TPS goldfishing

[DubDub]

Cast Cabal Ritual (storm 4 in the yard: Time Walk, Gifts, Dark Rit, Petal so you no thresh even if you use the fetch)

I think you've forgotten the other two cards from Gifts (he said DT and Tinker), plus the Grim Tutor, as he said he would cast Cabal Rit after getting Will.  I think he's correct to say Cabal Rit will have threshold.  Am I mistaken?

1.) Would you keep this hand?
2.) What would your opening turn play sequence be?

1.   Sea, Delta, Duress, Ponder, Gifts, Lotus, Force

Keep.  Sea Duress Go.  T2 Ponder depending on topdeck.

2.   Swamp, Island, Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Ponder, Time Walk

Keep.  Delta->Sea, Pearl, Walk.  T2 Ponder depending on topdeck.

3.   Sea, Island, Duress, Desire, Demonic, Vault, Force

Keep.  Sea Duress Go.  T2 Demonic likely for Ancestral (any mox drawn).

4.   Sea x2, Delta, Ancestral, Cabal Rit., Gifts, Desire

Delta-Island Go.  Upkeep Ancestral.

5.   Swamp, Dark Rit., Desire, Necro, Duress, Force, Fact

Swamp, Rit, Necro with Force Backup.  Probably pitch Fact.

6.   Sea, Delta, Duress, Sol Ring, Brainstorm, Yawg. Will, Emerald

Sea go.  Brainstorm in response to Duress, otherwise T2 Delta.  BS.  Crack fetch and Duress.  Depends on what BS shows.

7.   Sea x2, Dark Rit., Demonic, Mana Vault, Chain, Mystical

Sea -Vault.  T2 Vault makes 3.  Chain Vault and replay = 5 Colorless.  Ritual Demonic->Bargain.

8.   Island, Dark Rit, Vamp, Force, Misd., Yawg. Bargain, Sol Ring

MULL

9.   Sea, Ruby, Pearl, Crypt, Duress, Cabal Rit., Force

MULL

10.   Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Force x2, Fact, Cabal Rit.

Delta-Island, Peal, Sol Ring.  T2 Fact.

11.   Island, Chain, Dark Rit., Cabal Rit., Yawg. Will, Seal, Force

MULL

12.   Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

MULL

13.   Sea, Delta, Emerald, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Tinker, Force

Delta-Island, Emerald, Sol Ring, Tinker (Emerald).  If need to force, get Jar.

14.   Swamp, Petal, Dark Rit., Duress, Force, Seal, Necro

Swamp, Duress.  Petal, Dark Rit, Necro.

15.   Swamp, Duress x2, Force, Chain, Brainstorm, Yawg. Bargain

MULL

16.   Sea, Academy, Island, Ponder, Time Walk, Misd., Inkwell

Island, Ponder

17.   Delta, Jet, Sol Ring, Dark Rit, Brainstorm, Desire, Force

Delta Go.  EOT Fetch Island, BS.

18.   Sea, Island, Cabal Rit., Necro, Tendrils, Mystical, Force

Island Go.  T2 Sea, Cabal Rit, Necro.

19.   Sea, Swamp, Delta, Petal, Dark Rit., Mana Vault, Chain

Keepable, but I would likely mull.

20.   Delta x2, Pearl, Emerald, Scroll, Duress, Cabal Rit.

Delta-Sea Duress  Pearl.  T2 Delta-Island, Scroll for Acall and play it.


I would agree generally with what you said about Mulls/Godhands.  I would be glad to receive feedback.

[LennoxLewis86]

@ Marske,

The reason I'm getting Tinker over Lotus is that Tinker can also get a Memory Jar (if I were to get the Petal and Tinker)
In all other scenarios the Tinker can fetch a Lotus and I'll win easily. Gifting up Lotus is asking for it to be put into the grave, which is a waste..
DubDub is right, when casting the Cabal Ritual I would have Time Walk, DT, Tinker, Gifts, Petal, Dark Ritual, Grim in graveyard.
Like I said earlier, the reason Tinker can be used to find Lotus is because you have a lot of mana available.. It helps achieving threshold, builds up storm and gains back mana after replaying the Tinkered artifact.
I really think gifting up Tinker and leaving Lotus in the library is a good play here. I think you and Stormanimagus are not the only ones who would give me the Petal and Grim. The plan is obviously a nasty trap.. Petal seems harmless but is really dangerous in each combination of cards, it's the black source I'm looking for and chances are big I'll be getting it..

[LennoxLewis86]

Storms post is interesting to say the least. I'd like to share my take on these hands:

1.) Sea, Delta, Duress, Ponder, Gifts, Lotus, Force

I'd keep this hand and start of with Delta and Lotus. Then I'll Gift end of turn with FoW back-up saving the Duress to remove his best card turn 2. I'll most likely have the superior hand, especially if my opponent would try and FoW my Gifts.

2.) Swamp, Island, Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Ponder, Time Walk

Keep. Turn 1 Time Walk after dropping the artifacts. Then Ponder on turn two having plenty of mana available to cast most bombs.

3.) Sea, Island, Duress, Desire, Demonic, Vault, Force

I'd play turn 1 Duress and try for a Desire for 4 or 5 next turn. If I don't topdeck a source or a land I can take the safer route of A-call with FoW back-up.

4.) Sea x2, Delta, Ancestral, Cabal Rit., Gifts, Desire

Delta and in upkeep crack fetch for Island and play Ancestral. Hopefully it doesn't get countered because the hand would be considered weak if it wasn't for Ancestral Recall.

5.) Swamp, Dark Rit., Desire, Necro, Duress, Force, Fact

Keep obviously. Turn one Ritual into Necro with Force back-up. I agree on pitching Fact because Desire is a better bomb with Necro on the table.

6.) Sea, Delta, Duress, Sol Ring, Brainstorm, Yawg. Will, Emerald

Keep, having Yawgmoth's Will and some decent acceleration along with the possibility of Brainstorming and then shuffling via the fetchland. So first turn Sea with an end of turn Brainstorm.

7.) Sea x2, Dark Rit., Demonic, Mana Vault, Chain, Mystical

I'd keep and Mystical up Ritual and try to go off via Will next turn. But against a blue deck another approach is needed I guess.

8.) Island, Dark Rit, Vamp, Force, Misd., Yawg. Bargain, Sol Ring

Mulligan.

9.) Sea, Ruby, Pearl, Crypt, Duress, Cabal Rit., Force

Mulligan, too much acceleration.. too little action.

10.) Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Force x2, Fact, Cabal Rit.

Keep. Turn two FoF with FoW back-up sounds good to me. Also, the Fact works well with the Cabal Ritual in hand.

11.) Island, Chain, Dark Rit., Cabal Rit., Yawg. Will, Seal, Force

Mulligan, hmm.. second time I'm stuck with an Island and black spells in hand.

12.) Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

Keep, this might sound crazy but I've got double FoW in hand and drawing one blue source would most likely push me over the edge because I have Ancestral.

13.) Sea, Delta, Emerald, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Tinker, Force

Turn 1 Tinker with FoW back-up. I'd most likely go for the robot but I agree on the fact that having to pitch Time Walk to FoW will make Memory Jar better.

14.) Swamp, Petal, Dark Rit., Duress, Force, Seal, Necro

Keep. Swamp, Duress, then Petal, Ritual, Necro. Then I would pay 5 life, maybe 6.

15.) Swamp, Duress x2, Force, Chain, Brainstorm, Yawg. Bargain

Mull, although I could take the risk of keeping because it has so much disruption. TPS always has a good chance when it comes down to topdeckbattles.

16.) Sea, Academy, Island, Ponder, Time Walk, Misd., Inkwell

Keep and lead with Island into Ponder.

17.) Delta, Jet, Sol Ring, Dark Rit, Brainstorm, Desire, Force

Keep. Play Delta and EoT BS.

18.) Sea, Island, Cabal Rit., Necro, Tendrils, Mystical, Force

Keep, turn 2 Necro with FoW back-up.

19.) Sea, Swamp, Delta, Petal, Dark Rit., Mana Vault, Chain

Mull, way too much risk in hoping for a topdeck.

20.) Delta x2, Pearl, Emerald, Scroll, Duress, Cabal Rit.

Keep. Turn 1 Duress and a second turn Recall via Merchant Scroll.

It looks like hands # 1, 5, 7, 13, 14 and 18 are strong hands that have the ability to win by turn 3 without relying too much on topdecks.
I'm mulliganing a total of five hands, which is decent. The main problem with bad hands was being colorscrewed because of basics...

I'm more a Grim Long player than a TPS player so some plays could be too cutthroat. I'd love to read the decisions of TMD's best storm players.

[Marske]

1.) Sea, Delta, Duress, Ponder, Gifts, Lotus, Force
I'd keep this hand and start of with Delta and Lotus. Then I'll Gift end of turn with FoW back-up saving the Duress to remove his best card turn 2. I'll most likely have the superior hand, especially if my opponent would try and FoW my Gifts.

Keep this hand, but I'd start with Sea, Duress, Lotus. Gifting at this point seems irrelevant because you'd need mana + bomb to do anything relevant. I'd play a little more cautious and take at least 1 draw and maybe ponder (depending on the draw to setup)

2.) Swamp, Island, Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Ponder, Time Walk
Keep. Turn 1 Time Walk after dropping the artifacts. Then Ponder on turn two having plenty of mana available to cast most bombs.

Biggest problem here is that you don't have any protection, even if you draw a bomb if they have a force you're nowhere. It's still a keep but I won't drop the bomb on turn 1.2 (time walk turn) unless I suspect they're not running any counters. If you do and they stop it you're in topdeck mode because you don't really have any digging power after you already used up ponder.

3.) Sea, Island, Duress, Desire, Demonic, Vault, Force
I'd play turn 1 Duress and try for a Desire for 4 or 5 next turn.

This is a strange hand although it's still a keep. Desire seems your most likely play

4.) Sea x2, Delta, Ancestral, Cabal Rit., Gifts, Desire
Delta and in upkeep crack fetch for Island and play Ancestral. Hopefully it doesn't get countered because the hand would be considered weak if it wasn't for Ancestral Recall.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

5.) Swamp, Dark Rit., Desire, Necro, Duress, Force, Fact
Keep obviously. Turn one Ritual into Necro with Force back-up. I agree on pitching Fact because Desire is a better bomb with Necro on the table.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

6.) Sea, Delta, Duress, Sol Ring, Brainstorm, Yawg. Will, Emerald

Keep, having Yawgmoth's Will and some decent acceleration along with the possibility of Brainstorming and then shuffling via the fetchland. So first turn Sea with an end of turn Brainstorm.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86 although it depends highly on being on the play/draw if you're on the draw and they open with Duress and they know what deck you are, you'd lose Will for sure and that would put you in a world of problems

7.) Sea x2, Dark Rit., Demonic, Mana Vault, Chain, Mystical

I'd keep and Mystical up Ritual and try to go off via Will next turn. But against a blue deck another approach is needed I guess.

Disagree on the play, You have zero protection, a FoW stops you, I agree on the hand being a keep but you need protection.

8.) Island, Dark Rit, Vamp, Force, Misd., Yawg. Bargain, Sol Ring
Mulligan.

Why Mulligan ? This hand only lacks a B mana source to put it over the top. You have 10 lands, 1 Petal, 1 Jet, 1 Lotus so 13/53 shot at drawing a black source and going bargain, you have protection in FoW / Misdir which can also be used to grab an turn 1 ancestral if the opponent is stupid enough to run it out. I'd defenitely keep this hand.

9.) Sea, Ruby, Pearl, Crypt, Duress, Cabal Rit., Force

Mulligan, too much acceleration.. too little action.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

10.) Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Force x2, Fact, Cabal Rit.

Keep. Turn two FoF with FoW back-up sounds good to me. Also, the Fact works well with the Cabal Ritual in hand.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

11.) Island, Chain, Dark Rit., Cabal Rit., Yawg. Will, Seal, Force

Mulligan, hmm.. second time I'm stuck with an Island and black spells in hand.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86 having will in your opener is  very bad if you can't go with a turn 2 play and protection

12.) Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

Keep, this might sound crazy but I've got double FoW in hand and drawing one blue source would most likely push me over the edge because I have Ancestral.

Depends highly on the matchup and being on the play / draw. You have a decent shot at grabbing a U mana source (12 land, Petal, Sapph, Lotus 15/53) although it's a bit of a risk.

13.) Sea, Delta, Emerald, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Tinker, Force

Turn 1 Tinker with FoW back-up. I'd most likely go for the robot but I agree on the fact that having to pitch Time Walk to FoW will make Memory Jar better.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

14.) Swamp, Petal, Dark Rit., Duress, Force, Seal, Necro

Keep. Swamp, Duress, then Petal, Ritual, Necro. Then I would pay 5 life, maybe 6.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

15.) Swamp, Duress x2, Force, Chain, Brainstorm, Yawg. Bargain

Mull, although I could take the risk of keeping because it has so much disruption. TPS always has a good chance when it comes down to topdeckbattles.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86 on the topdeck battle etc. Disagree on the mulligan part, you only need a U source and you can easily get yourself into turn 3 with the amount of disruption you have. With Brianstorm you can even dig for acceleration.

16.) Sea, Academy, Island, Ponder, Time Walk, Misd., Inkwell

Keep and lead with Island into Ponder.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86, although it depends highly on what matchup, you basically have zero gas or tutors going and hardly any protection.

17.) Delta, Jet, Sol Ring, Dark Rit, Brainstorm, Desire, Force

Keep. Play Delta and EoT BS.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

18.) Sea, Island, Cabal Rit., Necro, Tendrils, Mystical, Force

Keep, turn 2 Necro with FoW back-up.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86 and you already have tendrils and a topdeck tutor to grab other stuff.

19.) Sea, Swamp, Delta, Petal, Dark Rit., Mana Vault, Chain

Mull, way too much risk in hoping for a topdeck.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

20.) Delta x2, Pearl, Emerald, Scroll, Duress, Cabal Rit.

Keep. Turn 1 Duress and a second turn Recall via Merchant Scroll.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86

It looks like hands # 1, 5, 7, 13, 14 and 18 are strong hands that have the ability to win by turn 3 without relying too much on topdecks.
I'm mulliganing a total of five hands, which is decent. The main problem with bad hands was being colorscrewed because of basics...

Although I'd like to add that these hands and this kind of theory is useless without the knowledge "which matchup" and if you're on the play / draw or if it's game 1-2-3... Some hands that seem very keepable are mulligans when facing Stax for example. I've said this before, you can't just simply judge a hand with TPS soly on the fact "does it have protection, bomb, accel" if yes then keep... A lot of different factors come into the equation.

I'm more a Grim Long player than a TPS player so some plays could be too cutthroat. I'd love to read the decisions of TMD's best storm players.

Do I qualify as one of "TMD's best storm players" ? If not forget this response...

[LennoxLewis86]

Keep this hand, but I'd start with Sea, Duress, Lotus. Gifting at this point seems irrelevant because you'd need mana + bomb to do anything relevant. I'd play a little more cautious and take at least 1 draw and maybe ponder (depending on the draw to setup)

I agree 100% with playing the Sea instead of the Delta because we're holding Ponder. I guess you're also right on waiting to Gift but getting cards like Necro, Ritual, DT and Ancestral for example seems so broken... =(

Biggest problem here is that you don't have any protection, even if you draw a bomb if they have a force you're nowhere. It's still a keep but I won't drop the bomb on turn 1.2 (time walk turn) unless I suspect they're not running any counters. If you do and they stop it you're in topdeck mode because you don't really have any digging power after you already used up ponder.

Agreed

Disagree on the play, You have zero protection, a FoW stops you, I agree on the hand being a keep but you need protection.

Yes, too eager to win quickly. There is no excuse in not tutoring up some protection and go from there.

Why Mulligan ? This hand only lacks a B mana source to put it over the top. You have 10 lands, 1 Petal, 1 Jet, 1 Lotus so 13/53 shot at drawing a black source and going bargain, you have protection in FoW / Misdir which can also be used to grab a turn 1 ancestral if the opponent is stupid enough to run it out. I'd defenitely keep this hand.

Considering we're on the play it looks so dangerous but all factors considered I'd have to agree with you. Drawing that manasource or lucky Mis-D on Ancestral should close the deal when played.

Agreed with LennoxLewis86 on the topdeck battle etc. Disagree on the mulligan part, you only need a U source and you can easily get yourself into turn 3 with the amount of disruption you have. With Brianstorm you can even dig for acceleration.

Yes, BS should push it over the top but there is a chance of drawing dead (finding no U or Brainstorming into junk) and wriggling out of a predicament like that is really tough.

Although I'd like to add that these hands and this kind of theory is useless without the knowledge "which matchup" and if you're on the play / draw or if it's game 1-2-3... Some hands that seem very keepable are mulligans when facing Stax for example. I've said this before, you can't just simply judge a hand with TPS soly on the fact "does it have protection, bomb, accel" if yes then keep... A lot of different factors come into the equation.

Agreed, Dnine's way of presenting the situation has more information making it more realistic and interesting. Still, I think this is a nice little mulligan quiz to make..

Do I qualify as one of "TMD's best storm players" ? If not forget this response...

You know that's a rhetorical question, Marske

[Stormanimagus]

@Markse- point well taken that these hands would change dramatically on the draw or depending on the matchup. Notice though how I said this is Game 1 on the play. I'm simply trying to analyze the objective power and strategy of each hand so I can begin to create the building blocks of proper TPS play strategy. We could run another experiment where we know it is now game 2 against deck X after a game 1 loss. Or a game 1 win.  Anyway, here's my take on how to play the hands I posted:

1. Sea, Delta, Duress, Ponder, Gifts, Lotus, Force

I agree with Marske here. If you go for turn 1 Gifts with FoW backup you run the risk of being stopped in your tracks by Turn 1 Sphere or Turn 1 Wasteland. You don't want to run yourself into a wall of mana-denial if you are in the Stax matchup as you don't have another tutor/bounce in hand. Against Tezz turn 1 Duress should also be the stronger play as you'll be able to grab their biggest threat and if they protect with FoW you may want to FoW back as they probably have something ridiculous like turn 1 Tinker or Turn 1 Vault/Key. Really the only matchup where Turn 1 Gifts might be better is against Belcher or Fast combo as you can then possibly set up a turn 2 or turn 3 win, but even then you could be sorely mistaken when they pull off the Turn 1 win with Duress/FoW back-up to match your FoW 1-for-1 (I've seen it happen folks, especially with decks like ANT). Bottom line, you want to get the maximum use out of Duress here and in Game 1 on the play that is to play it on Turn 1.

So the play here is:

Detla cracked for Swamp--> Duress. Lotus (unless they have double null rod with turn 1 accel and you couldn't take it out of their hand). Go.

2.   Swamp, Island, Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Ponder, Time Walk

On this hand I think Time Walk's usefulness depends greatly on what you reveal off Ponder and so I'd lead with Ponder. I realize that getting ahead on lands is important in certain matchups, but you really don't have a bomb here and you need to maximize your first couple turns. Now the real question here is "do I fetch with Delta to start?" or "do I wait?" This is a tough call. If you don't fetch before playing Ponder you open yourself up to a slightly higher likelihood of revealing useless lands off Ponder. If you do fetch you've now denied yourself a shuffle effect. On the play, game 1 I also like the idea with leading with basic land and then following up with a land that can't be immediately wasted. So, actually, I might take this line of play.

Turn 1: Island, Ponder. Pearl, Sol Ring. Go.
Turn 2: Delta-->Crack if Ponder revealed Crap. Swamp-->Time Walk if it revealed a good setup cards or a bomb.

Now I could be way off on this hand and perhaps turn 1 Time Walk is indeed the right play, but I'm simply trying to point out that the lines of play open to TPS are vast.

3.   Sea, Island, Duress, Desire, Demonic, Vault, Force

This hand is tricky, but I think the right call is:

Turn 1: Sea, Duress.
Turn 2: Island-->Vault, Then go for Desire if you drew a free artifact mana source or ritual. If not. Go for Desire on Turn 3.

This hand seems like a hand where you want to maximize the likelihood of a decent sized Desire. since you have no Rituals/Lotus in hand Demonic Tutor's power here is not in finding Yawg. Win, but rather in sculpting the right hand for maximum Desire.

4.   Sea x2, Delta, Ancestral, Cabal Rit., Gifts, Desire

This hand actually seems pretty solid to me. Obviously a lot hinges on whether they have turn 1 FoW or Misd. for your Ancestral, but you have to play the odds here and go for:

Turn 1: Delta-->Island, Ancestral.
Turn 2: Entirely dependent on what you drew off Ancestral.

5.   Swamp, Dark Rit., Desire, Necro, Duress, Force, Fact

All right. These hands are easy in some ways, but more difficult in others. Obviously you lead with Necro, but how much life do you pay? Now I like being aggressive with Necro when I'm on the play and it is a turn 1 protected spell. Depending on whether I have to use my FoW or not I'd probably spend 15-16 life on Necro. Why 15-16 you ask?

Well, if my intention is to maximize the likelihood of a turn 2 kill then I need to have 4 life left for:

1- Possible Grim Tutor
2- Possible Fetch
3- Possible Vamp/Seal + Dig.
4- Possible FoW.

Or any combination of those 4. Now obviously 4 life is NOT sufficient for Grim Tutor --> Yawg. Win --> Grim Tutor, but that line of play is very unlikely as Grim Tutor will probably just be used to find Lotus to up the Storm Count.

15-16 life may be the wrong choice, but I'd have to hear some pretty awesome evidence to the contrary.

6.   Sea, Delta, Duress, Sol Ring, Brainstorm, Yawg. Will, Emerald

This hand is pretty standard. I'd probably go:

Turn 1: Delta--> Swamp, Duress. Emerald --> Ring. Go.
Turn 2: Sea --> BS.

7.   Sea x2, Dark Rit., Demonic, Mana Vault, Chain, Mystical

This hand is very dependent on Demonic Tutor resolving so I'd say that Mystical on your opponents first EOT is the play. But what do you get? Well, if you go for FoW and try to protect a turn 2 Yawg. Win you will come up short on mana. Tinker might be a different story:

Turn 1: Sea. Go. EOT play Mystical finding FoW.
Turn 2: Sea. Play Ritual. Play Vault. Tap Vault. You now have BB3 in the pool and U/B available in the second Sea. If you play Demonic you now have B2 available + U/B. If you find Yawg. Will with Demonic (which seems your best line of play for lethal Tendrils this turn) you going to have 0 in your pool after resolving Yawg. Will. All you have in your yard is 1 Ritual at this point so you'll fizzle out.

So The Tendrils route is a dud. What about Tinker--> Robot backed up by FoW. Let's see if that works.

Turn 1: Sea. Go. EOT play Mystical finding FoW.
Turn 2: Sea. Play Ritual. Play Vault. Tap Vault. You now have BB3 again. Play Demonic for Tinker and play Tinker--> Robot with FoW backup.

All right, so the question is: Can a 3 turn clock that doesn't start beating until Turn 3 really race? You are also decimating your hand to achieve this end. I'd say that it is risky and probably the wrong play. So, since FoW is inferior in both circumstances to Ancestral I'd probably Mystical up Ancestral.

So, in conclusion:

Turn 1: Sea. GO. EOT play Mystical finding Ancestral.
Turn 2. Play Ancestral. Go from there.

8.   Island, Dark Rit, Vamp, Force, Misd., Yawg. Bargain, Sol Ring

I agree that there is a decent likelihood that this hand will draw a swamp and will then be bonkers, but even with a turn 2 free black source you don't get a turn 2 Bargain as you'll only have BBB2 (unless black source is lotus). I think you have to ship this hand back as mana/color screw is bad to sit on when your best disruption is FoW. You can't really afford ANY turns of nil productive actions and there's a good likelihood you'll have 2 turns of nothing. That is not acceptable.

MULL.  

9.   Sea, Ruby, Pearl, Crypt, Duress, Cabal Rit., Force

For the reasons stated by others. No action. MULL.

10.   Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Force x2, Fact, Cabal Rit.

So this hand should be all right and pretty straightforward out of the gate.

Turn 1: Delta, Pearl-->Ring. Go. EOT Sac Delta for Sea.
Turn 2: Fact with FoW back-up. Go from there.

11.   Island, Chain, Dark Rit., Cabal Rit., Yawg. Will, Seal, Force

Though this hand does have potential it is sunk without a free black source. MULL.

12.   Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

Having the entire power of your hand dependent of your opponent going all-in on something is dangerous. No land = MULL here.

13.   Sea, Delta, Emerald, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Tinker, Force

I think that going for a draw 7 here could be the wrong move. Think about it. If they have FoW then you can just push your Leviathan through and put them on a short clock with a 5 card hand. If they don't have FoW then you can just use your FoW to make sure the Leviathan goes all the way.

Turn 1: Delta-->Island. Emerald--> Sol Ring. Play Tinker saccing Emerald. Find Inkwell Leviathan.
Turn 2: Don't play Time Walk unless you're sure they are not playing blue. Even if they are not be careful of cards like Diabolic Edict or Ensnaring Bridge. keeping a blue card in hand for FoW may be the right play in very specific situations. If they are playing Blue then you are clearly more safe on the back of FoW than Time Walk. You don't want them to win before you do so you need to keep them from resolving important spells.

14.   Swamp, Petal, Dark Rit., Duress, Force, Seal, Necro

I completely disagree with Marske and LennoxLewis86 on this one. Why would you not go for a turn 2 kill if you have a Duress to protect your Necro AND to nab something from their hand. Now obviously you're plans change if they have the nuts and you are trying to develop your board state and just keep them from winning, but I'd say 96% of the time you should pay 15-16 on Necro and go for the throat. Why would you do otherwise when you have Duress?

Turn 1: Swamp, Duress, Petal, Dark Rit., Necro. EOT pay 16 life and draw 16 cards.
Turn 2: Win!

Seems pretty simple to me.

15.   Swamp, Duress x2, Force, Chain, Brainstorm, Yawg. Bargain

I agree that this hand is a keeper but you are risking a very long Top-deck war. I do think you'll win that war though and thus I think this hand is fine. Need I even go into the opening play?

16.   Sea, Academy, Island, Ponder, Time Walk, Misd., Inkwell

I do hate hands with Inkwell in them, but this hand seems all right. Misd-->pitching Inkwell here could be nice add nabbing Ancestral. This is one big reason I like Inkwell. It is not dead in the opening hand if you have Pitch Spells.

Turn 1: Island--> Ponder
Turn 2: Sea--> Walk
Time Walked Turn: ?

17.   Delta, Jet, Sol Ring, Dark Rit, Brainstorm, Desire, Force

This hand is pretty solid. I agree with Marske and LennoxLeweis86 on this one.

Turn 1: Play Delta. End of Opponent's first turn crack Delta for Sea and BS.

18.   Sea, Island, Cabal Rit., Necro, Tendrils, Mystical, Force

Turn 2 Necro with FoW back-up seems like the play. If you were on the draw in this game that might change as now you are wide open to Mana Drain.

19.   Sea, Swamp, Delta, Petal, Dark Rit., Mana Vault, Chain

No action. MULL

20.   Delta x2, Pearl, Emerald, Scroll, Duress, Cabal Rit.

Agreed with Marske and LennoxLewis86 on this one.

Turn 1: Crack Delta for Sea--> Duress. Go
Turn 2: Crack Delta for Sea. Play Pearl. Play Scroll for Ancestral. Play Ancestral. Go.

Note: The reason I'd get Sea both times here is because I don't want to be stuck on just Blue or just Black mana if they wasteland me and I need to have turn 1 Duress mana and turn 2 UU1 mana for Scroll + Ancestral. I could have gone turn 1 Sea and turn 2 Island, but then I risk a wasteland ruining my day and ruining the power of my cabal rit. in hand.


OK GUYS. That's my analysis. Keep the discussion coming!

-Storm

[Darkenslight]

Ok, let's just say that you're playing this list:

The Perfect Storm

Land (12):
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (11):
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar

Artifact Creatures (1):
1 Inkwell Leviathan

Instants (19):
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Force Of Will
1 Misdirection
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Chain Of Vapor
1 Rebuild
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact Or Fiction

Sorceries (15):
4 Duress
1 Grim Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tendrils Of Agony

Enchantments (2):
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain

And you've had to mulligan this hand: Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

You have the following hand and you're against Oath game 1:

Underground Sea, Black Lotus, Tinker, Time Walk, Ponder, Mind's Desire.

Do you keep this hand or mulligan again and hope to get a better five-card hand?

[Stormanimagus]

Ok, let's just say that you're playing this list:

The Perfect Storm

Land (12):
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (11):
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar

Artifact Creatures (1):
1 Inkwell Leviathan

Instants (19):
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Force Of Will
1 Misdirection
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Chain Of Vapor
1 Rebuild
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact Or Fiction

Sorceries (15):
4 Duress
1 Grim Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tendrils Of Agony

Enchantments (2):
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain

And you've had to mulligan this hand: Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

You have the following hand and you're against Oath game 1:

Underground Sea, Black Lotus, Tinker, Time Walk, Ponder, Mind's Desire.

Do you keep this hand or mulligan again and hope to get a better five-card hand?

I think you keep because you have Turn 1 Ponder (which should hit another mana source) and turn 2 Walk if the Ponder hit's a mana source. You also have two bombs in your hand in Tinker/Desire. You'd be hard-pressed to get a better 5-card hand than that.

-Storm

[LennoxLewis86]

If you go for turn 1 Gifts with FoW backup you run the risk of being stopped in your tracks by Turn 1 Sphere or Turn 1 Wasteland. You don't want to run yourself into a wall of mana-denial if you are in the Stax matchup as you don't have another tutor/bounce in hand.

I agree although I specifically stated I would cast Gifts at the end of my opponent's turn. Opening yourself up to Wasteland is the risk I'm affraid you'll be taking anyway because the possibility of shuffling Ponder-junk away with fetch is just too good.

As for Necro'ing for so many cards: as a Grim Long player I find it hard to disagree because being able to draw so many cards is absolutely broken. But think about this, being able to refill your hand in each of your turns is broken enough to be able to win the game. You play cards like Force and Duress to keep your opponent in check while digging to combo out. No need to rush things.. The fact that Necro is one-sided makes it good enough to use multiple times. You have a lot of cards that don't like you Necro'ing for that many cards in one turn, Grim Tutor and topdeck tutors for example. Not to mention having to exile LOTS of cards.

What if you don't draw FoW and get Duressed? That could be really devastating... In fact, you might lose there and then (in both scenarios we'll have 3 FoWs left in the deck)

In short, it's continous card-advantage vs. broken card selection. I'm not sure if there is a right answer for this but if there's anything I've learned from playing and reading about TPS it's this: slow down. (which, I MUST add, I find hard to do. It really takes getting used to but it has proven to be rewarding)

It's a great confirmation for me to see that we all tend to agree on most lines of play. This really motivates me to try and master the deck!

You have the following hand and you're against Oath game 1:

Underground Sea, Black Lotus, Tinker, Time Walk, Ponder, Mind's Desire.

Do you keep this hand or mulligan again and hope to get a better five-card hand?

Keep! Like Storm said, the Ponder will likely find you more mana. Desire and Lotus work very well together and also having Tinker could come in handy. I wouldn't think twice in keeping this hand.

[gamegeek2]

1.   Sea, Delta, Duress, Ponder, Gifts, Lotus, Force

Keep. Sea, Duress, go. (You don't have a lot of mana to deploy Gifts effectively). T2 Ponder+fetch, depending on topdeck

2.   Swamp, Island, Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Ponder, Time Walk

Keep. Island, Pearl, Time Walk. Ponder + fetch, depending on topdeck

3.   Sea, Island, Duress, Desire, Demonic, Vault, Force

Keep. Sea, Duress, go. Aim for Desire, depending on opponent's plays.

4.   Sea x2, Delta, Ancestral, Cabal Rit., Gifts, Desire

Keep. Delta->Island, Ancestral. T2 Desire if Ancestral resolves.

5.   Swamp, Dark Rit., Desire, Necro, Duress, Force, Fact

Keep. Swamp, Ritual, Necro. Aim for T2 Desire; pitch Fact to Force if necessary.

6.   Sea, Delta, Duress, Sol Ring, Brainstorm, Yawg. Will, Emerald

Sea, pass. Brainstorm EOT. T2 fetch depending on Brainstorm.

7.   Sea x2, Dark Rit., Demonic, Mana Vault, Chain, Mystical

Sea, pass. EOT mystical for Recall. T2 Recall, attempt to set up Desire.

8.   Island, Dark Rit, Vamp, Force, Misd., Yawg. Bargain, Sol Ring

MULL, no black source

9.   Sea, Ruby, Pearl, Crypt, Duress, Cabal Rit., Force

MULL (keep on the draw)

10.   Delta, Pearl, Sol Ring, Force x2, Fact, Cabal Rit.

Keep. Delta>Sea, Sol Ring. T2 Fact w. FoW backup, depending on opp. play and your topdeck

11.   Island, Chain, Dark Rit., Cabal Rit., Yawg. Will, Seal, Force

MULL, no black source

12.   Force x2, Ancestral, Scroll, Rebuild, Chain, Dark Rit.

MULL, no mana. (Keep on the draw against speed combo)

13.   Sea, Delta, Emerald, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Tinker, Force

Keep. Sea, Emerald, Sol Ring, Tinker (sac Emerald) with Force backup. Find Memory Jar.

14.   Swamp, Petal, Dark Rit., Duress, Force, Seal, Necro

Keep. Swamp, Duress. Depending on hand, Petal>Ritual, Necropotence

15.   Swamp, Duress x2, Force, Chain, Brainstorm, Yawg. Bargain

MULL, no blue source (keep on the draw)

16.   Sea, Academy, Island, Ponder, Time Walk, Misd., Inkwell

Keep. Island>Ponder.

17.   Delta, Jet, Sol Ring, Dark Rit, Brainstorm, Desire, Force

Delta>Island, Brainstorm.

18.   Sea, Island, Cabal Rit., Necro, Tendrils, Mystical, Force

Sea, pass. Untap and Cabal Ritual>Necro, depending on opponent's play (if no hand disruption, no need to mystical as you have Necro with FoW backup)

19.   Sea, Swamp, Delta, Petal, Dark Rit., Mana Vault, Chain

Mull, even on the draw - no way to interact with opponent.

20.   Delta x2, Pearl, Emerald, Scroll, Duress, Cabal Rit.

Delta>Island, Pearl, Scroll for Ancestral. T2 Land, Duress, Ancestral depending on topdeck/opponent

[mmcgeach]

Suppose you draw (on the play, vs. a tezz deck):

academy, tendrills, jar, mox jet, sol ring, dark ritual, fetchland.

There seems to be a tension here between the fast mana and the jar.  If you use the fast mana, you waste the storm count it provides just putting the jar into play.  You can't win with the jar while the single Tendrills is in your hand. 

So I opened with academy, jet, ritual, sol ring, tendrils x 4 for 8 life.  I figured I can put the jar into play turn 2 and then find my way to yawgwill sometime later.  Is this the right play?

[Stormanimagus]

Suppose you draw (on the play, vs. a tezz deck):

academy, tendrills, jar, mox jet, sol ring, dark ritual, fetchland.

There seems to be a tension here between the fast mana and the jar.  If you use the fast mana, you waste the storm count it provides just putting the jar into play.  You can't win with the jar while the single Tendrills is in your hand. 

So I opened with academy, jet, ritual, sol ring, tendrils x 4 for 8 life.  I figured I can put the jar into play turn 2 and then find my way to yawgwill sometime later.  Is this the right play?

That seems close to the right play, but I wouldn't play Academy first. I'd play fetch on turn 1 for basic Swamp and then do the same Tendrils x4 play you suggested. I'd then play Academy on turn 2 and try to get Jar into play.

The reason I'd do this is because you want to avoid wasteland on your Academy. Also, what if they get turn 1 Null Rod? If they then follow up with Wasteland you can still get mana from Academy ON the turn you're going to play Jar and just wait for the right timing.

That's my idea on that hand:

-Storm

[Darkenslight]

Suppose you draw (on the play, vs. a tezz deck):

academy, tendrills, jar, mox jet, sol ring, dark ritual, fetchland.

There seems to be a tension here between the fast mana and the jar.  If you use the fast mana, you waste the storm count it provides just putting the jar into play.  You can't win with the jar while the single Tendrills is in your hand. 

So I opened with academy, jet, ritual, sol ring, tendrils x 4 for 8 life.  I figured I can put the jar into play turn 2 and then find my way to yawgwill sometime later.  Is this the right play?

Really, you're two mana short of playing both Tendrils AND Jar on turn 2.  Furn 1 you go for the Swamp.  Then I think your play is this:

Swamp -> D.Rit (3 mana); Mox Jet -> Sol Ring (5 Mana); Tolarian (7 mana).

If you draw EITHER Lotus OR another D.Rit over the first two/three turns, and you're well ont he way to giving Tezz fits..