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

[thefringthing]

So would you use gitaxian probe in first turn in this situation and overall in these matchups where drawing into valuable card could mean it being discarded right away?

Try to cast Git Probe only when the information you get is going to be important to you that turn, otherwise save it. I don't think I would Git Probe Deadguy on turn one in general if I'm on the play. On the draw, you might want to know whether you're getting Hymned or not.

[Megadeus]

Im putting together a list of likely hate cards that I may see this weekend out of each respective deck. Anyone know some of the weirder ones? For example when I cabal Therapy in G2's against:

Maverick: Ethersworn Canonist, Gaddock Teeg, Thalia
Junk: More of the same, maybe naming Hymn to Tourach from time to time.
Goblins: Thorn of Amethyst?
Elves: Teeg, Maybe Thalia, Thorn of Amethyst as well?
MUD: Chalice otV, Trinisphere.
Jund: I have no clue what they bring in. Mindbreak Trap?

I guess Elves sometimes also plays MB Trap. And Burn plays it sometimes as well. Is there anything specific to look for in some of the builds that may tip me off in G1 to know what sort of hate they may have?

[sconnell]

Burn, and perhaps Goblins, might have Pyrostatic Pillar

[Zombie]

Elves has been playing Therapy lately. Nic Fit, if you see any, will bring Therapy, obviously. The Rector versions pack a hilarious sucker punch from the side in the form of Nether Void.

[Yuri8]

Maverick: Ethersworn Canonist, Gaddock Teeg, Thalia
Goblins: Thorn of Amethyst?
Elves: Teeg, Maybe Thalia, Thorn of Amethyst as well?

Lot of goblin players splash white thalia (even maindeck) so keep this in mind and chalice of the void might be iin place of thorn of amethyst (at least most of goblin players here on source play CotV).
As for elves, they mostly play only one gaddock in sideboard so I would name green sun zenith. Same goes for maverick, better to name zenith than gaddock, but thalia is in this deck too, so it is kind of lottery without probe...

[Koby]

Lot of goblin players splash white thalia (even maindeck) so keep this in mind and chalice of the void might be iin place of thorn of amethyst (at least most of goblin players here on source play CotV).
As for elves, they mostly play only one gaddock in sideboard so I would name green sun zenith. Same goes for maverick, better to name zenith than gaddock, but thalia is in this deck too, so it is kind of lottery without probe...

Suppose you're on the draw vs Maverick, and they open with Hierarch -- I would name GSZ with Therapy blind. If they don't, then name Thalia.

[Megadeus]

I knew Nif Fit did Nether void but we cant do too much against it... name rector I guess.

[Megadeus]

Double Post? Dont care. Went 4-0 at the legacy challenge today at the open. I know. Big Whoop.

Beat High Tide Round 1. Game three I blind therapied his flusterstorm out of his hand and go off.

Round 2 I played against affinity. Apparently he cant beat Goblins :p. I did end up making goblins then next turn grapeshotting his Vault Skirge before he hooked it up with cranial... I think it was wrong, but I won anyway.

Round 3 I played against elves. I punt so hard G1 when I realized Im a red mana short of an IGG loop. I die after Ad Nauseum flips Empty :/ Beat him 2 with 14 dudes T1 and G3 Tendrils gets there.

Round 4 Im late because my buddies were dicking around with my deck and I wasnt paying attention to the round beginning. I quickly run over but get a game loss :/ G2 I play first. Make 12 dudes on T1 after a probe reveals Elves again. G3 I keep a mana heavy hand with no tutor and just a ponder. He Seizes my ponder :/ I proceed to draw ponder, and then rip another one. A few turns later after he has glimpsed and whiffed he green suns for 2. Gets Visionary over Gaddock Teeg (Thank you Magic Gods!!). But he will kill me next turn. I have triple Rite of Flame Dark Ritual and an LED on the field. Rip Burning Wish like a Champ. Make a ton of mana, Wish for DReturns, it hits a burning wish. I go nuts and kill him.

[thefringthing]

Trolling casuals in the "Just For Fun" room.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

There's a storm list from the Legacy MOCS, which played the following manabase:

3 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tundra
1 Island

Thought I'd bounce that around. Deck construction shows the list is closer to TNT/ANT. Noticeable differences from the main deck include:

4 Cabal Ritual
3 Silence
2 Chrome Mox
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Duress
2 Preordain
1 Past in Flames
1 Personal Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony

Yeah, I realize most of these cards are absolute shit in the main. The lack of Burning Wish is interesting. The mana can 'apparently' support Abrupt Decay out of the board, but can't handle Burning Wish (which accounts for the typical ANT-style board). Puzzling for sure.

Thoughts?

15 Sideboard
4 Dark Confidant
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Ignorant Bliss
2 Karakas
1 Paraselene
1 Slaughter Pact

[Vandalize]

There's a storm list from the Legacy MOCS, which played the following manabase:

3 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tundra
1 Island

Thought I'd bounce that around. Deck construction shows the list is closer to TNT/ANT. Noticeable differences from the main deck include:

4 Cabal Ritual
3 Silence
2 Chrome Mox
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Duress
2 Preordain
1 Past in Flames
1 Personal Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony

Yeah, I realize most of these cards are absolute shit in the main. The lack of Burning Wish is interesting. The mana can 'apparently' support Abrupt Decay out of the board, but can't handle Burning Wish (which accounts for the typical ANT-style board). Puzzling for sure.

Thoughts?

15 Sideboard
4 Dark Confidant
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Ignorant Bliss
2 Karakas
1 Paraselene
1 Slaughter Pact

Well, looks like a mess, but who knows? Caleb Duward decks are also a mess and they work.

[Machahiko]

Ignorant Bliss seems like a card that nobody would know about AND it has art by Jeff Miracola, yes please! Ordered 4 foils immediately since they were so cheap and the art is amazing. On the other hand I don't really know can these even be played, if you play the current style sideboard. I just feel that there's maybe one slot that could be changed, everything other is just fine. I would really appreciate it if you could post the whole decklist, instead of just odd bits, sb and lands.

[jandax]

@Bryant/Thread:

Regarding the OP matchup analysis on Goblins (or other fast aggro); OP suggests holding lands to avoid mana disruption like Rishadan Port and Wasteland and cantriping. While the first part is logical, the whole cantriping idea implies that one keeps a hand with mana and blue spells because the blue spells will find business with which to go off. In practice, this is slow. Zoo and U/R Delver decks, for example, have burn for reach and Goblins cheats its army onto the table, all providing an ever shrinking window for the Big Turn. Maybe I'm missing something and maybe some of you can chime in on the subject. It just doesn't seem like the matchups are as close to byes as the OP suggests.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

@Bryant/Thread:

Regarding the OP matchup analysis on Goblins (or other fast aggro); OP suggests holding lands to avoid mana disruption like Rishadan Port and Wasteland and cantriping. While the first part is logical, the whole cantriping idea implies that one keeps a hand with mana and blue spells because the blue spells will find business with which to go off. In practice, this is slow. Zoo and U/R Delver decks, for example, have burn for reach and Goblins cheats its army onto the table, all providing an ever shrinking window for the Big Turn. Maybe I'm missing something and maybe some of you can chime in on the subject. It just doesn't seem like the matchups are as close to byes as the OP suggests.

Sometimes there are turns where there's no reason to play a land because when you need the color, it'll just get eaten by Wasteland or tapped during your upkeep with Rishadan Port. Ideally, you'll know the top cards of your library when you hold lands (so not to interfere with Hellbent, but LED fixes this anyway).

I've had opponents randomly do things like tap out for threats or blow Engineered Explosives for an irrelevant number when they thought I was stumbling on lands. There's that, too.

(This is to clarify for other people. I know this wasn't your question.)

For mana-heavy hands with cantrips, I consider those strong keeps versus fast aggro because you have nine business spells to draw from in your main deck. Ponder searches four cards and Brainstorm shows you three, so there's a good chance you'll find what you need. Against those aggro decks your life total doesn't matter as much because it's easier to set up an Iggy-loop or Past in Flames.

Mana plus cantrips is usually infinitely better than a mulligan.

[jin]

This just occurred to me. If Karakas was ever considered in the SB vs hate bears, would anyone consider Boseiju as SB versus blue control decks? Is it necessary? Not really. Is it an extra option, maybe? Discuss.

[Koby]

This just occurred to me. If Karakas was ever considered in the SB vs hate bears, would anyone consider Boseiju as SB versus blue control decks? Is it necessary? Not really. Is it an extra option, maybe? Discuss.

The former is a zero mana answer to cards that prevent us from winning.
The latter costs us a turn, 2 life, and can only cast 9 spells in the deck.

[Dark Ritual]

This just occurred to me. If Karakas was ever considered in the SB vs hate bears, would anyone consider Boseiju as SB versus blue control decks? Is it necessary? Not really. Is it an extra option, maybe? Discuss.

It's terrible because let's say you use boseiju on infernal tutor. They counter the ad nauseam. If you don't use the mana on infernal tutor and they see an untapped boseiju they just counter the tutor. It literally works just when you draw the 1 of ad nauseam or if you want to try to win with goblins against a deck with board sweepers to kill said goblins if the control player is at all decent. I wouldn't waste sideboard space on boseiju at all. There's also wasteland in control decks usually and you just look stupid when they wasteland your EtB tapped land.

[Machahiko]

If you could make your silence/chant uncounterable it would be good and most likely banned. Dark Ritual said everything just perfectly.

[jandax]

Sometimes there are turns where there's no reason to play a land because when you need the color, it'll just get eaten by Wasteland or tapped during your upkeep with Rishadan Port. Ideally, you'll know the top cards of your library when you hold lands (so not to interfere with Hellbent, but LED fixes this anyway).

I've had opponents randomly do things like tap out for threats or blow Engineered Explosives for an irrelevant number when they thought I was stumbling on lands. There's that, too.

(This is to clarify for other people. I know this wasn't your question.)

For mana-heavy hands with cantrips, I consider those strong keeps versus fast aggro because you have nine business spells to draw from in your main deck. Ponder searches four cards and Brainstorm shows you three, so there's a good chance you'll find what you need. Against those aggro decks your life total doesn't matter as much because it's easier to set up an Iggy-loop or Past in Flames.

Mana plus cantrips is usually infinitely better than a mulligan.

This is all relevant. I have the same sentiment, but maybe my draws during these games were just bad due to variance. I mean, one fifth of the deck sorts through the rest of it. Odds are good but sometimes they just don't pan out in your favor. Good line about the holding land. Never thought about it like that, from the other side of the table's perspective.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

This is all relevant. I have the same sentiment, but maybe my draws during these games were just bad due to variance. I mean, one fifth of the deck sorts through the rest of it. Odds are good but sometimes they just don't pan out in your favor. Good line about the holding land. Never thought about it like that, from the other side of the table's perspective.

Probably variance. The deck can just shit on itself sometimes.