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

Hey,
I played the Deck with the usual list at GP Bochums Sideevent, 180 player, 8 rounds, 6-2 or better will receive prices.
I faced the following decks:
R1: D&T 2-0 -> He had basically no chance at all.
R2: Merrows 2-0 -> Fizzled g1 with Returns, won g2&g3 because he didnt got the nuts.
R3: Merrows 2-1 -> Threw away g2, lucked through 3 cursescratcher, 2 spell Pierce, Daze&Wasteland g3
R4: Bgw Discard/LD 2-1 -> Beeing on the play is always very nice vs them :)
R5: UGw BantSur 0-2 I go all in t2 for AN because I don´t want him to have an active Sur. He forces. G2 I draw 9 Lands.
R6: Survival Zoo 0-2 AN for 17 life kills me g1, g2 I mull into a horrible Hand and just loose doing nothing.
R7: Usual Zoo 1-2 G2 he has double Waste+M.Trap which I saw coming but couldn´t handle because without Duress etc. G3 I mull, go for Chant+Returns t4 and draw nothing but crap.
Result: 4-3 Drop
Zoo seems to be a bad matchup :(

New to the thread, just wanted to share my initial experience playing the deck.

I built the 3 color TES with the Thoughtseize package. I played 4 rounds this week.

2-1 win vs. Burn.
2-0 win vs. Dredge. Game 2 he gets a Null Rod out but I combo through it anyways.
1-2 loss vs. Salvagers/Recruiter/Grindstone deck (Bomberman?). Game 2 he makes the epic play of the day, using LEDs to dig deeper with Sensei's Top and find the Grindstone just in time. Game 3 I make the mistake of going for Warrens and he has the Engineered Explosives.
2-0 win vs. Next Level Thresh. Game 1 I win by Duressing his Explosives, then dropping 16 goblins on Turn 4. Game 2 I baited his counters. He had no pressure and I build my hand to cast Ad Nauseam with Pyroblast backup.

Overall I had a great time, and I can already see the power level of this deck. I really didn't face a tough countermagic matchup like Landstill. I am still learning when to go off with Warrens vs. waiting more patiently for Tendrils.

Some additional observations:
- 3 color is good against Merfolk, but when you're not facing them it just feels less powerful. Oftentimes I wished I could IGG with Orim's Chant backup and that option wasn't available.
- It's probably my lack of play experience, but I couldn't think of one situation where I wanted to Diminishing Returns.
- Thoughtseize is really good for taking out their clock, like Goyf. It just sucks using it to bin their burn spell, though.

I may play more with the 3 color build and then eventually transition over to 5 color. With Xantid Swarms I should be able to increase my percentages vs. Merfolk with 5 color. It was pretty nice to get basics out against the Thresh deck, though.

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Originally Posted by NQN

Hey,
I played the Deck with the usual list at GP Bochums Sideevent, 180 player, 8 rounds, 6-2 or better will receive prices.
I faced the following decks:
R1: D&T 2-0 -> He had basically no chance at all.
R2: Merrows 2-0 -> Fizzled g1 with Returns, won g2&g3 because he didnt got the nuts.
R3: Merrows 2-1 -> Threw away g2, lucked through 3 cursescratcher, 2 spell Pierce, Daze&Wasteland g3
R4: Bgw Discard/LD 2-1 -> Beeing on the play is always very nice vs them :)
R5: UGw BantSur 0-2 I go all in t2 for AN because I don´t want him to have an active Sur. He forces. G2 I draw 9 Lands.
R6: Survival Zoo 0-2 AN for 17 life kills me g1, g2 I mull into a horrible Hand and just loose doing nothing.
R7: Usual Zoo 1-2 G2 he has double Waste+M.Trap which I saw coming but couldn´t handle because without Duress etc. G3 I mull, go for Chant+Returns t4 and draw nothing but crap.
Result: 4-3 Drop
Zoo seems to be a bad matchup :(

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Zoo was a good MU when we used to use Iggy main deck...
Nowadays still a good MU but, not a 75%/35%...I believe is more like a 60%/40%.....

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Originally Posted by ComboMan

Zoo was a good MU when we used to use Iggy main deck...
Nowadays still a good MU but, not a 75%/35%...I believe is more like a 60%/40%.....

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I never lost a Zoo MU but I need to say that I'm a bit luck against Zoo when I play TES and I only played 4 times at tournaments against them.But if Zoo becames like 60/40 it could means that:

1)We are too slow to combo off
2)We are too Adn dependent
3)Need more SB options for their hate.

Could be 1 or 2 or 3 , what really make me sad is that with a infested Survival metagame there were no TES lists at Top8's , may be Survival is a hard matchup to face 2-3 times in a single day?

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Originally Posted by Plague Sliver

I am still learning when to go off with Warrens vs. waiting more patiently for Tendrils.

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I generally have success with warrens when it is very early in the game and I don't have enough storm to kill right out of the gate but ETW into like 12-14 tokens can usually cause a scoop on T1-2 out of most decks.. By turn 3 I would think you should have developed enough to tendrils kill it just seems to me sometimes the chain to get to 9 storm requires more resources then available to your initial fan of 7 (+1)

I'm currently testing a list with 4 Xantid Swarm, 4 Chrome Mox and 1 Hunting Pack.

Liking the results so far. If anything, it's awesomefunbuffalosauce.

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Originally Posted by RaNDoMxGeSTuReS

I'm currently testing a list with 4 Xantid Swarm, 4 Chrome Mox and 1 Hunting Pack.

Liking the results so far. If anything, it's awesomefunbuffalosauce.

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Hunting pack is an instant! U can't wish it...

How do you use it? In place of EtW? 7 damage with Ad Nauseam?

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Originally Posted by ComboMan

Hunting pack is an instant! U can't wish it...

How do you use it? In place of EtW? 7 damage with Ad Nauseam?

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You cast it. In place of EtW. 7 damage with Ad Nauseam.

I'll have a list posted after further testing.

Hunting Pack instead of Ad Nauseam or Etw is really, really, really, an horrible idea. by the way, how are you going to cast that GG? withdouble petal or double Gemstone /CoB? Or Infernal+LED and then having 7 mana left?

Hunting Pack? Seriously?

What the fuck happened to this thread.

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Originally Posted by x8eikdls

Hunting Pack? Seriously?

What the fuck happened to this thread.

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Because I wanted to try it out.

And it's better than constantly discussing chant effects vs duress effects for 5 pages.

I could seriously care less about people debating what protection sells and/or colors are better.

x8eikdls, maybe a bit less complaining and more testing?

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Originally Posted by RaNDoMxGeSTuReS

Because I wanted to try it out.

And it's better than constantly discussing chant effects vs duress effects for 5 pages.

I could seriously care less about people debating what protection sells and/or colors are better.

x8eikdls, maybe a bit less complaining and more testing?

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^^ True.

I don't know if Hunting Pack is a good idea, but some fresh air in this thread is welcome, instead of going over and over on the same discussions.

To sum up the last 5 or so pages of this thread and so people won't have to ask as much:

Orim's Chant/Silence - These are better against unknown metas or at large events.

Thoughtseize/Duress - These are better against Counterbalance decks.

Xantid Swarm - These are better against tempo decks.

If you're scared of Wasteland, play 3c TES.
If you don't care about Wasteland, play 5c TES.
If you like Grim Tutor, play ANT.
If you like touching yourself, play DDFT.

But it still comes down to whichever you want to use. Ok, now we can stop talking about it.

So, if any of you feel adventurous I've got the Hunting Pack configuration down to this:

4 Xantid Swarm
4 Chrome Mox
4 Cabal Ritual
2 Concordant Crossroads
1 Hunting Pack

So far, I haven't had issues casting 5GG.

I'm not too sure on Concordant Crossroads, I like winning right away and it's also another imprint target. I'm not sure whether a configuration with Odious Trow, Summoner's Pact, Dryad Arbor and Culling the Weak would be better. But then it sounds like we're playing Pact SI.

I'll admit though folks, the 5GG feels like Dragonstorm. Low storm needed to win and awkward mana cost. Winning with beasts is so cool though :laugh:

I got 25th out of 218 people at the SCG Legacy Open yesterday, finishing 6-2. I played emidln's list from a few pages back, only swapping a Dark Confidant in the board for the 4th Thoughtseize:

Maindeck:

Artifacts
4 Chrome Mox
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal

Creatures
4 Xantid Swarm

Instants
2 Ad Nauseam
4 Brainstorm
4 Dark Ritual

Sorceries
4 Burning Wish
3 Duress
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Ponder
4 Rite of Flame
1 Tendrils of Agony

Basic Lands
1 Island
1 Swamp

Lands
1 Badlands
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
3 Chain of Vapor
2 Dark Confidant
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Grapeshot
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Meltdown
1 Tendrils of Agony
4 Thoughtseize

The deck ran pretty smoothly. The matchups I won were Enchantress, Aggro slivers, Affinity x2, Combo Elves, and Show and Tell. I lost to Ubg Countertop and The Rock.

I was really hoping to use Xantid Swarms against Survival and Merfolk, but somehow I didn't play either in eight rounds. 4 Thoughtseize in the board was excellent. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to use Dark Confidant too much. I'd considering cutting it, but I want to test a little more with it.

Also, I think two Ad Nauseams maindeck is really really good right now. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. In a slower meta I might consider switching to a split of Ad Nauseam and Empty the Warrens, but for now I think ETW is just too slow.

I wouldn't waste SB slots on Bob nowadays. It's at it's best vs the mirror, landstill, and CB decks, all of which are on the decline lately.

I ranked 9th in SCG Boston yesterday only to miss out of the top 8 due to an oversight in taking the draw. Here's my tournament report: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...on%29&p=500089

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Originally Posted by technogeek5000

I ranked 9th in SCG Boston yesterday only to miss out of the top 8 due to an oversight in taking the draw. Here's my tournament report: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...on%29&p=500089

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Math kills.

Otherwise congrats on your finish.

I was just testing last weeks a TES list (bryant -1fetch +1 city) and today I tested technogeek5000 list with +1 Adn -1 Etw and found it to be more consistent cause I was missing lands or mulling too much , also I did not have problems with 7 protec at going off, the 14 land make me more confident and I rarely missed EtW MD and never dead due to 5cc Adn instead of 4cc of EtW, 3 chrome was enought but a bit risk if you go off without land drops or mana flooting and used like 2 petals.Cabal ritual was not amazing but I was just happy for it being an accel(even when I use 1B for BBB).Anyone tested and find it more consistent and just a bit slower(cause yu couldn't always draw useful cards from top)?

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Originally Posted by RaNDoMxGeSTuReS

I could seriously care less about people debating what protection sells and/or colors are better.

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You know that means you care about it right? If you could care less, then obviously you have some amount of care.

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Originally Posted by RaNDoMxGeSTuReS

And it's better than constantly discussing chant effects vs duress effects for 5 pages.

I could seriously care less about people debating what protection sells and/or colors are better.

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It's not a matter of personal preference. There is a configuration that is better than the others. The entire point of the thread is to figure out what configuration that is. The ritual package is more or less standard depending on if you're UBR or UB. Which colors and what disruption is mostly what's left to discuss.

I guess we could discuss alternate win conditions instead.

Options:

Tendrils of Agony. A strong solution; easy to cast with Ritual, comparatively light storm requirements, kills immediately.
Empty the Warrens. Sure, this is a good option if you can ramp DI mana and storm on turn one or two.
Grapeshot. Sometimes you need to kill Gaddock Teeg, and sometimes you want to humiliate the other guy.
Hunting Pack. Hits you with Searing Flesh when you flip it with Ad Nauseam. Basically impossible to cast without Infernal + LED. Doesn't kill immediately.

Hmm.

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Originally Posted by frogboy

It's not a matter of personal preference. There is a configuration that is better than the others. The entire point of the thread is to figure out what configuration that is. The ritual package is more or less standard depending on if you're UBR or UB. Which colors and what disruption is mostly what's left to discuss.

I guess we could discuss alternate win conditions instead.

Options:

Tendrils of Agony. A strong solution; easy to cast with Ritual, comparatively light storm requirements, kills immediately.
Empty the Warrens. Sure, this is a good option if you can ramp DI mana and storm on turn one or two.
Grapeshot. Sometimes you need to kill Gaddock Teeg, and sometimes you want to humiliate the other guy.
Hunting Pack. Hits you with Searing Flesh when you flip it with Ad Nauseam. Basically impossible to cast without Infernal + LED. Doesn't kill immediately.

Hmm.

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I really wish Wizards would give us some new Storm toys already.

Hummmmm


I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon. In fact, it looks like Wizards won't be printing ANYTHING that helps combo in a long time. Yeah, I know that they printed Ad Nauseam in Shards, but I bet that it was a mistake on their part. I highly doubt that they realized the power of the card.
As I said elsewhere, Wizards keeps printing one hatebear/hate card per block: Lorwyn (Gaddock teeg), Shadowmoor (Runed Halo), M10 (Silence--> that works for us though ;) ), Alara (Ethersworn Canonist), Zendikar (Mindbreak Trap), M11 (Leyline of Sanctity), Scars (Leonin Arbiter). Admittedly, the only good hate cards are Canonist and Teeg, BUT the trend is clear. 7 hate cards recently printed Vs. 2 cards that we can use (Silence and Ad Nauseam).

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Hummmmm


I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon. In fact, it looks like Wizards won't be printing ANYTHING that helps combo in a long time. Yeah, I know that they printed Ad Nauseam in Shards, but I bet that it was a mistake on their part. I highly doubt that they realized the power of the card.
As I said elsewhere, Wizards keeps printing one hatebear/hate card per block: Lorwyn (Gaddock teeg), Shadowmoor (Runed Halo), M10 (Silence--> that works for us though ;) ), Alara (Ethersworn Canonist), Zendikar (Mindbreak Trap), M11 (Leyline of Sanctity), Scars (Leonin Arbiter). Admittedly, the only good hate cards are Canonist and Teeg, BUT the trend is clear. 7 hate cards recently printed Vs. 2 cards that we can use (Silence and Ad Nauseam).

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Unfortunately that's true.

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Originally Posted by frogboy

Grapeshot. Sometimes you need to kill Gaddock Teeg, and sometimes you want to humiliate the other guy.

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I love this.

I just read the last few pages and all I have to say is Hunting Pack, really? I don't remember who's idea, but awful. Seven mana, two if it green, it's more expensive and is off color. You might as well put Ill-Gotten Gains back in the maindeck and win for one less mana. Not to mention, winning with Grapeshot is just cooler.

On a different note, I updated the opening post with new reports and articles. Enjoy.

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Originally Posted by frogboy

Tendrils of Agony. Best kill spell.
Empty the Warrens. Loses to Echoing truth or EE for 0.
Grapeshot. Coolest kill spell
Hunting Pack. Awful kill spell.

Hmm.

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Fix'd.

Has anyone tested Mox Opal in any serious amounts?

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Originally Posted by DragoFireheart

Fix'd.

Has anyone tested Mox Opal in any serious amounts?

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Yes and it's awful.

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Originally Posted by Nidd

Yes and it's awful.

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Alright, so it is what I thought. Has anyone seen any previews of the second block set of Scars that we could use?

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Originally Posted by DragoFireheart

Fix'd.

Has anyone tested Mox Opal in any serious amounts?

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It is really only good post-ad nauseam, and you should be winning anyhow.

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Originally Posted by Bryant Cook

I love this.

I just read the last few pages and all I have to say is Hunting Pack, really? I don't remember who's idea, but awful. Seven mana, two if it green, it's more expensive and is off color. You might as well put Ill-Gotten Gains back in the maindeck and win for one less mana. Not to mention, winning with Grapeshot is just cooler.

On a different note, I updated the opening post with new reports and articles. Enjoy.

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Can you update the sideboarding?

K thanx <3

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Originally Posted by lorddotm

Can you update the sideboarding?

K thanx <3

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Would you like a beer now that I'm done? Possibly for me to take off your shoes?

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Originally Posted by Bryant Cook

Would you like a beer now that I'm done? Possibly for me to take off your shoes?

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I could use a back massage, something better to wish for than Diminishing Returns, and a hooker. Hook a brother up.

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Originally Posted by emidln

I could use a back massage, something better to wish for than Diminishing Returns, and a hooker. Hook a brother up.

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Sorry... Mind's Desire is banned.

What about Time Reversal (from M11) over Diminishing Returns?

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Originally Posted by Koito

What about Time Reversal (from M11) over Diminishing Returns?

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In my extensive testing with Diminishing Returns (see opening post), I found that having an additional mana available increased your chances of winning significantly, not to mention the fact that the ten exiled cards from DR are usually irrelevant.

Yeah in my limited testing with Tes at my local store and gold fishing. Well after learned when the proper time to use Diminishing Returns, i have seen the same thing OurSerratedDust is going with. One extra mana can mean that you are going off a turn slower, can't power through a daze. I think diminishing returns is a better choice.

That being the case I wanted to ask the you guys about if my view on diminishing returns is correct. In every matchup that doesn't have counterspells(daze/FoW) you can use diminishing returns as an aggressive case but against decks running counters it should be used as a last resort?

I just am wondering against which match-ups it is a viable card that you wouldn't normally think of.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Bryant Cook

On a different note, I updated the opening post with new reports and articles. Enjoy.

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Thx...

BTW, how did u board against Vengevines decks? (UG and GW)

Now I'm testing your SB with a little diference: -2 pyroblast, +2 seizes...

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Originally Posted by Bryant Cook

Would you like a beer now that I'm done? Possibly for me to take off your shoes?

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Why are you wearing my shoes?!?! Take them off right this instant! You will get them all Bryant-y!

That said, they say you should walk a mile in another man's shoes. That way, you are a mile away and have his shoes.

Please stop trolling the thread and put up some serious shit. For example: did anyone felt that Carpet of Flowers could be a good card in the sideboard? People here have picked it up and found it very useful to compensate the bad manabase issues.

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Originally Posted by Piceli89

Please stop trolling the thread and put up some serious shit. For example: did anyone felt that Carpet of Flowers could be a good card in the sideboard? People here have picked it up and found it very useful to compensate the bad manabase issues.

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I don't think Carpet of Flowers is as practical in TES than in other storm combo decks. It's main usage is to beat Daze and cast big spells when mana accel isn't available.

Xantid Swarm is better against Merfolk for the same casting cost and you're usually dead against the fish before Carpet of Flowers becomes useful. It's strong against slow blue control decks.

Carpet of Flowers, I think, suffers from the same issue with Sensei's Divining Top. When you play it, you're assuming that you're going for a "slow win." And this deck is trying to win ASAP.

tldr;
If I wanted to run Carpet of Flowers, I'd sleeve up UBG ANT with Cabal Ritual because it plays like control.

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Originally Posted by mechanize

Yeah in my limited testing with Tes at my local store and gold fishing. Well after learned when the proper time to use Diminishing Returns, i have seen the same thing OurSerratedDust is going with. One extra mana can mean that you are going off a turn slower, can't power through a daze. I think diminishing returns is a better choice.

That being the case I wanted to ask the you guys about if my view on diminishing returns is correct. In every matchup that doesn't have counterspells(daze/FoW) you can use diminishing returns as an aggressive case but against decks running counters it should be used as a last resort?

I just am wondering against which match-ups it is a viable card that you wouldn't normally think of.

Thanks.

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I know what you're saying here, but there are a number of factors to consider. Against both control and aggro decks, if you can safely win with Tendrils, Empty the Warrens, or Ill-Gotten Gains, you should. With IGG, you need to watch for any lethal burn spells or permission they could get back (chants and xantid swarm help here a lot.)

If you really can't do those things and can't afford to wait, then go for Diminishing Returns and see how it pans out. I agree with you that I'd be more hesitant to cast it against a control deck, but sometimes you just have to. I don't think I have ever really used Diminishing Returns "aggressively" though.

Also, consider that you cast Diminishing Returns against a deck with running four Force of Will. Let's say that they have five cards in play (lands, creatures, etc.) The chances of them drawing Force in their new seven is 43%, and the same goes with 4-of card in a deck. Luckily, we have a whole boatload of protection spells that we either played earlier, or may draw into with Diminishing Returns. Just something to keep in mind.