GT - Gush Tendrils

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

@g0teks00
My gush list plays with 4 spells that easily enable a lethal storm count. fastbond, yawgmoth’s will, yawgmoth’s bargain, and chain of vapor. I’d consider these “bombs”. If one of these spells resolves its game over. It tends to not win turn 1 or 2 very often (although it does happen) due to its control heavy nature. But this does allow it to counter offensively; it’s a necessary play style for the build. If I get in a position where my opponent is going to win the next turn because he out controlled me, I can usually start gold fishing and make it happen 80% of the time. It actually got to the point were my play testing partner would lay down win conditions and instead of seeing if would tutor up one of my answers I had, he’d just ask “did you win?” As far as the interactive aspect of the deck, I’d say it’s very different from most combos. Instead of thinking through for the aggressive win it’s more about retaining the ability to win, if that makes any scene. It’s about maintaining a large hand size despite the large amount of control you’re playing and continuing to be something your opponent has to worry about. With a draw engine consisting of 4 brainstorms, gush, and merchant scroll its easy to stay card for card with something like CS with active library.
   As for walking into wins, having a fast bond with a merchant scroll and gush turn 1 is hard to loose with.

[g0tenks00]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm realizing what you're saying about retaining the ability to win, as a lot of my games have been playing control while playing draw spells or scrolls, and retaining a large hand size with the ability to go off when the time is right.

I've been wondering if the 3 misdirections in the original list are optimal ... a lot of times I'll brainstorm, fetch, and then frown as I draw into a misdirection on my draw step. I have respect for the card, but misdirection often seems like a situational card to play either in a counter war, or to use on your opponents ancestral. These uses seem to narrow to warrant its inclusion as its not really a hard counter in any sense.

I was wondering what people thought about 3 mana drain instead. I'm going to test it, but I was just wondering what people thought about this option theoretically. If you've tested this list with drains, let me know! Thx.

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

@g0tenks00
   I think misdirection is considerable as a two of is few decks, I’d almost never run three. You have to keep in mind that you lose a card with misdirection, and with fow that tends to compound, the hand is a valuable resource in the deck, double force can destroy you. With 4x scroll you’re able to fish some out before you play a game winner. It’s more optimal to run duress for things like that though, you can also scope out the opponents hand to make sure you can win the counter war. Misdirection is a dead card in a lot of match ups where duress 99% of the time can do something.
   As far as control in general goes, it apparently isn’t favorable in the Meta right now. My build sort of goes against this right now main decking: 4x drain, 4x fow, and 2x duress. However, hard cast on gush is funny, and yawgmoth’s Bargain is easily castable. I more so treat the drain as mana excel rather than control, playing them aggressively and baiting out fow.

A question in general, I recently cut misdirection from a build because it was terrible. I’m left with two slots. I’ve added imperial seal, which as been good to me, and Teferi. There as to be something better than Teferi, although the instant speed scroll is extremely good. Any suggestions?

[DuKeLiO]

On Saturday I run a more controlish aproach of this deck. Mi list also have a lighter mana base than the standard here. Really it is a creatureless groatog list that kill with Tendrils. It was a 159 man tournament with p9 (like SCG) here in Madrid. I finishd 12th with a 6-2 record due to a very heavy mistake that cost me a won game and the match. This is my list:

No-Gro No-ATog
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
2 Mana Drain
2 Misdirection
4 Repeal
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
4 Mox (no pearl)
2 Island
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta

SB:
1 Glacial Chasm (it was not so good beacuse the man plan)
1 Oxidize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Rebuild
1 Submerge
2 Disrupt
4 Quiriond Dryad
4 Leyline of the Void

I played with less bombs, but also with less mana and dead cards, Repeals are pure gold when comboing beacuse with a mox you can play it "for free" more or less and do not cost life like wraith. It also doubles as defense and the deck are hard to disrupt. With this configuration I not flizzes almost never when gushbond and a lot of times I can stop for comboing only to wait with a heavy countermagic barrier to untap some mana and play a bomb.

[RedACE7500]

Any comments from Kyle about using Brain Freeze instead of Tendrils and how about that updated deck list you mentioned? 

[breed]

@DuKeLiO: have you made a little report of your tournament (even in spanish)? Also, your decklist is quite interesting, you may go in combo later thant classic Gush Tendrils. About your sideboard, in wich matchup did you use Dryads?

Thanks!
 

[DuKeLiO]

I wrote a report in Spanish here. I don't remember two of my matches (there were a very intense weekend). Basically I sided in Dryads against decks against it is very hard combo like Fish and Stax. I believe this aproach against the other with Dryads main is the easier Oath and Ichorid matchup. With 4 repeal I can combo pretty quickly against Ichorid without taking care about chalices for 0, similar for Oath. I also believe this configutarion is superior against all non-Stax non-Fish(include bomberman here) decks.

Also the coverege about the event can be found here.

[breed]

Muchas gracias para todo.

breed, from South of France.

[Mindriders]

I'm new to this thread, but I'm quite interested in this kind of deck and plan to build one.

My primary question to you all is:
How many colors, and hence fetch & dual lands, should this deck sport for optimum stability, versatility, and strength?

Here's why I asked:
1. My environment is kinda full of hate decks (especially graveyard hate)
2. I know that more duals increase your play options, but decrease stability
3. Wastelands are quite abundant where I play

So, please tell me what you guys think.

Thanks

[breed]

Hey all,

I tried the version of DuKeLiO yesterday at a French tournament with a lot of rogue decks. I made a poor result: 2-3. I made some main deck changes:

- 1 Timetwister
- 1 Imperial Seal (I dont have one)
- 1 Island

+ 1 Gifts Ungiven
+ 1 Sol Ring
+ 1 Tolarian Academy

1st round: loose against Goblins (he resolves Magus of the moon in the firs game and a Lackey in the seconde game)
2nd round: loose against Ichorid
3rd round: win against a rogue mono black (I win on turn 1 the 2 games!)
4th round: win against Stax (thanks to Duress and Drain)
5th round: loose against a mono black (missplay)

My feelings about the deck:

- Drain is really good, I will play 1 more next time
- Gift is also really good in it
- I never used Repeal... not sure to keep it in the list, it was most of the time useless
- Tolarian is also a must have in the deck, I was always happy to get it

I'm quite sure the deck has a really good potential to make results. I will try some minor changes in it (removing Repeal, add Drain...).

 

[DuKeLiO]

I believe your changes aren't very good. Timetwister is a very good card against rogue decks, when fastbond in play if you cast it you win that turn. Also is a very good utility card against graveyard, mostly Ichorid. And with 4 Duress also can play it against combo or control and not lose.
I really don't like also Tolarian Academy and Sol Ring. You really need very few colorless mana. I believe the 5th mox is stronger than Sol Ring, to go land, mox, merchant in the first turn. With only 7 mana artifacts, 8 in your version, Academy it is not so good. Also you can`t use it to Gush. The island also add a lot of stability to the mana base.
Gifts Ungiven is very good in earlier versions with more mana ande Desire, but now, with 20 (or 21) mana sources and 2-3 Mana Drains it is too expensive.
Also I think Repeal is the tech of the deck. I'm tried a lot of versions of Gush Tendrils and I believe Repeal is the final card than allows you to combo from nowhere. Also it doubles like defense against things than Chalice at 0, Goblin Lackey in your games and you can also bounce Dryads with some counters to gain some time against Gro.
@breed, maybe the changes you did to the deck were the source of the bad performance, I really include the seal only to beat Ichorid comboing out easily in game 1.
I've changed the deck a little:
+1 Mana Drain
+1 Fetchland
-1 Tropical Island
-1 Imperial Seal
The Imperial x Drain change is due to a variation on my meta towards a more controlish one with less aggro. Also it is better than seal against Stax. I have not to go for the Sea with fetchlands and I can go for Islands to fight against wastelands and non-basic hate.

[breed]

@DuKeLiO: thanks for your answer.

About Timetwister: I expected more Fish decks that's why I remove it...
That's true that Sol Ring was quite useless, Tolarian helped me to cast easily Drain with some moxen in play. I will test more, but with not so much artefacts, I will remove it.

About Gift: his casting cost is expensive, but when you cast it, it's a win. I really love it.

About Repeal: I was unlucky with this, I didn't have it in hand when I want it and I had it in hand when it was useless (game already win). Of course that's a strong card, maybe I will just cut one.

I agree with the +1 Drain, 5 fetch seems already enough, why not playing more island or a swamp?

I will test more the deck and drive it in next french tournament.

 

[DuKeLiO]

I change the 3rd Topical for the 6th fetch beacuse I don't want too many tropicals when I am not playing with the Dryads, but I want green mana when I side in they. I dont like swamp beacuse no-island lands are very bad for the Gush. I find myself playing a Gush in my third turn beacuse I have not more lands to play and I can draw cards and produce a maná to play a Duress + Time Walk or Duress + Scroll or with a mox I can play Merchant + Walk or 2 Merchants.
Timetwister is not so bad against Fish-decks, beacuse his cards are really underpowered, and if we both have mana (and I have beacuse I played twister) I  will win the game only overpowering him with my cards.
Maybe cutting a Repeal can't be very bad but I like it beacuse a lot of games I have to "cycle" it with moxen to simply search may lands.

[breed]

What about playing the fifth mox?  I tried yesterday with some changes maindeck:

- 2 Duress

+ 1 Island (so now, 3 basic island)
+ 1 Mox Pearl

I tried this because I felt sometimes some lack of mana in some games.

[DuKeLiO]

My firsts  version had 23 mana sources, Gifts and Mind's Desire and no Duress. That deck were also very powerful, but I realized I can't beat Flash. I knew flash would be a very played deck in the P9 and took my deck, and GroATog (that beat flash) and built an hybrid. Maybe in a meta with more Stax and Fish the old version can be the right choice, but 4 Duress are a must in heavy combo fields, with or without flash. I believe 20 mana sources are enough against mostly decks and have a chance to beat Stax, but it is a not good matchup. I would not go under 3 Duress. The issue with the 5th mox is that I do not need so colorless mana, I only need it to play the 4 Scroll, demonic, twister, Will, maybe Repeal and the dryads in the sideboard. So I play Lotus Petal over the 5th mox.

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

I’ve currently been running a list consisting of:

1 necropotence
4 dark ritual
4 Force of Will
3 Duress
3 Merchant Scroll
1 regrowth
4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 yawgmoth's bargain
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth
1 Black Lotus
1 sol ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 mana crypt
5 Mox
2 Island
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 tinker
1 memory jar
1 rushing river

sb:
2 quiron dryad
1 thrashing wampus
4 leyline of the void
2 rebuild
2 seal of primodium
1 massacre
1 smother
1 hurkyll's recall
1 platium angel


The best way I think I can describe this thing I guess, is that you play it like stacks, just dropping bomb after bomb. Wampus is amazing against ichorid and the obvious fish. the build can definitely go off turn one, but it’s more stable turn 2 or 3. regrowth tends to play the roll of merchant scroll, except you can do ridiculous things like play two ancestral recalls. Rushing river is very good while combing out, as well as solving problems. The play testing results have been pretty promising although flash is a hard match up. Game two switch memory jar for platinum. grow results are about 60% win and it just seems the this deck can't loose to slaver. as long as  you can fetch the basic's early your in the clear game one, Magus of the moon causes little problem thanks to gush, its best to go rits and yawgmoth's will against it though. It’s very expected of you to play dryad post SB I’ve considered cutting it but it's needed in stacks match ups, as well as the wampus just for aggro sake. The drains haven’t been worth it; they get in the way while comboing out and don’t deal with trick bind, i'd like to run a 4th duress but i can't bring my self to cut anything. The SB seems to need work however, the stacks match up is common in my Meta, and seal great because it plays through in they eyes and duel against oath, witch is a pretty favorable match up, out with rits, in with platium and seal. I know the rits bargain, jar, and necro have fallen out of favor in most builds, but i just haven’t lost a game with necro and bargain in play, bargain is castable thanks to gush, and jar has saved my more times than I can count, I’ve literally fizzled once.  I'd also really like to fit gifts in, especially with the regrowth, but the merchant scroll for the early recall seems to be more effective at a lower cost. Brain freeze has just proven to complicated to work out in many games, I'd highly recomend the tendrills.