Gush Tendrils

[jamestosetti]

                                                                                  Gush Tendrils

      Gush Tendrils is a control and combo hybrid centered on Gush and Yawgmoth’s Will. The deck is similar to Doomsday and TPS (The Perfect Storm). The major difference with Doomsday is that some control elements have been incorporated as well as the emphasis on the draw package. Gush Tendrils takes on many of the same lines as TPS, but it is less focused on resolving bombs, and there is much more focus on chaining together spells. The combination of Fastbond and Gush allow for extreme mana ramping in unison with the artifact mana and Tolarian Academy.

      Few differences are noticed when compared to traditional Control decks. The counter package is nearly identical to a traditional control deck.  In fact, the deck operates like a control deck until the pilot decides it is time to switch gears, and attempt a combo finish. At this point, the deck displays its raw explosive capabilities. Some of the stronger changes in momentum come from resolving Mana Drain, or assembling the Fastbond and Gush combo.

General Strategy – Any Moxen or artifact mana in an opening hand should almost always be played out on the opening turn rather than saved for storm count. This is only on the opening hand though. The reason for this is rather simple but appropriate. Shops is a popular choice, and it such a strong deck that it warrants playing out the artifact mana against any unknown opponent. Mana Crypt is the only exception. It is generally worth holding the Mana Crypt as long as possible to save life for Fastbond acceleration. Mana Vault can be held as well if one has an exceptionally strong hand that can be utilized on turn one.

      Aside from the opening turn strategy, the rest is normally a game of inches. To put it simply, Gush Tendrils must have more cards than the opponent to win. If each player has four cards in hand, then one wants to change it to a 3 to 5 ratio, and to continue in this direction.  Fighting over the number of cards in hand the entire game is a productive strategy for this deck as a whole because Yawgmoth’s Will is almost a guaranteed win if this has taken place.

Card Advantage – Library of Alexandria, Ancestral Recall, Dig Through Time, Jace, the Mindsculptor, and Gush - Gush Tendrils strives to achieve card advantage whenever possible. Ultimately the strategy is to chain upwards of ten spells together to cast a lethal Tendrils, so every additional card counts. The deck is also very good at playing the control role. Although the disruption package is very good, it is not the best in the format. However, it makes up for this through gaining card advantage, and as a result, winning the ensuing counter wars.

      The ability to recur Ancestral Recall repeatedly allows the Gush Tendrils player to appear reckless with their spells. Casting spells into potential counter spells knowingly can help gain card advantage. Once the opponent’s hand is exhausted it is possible to set up turns where spells can be cast uncontested. Because Mental Misstep is such a common addition to the blue disruption package Ancestral can sometimes be defended with one’s own Mental Misstep, and then Regrowth or Noxious Revival can be used to cast Ancestral Recall again.

     The combination of Fastbond and Gush can create either a board advantage or card advantage. In addition, Fastbond can be used to draw out a potential counter before attempting to resolve Ancestral Recall. Gush enables the pilot to dig a little deeper in hopes of finding a needed spell, flush out counter spells, and potentially save lands from being destroyed. If it is probably that Fastbond will resolve, and there is a tutor in hand along with a Gush, a strong turn can be set up by tutoring for a Gush. Gushing into Gush with Fastond in play is a good way to either catch back up, or to pull well ahead.

      If Library of Alexandria is in the opening hand on the play it is normally correct to just play it out, and not a cast a spell in order to start drawing off it the next turn. In fact, it is best to not cast a spell unless your opponent could win the game. Keeping the Library active for as long as possible is not only very strong, but it is generally how the card should be used.  Gush Tendrils has the ability to set up synergistic board states to achieve card advantage. A Library of Alexandria combined with Monastery Siege or Jace, the Mind Sculptor will quickly overwhelm most opponents.

Card Filtering - Monastery Siege, Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, and Sensei’s Divining Top - Gush Tendrils variants can use card filtering for different purposes. Some of them use four Preordains to sift through the library quickly in order to set up multiple Dig Through Times.  This particular version uses four different spells that are powerful and versatile. The graveyard is not always filled as quickly, but the amount of lines that can be taken is greatly increased. The ability to dig one card deeper, repetitively, or to shuffle away cards increases the probability that Tendrils of Agony can be found in a tight situation.

       Testing proved that in some amount of games a powerful draw mechanic was needed. While Mystic Remora can fill this role, a new card had been printed that needed to be tested. Monastery Siege has great synergy with Yawgmoth’s Will while left unchecked creates an extreme advantage. The fact that it is an enchantment gives it an edge over a planeswalker in that it cannot be removed by Lightning Bolt or similar spells.

Enablers of the Draw Engine – Regrowth, Noxious Revival, Merchant Scroll, Vampiric Tutor, and Demonic Tutor - This deck is well positioned to take advantage of repeatedly casting Ancestral Recall. The amount of one casting cost spells that draw out counters allows for the oppositions Mental Missteps to be drawn out, so that Ancestral Recall can be tutored for as soon as possible. If Mystical Tutor or Vampiric Tutor are not Mental Misstepped it is likely the opponent just doesn’t have one. Too many potential threats could possibly exist for these cards to be taken lightly. If the Recall is countered, it has come at a cost to the opponent’s hand, and there are also three ways to cast it again. Noxious Revival and Regrowth can retrieve it or any other card, or it can be recast after Yawgmoth’s Will resolves.

The Mana Base – The mana base of Gush Tendrils is designed to be effective in the Shops matchup and also to be capable of producing enough of the needed colors to win with Tendrils after casting many spells. Four Underground Seas will increase the win percentage drastically. It is common to tap them for one or two black mana before casting Gush, and then playing out another Sea and tapping it for black. Mental Misstep is good at countering Dark Rituals, so this is a way to produce enough black mana while playing around it. Mana Drain is also a good way to transition from control to combo while also ramping.

      Tolarian Academy is not only good in the Shops matchup, but in any matchup. Because Dark Ritual is not included large amounts of mana must be produced in other ways. It provides many subtle benefits. Among them the ability to pay for Flusterstorm costs, hard casting Force of Will, or just the capability to cast more spells. It can be used to pay for Dig Through Time in order to keep more cards in the graveyard keeping Yawgmoth’s a stronger possibility.

      Although only one basic Island is included it is adequate. Pithing Needle from the sideboard keeps your lands from getting destroyed while also potentially stopping a Kudoltha Forgemaster or anything that is good enough to win. Gush is also commonly used to save lands from Strip Mine and Wasteland. Gush and Pithing Needle are effective enough to enable non-basic lands to be fetched on turn one.

      It is more important to use Scalding Tarn and Flooded Strand than one might initially think. Every additional turn adds to the probability that a lethal Tendrils turn can be assembled, so bluffing Pyroblast is a rather effective way to make it come together. A red/white and blue fetch into a blue spell normally means a Mana Drain or Monastery Mentor Deck. It is difficult for the opponent to know exactly what they could be facing even after Underground Sea and Tropical Island have come into play.

Side Boarding – In most cases Gush Tendrils plays with 61 cards post board. This is not a disadvantage because of the number of tutors and draw capabilities.

Monastery Mentor decks with fewer creatures and more planeswalkers– Don’t change anything unless you think there will be more creatures. In this case bring in Toxic Deluge.

Monastery Mentor decks with more than two Mentors and possibly Delver of Secrets
In – Toxic Deluge, Tinker, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind.
Out – Hurkyl’s Recall and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

R/U Delver
In – Tinker, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind.
Out – Jace, the Mindsculptor

Dredge – Noxious Revival can be used to top deck a loan dredge card or a lethal Dread Return target. Misdirection can be used to change the target of Dread return to something of lesser consequence.
In- Tormod’s Crypt x2, Yixlid Jailer x2, and Pithing Needle x2, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus
Out – Thoughtseize x2, Dig Through Time x2, Jace, the Mindsculptor, Monastery Siege, and Mana Drain

Hate Bears – Depending on which variant one is facing the Trygon Predators can also be used. In this case Mental Missteps could be sided out if they are not using Deathrite Shaman.
In – Thoughtseize, Tinker, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind, and Toxic Deluge.
Out – Jace, the Mindsculptor, and Flusterstorm x2

Shops
In – Pithing Needle x2, Trygon Predator x2, Hurkyl’s Recall x2, Thoughtseize, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind.
Out – Mental Misstep x3, Misdirection, Noxious Revival, Regrowth, Flusterstorm x2, and Dig Through Time.

Steel City Vault – Trygon Predator, Tinker, and Blightsteel Colossus can also be used in this match.
In – Pithing Needle x2
Out – Flusterstorm

Doomsday
In – Thoughtseize

Landstill – This is the worst match up.
In – Trygon Predator x2, Thoughtseize, and Pithing Needle x2.
Out – Jace, the Mindsculptor, Dig Through Time, Monastery Siege, and Mana Crypt.

Salvager's Combo
In – Pithing Needle, and Thoughtseize
Out – Misdirection or Hurkyl’s Recall

Oath
In – Thoughtseize


Deck List

Blue
1 Time Walk
1 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Gush
2 Dig Through Time
1 Brainstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
2 Flusterstorm
1 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Monastery Siege


Black
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Thoughtseize

Green
1 Fastbond
1 Noxious Revival
1 Regrowth

Land
1 Island
4 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Side Board
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Tinker
SB: 1 Toxic Deluge
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Blightsteel Colossus
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Trygon Predator
SB: 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

[EnialisLiadon]

Thank you for the write-up! 1 Preordain seems about 2-3 too few. Does Monastery Siege or Noxious Revival really pull their weight? Revival just seems worse than Regrowth outside of a Gifts package.

[The Atog Lord]

Thank you for the write up!

I'd urge you to consider the fourth Mental Misstep. This could replace either Misdirection or a Flusterstorm in the main deck. Winning the Mental Misstep fight is even more important for this deck than the average Blue deck.

[jamestosetti]

Thank you for the write-up! 1 Preordain seems about 2-3 too few. Does Monastery Siege or Noxious Revival really pull their weight? Revival just seems worse than Regrowth outside of a Gifts package.

If one chooses to play without the Tinker package in the main deck then the Tendrils win percentage must be increased by any means possible. Preordains are normally used to fuel Dig Through Times. There are not as good at finding a needed spell as the other cantrips either. At least not when you are also attempting to chain 10 spells together at the same time. If the win condition were Time Vault combo then preordain is probably better. Similar decks use the Time Vault package, and they use Tendrils as a back up. The strategies play out in a similar fashion sometimes, but those types of decks easily warrant their own threads. If I played those types of decks more often I might attempt to start one, but I do not posses the experience with the deck to make it worth our time. I for one would be very interested in reading a thread like that.

Regrowth is a good card, but it costs mana. In a tight spot Noxious Revival more than pulls its own weight. It can even be used to Time Walk the opponent by top decking one of their lands. I did not want to include a comprehensive list of potential play scenarios because That list would be huge with this list, and just trying out the deck will allow one to discover some of these plays. However I was hoping to discuss any of these plays or game state scenarios in any responses to the thread, so I am glad you asked.

More decisive card combinations could be added to the deck, but I designed this version to be as consistent as possible. After playing Ant in Legacy for quite some time I came to realize that focused Tendrils decks are based almost entirely on probability. What is the probability that I will encounter this card, situation, or deck? What is the probability that I will successfully resolve this spell if my opponent has this many cards in hand, this much mana open, or this many remaining counter spells?

On the topic of multiple Regrowths. I think it shines when used in combination with multiple Jace, the Mindsculptors, and either Time Walk or Ancestral Recall. Very focused lines such as this cannot easily change their intentions. If my opponent is definitely going to remove my graveyard then the Regrowth plan was too much of an all in strategy. Some number of players catch on to strategies that rely heavily on one game zone, and aim to control that zone.

As for Monastery Siege, it has won almost every game that I have resolved it. It has so much synergy with Yawgmoth's Will, Library of Alexandria, and Jace. It is very good in the Shops match up as well. These deck choices are also going to change every time a new set comes out, or if the meta game slightly shifts in another direction. I have been using this list to great effect for some time now. I'm not fond of bragging about Magic decks, but this deck has a lot of explosive power, and can change directions on a dime. Any game I played was recorded on Cockatrice, and most of the matches were epic. I have won through Mystic Remoras, and almost any of the worst case scenarios that could be thrown at me. Those situations cannot be won every time though. This is Vintage, so no one is going to win all the time.

[jamestosetti]

Thank you for the write up!

I'd urge you to consider the fourth Mental Misstep. This could replace either Misdirection or a Flusterstorm in the main deck. Winning the Mental Misstep fight is even more important for this deck than the average Blue deck.

I've actually tested the fourth Mental Misstep extensively. That is one those areas where it may just come down to play style. My results are better over time with three. Someone else may have better results with four. The third Flusterstorm used to be in the side board, but the more games I played, the more use I found for that slot. Experience with the lines in the main deck allowed me to become more efficient at the strategies I was trying to implement, so I was able to use cards that provided some redundancy in the place of additional copies of other spells. I think I came to the conclusion that Thoughtseize plays the role of Gitaxian Probe, a Mental Misstep, or any other counterspell. My goal was to increase my redundancy, not in additional cards of the same type, but say overlap in utility or application.

Four Mental Missteps is a position that I like to be in myself. In fact, I would encourage anyone trying this deck to look at it, and change whatever they feel should be changed and test it. Most changes will provide the desired effect. I also try to design decks with enormous meta games in mind. I am not so fond of small meta games. I think I have some love of probabilities I do think a player by player preference is important in this archetype. I am interested to read about any card someone may have success with. I do not think there are right and wrong cards with this deck for the most part.

[jamestosetti]

It was brought to my attention that Mental Misstep may not be the correct choice for this deck. I thought to myself, "how can this be true"? I was having a bad day. I was getting crushed by Drain decks playing Notion Thief in various numbers (Edit; cast off Cavern of Souls). I new one Notion Thief was hard to beat, but two was just starting to seem impossible. After refusing to accept defeat I battled about four or five more times until I was sure something was wrong. I started experimenting with Gitaxian Probes of various numbers in the place of various cards. It occurred to me that maybe the strategy itself needed changed.

I remembered how good the Snapcaster Mage and Gifts Ungiven combo was, so I tried that in addition to Gitaxian Probe and more Thoughtseizes main deck. For these particular matches this was the answer. Gifts Ungiven and Snapcaster Mage can solve some incredibly difficult board states. These Notion Theif matches also had some weakness to Tinker Sphinx from the s/b. Here are the changes that I incorporated in these matches.

Out: Library of Alexandria, 3 Mental Misstep, Monastery Siege, and 1 Dig Though Time.

In: 3 Gitaxian Probe, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Snapcaster Mage, and  1 Gifts Ungiven.

S/B changes: Out -1 Thoughtseize and 1 Tormod's Crypt/ In: 1 Yixlid Jailer and 1 Flusterstorm.

I am going to see if I can play multiple matches against decks that would obviously be relavent such as Shops and Mentor Control. I think I am also going to test four Mental Missteps with Gifts and Snapcaster Mage. The Atog Lord suggested four Missteps, so there is probably something to that. I will post an update after all of this has happened. My username on Cockatrice is Legacy, so if anyone see's me online, just send me a message, and we can play some games.

Edit/Update: I ended up testing out various options, and I discovered some changes that enhanced some of the roles and lines in the deck. Added: 1 Mana Drain, 1 Gifts Ungiven, and 1 Snapcaster Mage.
Out: 1 Thoughtseize and 1 Monastery Seige.

After these changes I went 4-0 against Notion Theif decks. The control game is a little better than it was, and the second Mana Drain allows for the switch to combo somewhat easier. The ability to set up Gifts Piles, and threatening to snap-back the Gifts are very strong options. Gifts piles in themselves are good at unraveling difficult situations while creating some forward momentum.

Post Chalice of the Void restriction Update:

Chalice of the Void's restriction has allowed for increased consistency of options that were already viable such as Dark Ritual, Necropotence, and Nature's Claim. Necropotence can be cast with replayed mana from Gush or the Dark Ritual. Previously, Chalice of the Void played in as a four of caused this combination of cards to have a much lower success rate. A maindeck Engineered Explosives further increases one's chances against Shops by providing the ability to destroy multiple spheres. Engineered Explosives for one with one sphere in play needs an additional mana to be cast, and if it is paid with another color of mana it will enter play with two counters. The same thing is true if two spheres are in play, and it is played for 0, and the sphere effects are paid with two colors of mana. Engineered Explosives also strengthens the control game against any deck. Nature's Claim is also much more effective now that Chalice of the Void is restricted.

New lines of play are available with Yawgmoth's Will, Dark Ritual, and  Gifts Ungiven. These lines are much stronger than using the previously included Mana Vault to ramp into more mana. These changes have been very successful in the new meta. So far, the most difficult match could be Bant Mentor, whereas r/w/u Mentor should be a much better match up. Grixis Delver can also be a challenge.

Here is the list I have been using:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Library of Alexandria
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island

2 Snapcaster Mage

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will
2 Flusterstorm
4 Gush
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Dig Through Time
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Time Walk

1 Noxious Revival
1 Fastbond

1 Necropotence
1 Dark Ritual
2 Thoughtseize
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor

SB: 1 Trygon Predator
SB: 1 Tinker
SB: 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
SB: 2 Ravenous Trap
SB: 2 Toxic Deluge
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Nature's Claim
SB: 1 Gifts Ungiven
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt