[Deck] T.E.S - The EPIC Storm

[Pulp_Fiction]

Here is a tournament report of what happened last night when I played TES at my local tournament. But first, here is the list I played:

4x Burning Wish
4x Brainstorm
4x Rite of Flame
4x LED
4x Petal
4x Dark Ritual
4x Ponder
4x Mystical Tutor
3x Xantid Swarm
3x Chrome Mox
3x Infernal Tutor
2x Duress
1x IGG
1x Simian Spirit Guide
1x AdN
1x Tendrils

4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Polluted Delta
1x Volcanic Island
1x Badlands
1x Underground Sea

Sideboard

2x Chain of Vapor
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Krosan Grip
1x Wipe Away
1x Duress (boarded in against CB but left out if I expected Mindbreaks from Aggro or something very versatile running 1)
1x Xantid Swarm
1x Slaughter Pact

Wish Targets

1xEmpty the Warrens
1x Infernal Tutor
1x Tendrils
1x Grapeshot
1x Diminishing Returns
1x IGG
1x Eye of Nowhere

Round 1 - Zoo
g1 - EOT Mystical for AdN with Rite, Ritual, and another land in hand. Play Ad Nauseam and draw a lot of cards!
g2 - I get beat up by Kird Ape after 2 Ponders leave me a little dry. Brainstorm reveals Mystical and LED, EOT MT for Infernal and IGG him out on turn 4 with plenty of lifepoints to spare!

Round 2 - Mono-Black Discard
g1- He is on the play and plays no turn 1 discard spell! I play Ponder and it reveals a Mystical. On his turn he taps 2 mana and I expect a Hymn but no, he drops Confidant! During my upkeep I Mystical for IT with: Ritual, LED, LED in hand and IGG out on turn 2.
g2 - Again no turn 1 discard spell and I Duress him on turn 1 and pluck a Hymn! Play a few setup spells and can't find much but Rites and Burning Wish, so on turn 3 I go for EtW and make 14 goblins that easily go the distance.

Round 3 - UBgw CB Thresh guy who has Force in his opening hand 10/10 times he plays me, this is not a joke. By turn 4 he almost always has double Force.
g1 - I mull to 6 and keep an average hand of: Infernal, Brainstorm, Chrome Mox, Tendrils, Simian Spirit Guide, Volcanic Island. He is on the play and goes turn 1 Top. I draw a Duress, Play Ponder which reveals: Petal, LED, Rite. I draw Petal and play a Mox imprinting Tendrils and Duress him. Duress gets Forced and he drops turn 2 CB. I draw and say go. He misses his land drop and is stuck on only Islands so I get creative. On my turn I draw and cast Petal which he lets resolve and I hard cast Simian Spirit Guide! SSG beats him down to 14 life and after 3 fetches and a Force he is at 10! He eventually draws his green source and beats me to death with Goyf after all I can draw is lands and artifacts (not that it mattered at this point). However, I noticed that had I not imprinted Tendrils of Agony I could have won the game! At the end my hand ended up being something like: Rite, LED, LED, LED, Petal, Mox, Infernal. He was at 10 life! Based on the cards in my hand at the beginning of the game, does impringing Tendrils seem like the right call?
g2 - I finally get a beautiful hand against one of these stupid CB decks for a change: land, land, LED, Ritual, IT, Swarm, Duress. I drop Swarm turn 1 on the play and it meets a Force. He plays Top go. Next turn I draw a Lotus Petal and play Duress, it gets Forced yet again, ALRIGHT!!! Play out my entire hand and IT into AdN, draw a lot of cards and Burning Wish into Tendrils!
g3 - He has yet another Force on my turn 1 Duress after playing Top go. He locks me out of the game early and I am in topdeck mode. when I am at 8 life from Goyf beats I finally draw something of relevance, KGrip, I pass the turn. He swings with Goyf and brings me down to 3 and I EOT Grip his Balance. At this point my hand looks like this: LED, Burning Wish, IT, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame and I have 3 lands in play. I draw a Petal and go into the think tank. Since this guy has god draws against me every single time I assume that he has Force. So I play Ritual, Ritual, Rite (individually of course) and they all resolve. With 7 mana floating I test the waters with Burning Wish, amazingly he lets it resolve. Now, I have a safe choice, which is EtW but he could have EE to take care of them OR I can go for Tendrils since he is at 16 life but I am not sure I have enough mana or storm. I do the math and take Tendrils. With BBBBR floating I play Infernal Tutor (going to reveal Lotus Petal) and he quickly Forces it, SWEET, I quickly throw out LED first then another Petal and in response to the Petal he Grips LED (YES, MORE STORM) and I sac the Petal with BBB floating and Tendrils for enough!

Round 4 - ID and I go home for dinner.
Round 5 - ID

Round 6 - Top 8, Ninja Chant
g1 - The main deck tech takes him apart! I win the roll and drop turn 1 Swarm. He looks at me like WTF! Swarm goes the distance and I IGG him out on turn 4 since he can't find StP.
g2 - I keep a hand of: Duress, LED, 2x Burning Wish, Rite, land, land. Turn 1 Duress Reveals 2x Daze and no Force. Turn 2 I draw a Slaughter Pact and pass. I get hit by a Ninja of the Deep Hours again thanks to t1 Mother of Runes and could be in trouble. I draw a Chrome Mox and decide to go for it. LED, Rite, Mox (impringing Wish), Slaughter Pact on his Ninja, Burning Wish, put it on the stack and blow up LED, his Daze helps my storm and I play EtW for 14. Next turn he drops a dude and says go. Pay for Pact and swing! I win the race after he has 4 creatures in play to my 7 at 3 life!

Overall things went very well and the deck was running so smooth! I really like this build. I think it has just the right amount of search and action spells. While it is not as explosive as Bryant's build, it is damn close! Now at first glance it might seem strange to run 1x SSG. At one point I had a list that ran 2x SSG but only 3x Ponder but was just lakcing a little, keeping with consistency and resiliency I wanted 4x MT, 4x Brainstorm, 4x Ponder so SSG was the final cut at the list you see right now. Just think of SSG as the 4th Chrome Mox that most people hate! The SB was solid, I have basically no matchups that I truly fear aside from Stax! Swarm in the main was sick as hell and caught a lot of people off guard! The 4th in the board was nice as well, playing against CB it was nice having 4x Swarm, 3x Duress, 1x Wipe Away, 1x Grip.

I am not sure if I am sold on Eye of Nowhere BUT it answers EVERYTHING! It fills the role of Deathmark and Shattering Spree in one card. While I do agree that it is a very lackluster substitute, SB space is really tight and I want to run as few wish targets as possible so for now I really like it! The only real change I would make is -1 Chain of Vapor and +1 KGrip to the SB. I really want 3x of those against CB, especially after I board out 2x MTs!

What is everyone's reaction/thoughts to this list and SB? And what would you have imprinted on Chrome Mox after a mull to 6, Tendrils or Infernal based on my opening hand?

[kicks_422]

Based on the cards in my hand at the beginning of the game, does impringing Tendrils seem like the right call?

On hindsight it cost you the win, but I think that wasn't a wrong play. Playing Duress that early, I assume you were wanting to hit Counterbalance with it. If CB had hit the table with Force back-up since you wouldn't have cast Duress, you wouldn't have been in a more favorable situation anyway.

[badjuju]

Thanks for the report.

And good riddance, that Nassif Countertop guy has a deck that absolutely loves him.

[Bryant Cook]

How has Eye of Nowhere been?

[BreathWeapon]

The problem with 2cc removal, especially at UU, is that you rarely eliminate the threat and go off on the same turn; that seems especially damning for a bounce spell.

[Pulp_Fiction]

Thanks for the report.

And good riddance, that Nassif Countertop guy has a deck that absolutely loves him.

Its pretty sick, he has some amazing luck with that deck :(

@Bryant: I haven't played Eye of Nowhere yet but I really like it as an answer all. Especially since it answers Iona in game 1 without problems and minimal mana. I always thought Burning Wish into EtW would be how I played against Iona but ... turns out thats not always the case.

In theory BreathWeapon is right, but the whole purpose of Eye of Nowhere is to cut down a reliance on Burning Wish and make the the rest of the SB more effective. By doing this it makes Mystical Tutor even better in almost all matchups except for CB where the card is usually pointless after turn 3. I don't want to dedicate more than 7x cards in the board to wish targets and the essentials take up a lot of room. Bryant also convinced me that Grapeshot is still needed, especially against something like Enchantress when they drop Runed Halo, just go nuts with AdN, use an IGG or 2 and BW into Grapeshot ftw. It is also an out against hate bears which I like, but the idea of using an action spell to remove something like Teeg/MM bothers me because I always assume its my only action spell, but I guess it beats the alternative, which is losing.

I certainly look forward to testing Eye and seeing if it is any good. With 13 lands it isn't too hard to cast, and comboing off the same turn you cast it is a very specific situation. Sometimes the deck gives you what you need, other times you are left wanting, nature of the beast, but more often than not, combo decks just find a way to win. Sometimes you don't get to the 3rd mana to remove 3Sphere and go nuts, its all relative, but I understand that UU is not nearly as effecient as B or R, but those are 2 SB slots as opposed to 1.

[Bryant Cook]

I played in the event yesterday at Eli's, I tried Carpet of Flowers in the SB. It was alright, nothing special, the problem with Carpet of Flowers is you're boarding in a ritual. Rituals are not going to make your spells resolve versus blue. I'm unsure if I'll ever play it again.

[Pulp_Fiction]

I played in the event yesterday at Eli's, I tried Carpet of Flowers in the SB. It was alright, nothing special, the problem with Carpet of Flowers is you're boarding in a ritual. Rituals are not going to make your spells resolve versus blue. I'm unsure if I'll ever play it again.

I don't really like it either. Even in decks running Top, its just ... bleh. The new errata made it better in that it actually IS a ritual when you play it mainphase 1, but that -1 storm it retracts can hurt later on. Also, Merfolk can easily win with Wasteland and/or Mutavault and then 1-2 Islands with or without a vial. I would much rather be siding in additional Duress/Chant/Swarms than Carpet. Same with Thresh, they just fetch out 2-3 lands and you sit there with a deck chock full of rituals and no way to protect your action spells. IMOP there really is not point in running it in TES since we have enough rituals as it is. ANT Hybrids could potentially use it since I think Carpet is only good with DD strategies but is it really needed there either? And another reason not to run Carpet (if this isn't enough) is that I find blue decks almost always board in Grips/Disenchants to take care of Top or LEDs, and to flip more 3-ofs with CB.

[Piceli89]

I played in the event yesterday at Eli's, I tried Carpet of Flowers in the SB. It was alright, nothing special, the problem with Carpet of Flowers is you're boarding in a ritual. Rituals are not going to make your spells resolve versus blue. I'm unsure if I'll ever play it again.

Yes, that's the point I found too in playing it sb in DDANT. It provides mana, but actually doesn't do anything relevant than..well, giving mana. The fact that your opponent can play around it leaving fetchlands uncracked (even more if it's a tepo deck) makes it too much reliant on opponents' choices. Nobody can deny that the card in itself has enormous potential, but with it there's a great danger of opening mana-only hands. Perhaps SDT, which is an expensive engine, could exploit it better.

[Bryant Cook]

I cut the Deathmarks for the Carpet of Flowers. I keep losing to Gaddeck Teeg + Counterbalance to knock me out of the event. It's rather frustrating, but I cant think of a way around it. I boarded in Grip/Wipeaway/Etruth/Chain and lost.

[Pulp_Fiction]

I cut the Deathmarks for the Carpet of Flowers. I keep losing to Gaddeck Teeg + Counterbalance to knock me out of the event. It's rather frustrating, but I cant think of a way around it. I boarded in Grip/Wipeaway/Etruth/Chain and lost.

There is always the old Tomb of Urami tech! Also, if you keep playing against this kind of shit, try the EtW plan out of the board. Run 4 in the SB and board 3 in and just try to push hard for the turn 1 insanity. Or you could play Thoughtseize instead of Duress but that seems terrible. Although, if you see Teeg + CB consistently ... Thoughtseize is better than losing.

[badjuju]

Carpet of Flowers is SOLELY for versions that run DD. Since they tend to slow-roll the wins against U-based matchups, they get full mileage out of the card. The deck also tends to side out Chrome Moxen / Cabal Rituals, so they're effectively replaced with Carpets.

[BreathWeapon]

I tried Carpet of Flowers vs Tinder Wall and the only time Carpet of Flowers was better was for mana fixing Orim's Chant. I think for slow(er) Storm decks like AnT or DDFT it's the best non-Cabal Ritual accelerant they can have access to, we've got Rite of Flame, Simian Spirit Guide and Tinder Wall if necessary so the utility for us is marginal.

@Yesmilord,

Yeah, you've hit it on the head IMO, the 4xETW SB is the way to go - now that Zoo has pushed Pyroclasm out of the board in favor of Firespout it's pretty much the best game plan we can have post-board vs dedicated hate.

[Bryant Cook]

It's funny that you guys mention Empty the Warrens. I've been debating cutting the maindeck Ill-Gotten Gains for a Warrens to improve the blue match-ups.

If you think about it they serve the same role.
- Non-Ad Nauseam win con.
- Isn't life based.

Although the benefits to warrens
- Great if you open it.
- Makes you be able to combo with 4 mana turn 1.
- Doesn't rely on the graveyard.

Sideaffects
- Creature/Mass removal becomes relevant.
- Isn't win now.

But I'll look into testing this and a few in the sideboard and let people know.

[emidln]

With recent NLS lists I've been playing 2 ETW so I can auto side out 1 IGG for 1 ETW against anything blue (and then consider moving in the 2nd one if Spell Snare might be an issue). As far handling Teeg, I've been doing this with my Wishboard/Sideboard:

Wish targets:
1 Deathmark
1 Pyroclasm
1 Thoughtseize

Sideboard solutions:
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Echoing Truth

Playing 7 duress main, I side out 4 Duress, 1 Burning Wish, 8th fetch for 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Chain of Vapor, 1 Slaughter Pact, 1 Echoing Truth, 1 Pyroclasm, 1 Infernal Tutor (my lone IT is in the sb). I haven't had any issue with G/W decks like G/W Survival, Zoo, or the various bant junk (outside of the normal CB issues).

I mention this as NLS lists currently swing between playing Rite of Flame and Cabal Rit and share upwards of like 54 cards with the fetchland-heavy TES lists.

[Pulp_Fiction]

With recent NLS lists I've been playing 2 ETW so I can auto side out 1 IGG for 1 ETW against anything blue (and then consider moving in the 2nd one if Spell Snare might be an issue). As far handling Teeg, I've been doing this with my Wishboard/Sideboard:

Wish targets:
1 Deathmark
1 Pyroclasm
1 Thoughtseize

Sideboard solutions:
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Echoing Truth

Playing 7 duress main, I side out 4 Duress, 1 Burning Wish, 8th fetch for 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Chain of Vapor, 1 Slaughter Pact, 1 Echoing Truth, 1 Pyroclasm, 1 Infernal Tutor (my lone IT is in the sb). I haven't had any issue with G/W decks like G/W Survival, Zoo, or the various bant junk (outside of the normal CB issues).

I mention this as NLS lists currently swing between playing Rite of Flame and Cabal Rit and share upwards of like 54 cards with the fetchland-heavy TES lists.

Those 6 different cards being 4 Top, 1 DD, and 1 Meditate I am assuming. I have looked on the stormboards, deckcheck, and here and have yet to see a NLS list with Rite of Flame in it. Could you post a list in here or PM me what these lists look like. I am pretty sure I know what you are cutting but it just seems weird and almost like it wouldn't function nearly as effective. But finding room for 7 Duress (4 Duress 3 Thoughtseize I am assuming) as well as 4x Rite? That seems ... really strange.

I really like the idea of the EtW plan. But is it more effective than playing 1 Wipe Away and 2 Grip in the SB? You board out pretty much the same cards, and you would no longer have to run Swarm in the main (I would but thats just me). Also, wouldn't -1 IGG, -2 MT and +3 EtW into the deck really hurt AdN reveals? When boarding in EtW I think I would actually prefer to keep SSG in since it helps so much against Daze and turn 1 Rit + LEDs and you can still cast it!

[BreathWeapon]

The number of Empty the Warrens in the deck is more of a benefit than a hindrance to Ad Nauseam in the same way the number of Simian Spirit Guides is, you usually find your 4 damage results in a card that'll let you go off sooner than you would have been able to if you had kept digging for a Tendrils of Agony based win with +4 life.

Also ETW is way better than removal, TES wants to use speed and alternate strategies to circumvent the hate, it doesn't want to use removal to answer hate because it's a waste of time and resources in a tempo war vs. Tarmogoyf.

[Bryant Cook]

The number of Empty the Warrens in the deck is more of a benefit than a hindrance to Ad Nauseam in the same way the number of Simian Spirit Guides is, you usually find your 4 damage results in a card that'll let you go off sooner than you would have been able to if you had kept digging for a Tendrils of Agony based win with +4 life.

Also ETW is way better than removal, TES wants to use speed and alternate strategies to circumvent the hate, it doesn't want to use removal to answer hate because it's a waste of time and resources in a tempo war vs. Tarmogoyf.

I don't agree at all with any of this. Remember why we cut the second Ad Nauseam? Life loss was a huge issue, comparing to the second Ad Nauseam you're adding +3 to the deck ontop of something that wasn't accepted. While I may want an Empty the Warrens maindeck. I do think adding more would be more of a pesterence than a benefit.

As for Removal vs Empty the Warrens. I do not think either or can take place of the other. While comboing out faster is always nice, some times you can't win turn one and Counterbalance happens on turn two. You need a solution.

[mossivo1986]

I don't know if this is a commonly asked question. I read the primer, and i've done quite a bit of testing with Cook's model. I am wondering what the replacements for Xantrid swarm would be in his model. I am not a fan of the card and i'm wondering if there might be another option.

[Bryant Cook]

+1 Chant
+1 Duress