Bizarro Stormy (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Griselbrand)

[LarryJ]

The other 2 card options to consider for the deck: Ancient Grudge and Ray of Revelation. Both only hit one card type, but the extra benefit is being able to Entomb for them, or get rid of 2 permanents if you draw it naturally.

They probably aren't good enough to make the cut, but it's worth mentioning them in the conversation because of that built in Flashback.

I ran both of those in a Modern Dredge-style deck and those two cards always over performed. Ray would be a bit intense with the dual splash colors, but I imagine that Grudge would be easier to cast.. but at that point is Recall just generally better?

[Acclimation]

One of the things I've been thinking about, and we've been discussing off and on on the Discord, are builds using Burning Wish or Cunning Wish or even Death Wish. The first prototype build I ran with the deck, back in December looked like this:

2 Magus of the Mind
3 Griselbrand
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Death Wish
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Corpse Dance
3 Collective Brutality
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
3 Thoughtseize
1 Past in Flames
4 Polluted Delta
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Swamp

SB
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Ground Seal
1 Buried Alive
1 Cabal Therapy
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Corpse Dance
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Massacre
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Collective Brutality
1 Pithing Needle

It's not pretty, Rivals wasn't printed nor even spoiled, and I ran Deathrite because I saw how DRS decks have been using it to fix mana and provide hella utility. That being said, the list itself is borderline competitive, and really needs the following changes to be worth playing:

-4 Deathrite Shaman
-1 Magus of the Mind
-1 Corpse Dance


+2 Cabal Ritual
+1 Children of Korlis
+3 Probe

Since we have more life loss, it enables us to run Children for more value, and have access to a Wish board, where we can get anything.

For a SB, you probably still want to start with Silent Gravestone and Chain of Vapor, but you can also add random wish targets, such as extra Corpse Dances, Past in Flames, Buried Alive, Empty the Warrens, and so on.

The mana base also follows the same guidelines as the base Bizarro mana:

4 Delta
2-3 Underground
1 Swamp
4 other Fetch
3-4 Other duals based on splash

I have no plans to tinker with this type of list in the immediate future, but for those that want to do something reckless, here's a decent starting point.

I ran both of those in a Modern Dredge-style deck and those two cards always over performed. Ray would be a bit intense with the dual splash colors, but I imagine that Grudge would be easier to cast.. but at that point is Recall just generally better?

Generally speaking, we have much better options in Legacy, between stronger cards and better mana bases, as well as the card draw to dig and find our anti-hate. Serenity, Decay, Hurkyl's are going to be better since they hit multiple targets, are easier to cast, and/or have extra riders or utility that make them better.

I ran Ancient Grudge in my Belcher sb for a bit, and it was pretty okay. Not spectacular, but I didn't hate it. It's a rock solid option, and that's why I bring it up.

[phazonmutant]

Recently jammed bazarro in a 'Win an Underground Sea' event in Melbourne. 5-0-1 in swiss and lost in the semi-finals.

Sick result! Sounds well played from the tournament report. What did you think of Swarm? After playing with it a bit, I didn't really like it - would rather have discard and Fluster against Show and Tell or Reanimator, or Carpet against control decks since they leave in removal anyway. But maybe we were using it differently.

I'm going to try 2 Hull Breach, 2 Trygon Predator tonight I think. If they're good, they're great (although they're probably just hard to cast). I only seem to be losing to Leyline / Chalice decks, so might as well overboard for them

Also moving a Tendrils main over Acquisition and playing a Quicken over a Ponder for lulz. My goal is to Magus someone out at instant speed.

1 Tropical Island
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Silent Gravestone
1 Ground Seal
1 Flusterstorm
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Hull Breach
2 Trygon Predator
1 Chain of Vapor
2 Abrupt Decay

Since we're talking about sideboard cards, I might as well throw in my two cents. I really hate bounce spells in ANT, and TinFins seems similar. I'm willing to spend turn 1 cantripping or whatever then kill the hate card and play the late game. Chain is versatile, but so is Decay and it kills things. Also I really want Massacre to be good but I keep on running into situations where a skilled player can play around it by not fetching white or playing Teeg (it happens!). So I'll just play versatile spot removal.

[.dk]

One of the things I've been thinking about, and we've been discussing off and on on the Discord, are builds using Burning Wish or Cunning Wish or even Death Wish. The first prototype build I ran with the deck, back in December looked like this:

2 Magus of the Mind
3 Griselbrand
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Death Wish
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Corpse Dance
3 Collective Brutality
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Brainstorm
3 Thoughtseize
1 Past in Flames
4 Polluted Delta
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Swamp

SB
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Ground Seal
1 Buried Alive
1 Cabal Therapy
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Corpse Dance
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Massacre
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Collective Brutality
1 Pithing Needle

It's not pretty, Rivals wasn't printed nor even spoiled, and I ran Deathrite because I saw how DRS decks have been using it to fix mana and provide hella utility. That being said, the list itself is borderline competitive, and really needs the following changes to be worth playing:

-4 Deathrite Shaman
-1 Magus of the Mind
-1 Corpse Dance


+2 Cabal Ritual
+1 Children of Korlis
+3 Probe

Since we have more life loss, it enables us to run Children for more value, and have access to a Wish board, where we can get anything.

For a SB, you probably still want to start with Silent Gravestone and Chain of Vapor, but you can also add random wish targets, such as extra Corpse Dances, Past in Flames, Buried Alive, Empty the Warrens, and so on.

I think these lists want 2 Children of Korlis - 1 maindeck, and 1 as a wish target (per our respective lists from December :P )

I do love me some Death Wish, particularly since I have signed ones now. :) Never did get enough testing in to figure out if the life loss was too high though. I can't seem to find my list from that time period either. :(

I ran both of those in a Modern Dredge-style deck and those two cards always over performed. Ray would be a bit intense with the dual splash colors, but I imagine that Grudge would be easier to cast.. but at that point is Recall just generally better?

I'm not sure the dual splash is actually that hard - I'm testing out a 5 color list tomorrow night, actually. I could see it - although not convinced that either of these are better than Serenity or Wear//Tear or Hull Breach. However... you CAN entomb for them. But that doesn't really get you anything when you're trying to blow up a Leyline.

Has anyone given thought to Composite Golem to jack Storm up egregiously and Tendrils out? Maybe even using that as an alternative in the event Griselbrand gets nixed?

To jack up Storm? I guess I don't understand - as a ritual? I feel like I must be missing something here.




And lastly, couple more small updates to the primer for some more sideboard cards:

Wear // Tear: Similar to Hull Breach, this is an option that hits both an Enchantment and an Artifact on one card, or one of either type for a discount. Benefits over Serenity: gets rid of its targets on resolution of the spell. Benefits over Disenchant: can hit 2 targets (has to be different type for each target) for one extra mana. Downside of Wear // Tear: 3 mana split across 2 splash colors, overlaps with Serenity in the same match-ups.

Ancient Grudge: Artifact hate you can tutor for with Entomb, or get 2 artifacts if you draw it naturally. Downside is needing Red mana and Green for Flashback, but still a valid option. Consider this if you run into an artifact heavy meta where you want a spell you can Entomb for.

Ray of Revelation: Enchantment version of Ancient Grudge, but costs White on the front end instead of Red. Similar to Ancient Grudge, consider running this because you can Entomb it, and if you are in an Enchantress heavy meta.

[.dk]

If anyone is interested and would like to help/participate... I've created a shared Google Spreadsheet here to keep track of decklists, results, sideboarding, etc:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Should only need to modify the first 3 tabs, and just 2 of them per event, really. The sideboarding tab is a little clunky, but not sure of another way to capture the data without creating a database (which maybe I'll do sometime).

Hopefully collecting data like this can help influence decklist decisions and we can all learn from it. Thanks for your help!

Also, major thanks to Doishy who created the DDFT tracking spreadsheet that I stole and modified to create this. I've added a link to this at the end of the primer as well.

[Manroe]

For anyone interested, I'm going to have Jim Davis play this on his stream soon. I'll update with when and the exact list when I have a better idea.

[Acclimation]

For anyone interested, I'm going to have Jim Davis play this on his stream soon. I'll update with when and the exact list when I have a better idea.

Neat! Definitely hop in the Discord server and let us know when it happens, I would love to watch.

As far as lists go, I feel like the list phazonmutant has been playing is a good starting point. Not sure if I would copy the SB he posted a few posts up with Trygon, but the main deck is solid and has been successful.

[phazonmutant]

Definitely don't copy the sideboard above. Went 2-2, in part because I played badly against miracles, and in part because hull breach and trygon were uncastable. I might throw in one Hull breach, but that's it.

[.dk]

Definitely don't copy the sideboard above. Went 2-2, in part because I played badly against miracles, and in part because hull breach and trygon were uncastable. I might throw in one Hull breach, but that's it.

Thanks for the feedback - I was definitely interested in how those performed. I wish Hull Breach were easier to cast - it's so almost good!

[8bit9mm]

This is the sideboard I've been using so far.
I like where it's at and it deals with most things I care about.

2 Abrupt Decay
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Flusterstorm
1 Ground Seal
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Massacre
2 Silent Gravestone
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Tropical Island

I find that the Flusterstorm is a flex spot.
There's times where I've wished it was a 2nd Massacre and other times where I wished it was another Thoughtseize.
Ground Seal could just as easily be the 3rd Silent Gravestone as well.
The cantrip is nice and the fact that it's an enchantment is nice, but other than that, meh.
I suppose it could be a slight hedge against multiple Surgicals as well.

[Misersoneof]

This deck is so hilarious and I can't stop checking on this thread. I've been goldfishing it on Tapped Out and I might try to bring it to a local event the next time I have a chance.

I was hoping to join the Tin Fins / Bizarro Stormy discord but the link is expired in the Discord Servers thread. .dk, could you please update the link so it doesn't expire?

[Acclimation]

This deck is so hilarious and I can't stop checking on this thread. I've been goldfishing it on Tapped Out and I might try to bring it to a local event the next time I have a chance.

I was hoping to join the Tin Fins / Bizarro Stormy discord but the link is expired in the Discord Servers thread. .dk, could you please update the link so it doesn't expire?

https://discord.gg/mq9pQfz


Here you go!

[Acclimation]

Here's an updated Death Wish build, since I realized the previous one doesn't have any Ponder, and I like that more than Probe.

1x Bayou
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Island
2x Misty Rainforest
4x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
2x Underground Sea
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Volcanic Island

1x Children of Korlis
3x Griselbrand
1x Magus of the Mind

4x Brainstorm
2x Cabal Ritual
2x Corpse Dance
4x Dark Ritual
4x Entomb
4x Shallow Grave


3x Collective Brutality
3x Death Wish
1x Past in Flames
4x Ponder
3x Thoughtseize


3x Lion's Eye Diamond
4x Lotus Petal

Sideboard (15)
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Buried Alive
2x Carpet of Flowers
2x Chain of Vapor
1x Children of Korlis
1x Corpse Dance
2x Massacre
3x Silent Gravestone
1x Tendrils of Agony

The sideboard is still an awful mess, but whatever.

[.dk]

https://discord.gg/mq9pQfz


Here you go!

Thanks, damnit I thought I had one that didn't expire. I'm adding that to the primer as well.

[.dk]

Went 2-1 in a local tonight with a 5 color list. I was interested in having access to both Serenity for Chalice matchups as well as Carpet of Flowers and Abrupt Decay. Basically just trying to get access to the most powerful sideboard cards for any particular matchup. The mana actually felt pretty good, for what it's worth. I was surprised - not sure if you could play a basic island in this configuration though.

Played against...
Maverick - 2-0. This wasn't very close. Beat Thalia + Leovold Game 2.

Deathblade - 2-0. More interesting. Game 2 I had to Massacre to kill Canonist, and then decided to ritual out Griselbrand rather than casting Past in Flames and flashing back reanimation after pitching Griselbrand to LED. This played around Force of Will, as I had enough mana to cast Past in Flames by flashing it back with LED even if Griselbrand got countered.

Czech Pile - 1-2. Super interesting match. Game 1 I lose to his Thoughtseize into T2 2x Deathrite when I couldn't T1 Brainstorm into a kill or Therapy. G2 I make a Griselbrand in my draw step in response to a Vendilion Clique, and get there. Game 3 takes forever - I played through 2x Force, Clique, Surgical, and Snapcaster with Silent Gravestone, Discard, and Past in Flames. I try to combo off at 1 life using Past in Flames, but my draw 7 + Brainstorm is short 1 card or Lotus Petal to be able to win. Was very close and could easily have gone the other way. I was impressed with the deck's ability to come that close in that game.

List for reference...

1 Bayou
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volcanic Island
4 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Ritual
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Collective Brutality
2 Corpse Dance
4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Griselbrand
3 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
1 Magus of the Mind
1 Mastermind's Acquisition
1 Past in Flames
3 Ponder
4 Shallow Grave
1 Thoughtseize
Sideboard:

2 Abrupt Decay
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Massacre
1 Scrubland
2 Serenity
3 Silent Gravestone
1 Tendrils of Agony

Couple other things to note - Volcanic Island cast Past in Flames at least once (possibly a second, I don't remember clearly enough). Mastermind's Acquisition was good in utility mode at least a couple of times to find a missing combo piece or an answer to a hate bear. I had forgotten how strong that card can be as I've mostly been playing with Tendrils main deck lately.

[Manroe]

Just talked to Jim, the deck will be streamed Friday Morning beginning between 830 and 9 am EST (-5 UTC)

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[8bit9mm]

Just talked to Jim, the deck will be streamed Friday Morning beginning between 830 and 9 am EST (-5 UTC)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

Nice! The deck isn't the easiest to pilot, but I don't suppose it'll be Mengucci-esqe.

[Manroe]

Nice! The deck isn't the easiest to pilot, but I don't suppose it'll be Mengucci-esqe.

Yeah, everytime I watch Jim play he runs into the worst luck too! Hope he at least has fun with it and the followers enjoy seeing how busted legacy can be!

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[Acclimation]

Just talked to Jim, the deck will be streamed Friday Morning beginning between 830 and 9 am EST (-5 UTC)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

Note to self, get up early and maybe work from home that day.

[.dk]

Note to self, get up early and maybe work from home that day.

Yeahhhh I'm not getting up that early. That said, if someone can shoot me a link to wherever it is archived afterwards so I can add it to the primer, I'd appreciate it