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Thread: The Dragonstorm

  1. #61

    Re: The Dragonstorm

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Yeah, I don't see a good plan to beat all GY hate. Instead my plan was to pivot win conditions with Empty or Tendrils.

    Instead of Void Snare, Consign // Oblivion (replacing 1 Brazen Borrower)? It's Wishable ("sorcery") but can still be boarded in as a 2 cmc instant for EOT bounce on hatebears/Chalice/3sphere. Instant bounce is more useful in most cases.
    Yeah, that makes more sense, didn't know split cards worked in this case but they change that every other week....
    The aftermath side might also be relevant to protect yourself so that is really nice.

    I also agree that other winning options are better then anti-hate.
    Maybe a single Show&Tell in the board if you have a dragon in your hand?


    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Burning Wish + 7 mana -> Peer -> Draw 20-25 cards -> Lotus Petals -> other fast mana -> Wish -> Tendrils
    Alternate win con if they Surgical Dragonstorm, have Ensnaring Bridge, Containment Priest your dragons, etc.

    There's also
    Burning Wish + 8 mana -> Overloaded Mizzix's Mastery -> cast your GY for free -> try to find another Wish -> Tendrils

    You can also Tendrils off a lucky Echo of Eons or Galvanic Relay. It might be correct to shave 1 land + 1 other card for 2 Chrome Mox to have more 0s to support these lines without hurting the Dragonstorm plan much.

    I prefer backup wincons to trying to answer every possible type of hate. Dragonstorm is still the main line but this way the deck can pivot towards Empty/Tendrils or the other way towards Reanimate. It takes up so little space to have these options.
    Still seems a bit excessive but it's only 1 slot, so whatever.
    I think you would either have a lethal Tendrils or just go EtW if you could also cast Peer as it seems more vulnerable to me.

    For the fine tuning, you probably need a lot of games to get a feeling for when to go which line and what you need in the wish board.
    I think the main plan(s) is pretty solid and should be enough to get a decent number of wins.
    You also got a lot of blanks for monke if that's worth anything.
    Endurance, however, screws you hard.

  2. #62
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    Re: The Dragonstorm

    I did 20 Goldfishes to see if the deck worked as planned. Most of the time it did.

    The lines felt intuitive, although I've brewed other storm decks with similar lines, so it may come down to play style.

    Goldfish Results
    T1 Dragonstorm: 1
    T2 Dragonstorm: 5 (3 with Entomb+Mastery, 2 with Entomb+Wish for Mastery)
    T3 Dragonstorm: 3
    T3 Peer -> Tendrils/Dragonstorm (with Grid protection): 4
    T4 Peer -> Tendrils (with Grid): 1
    Other lines: 4
    Brick: 2

    The odd lines were
    T2 Galvanic Relay -> T3 hardcast Bladewing reanimating Atarka
    T2 Echo fizzled -> cantripped into T5 Dragonstorm
    T3 Empty for 12 goblins
    T4 Echo -> overload Mizzix -> Tendrilsx15

    All the Dragonstorms were for lethal this turn, thanks to Brainstorm & Echo putting back Dragons or Bladewing reanimating one.
    Some lines had protection (Thoughtseize, Grid) or could have slowed down to play protection. I only went for Peer or Echo lines after playing Grid.

    Echo seems a lot worse here than in other storm decks (higher chance of drawing bad 7s), so I need to remember to not Echo so aggressively if any other lines are open.

    The Galvanic Relay line was a weird game where I T2 Brainstorm locked myself on 2 dragons! I had Burning Wish but 1 mana short of Empty that turn, so I went for Relay to reset my draw step. Keep Atarka in hand, put back Bladewing, Wish+LED (discarding Atarka) for Galvanic Relay*5. I didn't hit a wincon but hit 7 mana to just cast the Bladewing & reanimate Atarka. That works too.


    Quote Originally Posted by Zoid View Post
    Still seems a bit excessive but it's only 1 slot, so whatever.
    I think you would either have a lethal Tendrils or just go EtW if you could also cast Peer as it seems more vulnerable to me.
    I think you've underestimated Peer.

    With LEDs, Rituals, and Rites (like TES) it's not hard to get 7 mana with low storm. At that point Tendrils isn't lethal and Empty for 8 goblins is very slow, so Peer represents significant value over both. It's the same reason why other storm decks run it. Like them, you don't take a Peer line if you're worried about Pierce/Fluster/Daze (Force probably counters Burning Wish either way). You can always play safe with Empty or Galvanic Relay depending on the matchup. I think the bigger risk with Peer is the lack of Initial Mana Sources... I added 2 Chrome Mox before goldfishing.


    Quote Originally Posted by Zoid View Post
    Endurance, however, screws you hard.
    Endurance can't be cast with Defense Grid out and doesn't disrupt Tendrils lines, so that helps. I'd love to splash Orim's Chant but that may be too greedy.

    The Show and Tell plan might even be better than Reanimate and does dodge Endurance.


    Quote Originally Posted by Zoid View Post
    For the fine tuning, you probably need a lot of games to get a feeling for when to go which line and what you need in the wish board.
    Wishboards are always hard to tune before playing a lot of matches against a wide range of decks. There isn't enough space for everything so it's a balancing act between which ones are relevant more often in the current meta. Even finely-tuned decks like TES can waffle back and forth on 1-2 wishboard slots.

    Realistically, I doubt I will ever play Dragonstorm enough to get that sense. This will never be as competitive as tier 1 storm decks. It's Dragonstorm. My goal is just to tune this enough to have fun Dragonstorms while still being able to win a reasonable % of Magic games. So I just borrowed from what I ran in other Burning Wish storm decks.

    I found Consign // Oblivion's instant speed over Void Snare relevant in other decks, and Oblivion is relevant once in a while. It's also an easy swap in the Brazen Borrower/Echoing Truth slot, so I might as well start with 1 in.

    I'm not sure about Massacre vs Cave-In (will depend on which hatebears cause the most problems) or Meltdown vs Pulverize (I usually use Pulverize, but I think this deck needs lands more).

    I might miss Reverent Silence. I could get greedy splashing Forest for that and SB Abrupt Decay? Won't bother with it for now.
    Last edited by FTW; 10-22-2021 at 06:05 PM.

  3. #63
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    Re: The Dragonstorm

    Logged 12 more:
    T2 Dragonstorm
    T3 Dragonstorm behind Grid
    T1 Echo -> Tendrils (triple LED hand)
    T1 Peer -> Tendrils (triple Rite + Ritual + Petal hand)
    T2 Dragonstorm (or 1 turn slower with Grid)
    T2 Dragonstorm
    T2 Dragonstorm (or 1 turn slower with Thoughtseize)
    T2 Dragonstorm
    T2 Echo -> overload Mastery -> Tendrils
    T2 Empty for 12 goblins
    T2 Dragonstorm (or 1 turn slower with Grid)
    T2 Dragonstorm (or 1 turn slower with Grid)

    Overall I feel satisfied that this version looks more explosive and consistent than others. It still has weaknesses, but it at least does the thing consistently while being able to maindeck disruption and have alternate lines to dodge hate.
    Last edited by FTW; 10-26-2021 at 01:49 AM.

  4. #64
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    Re: The Dragonstorm

    We tested some actual match ups. It did well.

    Test Deck 1: Burn
    4-1 preboard
    Loss was to Burn going T2 Eidolon T3 14 damage on the play

    3-2 postboard (+4 Crypt +3 Pyrostatic Pillar)
    2 wins were Dragonstorming through Eidolon/Pillar, 1 was Peer through Crypt
    Losses were to pillar effects + fast burn


    Test Deck 2: Goblins
    4-1 preboard
    Loss was to Goblins going T2 Muxus + Waste T3 57 damage :| (Goblinstorm has higher ceiling than Dragonstorm!)

    3-2 postboard (+4 Mindbreak +2 Surgical +1 Relic)
    Losses were to multiple pieces of hate
    One win was Thoughtseize Mindbreak into Peer line (dodging 2 remaining GY hate cards)


    Test Deck 3: UR 2Delver
    2-3 preboard
    Both wins were Thoughtseize taking Force into T3 Dragonstorm, losses were to multiple counters+clock

    3-2 postboard (+2 Surgical +1 FoN +1 Hydroblast +1 Karakas -5 burn)
    1st win was from Galvanic Relay -> Galvanic Relay -> overloaded Mizzix -> Tendrils
    2nd win was with 2 Grids, one resolved
    3rd win was with Thoughtseize + Grid into Echo -> Dragonstorm

    I expect in the long run it should lose to Delver. Some of that was luck and some was probably how good Galvanic Relay & Defense Grid are for this matchup.


    Test Deck 4: Black Stompy (aka Nightmare matchup)
    1-4 preboard
    Win was T1 Echo-> Empty for 14 goblins on the play. Everything else wrecked me
    One game they go T1 Chalice @ 0 Chalice @1 on the play. I managed to Wish->Meltdown to kill those and Saga Construct & Foundry, but their next turn is Chalice @ 0 + Trinisphere + 2nd Saga.

    2-3 postboard
    Bringing in Abrades and bounce helped fight some of the disruption, but they just have too much hate. Meltdown proved better than Pulverize here.
    One game came down to bounce 3sphere in response to Karn+Coating my land, untap -> Rite+Rite+Ritual -> hardcast Kolaghan -> attack Karn for 6 haste


    Current deck list

    //Lands: 13
    3 Scalding Tarn
    3 Polluted Delta
    2 Bloodstained Mire
    2 Volcanic Island
    2 Underground Sea
    1 Badlands

    //Fast Mana: 18
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Lion's Eye Diamond
    2 Chrome Mox
    4 Rite of Flame
    4 Dark Ritual

    //Wincon: 7
    3 Mizzix's Mastery
    1 Dragonlord Kolaghan
    1 Atarka, World Render
    1 Bladewing the Risen
    1 Dragonstorm

    //Selection: 17
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Entomb
    4 Burning Wish
    1 Echo of Eons

    //Protection: 5
    2 Thoughtseize
    3 Defense Grid

    //Sideboard: 15
    1 Mizzix's Mastery
    1 Empty the Warrens
    1 Tendrils of Agony
    1 Peer Into the Abyss
    1 Show and Tell
    1 Meltdown
    1 Cave-In
    1 Thoughtseize
    1 Consign // Oblivion
    2 Galvanic Relay
    2 Abrade
    1 Echoing Truth
    1 Dragonlord Dromoka


    Mizzix's Mastery (on something other than Dragonstorm) is quite strong as a mid-game backup plan, adding another layer to the deck.
    Last edited by FTW; 10-26-2021 at 04:25 PM.

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