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The Perfect Storm

Started by coldcrow, 28-06-2009, 02:55:05 PM

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coldcrow

First the list:

Lands (38):

Ancient Spring
Geothermal Crevice
Sulfur Vent
Saprazzan Skerry
Peat Bog
Ebon Stronghold
Syelunite Temple
Dwarven Ruins
Ancient Tomb
5 x Island
5 x Snow-Island
2 x Swamp
2 x Snow-Swamp
1 x Mountain
Library of Alexandria
+ all relevant Fetchlands, Duals + Pain/Shocklands. No 5 Colour-Painland though.

Artifact + Ritual Mana (13):

Chrome Mox
Lotus Petal
Mox Diamond
Izzet Signet
Dimir Signet
Prismatic Lens
Mind Stone
Coldsteel Heart
Dark Ritual
Cabal Ritual
Seething Song
Rain of Filth
Pentad Prism

Filter/Dig/Draw (15):

Brainstorm
Ponder
Serum Visions
Sleight of Hand
Sensei's Top
Impulse
Peer Through Depths
Night's Whisper
Tainted Pact
Lim-Dul's Vault
Thirst for Knowledge
Frantic Search
Fact or Fiction
Gush
Future Sight

Draw 7 (2):

Timetwister
Timespiral

Tutors (7):

Personal Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Merchant Scroll
Intuition
Grim Tutor
Gifts Ungiven
Mystical Teachings

Enablers + Win (7):

Ill-Gotten Gains
Sins of the Past
Mana Flare
Helm of Awakening
Tendrils of Agony
Ignite Memories
Mind's Desire

Recursion + Utility (6):

Recoup
Burning Wish (stupid exile)
Recall
Relearn
Mana Severance
Twincast

Protection (12):

Pact of Negation
Duress
Thoughseize
Gigadrowse
Arcane Denial
Remand
Mana Drain
Counterspell
Mana Short
Force of Will
Misdirection
Mind Twist

I have been playing this deck for a long time now (some earlier list might be floating around at this forum) and this is pretty final for me, sans a few cards.

1. 38 Lands: not sure if too many, although it's critical to hit the first 3-4 land drops. I can see 1 or 2 go though.

2. Replacement for Burning Wish under the new (shitty) rules. Wish was outstanding in this deck getting IGGY, Spiral or flashbacked stuff back.

3. Amount of Artifact Mana: Having an some kind of accelerant out by turn 2-maximal 4 or a Sac-Land is critical. I won't play any > cmc 2 artifacts though. Prismatic Lens too bad?

4. Remand too bad? I am not sure if the gained tempo outweighs the lack of oomph late game.

5. If anyone has suggestions on good draw/filter/enablers/mana, feel VERY free to post them.

Cards I already considered: Three Wishes, Portent, Fire/Ice, Snap, Wipe Away, Boomerang.

Just realized that I missed Chain of Vapor. I'll definetely play that.





Mythrandir

Well, your deck is certainly good.

I would probably test the following cards:
- demonic consultation
- spoils of the vault
- medidate
- trade secrets


Also remand is good for you, when you´r comboing. cheap counter.

MarcMagic

whats about
-sorcerous sight
-clairvoyance
-peek
-portent
-daze
-twiddle
-urzas bauble
-mishras bauble

cards i dont like:
-nights whisper
-mana severance
-primatic lense
-mind twist

imo u should cut some lands! 34 is still enough for combo. thats what i noticed at the first view.

coldcrow

#3
Quote from: MarcMagic on 29-06-2009, 02:15:53 AM
whats about
-sorcerous sight
-clairvoyance
-peek
-portent
-daze
-twiddle
-urzas bauble
-mishras bauble

cards i dont like:
-nights whisper
-mana severance
-primatic lense
-mind twist

imo u should cut some lands! 34 is still enough for combo. thats what i noticed at the first view.

Thanks for the input!

peek, sorcerous sight, clairvoyance etc are just too weak. They are glorified cantrips and do not dig at all. Keep in mind this is a Storm combo and not some overprotected Oath :). Same goes for the bauble's. I ran Portent for awhile: it was good if I had it early but totally blew when i drew it when doing combo, since I really need to see/draw cards then.

I probably could cut Lens, the other cards seriously not. Whisper is a solid draw (only be replaced by something like spoils/consultation). Twist is too broken to not run it, especially with easy access to mana and tutors. Besides, it won me like 50% of all my games since I started to use it.

Severance is a bit of a pet card, and close to being cut. On the other hand it provides a very good Plan B if I can't get 10 storm straight and have to rely on Spiral/Desire. Also it's just good if I got 5-7 mana set up/ in hand and simply want to draw bussiness.

Imho 34 lands is too few with a shaky Mana base like that. I cut 1 down to 37 probably will go to 36 but keep in mind that the first 4 drops are really critical. I need 5-6 mana by turn 4 to play tutors/draw/counters and have a chance to go all in on turn 5.

So: - Lens
    - Wish
    - 2 lands
    + chain of vapor
    + snap
    + ?
    + ?

PS: Trade Secrets isn't good in here. Besides the ability of the opponent to just deck me, it's a sorcery draw spell at > 2cmc. Consultation I really don't know :). This deck is gamble enough already :) and consultation doesn't seem to have a home in HL. Same goes for spoils I think.

pyyhttu

QuotePS: Trade Secrets isn't good in here. Besides the ability of the opponent to just deck me, it's a sorcery draw spell at > 2cmc.

Technically you can deck yourself but Trade Secrets let's you draw "up to four cards" with UU1. But usually you just net that 2 cards. Drawing 4 alternatives on the turn you plan to go off provided you have the 3 extra mana _and_ opponent is tapped out, this card actually shines, but all the other time this is quite suboptimal.

I don't see any extra turn effects (time walks) and assume this deck goes off on the same turn and wants to do that as fast as possible? Then Delay is better choice over Arcane Denial in here: if Denial is forced out to a threat as a turn 2-4 early play, it then just creates card advantage to your opponent he/she gets to use first more often than you would execute your game changing play.

coldcrow

I was under the assumption that my opponent could repeat Trade Secrets indefinetely.

True aboout Delay, I will switch it in for a Land. I like Arcane Denial alot for the ability to counter one of my 0-1 mana spells and draw 3 cards.

pyyhttu

QuoteI was under the assumption that my opponent could repeat Trade Secrets indefinetely.

Yeah, an opponent can continue to draw 2 as many times he/she wants but you get to choose to draw between 0 and 4, so it really is up to you if you want to deck yourself or not. Read the card and meditate :-).

And sorry, maybe wasn't clear enough when said: "usually you just net that 2 cards". By that I meant that your opponent often is sane enough to let you draw *only* once, as your deck is probably more suited for the card, and you would most certainly play Trade Secrets on your last turn when still having mana to go off, etc.

Granted, it's a tricky card: I almost fooled myself to play this in a Dream Halls combo...

QuoteI like Arcane Denial alot for the ability to counter one of my 0-1 mana spells and draw 3 cards

Yeah, it's a neat trick, drawing cards is always somehow addicting, but I'm not convinced why it needs to be packed in this particular build. In combo Arcane Denial only delivers power when you combine it with time walk effects, which you have now none. This counter is highly situational and deceptive in terms of real card advantage. Also note that you pull this on your main phase and tap resources + have to pass the turn here; can you afford that against aggro with the current build?

If you recount the card advantage, you'll notice that your net gain is +1 card in the process (when you counter your own spell) and dig your library for 3 cards.

See http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=4867 for details and ctrl-f: Just how atrocious is Arcane Denial?

Nastaboi's Heartbeat combo is the only viable combo in highlander I'd try this in (and would still cut this first when something better comes along).