All the current builds are kind of awkward. Ascension is still OK, I guess (Finkel Top 16ed GP Portland with it), but losing Song really hurts the EE version, because you can't Experiment for as much.
Bushwhacker does not synergize with Experiment or Ascension, so it's mostly relegated to the SB.
Do not do a straight-up swap of Grapeshot for Warrens. You need to understand that the issue is getting constrained on mana. In my example scenario, I mentioned that you'd rather have a Warrens in hand than a Past. So, cut Past. Experiments you can keep; flipping Warrens with Experiment is not earth-shattering, but at least it beats flipping Past with no way to continue.
My advice is to wait for M14 and play a creature-based build with Young Pyromancer. There are two advantages to this:
1) Ability to use Infernal Plunge
2) Ability to maindeck 4 Goblin Bushwhacker
This list goldfishes decently, but it is vulnerable to quite a few maindeck cards. Removal on Young Pyromancer is most likely GG, and if you don't kick Bushwhacker you might lose to Pyroclasm/Firespout.
In my testing of the YP build, I found Infernal Plunge to still be pretty bad, because I could rely on consistently having a Pyromancer out, and you really don't want to sac Electromancer to it, since that will probably lower your overall mana in the process by making everything else cost 1 more. As I said in my last post, I personally think the Ascension build is much more consistent, but I will test your build.
Hey guys this is my current list that I'm looking for suggestions on. Basically I cut the Electromancers from the build because they end up being a giant removal magnet and replaced some of the things in Finkel's list with some Lightning bolts which serve as pinch removal or even to help you "get there" as well as Faithless Looting which I think people should try out because it helps smooth out your hand even if it does cost a card.
Finally, I've got a Splinterboard + Warrens as my "Man Plan" because hopefully any deck that you play against in G1 will side out all their removal and side in Canonist or Rule of Law or even GY hate.
Hey guys this is my current list that I'm looking for suggestions on. Basically I cut the Electromancers from the build because they end up being a giant removal magnet and replaced some of the things in Finkel's list with some Lightning bolts which serve as pinch removal or even to help you "get there" as well as Faithless Looting which I think people should try out because it helps smooth out your hand even if it does cost a card.
Finally, I've got a Splinterboard + Warrens as my "Man Plan" because hopefully any deck that you play against in G1 will side out all their removal and side in Canonist or Rule of Law or even GY hate.
EDIT: Also 15 lands may be pushing it just a little bit. Once we get going it isn't a problem, but missing your second or third land drop can be a pretty big deal.
That Breeding Pool is actually from when I was testing Noxious Revival, it's actually really strong as it's another Free spell when we need it, but I took it out for now because I wasn't sure what it should replace.
I do wanna note that when you get a Noxious Revival and a Manamorphose in the GY another Revival with an active ascension will basically set up an infinite chain for you to draw the deck. Not to mention it can pull an Ascension back if it gets blown up or somethig.
How are people sideboarding with Finkel's list? I'm having trouble deciding what to take out in order to bring in SB cards, seems like everything in the MD is so useful. Anyone got any insight on this?
How are people sideboarding with Finkel's list? I'm having trouble deciding what to take out in order to bring in SB cards, seems like everything in the MD is so useful. Anyone got any insight on this?
If I'm up against Leyline of Sanctity or instant-speed grave hate I'll generally side out the Probes or Past in Flames for Empty the Warrens, since Empty takes a much lower Storm count than Grapeshot. For grave hate enchantments, it may be better to side in Echoing Truth over Empty the Warrens.
Against counterspells, I'll board out Probes again for Defense Grid and Dispel.
Against Affinity, I'll take out the Probes yet another time for Shatterstorm. If they've got hate in the form of artifacts, I'll switch in Echoing Truth instead.
I guess in general, my advice boils down to this: board out Gitaxian Probe for protection. Board out Past in Flames for grave hate. Never, ever board out rituals.
Sounds reasonable. As i am new to the deck, i was hoping that you could show me your sideboard and 'walk me through it' (what to side in/out and when). I hope it's too much i am asking
So here's my deck. It's pretty darn similar to Finkel's, with only a couple changes, mainly to the Sideboard.
As I said earlier, Empty the Warrens is mainly when I'm up against grave hate, really fast Aggro, and Leyline of Sanctity. Against grave hate, I'll usually side out my Past in Flames or Gitaxian Probes, depending on what sort of hate I expect. For example, I'll probably take out the PiFs if I expect Relic of Progenitus, Rakdos Charm, or something along those lines. Against Aggro that's not Affinity, I'll take out the Probes to spare my life total.
Lightning Bolt is there to deal with Hate Bears and dudes who hate on our combo like Deathrite Shaman, Ethersworn Canonist, or Thalia. It also goes straight to the face if we need it, but that's more incidental. I tend to side out Gitaxian Probe here as well.
Echoing Truth is just a catch-all answer for other permanents that mess with our ability to combo, like the Leylines of the Void that Finkel lost to in GP Portland. It also has the added appeal of being able to stop Twin and Kiki Pod 's combos. Probes come out here too.
Defense Grid is to protect us from Control decks. I'd side out Peer Through Depths here, since Peer becomes a lot worse the more permanents you add to the deck.
Dispel protects us from Instants we don't want to see, like countermagic or Rakdos Charm. Personally, I've found Dispel to be the weakest card in the Sideboard and I've been considering switching it out for something else. Some cards I've been considering for this slot are Negate, which costs more but can handle more spells, Spell Pierce which also has a wider range, but sucks late game, or Pact of Negation which counters everything for free, but is only really usable to protect ourselves when we go off. This may be more of a personal taste thing, so if I were you, I'd test out a variety of counterspells in this slot and see which works best. One Gitaxian Probe or one Peer usually comes out here too.
Shatterstorm is for Affinity and Affinity only. They're much faster than us, but if we can ramp into Shatterstorm with a ritual, that'll buy us a little time. Probes come out here, but you could also make an argument for Peer Through Depths, since it's slower.
As awesome as Shatterstorm is, it is 4 mana, which is a lot in a Turn 4 format. That's why we have Shattering Spree. Shattering Spree can take care of obnoxious artifacts like Cranial Plating or Birthing Pod, and can keep going the more red mana we have. It's a great way to handle Affinity's early artifacts like Signal Pest.
Some other Sideboard cards to consider based on the Meta are Leyline of Sanctity which protects you from Burn and discard decks, Goblin Bushwhacker which allows you to win the turn you drop Empty the Warrens, or Pyromancer's Swath which allows to win on a lower Storm count.
Here's my general sideboarding guide:
Affinity
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -2 Peer Through Depths
+2 Shatterstorm, +1 Shattering Spree, +3 Lightning Bolt
Affinity can be a rough matchup. You want to board in all your artifact hate to slow them down, and bring Lightning Bolts to handle early threats and their manlands.
Birthing Pod
-4 Pyromancer Ascension, -3 Gitaxian Probe
+1 Shattering Spree, +4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
Pod decks almost always have artifact/enchantment hate, so I like to take out the Ascensions here. Lightning Bolts are for their hate bears. Echoing Truth takes care of the Kiki combo or Voice of Resurgence tokens.
Burn
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens
This match is pretty noninteractive. The main plan is just to go over the top and run them over.
Infect
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -4 Pyromancer Ascension
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens, +1 Dispel
Dispel? Yeah, that's there mainly as a concession to the existence of Apostle's Blessing. Lightning bolts are to take out their dudes as quickly as possible. Empty the Warrens allows us to overrun the Infect player through sheer board position, and we have the option to keep a goblin or two back to block. Distortion Strike is a card though, unfortunately. Why take out the Ascensions here? In my experience, they've been too slow. Also, don't be afraid to use Grapeshots as removal.
Jund/Junk
-2 Past in Flames, -4 Gitaxian Probe,
+4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
This match is super annoying. The constant discard, efficient creatures, and Deathrite Shaman are the worst. They've got a lot of removal for almost every non-land permanent, and pretty powerful grave hate, so we need to protect ourselves from a variety of angles without diluting our deck. Not as easy as it sounds. The Lightning Bolts are to take out the Deathrite Shamans, but sometimes we can win by going to the face with an active Ascension. Echoing Truth is for combo protection and can temporarily take care of Liliana or Goyf.
UWx Control/Geist of St. Win
-2 Peer Through Depths, -3 Past in Flames, -2 Grapeshot
+2 Defense Grid, +3 Empty the Warrens, +1 Dispel, +1 Echoing Truth
Empty the Warrens is really good against counterspell decks, while Grapeshot is not, so this switch is pretty painless. Peer and Defense Grid don't get along. Make sure to keep Gitaxian Probes here because they let you see your opponent's hand and figure out whether or not it's safe to go off.
Scapeshift
EDIT:
-2 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+2 Echoing Truth, +3 Empty the Warrens
This is mainly to deal with random hate like Relic of Progenitus or Grafdigger's Cage. They're slow, so the main trick here is to play around their countermagic, which they're starting to move away from.
Tron
-2 Gitaxian Probe,
+2 Echoing Truth
Echoing Truth is just to handle any problematic permanents like Karn or Wurmcoil Engine. Tron in general has a hard time against Grapeshot, so we just want to be faster than them, which isn't too hard.
Basically, the sideboarding plan boils down to removing the cards you think are going to get hated on. If grave hate, get rid of Past in Flames. If enchantment hate, get rid of Pyromancer Ascension. Permanent-based hate, get Echoing Truth.
Scapeshift rarely plays grave hate, not even in the SB. Even if they do, you should board out Past in Flames for Empty the Warrens anyway, because Warrens is better against counterspells than Past.
Scapeshift rarely plays grave hate, not even in the SB. Even if they do, you should board out Past in Flames for Empty the Warrens anyway, because Warrens is better against counterspells than Past.
Good to know. I haven't actually played against Scapeshift with Storm, so my advice there was more inferred from Demestrio's sideboard at GP Portland. That said, he was only running Grafdigger's Cage as one-of. Scapeshift does tend to run a lot of maindeck sweepers like Pyroclasm or Firespout though, which is why I didn't suggest Empty the Warrens. But I can totally see the argument for overwhelming them early, especially since they have a late game inevitability that we can't really match. I'll start boarding out Pasts for Empties in that matchup now. Thanks!
It's been around since the start (PT Philadelphia had a NR/MM loop combo deck in the Top 8), but I feel that it's weak because you literally cannot win without Pyromancer Ascension or a graveyard.
The other way you can play it is as a 1-of in a Gifts build, but I dislike Gifts now, since you don't have Seething Song.
Yeah, it enables the infinite loop, but it can also save critical combo pieces from targeted hate ala DRS on PiF or help recur an Ascension after being blown up with Abrupt Decay all for the cost of 2 life.
Chances are, if you're forced to use NR to save a critical card, this disruption is enough for your opponent to be able to outrace you. You have to skip a draw to get the Revived card back.
Yeah, you lose a draw but the utility of getting the exact card you want back on top of your deck is def. worth it imo. I can't count how many times I've fizzled when trying to combo off because I didn't hit the ritual I needed or ended up with no draw. After all, who cares about card advantage when we're getting the cards we need to combo off?
If you have no draw, how do you get the Revived card back into your hand? If you do have draw, AND you need a ritual, can't you just cast the draw spell to dig for a ritual? You have 12 of them maindeck anyway.
Storm is a deck with a lot of redundancy. You do not need specific cards to win (other than Grapeshot of course); you need a critical mass of highly interchangeable cards to win. If you can win with four Pyretic Rituals, you can also win with three Rituals and an Increasing Vengeance, for example.
If you need X card in your hand, just cast a draw spell and dig for it. Chances are, you will either draw into it, or draw into more draw spells, which you then cast to dig deeper.
So here's my deck. It's pretty darn similar to Finkel's, with only a couple changes, mainly to the Sideboard.
As I said earlier, Empty the Warrens is mainly when I'm up against grave hate, really fast Aggro, and Leyline of Sanctity. Against grave hate, I'll usually side out my Past in Flames or Gitaxian Probes, depending on what sort of hate I expect. For example, I'll probably take out the PiFs if I expect Relic of Progenitus, Rakdos Charm, or something along those lines. Against Aggro that's not Affinity, I'll take out the Probes to spare my life total.
Lightning Bolt is there to deal with Hate Bears and dudes who hate on our combo like Deathrite Shaman, Ethersworn Canonist, or Thalia. It also goes straight to the face if we need it, but that's more incidental. I tend to side out Gitaxian Probe here as well.
Echoing Truth is just a catch-all answer for other permanents that mess with our ability to combo, like the Leylines of the Void that Finkel lost to in GP Portland. It also has the added appeal of being able to stop Twin and Kiki Pod 's combos. Probes come out here too.
Defense Grid is to protect us from Control decks. I'd side out Peer Through Depths here, since Peer becomes a lot worse the more permanents you add to the deck.
Dispel protects us from Instants we don't want to see, like countermagic or Rakdos Charm. Personally, I've found Dispel to be the weakest card in the Sideboard and I've been considering switching it out for something else. Some cards I've been considering for this slot are Negate, which costs more but can handle more spells, Spell Pierce which also has a wider range, but sucks late game, or Pact of Negation which counters everything for free, but is only really usable to protect ourselves when we go off. This may be more of a personal taste thing, so if I were you, I'd test out a variety of counterspells in this slot and see which works best. One Gitaxian Probe or one Peer usually comes out here too.
Shatterstorm is for Affinity and Affinity only. They're much faster than us, but if we can ramp into Shatterstorm with a ritual, that'll buy us a little time. Probes come out here, but you could also make an argument for Peer Through Depths, since it's slower.
As awesome as Shatterstorm is, it is 4 mana, which is a lot in a Turn 4 format. That's why we have Shattering Spree. Shattering Spree can take care of obnoxious artifacts like Cranial Plating or Birthing Pod, and can keep going the more red mana we have. It's a great way to handle Affinity's early artifacts like Signal Pest.
Some other Sideboard cards to consider based on the Meta are Leyline of Sanctity which protects you from Burn and discard decks, Goblin Bushwhacker which allows you to win the turn you drop Empty the Warrens, or Pyromancer's Swath which allows to win on a lower Storm count.
Here's my general sideboarding guide:
Affinity
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -2 Peer Through Depths
+2 Shatterstorm, +1 Shattering Spree, +3 Lightning Bolt
Affinity can be a rough matchup. You want to board in all your artifact hate to slow them down, and bring Lightning Bolts to handle early threats and their manlands.
Birthing Pod
-4 Pyromancer Ascension, -3 Gitaxian Probe
+1 Shattering Spree, +4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
Pod decks almost always have artifact/enchantment hate, so I like to take out the Ascensions here. Lightning Bolts are for their hate bears. Echoing Truth takes care of the Kiki combo or Voice of Resurgence tokens.
Burn
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens
This match is pretty noninteractive. The main plan is just to go over the top and run them over.
Infect
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -4 Pyromancer Ascension
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens, +1 Dispel
Dispel? Yeah, that's there mainly as a concession to the existence of Apostle's Blessing. Lightning bolts are to take out their dudes as quickly as possible. Empty the Warrens allows us to overrun the Infect player through sheer board position, and we have the option to keep a goblin or two back to block. Distortion Strike is a card though, unfortunately. Why take out the Ascensions here? In my experience, they've been too slow. Also, don't be afraid to use Grapeshots as removal.
Jund/Junk
-2 Past in Flames, -4 Gitaxian Probe,
+4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
This match is super annoying. The constant discard, efficient creatures, and Deathrite Shaman are the worst. They've got a lot of removal for almost every non-land permanent, and pretty powerful grave hate, so we need to protect ourselves from a variety of angles without diluting our deck. Not as easy as it sounds. The Lightning Bolts are to take out the Deathrite Shamans, but sometimes we can win by going to the face with an active Ascension. Echoing Truth is for combo protection and can temporarily take care of Liliana or Goyf.
UWx Control/Geist of St. Win
-2 Peer Through Depths, -3 Past in Flames, -2 Grapeshot
+2 Defense Grid, +3 Empty the Warrens
Empty the Warrens is really good against counterspell decks, while Grapeshot is not, so this switch is pretty painless. Peer and Defense Grid don't get along. Make sure to keep Gitaxian Probes here because they let you see your opponent's hand and figure out whether or not it's safe to go off.
Scapeshift
EDIT:
-2 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+2 Echoing Truth, +3 Empty the Warrens
This is mainly to deal with random hate like Relic of Progenitus or Grafdigger's Cage. They're slow, so the main trick here is to play around their countermagic, which they're starting to move away from.
Tron
-2 Gitaxian Probe,
+2 Echoing Truth
Echoing Truth is just to handle any problematic permanents like Karn or Wurmcoil Engine. Tron in general has a hard time against Grapeshot, so we just want to be faster than them, which isn't too hard.
Basically, the sideboarding plan boils down to removing the cards you think are going to get hated on. If grave hate, get rid of Past in Flames. If enchantment hate, get rid of Pyromancer Ascension. Permanent-based hate, get Echoing Truth.
First of all, very nice breakdown of how to sideboard. What I want to know is how you would sideboard against Lifegain/Martyr Proc, U/W Control and Merfolk decks?
I have a difficult time with a T2 Martyr putting my opponent at 30+ life, he almost never T1 Martyr becasue of Lightning Bolt. I'm not sure how popular lifegain is in the current meta but at my LGS, I know 2-3 people who play it. I was thinking of adding Skullcrack to my SB.
I think with U/W control, I need to get Defense Grid as an answer to counter, same as Merfolk.
First of all, very nice breakdown of how to sideboard. What I want to know is how you would sideboard against Lifegain/Martyr Proc, U/W Control and Merfolk decks?
I have a difficult time with a T2 Martyr putting my opponent at 30+ life, he almost never T1 Martyr becasue of Lightning Bolt. I'm not sure how popular lifegain is in the current meta but at my LGS, I know 2-3 people who play it. I was thinking of adding Skullcrack to my SB.
I think with U/W control, I need to get Defense Grid as an answer to counter, same as Merfolk.
Vs Martyr, side in all your Bolts, maybe Echoing Truth if you suspect RIP/Rule of Law/Relic. This is a good matchup for you; you goldfish faster than them and they lack hate against you. If they're at 30 life, you should still be able to beat them relatively easily if you have an active Ascension.
Vs control, it's a terrible matchup. The best you can do is side in Empty the Warrens, and anti-counterspell measures like Defense Grid, Gigadrowse and Spell Pierce. Don't side out Pyromancer Ascension.
Vs Merfolk, side in Bolts and Echoing Truth. Despite it being a blue deck, it actually has quite few counterspells. The speed at which it can deal damage is a bigger threat than the counterspells it has to break up your combo.
Forgot how good (and fun) this deck was till I streamed it earlier (went 3-1 losing to G Tron after turn 2 relic game 2, and game 1 I stumbled while he resolved Karn)
Has anyone had luck with Epic again?
Private Mod Note
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Modern:
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget I stream!
In my testing of the YP build, I found Infernal Plunge to still be pretty bad, because I could rely on consistently having a Pyromancer out, and you really don't want to sac Electromancer to it, since that will probably lower your overall mana in the process by making everything else cost 1 more. As I said in my last post, I personally think the Ascension build is much more consistent, but I will test your build.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Finally, I've got a Splinterboard + Warrens as my "Man Plan" because hopefully any deck that you play against in G1 will side out all their removal and side in Canonist or Rule of Law or even GY hate.
2 Arid Mesa
1 Steam Vents
1 Halimar Depths
3 Island
3 Mountain
3 Past in Flames
2 Grapeshot
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Manamorphose
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Desperate Ravings
4 Pyromancer Ascension
2 Increasing Vengeance
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Breeding Pool
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Faithless Looting
Your list looks a lot like mine, but I cut Increasing Vengeance, Peer Through Depths, and Desperate Ravings completely and went up to 4 Lightning Bolt, 4 Faithless Looting, and 4 Grapeshot. Personally I feel like we need to run as many 4-ofs as possible to make sure we can turn on our Ascension ASAP once we find it. Also what is up with the random Breeding Pool? I don't see any green cards in your maindeck or sideboard and it doesn't help you cast Manamorphose any more than a Steam Vents does.
EDIT: Also 15 lands may be pushing it just a little bit. Once we get going it isn't a problem, but missing your second or third land drop can be a pretty big deal.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
I do wanna note that when you get a Noxious Revival and a Manamorphose in the GY another Revival with an active ascension will basically set up an infinite chain for you to draw the deck. Not to mention it can pull an Ascension back if it gets blown up or somethig.
Generally, I'll board out a few Gitaxian Probes for protective spells like Lightning Bolt or Echoing Truth when I expect faster Aggro decks or hate bears.
If I'm up against Leyline of Sanctity or instant-speed grave hate I'll generally side out the Probes or Past in Flames for Empty the Warrens, since Empty takes a much lower Storm count than Grapeshot. For grave hate enchantments, it may be better to side in Echoing Truth over Empty the Warrens.
Against counterspells, I'll board out Probes again for Defense Grid and Dispel.
Against Affinity, I'll take out the Probes yet another time for Shatterstorm. If they've got hate in the form of artifacts, I'll switch in Echoing Truth instead.
I guess in general, my advice boils down to this: board out Gitaxian Probe for protection. Board out Past in Flames for grave hate. Never, ever board out rituals.
Not at all. I'm happy to help out.
3 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Shivan Reef
3 Steam Vents
Creatures
4 Goblin Electromancer
Enchantments
4 Pyromancer Ascension
Spells
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
3 Past in Flames
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Increasing Vengeance
2 Peer Through Depths
2 Desperate Ravings
3 Empty the Warrens
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Echoing Truth
2 Defense Grid
1 Dispel
2 Shatterstorm
1 Shattering Spree
So here's my deck. It's pretty darn similar to Finkel's, with only a couple changes, mainly to the Sideboard.
As I said earlier, Empty the Warrens is mainly when I'm up against grave hate, really fast Aggro, and Leyline of Sanctity. Against grave hate, I'll usually side out my Past in Flames or Gitaxian Probes, depending on what sort of hate I expect. For example, I'll probably take out the PiFs if I expect Relic of Progenitus, Rakdos Charm, or something along those lines. Against Aggro that's not Affinity, I'll take out the Probes to spare my life total.
Lightning Bolt is there to deal with Hate Bears and dudes who hate on our combo like Deathrite Shaman, Ethersworn Canonist, or Thalia. It also goes straight to the face if we need it, but that's more incidental. I tend to side out Gitaxian Probe here as well.
Echoing Truth is just a catch-all answer for other permanents that mess with our ability to combo, like the Leylines of the Void that Finkel lost to in GP Portland. It also has the added appeal of being able to stop Twin and Kiki Pod 's combos. Probes come out here too.
Defense Grid is to protect us from Control decks. I'd side out Peer Through Depths here, since Peer becomes a lot worse the more permanents you add to the deck.
Dispel protects us from Instants we don't want to see, like countermagic or Rakdos Charm. Personally, I've found Dispel to be the weakest card in the Sideboard and I've been considering switching it out for something else. Some cards I've been considering for this slot are Negate, which costs more but can handle more spells, Spell Pierce which also has a wider range, but sucks late game, or Pact of Negation which counters everything for free, but is only really usable to protect ourselves when we go off. This may be more of a personal taste thing, so if I were you, I'd test out a variety of counterspells in this slot and see which works best. One Gitaxian Probe or one Peer usually comes out here too.
Shatterstorm is for Affinity and Affinity only. They're much faster than us, but if we can ramp into Shatterstorm with a ritual, that'll buy us a little time. Probes come out here, but you could also make an argument for Peer Through Depths, since it's slower.
As awesome as Shatterstorm is, it is 4 mana, which is a lot in a Turn 4 format. That's why we have Shattering Spree. Shattering Spree can take care of obnoxious artifacts like Cranial Plating or Birthing Pod, and can keep going the more red mana we have. It's a great way to handle Affinity's early artifacts like Signal Pest.
Some other Sideboard cards to consider based on the Meta are Leyline of Sanctity which protects you from Burn and discard decks, Goblin Bushwhacker which allows you to win the turn you drop Empty the Warrens, or Pyromancer's Swath which allows to win on a lower Storm count.
Here's my general sideboarding guide:
Affinity
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -2 Peer Through Depths
+2 Shatterstorm, +1 Shattering Spree, +3 Lightning Bolt
Affinity can be a rough matchup. You want to board in all your artifact hate to slow them down, and bring Lightning Bolts to handle early threats and their manlands.
Birthing Pod
-4 Pyromancer Ascension, -3 Gitaxian Probe
+1 Shattering Spree, +4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
Pod decks almost always have artifact/enchantment hate, so I like to take out the Ascensions here. Lightning Bolts are for their hate bears. Echoing Truth takes care of the Kiki combo or Voice of Resurgence tokens.
Burn
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens
This match is pretty noninteractive. The main plan is just to go over the top and run them over.
Infect
-4 Gitaxian Probe, -4 Pyromancer Ascension
+4 Lightning Bolt, +3 Empty the Warrens, +1 Dispel
Dispel? Yeah, that's there mainly as a concession to the existence of Apostle's Blessing. Lightning bolts are to take out their dudes as quickly as possible. Empty the Warrens allows us to overrun the Infect player through sheer board position, and we have the option to keep a goblin or two back to block. Distortion Strike is a card though, unfortunately. Why take out the Ascensions here? In my experience, they've been too slow. Also, don't be afraid to use Grapeshots as removal.
Jund/Junk
-2 Past in Flames, -4 Gitaxian Probe,
+4 Lightning Bolt, +2 Echoing Truth
This match is super annoying. The constant discard, efficient creatures, and Deathrite Shaman are the worst. They've got a lot of removal for almost every non-land permanent, and pretty powerful grave hate, so we need to protect ourselves from a variety of angles without diluting our deck. Not as easy as it sounds. The Lightning Bolts are to take out the Deathrite Shamans, but sometimes we can win by going to the face with an active Ascension. Echoing Truth is for combo protection and can temporarily take care of Liliana or Goyf.
UWx Control/Geist of St. Win
-2 Peer Through Depths, -3 Past in Flames, -2 Grapeshot
+2 Defense Grid, +3 Empty the Warrens, +1 Dispel, +1 Echoing Truth
Empty the Warrens is really good against counterspell decks, while Grapeshot is not, so this switch is pretty painless. Peer and Defense Grid don't get along. Make sure to keep Gitaxian Probes here because they let you see your opponent's hand and figure out whether or not it's safe to go off.
Scapeshift
EDIT:
-2 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Past in Flames
+2 Echoing Truth, +3 Empty the Warrens
This is mainly to deal with random hate like Relic of Progenitus or Grafdigger's Cage. They're slow, so the main trick here is to play around their countermagic, which they're starting to move away from.
Tron
-2 Gitaxian Probe,
+2 Echoing Truth
Echoing Truth is just to handle any problematic permanents like Karn or Wurmcoil Engine. Tron in general has a hard time against Grapeshot, so we just want to be faster than them, which isn't too hard.
Basically, the sideboarding plan boils down to removing the cards you think are going to get hated on. If grave hate, get rid of Past in Flames. If enchantment hate, get rid of Pyromancer Ascension. Permanent-based hate, get Echoing Truth.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Good to know. I haven't actually played against Scapeshift with Storm, so my advice there was more inferred from Demestrio's sideboard at GP Portland. That said, he was only running Grafdigger's Cage as one-of. Scapeshift does tend to run a lot of maindeck sweepers like Pyroclasm or Firespout though, which is why I didn't suggest Empty the Warrens. But I can totally see the argument for overwhelming them early, especially since they have a late game inevitability that we can't really match. I'll start boarding out Pasts for Empties in that matchup now. Thanks!
1 Cascade Bluffs
3 Island
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Shivan Reef
2 Steam Vents
4 Goblin Electromancer
3 Desperate Ravings
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Grapeshot
2 Increasing Vengeance
4 Manamorphose
3 Past in Flames
1 Peer Through Depths
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Defense Grid
1 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
3 Empty the Warrens
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Shatterstorm
[360][Unpowered] kcon's Cube
Draft my cube here!
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The other way you can play it is as a 1-of in a Gifts build, but I dislike Gifts now, since you don't have Seething Song.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Storm is a deck with a lot of redundancy. You do not need specific cards to win (other than Grapeshot of course); you need a critical mass of highly interchangeable cards to win. If you can win with four Pyretic Rituals, you can also win with three Rituals and an Increasing Vengeance, for example.
If you need X card in your hand, just cast a draw spell and dig for it. Chances are, you will either draw into it, or draw into more draw spells, which you then cast to dig deeper.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
First of all, very nice breakdown of how to sideboard. What I want to know is how you would sideboard against Lifegain/Martyr Proc, U/W Control and Merfolk decks?
I have a difficult time with a T2 Martyr putting my opponent at 30+ life, he almost never T1 Martyr becasue of Lightning Bolt. I'm not sure how popular lifegain is in the current meta but at my LGS, I know 2-3 people who play it. I was thinking of adding Skullcrack to my SB.
I think with U/W control, I need to get Defense Grid as an answer to counter, same as Merfolk.
Vs Martyr, side in all your Bolts, maybe Echoing Truth if you suspect RIP/Rule of Law/Relic. This is a good matchup for you; you goldfish faster than them and they lack hate against you. If they're at 30 life, you should still be able to beat them relatively easily if you have an active Ascension.
Vs control, it's a terrible matchup. The best you can do is side in Empty the Warrens, and anti-counterspell measures like Defense Grid, Gigadrowse and Spell Pierce. Don't side out Pyromancer Ascension.
Vs Merfolk, side in Bolts and Echoing Truth. Despite it being a blue deck, it actually has quite few counterspells. The speed at which it can deal damage is a bigger threat than the counterspells it has to break up your combo.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Has anyone had luck with Epic again?
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
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