Gush TPS: another look

[Liam-K]

I really wanted the gush-tendrils lists from the unrestriction frenzy to be good.  I tested the lists Steve and Whatever Works posted, and got a little bit familiar with the one Negator had some success with.  Like everyone else, I couldn't get it to click.  But, in learning GAT, I found myself wishing I had tendrils way too often and going through excessive contortions involving time walk and getting the dryad down before all the spells on my broken turn too often.  I also got really frustrated with casting Dryads early in the game, since spending the first or second turn to do nothing felt like such a risky tempo investment.  Running 5 win conditions felt inefficient, and Opt is just so underwhelming.  I still felt a Gush based Tendrils list was not only doable, but probably better than GAT once fully tuned, since it would run more spells that end the game in a similar shell.  I decided to get somewhat familiar with Meandeck's scroll TPS list as research and then try to apply the gro concept to combo.

The first thing I noticed with my modified approach was the rituals were clogging up my hand.  I practically never needed black mana more than blue and rarely wanted to tap a Sea for B, especially since I was running cheap spells and couldn't really funnel the ritual mana into colourless costs.  They just sat there looking terrible way too much.  Cutting them all seemed wrong, since they make casting Tendrils after going off much more realistic and enable Will very well, but I really only ever wanted to see 1 and never wanted to see it early.  Trial and error found going down to 2 felt best.  I could still find my source of extra black in combo turns involving no fastbond or have a nice boost during yawgwill, but I didn't have them chilling uselessly in my opening 7 much.

Cutting rituals immediately lead to the removal of necro, bargain, and mind's desire from consideration.  This played well with the idea that the deck should try to act like a gro deck as much as possible... lower mana requirements are a must.  This leaves Draw7s as the obvious bomb choices.  I have always been iffy about these cards, but I found that in a deck running free draw and fastbond, you pass the turn without doing anything relevant MUCH less often, and running 4 duress makes sure if you're going to pass the turn, you can probably stop the worst before it starts.  The other cheap ways to try to go off are tutors: I have been very happy with the full compliment, including Imperial Seal.  You have lots of ways to put the top card of your library into your hand, especially counting draw7s, and they don't take your whole turn to cast even if you need to wait for your draw step.  Additionally, the deck needs ways to find Tendrils while going off.  Due to its heavy reliance on direct draw, it's not always possible to completely plan out your "big turn" before you cast the first spell, and tearing what you need off the top becomes important.  The topdeck tutors make this happen; I'm always happy to see one.  They're also the cheapest non-land shuffle effect going, which makes your early brainstorms really good. 

Note that while the list is certainly capable of crashing out of the gates and winning turn 1 or 2, this is not your general game plan.  Remember that you are using the best draw engine in the game and running a large suite of disruption spells.  This deck is perfectly content to draw cards and play for marginal advantage until it's comfortable resolving a bomb.  It plays like old school TPS, going off when it's ready and just staying slightly ahead until then.  This attitude makes the topdeck tutors even stronger, since unlike balls-out combo, it is not either trying to win now or doing nothing: you actually have other things to do with the turn than cast the tutor.  It's good at being a gush deck and just resolving spells all the time and winning by increments (of position, rather than life), but it's better than GAT at just ripping something ridiculous and winning right there.  It also runs less mana sources than any ritual deck without trouble.

This is the part where I should compare my list to ICBM's empty-gush with gifts and meloku.  The truth is, I was having so much fun working on this list that I haven't tested theirs.  I have played against it, and it seems like a slower build that is a better control deck.  I tend to win early or lose late when playing against it, which seems reasonable.  I really don't like how it uses attacking things to win though, finding and resolving time walk is just one more nuisance and I've definitely let lots of goblins happen then won while they were summon-sick.  Certainly both lists are role-flexible which is probably their main strength, but I've chosen explosiveness over inevitability.

Here's what I've been toying with:

~mana
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Fastbond

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
2 Dark Ritual

~staying in the game
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
3 Misdirection
1 Chain of Vapor

4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Regrowth
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall

~ending the game
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Library of Alexandria

1 Tendrils of Agony



Questionable choices:

Regrowth: some combo decks run it, some don't.  It's a third way to gain access to Tendrils out of the yard, which is enough to give me confidence resolving a mini-tendrils in the face of pressure (especially when I need the life to fastbond).  It's a slightly inflexible Merchant Scroll most of the time that gives you a second Ancestral or recovers a countered Will as a bonus, which is a fair trade-off, and Scroll is awesome.  Its presence forces the second Tropical Island though, and colour screw can occasionally shut it off.  I don't want to replace it right now because if it comes out, whatever goes in needs to be gas and it seems like the best option.

Windfall: occasionally awful, I'm aware.  Duress limits the possibility of opposing pitch magic shrinking their hand too far before it resolves, and it is stronger in the late game than usual due to the option of Gushing up extra lands and cycling them away.  Again, I'm open to suggestions for this slot, but in terms of things that can end the game and don't cost too much, there doesn't seem to be a better card.  With 3 topdeck tutors even a small Windfall can be backbreaking, since you're guaranteed a broken card.  And, since no one can write this much without using this phrase, it pitches to force of will.  The blue count in the deck is a real treat for combo.

Sol Ring: the mana count is really walking the line right now.  Even though it is less important with this list than it is with GAT to have two islands in play asap, mana-related mulligans really shouldn't get more frequent.  Yet, chaining a bunch of draw spells seems to find too much mana more often than I would like.  If I try the deck on 23 sources counting Library, Sol will be the card I cut.  I'd rather play a card that does something on my first turn and I only use 1 of the mana it makes a lot of the time.  It costs tempo, which annoys me, and doesn't strengthen an opening hand much.  It could possibly become a fifth Duress post-lorwyn, or maybe Echoing Truth seeing as a resolved chalice=1 tends to shut me down entirely (though, misidentifying me as GAT and casting it at 2 mitigates the problem slightly).  Another cheap bomb would be great if I can think of one that fits.  This is really the only open slot, suggestions are welcome.


Wacky things I tried:

Mystic Remora:  This card still has a place in my sideboard.  Draw7 insurance, keeping your opponent's moxes in hand while on the play, and a free refill when trying to kick through a counter wall all seemed like good stuff, and its potential to buy tempo while your opponent waits it out is definitely real.  When used correctly it is absolutely brutal for very cheap.  Unfortunately, I found that using it effectively depended less on making the right play and more on having the right hand configuration.  Won lots of games, but bad too often.  Still good against GAT with no/small dryad or random long decks, since they pretty much have to cast lots of spells or watch you get way too far ahead.

Personal Tutor:  Topdeck tutors are seriously good in this deck.  The other portal tutor almost made the cut.  The reveal requirement and the fact it can't get Ancestral drove me to cut it.  It *only* finds your expensive bombs unless you've already won and need tendrils, making it awful very early, and showing your opponent what you get at sorcery speed makes it too easy for them to play correctly.  Plus I felt like such a scrub whenever I cast it.

Psychatog:  I remembered the old lists as being very Yawgwill dependent.  A win condition that didn't require storm and gave a fizzled tendrils attempt something to do with the last of its mana seemed like a good idea.  It still kind of does, but I cast him once ever while he was in and that was to block something.  Lack of berserk really weakens him.  Putting the draw7s in the deck made it so whenever I thought about grabbing 'tog, it was possible and better to just go to tendrils.

Street Wraith:  I need my life, it doesn't storm, useless out of the bin, and honestly all 60 slots are useful.  The occasional cute trick with a tutor is not worth the fact it does nothing.  I suppose you could always hardcast it in dire straights, but really that's an awful argument.


Things I haven't tried:

ETW:  you don't fetch your volc much especially pre-board, but you can cast it for less than lethal and still have it matter.  A second win condition still doesn't seem awful but ETW lends itself to being played early... as a 1-of, that becomes being tutored for early.  I'd usually rather find something that will lead to lethal tendrils when I have that much mana.

Tendrils #2: draw7ing or Gushing into it feels like a freebie, but it seems whenever I do, I had the mana and tutor and draw effect available to find it and I cast them anyway for storm, or else I'm just not ready to cast it and want to brainstorm it away.  More freedom to mini-tendrils seems ok but 2BB is going to be everything you can afford to do in a turn, especially with 2 rituals only.  I've Twistered my lone tendrils back into my deck enough that I don't worry about it being trapped in my graveyard.

Tolarian Academy: not an island.  Library causes enough problems because of that as it is, and academy should almost always be worse.

Artifact Bounce: well, I have Hurkyl in the sideboard, but honestly it doesn't seem maindeck worthy right now.  Maybe if Thorn of Amythest leads to a shop explosion.  But if that happens, I'll probably stop playing this thing, spheres really hurt.

Cunning Wish: I can actually run maindeck bounce without risking my own game plan, and since I win much more abruptly than GAT the single turn window means more so I'm less concerned with permanent solutions.  And obviously I don't need berserk.  Too expensive and messes up your sideboard.



Is anyone else still tinkering with this sort of list?  Ideas or thoughts?  It feels competitively strong to me, but no one seems to be interested.

[diopter]

Here is a completely out-from-left-field idea - High Tide. My initial impression is that it wouldn't be very good, but it may be worth investigation 2 High Tide instead of 2 Dark Ritual.

[breed]

@LiamK: I tested a similar deck without the draw7s. You must play ETW, it's a MVP in this deck, you will win with this against a lot of decks like Fish or Gat. Give it a try, you wont be disappointed.

 

[Liam-K]

diopter: High Tide must be in your hand at the start of your turn to matter, and would pretty much require fastbond abuse to generate more than +1 mana... it's very win more.

Additionally, Ritual plays a different role than you seem to think.  Its presence ensures you can tap your lands to cast draw spells without worrying about keeping enough black open to tutor->tendrils... even when it's not in your hand.  You storm with draw spells so you are eventually going to hit ritual, lotus, fastbond, or an extra tutor for any of the above.  Without the rituals you end up blowing your load to storm to 10 and being unable to assemble enough black to win, passing the turn with a fistful of counters, and having tutored half of your deck out already find yourself unable to mount a second attempt.


I had an idea, I'm currently testing Impulse in the Sol Ring slot.  Not enough data to form an opinion yet but it seems like it should work out.

[Grand Inquisitor]

***Outside the topic, which is highly pertinent, I feel that the quality of this post is exactly what the T1 open forum should aspire to.  There's great content, breadth of analysis, and the door is left open for discussion.  Well done.***

Windfall: occasionally awful, I'm aware.

Have you ever considered scroll rack in this slot?  I feel like it's the best Gush enabler that no one is playing, and in this case it produces a very similar effect to windfall for the same cost.  Obviously the long term effect of this card are even greater, as if an opponent leaves you alone for more than two turns with this you should be able to scuplt an unbeatable hand.

1 Chain of Vapor...
1 Tendrils of Agony

I'll be honest that this is probably unacceptable in my metagame.  Between chalice @1, magus ot moon, mindcensor, spheres, and wierd stuff like root maze, pillar, and the recent gaddock guy, the combination of singular route to victory and lack of bounce options would cost a lot of games.  If this were closer to Long or Belcher in speed I could understand, but it's extremely likely your opponent will three mana before you go off.

It looks like you can affod the slot, and Psychatog was everything I could ask for in Ritual Gifts.  He's a moat, he's lethal by turn 4 if unblocked, and he pitches to seven cards in your deck.  The strength of this card against stax should not be underestimated.  EtW might be ok, but I feel it gets nailed by the same stuff as tendrils, it doesn't pitch, and it's not in your primary splash.

I'd probably have to play more to see what draw 7's do to the mana base, but I'd prefer either a fetchland or a 2nd island over the 2nd tropical (unless there are SB reasonss I'm unaware of).

[madmanmike25]

Questionable choices:
Sol Ring:....This is really the only open slot, suggestions are welcome.

Keep it in is my suggestion. You seem to have plenty of uses for a card that can add to your storm count and provide an additional mana.  You can cast it when you need it, or drop it first turn if you have FoW in hand to counter anything relevent your opponent might do.  Your main "ending the game" spells require colorless mana.  Especially keep it in if you follow the Scroll Rack suggestion.  I understand your concerns about mana slots with Gush and all, but I can't wrap my mind around taking out Sol Ring in a Storm-based deck.

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

I've been testing gush combo variants off and on for a while now. One thing I continually have noticed is that regrowth is not a questionable choice. It basically functions as scroll #5, except it can do more broken plays, like get you that recall you've already played, and if you were running gifts obviously have it as an option. Regrowth also helps you go storm crazy early.

D tutor for lotus.
Lotus, 
Regrowth lotus, floating
Play lotus,
Yawg's will
Lotus,
Use floating  to play sol ring
Gush, bouncing island+ underground sea
Crack lotus, duress
Tap sol ring TOA

Had you had something like fast bond in play, regrowth could have retrieved gush. Regrowth equates to 3 storm, whether it be reoccurring lotus or scroll #5 (I believe off turn 1 on the play it increases you likely hood to draw into scroll/gush off a gush something like 6% unaided by things like brainstorm, in my limited testing, it seemed to be a noticeable difference). It lets you win with less gold fishing, although it definitely helps with that as well.

TINKER: I've also noticed that previous lists have been very grave Dependant, and regrowth doesn't help this. Have you tested tinker/memory jar? You’re now able to play DSC which is good the meta, but I can definitely see why negator is better in situations. I've tested Jar a lot, with dark ritual it’s easy to hard cast and activating it during next upkeep for the 8 card jar and all your mana back is on of my favorite things to do, other draw sevens don't allow this. The card seems to win games, especially when you’re in a pinch. Including scroll rack gives you an additional tinker "target" with a similar function to jar.

ETW: I've also been testing ETW. In the current meta, we're forced to play more control than we normally would. This really clogs up your hand and your gushing and draw 7's. ETW allows you a second win condition, you’re now twice as likely to draw into a win condition, and makes it ok if you end up not being able to storm to 10. ETW serves the same function as negator, except it has a major problem with echoing truth, but is not something you can FOW, obviously. The real kicker is that it's much easier to combat dryad with ETW, that’s why I favor it. The inclusion of red also allows for REB's and fire/ice, which can be used to fire off Magus of the moon, meddling mage, zo-zu, or to the dome, i.e. storm count 2 (obviously this is something I've really liked from testing the icbm list. As a side note, I really like Meloku, but negator is winning more games).

[Liam-K]

So far, I've been very content with the cutting Sol Ring.  Impulse hasn't been awful, but it always seems like I cast it when I have absolutely nothing better to do.  The only time it ever seems like it has a purpose in the deck is when it finds my second land.  Not overjoyed with this slot.  Psychatog has been in over Windfall for the past little while, and while I've found my previous observations hold true (good in theory, never use it in practice) I'm happier with him than impulse.  My main complaint with the 'tog is that when he's lethal, it's because my deck has been working and I can just win with tendrils.  The times that I seem to be just plain going nowhere I tend to consider him and decide he's just not dangerous until I have a bigger yard.

Windfall is currently back in over Impulse.  I'd like to find a replacement for 'tog, preferably something that is a clock type threat and can be the only spell you cast and still win the game.  Since I've had a lot of people tell me to try tinker/jar, tinker/jar/dsc seems like the answer, but I'm nervous of cutting two cards I can cast for 2 tinker targets, and it seems like if Tog and Windfall go, the third thing to get cut will wind up being Misdirection.  This seems like it makes sense but feels like it's antithetical to the design of gro-style small spells I cast lots of.

Does 2x Night's Whisper make sense?  Dark Confidant might even be a consideration, but Whisper seems smarter.

[rologa]

I have worked in a similar deck since the unrestriction of Gush. MY conclusions about it are the following:

- In my experience the mana base need to be more similar to GAT mana base. It's necessary more lands to make work the Gush draw engine. If not you take the risk of stall and loss some turns waiting for this desired second land. At present I play with 14 islands or potentially islands and I think that 13 are the minimum to take advantage of the Gush engine. To do this I go without Mana Crypt, Sol Ring and Mox Pearl and I'm very happy with the results.

- Draw 7 are conditional cards that you can't cast every time you have one in your hand. That's why I only like blue draw 7, because if you can't cast it at least you can pitch it to Fow.

- ETW is the most effective additional win condition I have find. You can pressure your opponent early casting 3 o 4 spells and ETW or you can finish a game after a mini tendrils. You can cast it defensively if needed to gain some turns against aggressive decks. It's the perfect compliment to Tendrils.

- The deck need very few lands in play to work (2 o 3 are more than enough) so usually you have lands in your hand that aren't useful. You have Brainstorms and Windfall to change this lands for good cards but isn't enough. To avoid this one solution is play with less lands but I have argued in my first point why I don't like this solution. Gush engine requires lands and also with few lands your mulligans are very risky.
The best solution I found is to play with 2 Baazar of Baghdad. They filter your excess of lands and help you to find the best cards. You cannot use then every turn, you have to use then cautiously but the rewards are very good. The power of the combination of Gush and Baazar is big and unexplored until moment.

- I don't think Misdirection works well in this deck. This deck has to be more aggressive than GAT and need less spells to protect because if not your options to stall when you try to combo out increase dramatically. I think that 4 Fow and 4 Duress are enough.

- You cannot play with more than 1 or 2 off-color spells (red or green) because the risk of color screw or mana screw increase more than it was desirable. That's why I don't play Regrowth or Wheel of Fortune, good but conditional cards.

Well, that's just my two cents I hope you find it useful.

[Ufactor]

- The deck need very few lands in play to work (2 o 3 are more than enough) so usually you have lands in your hand that aren't useful. You have Brainstorms and Windfall to change this lands for good cards but isn't enough. To avoid this one solution is play with less lands but I have argued in my first point why I don't like this solution. Gush engine requires lands and also with few lands your mulligans are very risky.
The best solution I found is to play with 2 Baazar of Baghdad. They filter your excess of lands and help you to find the best cards. You cannot use then every turn, you have to use then cautiously but the rewards are very good. The power of the combination of Gush and Baazar is big and unexplored until moment.

Another solution is noteworthy, here.  You can run 13-14 lands like GAT, but instead run a full set of fetches.  Right now, I'm testing 8 fetchlands w/6 targets, and I'm loving it.  a) You rarely (never?) want to see more than six lands throughout the course of an entire game - even against control. b)You will see two lands in two turns, and then draw fewer of them as things progress. c) Fetches never make you choose between playing a solid utility land (Bazaar) and getting gush online(Island #2).  So, the configuration could look something like this:

1 Black Lotus
1 Dark Ritual
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt/Ritual #2
1 Mox Emerald
1 Jet
1 Pearl
1 Ruby
1 Sapphire
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
3 Island, Tropical Island, Volcanic Island (See Mastriano/Indy)

[lordmayhem]

Is running Draw7s really the optimal solution, when at the cost of 2c you are getting a symmetric effect? Especially when using junk like Windfall. The potential of giving your opponent an excellent hand, or worse, a control-heavy hand is quite great.

Wouldn't running a few bombs in the place of Draw7s be a more optimal solution? For example, Gifts, FoF, Future Sight, Y.Bargain (and a 3rd Ritual).

I have personally been testing Y.Bargain, Gifts and Future Sight, though Future Sight's prohibitive mana cost is giving cause for seeking alternatives, such as FoF. However, Future Sight consistently allows for dropping moxen, rituals and eventually going off, whereas FoF will yield you 2-3 cards.

[Liam-K]

FoF was tested and deemed terrible.  Gifts hasn't been tested, but I'm confident saying it does not fit... it becomes a tutor for a Draw7 at the cost of depleating your library of a lot of juice.  Bargain was awful even in the 4 ritual version because having 4 life makes fastbond useless.  Future Sight seems sooooo expensive... I've tested some serious jank but always with the theme of keeping it cheap.  You honestly don't want to get to the point where you have 3UU on the table.

Draw7s are actually really good in this list.  7 pitch counters to both resolve them and make your new hand punch through, fastbond which makes your new hand get cast all at once, and 4 duress which make your hand that didn't win this turn not lose to your opponent's new hand, but still gas-dense enough to be less turns away from ending the game than your opponent.  Plus, they're in the mana cost range I want to run.  I probably like them better in this list than any other combo deck I've put them in.




I'm definitely noticing a lot of weight going to the coinflip in testing.  Getting a chance to do something before I get duressed makes an absurd difference. 

[ErkBek]

FoF was tested and deemed terrible.  Gifts hasn't been tested, but I'm confident saying it does not fit... it becomes a tutor for a Draw7 at the cost of depleating your library of a lot of juice. 

I think once you get the hang of gifts in here, it'll be one of your favorite cards in the deck. Basically, if gifts resolves you can assume your opponent doesn't have a counterspell. Since you've got 4x Tutors it's going to usually be fine to just gifts for 3x Tutors and Lotus/Fasbond/Gush. From here you need very few cards to make things work. Typically you'll get 2 topdeck tutors which is totally fine (let's say you get mystical and Iseal).

Upkeep, mystical for Gush (U)
draw gush
Iseal for Will (B)
Gush
Will (2B)
Lotus for black
DT for fastbond
Fetch for trop
Fastbond
topdeck tutor for Gush
Gush
topdeck tutor for tendrils
Gush
Tendrils

Gifts got everything you needed to win there and it even raised your storm to lethal, all in 1 card. Obviously, it can be done for less mana depending on your hand, but here it won for 3U at opponents EOT and 2UBB on your turn.

[lordmayhem]

Aside from fetching tutors, Gifts can also fetch out mana (Lotus, Mox, Crypt, Petal for example), effectively raises your storm count by 3, and can be tutored with Merchant Scroll. You've said yourself that Windfall is a bit iffy.

Before claiming that you're confident that it doesn't fit, you should test it a few games. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

• FoF ... you might be right. I'll still give it a try.
• Future Sight does have a very prohibitive mana cost. I'm aware. However its game breaking if it resolves.
• Bargain ... not sure. I never had the situation you're speaking of, because I draw cards 1 by 1, and casting tutors for what I need. I definitely need to test it more though.

All in all, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of running Draw7s. I've been bitten by my opponent drawing into Duresses and Forces before, so I'd advocate something that is not quite as symmetrical. I do agree on the easy mana costs though, and I suppose that is a very good justification for using them.

[Liam-K]

you have to draw an asston off bargain because the deck has 2 rituals.  You're neither going to cast it with much (any) mana left, nor hit lots of acceleration.  This deck's acceleration costs life, and if you're going to win by brute casting of spells after drawing a lot you need to pay for them.  It always seem like I needed to tutor up fastbond when I used bargain and then didn't have enough life to use it.

I may try Gifts.  I had considered the tutor pile, but it seemed underwhelming.  It might work out though.

[rologa]

I don't think Gifts fit well in this deck. It is a good card and when you resolve it you are ahead of your opponent but in this deck with so few mana producers isn't easy to cast. This deck isn't a control deck that can wait until play a Gifts on the opponent's turn and then try to combo out in your turn. Very often Gifts will clog your hand and the best use you will find will be to pitch to Fow.
In my experience what the deck needs to work properly is not to have any card with converted mana cost bigger than 3, except finishers. This philosophy makes the deck flow very well and never have cards that clog your hand.

[ErkBek]

Are you guys still running just 11 lands? I've found 12 lands to be the bare minimum in any deck running multiple Gush. I'd be running 13 lands in a deck like this.

[Liam-K]

Pearl is currently out for a land, so far I'm happy with it but it needs more time... crypt is still in.  The island/fetch count is 12, library is the 13th land.

[rologa]

Are you guys still running just 11 lands? I've found 12 lands to be the bare minimum in any deck running multiple Gush. I'd be running 13 lands in a deck like this.

Personally I play 14 lands and I consider 13 the minimum lands I will play in a deck like this. My current mana base is:

3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emeral
1 Mox Ruby
2 Dark Ritual

I'm very happy with this mana base. It is very stable and I haven't problems to find the proper color when I need it. I used to play with 13 lands but I found that the mulligans were very dangerous, forced to keep 6 card suboptimal hands because mulligating to less than 6 made impossible to find the necessary lands.

[lordmayhem]

Personally I play with 13 lands, 6 of which are fetchies and 1 of which is Academy. I don't believe that you can afford to play less lands than that. However, I also run 9 Artifacts and 3 Dark Rituals.

@Liam-K : I didn't find any trouble casting Bargain, but I probably run a lot more mana sources than you. I will try out Timetwister in the place of Bargain.

Not many people seem to be interested in this type of deck, but what do people think of Twister, Gifts and some other bomb?

[breed]

I play Gift/Twister/Jar in my version. Gift is really good with Tutors/Manas/Regrowth/Gush. I'm very happy with it. Twister/Jar are more problematic, I'm not really convinced by them, but I will continue to test some weeks to be sure.

 

[rologa]

This past weekend I have the opportunity of test my deck after some weeks of tunning. It was in a 67 people tournament corresponding with the 10th tournament of the "Liga Catalana de Vintage" (Vintage Catalan League).
The deck ran very well all the day and I finish in Top 4 after losing to GAT in semifinals.

The deck I play was:

Mana sources
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emeral
1 Mox Ruby
2 Dark Ritual

Draw engine
2 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
2 Impulse
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
4 Gush

Tutors
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Mystical Tutor

Bombs
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Fastbond

Disruption
4 Force of Will
4 Duress

Defense
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth

Finishers
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens

Sideboard
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Pyroclasm
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Trickbind


My level of english isn't good enough to do a detailed report of the tournament but I will try to do a mini report with my matches and my impressions.

Round 1 - Combo with Tendrils (I don't know if TPS or something similar, I didn't see Grim Tutors or Cabal Rituals)
The two games were similar. My opponent starts developing some mana but no business and after some disruption for my part I combo out with Fastbond, Gushes  and Yawgmoth's without opposition. 1-0-0

Round 2 - UW Fish
The first game start with him playing some small criatures but without enough pressure to worry me and I combo out with fastbond and Yawgmoth's in turn 4 or 5.
The next two games went very bad to me. I have average initial hands and he start as always with some creatures. He tries to attack my mana base but I have enough lands to avoid it. But the problems was that I didn't draw enough business spells and after 5 or 6 turns I was in very critical situation and has to try to combo out desperately and the two times I failed. 1-1-0

Round 3 - UW Fish
First game I draw very well with Fastbond , Gush, some lands, Merchant Scroll and Fow. I don't remember if I combo out first or second turn but I didn't have any opportunity to do something.
I lost second game after some mana denial for his part and some Grunt hitting me for a pair of turns.
The last game he has a good defensive hand with counters and stifle but without creatures. After some draw and go after wasting our hands I have enough business spells to put 14 goblin tokens and after some desperate turns from my opponent I win the match. 2-1-0

Round 4 - Urbana Fish
He starts with Confident but after 2 turns I have a very good hand and I combo out via Yawgmoth's without much problems.
Second game I draw the nuts and I put 20 tokens in the first turn so I finished the next one. 3-1-0

Round 5 - Control Slaver with Metalwolker-Staff combo
The first game was interesting. He tried to control the situation with a first turn Welder but I ruined his plan duressing his only castable artifact in hand (Sol Ring) and making useless his Tolarian Academy. After a pair of turns he cast Thirst of Knowledge discarding a Titan and put it in play but I only have an island, the rest were fetches, so I didn't lost enough lands to put in danger my position. At the end of his turn I mysticaled for Yawgmoth's and I combo out with duress and Fow protection.
Second game was very quickly with him combo out on turn 2 with Metalwolker and Staff (what the fuck!). This surprised me a lot and after his first turn Metalwolker I couldn't do anything to avoid loss this game.
In the third game I started with a very control hand with duress and Fow and controlled the game. He has Metalwolkers but no more business in hand. After some turns hitting me with Workers we enter on turns. He walked to steal me a turn so I have to try to combo out in my last turn. I play Gush, Bazaared and play Brainstorm before I saw Yawgmoth's and combo out in extremis. 4-1-0

Round 6 - Bomberman with counterbalance
I play against a very slow opponent that insisted in shuffling intensively my deck each time I play a fetch or a tutor and with 14 shuffle effects in my deck this was a lot.
The first game started with a duress from my part discarding a Brainstorm instead of a Counter Balance that would cost me the game after. He has a slow hand and I tried to putting pressure casting an Empty the Warrens of 2 but he show me his first card in the library and was a Savager (he have casted Counter Balance previously) so I only put 2 tokens, insufficient for my plans. He plays Savager in his turn and I decided to try to combo out in my turn with Yawgmoth's. It was a little risky because if he discovers his first card and her casting cost was 3 I will lost but if not I was sure he will combo the next turn. He tries to cast brainstorm but I cast Fow and then he show me the first card directly and obviously have 3 casting cost so I was dead. He combo next turn as I though.
The second game was very quickly because I know that if I didn't play fast I won't have time to finish it. I risk a little and combo out in second turn with Fastbond and Yawgmoth's. Just then arrive the judge and said time so we didn't start the third. 4-1-1

Round 7 - Mud
I know he played Workshops so I was prepared to suffer in my last match to try to get the top 8.
He start dropping 1 Wasteland, 2 Moxes and a Sphere. I didn't have Fow (I mulligated to 6) but have enough lands to play things. He plays another Sphere and I play a dual land on my second turn to try to force him to sacrifice Wasteland (he haven't drop any land his turn). He did it and I gushed saving my land and leaving him with only 2 moxes with 2 Spheres in play. After some more turns when I develop my table with more lands and moxes and a lot of business in my hands he conceded.
The second game was very quickly. He mulligated to 6 and started with Wasteland, Black Lotus and Metalwalker. I have first turn Fastbond, two lands and Gush so I will draw to show what I get and try to combo out or return to his hands the Metalwalker with a Chain of Vapor. I draw very well and combo out in the firts turn after some gushing, scrolling and a Yawgmoth's Will. 5-1-1

Finally I have finished 4 in the Swiss after suffering a lot in some moments.

Top 8 - 5-colors Stax with Metalwalker-Staff combo
Another hard pairing.
This time I win the dice (my second time of the day) and I will start in a very important match.
I draw very well and started with Mox Emeral, Fastbond, Tropical, Fetch, Merchant to Gush, Gush, replay lands and I play Impulse sawing another Gush. Gushed again and saw another land so I play Windfall and draw another 7. I combo out soon after with Yawgmoth's Will and a Tendrils of 40 o more and my opponent desperate without playing any turn.
Second game wasn't as good for me and I conceded after my opponent were in a dominant position with a Welder and 2 Spheres on the table.
The third game didn't start very well for me. I have to mulligan to 6 and I don't have a very good hand with only 1 land and Lotus and some defensive spells (Hurky's and Ancient Grudge) but withou business. He plays a Trinisphere and Staff of Domination but didn't pressure hard. He cast Chalice of 1 but I was confused and Though it was at 2 so I sacrifice Lotus and play Ancient Grudge against his Trinisphere. I haven't enough lands and with the Chalice at 1 I can cast any card of my hand. I drop Bazaar and start to cycling my hand. He drops a Wolker and I thoughs I was lost but he don't have enough artifacts in hand. After some turns with my cycling my deck and him drawing without seeing enough artifacts he plays Tinker to Jar. If he draws 3 artifact I lost but fortunately for me he didn't and give me the turn. I draw mystical, cast it and put Yawgmoth's on top drawing it with Bazaar. I cast it and have enough mana to cast Hurky's from my graveyard. I know he has to have 2 or 3 reb in his hand but this chalice at 1 finally save me because I can play the Hurky's protected. I don't have more mana but I have to drop a land for the turn and casted Fastbond with it. I combo out after some spells a little after.
My opponent was a little angry with his luck and I understand him but inconsistency was the main problem of 5 color Stax, and more with Metalwoker-Staff combo. Not enough artifacts, a lot of 1 man plays (welders, rebs, ancestral, sol ring, vault, etc.)

Semifinals - GAT (with only 3 Dryads, no Tog and Tendrils has alternative finisher)
This match was very intense, with a lot of alternatives but a lot of sportmanship from both players. the match we always like to play.
He started with a very good hand, duressing my Ancestral and casting mystical in response to my duress. After he plays a Dryad and cast Ancestral I was in a very bad position. He grows the Dryad until 8 or 9 but I return then to his hand with a Chain of Vapor. But hi has Regrowth, Time Walk and Yawgmoth's so I couldn't abort his win.
The second game start very well for me, with Lotus Petal, Mox Emerald, Lotus and Twister but I don't have protection so I prefer to cast a Brainstorm first. I saw Mox Jet, Duress and Force of Will. Things started to look well. I cast Duress and Twister and draw another 7 cards with four mana sources in play, isn't bad. I combo out soon after.
We started the third and final game. Both started slow, trying to control the game. He started with Library but after I duress him next turn and couldn't activate library. Soon after he extirpated my Gushes so I lost my first draw engine. I saw and empty so my plan was to cast some goblinks to pressuring him. I tutor for Lotus and play Empty for 10 tokens. He scrolled to Echoing Truth and return my tokens the turn after but emptying his hand. We draw and go a pair of turns and I try again with Empty. He only has 1 card in hand so it was the moment. Next turn he cast duress and gave me the turn. I hit with goblins leaving him at 6. But unfortunately for me his other card was Yawgmoth's so he recast Ancestral, Gush and Echoing and  kill my tokens having seven cards in hand. I don't have enough mana to win but was in a very good position. I only have 1 card but he had only 6 life so I can cast a mini tendrils and win.
But he draws a lot of disruption (2 Duress and 1 Mana Drain) and I cannot cast any spell. Finally he cast Fastbond and a mini Tendrils for 6 and replay Tendrils with Regrowth killing me.
And incredible game that I though was mine in more than one instant but finally I lost to a very good playerd and very nice person.

Conclusions
The deck run very well, with a very solid mana base that allow you to deploy all your game without problems and with a very good draw engine that make you draw a lot of cards until you find what you need to win.
I want to make special emphasis in the capacity that have this deck to recover from bad positions and how well it is when you need to combo out just in this turn or lost. The deck rewards taking risks more than others and no fizzle as often as other combo decks.

Some info about the tournament
67 players, 7 rounds of Swiss
Metagame with lots of Stax,fish and goblins and some gat, control and combo.
Top 8 was: 2 Stax, 2 Bomberman, 1 Urbana fish, 1 GAT, 1 Ichorid, 1 Gush Tendrils

Roberto.

[ashiXIII]

I draw mystical, cast it and put Yawgmoth's on top drawing it with Bazaar. I cast it and have enough mana to cast Hurky's from my graveyard. I know he has to have 2 or 3 reb in his hand but this chalice at 1 finally save me because I can play the Hurky's protected.

Shouldn't the Mystical have gotten countered, then?

[rologa]

Shouldn't the Mystical have gotten countered, then?

Sure, I suppose I don't cast mystical, I don't remember very well. At this moment my library was very thin and it was probably that I draw it directly from Baazar without any tutor.

[Liam-K]

I'll go back on my predictions: Gifts has tested pretty nicely.  It's pricey but pretty good at winning the game.  Tog got another long shot in the maindeck and my opinion hasn't changed... good in theory, terrible tutor target and dead when drawn in practice.


My most recent list, which I feel is the strongest to date:


mana

3 flooded strand
3 polluted delta
2 underground sea
2 island
1 tropical island
1 volcanic island

1 mox sapphire
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mox emerald
1 mana crypt

1 black lotus
1 lotus petal
2 dark ritual

1 fastbond

(12 islands, 0 mox pearl)



staying in the game

4 force of will
4 duress
2 misdirection
1 chain of vapor
1 echoing truth

4 brainstorm
4 gush
4 merchant scroll
1 ancestral recall
1 night's whisper
1 regrowth

1 time walk

(2 bounce spells really helps against artifacts and critters, deals with chalice=1 without cutting you off from cheap bounce)



ending the game

1 demonic tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 mystical tutor
1 imperial seal

1 yawgmoth's will
1 timetwister
1 wheel of fortune
1 gifts ungiven
1 library of alexandria

1 tendrils of agony

(notice a scrollable card in the tutor target category, try not ot think of library as a mana source especially during mulligan descisions)

[Ged]

Nice list Liam-K, however I'd like to ask some questions:
1. What's your sideboard like (presumably 4x Leyline, 3-4 REB, Empty?)
2. How do you think it will fare in the post-Lorwyn metagame (especially against 9sphere.dec)? Gush will have a hard time when a sphere lands.

[Liam-K]

My sideboard is kinda outdated... I don't build the best sideboards, to be honest.  Pyroclasm has been really good.  Oxidise seems better thanAncient Grudge except when it gets chaliced.  I haven't tested a ton against decks with tons of sphere effects but I think going up to 3 islands would be the most logical step... you need to hit critical mass of mana before they start on your life total, then you can tutor up a solution and put your sculpted hand to use.

[lordmayhem]

I played a few games yesterday vs GAT and went 4-1.
Admittedly, I won 2-3 games off the back of Memory Jar.
Throughout the games I seldom found myself wanting a Draw7 to tutor for to refill my hand. I seldom felt this need, but it was there. I think playing with one Timetwister will be sufficient. I have no intention to dip into red for Wheel as yet.

I'll post a list later on 

[Purple Hat]

I played a few games yesterday vs GAT and went 4-1.
Admittedly, I won 2-3 games off the back of Memory Jar.
Throughout the games I seldom found myself wanting a Draw7 to tutor for to refill my hand. I seldom felt this need, but it was there. I think playing with one Timetwister will be sufficient. I have no intention to dip into red for Wheel as yet.

I'll post a list later on 

but doesn't Empty justify the inclusion of volc...and if you're doing that wheel seems like a natural fit.

[lordmayhem]

@Purplehat:
I'm actually not running Empty. I might give it a shot in Tendrils #2's slot.

The list I played with yesterday:

// Lands
    1 Island
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Tropical Island
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Tolarian Academy
    3 Underground Sea

// Spells
    1 Mox Pearl
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mana Crypt
    1 Lotus Petal
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mana Vault
    1 Sol Ring
    1 Vampiric Tutor
    1 Demonic Tutor
    1 Yawgmoth's Will
    1 Imperial Seal
    2 Tendrils of Agony
    4 Duress
    3 Dark Ritual
    1 Fastbond
    1 Regrowth
    4 Merchant Scroll
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Gush
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Gifts Ungiven
    1 Mystical Tutor
    1 Chain of Vapor
    4 Force of Will
    1 Tinker
    1 Memory Jar

In all honesty, I don't know why I kept Mana Vault. I used to run some expensive bombs in an earlier version and it just stayed there. I guess it could go out for a Volc in order to support Wheel and Empty. Another thing is that 3 Rituals really *are* excessive. I was happy to see them when I was playing Y.Will, but other than that, they just sat in my hand mocking me.