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

[Zooligan]

I seem to be lucky enough to get 4 land hands all the time :)

They are just way too slow to beat chalice at 1 or/and chalice at 0. Or Emrukal/G-pap on t2/3.

[Lemnear]

I seem to be lucky enough to get 4 land hands all the time :)

They are just way too slow to beat chalice at 1 or/and chalice at 0. Or Emrukal/G-pap on t2/3.

Thats why you board decays/recalls or more discard respectively

[Zooligan]

Thats why you board decays/recalls or more discard respectively

Right. Yes. Just like Bryant's SB guide says.

[Morden]

Hi guys, I'm new here. I just wanna thank you for the great work with Bryant's site, it's very very helpful for a beginner like me. Having few time to test, I learn a lot by reading your articles and watching streaming of players piloting this deck.

List is very solid nowadays, and with the slow eldrazis' downfall we have better chances to avoid those fu**ing chalices and thorns

[Zooligan]

Thats why you board decays/recalls or more discard respectively

Right. Yes. Just like Bryant's SB guide says.

So boarding in the right things is pretty easy - Bryant gives a clear concise guide. I guess what I am really wondering is how to approach these matches post-board. For example, do you mull away a good hand with rituals/cantrips or petals/diamonds that just needs a little help to look for decays because you fear chalice?

Pretty sure there is a little more to it than "board correctly." That's kind of a throw-away answer.

[Lemnear]

For example, do you mull away a good hand with rituals/cantrips or petals/diamonds that just needs a little help to look for decays because you fear chalice?

Would you throw away a T1 kill hand just because your opponent could have FoW or do you take the 60/40 gamble in your favor? Its (more or less) the same statistical question as in the Chalice case

[Zooligan]

Would you throw away a T1 kill hand just because your opponent could have FoW or do you take the 60/40 gamble in your favor? Its (more or less) the same statistical question as in the Chalice case

So you are saying it is just "board correctly and hope for the best"? Make them have it?

[Ronald Deuce]

So you are saying it is just "board correctly and hope for the best"? Make them have it?

That's actually not far off.

The difficult and hair-raising (and fun, I daresay) aspect of playing combo decks is that we're playing the most busted interactions in the format, but there are single cards that can shut us down. So often we have to gamble that the opponent doesn't have That One Card that stops us. Targeted discard or Probe often gives us our answer, but we—and, for that matter, our opponents—don't always draw the cards we're looking for.

Last weekend, I was playing AnT against an Eldrazi player. His lack of turn-1 plays beyond a land indicated that the coast was clear in both games for a T1. Trouble was that he showed up that day running Warping Wail (in G1) and Mindbreak Trap (in G2) and I didn't have the disruption to stop them.

That doesn't mean I shouldn't have gone for the combo on turn 1 of both games. Perfect information obviously would've indicated that I should wait, but we're making the odds worse every turn we pass without advancing our board-state or crafting our hand. Waiting would've let the opponent topdeck artifact-based hate I would've been unlikely to beat.

I'm remembering a game from several months ago in which I was playing All Spells. I couldn't tell what my opponent had in hand, and I had the combo with Pact of Negation in my hand. Turned out the opponent had both Force-blue card and Daze. Doesn't mean I shouldn't have gone for it; just means that the opponent had a hand I couldn't beat. Even if "60 percent of the time, it works EVERY TIME," there's still the other 40% of the time when the opponent happens to draw just what they need to stop us.

And never forget: if you force your opponent to have an answer and they have an answer, you might be screwed, but if you force your opponent to have an answer and they don't, you win the game.

[Lemnear]

Well said, sir. I am more the short, sloppy, rude guy :p

[Morden]

hi guys, I know that a lot of you prefer to put the bayou in the sideboard, but don't you think that the advantage of having 1 more spell in the sideboard is much greater than the disadvantage of having 7 fetches instead of 8? Matematically speaking also I don't see a big difference; and, moreover, one more mana-producing land can help against decks with 4 wasteland.
Did anyone try these two configurations for a long period?

[Lemnear]

hi guys, I know that a lot of you prefer to put the bayou in the sideboard, but don't you think that the advantage of having 1 more spell in the sideboard is much greater than the disadvantage of having 7 fetches instead of 8? Matematically speaking also I don't see a big difference; and, moreover, one more mana-producing land can help against decks with 4 wasteland.
Did anyone try these two configurations for a long period?

Still playing 14 lands and among them 8 fetches. My sideboard is not for mana if my MB is already 40% mana

[Zooligan]

Still playing 14 lands and among them 8 fetches. My sideboard is not for mana if my MB is already 40% mana

What does your current decklist look like?

[Morden]

Sunday I'll have my first "big" tournament (more or less 60 people), but sadly the postal service made some strikes and now I miss 3 chrome mox
here the strange question arrives.....how do you replace this 3 slot? starting from bryant's list, I think I'll do:

-bayou maindeck, 1 pyroclasm in side (I have massacre instead grapeshot by default)
-1 preordain
-1 cabal ritual

I know that these cards are completly different from mox, it will be more difficult to start making mana from 0 floating mana after ad nauseam, but what can I do.....At the beginnig I was thinking on 2 cabal and 0 preordain, but I like to sculpt my hand a little better and suffer 1 life point less in case of nauseam.
rain of filth can be also nice probably.

[LDX]

I know that these cards are completly different from mox, it will be more difficult to start making mana from 0 floating mana after ad nauseam, but what can I do.....

You can get more mana before Ad Nauseam. I would go with two Cabal Ritual, but I would also try Rain of Filth, as stated. Maybe one of each. I wouldn't bother with Preordain judging how often Ponder are sided out, and really, since you're just trying to replace Chrome Mox with something else, I would pick something that does somewhat-ishhh the same thing: add mana.

On an unrelated note, fourth edition of Infernal Tutoring is up!

http://www.theepicstorm.com/tes-infernal-tutoring-4

[Morden]

You can get more mana before Ad Nauseam. I would go with two Cabal Ritual, but I would also try Rain of Filth, as stated. Maybe one of each. I wouldn't bother with Preordain judging how often Ponder are sided out, and really, since you're just trying to replace Chrome Mox with something else, I would pick something that does somewhat-ishhh the same thing: add mana.

it makes sense, absolutely!

[Final Fortune]

Sunday I'll have my first "big" tournament (more or less 60 people), but sadly the postal service made some strikes and now I miss 3 chrome mox
here the strange question arrives.....how do you replace this 3 slot? starting from bryant's list, I think I'll do:

-bayou maindeck, 1 pyroclasm in side (I have massacre instead grapeshot by default)
-1 preordain
-1 cabal ritual

I know that these cards are completly different from mox, it will be more difficult to start making mana from 0 floating mana after ad nauseam, but what can I do.....At the beginnig I was thinking on 2 cabal and 0 preordain, but I like to sculpt my hand a little better and suffer 1 life point less in case of nauseam.
rain of filth can be also nice probably.

Considering you play most of your games vs control post-board without Chrome Mox it's not that big of a deal, you can just play Bayou and 2xCabal Ritual MD and have a grindier list vs Miracles pre-board. What matters more than anything is that the lands, rituals, tutors, and LED align for any combination of 2 lands, 1 ritual and LED into either an Empty the Warrens or Ad Nauseam, because you have no other way to justify playing Rite of Flame over Cabal Ritual. In a deck with discard and cantrips, I think going for turn 1 wins via Chrome Mox acceleration is really overrated and the deck should only play XxChrome Mox to "smoothe out" Ad Nauseam as necessary.

I've been running MD Bayou, 3rd Duress and only 1 Chrome Mox for awhile, I needed the SB space for extra copies of Tendrils/Past to grind out Miracles more akin to ANT and the SB land and discard took up a ton of space. You can sort of modulate the deck's mana towards slightly slower styles of play, it's no big.

[Morden]

I agree with you somehow. This morning I found 3 mox and I tried a standard list: went 3-3, lost with painter,S&T,grixis delver, won against painter, 12post, white stax (don't laugh, G2 he started with leyline and trinisphere on turn 1........). Not bad, I made a lot of errors, I had a little of unluck (g1 painter went on second turn with grinstone->painter->led, 14 goblins were ready on my side......).
I think a second hurkyl's recall is necessary in sideboard, but I want to keep also pyroclasm and massacre, so I think I'll remove a chrome mox to add the bayou mainboard, having a slot for the hurkyl.

[Bryant Cook]

New article is live:
http://www.theepicstorm.com/the-current-state-massacre/

[Zooligan]

New article is live:
http://www.theepicstorm.com/the-current-state-massacre/

Great article! Just FYI, if you click http://www.theepicstorm.com/articles on your site tho, you still only see up to TES Mailbox #8, not the new article or any of the Infernal Tutoring entries past #1.

In the article you mention streaming. I find watching folks experienced with the deck a great learning aid. Where/when can we view that? Do you record your streams?

Thanks!

Z

[Bryant Cook]

Great article! Just FYI, if you click http://www.theepicstorm.com/articles on your site tho, you still only see up to TES Mailbox #8, not the new article or any of the Infernal Tutoring entries past #1.

In the article you mention streaming. I find watching folks experienced with the deck a great learning aid. Where/when can we view that? Do you record your streams?

Thanks!

Z

Clear your cache, it's a you problem. My work and home computer both look as intended.

Twitch.