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

[Megadeus]

Patience is key. Not sure if ie would've kept that game 3 hand. Also vs Jund I probably would've just gone for the win instead of letting my opponent UN tap. Also remember that I'm terrible with this deck on a bad day, and average on a good day. (Luckily being average will still allow you to 4-0 most of the time ;) )

[HammafistRoob]

Round 2 game 2 are you sure you drew a petal here? If so why not just swing with your insect and go for Ad Nauseum with zero floating? EDIT- never mind you clearly got Wastelanded... in that case going for the gobbos seems optimal since he most likely has a max of 3 Echoing Truths as outs.

Round 3 game 2 is a clear keeper imo. You have 4 cantrips and 2 initial mana sources against a deck packing discard and a horrid clock. You kept and it paid off, well done sir.

[phazonmutant]

Round 2 game 2 are you sure you drew a petal here? If so why not just swing with your insect and go for Ad Nauseum with zero floating? EDIT- never mind you clearly got Wastelanded... in that case going for the gobbos seems optimal since he most likely has a max of 3 Echoing Truths as outs.

Round 3 game 2 is a clear keeper imo. You have 4 cantrips and 2 initial mana sources against a deck packing discard and a horrid clock. You kept and it paid off, well done sir.

Agreed with both. The goblins play is a aggressive, but you're guaranteed to get 12 damage out of it and beating an opponent from 8 is way easier. Or, you might just win. Merfolk is not the easiest matchup, but fortunately you have good tools to fight them with Silence, Swarm, and (usually!) Empty.

Yeah, that hand seems very good against stoneblade. They just don't consistently interact with you in the right ways (except for gaining lots of life, which is relevant against Empty).

Nice report, congrats on the finish!

[sconnell]

Questions
1) In Rd2 G2, would you have gone for the Goblins?
2) In Rd3 G2, would you mull or keep? [Duress, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Ponder, Ponder, Fetchland, Chrome Mox.]

1) Most likely yes.
2) This hand is missing additional mana and a tutor, and searching for two things is not great. However, it has a duress and multiple blue spells to sculpt a new hand with. It's also decent against turn-1 thoughtseize.
The next question is: how do you play this hand out if you do keep it?
You have two brainstorms, which you might want to use defensively (ie hold them to use in response to discard) or pro-actively (use them to sculpt a winning hand, possibly with the use of shufflers.)
You have duress, which you might want to use early for information/to take something important, or might want to save for a crucial turn.
Lots of decision-making.
One line for turn 1 is:
Chrome Mox (imprint Ponder) -> Brainstorm.
Play fetchland (shuffle), which enables duress, ponder, brainstorm, or do nothing depending on what new 3 cards brainstorm got you and what you put back.

[thefringthing]

New Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot art is comically bad. I better not catch anyone playing with those versions.

[Jay_Gatz]

I love Rebecca Guay's art in general, but I'm also a sucker for the classics. I run Japanese FBB Dark Rituals, and buy those things up whenever and wherever I find them. FBB Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Mishra's Factory, but the hottest is Serra Angel.


--------TES Match Report--------

Tonight was my second time piloting T.E.S. against live opponents, again at my local shop with 40-minute rounds. I made an effort to take better notes this week--opening hand at least--though they're still not great. Ran the list from the OP except with 3 Duress and no Therapy main.

Goals for the night:
1) Play with confidence and put the opponent on the defensive.
2) Properly assess when to go for it, and when to be patient.
3) Reduce facepalm-worthy misplays by half or better.


Round 1: Vs Jund
This is an opponent I've played against several times, and have only ever seen him bring Jund or Zoo. I lose the die roll and brace for Thoughtseize.

Game 1

Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Rite of Flame
Chrome Mox
Infernal Tutor
Underground Sea
Fetchland

Would you keep that hand? <--Thanks Lemnear

I expect him to discard my Tutor, but I doubt I'd do better on a six-card hand. Keep.

My best recollection:
Opp T1: Thoughtseize (Tutor)
My T1: Draw Chrome Mox. Play Land. Go.
Opp T2: Thoughtseize (Dark Ritual). DRS. Go.
My T2: Draw Petal. Play Land. Go.
Opp T3: Goyf. (And Bolt? Can't recall)
My T3: Draw Silence (no W mana). Go.
Opp T4: Goyf beats in for 3. Plays Sylvan Library.
My T4: Draw Ad Nauseam (Internal Fist Pump!).
Probably should have played Ad Nauseam right here (17 life). But I was feeling greedy and safe, so instead I elected to use it on his turn so I could untap with a ton of cards on my T5 and go off.
Play Petal, Pass.
Opp T5: pays 4 life to keep an extra card off Library. Plays Wasteland and hits my Sea (Respond, B in pool). He plays BBE and cascades into Goyf. After checking that he has no red mana open, and that Goyf won't grow any larger, I use that black mana, and a ritual, crack a fetch, petal--> mini-Ad Nauseam, keeping my life high enough to survive the attack.
My T5: Untap with a full grip and opponent at 9 life(!). I storm into Tendrils without difficulty.

Lesson: Keep greed in check.


Game 2
Probe, Burning Wish, LED, Rite, Mox, Land, Duress. Keep.

I eventually go for Diminishing Returns (which exiles Ad Nauseam, EtW, and a second Wish), and pathetic misplay earlier in the turn costs me the final mana needed to finish in a Tendrils kill. Pass the turn. Opponent plays Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize. Ouch. It's looking really bad as he attacks me down to 6 with a Bolt in hand, a DRS active, and more coming online next turn.
I Brainstorm on my turn: LED, Wish, Mox!
Combined with the mana in hand it's enough to hit Tendrils for 14 when he's only got 12.

2-0 win with Lady Luck on my side.


Round 2 vs Merfolk.
Game 1 on the draw
Sea, Probe, Ponder, Brainstorm, Ritual, IT, Ad Nauseam(?). Keep

He says, "Island, Go"
My Probe reveals: Lord of Atlantis, Phantasmal Image, Spellstutter Sprite x2, Mutavault, Island.
Ponder gets me LED.

My previous experience against Merfolk (playing with other decks) is that every other spell they draw is a counter. I decide to be aggressive with goblins while his shields are down so to speak.
I bait a sprite on my T2 and then make 12 goblins. He lays Lords and Mutavault, whittling down my gobbos. I'm in the position where I can hit him down to 1 but no more. He is soon able to swing back for my entire life total in one island walking mass.

Lesson: Do the math. It only takes a moment. I'm glad to have lost this one.


Game 2:
Xantid, Petal, Petal, LED, IT, Ponder, Mine.

My T1: Xantid off Mine
His T1: Wasteland my Mine.
My T1: Draw a third Petal. I can make 12 goblins with Xantid protection while my opponent has no permanents. That's exactly what I do, figuring this is a spot to be aggressive.
His next two turns are Island, Mutavault+Echoing Truth(!)
Of course I knew the card existed but that's the first time I can recall ever seeing it played.

I start rebuilding hoping to tendrils for the remaining 8. He builds up quicker with multiple lords and swings for 20.

0-2 loss


Rd. 3: Vs. Esper Stoneblade (on the draw)
I scouted him earlier so I know what to expect.

Game 1: Volcanic Island, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, LED, IT, Silence. Wow. Keep.
Sadly, he immediately Thoughtseizes away the IT, quickly lands Jace and we play a lot of draw-go as he puts my next 5 draws on the bottom.
With Jace on 13 counters, I top Ad Nauseam. Silence draws out Force, and I have the mana to easily pay for his soft counters. Ad Nauseam from 20 life draws a quick concession.

Game 2:
Duress, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Ponder, Ponder, Fetchland, Chrome Mox.
Whoah. I strongly consider tossing it, but decide to keep partly out of curiosity and partly because I'm not worried about their clock. After a long buildup on both sides, I Probe seeing Force, Force, Counterspell, StP with him at 7 land and a Snapcaster in play that has beaten me down to 5 life while I've waited to draw a Tutor or Wish. My board is 5 lands and LED, and I've got 7 cards in hand including a Silence and a Duress.
On his next turn Snap beats me to 3 life.
I draw a Tutor.
Duress meets Counterspell, Silence meets a hardcast Force. He's now holding Force, StP, and a mystery card. I wager that he hasn't drawn a blue card and don't want to give him another turn to do so. I play IT cracking LED. The mystery card turns out to be Tundra.

2-0 win.

2-1 in matches, 4-2 in games.


All in all, I felt much more comfortable with the deck. There were still a few horrific misplays, but fewer than the previous week.

Questions
1) In Rd2 G2, would you have gone for the Goblins?
2) In Rd3 G2, would you mull or keep?

Against the fish player I don't understand why you would go for it. They have no interaction with either your hand or the xantid in play so if they have no clock why would you not just sit back?

[Lemnear]

Goals for the night:
1) Play with confidence and put the opponent on the defensive.
2) Properly assess when to go for it, and when to be patient.
3) Reduce facepalm-worthy misplays by half or better.

i approve especially Point #1

Round 1: Vs Jund
This is an opponent I've played against several times, and have only ever seen him bring Jund or Zoo. I lose the die roll and brace for Thoughtseize.

Game 1

Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Rite of Flame
Chrome Mox
Infernal Tutor
Underground Sea
Fetchland

Would you keep that hand? <--Thanks Lemnear

If he does not know what he's on against, this is a keep. Otherwise you have to wage the odds and I would have kept too

I expect him to discard my Tutor, but I doubt I'd do better on a six-card hand. Keep.

My best recollection:
Opp T1: Thoughtseize (Tutor)
My T1: Draw Chrome Mox. Play Land. Go.
Opp T2: Thoughtseize (Dark Ritual). DRS. Go.
My T2: Draw Petal. Play Land. Go.
Opp T3: Goyf. (And Bolt? Can't recall)
My T3: Draw Silence (no W mana). Go.
Opp T4: Goyf beats in for 3. Plays Sylvan Library.
My T4: Draw Ad Nauseam (Internal Fist Pump!).
Probably should have played Ad Nauseam right here (17 life). But I was feeling greedy and safe, so instead I elected to use it on his turn so I could untap with a ton of cards on my T5 and go off.
Play Petal, Pass.
Opp T5: pays 4 life to keep an extra card off Library. Plays Wasteland and hits my Sea (Respond, B in pool). He plays BBE and cascades into Goyf. After checking that he has no red mana open, and that Goyf won't grow any larger, I use that black mana, and a ritual, crack a fetch, petal--> mini-Ad Nauseam, keeping my life high enough to survive the attack.
My T5: Untap with a full grip and opponent at 9 life(!). I storm into Tendrils without difficulty.

Lesson: Keep greed in check.

I would not want to waste precious lifepoints to Goofy and a potential hasty BBE in addition to a DRS activation against JUND. They can deal so much damage per turn you should not give them extra turns. Imagine he would have cascaded the BBE into Hymn or Lightning Bolt! That would have cost you the match.

Game 2
Probe, Burning Wish, LED, Rite, Mox, Land, Duress. Keep.

I eventually go for Diminishing Returns (which exiles Ad Nauseam, EtW, and a second Wish), and pathetic misplay earlier in the turn costs me the final mana needed to finish in a Tendrils kill. Pass the turn. Opponent plays Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize. Ouch. It's looking really bad as he attacks me down to 6 with a Bolt in hand, a DRS active, and more coming online next turn.
I Brainstorm on my turn: LED, Wish, Mox!
Combined with the mana in hand it's enough to hit Tendrils for 14 when he's only got 12.

2-0 win with Lady Luck on my side.

Round 2 vs Merfolk.
Game 1 on the draw
Sea, Probe, Ponder, Brainstorm, Ritual, IT, Ad Nauseam(?). Keep

He says, "Island, Go"
My Probe reveals: Lord of Atlantis, Phantasmal Image, Spellstutter Sprite x2, Mutavault, Island.
Ponder gets me LED.

My previous experience against Merfolk (playing with other decks) is that every other spell they draw is a counter. I decide to be aggressive with goblins while his shields are down so to speak.
I bait a sprite on my T2 and then make 12 goblins. He lays Lords and Mutavault, whittling down my gobbos. I'm in the position where I can hit him down to 1 but no more. He is soon able to swing back for my entire life total in one island walking mass.

Lesson: Do the math. It only takes a moment. I'm glad to have lost this one.

Why you wait to your Turn 2 to ETW instead of going Probe, Ritual, LED, Infernal, EtW Turn 1 and present 10 damage swinging in his face while he can only drop a lord? You could have easily won swinging 3 turns with gobbos

Game 2:
Xantid, Petal, Petal, LED, IT, Ponder, Mine.

My T1: Xantid off Mine
His T1: Wasteland my Mine.
My T1: Draw a third Petal. I can make 12 goblins with Xantid protection while my opponent has no permanents. That's exactly what I do, figuring this is a spot to be aggressive.
His next two turns are Island, Mutavault+Echoing Truth(!)
Of course I knew the card existed but that's the first time I can recall ever seeing it played.

I start rebuilding hoping to tendrils for the remaining 8. He builds up quicker with multiple lords and swings for 20.

0-2 loss

I don't see the need to go for the goblins with an unmolested Xantid in play. You can wait here 2-3 turns and go for a lethal tendrils instead. Your play was not unreasonable though

Rd. 3: Vs. Esper Stoneblade (on the draw)
I scouted him earlier so I know what to expect.

Game 1: Volcanic Island, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, LED, IT, Silence. Wow. Keep.
Sadly, he immediately Thoughtseizes away the IT, quickly lands Jace and we play a lot of draw-go as he puts my next 5 draws on the bottom.
With Jace on 13 counters, I top Ad Nauseam. Silence draws out Force, and I have the mana to easily pay for his soft counters. Ad Nauseam from 20 life draws a quick concession.

well done

Game 2:
Duress, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Ponder, Ponder, Fetchland, Chrome Mox.
Whoah. I strongly consider tossing it, but decide to keep partly out of curiosity and partly because I'm not worried about their clock. After a long buildup on both sides, I Probe seeing Force, Force, Counterspell, StP with him at 7 land and a Snapcaster in play that has beaten me down to 5 life while I've waited to draw a Tutor or Wish. My board is 5 lands and LED, and I've got 7 cards in hand including a Silence and a Duress.
On his next turn Snap beats me to 3 life.
I draw a Tutor.
Duress meets Counterspell, Silence meets a hardcast Force. He's now holding Force, StP, and a mystery card. I wager that he hasn't drawn a blue card and don't want to give him another turn to do so. I play IT cracking LED. The mystery card turns out to be Tundra.

Just a Note: I believe the correct start here is Mox (imprint Brainstorm), drop fetch and Ponder off the Mox. Casting Brainstorm off the Mox turn 1 would be a clear mistake because it may requires you to crack the fetch too soon and open you up for wasteland without the need to do so. In cornercases you can even use the Brainstorm to battle discard spells. It's a keeper non the less

I want to highlight the patience you show here again. Key-skill

2-0 win.

2-1 in matches, 4-2 in games.


All in all, I felt much more comfortable with the deck. There were still a few horrific misplays, but fewer than the previous week.

Questions
1) In Rd2 G2, would you have gone for the Goblins?
2) In Rd3 G2, would you mull or keep?

Congrats. I enjoyed it.

Edit: several fixes and additional input

[Asthereal]

Couple of comments:
- The Merfolk game one: indeed 10 gobbo's on turn 1 is the right play. Most Merfolk lists play 2-3 Echoing Truth on side. So now you know that for future Merfolk games. In the situation you were in game two I feel that going for EtW should be correct. He has about 20-30% chance to find his Echoing Truth. But as mentioned earlier, if you have a Swarm in play, and the opponent has no pressure on, you have some time to wait for better cards. It's something to consider. At least next time you face such a situation you now know what to consider. He had nothing, and you expected he wouldn't have an answer to your 12 dudes, so going for EtW was logical from your perspective. New perspective, better decisions!

- The Esper matchup keep of four cantrips is correct I think. As you said, their clock is slow and the cantrips should get you a nice hand to go off with. Also, you already held a protection spell, which you were likely to need somewhere.

- The Esper blade player made some errors with Jace I think. If you fateseal, you should in general never put cards on the bottom. Only those that will kill you if you let the opponent have them should be put away. The rest is just nice information for you, and your opponent will think that you hold answers to those cards.

[Sockosensei]

Thanks to all of you who replied with advice and criticism.
I'll do my best to reply and in a couple of spots, clarify.


re: Not playing Ad Nauseam on my own turn.

Also vs Jund I probably would've just gone for the win instead of letting my opponent UN tap.

I would not want to waste precious lifepoints to Goofy and a potential hasty BBE in addition to a DRS activation against JUND. They can deal so much damage per turn you should not give them extra turns. Imagine he would have cascaded the BBE into Hymn or Lightning Bolt! That would have cost you the match.

Absolutely agree.
Even as I was doing it I had that ill feeling that I was being too cute. Part of me wishes I had lost the game just to drive the point home, but you two giving me an earful about it does that even more effectively.



re: Rd2-G1 vs Merfolk

Why you wait to your Turn 2 to ETW instead of going Probe, Ritual, LED, Infernal, EtW Turn 1 and present 10 damage swinging in his face while he can only drop a lord? You could have easily won swinging 3 turns with gobos

The Merfolk game one: indeed 10 gobbo's on turn 1 is the right play. Most Merfolk lists play 2-3 Echoing Truth on side.

Sorry, I wrote this up poorly.
My notes don’t have it, but I think the draw off the Probe was another land. I didn’t have the LED yet. The LED came off the Ponder a moment later, for which I spent my mana from Underground Sea. If Empty had been a T1 option, I definitely would have jumped on it. In any case, I should have seen that it wasn’t the play to make on turn 2 and the lesson will serve me well.




re: Rd2-G2 -- Empty vs. Merfolk

…going for the gobbos seems optimal since he most likely has a max of 3 Echoing Truths as outs.

1) Most likely yes (I would have gone for it).

Against the fish player I don't understand why you would go for it. They have no interaction with either your hand or the xantid in play so if they have no clock why would you not just sit back?

I don't see the need to go for the goblins with an unmolested Xantid in play. You can wait here 2-3 turns and go for a lethal tendrils instead. Your play was not unreasonable though

I feel that going for EtW should be correct. He has about 20-30% chance to find his Echoing Truth. But as mentioned earlier, if you have a (Xantid) Swarm in play, and the opponent has no pressure on, you have some time to wait for better cards. It's something to consider. At least next time you face such a situation you now know what to consider. He had nothing, and you expected he wouldn't have an answer to your 12 dudes, so going for EtW was logical from your perspective. New perspective, better decisions!

Let me start by saying that I didn’t expect Echoing Truth. That’s just poor preparation on my part, not knowing Merfolk very well, and their sideboard plan not at all. For that same reason I wasn’t sure what they’d pack that could deal with Xantid and wanted to get value out of it before they did. The deciding factor was that with 40-minute rounds, I often have trouble getting through a third game. It was tough to pass up the chance to end things quickly.
Not saying that these reasons are right, but that’s why I played it as I did. I will certainly respect the Echoing Truth and look for a chance to play Tendrils in the future.

As it wound up, on his turns after Echoing Truth he landed Reejery, then used it’s tap/untap ability to untap islands, spam the board with Silvergill and 2 more Lords (Mutavault already in play), and very quickly take me down. I couldn’t believe how soon he went from no perms to swinging for lethal.




re: Rd3-G2 -- Whether to keep or mull

Not sure if ie would've kept that game 3 hand.

Round 3 game 2 is a clear keeper imo. You have 4 cantrips and 2 initial mana sources against a deck packing discard and a horrid clock. You kept and it paid off, well done sir.

Yeah, that hand seems very good against stoneblade. They just don't consistently interact with you in the right ways (except for gaining lots of life, which is relevant against Empty).

2) This hand is missing additional mana and a tutor, and searching for two things is not great. However, it has a duress and multiple blue spells to sculpt a new hand with. It's also decent against turn-1 thoughtseize…

…It's a keeper non the less

The Esper matchup keep of four cantrips is correct I think. As you said, their clock is slow and the cantrips should get you a nice hand to go off with. Also, you already held a protection spell, which you were likely to need somewhere.

Seems like most people agree on the keep. I didn’t expect the discussion would go on to how to play it from there (glad it did though), so my write-up skipped ahead several turns. To fill in a key blank, I was on the draw and he opened with Scrubland→Thoughtseize, grabbing one of the Brainstorms, so I was down to three dig spells. I hesitated to imprint one on the Mox, knowing that I needed to find multiple pieces; I’d need all of the help I could get! I played land→Duress to scout and see how much time I had and what I might need to play around. He revealed:
Snapcaster
Force of Will
Extirpate
Tundra
Academy Ruins

I grabbed the Extirpate because I didn’t want allow him a free discard of a Brainstorm (or Ponder if I played it the next turn) with the bonus of limiting my ability to dig for pieces.

Goals for the night:
1) Play with confidence and put the opponent on the defensive.
2) Properly assess when to go for it, and when to be patient.
3) Reduce facepalm-worthy misplays by half or better.

i approve especially Point #1

Cheers. I succeeded with 1) in rounds 2 and 3. Even though it didn’t win me round 2, I think it made a difference in round 3, which I’ll explain in a moment.

The Esper blade player made some errors with Jace I think. If you fateseal, you should in general never put cards on the bottom. Only those that will kill you if you let the opponent have them should be put away. The rest is just nice information for you, and your opponent will think that you hold answers to those cards.

True, generally speaking. The thing is that I had a lot of cards in hand and lands on the board—it got to the point where I played Petal to avoid discarding at EOT--and he couldn’t be sure which piece I was waiting on. Did I just need protection? Tutor? Mana? From his perspective it must have seemed that any of the cards he saw could be the one that would kill him.
I wish I’d asked or checked after which cards he put on the bottom. I made sure to help his confusion with a mini bluff along the way as if I’d just drawn into the card I needed, counted mana and such, but then held off. I'd like to believe I did it with enough confidence to sell it, whereas last week it would have fallen flat.


Thanks again for all of the comments. The lessons are coming one after another.

---------------------

Alright, my Japanese Gitaxian Probe and Duress playsets just arrived. I’m embarrassed to admit that I get pretty excited sleeving up new cards for the deck, but I think you all understand.

[Lemnear]

Something I want to put the spotlight on is that Socko was very conservative in his mulligans and instead was willing to work slow and steady towards the kill rather than gambling for some uba hands by mulling to 6 or 5.

I play this deck VERY tight myself and consequently notice, read and remark unnecessary mulligans which are imo among the top 3 reasons why TES pilots fail to perform well. The potential turn 1 kill with a mulligan to 6 is a toxic lure it seems...

[jandax]

Something I want to put the spotlight on is that Socko was very conservative in his mulligans and instead was willing to work slow and steady towards the kill rather than gambling for some uba hands by mulling to 6 or 5.

I play this deck VERY tight myself and consequently notice, read and remark unnecessary mulligans which are imo among the top 3 reasons why TES pilots fail to perform well. The potential turn 1 kill with a mulligan to 6 is a toxic lure it seems...

So what exactly are you saying here? I'm sort of confused, they both seem like good things.

[Lemnear]

So what exactly are you saying here? I'm sort of confused, they both seem like good things.

Both paragraphs are positive. I just gave a general advice here: Don't mull because your starting 7 appear slow or scetchy on sight. I've seen too Many players mulling into oblivion just because they get a complicated hands with multiple Protection Spiels or cantrips, dismissing those hands "as too slow" only to find even worse hands after a mulligan and throwing games away which often results into claims that the deck is Bad/inconsistant

[Megadeus]

My only thought process sometimes is that double silence is super awkward allot of the time. Sometimes it may add well be a Milligan. Same thing with double chrome mox hands. Sure the are times where that is fine, but if both of my protection spells are silences them the hands are usually to awkward to keep

[Lemnear]

Against a wide array of potential opponents i still rather chain Silences than taking a mulligan.

[Jay_Gatz]

Double mox is infinitely worse than double silence.

[Lemnear]

Double mox is infinitely worse than double silence.

Still keepable under several configurations which allow a fast Infernal for AN by imprinting cantrips/protection and fire off AN with a topfecked manasource next turn or contain a Wish for the reset via Diminishing Returns (Wish, RoF, Mox, Mox, Silence, U.Sea, Brainstorm ... 4 example)

Edit: I could elaborate on that example, if wished for that

[Tom T]

Something I want to put the spotlight on is that Socko was very conservative in his mulligans and instead was willing to work slow and steady towards the kill rather than gambling for some uba hands by mulling to 6 or 5.

I play this deck VERY tight myself and consequently notice, read and remark unnecessary mulligans which are imo among the top 3 reasons why TES pilots fail to perform well. The potential turn 1 kill with a mulligan to 6 is a toxic lure it seems...

The difficult thing about TES is that you can't make mental notes like "2 chrome mox -> mull" or something like that. Every opening hand is another puzzle to solve by itself. And not only because of it's actual content but also the deck your opponent's playing, your opponents' knowledge of your deck and even his skill and possible experience with storm to some extent.
This makes deciding opening hands a real challenge.

Have a tournament in like 40 minutes. I hope I'll be able to make notes for a report.

[Lemnear]

For me the absence of Auto-Pilot patterns like the mentioned "2-Mox-Mulligan" is something that makes the deck to difficult thus rewarding to pilot.

(Render me absent for the upcoming week due to a promotion tour. Today "YOU" fair in Berlin, Mon/Tue Regensburg, Wednesday Prague, Thursday Dresden ... Say "hi" if you are around)

[Sockosensei]

Still keepable under several configurations which allow a fast Infernal for AN by imprinting cantrips/protection and fire off AN with a topfecked manasource next turn or contain a Wish for the reset via Diminishing Returns (Wish, RoF, Mox, Mox, Silence, U.Sea, Brainstorm ... 4 example)

Edit: I could elaborate on that example, if wished for that

Yeah, double Mox is one that gets me.
I managed to draw solid hands the other night so it wasn't hard to be patient, as opposed to a week earlier where I drew horribly and mulled in most of the games.


By the way, how do you sideboard for Esper Stoneblade? Also, do we side in anything vs Burn or just rely on speed?

[phazonmutant]

Yeah, double Mox is one that gets me.
I managed to draw solid hands the other night so it wasn't hard to be patient, as opposed to a week earlier where I drew horribly and mulled in most of the games.


By the way, how do you sideboard for Esper Stoneblade? Also, do we side in anything vs Burn or just rely on speed?

For Esper Stoneblade, somewhere between the UW Landstill boarding and the UW Stoneforge boarding on the primer. For me, could be as simple as -1 IT, -1 EtW, +1 Cabal Therapy, +1 Chain of Vapor.

For burn, definitely bring in both Chain of Vapors, probably trimming Silence. Empty is probably also a reasonable cut on the draw. They'll typically have Mindbreak Trap and/or Pyrostatic Pillar and goldfish turn 4ish.