@Lectrys and the rest of the crew:
I've played a good chunk with this deck, and I always watch streamers with it when it comes on (hoogland being the most regular ascendancy player)... the key to the combo turn is "figuring out what you need", either mana or cards. Adding Hydroform as a manadork wish-target makes so much sense to me! Lectrys, I honestly think its genius! I also wonder how no-one went down that train of thought before, but it is just 1 of those sort of hidden genius mode!
Anyway, the key really is "do I need mana or do i need cards". If you have wish in your hand, you now have the option of both. If you don't need mana, don't grab Hydroform, it's simple really. It'll come up often enough that it'll be worth the slot, almost guarentee it.
On the Echo of Eons point, it's something where my gut instinct was "I probably only want 1". Your testing suggests you only ever want to cast it once too, but want to find it more often. My gut is still that 4 is too many, because more than half the deck loots, and a massive chunk of it does it for a net-zero mana. Although finding it early is nice, it's not critical, and it's a pretty terrible card when you don't have all the pieces to combo (unlike a serum visions or whatever). However, card looks and sounds great!
@Lectrys, can you share your latest list before we go into archive!!!
Hydroform was an old suggestion we old guard batted about for a bit when Ascendancy Storm first became a deck but soon found not worth the slot and ditched. Not even Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time could bring enough consistency to make burning up a Glittering Wish for a mana dork good enough. But Echo of Eons's 7 cards (and habit of shuffling hands into libraries) can bring that consistency (at least from my testing).
My experiences with Ascendancy Storm after they banned the Delve CA cards but before Echo of Eons were not good. Nothing could substitute for Cruise or Dig consistently enough. Among the cheap CA cards I tried include Take Inventory, and too often, I drew into only one copy and fizzled. This is why I want 4 Echo of Eons--I want CA and I want it fast.
Here's my current post-Modern Horizons Ascendancy Storm deck:
I took the mana base, a bunch of the sideboard, and several of the maindeck flex slots from a post-War of the Spark build. Saheeli, Sublime Artificer looks like the most compact midrange plan we've seen in ages (I tried a midrange plan-dense wishboard before with stuff like Siege Rhino, Ajani Vengeant, and Worm Harvest, but man did those cards get expensive to cast). As I've predicted, Teferi, Time Raveler looks great as combo protection and hate bouncing. I'm more used to a more painful mana base with more shocklands, so if this post-WAR mana base with minor adjustments doesn't work out, I'm reverting to my old mana base. Of the maindeck flex slots I've seen, I ended up cutting Silence because Noxious Revival and T3feri do some of its job, but my gut feeling is that I will miss Silence.
I don't have trouble casting Debt to the Deathless as the combo finisher, and not targeting is lovely.
From my experience piloting older Ascendancy Storm builds, I don't get why people run 4 Sleight of Hand over 4 Opt. The instant speed is so darn good at squeezing out every bit of value by continuing to combo off in response to removal.
Interesting list. Tried Echo of Eons now and its just fantastic! If you can cast it, it is always a win.
But I think that your deck is too "slow". With Noble Hierarch and two more copies of Noxious Revival/Engineered Explosives/Summoner's Pact you can storm off at turn 2 or reliable turn 3. Maybe if you are not able to start the storm this early, other decks are either too fast or have you too much in their lock.
I agree that Opt is better than Sleight of Hand. Instant speed can be crucial while storming.
Other decks got a bunch of new toys, but I think this deck got a glorious new shot in the arm: Echo of Eons. It practically needs to be discarded, but it provides massive juice mid-combo, and ditch it with Faithless Looting and you can even use it pre-combo. I think it's a 4-of that squeezes out flex slots, but what do you all think?
I've also found tutoring for mana dorks mid-combo with Glittering Wish to actually be good in Echo of Eons builds; I've gone to Hydroform in the wishboard, but Eladamri's Call can tutor for more than just a virtual Fatestitcher.
It is hard to tell if Echo of Eons will be a good shot. Can be a dead card (if it is not in the graveyard) and three mana is still a lot. When we combo off and draw Echo of Eons it is bad; if it is in grave we might not have 3 mana left... if it works it is great - but risky. Maybe a 1-off.
Do you really want to tutor mana-dorks mid-combo? Doesn't that interrupt the combo - or at least is potentially doing it?
Teferi, Time Raveler is a strong protector. No counter or removal while we storm.
You can tutor Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. More resilient than Young Pyromancer and a good option, if you can not win with storm.
Leyline of Sanctity will be reprinted. Hopefully the price drops so a playset is affordable.
What do you guys think about Veil of Summer? Combo- and discard-Protection. Maybe for Sideboard?
Interesting list. Tried Echo of Eons now and its just fantastic! If you can cast it, it is always a win.
But I think that your deck is too "slow". With Noble Hierarch and two more copies of Noxious Revival/Engineered Explosives/Summoner's Pact you can storm off at turn 2 or reliable turn 3. Maybe if you are not able to start the storm this early, other decks are either too fast or have you too much in their lock.
I agree that Opt is better than Sleight of Hand. Instant speed can be crucial while storming.
It is hard to tell if Echo of Eons will be a good shot. Can be a dead card (if it is not in the graveyard) and three mana is still a lot. When we combo off and draw Echo of Eons it is bad; if it is in grave we might not have 3 mana left... if it works it is great - but risky. Maybe a 1-off.
Do you really want to tutor mana-dorks mid-combo? Doesn't that interrupt the combo - or at least is potentially doing it?
Love it!
1 Paradise Druid
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Fatestitcher
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Cerulean Wisps
2 Faithless Looting
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Noxious Revival
1 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Silence
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Glittering Wish
4 Manamorphose
1 Nagging Thoughts
3 Jeskai Ascendancy
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
4 Flooded Strand
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Steam Vents
1 Temple Garden
1 Path to Exile
1 Silence
2 Swan Song
1 Abrade
1 Scarscale Ritual
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Failure // Comply
1 Flesh // Blood
source: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-glittering-jeskai-ascendancy#paper
Teferi, Time Raveler is a strong protector. No counter or removal while we storm.
You can tutor Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. More resilient than Young Pyromancer and a good option, if you can not win with storm.