the field clear, and Snap beats got me there. Game 2 was rough. Against my better judgement, I kept a 5 land hand with Serum Visions and Mana Leak, thinking I could scry into some action. Boy was I wrong. I think I drew 3 non-land cards that game. Game 3 was about as by-the-book control as I could get. I drew answers when I needed them. Boarded in Pyroclasms, and the three pairs of sweepers together did work. Eventually, ground him out, finishing him off with Ultimatum, Snap, Ultimatum.
Match 3: Affinity
2-1
Oh buddy... This is where I would have swapped out the Electrolyzes for a set of Kommands, given the chance. T3 Kommand, T5 Snap-Kommand ruined his day. First one hit Inkmoth+Plating, second one hit Vault Skirge+Plating. He got out an Etched Champion, but by this point I was able to race him with Creeping Tar Pit and Snapcaster, hitting 5 to his 3 (Had a ravager +1/+1 on it). Game 2, I made grievous errors in judgement and boarded out my Damnations and... dare I say it? Both Cruel Ultimatums because I thought they would be too slow. Master Bolas punished me harshly for doubting him. My opponent landed 3 Etched Champions, and I stared impotently at the 2 Pyroclasms, and an Anger of the Gods sitting in my hand. Game 3 was a stomp. I boarded in both Lilianas as I figured the more sac effects, the better. I even got super greedy and went for big boss himself. See, in game 2, my opponent got me good with Ghirapur Æther Grid (I know, right?). He played it late, and figuring I had no enchantment removal in Grixis colors to deal with it, he was disappointed when Bolas himself showed up to blow the grid sky high. The combined efforts of Liliana, Jace, and Bolas late game, with Kommand and Anger of the Gods wrecking his early game sealed the match for me.
Match 4: 8-Whack Goblins
2-0
Honestly, this one was silly. Cheap sweepers, combined with the fact that he mulled to 5 both games, combined with the fact that he drew like... 7 mountains both games, made this not even a real match. I honestly felt bad for the guy. His deck bricked on him in the final round.
Didn't end up needing the Crumble to Dusts, or the Surgical Extractions, as the Tron player didn't even show up. Also, didn't end up facing the Dredge player, or the Living End player.
Hey folks. Long time reader, first time poster. I'm planning on taking Cruel Control to FnM this week. Turnout is usually pretty small, so I almost definitely know what decks are going to be there. This is the list I ran a few months ago, and am likely to slap together this time around as well:
The sideboard is up in the air currently, but I do know that the decks I'm most likely to face there are Abzan CoCo, Living End, GR Tron, Elves, Faeries, 8-Whack, Jeskai Control, and maybe Zooicide. With my meta the way it is, I often pack a couple of Pyroclasms in the board (sometimes maining them over Anger), or Pithing Needle for Tron's T3 Karn. Any thoughts on obvious staples I'm missing based on the decks I'm likely to face?
I had one vs a Grixis Kiln Fiend deck a few months back. It was unbelievably fun, as my opponent was easily the saltiest loser I'd ever faced. Game 1 was a loss straight out. Temur Battle Rage got me hard on turn 3. Games 2 and 3 were pretty easy, bringing in 3 Holy Day. I kept a hand full of Angel's Grace and Holy Day and a Prism. The guy killed me so quick in game 1, he didn't know I was on Ad Nauseam, so he went for the same trick and blew all his pump spells straight into Holy Day. His clock wasn't fast enough after that. By the time he drew more damage, I was able to fog multiple turns in a row, play Unlife, and combo out. Game 3 was pretty much the same. The dude got visibly angry that his super-tier deck was thwarted by a 25 cent common. He got on tilt, played bad, and lost. It was so satisfying.
As for BGx, I dunno. Stick a Leyline to deal with Thoughtseize, and try to get there before they resolve Liliana? I've found it pretty hard to deal with them after they establish their board, so my usual strat is "try to be faster than them"?
Fracturing Gust might not be absolutely relevant in the pro meta, but there's a dude who's been threatening to bring Lantern Control to FnM, and there's one or two Robots players at my shop. It's something I've been meaning to take out for Boseiju, Who Shelters All but keep forgetting to. In defense of the 3 BtL main, I got to thinking what I dig for with Sleight of Hand. I almost always dig for Ad Nauseam, and figured it would just be more efficient to run 3 more copies of Ad Nauseam instead of things that dig for Ad Nauseam. It may not be correct, but I've gotten pretty lucky with it so far. As well, I once died to my own Spoils of the Vault when I 20'd myself digging for a combo piece. Never again. I think Anguished Unmaking is fine, though depending on the matchup, the life loss may be relevant. I would run Detention Sphere over it personally.
While those I can see I may be wrong in my decision, one thing I have to 100% recommend is running Laboratory Maniac in the main deck. They may be fringe cases now, but at one point my meta was flooded with Melira Pod (Now Melira Co-Co), and my opponent gaining infinite life was not uncommon. Realistically, we can never do more than 39ish damage with Lightning Storm. Even fringe players who have a Soul Sisters, Martyr Life, or the Thing Ascension deck with Rest for the Weary, have the potential to just get out of burn range and Lab Man gives us an out vs them. The weakness to life gain, Deflecting Palm, Burrenton Forge-Tender, or even Pithing Needle and Spellskite demands a secondary win-con that does not involve damage.
...and you're absolutely right; Sudden Shock would probably be better. I was just thinking Sudden Death may be easier for the Esper list to cast, as it has more ready access to black mana than red.
Peeking at this thread again after a few months of trying to make a go of Esper Draw-Go. I've been playing this list at FnM for the last few months and getting generally decent results with it. The meta is full of Burn, 8-Whack, Co-Co (of all flavours), Titan Shift, and the occasional Tier-1 deck like Infect, Robots, Dredge or Jund. I've pretty much swapped out the Sleight of Hands for Glittering Wishes, and the Spoils of the Vaults for Bring to Lights, then fixed the mana base accordingly. Honestly, the deck runs amazingly smoothly. That said, my meta is largely devoid of control players, and discard spells of any kind are rare. My only really consistent loss usually comes from the one Infect player in my meta who doesn't show up often.
On the subject of the mirror match, my go-to would be Wishing for Slaughter Games, naming Ad Nauseam. If I'm playing the Esper List, the win will come to whoever can resolve the combo via Phyrexian Unlife first. Combo out, play Lab Maniac, end the turn and go to discards keeping all of your Pact of Negations, and all of your Angel's Graces. Pre-board, their ONLY out is to also have Phyrexian Unlife AND Ad Nauseam, AND have more Pacts than us in hand to stop ours. They could theoretically combo out and Lightning Storm us now, since our Angel's Graces won't stop the Infect damage. Post-board, bring in Leyline of Sanctity, and maybe run a 1-of Sudden Death? If we begin with Leyline, they NEED the Lab Man to win. We kill it with Sudden Death, and I think they just lose on the spot.
The problem is finding 4 lands, 3 of which tap for blue mana. With only 20 lands you'll run into consistency problems even looking for 4 lands, much less the right colours. I mean, it's possible to run it, but anything higher than 3 on the mana curve runs counter-productive to what the deck is trying to do.
I guess it all depends on how you want your game 1 to go. The wish list offers consistency and silver-bullets vs alot of decks. Wish for Firespout to make sure you hit a sweeper for turn 3. Wish for Vexing Shusher to keep the Nahiri player from shutting you down with Counterflux. Can't seem to draw Ad Nauseam? Wish for a Bring to Light to just go get it. Need Unlife or Lotus Bloom? Wish for Wargate to go get that. The redundant bits to go get anything you need whenever you need it make the list shine in slower matchups. Only thing about that list is you lose Sleight of Hand and Spoils of the Vault, but in my opinion that's not even that bad. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I always seem to exile a critical combo piece, or just kill myself 40% of the time when I cast Spoils. As for Sleight, I'll take Wishes over that any day. I'd rather pay one more mana and get exactly what I need, than pay 1 mana and maybe get what I need.
.....Bring to Light, and Glittering Wish. I'd like to know if anyone else has had success with this?
Played that version for a while, lots of fun. Wouldn't consider it the best version currently because of how fast the meta is but the list has its merits against slower decks where you can find time to Glittering Wish for powerful cards like Supreme Verdict, Dromoka, or Fracturing Gust.
I think what this version has done for me is that it's taken out a bunch of fishing for stall cards and combo pieces. Usually I go for T1 Serum Visions, T2 Glittering Wish for Wargate, T3 Wargate X=0 for Lotus Bloom, then have the 6 mana to go off on turn 4. Otherwise, Wish for whatever combo piece I'm missing.
Went 4-0 and 3-1 with it last two times I played, but I'd attribute it more to catching the playgroup off guard with the list. Many of the players hadn't seen Glittering Wish before, and didn't seem to know what the deck did until it was too late.
Hey guys, been playing Ad Nauseam for about half a year or so. I decided to put the deck away after casting Spoils of the Vault and pounding myself for 20 points of life loss. (To be fair, if Ad Nauseam wasn't in the top 20 of my deck, I wasn't gonna hit it anyway). Anyways, I switched up the deck shortly after Oath of the Gatewatch, and have been seeing significant results with Bring to Light, and Glittering Wish. I'd like to know if anyone else has had success with this?
Mono Black Control 2-1
T1 Thoughtseize. Every. Time. He discarded all my relevant stuff, and I never drew into more reducers. Game 2, I thought was an auto-lose, but the guy was pretty new to modern and didn't understand the importance of sideboarding. I know the shopkeeper's deck, and knew he had leyline of the void as well as surgical extractions. I figured it was an auto-lose, but didn't see any of them in game 2. Brought in Wear/Tear, and spicy one-of Elesh Norn. Spent T3 going Ritual, Ritual, Ritual, Manamorphose for white, Elesh Norn. I swept his bitterblossom tokens, his Geralf's messengers etc, and he scooped because his dismembers weren't big enough to kill Norn. Game 3 was a straight-forward combo out on T4, Grapeshot to death. Having not seen any grave hate, I figure he was just not using it. I was right. New guy just didn't board in grave hate.
Eldra-tron??? 2-0
Game 1, he kept a 1 lander Eldrazi Temple with an Expedition Map. Never saw the 2nd land. I combo'd out and killed him with no opposition. I sided out my grapeshots and boarded in Empty the Warrens and my sideboard package of Elesh Norn Rites. Game 2, he starts off with Yavimaya Coast, and Noble Hierarch. Okay, Bant Eldrazi. This time his deck does what it's supposed to, and he Thought-Knot's away two of my Gifts Ungiven and a PiF. He gets me to 5 life via Smasher, Thoguht-Knot, Thought-Knot. I stabilize with an EtW for 10 goblins, and another Gifts in hand. I manage to chump his fatties, getting down to only 4 goblins left, EoT gifts, into Rites Elesh Norn. The game stalls out for a while as his 3/3 eldrazi stare at my 3/3 goblin tokens. He's not able to find his Path for Norn, and I get another PiF to combo from graveyard.
Ad Nauseam (Bring to Light version)
Game 1 got foiled by a Pact of Negation on my PiF. No Point in Remanding it. He Angel's Graced away the upkeep trigger, then combo'd out with Ad Nauseam. Game 2, I didn't draw my pieces, and he combo'd out with natural T3 Unlife, T4 Bring to Light, Ad Naus.
They can't sac lands to it.
Either way, I don't think I would run it personally. It's not instant, and doesn't recur itself like WSZ.
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Watery Grave
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
2 Mountain
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Spells:
2 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Cryptic Command
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damnation
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Electrolyze
2 Terminate
2 Mana Leak
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pyroclasm
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Countersquall
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
I expected the field to be full of itty bitty creatures that go wide, and boy was I right. Tribal decks as far as the eye could see.
Match 1: UB Faeries
2-1
Match 2: Co-Co Allies
2-1
Match 3: Affinity
2-1
Match 4: 8-Whack Goblins
2-0
Didn't end up needing the Crumble to Dusts, or the Surgical Extractions, as the Tron player didn't even show up. Also, didn't end up facing the Dredge player, or the Living End player.
Lands:
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Watery Grave
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
2 Mountain
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Spells:
2 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Cryptic Command
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damnation
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Electrolyze
2 Terminate
2 Mana Leak
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Slaughter Pact
The sideboard is up in the air currently, but I do know that the decks I'm most likely to face there are Abzan CoCo, Living End, GR Tron, Elves, Faeries, 8-Whack, Jeskai Control, and maybe Zooicide. With my meta the way it is, I often pack a couple of Pyroclasms in the board (sometimes maining them over Anger), or Pithing Needle for Tron's T3 Karn. Any thoughts on obvious staples I'm missing based on the decks I'm likely to face?
Damaged
Enchanted/Equipped
Blocked
Targeted
Those cards will kill Etched Champion, because they are the same kinds of effects that kill Progenitus.
Because I don't own any.
As for BGx, I dunno. Stick a Leyline to deal with Thoughtseize, and try to get there before they resolve Liliana? I've found it pretty hard to deal with them after they establish their board, so my usual strat is "try to be faster than them"?
While those I can see I may be wrong in my decision, one thing I have to 100% recommend is running Laboratory Maniac in the main deck. They may be fringe cases now, but at one point my meta was flooded with Melira Pod (Now Melira Co-Co), and my opponent gaining infinite life was not uncommon. Realistically, we can never do more than 39ish damage with Lightning Storm. Even fringe players who have a Soul Sisters, Martyr Life, or the Thing Ascension deck with Rest for the Weary, have the potential to just get out of burn range and Lab Man gives us an out vs them. The weakness to life gain, Deflecting Palm, Burrenton Forge-Tender, or even Pithing Needle and Spellskite demands a secondary win-con that does not involve damage.
...and you're absolutely right; Sudden Shock would probably be better. I was just thinking Sudden Death may be easier for the Esper list to cast, as it has more ready access to black mana than red.
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mana Confluence
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
Getting there
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
4 Glittering Wish
3 Bring to Light
2 Pact of Negation
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Conjurer's Bauble
1 Lightning Storm
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Holy Day
1 Conflagrate
1 Bring to Light
1 Detention Sphere
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Firespout
1 Slaughter Games
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wargate
1 Vexing Shusher
On the subject of the mirror match, my go-to would be Wishing for Slaughter Games, naming Ad Nauseam. If I'm playing the Esper List, the win will come to whoever can resolve the combo via Phyrexian Unlife first. Combo out, play Lab Maniac, end the turn and go to discards keeping all of your Pact of Negations, and all of your Angel's Graces. Pre-board, their ONLY out is to also have Phyrexian Unlife AND Ad Nauseam, AND have more Pacts than us in hand to stop ours. They could theoretically combo out and Lightning Storm us now, since our Angel's Graces won't stop the Infect damage. Post-board, bring in Leyline of Sanctity, and maybe run a 1-of Sudden Death? If we begin with Leyline, they NEED the Lab Man to win. We kill it with Sudden Death, and I think they just lose on the spot.
I think what this version has done for me is that it's taken out a bunch of fishing for stall cards and combo pieces. Usually I go for T1 Serum Visions, T2 Glittering Wish for Wargate, T3 Wargate X=0 for Lotus Bloom, then have the 6 mana to go off on turn 4. Otherwise, Wish for whatever combo piece I'm missing.
This is what I've been working with:
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mana Confluence
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
Getting there
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
4 Glittering Wish
3 Bring to Light
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Conjurer's Bauble
1 Lightning Storm
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Holy Day
1 Conflagrate
1 Bring to Light
1 Detention Sphere
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Firespout
1 Slaughter Games
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wargate
1 Vexing Shusher
Went 4-0 and 3-1 with it last two times I played, but I'd attribute it more to catching the playgroup off guard with the list. Many of the players hadn't seen Glittering Wish before, and didn't seem to know what the deck did until it was too late.