[Deck] ANT (Ad Nauseam Tendrils)

[Patrunkenphat7]

All arguments for Toxic Deluge and Virtue's Ruin are effectively equal. They both cost and would equally cost a literal million mana against Thalia.

Oh yes, agreed. I play Massacre over all of these expensive sweepers.

[Namida]

If Death and Taxes is your only concern, I would say Massacre is generally better; however, I've had some embarrassing games where Jitte connected so I couldn't kill a hatebear with Massacre, and there have been games where my opponent manages to avoid playing a Plains the entire game to make me look silly. Teeg runs rampant where I play so Massacre is uncastable though, so I'd play Virtue's Ruin/Massacre before I would play cards like Massacre and Dread of Night which don't deal with that problem.

[Patrunkenphat7]

I think You might want a couple Karakas or Disfigures if Teeg is popular. Virtue's Ruin is just so expensive, and when they play a Thalia, you cry. I don't think you should realistically build your deck with equipment in mind, because they aren't connecting until turn 4 or later, at which point you should have been able to at least Massacre them if not kill them.

I wouldn't play multiple Massacres if the metagame was Maverick over Death and Taxes, but right now Death and Taxes seems very popular.

[gregtron]

Do you guys not love Pyroclasm? I do.

[Jeff]

Do you guys not love Pyroclasm? I do.

Pyroclasm is still 3 against Thalia and requires that you fetch up red mana before your combo turn against a wasteland deck. I far prefer Massacre or Dread of Night which cost 1 or 2 through Thalia and play with the color you have basics of.

[gregtron]

Pyroclasm is still 3 against Thalia and requires that you fetch up red mana before your combo turn against a wasteland deck. I far prefer Massacre or Dread of Night which cost 1 or 2 through Thalia and play with the color you have basics of.

I still run Massacre, it's just that I've been running Pyroclasm alongside it as a cover-all for Teeg, Canonist, Shaman, etc.

[Jay_Gatz]

I usually play TES but I played Timo's list -1 crypt +1 rebuild (meta reasons) to a 4-0 at my weekly last night. I'm not sure if the singleton top is better than a grim tutor so I'm going to test with a tutor on Sunday. Deck felt solid and I'm debating switching for the GP.

In the past I've almost exclusively played wish builds so I'm not completely sold but I'm going to test more.

[topef27]

Hi there, I'm relatively new to storm (just switched from High Tide), but I was wondering about some of the recent top8 lists from this past weekend. It looks like a couple of them have an additional Ad Nauseam in the sideboard. In what match-ups would you side in an additional AN? and doesn't this make your ANs more deadly to yourself by increasing your number of high CMC cards?

[Mindlash]

Hi there, I'm relatively new to storm (just switched from High Tide), but I was wondering about some of the recent top8 lists from this past weekend. It looks like a couple of them have an additional Ad Nauseam in the sideboard. In what match-ups would you side in an additional AN? and doesn't this make your ANs more deadly to yourself by increasing your number of high CMC cards?

One of them played AN in the sideboard because there was an Empty the Warrens in the Main instead of it.
The other one (Timo's deck) was a typo by the BoM staff. It should be a second Chain of Vapor, making Jonathans ANT list from the Trial the only list with two AN (both main) which he played to push his kill turn.

This post is only regarding BoM. I haven't checked the other legacy tournaments from the US yet.

Greetings Mindlash

[Jonathan Alexander]

I ended up writing about the philosophy behind my list: Link.

[ThomasDowd]

I still run Massacre, it's just that I've been running Pyroclasm alongside it as a cover-all for Teeg, Canonist, Shaman, etc.

mirror goblin tokens (have done this at least once).

[ThomasDowd]

Hi there, I'm relatively new to storm (just switched from High Tide), but I was wondering about some of the recent top8 lists from this past weekend. It looks like a couple of them have an additional Ad Nauseam in the sideboard. In what match-ups would you side in an additional AN? and doesn't this make your ANs more deadly to yourself by increasing your number of high CMC cards?

basically just more raw business.

TES used to play 2 for a period of time because often it is one of the best engines to kill with since it generates a ton of storm(from access to more puire cards) and a ton of mana( see previous paren) once it resolves and you have access to 10-15 more cards. playign it naturally is also better than tutoring due to mana constrictions and the restrictions on IT.

[MTG Junkie]

I ended up writing about the philosophy behind my list: Link.

Good read.

[Sloshthedark]

BOM 8

just short (eh not much after all) report on general Bom experience with some notes of interest, not that I did particulary well...

till Monday evening I believed I will not attend due to logistic and financial probles I face... suddenly a number of people calls me they plan to go and need a driver for friday night, I dislike both driving through the night (I don't expect to play well after 9 hour drainlife) and want to attend the trials, after a try to book a flight, Paris transport system examination, finding accomodation (pretty cheap, 30m from site) and some counting we settle on Thursday overnight drive and we are off to go. Mist on german highways, 2 hour sleep in suburban Paris and around 9 I find myself with coffee and decklist in hands, bloody eyes, sneezing in a tropical hall full of weird people.. I ask myself - WHY?

List

4 Infernal Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Lim Dul's Vault

2 Past in Flames
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tendrils of Agony

4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lions Eye Diamond
3 Lotus Petal

1 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Lightning Bolt

4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island¨
1 Badlands

SB:
3 Xantid Swarm
2 Notion Thief
2 Chain of Vapor
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Karakas
1 Extirpate¨
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Pyroblast


FRIDAY

7 round trial

1-2 or 2-2 drop, 1st elves 2-0, last Jund 1-2, no memories in between... most memorable - manual reg. system crashed so judges had to rebuilt it from decklists



5 round last chance trial

1-2 UBG Tempo
the name sounds familiar to me... what I get is a tattoed german/russian guy, he tells me to shuffle lightly if I have to, my guess is jap foil tempo or control, I get jap foil altered Dark Thresh
G1 - I run into a Fow due to pressure I think
G2 - Xantid swarm > his SB strategy
G3 - Shaman->Confidant-> 3 stifle, waste, fow, flusterstorm, snare... +disfigure my Swarm =(

2-0 (1-1) UW RiP Miracles
my guess is goblins, but a UW guy around had similar looks, spanish
G1 - T2 14 goblins, no miracle happenes
G2 - he hesitates with RiP several turns, it comes down a turn before I kill him, my next attempt is met with FoW from the ToP after I get through soft counters
G3 - I decay a CB, he sticks RiP, time gets called he has last turn attempt to win E-Tutoring for the Helm, I have the Decay and I'll scoop to him if he wants to It's not my day anyway, he tells me to my show hand, I have some rituals, ToA + EtW, waiting for a discard spell, he signs the result slip 2-0 for me
It's pleasure playing with him, we have a nice conversation about the breaking points of the games, I wish him luck and I mean it

0-2 UBG Shardless
G1 1 turn window, 1 topdecked FoW
G2 I open fast hand, probe reveals 2x surgical, Thoughtseize and some stuff, I can't hide my tutor and I'm never back in the game

at this point I'm a caffeine zombie, I eat some 2 random brains making it 3-2 and preserving some dignity by autopilot, I have no mood for lookin for familiar faces, wait for my team and promptly leave (that's what I should have done 5 hours ago)... day0 is no good to me, one guy from our group made 6-1 in the larger trial, other 3 same as me... fact A, gimme some sleep, fact B, the deck fucked up, no cooperation ever, 0 great hands, no luck... I go to sleep early and feel humiliated


SATURDAY - MAIN EVENT

I have handfull of goldfishes in the morning to find out what's wrong with the cards, still comming in weird combinations, the last one is kind of ok T2 protected kill, Ok let's keep it that way and focus... no changes in the list... about 3 of the sleeves are not fit like the other ones, I cruise around the vendor... no KMC? go fuck yourself... if someone is bitching about it's acceptable loss, no black Dragonshield?... well if judge finds mine unfit I'm done or have to question my sexuality and hope cards have some lepper resistance

no changes in the list... +50 hit points +5 Perception

2:1 Jund
G1 no significant plays, he luckily wins, It's my first and last time in the 1st row of tables, it has cool fiery design cloth on, no wonder people steal it for their kitchen table
G2 EtW+ToA
G3 T2 kill I believe as he doesn't get to cast liliana he has in hand

1:2 UGR Nivmagus Kilnfiend Berserk
older bald guy from with scandinavian name
G1 I don't know what to think about him and just try 14 goblins agains his volc->delver, surprisigly he doesn't scoop and plays Nivmagus elemental which does nothing, takes 12 and scoops, so I think I'm against UGR Thresh with Nivmagus instead of some G creatures and Flusterstorm instead of pierce/snare, I saw some brew with that card just released... while sideboarding I recall one of my friends complaining about losing to a Kilnfiend Berserk deck with Elves yesterday two times T3, I SB in decays, just to be sure...
G2 uneventful, I slow him by bolting a Nivmagus but draw poorly, he eventualy reveals a Berserk to flip a Delver but shuffles it away, I sense my future is grim and die next turn to some kamikadze creature
G3 my hand is slower but offers decent control role with 2 removal, I bolt his Delver decay a Nivmagus and have another ready, we draw go until he playes Kiln fiend, I have some rituals, PiF, 2x IT, LED and something at my disposal, but just 3 lands in play and won't tap against Kiln Fiend and save my Decay when he invests more resources for the kill, I hit a Therapy, I think he has Flusterstorm or FoW in hand but go for safer Daze I know from early therapy, hit, seeing lands Fluster, FOW... I let him go, take 1, next turn I draw a Cabal Ritual and then I fuck up... I think I'm capable of killing through both FoW and Flusterstorm if I IT for another CR, I count a bit and only possibility he could kill me on my 14 life next turn is hitting a Berserk, so I take the risk... he draws, thinks a bit, smiles and Berserk-Fluster+pay makes it exactly 14... I'm an idiot... he agrees, and tell me I should have killed it early as he plays Apostle blessing in his deck, I tell him my plan, he shows me another flusterstorm. drawn turn before my death.. that could have been interesting...

2:1 All spells
G1 I keep a nice hand against tempo, he spends some life for his free cards and kills me T1 with Balustrade spy, ehm
G2 he mulls 6 I keeps a decent hand with discard and CoV, I check his hand 3 times, bounce his Tinder Wall and kill around turn 5, he boarded into Belcher as I saw LED in the process
G3 he mull 6 keeps, cast T1 Undercity Informer with Chrome mox, CR and ESG, I BS off petal and kill him T1

2:1 UWR tempo
some german guy, I'm afraid I face UW miracles
G1 my keep can make around some goblins T2, I start with Volc+Ponder, he has volc+Delver, T2 I decide to go for it, If he doesn't fow or Daze my first DR I'm fine with duress, other DR and EtW in hand... he has the daze - I can't continue due to not having access to another 2nd R... he wastes me, has another Daze and Pierce for my second attempt, I think I can still win this, FoW on Bolt for Delver and his own bolt to my face proves me wrong...
G2 I boarded against URG thresh as I saw just the Volc, I starts with Bayou-Xantid Swarm he starts with tundra... Xantid Swarm > his deck
G3 do not remember much he has me under pressure and I decline to cast probe for phyrexian mana as his bolt could kill me on 6 life (obv. he has it+Daze+Fow+Geist), I draw a Bolt for his lonely Delver, he snap Fows(for Geist) and I procceed to kill him... we have small chat about his strategy, not showing the W as he has 3 cannonists SB, he doesn't like Bolt in my build, I do like he considers RiP weak choice against Ant...

2:1 UBr Storm with preordains
G1 my tip is S&T I start with untapped Volc+go ...he plays conservatively I check his hand play Vault eot, kill him...
G2 mirror, olé - I'm more then well prepared... we exchange discard, he LDVs into oblivion for combination I do not understand and plays freshly drawn Ponder, for 1-2 turns I'm ready with DR+Notion Thief waiting for a cantrip as 2 cards for 3 body is not worth it, another few turns later he Duresses my hand of CR+DR+2x Notion Thief I can't resist the aggro plan on 4 lands and cast my hand... his remaining 2 cards are DR and ToA for exactly 14
G3 dunno what happened, probably short game, I won

0:2 Manales Dredge
he talk and laughts a lot and tell surrounding guys about Burn guy not expecting combo in this meta... I expect S&T
G1: he reveals a Chancelor of the Annex... eh? Belcher? I probe him and see I'm against manaless Dredge, me stupid, Therapy gets rid of some useless card, he eventually starts dredging at some point hitting 2 Narcomoebas and 2 therapies, I played 1 of my 2 LEDs (and that is a mistake) to lead him onto IT I do not have, but 2 therapies could ruin my day, he obv goes for IT and then decides to discard PIF with the second.. WTF? he deserves to die, quick look into his GY, I won't get another turn... I flashback PIF, I have plenty of mana (3B 3U floating) 2BS 2 ponder 2 probes in GY, need to find any ritual and IT with it to have enough storm count and mana, I'm sure I will make it... seeing 17 cards I find neither
G2: I let him play first... my 7 has interesting combination of double Therapy, land, petal, Ritual, EtW and CoV... this is not how this deck should be played... but quad Therapy plan amuses me... he again reveals the Chancelor, discards Phantasmagorian... and I die a horrible death... unexpected...

0:0 (2:0) ???
I appear a bit later but in time, opp asks me if I speak german, I understand a bit but no, he calls for a judge... the third one knows german, I get he lost his deck or has something more important to do, B is right and I walk away with the fastest 2:0 of the tournament, nearby players still rolling dice...

2:1 D&T
a jolly guy from Denmark, I wonder if he's on D&T as some other Danes around, he flips a plains before we start shuffling, so I'm about sure
G1 he starts with Vial, I have 14 tokens for him, he doesn't have Mystic to have a try
G2 my 7 - LED, Decay, petal, 4 lands... my 6 - the same 1 decay less... my 5 - LED+lands+something, maybe a therapy... he keeps 5 or 4... I check his hand, he has stoneforge+something... I found out he has all the good stuff preemptively hidden on the top from discard T2 cannonist, T3 revoker, Mom or Thalia next, he fetches UR sword and I fetch my SB
G3 I'm afraid of losing and kill him on T2 I think
he takes it ok, laughs, used to play storm, I apologize him for elimiation

0:2 Junk?
all my friends are out of contention now and wish me luck, I face a UK guy with shiny blue eyes, I saw one of his games today, can't remember... S&T?
G1 I mull 6 into a therapy+duress+rituals+lands... Duress reveals GSZ, 2xCotV, Teeg and lands including Dark Depths (I remember now, his opponent had problem understanding Depths-Stage interaction, had I known)... painful, I take the CotV, CotV 0 gets played, Teeg hits the bin... we go draw go until he topdecks Thespian stage, all I have drawn is just crap, CotV does not matter...
G2 mull 6 with some chance for goblins, probe reveals a Cannonist, 2 Kotr, CotV and something, I brick on whatever I play, CoTV 0 hits the play, Cannonist and Kotr searching for 2nd part of the 2land combo seals the deal T5..

no anger, no, I couldn't do much better this round, my deck stopped working, I had some luck today, everything comes to an end... I enjoyed the day so far and regret my earlier unnecesary loses... I'm around 100th place, It's getting late, we drive for a dinner, losing a lot of games to postboard Elves I go to sleep, determined to do my best on Sunday


SUNDAY next Bom Trial 6 rounds

same list, different day

R1 UWR with TNNemesis 1:2
french, we sit where the tables join, we have the share the playmat or he cast his spells right into exile
G1 14 goblins T2
G2 keep multiple lands, still lose to stifle, waste and 4 softcounters on my cantrips, RiP leaves no chances
G3 - see later part of G2, RiP hits right time before I could kill through counters, 8 goblins is not enough against freshly drawn Lavamancer and Delver and Nemesis eats me
he said he played the deck for the 1st time, yet unlike many others he hit the right spells with his counters and SBed right ...poor start

R2 TES 2:0
I sit against kind of oriental looking stylish guy, probably german, he looks serious and confident so my guess is foil jap Thresh or some foil combo.

G1 - I win the roll, fan out my fast-balanced 7 which lets me pretend I'm Thresh by fetching Volcanic go (to make him play conservatively and have more value off ponder) or go for possible T2 with sea-ponder discouraging him from poor man's choice T1 waste. A guy standing behind him with notepad gets my attention, well dressed and notepad? could that be Lemnear? (I do not know his name nor appearance) or do I sit against Lemnear? the guy with notepad looks like him most of all people so far so my opp could be even elves or playing TES.
So I start with Sea-Ponder, opp leads with foil Gemstone mine (but old design, so it's not Lemnears deck).. ha! my heart starts pumping, but... I cantrip, floating IT on top, drawing CT and hit a DR with blind Therapy, he has handfull of tutors and 2 Therapies I think, opp Therapies me for IT which hits my first in hand and lets me play or ponders then petal-go, Opp has mana open so maybe bluffs silence, I go for it, If he silences me with right timing (when I play PIF or better after 1st flashbacked ritual) I likely lose in fast manner... he has a silence but unconsidered timing - with IT on the stack (spells played indicate what I'm gonna do but maybe he thinks too ahead, me next leveling him with Ad Nauseam, but I do not have the luxury of doing so in my 76)... that leaves me with 2 lands in play, PIF (dropped by LED), some ritual and tutors in GY and a card to find - finding LED or CR lets me kill him next turn with any mana source or a tutor is topdecked... what to choose... LED is safe from Therapy or I can bluff with it, but I'm short on storm if I draw just a land it's not enough, I take another gamble (in retrospect the choice is so wrong) and find CR... he therapies for DR (?) and loses to topdecked Tutor a turn or 2 later...

SB: -2 basics, -1 bolt
+extirpate (If he is a good boy he boards out EtW, so possible discard on BW could make the game mine on low mana investment)
+pyroblast (catching T2 BS or a topdecked Ponder if game goes long sounds good)
+notion thief (I hesitate a bit, I have it untested with TES it's slow (even more on draw) and not so good in theory, on the other hand a Telemin performance needs me to have a creature ... I won't crap my base with G land so decide to go with Thief as better lategame choice, I expect to likely lose on draw anyway)
-I remind myself of Telemin performace, Notion thief is not exactly what I want my opponent to have but the oath fx should provide me with enough fuel +maybe 1of 2 PIF and cantrips may not matter, I doubt he'd play it
-short thought on Chain instead of 2nd Bolt I but dismiss the idea as it is really inprobable I could bounce a mox and Bolt could be more of use if he gets low on life and catching him off guard is same inprobable but would be hilarious same with thief, so I decide to have some fun
EtW stays as I do not have AdN and T1/2 EtW backed up with discard or 2 may get there, on draw this could be fast and I have to have as mayn options as possible

G2 - I fan out a nolander with T1 kill if I draw any land LED or petal... in retrospect it's obv. mulligan, the hand has 2 LED... so a therapy, nonland draw, or silence gets me... I struggle a bit but decide to win G3 anyway... he probes, I whiff on land, play out my 2 LED and he goes for T2 DRiturns UBR floating (IT and BW removed), ponders (shuffles I think) while I wonder what kill% is in TES opening post in this situation ..., checks my hand of Grim Tutor and IT and 5 lands somehow, maybe Probe, playes out 3 LP and passes the turn... lovely... so surviving 2 turns a ritual is likely a win, I'm also fine with a cantrip... I draw a Therapy... thinking... IT, AN in hand or topdecked kills me... or I can protect my kill (silence) I'm fine with longer game, so IT it is, I hit, I draw a ritual or cantrip into it and a Notion thief later, situation is I'm 1 mana or 1 storm shy of killing him so I pray for him running into DR-> Thief, he topdecks ponder and we have a good laugh, he's not happy after I draw into another ritual and kill him, Thief cabal checking for silence (questionable play) to have enough storm...

so... I'm still unbeaten by TES with ANT, this time Opp lost to himself and variance... and Me of course ;) turns out the person with notepad is Lemnear so I finally find face for the name, we have a small chat and finally meet mr. Kotter, both seem to be great guys!

meanwhile I watch some Day2 games and ask myself how comes Timo Schunneman has x-0 again he sit just few meters from me on 6-2 yesterday, everytime I watch he faces same situations as I do decklist with same or better options.. yet I'm playing the trial... there are about 3 other stormers, one of which has W splash on some Silences (!!??) haven't seen much of the other 2


R3 UBG Shardless 2:0
G1 I duress his Force and Tutor chain him T4
G2 he get to win with really retarded sequence... - he leads off with DRS I probe into 12 or 14 goblins he draws just creatures so we get to the state he is tapped out, has 2x DRS, Goyf, Agent and Revoker in GY against 8 goblins on 6 life, I BS EoT with Bolt in hand and hit Probe + Extirpate =D ... so probe, attack, extirpate revoker bolt his face =D
he takes his time signing the result slip, starring into oblivion while I watch a Spanish inqusition guy next to me getting game loss for tardiness and killing his Nic Fit Opp on T1, T2

R4 12 draw4 Spanish Inquisition (expected) 2:0
G1 I lose the die roll and prepare to die, he mulls 6, ESG->DRS go ... I PiF loop him T1
G2 he thinks a bit and keeps, I have a hand that could ToA for 18 T1 or find a Notion Thief, I think the second could be better and funny... he goes off but Cruel Bargain doesn't let him continue the spell chain and competing for prices as Notion Thiel is now unnecessary, I just show him my hand
he's a nice guy, we have a chat about SI, he shows me his build with Meditates and crappy sideboard feat. GY ultra hate - seriously - about 10 cards... turns out he had no luck with Nic Fit yesterday and his teammate with Thespian stage eliminated me R9

R5 UBRg 2:0
a kid from my car, I play him every week, he has his take on german BURG registered and is really unhappy to play as another guy from our car got him to X-1 with Grixis tempo
G1: I cantrip, he starts with Shaman, I check his hand for Fow two times and Tutor chain him
G2: he leads with DRS, doesn't FoW a Swarm T1 and gets to race 14 goblins

R6 UBG Shardless 2:1
I have plenty of time to memorize which decks other guys on 4-1 play, and wish for a mirror, I get paired up against foil jap guy in green football jersey with korean foil Notion thief in SB
G1 I keep 0lander with probe and petal, any mana source drawn kills him, I whiff and see wasteland and no FOW or discard, he starts with DRS, I ponder off petal, shuffle, no manasource drawn for 2 next turns, he does some stuff while I BS off Sea, no luck, gets wasted and a Badlands for the last turn before I die is not enough as I still need the 2nd mana to go off likely facing a FoW, so I just check he plays it with Duress, he does... frustrating
G2 judges sit next to us to rest their feet... the game gets to the point I BS lategame and feel the kill in my 9 cards but could not count the PIF loop with Grim and IT, judges inform me I have to make a decision, I get really nervous for the first time at the weekend as my loop double check gets odd... I go for it and recount through the process, get LED with flashbacked IT and start flashing back probes - any manasource is kill, I fuck up and do so twice - getting on 3 life with just Grim as a tutor in GY I start playing all the spells in my yard, he thinks I showboat to get time and scoops in fast manner..
G3 the game gets long again, he gets to aggro plan, I have 1 turn to find a ritual, I do so and win a Sea+bye for next BOM... only 6-0 is Lejay

other 2 guys from my car lost the last round on 4-1 and want to depart asap as some have 12 hour shift on monday and 9 hour drive is ahead of us... I'm in a hurry as 2 judges head me different ways to collect prices and then the ID is necessary for which I have to go back to the car... so I apologize to everyone I haven't said good bye to...

+
dice rolls sat+sun xx-4
Xantid Swarm vs lightning bolt X-0
lightning bolt vs preordain x-0
sunday
great people vs idiots met x-0 (surprisingly all opps were nice regardless of the games, meeting guy I know just online)

-
friday mist on german highways
exhaustion vs Friday x-0
losing G1s
losing to myself vs. Berserk
no fun final round of day 1 (come on, it's basically a goldfish =/)
japanese IT and LED in binders - 0 (so I have to buy them from the Market =(

[BrettF]

I ended up writing about the philosophy behind my list: Link.

Well done! Nice reminder that Empty, As Naus, and PiF aren't the only plays you can sideboard in and out. you can also load up on tendrils! I'll be trying some of your ideas.

[Lemnear]

Was nice to met you ^^

My Protegé Kai asked to watch his match to make comments about it, so I took the usual notes and pointed out how he gave away the games (especially after DimRet) ... needs a but more practice I guess ^^. I'm very sorry if I distracted you -.-

He refused to use the Telemin because we both didn't face any combo at the trials where I was eliminated by Painter (1-2) and Miracles (1-2) so he threw a new SB together with lots of creature-hate. We both were X-2 in the end of Friday but opted to do better Saturday. He however started 0-2 and I 2-0. Fight through D&T-Style deck and UWR Delver (both 2-0) then drawed against Esperblade and lost against Painter (1-2, both dices lost). The Elimination came through another Esperblade which won the dice as well as dismembering me g1 & g3 with a flurry of discard + Snapcaster + Clique ... not much I could do.

Glad, you were able to collect the Bye in the BoM 9 Trial. Till next time

[Bed Decks Palyer]

Hello Slosh! Congrats on USea, thanks for the report.

[afb0032]

I am retyping this whole thing since I tried to preview the post and it got deleted.
Yesterday at SCG Dallas was my first time piloting any sort of storm deck in a tournament, in addition to this being my first big tournament. I figured I would go ahead and write a report since it would be nice to have a record of both.

I registered this list:
(Lands)
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
2 Gemstone Mine
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Swamp
(Spells)
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Grim Tutor
2 Preordain
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Duress
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Lotus Petal
(Sideboard)
2 Carpet of Flowers
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Pyroclasm
1 Massacre
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tropical Island
1 Pithing Needle

Round 1: Mike (Painter with white)
I thought I recognized him and it turns out he plays at the local store where I go for legacy as well, but I had no idea what he was playing and vice versa.

-Game 1: He is on the play and opens with ancient tomb, lotus petal into magus of the moon. My opening hand just got a lot worse, but I did have a basic island. I cantrip for a few turns, he casts koth of the hammer, while chipping away with magus, and I finally am able cast ad nauseam at 10 life from lotus petal, dark ritual, dark ritual. I go to 3 life and gitaxian probe to 1 and hit nothing to get me there.

SB: +2 chain of vapor, +1 empty the warrens, +1 pyroclasm; -2 preordain, -1 cabal therapy, -1 gitaxian probe

-Game 2: We both durdle a bit the first few turns and then turn 3 I am able to go off with past in flames.

-Game 3: He opens with Leyline of sanctity. He is on the play and turn 3 casts ethersworn canonist. I begin digging for chain of vapor. I then attempted to cast a duress completely forgetting about leyline of sanctity in play. He points out my mistake politely, I apologize and we discuss about if it goes back to my hand and if the mana is still in the pool, so we decide it is best to call a judge. Judge rules it goes back to my hand, I do have the black floating, and I have a game warning. I thank him for clearing it up and we proceed back to the game. His next turn he plays rest in peace. I cast empty the warrens from artifacts and make 8 goblins, which are then met next rurn with a rolling earthquake for x=1. I eventually have to go for it and cast ad nauseam in his end step at 14 life and stop at 3 with double chain of vapor and enough to go off, but he casts lightining helix and end it.

Record (0-1)

Round 2: Jake (Merfolk)
I knew what he was on when I saw a master of the pearl trident when he was shuffling.

-Game 1: He quickly gets aether vial and has enough lords and counters to stall me and win on turn 5.

SB: -2 preordain, -1 cabal therapy, +2 carpet of flowers, +1 tropical island

-Game 2: I duress his opening hand revealing standstill, swan song, silvergill adept, mutavault, wasteland, and master of the pearl trident, and I take the standstill. I then bait out the swan song with an extra ritual and get carpet of flowers into play. I attempt to find another business spell and finally do. I am forced to go off without discard or probe because I will lose next turn. I play 4 LEDs and then infernal tutor which gets met with a force of will.

Record (0-2)

Round 3: Mike (Infect)

-Game 1: I turn 1 duress him and quickly figure out what the deck is, but have not playtested against it. I take the only countermagic in spell pierce and pass. On my second turn I am able to go off, and for the first time during the day, misplay and fizzle. I had cast past in flames for extra rituals in the graveyard with a ponder and infernal tutor still in hand. I decide to gitaxian probe since I had not played a land and wanted another that or another ritual. Instead I get a second infernal tutor and only 1 cabal therapy in the graveyard, and immediately realize my mistake in play order. He proceeds to win his next turn.

SB: -2 preordain; +2 chain of vapor

-Game 2: I cantrip the first few turns and have enough business to go off turn 3, but no discard, and gitaxian probe reveals a mindbreak trap. I dig to find a discard spell, I don’t find one, and he gets there with 4 glistener elves the following turn.

Record (0-3)

Round 4: Kristin (Sneak and Show)
I sat next to Kristin the previous round and knew what she was playing, although she didn’t seem to know what I was.

-Game 1: She is land locked after playing a mountain and sensei’s top, but can’t find another land. I gitaxian probe turn 3 revealing no counters and go off with Past in Flames.

SB: -2 preordain, -1 cabal therapy, -2 gitaxian probe; +3 xantid swarm, +2 chain of vapor

-Game 2: She turn 2 casts emrakul off of show and tell and annihilates any of my chances.

-Game 3: We start and I open with a xantid swarm in hand which is awesome…..until I realize I forgot to side in the tropical island to fetch. On her third turn she cats show and tell, she puts in emrakul, I put in xantid. I realize I can win next turn….then I draw a second xantid swarm. I attack to prevent counters, put the other xantid into play off of a lotus petal I thankfully had, and then can empty my hand and go off with past in flames.

-Duly noted to remember to put tropical island into play from that point onward.

Record: (1-3)

Round 5: Gabe (Goblin Charbelcher)
Gabe is about 8 years old so I have no idea what to anticipate. I commend him for coming out and playing in a big event , he says thank you, and asks about when I started playing magic, so we chat until the first game starts.

-Game 1: I cantrip my first turn and then he goes off and wins with charbelcher. I now know what I’m playing against.

-Game 2: I open turn 1 with pithing needle naming charbelcher. He is irritated, but we laugh about how he hates when that happens. Eventually he casts chrome mox imprinting charbelcher. I figured he was just doing that to up the storm count for some reason and completely forget that you can’t imprint an artifact on the mox. A judge randomly walks by and asks when it happened and tells us to pause to see how far back to reverse the game state since it was not legal. Gabe starts apologizing to me and telling me he is sorry. I tell him it is no big deal, it happens, and don’t worry about it. We chat until the judge comes back and then resume the game. My next turn I win with a natural tendrils.
During the last game I saw an empty the warrens from shuffling and adjust with -1 gitaxian probe, +1 pyroclasm.

-Game 3: He plays first and opens with empty for 10 goblins. I take 2 turns digging with ponders to find pyroclasm, I don’t and lose.

Record (1-4)

Round 6: BT (Sneak and Show)
BT and I met through mutual friends before the tournament began and we talked a lot between rounds. I knew what he was playing, but I don’ t think he knew exactly what my list was.

-Game 1: I play a duress and cantrip my first few turns. He turn 3 show and tells in griselbrand and that was that.
SB: Same as previous Sneak match except -1 gitaxian probe, +1 Tropical Island.

-Game 2: He mulligans to five, and I have multiple discard spells in hand. He recovers as I can’t find any business spells. He then gets a jace in play. I am close to being able to go off until he plays a blood moon and I have 2x underground sea and a tropical island in play. He brainstorms with jace a few turns as I hunt for anything to cast, then begins to fate seal me. Eventually monsters come down and win the game for him.

Record (1-5)
At this point I am playing for pride and tournament experience.

Round 7: Nick (High Tide)

-Game 1: I decimate his opening hand with multiple discard spells. He draws his card for his first turn then concedes.
SB: Same as previous round with sneak and show

-Game 2: He mulligans to 6, and then I tear apart his hand with discard the first 2 turns. I go off on turn 3 with ad nauseam at 20 life.
I asked afterwards why he conceded the first game and he said he knew what I was playing, two high tides were already discarded, and he wasn’t playing with candles.

Record (2-5)

Round 8: Joe (G/W elves home brew)

-Game 1: I discard anything of relevance in his hand and go off on turn 3 with past in flames.
SB: I have no idea what to expect so I go with -2 preordain; +1 pyroclasm, +1 Massacre

-Game 2: He opens with Leyline of Sanctity. I concede since I have no bounce and quickly side -2 gitaxian probe, +2 chain of vapor

-Game 3: He mulligans to 3 looking for leyline. I cantrip my first few turns and on my third turn he has priest of titania, savannah, and plains in play. I decide to cast massacre since I don’t want leyline being cast. It turns out the next turn he had it in hand and a land to be able to play it if I had not killed the priest. The next turn I go off through ad nauseam.

Record (3-5)

There was a 9th round, but I decided to go home and get a good dinner and get plenty of sleep for work today. The deck was an absolute blast to play and I will be sticking with it for a long time. I may not have had a great record, but I was pleased with how I played my matches (except for the fizzle in the infect game). I equate it to golf, in that the deck is frustrating and rewarding at the same time. I liked the main deck I was running, but may try out the burning wish version at some point down the line and the extra fetches +main deck green duals many people were running during the latest bazaar of moxen. The only thing I would change in the sideboard for this version is -1 abrupt decay, -1 xantid swarm. Abrupt decay wasn’t too relevant all day and multiple xantids drawn always felt bad. I may add +1 slaughter pact and +1 karakas for those slots.

Props:
-All of my opponents. Everyone was very friendly and a pleasure to play against.
-The Starcitygames judges. I made some dumb mistakes, but the judges were always professional and explained the situations to me to make sure I understood while being courteous about it.
-Everyone in the ANT thread on the site for giving me different opinions and advice on how to build and pilot the deck.

[GoblinZ]

play decay against painter, play xantid swarm agaisnt merfolk.And massacre is nearly useless against elves, since it is too slow and they have teeg.

[Jeff]

I'm prepping my final decklist for the GP Saturday and I'm still on the fence about a few things, interested in some additional opinions. Here's my decklist for reference.

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Preordain

4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

4 Cabal Therapy
2 Duress

4 Infernal Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Past in Flames
1 Tendrils of Agony

4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
1 Swamp

Sideboard

3 Xantid Swarm
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Dread of Night
2 Massacre
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Questions

1) What are people's thoughts on the correct maindeck discard suite? I'm playing 6 discard spells main, preferring the 3rd Preordain to the 7th discard, which may be wrong, but I've always played 4 Cabal Therapy and only 2 Duress, instead of the other way around. I like being able to hit Thalias and multiple copies of Force of Will, and I feel like I'm good enough at reading my opponents that I hit fairly often with Therapy. Am I overstating the number of times Therapy is good? Should I be playing more Duress?
2) Just how necessary is Carpet of Flowers in the board? At this point the only thing I'm bringing it in against is Delver. It's sometimes hard to find space for it against UWR because I have to bring in hate for Meddling Mage and keep in all of the discard. Against RUG it's an easy swap, and against BUG it's gets abrupt decayed as often as it sticks around and is awesome. I haven't tested the RUG matchup much without it, though, and it seems fairly important. I'd love to find room in the board for a 2nd top and a 7th discard spell though, so if I can live without carpet, it seems nice.
3) How is the Death and Taxes matchup going for people now that 4 Phyrexian Revoker is the norm? I did a lot of testing this weekend, and both Massacre and Dread of Night had games where they were awesome and irrelevant. I tested with 4 Dread of Night and lost a game with 2 Dreads out to 3 Phyrexian Revokers beating down, blanking all of my artifact mana. I tested with 2 Massacre 2 Dread and lost games where I had Massacre but they kept a vial on 2 and just vialed Canonist or Thalia in after I Massacred. At this point I'm feeling good about the 2 Massacre 2 Dread plan, which lets me lock out all thalias but still gives me good answers to canonist and revoker in the deck. I'm boarding -2 Duress -2 Cabal Therapy -1 Probe for +2 Massacre +2 Dread +1 Chain of Vapor and that seems to be OK.
4) Followup to question 3: Is boarding extra Ad Nauseams instead of Massacre a viable strategy against D&T? Trying to go off before they can put down the lock pieces instead of trying to deal with them all seems like a perfectly good way to win. I'd still keep the Chain and 2 Dread of Nights, but otherwise I'd have a faster way to win that's also a valid sideboard card against Sneak and Show and TES.

I definitely appreciate any thoughts. I'm stoked for this tournament. I have 2 byes ready to go and I'm ready to count to 10 all day.