I have to get back to the think tank on this one. I love the idea of splashing black for waste not and black has some of the best spot removal.
I tried to toy with blue. There were some serum visions and other suboptimal cantrips. The problem with splashing blue into my build was that it just became a crappier UR storm deck that relied on the GY over Ascension and goblin electromancer.
I will tinker with black, but with the addition of waste not being the win con, I may have to change the whole dredge concept so as not to dump the enchantment straight into the gy.
The infinite engine with the ascension is to power out an infinite grapeshot loop. The old deck a few years ago used Lightning bolt instead. I think the pyromancer ascension engine takes up too much space and is a win more. Cutting the package could open the door for splashing or a streamlined mono deck.
My thought process behind burning inquiry is that it was my only interaction, even if it was random. T1 inquiry made alot of opponent's keepable hands turn into trash.
Time to go to work! Thanks for some feedback. I feel so restrained by this modern cardpool but im dedicated to make some magic happen here.
I suppose we should start this deck here, in budget, and with any luck turn it into something amazing. I consider this build to be budget in the sense that it has a mono color mana base and is composed mostly of cheap commons and rares. At heart, I am a Legacy TES player and everytime I have the opportunity, I try to bring that same spirit of combo goodness to Modern. Unbanning the greatest dredger of all time may have opened the door:
For those interested in any "eternal" format, please buy into fetchlands now. Owning just a few opens the doors to numerous possibilities in deck building.
The premise here is simple, natural storm into Empty the Warrens for 8+ goblins or follow the old Ascension route to Grapeshot. With an active Ascension, you can cast a Manamorphose x2. With a Noxious Revival in the bin, make 4 mana, cast revival x2 and return the Manamorphose and Revival to the top of your library. Infinite mana, infinite storm.
There has been limited playtesting, mostly goldfishing to force a T1 draw/discard and start dredging T2. However, a T1 Burning Inquiry is usually a slap in the face to an opponent who has a smug grin after they decide to keep.
I understand this build is fragile to GY hate, but I have been trying my hardest to bring a new combo deck to the forefront, especially post Pod.
I encourage everyone to be as CRITICAL as possible. I love this idea, question its competitiveness, but love its budgetness.
I play ANT, and Durward's article really got my attention. However, after toying with both his first and second incarnations of cruise storm, I have come to some sour grape conclusions:
I'll concentrate on your refinement instead of his list.
First, you gave up duress. Having 6-8 discard spells is crucial but won't become apparent in goldfishing. You have opted to rely on (usually) blind therapies. That's no good T1 if they're holding a chalice of the void.
Secondly, this build is more like a TES variant. TES is built to be a bit faster than ANT, so it has a 5c mana base to support all sorts of fun tricks, which makes the basics look out of place. infernal tutor is used in conjunction with BW to find wincons. Without tutor, you have cut yourself down to 5 wincons in the hope of cantripping into them. Also, without the combination of tutor and lion's eye diamond, you lose the ability to "demonic tutor" with hellbent and you lose the explosive mana that LED creates. ad nauseam IS the best current draw engine for storm. Blindly drawing three, in comparison to drawing 10+ makes a huge difference. Not to mention that with nut draws, you can go off T1.
I applaud the effort, and would never encourage anyone to stop brewing but this is where I'm at with cruise storm: You need ad nauseam, because I believe it to be better than cruise. TES has 7 tutors, ANT has 4. Both wish and tutor need LED to be optimal.
Simply put: ANT and TES do what you're trying to do, just better. And in a meta where wasteland and stifle are at an all time low, stock storm builds are a good choice to play.
Without actually knowing your meta, im willing to bet that it is unpowered and full of critters. So instead of derailing your enthusiastic approach to vintage deck building, here is my constructive criticism:
White and green are arguably the weakest colors in vintage. While offering board control, you lack hand disruption and hard counters. Balance is a form of hand and board control. However, you lack any tutors to find your one copy. Additionally, Balance works best when you dump your hand, essentially making it a Mind Twist. You lack the ability to dump your hand quickly while maintaining positive control of the board. Balancing Act is far worse in that not only does it cost 4, but it leaves your opponent a choice.
The best creatures in vintage are CMC 1's and 2's. Take Dark Confidant for example. In theory, you wipe their board and pass the turn. They play a mana rock, a land, and Dark Confidant. Now, you are in a situation where they will slap you for 2 while generating card advantage. Meanwhile, you are in topdeck mode. Merfolk and goblins will continue to swarm while you wait for the next boardwipe.
I cannot offer any real solutions here, so here are a few suggestions:
Delete the totems and the acorns. If it's crowd control youre after, consider Moat Humility Swords to plowshares path to exile
These are in color, are much more efficient at doing the job, and take up considerably fewer slots.
If the crucible lock is your go to lock down, fastbond is what you need. It also makes oodles of life with Zuran orb.
I cannot offer a better win condition in this shell of an idea. However, the rack has got to be way too slow. Maybe, a fatty the way Angel Stax used to do it. Or hell, toss in Earthcraft and Squirrel's Nest.
The bottom line from what I see, is that you lack tutors, consistent hand disruption, hard counters, an immediate board presence, and an active win condition. I hope this helped somewhat. If anything, your deck idea is something new to dissect.
It doesn't feel like it has to be restricted. Potential brokeness in niche decks isn't format warping. It'll see use in dedicated combo, but shop, control, and null rod aggro have little to no use for it. And if a rule alteration can bring storm and ritual combo a little love in the meta, then im all for it.
Mox opal aside, wizards had been working on the new legend rule for quite some time. It surprises me that with all that playtesting they overlooked some powerful plays, most notably cradle in 1.5.
Did wizards just reprint a restricted card? Basically yes. Oh yes they did.
ignoring the new ability, take any card on the type 1 restricted list and add B to its cc. Some cards may lose their broken status but maintain the quality of "good". Most cards are restricted or banned not necessarily due to sheer awesomeness but because of problems when allowed to play with multiples. Mind's desire is a great example of format warping when played in multiples. As a one of, it barely made a dent in the type 1 scene.
im not suggesting this gets restricted, but the fact that a potential draw7 that also destroys an opponents sculpted hand, when used in multiples, may cause some issues.
At the very least, I see this as a replacement for Diminishing Returns because UB is usually easier to make than UU with dark ritual.
I tried to toy with blue. There were some serum visions and other suboptimal cantrips. The problem with splashing blue into my build was that it just became a crappier UR storm deck that relied on the GY over Ascension and goblin electromancer.
I will tinker with black, but with the addition of waste not being the win con, I may have to change the whole dredge concept so as not to dump the enchantment straight into the gy.
The infinite engine with the ascension is to power out an infinite grapeshot loop. The old deck a few years ago used Lightning bolt instead. I think the pyromancer ascension engine takes up too much space and is a win more. Cutting the package could open the door for splashing or a streamlined mono deck.
My thought process behind burning inquiry is that it was my only interaction, even if it was random. T1 inquiry made alot of opponent's keepable hands turn into trash.
Time to go to work! Thanks for some feedback. I feel so restrained by this modern cardpool but im dedicated to make some magic happen here.
4 Stinkweed Imp
Creatures [8]
4 Burning Inquiry
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Empty the Warrens
4 Faithless Looting
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Goblin Lore
1 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
3 Noxious Revival
2 Past in Flames
4 Pyretic Ritual
1 Pyromancer Ascension
1 Reforge the Soul
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain
For those interested in any "eternal" format, please buy into fetchlands now. Owning just a few opens the doors to numerous possibilities in deck building.
The premise here is simple, natural storm into Empty the Warrens for 8+ goblins or follow the old Ascension route to Grapeshot. With an active Ascension, you can cast a Manamorphose x2. With a Noxious Revival in the bin, make 4 mana, cast revival x2 and return the Manamorphose and Revival to the top of your library. Infinite mana, infinite storm.
There has been limited playtesting, mostly goldfishing to force a T1 draw/discard and start dredging T2. However, a T1 Burning Inquiry is usually a slap in the face to an opponent who has a smug grin after they decide to keep.
I understand this build is fragile to GY hate, but I have been trying my hardest to bring a new combo deck to the forefront, especially post Pod.
I encourage everyone to be as CRITICAL as possible. I love this idea, question its competitiveness, but love its budgetness.
I'll concentrate on your refinement instead of his list.
First, you gave up duress. Having 6-8 discard spells is crucial but won't become apparent in goldfishing. You have opted to rely on (usually) blind therapies. That's no good T1 if they're holding a chalice of the void.
Secondly, this build is more like a TES variant. TES is built to be a bit faster than ANT, so it has a 5c mana base to support all sorts of fun tricks, which makes the basics look out of place. infernal tutor is used in conjunction with BW to find wincons. Without tutor, you have cut yourself down to 5 wincons in the hope of cantripping into them. Also, without the combination of tutor and lion's eye diamond, you lose the ability to "demonic tutor" with hellbent and you lose the explosive mana that LED creates.
ad nauseam IS the best current draw engine for storm. Blindly drawing three, in comparison to drawing 10+ makes a huge difference. Not to mention that with nut draws, you can go off T1.
I applaud the effort, and would never encourage anyone to stop brewing but this is where I'm at with cruise storm: You need ad nauseam, because I believe it to be better than cruise. TES has 7 tutors, ANT has 4. Both wish and tutor need LED to be optimal.
Simply put: ANT and TES do what you're trying to do, just better. And in a meta where wasteland and stifle are at an all time low, stock storm builds are a good choice to play.
White and green are arguably the weakest colors in vintage. While offering board control, you lack hand disruption and hard counters. Balance is a form of hand and board control. However, you lack any tutors to find your one copy. Additionally, Balance works best when you dump your hand, essentially making it a Mind Twist. You lack the ability to dump your hand quickly while maintaining positive control of the board.
Balancing Act is far worse in that not only does it cost 4, but it leaves your opponent a choice.
The best creatures in vintage are CMC 1's and 2's. Take Dark Confidant for example. In theory, you wipe their board and pass the turn. They play a mana rock, a land, and Dark Confidant. Now, you are in a situation where they will slap you for 2 while generating card advantage. Meanwhile, you are in topdeck mode. Merfolk and goblins will continue to swarm while you wait for the next boardwipe.
I cannot offer any real solutions here, so here are a few suggestions:
Delete the totems and the acorns. If it's crowd control youre after, consider
Moat
Humility
Swords to plowshares
path to exile
These are in color, are much more efficient at doing the job, and take up considerably fewer slots.
If the crucible lock is your go to lock down, fastbond is what you need. It also makes oodles of life with Zuran orb.
I cannot offer a better win condition in this shell of an idea. However, the rack has got to be way too slow. Maybe, a fatty the way Angel Stax used to do it. Or hell, toss in Earthcraft and Squirrel's Nest.
The bottom line from what I see, is that you lack tutors, consistent hand disruption, hard counters, an immediate board presence, and an active win condition. I hope this helped somewhat. If anything, your deck idea is something new to dissect.
Mox opal aside, wizards had been working on the new legend rule for quite some time. It surprises me that with all that playtesting they overlooked some powerful plays, most notably cradle in 1.5.
ignoring the new ability, take any card on the type 1 restricted list and add B to its cc. Some cards may lose their broken status but maintain the quality of "good". Most cards are restricted or banned not necessarily due to sheer awesomeness but because of problems when allowed to play with multiples. Mind's desire is a great example of format warping when played in multiples. As a one of, it barely made a dent in the type 1 scene.
im not suggesting this gets restricted, but the fact that a potential draw7 that also destroys an opponents sculpted hand, when used in multiples, may cause some issues.
At the very least, I see this as a replacement for Diminishing Returns because UB is usually easier to make than UU with dark ritual.