I've sadly learned to type up my report in something external to the browser (like Notepad or Word) and then copy/paste it in when I'm done. Sorry about your luck.Originally Posted by Kodieyost
BZK! - Storm Boards
Been there, tried that, still casting Doomsday.
Drawing my deck for 0 mana since 2013.
Anyone else see Jeff Hoogland piloting this deck lately? He’s on the PSI list, swapping IGG a for PiF, 1 ESG for 1 SSG, DRS out for Skyshroud, 1 Land Grant out for 1 Git Probe and 1 of something else out for a 2nd Git Probe (based on the list shared in the last couple pages that was on the mtgtop8 that I used for reference)
He’s ran through 3-4 streams with it, in the league he ran tuesday he went 3-2, losing to a god hand from UWB G1 and G2 (G2 was 2x FoW AND Spell Pierce from opp) and lost in final round to UB Reanimator - miserable MU for us anyway IMO.
Some pilot errors the first stream or so, now it’s mostly just “optimal” judgment calls on mulligans or “optimal” sequencing errors that aren’t objectively mistakes.
On Tuesdays stream he went 2-0, 0-2, 2-1, 2-1, 0-2 so a total of 6-5, two games he won with PiF that IGG wouldn’t have, 1 game on a belch with bayou still in deck, 1 game was facing down opponent LotV at 6 loyalty and topdecked an IMS to chain through 3 contracts and GG the opponent.
Feel like blue decks aren’t very popular online, but I’d consider sleeping up with his 75. 15 cards for U in the board, goes basically all-in on creature plan postboard.
Jeff Hoogland playing one of my favorite decks is almost enough to make me not want to watch.
I like him well enough, pretty decent guy from my region and he’s not a miserable player like some streamers.
Ran back another 3-1 finish tonight with updated list. For reference:
3 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Wild Cantor
1 Skullwinder
1 Slithermuse
1 Skyshroud Cutter
4 Culling the Weak
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Infernal Contract
4 Cruel Bargain
3 Land Grant
1 Past in Flames
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Gitaxian Probe
2 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Tendrils of Agony
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Chrome Mox
1 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor
SB
4 Duress
3 Lotus Bloom
3 Carpet of Flowers
3 Tomb of Urami
2 Autumn’s Veil
Round 1 - 4C Delver (?)
Game 1 he wins the die roll, I run a minor FoW check with a Bayou into Drit into a D4 and draw the gas, he makes me play it out but I essentially at storm 6 tutored for PiF with 5 mana floating and finished it off.
I board in the full 15, removing all of the Pacts, Dryad Arbor, 1 Land Grant, 4 CtW, the non-Spirit Guide creatures, and 1 Tendrils. He mulls to 6 and snap keeps, ponders and ships it over. I kept t1 2x Land Grant, 1 Carpet, 1 Duress, 1 Bargain, 1 Petal scry Bayou to bottom. For draw I pick up a Tutor, LG for Bayou, cast Duress, take FoW, ship.
He jams a plains and sends it back, so he has 1 unknown (he didn’t shuffle off Ponder) a brainstorm and a Daze. I draw a ESG, play the Petal, tap Bayou for Carpet, he tanks for a second and let’s it resolve. I ship it back, he brainstorms EOT, untaps and plays a Bob and a Tundra. I draw into a Belcher, add a couple mana off Carpet and jam the D4. Resolves. Send it back. I’ve got 7 mana available next turn, he plays an island and chips me to 8. I draw Git Probe, check the coast and see just the Daze, add my Carpet mana, jam belcher, and flip the deck. He tilted pretty hard after G1, not sure what his deal was.
1-0, 2-0
Round 2 - 4C Pile
We both know each other’s deck but agree to make mulligan decisions as if we didn’t. He goes to 6, I go to 4, I scry and keep Drit on top, I jam Bayou into rit into D4 and get hit with FoW, last Card is LED, he thoughtseize and I scoop.
Bring the full 15 for G2, mull to 5, gun for petal into Carpet get FoW, Bayou rit D4, draw 3 d4 and Tutor. He thoughtseizes a D4. I draw Tomb, pass the turn w/out playing it. He land, ponder, DRS, pass.
Draw a rit, cast -> D4, 2 Petal 2 led, I play Tomb and pass. Could’ve double cracked Petal and cast tutor with priority crack 2 led but he has a strong grip so I ship it. He casts thoughtseize, takes a Card, EOT I make my 5/5. I untap and jam it in, he untaps and plays JtMS. /tilt
I go a couple turns, get another Tomb into play, he plays a Strix and he ships it back with a snap in play also, EOT I make the demon, attack the JtMS, he blocks with Strix and I concede at 2 life. He also had second JtMS in hand, so wasn’t hugely relevant what I did.
1-1, 2-2
Round 3 - RG Belcher
I helped him choose and learn the deck’s lines earlier this afternoon, G1 we both mull to 6, I go to 4, he LG and puts a Taiga into play, double Git Probes but no gas. Puts belcher into play. I draw and go off for the “get there” Belcher with a Land left in deck.
G2 neither of us SB, he’s on the play, we both mull to 5, he goes to 16 off double Probe, puts 18 goblins into play on t3 and ships it back. I go off with 2 LED and the topdecked PiF flashbacked from the yard and get to exact 16 Tendrils damage. He had GG on his turn both games.
2-1, 4-2
Round 4 - UW Miracles
G1 neither of us mull, he doesn’t know what I’m on and he keeps a 7-card Hand. I go for it t1, put myself all the way to 5, he FoW the tutor and I scoop it up.
Bring in the whole 15, he mentions he’s familiar with the deck so I’m wary of mulliganing for Tomb, keep a hand with Carpet, 2 Duress, LED, and ESG. I put t1 Carpet into play and ship it back, he plays an island and ponders. I draw a Tutor, Duress him with Carpet mana, take his FoW and ship. He plays a Plains off the top, ponders, shuffles and ships it back. I grab a D4 off the top, Duress him and take a Brainstorm, he’s got no counter Magic so I’m looking for a Ritual or Petal to take off. I draw Drit, cast off Carpet mana, cast D4 and he has a FoW. /tilt
We go back and forth, eventually I just overwhelm his countermagic with a Ton of mana spells and cast a couple D4s until I’m at 4 life and I cast tutor to storm him out.
G3 I mull to 5, try to put a t1 Carpet into play but he spell pierces it. I don’t draw a mana source until after I’ve discarded to hand size 2 times, he put a Clique into play the first time I was going to discard and shipped my Autumns Veil to the bottom and sees a hand of 3 Drit, SSG, 2 D4, I draw tutor off the Clique. I’ve got an LED in play.
He jams 3, I draw a bloom and suspend. He attacks, ships, I draw a pact and ship it. He attacks, bounces my LED to top of my deck, this goes on for a couple turns (2 copies of the spell + snap) I’m at 8 life when my bloom comes off suspend, I play the LED that was bounced again, I crack bloom for BBB, dRit myself up to 9, cast a D4 to 4 life, another one to 2 life, Cabal for +5 mana, another D4 to 1 life, I cast Autumns Veil and it gets flusterstormed, I’ve got 3 LED in play, I ship a Duress at him and see nothing so I exile ESG for tutor and crack triple LED on priority for lethal Tendrils.
3-1, 6-3
Overall the deck felt great, I didn’t really miss the shaved cards from board much but Tomb and Duress put me into games I had no business in (even though I didn’t get to win a game with my 5/5 Demon, Duress was amazing).
PiF won me a couple times that IGG wouldn’t have, especially against Blue decks. I didn’t miss DRS at all, nor the 4th Land Grant. Boarding plan finally feels solid. Even though bringing +3 lands in, not worried about Belcher because bringing in more permanent mana sources and it’s inherently for slower MUs anyway.
Still terrorizing the world of the non-U opponents and I’m starting to get the hang of winning the FoW matches as well! Would love to see where we can take the deck.
Nice report. You have inspired me to try moving PiF from my sideboard into the maindeck; I've dropped my singleton Dark Petition since they have a somewhat overlapping function.
Have you thought about Manamorphose over Gitaxian Probe? I used to hate Manamorphose, but as I get better with the deck I find it becoming a better and better card. If you are running PiF in the maindeck it becomes even stronger, allowing you to generate BB from your graveyard by filtering the GG generated by your Summoner's Pacts.
I removed Dark Petition because it was specifically the WORST way to spend 5 mana in my deck. If I could resolve that, I could also resolve a PiF. The bonus to PiF is that is can also cast from GY, which is super relevant in those 2-3 LED hands, allowing you to go off strictly from the GY. It definitely makes us weaker to Leyline of the Void, but if they start the game with that the good thing is we can still go off in a roundabout fashion.
Regarding Manamorphose: I’ve not tested it personally, but Probe letting me see the opponents hand has been superb every time, especially G1 when my opponent isn’t just auto-passing priority back to me - once I know it’s free to boom, I can just explode. It also starts off with 0 mana, whereas I need a R/G mana for Morphose (not impossible but sometimes strenuous mid-combo). I’ll test it out this week though.
A note: there ARE hands where IGG is strictly better than PiF, both because your opponent loses 3-4 cards and because it can present a t1 victory if you have enough storm count and a Tutor in your opener. There are others where PiF is the only answer that solves the puzzle.
Last edited by Kodieyost; 11-23-2017 at 03:37 PM.
I agree completely. There are a reasonable percentage of opening hands that just say 'Oops, I win' when you have IGG in your deck, which is why I have been so loath to drop it for PiF. Running both, and dropping DP instead, is something I think I am going to be much more comfortable with.A note: there ARE hands where IGG is strictly better than PiF, both because your opponent loses 3-4 cards and because it can present a t1 victory if you have enough storm count and a Tutor in your opener. There are others where PiF is the only answer that solves the puzzle.
I've also moved EtW into the Slithermuse spot. Between that and the move of PiF to the maindeck, I've managed to free up two sideboard slots, which I feel pretty good about.
I’m still not comfortable about dropping Slithermuse, if only because it is sometimes exactly the Card I need to get out of a situation. But to be clear, most of my meta is on degenerate combo decks as well, so EtW isn’t the game I need to be on. I’ve also cast a Slithermuse NOT for Evoke and left up as a chump against DnT a couple times, draws fewer cards but gains you life/a turn. I’ve also put it into play against Show n Tell T2, went down to 5 life and drew 4 extra cards, then proceeded to belcher my opp off the top. Niche but was hilarious.
Are you on the creature plan postboard? What’s your full SB?
I'd describe my board plan more like ANT's Grinding Station.
4 Swamp
4 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 ????
Keep in mind that I run Verdant Catacomb over Land Grant, so my total land count goes up to 9 plus Dryad Arbor. I batter them with discard and mini tendrils while dropping perpetual resources and playing D4s. Past in Flames is obviously huge here, which is why I had it in the side.
I hear you on EtW. Even in my meta there are enough main-deck sweepers that it is not a guarenteed win. But at the moment I feel less stupid losing becaue they find their out than because Slithermuse wiffed again. :D
My SB is currently
4 Duress
3 Carpet of Flowers
3 Tomb of Urami
3 Lotus Bloom (sometimes these are EtW)
2 Autumns Veil
-4 Pact
-cantor
-Dryad Arbor
-1 Land Grant (only 3 mb, go to 2)
-skullwinder
-4 culling the Weak
-1 Skyshroud
-1 Tendrils
-1 belcher
Sometimes I keep 2nd ToA over the belcher, depends on MU. Postboard belcher only stays in against Long grindy MUs where I can just keep activating it for inevitability.
When you’re sideboarding the whole package in for blue, what are you normally taking out to accommodate the slower more consistent plan?
With PSI you normally board out Summoner's Pact against blue for obvious reasons. Once you take that out, you might as well also take out Culling the Weak and your non-ESG Pact targets. That's probably about 12 cards right there. The last 2-3 cards will be deck dependant; I take out IGG, for example, but not everyone runs that.
Nice list!
How did lotus bloom work?
Edit: took a similar list on cockatrice last night except for: -1 skull -1 SSG +1 land grant +1 ESG -1 PIF +1 Dark petition -1 Belcher +1 Tendrils
Went: 3-2. :/
Lost to U- couterdecks x 2 and 1 Taxes. Won to dredge (iaiii) and Red sneak attack
Last edited by GoldenCid; 12-10-2017 at 09:14 AM.
I'm not sure I understand the 3/1 split on ESG/SSG. I've used 4/2, with SSG taking the place of Manamorphose. I may even go back to that, as it provides masses of Daze protection and an easy way to make R for PIF and EtW (at the cost of not providing any storm).
But I'm not sure why you'd want to add SSG over ESG, because it can't be fetched via Pact, and as a singleton is not enough to guarentee access to R in any event. How did it work out for you?
So can someone convince me to play this deck? I have LED's getting the rest of the cards wont be an issue, I love wanky combo decks (I play Glittering Jeskai Ascendancy in modern) I've done a bunch of goldfishing with the deck still trying to figure out which hands to keep etc, obviously this deck is weak to FOW but how weak? and are there any tips to playing it that aren't obvious I suppose.
The only three versions worth considering are PSI, SITES and Mono B (updated for Mox Opal). Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, but PSI is easily the most vulnerable to FoW in game 1 thanks to Summoner's Pact. It makes up for that by being slightly faster than the other versions.
After sideboarding, none of these decks are particularly weak to FoW. Unlike most combo decks, SI is not trying to resolve a single key spell, and packs a ton of genuine card advantage. Intead, the deck is weak to any combination of disruption AND a fast clock. It can be fast. It can be resilient. It struggles to do both at the same time, in large part because your life total is used as fuel rather than a buffer to buy time.
Gotcha, I just copied a list I saw on here which is ..
//Artifact (14)
4 Chrome Mox
2 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
//Creature (8)
3 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Skullwinder
1 Skyshroud Cutter
1 Slithermuse
1 Wild Cantor
//Instant (16)
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Dark Ritual
4 Summoner's Pact
//Sorcery (20)
4 Cruel Bargain
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
4 Infernal Contract
4 Infernal Tutor
3 Land Grant
1 Past in Flames
2 Tendrils of Agony
//Land (2)
1 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor
It's been playing solid, just wanted to know examples of other up to date lists that people have had success with
Talking to a friend he said that belcher is pretty much stable than psi. Thoughts?
Belcher is more stable in the sense that evaluating your opening hands is much easier. You are looking for a determinative spell chain, and you probably only have to deal with a single 'draw 1' spell which you may rely on for more storm, but never as a way of finding business.
SI, on the other hand, relies on chaining together a series of D4 spells, and it is perfectly possible (and not at all uncommon) to find that your draw into a load of rubbish, killing your spell chain. This means that even a hand that looks good can be a loser, and there is no way of knowing that ahead of time. In that sense, SI is more 'unstable' than Belcher, although I would tend to use the term 'inconsistent' instead.
On the other hand, SI is faster, rebuilds more effectively from a failed or foiled combo attempt, and has a much, much better sideboard plan against blue decks. If we could find a way to reduce the inconsistency of the deck, it would be a real powerhouse.
So after all you would take psi over belcher?
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