Hey guys, I stop in here every once in a while and wanted to touch base. Has the list really changed since August or is the only real debate still between Ravings and Lootings? I'm assuming the thread has been keeping an eye out for a Surge card that could find a home in Storm. I've noticed more focus on "Life is a resource" in regards to lands with less turn 1 duds (Sulfur Falls and Cascade Bluffs) and more Shivan Reefs. Is this a personal preference thing or is Burn a bit less prevalent? Lastly, Scalding Tarns are a wopping $100 each now and I regret not getting them at $70ish. While Tarns are without a doubt ideal and best, how absolutely important are they? I've been just doing more Strands and Mires to compensate and I have felt very few occurrences of envy.
I've been playing Storm since last summer but I only play during summer and winter break as there's no stores I can go to when up at school. Even so, I like to think I'm fairly competent at playing it now. I uuusually get Top 12 in a 30ish man weekly tourney. At first I made a lot of little mistakes like trying to go off too early or missing a window and dying the next turn, and I think that's the key to this deck; recognizing when you can go off (though you are bound to sometimes fizzle every once in awhile). What's great about learning Storm lies in the common joke with Storm: you're playing solitaire. Storm is one of the only decks I know of that you can goldfish and actually have strikingly similar results.
So the straight forward answer for you: It's kind of hard at first. It's generally not a deck anyone can play well just by picking it up but rather is a deck that just needs a lot of practice and a persevering mindset (as in you don't give up at any point in a match). Lastly, you don't need to be a great Magic player, but it never hurts. If you have a strong understanding of game mechanics, you can do some pretty sweet things like with an active Ascension, casting Past in Flames, create the copy, let the first resolve but keep the second on the stack, flashback a Thought Scour to get 2 more cards in the bin for the second PiF to activate.
To the others of this board, I lurk this thread when I'm playing but now that I've set myself with Storm as my main deck, I'll try to contribute some results and play testing. I'll edit in my current deck list.
I've just been playing the standard 60 with some land variations. I don't want to trade for Tarns with such a high probability of them coming back in BFZ. I tend to borrow 2 more Delta's but sometimes they're not available so this is still my base.
My boards gotten a little wonky after regrettably trading away a Blood Moon and a Defense Grid. Shatterstorm is probably coming in the least as I'm not getting paired against Affinity but I know it's at my store and it's too devastating against them.
Lastly for this post, some quick results and comments for my last tourney.
Round 1 : RG Tron : 2-0
He had no interactions game 1 so got to just solitaire it. Game 2 I knew he was going to board in Slaughter Games so I kept Grapeshot but also brought in 2 Warren and 2 Blood Moon. Didn't need them though. Went off a turn before he got active Tron.
Round 2 : ?? : 2-0
I don't remember the match up but I went 2-0. I think it was Junk midrange or Rock. For some reason game 2 he brought in Baloths..
Round 3 : USA Control : 2-0
Game 1 I got the dream. Turn 1 land pass, end of his turn fetch, Though Scour myself binning Serum and Git Prove. My turn 2, land, play Ascension, play Git probe for the Ascension proc, see he has no disruption in hand. Draw Morphose off Probe. Have a land and Serum in hand. Turn 3 Serum for 2nd proc, go off with that scry and double Morphose. Game 2 he brought in a ton of hate but just fought through it. Baited out his Spellsnare on Electromancer and got Ascension to stick.
Round 4 : Grixis Control : 2-1
Lost game 1 to some tough draws and an early Angler. Game 2 stuck an early Blood Moon and got some time to collect gas. Game 3 looked heavy in his favor but I had active Ascension and ready to go off. During his turn he contemplates using his CCommand to bounce Ascension and draw but opts not to (I don't remember how I knew he had it, probably Probe) but immediately regrets it. I cast a first ritual and in response partially go off, getting 3 rituals off and casting PiF after it went back into hand. However his misplay wouldn't have mattered as I had 2 Desperate Rituals in hand with one in the yard and the mana to replay Ascension and do the same. Only difference is I had a safety net of about 7 red mana.
Round 5 : Liege Abzan? : 1-2
Scrubbed out in the last round. Just some awful draws game 1 and 3 losing to Wilt-Leaf Liege + Smiter for early beats. I got Blood Moon active on game 3 but it was too late with his creatures. I'm thinking Blood Moon was a bad call to side in.
So I read an interesting article talking about how the reason Grixis Control is so strong is that it plays proactively like the best Modern decks but can switch to being reactive very well. Thus it's essentially a midrange deck that can easily change gears to control. There was a lot more in depth to it but the author's idea of why the deck has finally taken shape in Modern is Delve as a mechanic. The deck can do controlly things early and very easily switch back to proactive and drop Tasigur or Angler for cheap while sometimes even having control mana up. So I've only done some playtesting with UB Tezz and I've now done one small 20 man tourney with not even a full list, but from that, I feel like Tezz kiiind of has some similarities like how turn 2 can be spent proactively moving our mana forward with a Talisman but also use that rock for a hand hate or Spell Snare. Now, some lists I've seen play Tasigur and I'm all for how good he is as a card, but at least playing it out in my head, he's not as good as in other lists (like Grixis Control) because we don't fill the yard with fetches and Serum Visions or Git Probes to get him out turn 2/3. But now here's my wild suggestion; while we don't play enough early game spells (that go to the yard) to warrant Delve, we do play a lot of artifacts sooo Affinity cards? I took a look at what had Affinity for Artifacts and 3 cards stood out to me.
Myr Enforcer - He's no Tasigur or Angler but his body is out of Bolt range, is realistically playable on turn 3 and Loxodon Smiter is a card, and late game is a free blocker but arguably not a great top deck. Doesn't trade well with all the 4/5s. Mycosynth Golem - Much more expensive and likely won't be played in the first 4 turns besides off a nut start but it has the 4/5 body and would make Wurmcoil free pretty much every time. I really wish there was a french vanilla version that just cost less. Qumulox - Better body than Myr Enforcer in both that it can trade with Tasigur in blocks but can fly over when needed. Still out of Bolt range. UU could get clunky.
Anyways, those are some more out there ideas I thought maybe haven't been openly considered but at 109 pages, who knows haha. I'm also well aware these could all be terrible but maybe it sparks another idea.
What's the consensus on running 1 Trinket Mage in the main? On paper is seems good, as a second of any 1 cost hate like Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Relic of Progenitus, Engineered Explosives, or even a Darksteel Citadel. The only thing I really wish it could hit was Torpor Orb with how much twin I've been seeing. But I know it's been considered so what is there I'm missing besides giving up a slot?
I've been play testing this deck and have very much been enjoying it, but now with Jund making a resurgence, how does this deck not get blown out by Kolaghan's Command and with land decks like UW Tron and Summer Bloom, how does this deck deal with these nut mana decks?
JJ, the OP has suggested sideboarding for each major deck, they're just organized into Good/Even/Bad matchups. The only difference from your board and the one in the examples is one Shatterstorm is a Defense Grid. I've been playing that exact 75 for a couple weeks now and here's my 2 cents.
Echoing Truth almost always comes in. It's the Swiss army knife of our SB. It can deal with virtually any hate that they bring in but you don't main board counter hate because they don't main hate.
Defense Grids come in when you see your opponent doing a lot of things on your turn. IMO this is the weakest card in the board but I get it.
Shatterstorm comes in against pretty much only Affinity. However, Affinity is boned so hard by it and is usually prevalent in all metas, it's worth it. 2 is enough unless your meta is pretty much all Affinity.
Bloodmoon comes in against virtually any 3 color deck or any 2 color deck not playing red. Turn 2 ritual into Blood Moon will almost always win the game. You get an extensive amount of turns to set up. It doesn't always win though, I've lost to Tron by dropping it turn 2 but only drawing lands and rituals. Wurmcoil is still strong on turn 6. Bloodmoon is amazing though.
Lightning Bolt is Echoing Truth 2.0. Deals with almost every creature hate that could come in and gives you some interaction. Also gotten a game or two by getting active Ascension and then Bolt Bolt for 12 to the face. Pay attention to the toughnesses of your opponents creatures before bringing these in though.
Empty the Warrens are for when you don't know what hate they're bringing in or can't deal with what they'll bring in. Turn 2 ritual ritual warrens is not awful in most cases. They also chump block well.
I feel like this is going to sound super generic but I'm looking for a decent deck (doesn't need to be T1) that is at least a little fun to play. Budget isn't a huge factor. I was an avid Standard player during Innistrad-RtR, getting in with Mono Green Fight Club (which I loved), creating RG/Naya Zoo before it was a real thing (so wasn't the best), and then from playing those built up enough credit and trades to play OG Aristocrats, Act 2, and Junk Reanimator. Loved all of them. Somewhere in there I played Omnidoor Thragfire for a month and it was my favorite deck to play. Then Dragon's Maze rolled around and I quit between boredom and school. I came back on Game Day and took first with Rite Aid but traded it back out the next day. I've seen a little bit going on Standard wise and I've built a very glass cannon BG Dredge deck but it's not great in the meta. Aggro goes too quick and Wx Control does fine. Funny enough, the best match up is against Monoblack. Is Reanimator an option or is it too clunky without Unburial Rites? Aristocrats seems hard to pull off without a Blood Artist affect. While writing this I randomly thought of the old Lucky Charms (Azorious Charm + Boros Charm + Reckoner deck) and might see if that's possible.
I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions.
Ah, I'm trying a BUG list so I prefer Seclusion's synergy with Keyrunes, Thragtusk, and Volatile Rig. But I can see the pros of Rising in different builds.
So I've been interested in finding a deck to play Trading Post and found this thread a week or two ago. I've been tweaking a list I liked the most and this is what I have so far.
Hyperaggro decks are the only "bad" match ups so far but if I can T3/4 Mutilate it's extremely easy to stabilize. I don't have a SB yet but the cards I'm considering for said match up are Gloom Surgeon, Barter in Blood, Liliana of the Veil, and Vampire Nighthawk.
So the straight forward answer for you: It's kind of hard at first. It's generally not a deck anyone can play well just by picking it up but rather is a deck that just needs a lot of practice and a persevering mindset (as in you don't give up at any point in a match). Lastly, you don't need to be a great Magic player, but it never hurts. If you have a strong understanding of game mechanics, you can do some pretty sweet things like with an active Ascension, casting Past in Flames, create the copy, let the first resolve but keep the second on the stack, flashback a Thought Scour to get 2 more cards in the bin for the second PiF to activate.
To the others of this board, I lurk this thread when I'm playing but now that I've set myself with Storm as my main deck, I'll try to contribute some results and play testing.
I'll edit in my current deck list.I've just been playing the standard 60 with some land variations. I don't want to trade for Tarns with such a high probability of them coming back in BFZ. I tend to borrow 2 more Delta's but sometimes they're not available so this is still my base.
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Thought Scour
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Manamorphose
3 Desperate Ravings
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Past in Flames
2 Grapeshot
4 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
Board:
2 Blood Moon
3 Empty the Warrens
1 Defense Grid
2 Dragon Claw
2 Shatterstorm
1 Echoing Truth
My boards gotten a little wonky after regrettably trading away a Blood Moon and a Defense Grid. Shatterstorm is probably coming in the least as I'm not getting paired against Affinity but I know it's at my store and it's too devastating against them.
Lastly for this post, some quick results and comments for my last tourney.
Round 1 : RG Tron : 2-0
He had no interactions game 1 so got to just solitaire it. Game 2 I knew he was going to board in Slaughter Games so I kept Grapeshot but also brought in 2 Warren and 2 Blood Moon. Didn't need them though. Went off a turn before he got active Tron.
Round 2 : ?? : 2-0
I don't remember the match up but I went 2-0. I think it was Junk midrange or Rock. For some reason game 2 he brought in Baloths..
Round 3 : USA Control : 2-0
Game 1 I got the dream. Turn 1 land pass, end of his turn fetch, Though Scour myself binning Serum and Git Prove. My turn 2, land, play Ascension, play Git probe for the Ascension proc, see he has no disruption in hand. Draw Morphose off Probe. Have a land and Serum in hand. Turn 3 Serum for 2nd proc, go off with that scry and double Morphose. Game 2 he brought in a ton of hate but just fought through it. Baited out his Spellsnare on Electromancer and got Ascension to stick.
Round 4 : Grixis Control : 2-1
Lost game 1 to some tough draws and an early Angler. Game 2 stuck an early Blood Moon and got some time to collect gas. Game 3 looked heavy in his favor but I had active Ascension and ready to go off. During his turn he contemplates using his CCommand to bounce Ascension and draw but opts not to (I don't remember how I knew he had it, probably Probe) but immediately regrets it. I cast a first ritual and in response partially go off, getting 3 rituals off and casting PiF after it went back into hand. However his misplay wouldn't have mattered as I had 2 Desperate Rituals in hand with one in the yard and the mana to replay Ascension and do the same. Only difference is I had a safety net of about 7 red mana.
Round 5 : Liege Abzan? : 1-2
Scrubbed out in the last round. Just some awful draws game 1 and 3 losing to Wilt-Leaf Liege + Smiter for early beats. I got Blood Moon active on game 3 but it was too late with his creatures. I'm thinking Blood Moon was a bad call to side in.
Myr Enforcer - He's no Tasigur or Angler but his body is out of Bolt range, is realistically playable on turn 3 and Loxodon Smiter is a card, and late game is a free blocker but arguably not a great top deck. Doesn't trade well with all the 4/5s.
Mycosynth Golem - Much more expensive and likely won't be played in the first 4 turns besides off a nut start but it has the 4/5 body and would make Wurmcoil free pretty much every time. I really wish there was a french vanilla version that just cost less.
Qumulox - Better body than Myr Enforcer in both that it can trade with Tasigur in blocks but can fly over when needed. Still out of Bolt range. UU could get clunky.
Anyways, those are some more out there ideas I thought maybe haven't been openly considered but at 109 pages, who knows haha. I'm also well aware these could all be terrible but maybe it sparks another idea.
Echoing Truth almost always comes in. It's the Swiss army knife of our SB. It can deal with virtually any hate that they bring in but you don't main board counter hate because they don't main hate.
Defense Grids come in when you see your opponent doing a lot of things on your turn. IMO this is the weakest card in the board but I get it.
Shatterstorm comes in against pretty much only Affinity. However, Affinity is boned so hard by it and is usually prevalent in all metas, it's worth it. 2 is enough unless your meta is pretty much all Affinity.
Bloodmoon comes in against virtually any 3 color deck or any 2 color deck not playing red. Turn 2 ritual into Blood Moon will almost always win the game. You get an extensive amount of turns to set up. It doesn't always win though, I've lost to Tron by dropping it turn 2 but only drawing lands and rituals. Wurmcoil is still strong on turn 6. Bloodmoon is amazing though.
Lightning Bolt is Echoing Truth 2.0. Deals with almost every creature hate that could come in and gives you some interaction. Also gotten a game or two by getting active Ascension and then Bolt Bolt for 12 to the face. Pay attention to the toughnesses of your opponents creatures before bringing these in though.
Empty the Warrens are for when you don't know what hate they're bringing in or can't deal with what they'll bring in. Turn 2 ritual ritual warrens is not awful in most cases. They also chump block well.
I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions.
2 Volatile Rig
4 Prophetic Prism
3 Trading Post
2 Simic Keyrune
2 Dimir Keyrune
1 Staff of Nin
2 Ultimate Price
2 Devour Flesh
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Farseek
4 Mutilate
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Watery Grave
12 Swamp
Hyperaggro decks are the only "bad" match ups so far but if I can T3/4 Mutilate it's extremely easy to stabilize. I don't have a SB yet but the cards I'm considering for said match up are Gloom Surgeon, Barter in Blood, Liliana of the Veil, and Vampire Nighthawk.