[Deck] ANT (Ad Nauseam Tendrils) Storm Combo

[GoblinZ]

They havent for obvius reasons.
Banne list comes out the week of the new set.
Last was fate reforged. The next is m16 (they dont count special sets only t2 sets).
They banned cruise with fate and gave dig a chance because cruise make him look poor. But now with cruise banned dig decks are kings and they dont wanna ban show and tell they will just ban dig wich is a card EVEN BETTER THAN JACE and the card that makes omnitell so busted.
I would bet 10 to 1 that dig will be banned.

I think what should really be banned is the evil trinity of young pyromancer+probe+therapy, I would like rather to play against miracle than any Grixis variant...

Omnitel can be also crushed by this trinity.

[wonderPreaux]

Hi guys,

Last week, Jona and I teamed up to record some games with "Grinding Station", a super resilient build that resembles some of the lists teching multiple PiF and/or omitting maindeck Ad Nauseam. Our recordings feature a 4-round daily and a post-event deck tech, you can find the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...T7BVHXaw1vppQ0

We had some technical issues to overcome on both our ends, but there's a lot of good commentary and gameplay as is. I think Grinding Station is very strong right now and, as our games demonstrate, there's a lot of potential in some of the various techs you can outfit the deck with.

[Lemnear]

Hi guys,

Last week, Jona and I teamed up to record some games with "Grinding Station", a super resilient build that resembles some of the lists teching multiple PiF and/or omitting maindeck Ad Nauseam. Our recordings feature a 4-round daily and a post-event deck tech, you can find the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...T7BVHXaw1vppQ0

We had some technical issues to overcome on both our ends, but there's a lot of good commentary and gameplay as is. I think Grinding Station is very strong right now and, as our games demonstrate, there's a lot of potential in some of the various techs you can outfit the deck with.

On you third Match, Game 2, why didn't you just sit it out with the probes and cantrips sculpting a natural 10-count rather than trying to force a PIF through DRS? I mean, durding the long Brainstorm which you two settled on putting back the cantrips, why didn't you just throw back the land and the PIF to fetch and cast Ponder after finding a discard spell and chain Probes plus Brainstorm into Rituals into IT (LED still in play) and just win?

[Jonathan Alexander]

On you third Match, Game 2, why didn't you just sit it out with the probes and cantrips sculpting a natural 10-count rather than trying to force a PIF through DRS?

Because natural Tendrils doesn't work against discard.

I mean, durding the long Brainstorm which you two settled on putting back the cantrips, why didn't you just throw back the land and the PIF to fetch and cast Ponder after finding a discard spell and chain Probes plus Brainstorm into Rituals into IT (LED still in play) and just win?

You don't factor in that we need to keep a land to be able to go cantrip into discard into ritual because otherwise he just Dazes the first Ritual. This leaves us at storm two with four spells in hand and we have just the one Ponder to find discard. With our line, we get Ponder and three Probes to find the Tendrils, plus we can also hit a combination of Tutor + mana or just LED for additional cantrips from our graveyard.

Also, I didn't realise how bad my mic is, so sorry about that guys!

[Tav]

Nice videos guys, gonna finish watching them on my lunch break today lol

How do people like to side for bug delver? It is always the matchup that I feel least prepared for. Young Pyro if you are playing it? Flusterstorm? (I know some people love fluster against delver matchups but I've never been a fan) Chain just to deal with a potential rod/cage?

[sawatarix]

I couldn't understand a single word, sry Jona :D

[Izor]

How do people like to side for bug delver? It is always the matchup that I feel least prepared for. Young Pyro if you are playing it? Flusterstorm? (I know some people love fluster against delver matchups but I've never been a fan) Chain just to deal with a potential rod/cage?

The matchup can be tough, because they attack us from three different angles: discard, counter spells and graveyard hate. Sitting it out with a Grinding Station approach has never worked for me there, so I leave in the Ad Nauseam and go for a fast discard-protected win. Boarding in a Pyroclasm or some other efficient answer for DRS is an option too, though that approach already slows down your main game plan, which I think you should avoid in the matchup.

Speaking of which, I was messing around with the Grinding Station list recently, but I just never felt happy without Ad Nauseam in my main deck. I feel like Grinding Station is only really better than the faster AN version against fair non-black Blue decks. Thing is, those decks aren't really well-represented in the current meta, at least not where I usually play.

So for the local tournament yesterday I decided to play a fast AN version and I ended up getting second place going 3-0-1 (ID in the finals, lost 1-2 when we played out 1st place). I won exactly one game with a PiF loop, 1 game via natural Storm and the remaining games with Ad Nauseam.

[bob2008]

Today I attended the 4th eternal clash(GPtrial for Lille) and made top8 with the grinding station approach.
I definitively got inspired by some of the recent post here
We were 56 players this time so only 6 rounds this time.
I played Pascal Wagner`s decklist (the last MKM event in Italy) list which feels really strong overall.

My MU were:

Burn 2:1 (game 3 I could play through cage and Eidelon with double ToA at hand)
Burn 2:1
Lands 2:1
Miracles 1:2 ANT 2:1
Painter ID
Top8 vs RUG 0:2 (I beat him 2:1 but concede to him because he wanted to get the byes GP Lille)

The deck was very challenging and fun to play.
So I finally dropped my beloved goblins this time for something unfair and get rewarded

I am also pondering about the “SB-creature-topic”. What is your opinion about some Snapcaster Mages paired with a couple of Lightning bolts? This would certainly require a 2nd red mana source ... 

Best regards,
bob

[CabalTherapy]

Burn 2:1 (game 3 I could play through cage and Eidelon with double ToA at hand)
Burn 2:1
Lands 2:1
Miracles 1:2 ANT 2:1
Painter ID
Top8 vs RUG 0:2 (I beat him 2:1 but concede to him because he wanted to get the byes GP Lille)

Well, you literally started with three byes. Unfortunately, Flensburg is a bit too far away from Berlin to join your tournament series.
Nonetheless, solid result.

[Burnplayer]

Hi.

Now the Miracle matchup is very hard. They attack us with Eterwornst Canonist, Medling Mage, Top, Counterbalance, Flusterstorm, etc...

I play the Top plan post board: +2 Top +3 Decay +2 Krosan. -2 Lotus Petal -2 Cabal Ritual -2 Preordain -X. But now the plan me doesn't turn out to be effective.

Ok, maybe we should dive back into speed, siding only x4 decays. What do you think?

[Lemnear]

Hi.

Now the Miracle matchup is very hard. They attack us with Eterwornst Canonist, Medling Mage, Top, Counterbalance, Flusterstorm, etc...

I play the Top plan post board: +2 Top +3 Decay +2 Krosan. -2 Lotus Petal -2 Cabal Ritual -2 Preordain -X. But now the plan me doesn't turn out to be effective.

Ok, maybe we should dive back into speed, siding only x4 decays. What do you think?

Battling the newest additions to Miracles' arsenal aka Wasteland and Meddling Mage with the damn slow SDT + Krosan Grip is doomed to fail, no? I'd run with a Decay/Pyroblast split atm with all these OmniTells and Miracles around

[Burnplayer]

Is interesting the mix Decay/Pyroblast. For me the Pyroblast problem is cast the red mana (you need the red land untapped). Perhaps with a Volcanic and a Badlands, or with two Volcanics.

I think that 4 Abrupt Decays are necessary now. I don't like Krosan Grip (now some Miracles plays Monastery Mentor or other guys like Vendilion or Caster and we have less time to win).

In my point of view Krosan Grip is slowly and the top plan inefficient

[Rokkastut]

I hate ANT (small report from GPT Lille)

I have been playing ANT almost a year now, with no success. Have got alot of good tips in here (thank you, you know who you are) and also testing with good players. Anyways, here is the decklist.

4 Polluted Delta
4 Minst Rainforest
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Volcanic Island

4 Dark Ritual
3 Cabal Ritual
1 Chrome Mox
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lions Eye Diamond
1 Rain of Filth

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Infernal Tutor

2 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy

1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
2 Tendrils of Agony
2 Preordain

SB;
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Dread of Night
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Krosan Grip
1 Burning Wish
1 Duress

And so to the few rounds I played;

R1 - (first reason why I hate ANT) Mirror against Michael (from Portland/China/Norway)
G1 - We joke about the whoever wins the dieroll wins the game/match. He wins the dieroll, and also the game before I could take my turn... *sigh*
SB: -1 TOA, -1 Swamp, +1 Burning Wish, +1 Duress
G2 - Long game into topdeck mode, I drew a PiF, he Duressed it, I won with a double Cabal Ritual PiF loop.
G3 - He probed me. I played Duress and saw land, LED, LED, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and Brainstorm. I took Brainstorm and had the win next turn... but he drew a Tutor of the top :-(

1-2 (0-1)

R2 - Erik (rusty veteran) with Elves
Ad Nauseam got me there easy.

2-0 (1-1)

R3 - (second reason why I hate ANT) John Martin with Death and Taxes with red splash.
G1 - He played Revoker on Led, Revoker on Petal and a Magus of the Moon....
SB: -2 Duress, -2 Cabal Therapy, -1 TOA, +2 Chain of Vapor, +3 Abrupt Decay
Daam Massacre would have been so much better than Dread of Night here...
G2: He had Magus, Canonist, RiP x 2 and Thalia in his opening hand. On turn 3 I got a shitload of black mana, a high stormcount, a LED in play and Tutor in hand.... and I... scooped. Totally brainfart.

0-2 (1-2)

Antways, I dropped... I was tired and ANT demands too much brain capacity.

Now I will take a short break and just play some Belcher instead... at this moment I actually don't think I am strong enough as a player (skills / concentration) to play ANT. It sucks, but it's the truth.

[Spam]

Storm deserve a lot of passion and dedication. Keep on playing and you'll see some results.

[sawatarix]

I joined another 6 round tournament yesterday where I played against one of those hate bear miracle deck in the final round.

board in:

+3 Young Pyromancer
+2 Dark Confidant
+3 Abrupt Decay
+2 Krosan Grip

-1 Rain of Filth
-2 Cabal Ritual
-2 Lion's Eye Diamond
-1 Ad Nauseam
-1 Past in Flames
-1 Preordain
-2 Lotus Petal

G1: win through double fow on Turn2.
G2: I had Tendrils in Hand so I played the slow grinding station role while my opponent dropped double counterbalance and double top. I eventually resolved a Dark Confidant and drew both Abrupt Decay and Krosan Grip the following turns to get rid of both CB's.
When I started to combo out my opponent had a Vendillion Clique on top of his library and grabbed my Tendrils->gg
G3: T2 Dark Confidant, T3 Young Pyromancer, in friends we trust ;)

[Burnplayer]

Now I come back to the 16 cantrips version. Nowadays I don't like top (for many reason isn't effective vs miracles). With 16 cantrips you always find the tutor.

My list now:

4 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Duress
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony

SB:

4 Abrupt Decay
3 Dread of Night
3 Xantid Swarm
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Cabal Therapy

[Chaam]

So if anyone watched the SCG Worcester round 6 match between Cook and Boswell you noticed the "storm" count cards. Basically a blank card with a cloud/lightning bolt, and mana symbols for black adn red. Anyone know where you can buy these? I could make them with just paper but I would like it to look "professional" with actual cards.

Thanks.

[Togores]

So if anyone watched the SCG Worcester round 6 match between Cook and Boswell you noticed the "storm" count cards. Basically a blank card with a cloud/lightning bolt, and mana symbols for black adn red. Anyone know where you can buy these? I could make them with just paper but I would like it to look "professional" with actual cards.

Thanks.

Rk post has quite cool tokens. He even has one of storm featuring master movie SHARKNADO -.-"
I bought one of them in mkm rome. Is quite cool.

[sawatarix]

This Token is awesome man, I really need one of them too !

Storming to ten is like a performance,so having professional equipments is a necessity.

[Ghiwo]

Storming to ten is like a performance,so having professional equipments is a necessity.

That statement must be my new forum signature!!

Talking about the "new" Miracles match-up, I can just speak for suppositions as the hatebears sideboard has not shown yet here in Italy. About a year ago I tried Dark Confidant to improve the Miracles and mirror matches. In the tournament I ran him I faced Miracles twice, perfect to test him out. After the tournament I couldn't wait to remove him from my sideboard I never got to draw an extra card with him! When he wasn't countered he never stayed on the table for long enough to reach my upkeep, they always found the Plow or already had it in their hand. With Top, fetches, Ponder and Brainstorm it's surprisingly easy for them to find the cards they want. Or maybe he just got lucky, I don't know. That's why I like to play without any creature against Miracles, not to give them targets for the Plows. Maybe I'm result oriented as I never tried Bob again after those 2 matches, I will give him a new spin these days, but these are my impressions from 1 year ago, the first and last time I had him in my 75.

Also, I tried last summer Pyromancer when Kai was sponsoring it here and been really really happy with him, so I'll be happy to feature him again in my sideboard.
I'll try to add those 6 in my sideboard, but that's about 10 cards just for Miracles, and I don't like to commit too much to just a match-up. Let's see what I can come up with.

Last one guys, did you try Pyroblast against OmniTell? Is it better than Flusterstorm? It's difficult for Pyroblast to earn a place in my board, as I've been too much in love with Flusterstorm against that deck, but I'll try it out too.