Interview with Julian Knab on Elves vs Storm - First in what will be a series

New article up (http://theepicstorm.com/looking-glass-elves-vs-storm/) where we sit down with Julian Knab to talk Elves. This is the first in what will be an irregular series where we approach the deck from the other side of the table, sitting down with experts in other archetypes and picking their brain on how they approach the matchup. Very special thanks to Julian for his excellent insight!

Great article with lots of useful insights. Thanks a lot for sharing this! I don't play either these decks myself, yet I read the whole thing with great interest. The part about Cabal Therapy - what to name and the possible interactions with Surgical - is excellent.

This turned out well, thanks Julian!

Great read!

I'm curious - how many Storm players practice a "post Goblins" board-state against various matchups, especially where a clogged board is relevant. I play Storm occasionally, and all of my prep/goldfishing/playtesting has been focused on how to go off and get around hate, while never really thinking about what to do after I Empty.

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Originally Posted by civet five

Great read!

I'm curious - how many Storm players practice a "post Goblins" board-state against various matchups, especially where a clogged board is relevant. I play Storm occasionally, and all of my prep/goldfishing/playtesting has been focused on how to go off and get around hate, while never really thinking about what to do after I Empty.

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Considering Empty is a non-deterministic line, you should be taking into account what your opponent could possibly do in the next few turns before even going for an Empty line. I'd imagine most storm players will evaluate the odds that however many goblins you plan on making will get you there, because if the odds are low, then why are you bothering to make goblins? Just because you can go off doesn't mean you should.

Dr_D makes a good point. Do the thinking before making the gobbos... though sometimes weird situations do occur, I had one a few nights ago against eldrazi where they had Eldrazi mimic and i had to decide between taking a turn off the clock or being dead to reality smasher. I chose wrong. I've had similar situations come up against burn as well.

Another interesting decision tree is when you could make a few more goblins or conserve resources to try and combo off a second time. It doesn't come up that often, but occasionally does.