[Article] Lets talk about TPS shall we.

[Marske]

Introduction
The History
The Deck
Playing the deck
The Sideboard
The future and conclusion
Source Reference and credits

Introduction

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton

This quote explains exactly why I'm writing this post the way I am. I've had tremendous amounts of knowledge to draw from and I couldn't have done it without those that came before me and paved the way. The main problem I encountered when first getting into playing TPS was not a lack of information, but the scattering of information. I'll try and explain how I came to be at the point I'm at now. I hope my story will help out others who are trying to play TPS and get them discussing the deck a bit more. Like mentioned in Mastering TPS, the problem with Dark ritual fueled combo is it's a school with few padawans and even less Senseis. Unlike the Weissman school which has many of both. “combo” players are far and in between and usually become wandering Ronin playing the decks they love with nobody around to really work with or study the decks workings.

I too started out as a Padawan in search of knowledge and somebody to guide me in the ways of playing TPS. What I found was scattered pieces of knowledge and some old tournament reports which gave some insights into the plays made by pilots of older incarnations of the deck. This wasn't useful in actually learning to play myself, most decklists featured cards now restricted (brain storm) or didn't include cards like Grim Tutor or Imperial Seal because they weren't legal at that time. So I had to start from scratch learning to play and build the deck. The one thing I learned from trying to do this with other archetypes is going back in time and looking at what's been done before can really help, this gives you a great understanding about what evolution the deck went through and what traps former pilots have solved. This means you're not going to try and reinvent the wheel so to say. I had some base material for a current list because Paul Mastriano had just become the Vintage World Champion running TPS and the power of information in the TMD archives.

The History

The Perfect Storm first emerged in Europe as a countermeasure for the original trinisphere decks running rampant at that time back in 2004.
TPS was made to combat that deck by putting together a rock solid mana base with plenty of basics, a suite of bounce spells, lots of tutors, the best win condition in Vintage (Tendrils and later on Tinker – DSC)

January, 2005, Kenny Öberg. The Perfect Storm

Artifact mana
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Draw 7's
1 Memory Jar
1 Time Spiral
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall

Rituals:
4 Dark Ritual

Disruption:
4 Duress
4 Force of Will

Tutors:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Cunning Wish
1 Mystical Tutor

Bombs:
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mind's Desire
1 Tinker

Bounce:
2 Rebuild

Kill:
1 Tendrils of Agony

Draw:
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk

Manabase:
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
1 Brain Freeze
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Coffin Purge
1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Defense Grid
1 Echoing Truth
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Hydroblast
1 Meditate
1 Rushing River
1 Stifle

Now the first thing that's noticeable about this list compared to the more current lists, is  the lack of Cabal Rituals, Grim tutors (not yet legal at the time) and the use of draw 7's to build storm and find the kill. Along with some now shady sideboarding options obviously dedicated to deal with the meta of that time.The loss of brainstorm hurt combo a lot and I hear people saying they wouldn't pickup combo again until it returns (which I hope is never for the record). With the release of Starter and Portal late 2005. Combo got a great new toy in Grim tutor, which quickly replaced Death wish in other “long” decks. The Perfect Storm has never been the “fastest” storm deck around, those honors have always been reserved for the more “brutal” long decks like Death long, Grim long and recently Ad Nauseam Tendrils.It has been the most resilient through out the years, where the other “Brutal” Long decks could be halted by mana denial and other tricks to stop storm. TPS has offered it's pilots a way to negate most efforts in stopping the deck.

The Deck

So now I had a couple of lists from events in my own country and from Vintage worlds along with a history of the deck. So I could start building my own version of the deck, building your own version is important because there are always different ways to build a deck. You can run different color configurations (UB, UBg, UBr) Different draw sevens and tutor packages can be supported all with their pros and cons.

So finding a decklist I'm the most comfortable with is usually my step one in trying to master a new deck. Sure the basic framework has been established but lots of configurations have proved viable and most card choices don't come down to which card is strictly better but are more of a preference call. So I started testing with the list Paul Mastriano used to win worlds as seen here and after some rounds of goldfishing coming to know the deck, some actual play testing in a gauntlet I finally ran it at a small event doing horribly but learning allot. I came to the following conclusions:

- 3 grim tutors proved to be too much.
- I missed having Tolarian academy and Minds Desire against control.
- Staxx needed more attention as did fish from the board

The last point was certainly something very logical because I copied the entire list including the sideboard which was tuned for a different meta-game then I usually play in. The other two points are a bit more subtle and easily missed when you don't test against control under the impression it's already a good match up.  Next up was a rather new 30+ people event (ended up being 42 people attending) in which I suspected a lot of new players trying to get into the format (the goal of the event). What better place to run TPS could one imagine ?

I started working on the deck to get it ready to face the meta I expected. So I made the following tweaks:

* I Cut down from 5 to 4 fetch in favor of supporting Tolarian Academy
* Played a Minds Desire instead of the 3rd Grim tutor
* Played Slaughter pact and Shriekmaw in the sideboard for Canonist, Meddling Mage and other utility critters.

I settled on the following list:

The Perfect Storm by Marius van Zundert

Lands:
3 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
3 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Creatures:
1 Darksteel Colossus

Instant:
4 Force of Will
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Misdirection
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Brainstorm

Sorcery:
4 Duress
2 Grim Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Minds Desire
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Enchantment:
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Necropotence

Artifact:
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal

Sideboard:
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Phyrexian Negator
2 Shriekmaw
2 Slaughter pact
2 Pithing Needle
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Hymm to Tourach
1 Rebuild

Finishing in the top 8 portion of the field with most players playing either some form of Null rod Aggro, Drains or Combo with a 2-0 record in every match up only losing against the mirror twice (with 1-2) proved to me I had a solid decklist and understanding of the deck. Sadly I lost in the top 8 to a teammate for reasons not concerning the deck or else I'm sure It would have been possible to take the entire event down.The main deck structure is pretty set in stone and doesn't give you a lot of tweaking potential no matter what list you decided to base your own one off. You do however have some room to work with. Depending on the splash you run you have the ability to add different draw 7's instead of running 2-3 Grim tutors, you can run Rebuild instead of Hurkyl's or both main deck, or run any combination of Grim tutors / Imperial Seal or even Intuition. With the printing of Inkwell Leviathan, Sundering Titan and Darksteel colossus you can even choose which robot you want as a backup plan.

Most choices could be meta-game Dependant or just player preference, I've seen lots of discussions rising about Hurkyl's vs Rebuild main deck but it really just comes down to preference and the correct meta-game call. As long as you keep the game-plan intact (focus on 1 single turn and timing not speed the deck up or play it like something it's not) you should be able to fit in a variety of tools needed to successfully navigate through a tournament. Just keep assessing each tool you have for every tournament you enter to see if it's still the best option.

Playing the deck

Other Long decks rely on playing bomb after bomb until one resolves which most likely would win the pilot the game. TPS doesn't function that way, it wants to sculpt a “perfect” single turn which seals the deal. There's a fundamental difference about this approach which only few players really understand when first playing the deck. Most players have some experience with other Long decks and will try and play TPS in the same way, resulting in the deck “fizzling” or being pushed beyond it's scope and giving the idea it's not performing well.

I'll try and explain this fundamental difference between TPS and other long decks. Try to imagine other long decks being cutthroat killers rushing into battle from the moment they enter the battlefield with blow after blow weakening the opponent until one blow proves fatal. Now try and imagine TPS as the silent assassin waiting in the shadows for the correct moment to take out the opponent with one single pinpoint blow. Playing TPS correctly is all about resource management, (which is true for all magic decks I know) planning and timing. Some basic rules each TPS pilot must keep in mind outlined in Mastering TPS are very true and lessons best learned early if you're serious about playing with TPS.

- Slow Down
- Have Confidence in your Deck
- Focus on What’s Important

I've seen lots of TPS players in real life losing because they didn't apply these 3 guidelines and get pushed into playing the deck in a way it's not meant to be played, thus losing horribly.

The Sideboard

The greatest challenge any TPS player (or magic player) faces is creating a sideboard. It's an art most players don't focus on or are very skeptical about. People try to work in theory without actual data to support the cards they pick or just copy a sideboard from previous events.This is wrong for many reasons and I think the sideboard should be evaluated for every event you plan on playing. Each event will differ and will require you to maybe board different things. Other writers have dedicated lots of articles on this subject and I would like to refer you to them. (Search SCG for side boarding you'll find plenty of info) I'll try and give you some basic tips about side boarding to get you started. Remember the third rule of playing the deck, you want your sideboard to focus on what's important.

For example:
Staxx's (your worst match up) strategy is aimed at shutting your mana down with the use of Wasteland and spheres. Now you have a well equipped mana base with enough basics to deal with that game 1 but game 2 you want to focus on that strength by boarding in extra basics making sure you get your land drop. Of color moxen lose much of their strength when you need to pay mana for them so they are the best candidates to be replaced. Just focusing on your strengths isn't enough in this match up because eventually all the pieces staxx plays will catch up with you no matter how many basics you board in. Because staxx mostly runs Artifacts that shut you down you want to get rid of them in 1 single swoop just before your one single knockout blow turn cards like Hurkyl's and rebuild shine in doing this so they should also come in. Analyzing all your match ups like this helps you create a sideboard suitable for your own meta.

Just keep in mind although some cards might seem worth the space, most cards really aren't more then pests at best and shouldn't be given a seconds thought when creating a board. TPS has the natural ability to overwhelm most decks with tight play and good timing, only a few natural predators roam tournaments (Staxx, Fish, Ichorid) and should get most of your attention.

The future and conclusion

Lots of talk has flooded TMD about “mana drain dominance”, Time vault, Tezzeret and what not. I'm not going to deny the fact that drains are among the most powerful if not the powerful cards in the current meta-game. With Bazaar and Confidant tendrils decks on the rise as a remedy for drains, TPS players clearly have their work cut out for them. Certainly TPS if piloted right, can still outperform most of the decks out there. Although it's lack of pilots makes it a very small contender in today's meta game. I hope more players will realize what this deck is capable of and pick it up or at least start discussing the deck a bit more after this post.

Source Reference and credits:

I would like to thank Steve Menendian for his articles and discussions with me on TPS this really made me understand the deck a lot better. Also I want to thank Paul Mastriano for putting TPS back on the map by winning worlds with the deck and discussing some of the decks lines of play and sideboard options with me. Also I would like to thank the following people for letting me bore them with endless playtesting and discussions:

Rich “Atog Lord” Shay
Chris “Demonic Attorney” Browne
Arjan “Zieby” Bos
Dennis “XdeckX” Bijkerk
Duncan Keijzer

Articles mentioned or quoted:
The Perfect Storm
Playing with The Perfect Storm
Winning with the Perfect Storm
Mastering the Perfect Storm

[nineisnoone]

Nice list Marske!   

I like the addition of Shriekmaw for point removal. But I am a bit surprised not to see at least a singleton Massacre in the sideboard.  The Hymn's also confused me.  Do you really prefer them over Thoughtseize?

[Gekoratel]

Thanks for the post, if you could go into detail about your sideboarding strategies for the major archetypes that would be much appreciated.  Also is the 3/1 split on Delta|Mire to dodge Needle and Extirpate and how relevant have you found that split to be?

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

Cabal Ritual is an instant.

I definitely agree that in TPS the Grim Tutor count should be 2 and I'm glad to see some confirmation. I've always thought they were too clunky and expensive, but a necessary evil. However, I'd like to know your thoughts on Fact or Fiction and Windfall. In my experience they're both cards better suited to your description of Long with just "blasting through bombs until one resolves". You also don't seem to be really running a lot of early game setup cards outside of the basic restricted package.

I guess as a final note you stated that your meta was packed with Stax and it is a problem deck, yet your sideboard+maindeck run only 12 lands and 3 bounce spells. You don't seem to have devoted anything extra to Stax at all really.

Very nice article and I think you're bang on that too many people try to play TPS like Long and then fail with the deck. I agree that the golden rules of TPS are:

- Slow Down
- Have Confidence in your Deck
- Focus on What’s Important (AKA your strengths)

Excellent job.

[Marske]

Nice list Marske!

Thank you !

I like the addition of Shriekmaw for point removal. But I am a bit surprised not to see at least a singleton Massacre in the sideboard

Shriekmaw while good still costs 2 mana and doesn't kill artifact creatures, if you suspect lots of fish you can split between Pact / Shriekmaw to minimize some MM tricks or something but otherwise I would now stick only to Pact because it doesn't cost you anything except the card itself. Massacre is pretty good as a one off and I would run a single one from the board at the moment, for that event I didn't expect lots of decks running plains (and I was correct) which means Massacre gets a bit worse.

Hymn grabs more cards and doesn't cost you life, so if I would run extra discard I would prefer Hymn over Thoughtseize every time. Sure both can be misdirected and one could argue that losing 2 cards at that point is worse then losing 2 life and 1 card. But that's why I don't run either at this point, because misdirection is seeing more and more play.

Thanks for the post, if you could go into detail about your sideboarding strategies for the major archetypes that would be much appreciated.  Also is the 3/1 split on Delta|Mire to dodge Needle and Extirpate and how relevant have you found that split to be?

I've made the 3/1 split exactly because of Pithing needle, I wanted another fetch which could grab a basic swamp so only mire qualified, I've been pretty happy with it so far and have almost never had trouble with having only the mire and needing a basic island.

Regarding boarding strategies,
Steve did a great job in his article "winning with TPS" in giving information about sideboarding but I'll give a quick recap, remember I'm using the maindeck I mentioned in my initial article so if you run a different maindeck this could be very different.

The Mirror:
Packing anything in your board for the mirror is almost useless because you'll most likely be wasting SB space and taking out cards which are better then the stuff you're bringing in. I would board in 1 or 2 Tormod's Crypts in this one because Yawgmoth's Will is the most efficient path to a lethal Tendrills and cutting your opponent of this plan can be pretty relevant.  If you do pack Hymn's or thoughtseize for control you could also board those in to interact more with your opponent.

Staxx:
I board out 2 off color moxen and 2 cabal for bounce / basics

Ichorid:
I board out 4 duress, 1 Misdirection, 1 Grim tutor and 1 Merchant scroll and bring in 7 hate cards

Fish:
Depending on the knowledge if they run Canonist / Null rod or run Grim Lavamancer / Mother of Ruins / insert random nasty utility creature I board the same as against staxx with either bounce or spotremoval or needles.

Against other matchups you don't really need to board anything because TPS has the natural ability to out play / topdeck any other deck out there. You could board certain cards if you feel it's necessary (needle against Tezz for example) but keep in mind that you're most likely going to be faster then they are anyway.

@FlyFlySideOfFry,
Thank you, (and cabal ritual indeed is an instant I'll edit my post )

I've really fallen in love with having 2 grim tutors and I've tested lots of games with different combinations of tutors (2 grim, 1 seal 1 grim etc) and this is the package I've found to be the most suited to my playstyle.

You also don't seem to be really running a lot of early game setup cards outside of the basic restricted package.

The only early setup card I don't run compared to other lists is Imperial Seal and that's mainly because I've hated the card ever since I first played with it. It's never good enough for me to really consider running it. Especially not over a second Grim tutor. Now don't get me wrong this is a personal preference spot and if you're more comfortable running Seal then by all means do so. The difference during actual play is so small it's really not a factor.

However, I'd like to know your thoughts on Fact or Fiction and Windfall. In my experience they're both cards better suited to your description of Long with just "blasting through bombs until one resolves".

Fact or Fiction isn't really a bomb in this deck but more a tutor / draw spell to setup a bomb. Sometimes it's counter bait other times it's a tutor or just a card that sets up a Will turn. I've always considered Windfall to be a very bad draw spell and I must honestly admit I've never tested it mainly because of this. Fact certainly deserves a spot in this deck because of the amazing flexibility it offers, windfall is just to clunky for TPS in my opinion.

I guess as a final note you stated that your meta was packed with Stax and it is a problem deck, yet your sideboard+maindeck run only 12 lands and 3 bounce spells. You don't seem to have devoted anything extra to Stax at all really.

Like I said in the article, I didn't expect any staxx during the tournament thus my sideboard wasn't really prepared for it. I did have some cards to bring in against it but not nearly enough. My current board consists of 4-6 cards I can board vs Staxx (minimum of 2 basics) 7 cards I can board against dredge, and 4 cards for Fish / Misc. Which is probably the way every sideboard should be build unless you have a good idea what to expect.

[Stormanimagus]

@Marske- Thanks for making this thread. I think I often avoid playing TPS because I don't really know what the optimal list is. I think that, when constructing any good TPS list we must first establish the "shell", or auto-includes.

Here's my take on the TPS Maindeck Shell as it stands right now. Tell me what you think on this:

TPS Shell

Land (11):
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
1 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (8):
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar

Artifact Creatures (1):
1 Inkwell Leviathan/DSC (Preference I suppose though I think Inky is better)

Instants (13):
4 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
4 Force Of Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

Sorceries (7):
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tendrils Of Agony

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

Total cards = 42

Now some might say that Merchant Scroll is an auto-include and perhaps it is, but I'm not sure it is as necessary sans Gush. I know it usually gets recall or FoW but that's kinda narrow for a deck that is trying to often tutor up Yawg Will or Black Lotus.

4x Duress or some split of Duress + Thoughtseize also seems pretty normal (3/1 split, 2/2 split, 1/3 split or 0/4 split) but I wouldn't call it an auto include cause I wouldn't necessarily run them in a Stax-heavy or Ichorid heavy metagame. In that sort of meta I might MD more bounce.

which brings me to. . .

MD bounce- Hurkyl's, Rebuild, Chain. This Trifecta is probably an auto include, but I'm not 100% sold on that either as Stax isn't that present right now. There are times when I'd only run Hurkyl's and Rebuild MD or even just Rebuild MD. It all depends on preference and feel for the Metagame.

Ponder, Imperial Seal- These cards are sub-optimal to other choices that exist but they are probably includes as well given what is currently available.

FoF, Gifts Ungiven- These are probably also includes right now, but are mana heavy and that leads me to. . .

Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby- Everyone assumes these cards are auto includes, but I really think that depends on the goal of the deck. I think these guys go hand in hand with a high density of big bomb spells so hence IF you are running them you should probably also run FoF and Gifts.

Misdirection- This card is simply extra disruption and has lost much power with the resurgence of Mystic Remora IMO. They will often win counter wars so it is necessary to stop the Remora strategy instead of getting in to a long stream of counter battles.

Aight, that's it for now from me. I'll post a TPS list soon that I think fills out the last 18 slots for the current metagame, and, most importantly, that fills out the 15 SB slots best. For now, I'd like feedback as to whether you think even these 42 cards are "auto-includes".

Peace,

-Storm

[Marske]

@Stormanimagus,
I agree, a certain base shell must be agreed upon so others can use that and fill in the gaps as they see fit. I'll explain my views by putting some comments with your initial thoughts.

Land (11):
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
1 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Without a shout of a doubt you need to run at least 12 lands, 11 lands will most likely be your downfall. In my opinion a base of 2 swamp 2 Island is correct, supplemented  with a minimum of 4 to maximum 5 fetch (if you don't want to run Academy) and at least 2-3 Underground sea. When splashing a color I would first look at cutting down fetches if you play 5 or cutting down a sea if you play 3 of those for a dual that fits your splash color (basically with TPS this means a Badlands or Bayou)

Artifacts (8):
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar

I disagree on you not including Mox Emeral, Mox Pearl and Mox Ruby. They are the best at what they do (deliver mana and storm) no other 0cc spell can fill this spot and you most definitely don't want to run other cards instead of moxen.

1 Inkwell Leviathan/DSC (Preference I suppose though I think Inky is better)

Agreed, well I think DSC is better because he can actually kill an opponent within 2 turns no matter how big the opposing goyf is. In all fairness DSC vs Inky is really preference and both need protection. DSC needs a bit more attention but does get the job done a bit faster, so for me this is a high risk high reward type of deal.

Instants (13):
4 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
4 Force Of Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

In my opinion you run 2 Cabal ritual or you run zero, Cabal Ritual is your "weaker" ritual when facing 2 of your weaker match ups. Otherwise it's just plain gravy.

Sorceries (7):
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tendrils Of Agony

Along with having 1 Demonic, 1 vamp, 1 Mystical (3 tutors) you really need a combination of Grims / Seals to reliably find Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils, Tinker or setup other lines of play. This has been true since the the nice people at WoTC gave us Grims and Seals to play with. In my opinion TPS benefits most from having those cards in the deck and they give you a greater flexibility. Now we can discuss which combination is best but 2 spots should be reserved for 1-2 Grims and 0-1 seal. How you configure this is really not worth discussing because like I said before the differences are so minor you wouldn't really notice it at all during tournament play.

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

The most obvious of bombs, nobody would argue these should not be played.

Now some might say that Merchant Scroll is an auto-include and perhaps it is, but I'm not sure it is as necessary sans Gush. I know it usually gets recall or FoW but that's kinda narrow for a deck that is trying to often tutor up Yawg Will or Black Lotus.

Merchant scroll isn't a narrow card by a long shot, I've used it to search for Gifts, Fact, Chain, Hurkyl's, Ancestral, FoW, Misdirection, Mystical and even brainstorm. TPS is a deck thats made out of different engines, one indeed being Yawgmoth's will but it's not the only engine you've got. Merchant Scroll for Gifts can be a game winning play for example. I would consider this a very good candidate for auto-including.

One small note I would like to add, In my opinion the best possible candidate for the spot merchant scroll has is Lim-Dul's Vault because the card you're playing needs to be blue to keep up your blue count. I've tried this because that card lets you search and manipulate your top deck which is very powerfull. The reason I went back to Merchant scroll was the color combination. You want Black mana before anything else, you can easily play Merchant scroll for FoW using Mox Sapphire and Sol ring keeping your Sea/ Swamp / Jet open to cast ritual - Necro or any other combination of plays with backup. These types of plays aren't possible when your running Vault.

4x Duress or some split of Duress + Thoughtseize also seems pretty normal (3/1 split, 2/2 split, 1/3 split or 0/4 split) but I wouldn't call it an auto include cause I wouldn't necessarily run them in a Stax-heavy or Ichorid heavy metagame. In that sort of meta I might MD more bounce.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but why would you ever want to run a split between Duress and Thoughtseize? Duress is infinite times better and you shouldn't care about any creatures. (you got other tools for those) Not to mention with Misdirection seeing more play getting it pitched back into your face and losing a card +2 life isn't something I'm looking forward to.

MD bounce- Hurkyl's, Rebuild, Chain. This Trifecta is probably an auto include, but I'm not 100% sold on that either as Stax isn't that present right now. There are times when I'd only run Hurkyl's and Rebuild MD or even just Rebuild MD. It all depends on preference and feel for the Metagame.

I'm currently rather content with running 1 Chain and 1 Hurkyl's maindeck and having extra bounce in the board. Whether or not this is correct I'll leave in the middle because other people have been advocating running Rebuild instead of Hurkyl's. This discussion comes down to preference and like the Grim vs Seal discussion the differences are hardly noticeable at all.

Ponder, Imperial Seal- These cards are sub-optimal to other choices that exist but they are probably includes as well given what is currently available.

Ok, I'll agree with you that Seal indeed is a sub-optimal card. As I said earlier I really hate playing it so this wasn't really a challenge. I very strongly disagree with you about Ponder though, this little dude is everything you want for U... (well it's not Ancestral Recall good but It's GOOD) Ponder is your land drop, ritual, bomb or shuffler of bad cards when you need it to be. I would auto-include ponder into every storm deck I ever play.

FoF, Gifts Ungiven- These are probably also includes right now, but are mana heavy and that leads me to. . .

Like I mentioned before, FoF is a setup card, tutor, draw all rapped up into one little card for just 4 mana. Which is great and exactly what TPS was missing after the big restriction. Now Gifts is a story all of it's one, Gifts gives you games for 4 mana period. Sure it cost 3 colorless and even blue but with that cost comes the ability to outmaneuver any deck and get yourself out of any predicament your in or it just plain wins you the game. I can see why gifts isn't as good in decks like GWSx or ANT which are more "balls to the wall" combo then TPS is. But in a deck that revolves around carefully sculpting your one big turn gifts is the ace.

Misdirection- This card is simply extra disruption and has lost much power with the resurgence of Mystic Remora IMO. They will often win counter wars so it is necessary to stop the Remora strategy instead of getting in to a long stream of counter battles.

I agree, this card just simply is more disruption and could also be a rebuild, tutor, draw or any other type of spell. I liked having Misdirection in just about any match up save for Staxx and Ichorid. It lets you force through counters or steal Ancestral (which is still huge) and you'll come to realize how many players still walk into that little trap when you steal 3 ancestrals during an event. Then again this is just a personal preference and if you never missed having it and want to play something else then by all means do so.

Conclusion:
Just to quickly recap, I think a base TPS list should look something like this:

Land (12):
4 Polluted Delta / or 1 Mire split whatever you want.
3 Underground Sea / or 2 sea and 1 Splash dual
2 Swamp
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy / 1 Fetch / 2nd Splash dual

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

Artifact Creatures (1):
1 Inkwell Leviathan / DSC

Instants (18):
1 Artifact / Global Bounce
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Force Of Will
1 Misdirection (open for any other card)
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

Sorceries (14):
1 Ponder
4 Duress
1 Merchant Scroll / Lim-duls vault
1 Mind’s Desire / most likely open if you don't run Academy. (you would be bonkers in my book though )
2 any combination of Grims / Seals
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tendrils Of Agony

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

Leaving you with some possible open spots depending on your meta you can shift playing 2 grim / seal into playing 1 tutor instead or not include global / Artifact bounce in favor of something completly different. You also have the "misdirection" spot to use as you see fit. Changing any other cards in my opinion would most likely weaken the deck in such a way you will not be able to perform like you expect. I know this gives you very little room to work with maindeck, but why try to fix something that isn't broke? (sorry to disapoint all you deck tweakers out there.)

Your real innovation should be found in your sideboard, which in my opinion should look something like this:

4-6 cards to deal with staxx including at least 2 basics (1 island 1 swamp) what you use is entirely up to you (Energy Flux, Hurkyl's, Rebuild, Needle)
7-8 cards to deal with ichorid, I would go for randomizing your threats making their solutions less good. Relic is a big no-no by the way.
3-5 spots for Fish / Misc which means anything you need to make other match ups you think are bad better. This can be anything from more Staxx / Ichorid hate to spot removal or global sweepers / bounce or even wasteland / Strip for all I care.

As you can see in my suggestion you really can shift the numbers around targeting specific match ups for the meta you expect. Stuff like Pithing Needle is great because it serves multiple purposes so it can easily double your slots against decks, you should look for cards which can work against multiple decks to maximize your sideboard.

Ps.
I didn't want to shoot anybody down with this long post I'm very glad you all liked my initial start of this thread and I've been impressed by the contributions and direction this thread has. I would say lets keep up the good work guys !.

[Anusien]

Great post, thanks.

I'll point out that a lot of players, led I think by Smmenen, abandoned Tolarian Academy and Mind's Desire, only to quickly return to it.  Not knocking anybody, just pointing out how bonkers the cards are.

[Stormanimagus]

Staxx:
I board out 2 off color moxen and 2 cabal for bounce / basics

Marske, I would never board that out against traditional Staxx unless I suspected they were running Null Rod and even then I wouldn't Side out Cabal Ritual. They will not be setting Chalice @ 2 very often so Cabal Ritual can be a very effective way to generate mana around Chalice and to generate A LOT of mana through sphere.

By that same token, Moxen are a great weapon against Sphere as it gives you a chance to drop more mana quickly and cast that Hurkyl's Recall or Rebuild a turn earlier. I would never drop moxen against stax.

[dark burn]

I think dropping moxen depends on if you see chalice game one, and if you are on the play or draw.  If you are on the draw, I can definately see siding out a few moxen.  I also agree that cabal ritual is a great card to have against stax.  It generates tons of mana at a cost that usually isnt hit by chalice of the void.

[Stormanimagus]

Without a shout of a doubt you need to run at least 12 lands, 11 lands will most likely be your downfall. In my opinion a base of 2 swamp 2 Island is correct, supplemented  with a minimum of 4 to maximum 5 fetch (if you don't want to run Academy) and at least 2-3 Underground sea. When splashing a color I would first look at cutting down fetches if you play 5 or cutting down a sea if you play 3 of those for a dual that fits your splash color (basically with TPS this means a Badlands or Bayou)

I guess I just try to live a bit more dangerously and I think that Stax has been so on the downswing of late that 11 lands ought to cut it. I suppose that Wasteland is being widely played enough in Fish, however (especially my demonically awesome Mana-denial Selkie build), that 12 lands is warranted. For now I'd say that you're right, but there have been times when 11 lands was absolutely acceptable, albeit when Brainstorm and Ponder were both unrestricted.

I disagree on you not including Mox Emeral, Mox Pearl and Mox Ruby. They are the best at what they do (deliver mana and storm) no other 0cc spell can fill this spot and you most definitely don't want to run other cards instead of moxen.

You know what I agree with you now and realize that I was basing a lot of my comments on a different shell. I was thinking more of an all-inclusive Storm Shell that would cover every iteration of Storm proposed over the past 5 years including:

ANT
Tropical Storm
Intuition Tendrils
Confidant Tendrils
Doomsday
TPS

The truth of the matter is that modern day TPS is a unique shell that differs from all the other Storm models out there and, even if that difference is only a handful of cards they are key cards. I think one chain of includes that makes full moxen so important is:

Mind's Desire --> implies you should run Tolarian Academy --> implies you should run Gifts and FoF and other large CMC bombs

Agreed, well I think DSC is better because he can actually kill an opponent within 2 turns no matter how big the opposing goyf is. In all fairness DSC vs Inky is really preference and both need protection. DSC needs a bit more attention but does get the job done a bit faster, so for me this is a high risk high reward type of deal.

I dunno if I agree with you here. Though Welders and STP are light right now in the metagame I wouldn't say that Chain Of Vapor is and other targeted bounce. The extra 4 damage a turn just doesn't seem as clutch as security against those foils (especially Welders and Chain Of Vapor that both see a lot of play). The other key element from Inkwell is that it is pitchable to Force Of Will and Misdirection. This WILL come in to play when you COULD have stormed for lethal if you only had that extra blue card to pitch to FoW in order to protect your bomb from being countered. I think the amount of games where this will come in to play will far exceed the amount of times you are playing against Fish and the extra turn you lose will foil you. There may be the occasional time where DSC would have been the better card, but I'd rather go with have a more resilient win condition when the answers are so cheap and efficient and so widely played. Now since Hurkyl's Recall answers both dudes and that seem to be seeing more play on account of Inky then perhaps DSC could be shuffled back in to the fold. I'm not prepared to do that yet, however.

In my opinion you run 2 Cabal ritual or you run zero, Cabal Ritual is your "weaker" ritual when facing 2 of your weaker match ups. Otherwise it's just plain gravy.

The only reason I show 1 as the auto-include is because it becomes a tutorable Lotus when you have threshold. I think having only 1 MD to tutor for is fine if you've already found Lotus but need the mana-boost now to be able to find that Lethal Will you need. I've never seen a problem with running 1 to be honest. Mind explaining which 2 weaker match ups you were referencing?
Sorceries

Along with having 1 Demonic, 1 vamp, 1 Mystical (3 tutors) you really need a combination of Grims / Seals to reliably find Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils, Tinker or setup other lines of play. This has been true since the the nice people at WoTC gave us Grims and Seals to play with. In my opinion TPS benefits most from having those cards in the deck and they give you a greater flexibility. Now we can discuss which combination is best but 2 spots should be reserved for 1-2 Grims and 0-1 seal. How you configure this is really not worth discussing because like I said before the differences are so minor you wouldn't really notice it at all during tournament play.

I suppose those cards are a necessary evil. I guess I just never like showing cards as auto-includes that are anything less than efficient. It's frustrating to have to accept that you need to use Grim Tutor to flesh things out when you already run Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor (both superior cards). I understand what you're getting at and agree, but I just wish there was a 3rd alternative to "Run Grim Tutor/Imperial" or else! Ya Know?

Merchant scroll isn't a narrow card by a long shot, I've used it to search for Gifts, Fact, Chain, Hurkyl's, Ancestral, FoW, Misdirection, Mystical and even brainstorm. TPS is a deck thats made out of different engines, one indeed being Yawgmoth's will but it's not the only engine you've got. Merchant Scroll for Gifts can be a game winning play for example. I would consider this a very good candidate for auto-including.

Agreed. Again, I was forgetting that Gifts should fall in line with Mind's Desire and Tolarian Academy + full moxen. Given those changes Merchant Scroll is an Auto-include.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but why would you ever want to run a split between Duress and Thoughtseize? Duress is infinite times better and you shouldn't care about any creatures. (you got other tools for those) Not to mention with Misdirection seeing more play getting it pitched back into your face and losing a card +2 life isn't something I'm looking forward to.

LOL. It doesn't sound harsh, and you may be right, but sometimes there are creatures you want out of the way early on before they hit (MM, Canonist, Gaddock Teeg, Tarmogoyf [surprisingly because it is a clock], Dark Confidant, Children Of Korlis) and Thoughtseize is the best all-purpose coverage you can find. Sure it can be Misdirected, and I would worry about that against Remora decks if it weren't for the fact that you're practically punting that match already because it is bad. given all this I would say that the split should also be based on what sort of SB creature removal you have. If you have a decent amount/variety then 4 Duress and 0 Thoughtseize outght to be the correct call.

I'm currently rather content with running 1 Chain and 1 Hurkyl's maindeck and having extra bounce in the board. Whether or not this is correct I'll leave in the middle because other people have been advocating running Rebuild instead of Hurkyl's. This discussion comes down to preference and like the Grim vs Seal discussion the differences are hardly noticeable at all.

I think that I'd leave Chain + Rebuild MD with Hurkyl's x 2 or 3 in the SB simply because Rebuild has Cycling (and it helps you storm out the next turn for sure if you do it on your opponent's EOT) and Chain hits ANYTHING including menaces like Remora and Pyrostatic Pillar. That utility cannot be underestimated right now and is a key reason to leave at least 1 Chain MD IMHO.

Ok, I'll agree with you that Seal indeed is a sub-optimal card. As I said earlier I really hate playing it so this wasn't really a challenge. I very strongly disagree with you about Ponder though, this little dude is everything you want for U... (well it's not Ancestral Recall good but It's GOOD) Ponder is your land drop, ritual, bomb or shuffler of bad cards when you need it to be. I would auto-include ponder into every storm deck I ever play.

Again, you're right and I was forgetting just how useful ponder was for me during the unrestricted days. 1 mana cantrips that dig 3 cards should probably always be auto-includes unless they are clearly inferior to something else and you have no more deck space.

Like I mentioned before, FoF is a setup card, tutor, draw all rapped up into one little card for just 4 mana. Which is great and exactly what TPS was missing after the big restriction. Now Gifts is a story all of it's one, Gifts gives you games for 4 mana period. Sure it cost 3 colorless and even blue but with that cost comes the ability to outmaneuver any deck and get yourself out of any predicament your in or it just plain wins you the game. I can see why gifts isn't as good in decks like GWSx or ANT which are more "balls to the wall" combo then TPS is. But in a deck that revolves around carefully sculpting your one big turn gifts is the ace.

Before running Gifts I like to make sure that I have a good variety of winning Gifts piles for different situations and usually I like to have the utility of something like Regrowth or Gush/Bond to make it worth it. Perhaps the different 4-card piles you can make from a normal UB TPS list are sufficient to warrant inclusion, but I'd have to play with the card a bit more to be convinced.

I do agree that FoF is just pure sweet Card Advantage as Will makes every card in the 5 card pile useful and GY hate is kinda on the downswing right now with everyone fixing their gaze on the Vault/Key combo.

Ps.
I didn't want to shoot anybody down with this long post I'm very glad you all liked my initial start of this thread and I've been impressed by the contributions and direction this thread has. I would say lets keep up the good work guys !.

No problem. Thank you for making the Thread. TPS is probably one of the best decks ever conceived and it is still a competitor, even in a Vintage where Brainstorm and Ponder are restricted. I think the archetype needs organization and focused discussion to generate a larger following, but you've definitely inspired me to pick up the deck and practice with it. Who knows, perhaps I'll even bring it to a major tournament?!

Cheers,

-Storm

Edit: P.S– OMG! I forgot about Lion's Eye Diamond! Auto-include? role-player? Should never be played in TPS? Thoughts?

[LordHomerCat]

I would not even consider LED.  It just plays so badly with Force of Will, not to mention you aren't even running more than 1 Grim Tutor which is where LED really shines.  It's just too situational.  The only match where you would want it is against Shops but I tend to board out artifact mana there because they all have Chalice and/or Null Rod so boarding it in doesn't make much sense.

[Stormanimagus]

I would not even consider LED.  It just plays so badly with Force of Will, not to mention you aren't even running more than 1 Grim Tutor which is where LED really shines.  It's just too situational.  The only match where you would want it is against Shops but I tend to board out artifact mana there because they all have Chalice and/or Null Rod so boarding it in doesn't make much sense.

I think that that is false. I have not played against a Shops list of late where there has been a single Null Rod or Chalice. I know there are lists out there that run them, but they seem pretty scarce right now, and, thus, I think LED is absolutely playable. It's funny, after a lot of thought and deliberation I've come to a list that is CARD-FOR-CARD identical to Stephen Menendian's most recent Starcitygames list EXCEPT for my LED inclusion. I tinkered with the SB and came up with his SB. Odd, but true. Here's my list and some stats at the end.

file:///Users/Noah/Desktop/The%20Perfect%20Storm.jpg

[Marske]

Marske, I would never board that out against traditional Staxx unless I suspected they were running Null Rod and even then I wouldn't Side out Cabal Ritual. They will not be setting Chalice @ 2 very often so Cabal Ritual can be a very effective way to generate mana around Chalice and to generate A LOT of mana through sphere.

By that same token, Moxen are a great weapon against Sphere as it gives you a chance to drop more mana quickly and cast that Hurkyl's Recall or Rebuild a turn earlier. I would never drop moxen against stax.

Let me try and explain why I board out of color moxen and the 2 Cabal Rituals. Lets first look at what makes moxen so great.

- They cost 0 mana
- Can be played in multiples
- arguably better then land.

what happens to your moxen when staxx plays it's spheres (and it will you can't counter them all)

- They cost 1 mana
- probably can only be played in multiples when you already have a mana base developed
- become arguably worse then land drops.

They can be Welder out, killed by Karn, eaten by Gorilla shaman or Heretic all cards Staxx plays.. now if you play lands in these spots that can only be hit by stripmine your mana base becomes a lot more resilient to their hate. It really has nothing todo with Chalice of the Void. Cabal ritual on the other hand gets boarded out because unless you have threshold (something you're not likely to be getting) it never wins you anything.  It's only good when you already have a packed graveyard (AKA you're about to go combo this turn) in which case you should have no problem winning without it.  Small note: Staxx does want to play chalice at 2 to shut down 2-3 of the most important bounce spells you have (Hurkyl's Recall) and if they can they will play chalice at 3 to stop Rebuild.

I guess I just try to live a bit more dangerously and I think that Stax has been so on the downswing of late that 11 lands ought to cut it. I suppose that Wasteland is being widely played enough in Fish, however (especially my demonically awesome Mana-denial Selkie build), that 12 lands is warranted. For now I'd say that you're right, but there have been times when 11 lands was absolutely acceptable, albeit when Brainstorm and Ponder were both unrestricted.

Exactly right, the loss of Brainstorm and Ponder meant we had to up the land count to be sure to hit our lands.

The only reason I show 1 as the auto-include is because it becomes a tutorable Lotus when you have threshold. I think having only 1 MD to tutor for is fine if you've already found Lotus but need the mana-boost now to be able to find that Lethal Will you need. I've never seen a problem with running 1 to be honest. Mind explaining which 2 weaker match ups you were referencing?

Tutoring for Cabal ritual is something I very rarely do, when you play 2 you're likely to see one when you're going combo or multiples. Having one just seems like a really strange thing to me. Ok they are your weakest ritual but it's still a ritual.  Regarding the match ups I was referring, Cabal Ritual isn't as good versus Staxx nor Fish as it is against other decks because of the mana denial.

I suppose those cards are a necessary evil. I guess I just never like showing cards as auto-includes that are anything less than efficient. It's frustrating to have to accept that you need to use Grim Tutor to flesh things out when you already run Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor (both superior cards). I understand what you're getting at and agree, but I just wish there was a 3rd alternative to "Run Grim Tutor/Imperial" or else! Ya Know?

By all means run stuff like Death wish, Burning Wish, Lim-Dul's Vault, Infernal Tutor or what not in this spot. I understand your problem but fact of the matter is just that Grim / Seal are the best of the worst if you get what I mean.

MM, Canonist, Gaddock Teeg, Tarmogoyf [surprisingly because it is a clock], Dark Confidant, Children Of Korlis

All of these cards are pests and you will need to deal with them before you can go except for Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant which do nothing to stop you from going combo. But then again MM and teeg can be dealt with using Chain of Vapor and Canonist is an artifact so Hurkyl's / Rebuild also takes care of him. I've never found myself in trouble because a canonist was on the board. I would rather let them play those creatures and tap down mana so they limit other options then steal them from their hand. I do believe some form of spot removal is warranted in the board though.

I think that I'd leave Chain + Rebuild MD with Hurkyl's x 2 or 3 in the SB simply because Rebuild has Cycling (and it helps you storm out the next turn for sure if you do it on your opponent's EOT) and Chain hits ANYTHING including menaces like Remora and Pyrostatic Pillar. That utility cannot be underestimated right now and is a key reason to leave at least 1 Chain MD IMHO.

Chain is an absolute Ace in this deck no doubt about it. Whether you should run Rebuild over Hurkyl's comes down to personal preference and both cards have their weak / strong points over each other. I really don't see discussing this as productive.

Hurkyl's can be casted faster because it's only 2cmc, it's one sided so in a Robot stand of you're sealing the deal easier, you can also target yourself to generate storm.
Rebuild costs 3 and thus dodges Chalice a lot better, bounces your artifact and those of your opponent thus it's better at generating storm and dealing with a thread, it Cycles.

As I see it both cards have very strong similar points, for me the fact that Hurkyl's costs 1 mana less made me play it with the loss of being able to Cycle it. This is personal preference above anything else as I mentioned before and you should play which ever card you're more confident about.

Edit: P.S– OMG! I forgot about Lion's Eye Diamond! Auto-include? role-player? Should never be played in TPS? Thoughts?

LED is only good if you're able to run 4 Burning wish or if you play more draw 7's and even then I wouldn't run it because it does next to nothing by itself for TPS. You almost never want to pitch your hand unless a draw 7 (twister) or Will is on the stack. In both cases LED's a win more card because you already should be winning at these points.

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

Before running Gifts I like to make sure that I have a good variety of winning Gifts piles for different situations and usually I like to have the utility of something like Regrowth or Gush/Bond to make it worth it. Perhaps the different 4-card piles you can make from a normal UB TPS list are sufficient to warrant inclusion, but I'd have to play with the card a bit more to be convinced.

I do agree that FoF is just pure sweet Card Advantage as Will makes every card in the 5 card pile useful and GY hate is kinda on the downswing right now with everyone fixing their gaze on the Vault/Key combo.

Some combination of Ancestral Recall, Tinker, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor is the standard "win when I untap" pile.

Some combination of Black Lotus, Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault is the standard "I want mana" pile.

Some combination of Force of Will, Duress, Merchant Scroll, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Mind's Desire, Timetwister is the standard "control" pile.

I personally think FoF is too slow for TPS and I haven't looked back since I cut it, but I mean that is a personal preference and you can feel free to add FoF to the standard "control" pile if you want to. However, Gifts is definitely an auto-include in my books.

[forests failed you]

What is the plan for beating Mystic Remora?  If a Mana Drain deck plays Land, Remora, and a Mox against you on the first turn you are pretty much toast.  I had been playing TPS for several months, but gave it up because I couldn't make it beat Remora.  Many of the better Drain players have been moving towards playing with Remoras in the maindeck, because they are good against Tendrils decks, and they are also really good in the Tezz mirror match.

TPS's match up against Stax is really not as bad as people make it out to be.  The more I played the deck, the easier I found the match up against Workshops to be.  My build played a few more maindeck cards to help with that match up, but nothing drastically different.

The list I played was a few cards off from yours in the m.d., but very different in the sideboard.

-1 Tolerian Academy
-1 Misdirection
-2 Grim Tutor
-1 Darksteel Colossus
-1 Cabal Ritual
-1 Bloodstained Mire

+2 Impulse
+1 Rebuild
+1 Polluted Delta
+1 Island
+1 Inkwell Leviathan
+1 Flooded Strand

And the sideboard I was playing looked like this:

3 Yixlid Jailer
3 Tormod's Crypt
3  Xantid Swarm
1 Sudden Death
1  Seedtime
1 Massacure
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou



Firstly, I hate Grim Tutor and believe it is by far the worst card in the deck.  The problem with G. Tutor is that it just isn't a very good card.  If it were printed in M10 it probably wouldn't be good enough to play in Standard.  It costs too much mana, and the biggest problem is the sorcery speed.  When I watch people play with Grim Tutor, all that ever happens is that it clogs up their hand and then gets Mana Drained.  Terrible.

I like Impulse better.  Instant Speed, and so good.  Also, pitches to Force of Will.  Also, I like Inky better than DSC.  90% of the reason why is that I can pitch it to Force of Will.  How many times I have wanted to pitch DSC to FOW.

Obviously, my sideboard is different because I board in Green Mana and Xantid Swarms.  The Swarms were pretty good and they gave me a fighting chance against Remora, and were very strong against Tezz decks in general.  I only got to cast Seedtime a half a dozen times, but it immediately won the game every time I cast it.  My opponent would tap out on his endstep to cast FOF, or TFK and I'd be like:  "Walk you, and win."  Pretty much the best ever.

I kept running into trouble with Cannonists where I would try to kill it and they would FOW me.  So I wanted a card I could Tutor for that would actually kill that guy no matter what.  Everything else seems pretty standard.  I board in the Green lands against Shops just to have more mana.  Other than that its pretty easy to figure out.  

I really think you need to consider some sort of a plan for beating Mystic Remora, I would anticipate it becoming a more popular strategy in the future and it is pretty much devastating against TPS decks.  I switched back over to playing Mana Drain decks because I couldn't make TPS beat Tezzeret with Remoras.

Good Read!

Cheers.

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

What is the plan for beating Mystic Remora?

Grim Long.

[Marske]

What is the plan for beating Mystic Remora?  If a Mana Drain deck plays Land, Remora, and a Mox against you on the first turn you are pretty much toast.  I had been playing TPS for several months, but gave it up because I couldn't make it beat Remora.  Many of the better Drain players have been moving towards playing with Remoras in the maindeck, because they are good against Tendrils decks, and they are also really good in the Tezz mirror match.

I really don't fear Tezzeret with Remora that much, mainly because they can only draw into 4 FoW, 1-2 Misdirection (textless against most of your bombs) and possibly one drain with this match up timing is even more critical. You're probably faster and every turn they spend paying for Remora means they aren't playing cards that actually advances their gameplan (like TFK) Now Shaymora on the other hand has a very powerfull weapon that I cannot beat in Commandeer... That card has given me nightmares beyond belief... but that deck has other problems. I'm not in the least bit worried about running TPS in today's drain meta Remora or not.

The list I played was a few cards off from yours in the m.d., but very different in the sideboard.

-1 Tolerian Academy
-1 Misdirection
-2 Grim Tutor
-1 Darksteel Colossus
-1 Cabal Ritual
-1 Bloodstained Mire

+2 Impulse
+1 Rebuild
+1 Polluted Delta
+1 Island
+1 Inkwell Leviathan
+1 Flooded Strand

Academy is a true must if you play desire, that land is so absolutely over the top bonkers it's crazy not to run it in my book. It even makes your moxen usefull when Null rod's in play. Also as I said before the entire DSC / Inkwell discussion isn't worth having in my opinion because both have their strong / weak points as is also true for most of the stuff you mention. I only have 2 questions for you:

- Did you ever run into the fact you needed B and had only Strand? This would mean you would have to fetch a dual, which is something very crucial you don't want to do in certain match ups.
- Did you ever have trouble finding Will / Tendrils / Tinker without the help of Grims / Seal ? Impulse can dig sure but it's nowhere near as effective regarding putting one of the three cards I mentioned into your hand as the tutors are especially when going combo.

I kept running into trouble with Cannonists where I would try to kill it and they would FOW me.  So I wanted a card I could Tutor for that would actually kill that guy no matter what.  Everything else seems pretty standard.  I board in the Green lands against Shops just to have more mana.  Other than that its pretty easy to figure out. 

Sudden Death sure is a great candidate for the spot removal spot , like I mentioned before while canonist can be dealt with using correct timing and bounce spells. I do think some additional spot removal is needed to effectively deal with the critter.

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

What is the plan for beating Mystic Remora?  If a Mana Drain deck plays Land, Remora, and a Mox against you on the first turn you are pretty much toast.  I had been playing TPS for several months, but gave it up because I couldn't make it beat Remora.  Many of the better Drain players have been moving towards playing with Remoras in the maindeck, because they are good against Tendrils decks, and they are also really good in the Tezz mirror match.

I really don't fear Tezzeret with Remora that much, mainly because they can only draw into 4 FoW, 1-2 Misdirection (textless against most of your bombs) and possibly one drain with this match up timing is even more critical. You're probably faster and every turn they spend paying for Remora means they aren't playing cards that actually advances their gameplan (like TFK) Now Shaymora on the other hand has a very powerfull weapon that I cannot beat in Commandeer... That card has given me nightmares beyond belief... but that deck has other problems. I'm not in the least bit worried about running TPS in today's drain meta Remora or not.

I'm so used to seeing Remora with Commandeer that I completely skimmed over that part. I'd have to agree with marske if you mean just a random Tezz list slapping in a few Mystic Remoras. I'd have no problem going up against that. I mean if you think about it every time they pay the upkeep cost they're adding to the mana cost, so you just have to make it a bad draw spell before going off. Once they hit 6U in 4 turns, if they haven't drawn at least 4 cards then you can safely say you're ahead. The advantage of TPS is that it can actually make use of the extra turns if your opponent is just sitting on his ass also, because you should be making land drops as consistantly as he is. If my opponent drops Remora my plan A is to tutor for a significantly better 1 mana draw spell, and just work on dropping lands and sculpting a hand. This doesn't work against the real Remora decks, because the deck itself is actually designed to abuse Remora with at least double the pitch magic as Tezz and a playset of Meditates to keep the upkeep low. However, if the meta had any significant amount of real Remora decks or I expect to face it in the T-8, then I'd just play something else. It is probably just the best anti-TPS deck around.

As for Impulse, I'd have to say it never really impressed me in anything outside of Oath. Lim-Dul's Vault, Sensei's Divining Top, Serum Visions, and Portent have each proven themselves to be more effective in either they cost less or do more. If I'm dropping fast mana and not counting Storm, then what I drop had better be stronger than digging 4 cards.

[Anusien]

Put it somewhere else and link to it.

[Klep]

Take the technical stuff to pm or Community.
-Klep

[forests failed you]

@Marske

--It has never really come up that the Strand could not fetch Black mana.  I have 5 Fetches total (4-Delta and 1 Strand) so its like I already have the same amount of Black Fetches as your list (3Delta 1 Mire) but I have an extra strand.  Also, it would be almost like asking you:  Does it ever come up that you need to fetch a basic Island but all you have is Bloodstained Mire?  Sure, its probably relevant sometimes, but not enough that it makes much of a difference.  I play 1 more land than you do, (1 fetch 1 basic) in place of Academy (nonbasic) so my Mana is a little bit harder to attack via nonbasic land hate.  I have had so many games where I am forced to keep a hand that has Academy and my opponent has their Academy and it makes things really hard. 

--I have never had trouble finding cards without Grim Tutor.  In my opinion Vintage is too quick for Grim Tutor.  Sure, Grim Tutor helps you go off when you have the nuts...  But if you don't have the nuts its very slow and it doesn't allow you to interact well.  I like Impulse because it allows me more lines of play in the first two turns, which are the most important turns of the game.  I like the flexibility that being able to do things on my opponents end of turn allows me, and i like the fact that it is card selection that is very unlikely to get countered in the early game.

I play the deck a little bit differently that other people.  I am much more patient than most people in the lines of play I take, which is why I don't like cards like Grim Tutor that are not flexible and make the deck perform linearly.  So, specifically my build is built to give me a little less outright brokenness, but a little more resilience and consistency. 


Well, anyways that is the list I had been playing before I switched decks.  I was getting some really good results out of the deck against the big 3 Tezzeret, Workshop, and Dredge.  Mystic Remora is such a beating, I could not figure out how to make TPS beat Tezzeret decks that played Remora.  When I say Tezzeret decks that splash Mystic Remora, basically imagine that you have a stock Tezzeret List and you cut four of the worst cards and add 3-4 Remora.  They have way more outs than to draw to 4 Forces:  Mana Drain, Duress, and all their broken cards.  The problem is that you can't do the small stuff that you want to do in the first few turns to set up the win.  Cast Vamp, Mystical, Merch, Gifts, etc.  Because you are going to put them too far ahead if you do, and they will crush you with card advantage and go broken.

I would be very interested in hearing from anybody who has actually tested against Mystic Remora decks, and has come up with a real plan for winning that match up, other than "TPS is too fast for Tezz" (it isn't that fast), "Nobody plays that card,"  or, "TPS has a good match up against Tezz /w Remora."  By the way Mystic Remora is one of the best possible cards in the Tezzeret Mirror also.  Seriously though, you might want to start thinking about having a plan for beating Mystic Remora it is the single best card in the format against TPS that people maindeck. 

TPS is the best deck as long as the Drain decks don't start playing with more Remora.  If they do, it is really bad news for TPS because it loses a big edge against that side of the field.  I would like to play TPS in the upcoming summer tournaments, but as of right now I am fairly certain based on the playtesting I've done that TPS does very poorly against Drain with Mystic Remoras.  So, I guess if anybody has figured out a good plan for beating that match up please let me know, or send me a PM or something.

Cheers

[Stormanimagus]

@Marske

--It has never really come up that the Strand could not fetch Black mana.  I have 5 Fetches total (4-Delta and 1 Strand) so its like I already have the same amount of Black Fetches as your list (3Delta 1 Mire) but I have an extra strand.  Also, it would be almost like asking you:  Does it ever come up that you need to fetch a basic Island but all you have is Bloodstained Mire?  Sure, its probably relevant sometimes, but not enough that it makes much of a difference.  I play 1 more land than you do, (1 fetch 1 basic) in place of Academy (nonbasic) so my Mana is a little bit harder to attack via nonbasic land hate.  I have had so many games where I am forced to keep a hand that has Academy and my opponent has their Academy and it makes things really hard. 

--I have never had trouble finding cards without Grim Tutor.  In my opinion Vintage is too quick for Grim Tutor.  Sure, Grim Tutor helps you go off when you have the nuts...  But if you don't have the nuts its very slow and it doesn't allow you to interact well.  I like Impulse because it allows me more lines of play in the first two turns, which are the most important turns of the game.  I like the flexibility that being able to do things on my opponents end of turn allows me, and i like the fact that it is card selection that is very unlikely to get countered in the early game.

I play the deck a little bit differently that other people.  I am much more patient than most people in the lines of play I take, which is why I don't like cards like Grim Tutor that are not flexible and make the deck perform linearly.  So, specifically my build is built to give me a little less outright brokenness, but a little more resilience and consistency. 


Well, anyways that is the list I had been playing before I switched decks.  I was getting some really good results out of the deck against the big 3 Tezzeret, Workshop, and Dredge.  Mystic Remora is such a beating, I could not figure out how to make TPS beat Tezzeret decks that played Remora.  When I say Tezzeret decks that splash Mystic Remora, basically imagine that you have a stock Tezzeret List and you cut four of the worst cards and add 3-4 Remora.  They have way more outs than to draw to 4 Forces:  Mana Drain, Duress, and all their broken cards.  The problem is that you can't do the small stuff that you want to do in the first few turns to set up the win.  Cast Vamp, Mystical, Merch, Gifts, etc.  Because you are going to put them too far ahead if you do, and they will crush you with card advantage and go broken.

I would be very interested in hearing from anybody who has actually tested against Mystic Remora decks, and has come up with a real plan for winning that match up, other than "TPS is too fast for Tezz" (it isn't that fast), "Nobody plays that card,"  or, "TPS has a good match up against Tezz /w Remora."  By the way Mystic Remora is one of the best possible cards in the Tezzeret Mirror also.  Seriously though, you might want to start thinking about having a plan for beating Mystic Remora it is the single best card in the format against TPS that people maindeck. 

TPS is the best deck as long as the Drain decks don't start playing with more Remora.  If they do, it is really bad news for TPS because it loses a big edge against that side of the field.  I would like to play TPS in the upcoming summer tournaments, but as of right now I am fairly certain based on the playtesting I've done that TPS does very poorly against Drain with Mystic Remoras.  So, I guess if anybody has figured out a good plan for beating that match up please let me know, or send me a PM or something.

Cheers

I think there are a couple lines of a attack for Remora:

1). Chain Of Vapor in multiples between the SB and MD. This is a cheap and effective EOT play to set up your winning turn and you can usually afford multiple EOT plays because it is only U mana cost.
2). Dark Confidant. Obviously TPS doesn't support this card too well.
3). Xantid Swarm. I'm not sure I like this except in Grim Long because space in this deck's MD and SB is sooo tight. and diluting the manabase can cause problems. I'm just not sure the slots are worth it as you'd really want 4 for maximum consistency.

4). Tarmogoyf. This is an interesting idea, but I think it may be too cute.

Honestly, Remora just might be too hard for this deck to take on in its current iteration.

I think a much more effective deck against Remora is Ad Nauseam Tendrils with MD Confidants. That deck already runs many Chains Of Vapor (3-4 copies) and a single resolved Ad Nauseam can draw you 10 cards such that you'll hit that Chain Of Vapor and cast it before storming out. Yeah they might cantrip off your Ritual and then off the Ad Nauseam but after that you should be able to bounce the Remora. So Remora is Ancestral at best for them. Confidant can gain you enough Card advantage beforehand that you'll be able to win out from most game-states.

I haven't tested the matchup much, but I'm pretty sure Ad Nauseam is light years ahead of TPS at beating Remora. It may be just what the doctor ordered going in to the summer.

[Purple Hat]

ad nauseam decks can also side in chains of mephistopheles which is an absolute house vs remora decks.

[Grand Inquisitor]

chains of mephistopheles which is an absolute house vs remora decks

It sounds reasonable, but has this been tested?  Especially if Ad Nauseam tries to go off early (which is its RdE), can't a control player just sculped his hand until it includes FoW or Commandeer and sufficient blue cards?

[Marske]

@GI, Purple Hat, Stormanimagus,
Chains of Mephistopheles works in Ad Nauseam because Ad nauseam doesn't draw you cards. All the bombs you really want to resolve in TPS (save for necro) draw you cards which would make Chain nearly unplayable.

And please can we keep this thread on the topic TPS instead of talking about Ad Nauseam. The deck maybe lightyears ahead at beating Remora. It fails horribly against Random aggro (damage can be crucial) and any decent form of Staxx.

@Forest Failed you,

I would be very interested in hearing from anybody who has actually tested against Mystic Remora decks, and has come up with a real plan for winning that match up, other than "TPS is too fast for Tezz" (it isn't that fast), "Nobody plays that card,"  or, "TPS has a good match up against Tezz /w Remora."  By the way Mystic Remora is one of the best possible cards in the Tezzeret Mirror also.  Seriously though, you might want to start thinking about having a plan for beating Mystic Remora it is the single best card in the format against TPS that people maindeck.  

First of all, I've tested this match up allot. Not only was I one of the people involved in the original test sessions Rich Shay had with the deck, I was also involved in the discussions about it. Not to flaunt this as my credentials or anything but the fact that you claim I'm somebody who just says things without proper testing isn't true, certainly not in this case.

You're faster then any drain deck thats still the best part about playing with Dark Rituals. I didn't say you had a good matchup against Tezzeret, TPS has had better results facing drains in the past but it's certainly not your worst. The only thing I said which might really be wrong is the entire "nobody plays that card" thing. This is true for most of Europe because Staxx and Fish / Aggro strategy's thrive here and Remora basically sucks against them especially in the sanctioned events.

The plan I've found to be winning most was boarding in Phyrexian Negator (a move Tommy Kolowith also did with Doomsday TPS with some succes) They really don't have a good chance at dealing with such a huge clock. This combined with tight play and EOT Chain of Vapor is a great strategy you can apply without polluting your mana base for just this single matchup. Now If you do splash a color, bringing beatsticks (goyf is very nice) against them probably has the same effect, if you already play Green then Swarms are also very nice. The only problem you have with this plan is it pollutes your board with cards that suck against your worst matchups (Staxx, Ichorid) so if you're willing to cut into those it's a very solid idea. I'm currently just not sure how much attention Tezzeret really deserves from TPS players at this point.

Every mana they spend keeping Remora alive is mana they aren't spending winning the game or searching for counters. Now Shaymora has the big up side that it can negate this fact by running cards like Meditate and they beat the crap out of TPS mainly because they have Commandeer which is really huge. Remora in it's self doesn't do shit if they just draw all their bombs and never get to untap.

They draw into a maximum of 4 FoW, 1-2 Misdirection (which are next to textless against your bombs like Bargain, Necro which commandeer is really good against) and maybe 1-2 duress effects they can't play. Then they need to have drain mana up to actually be able to cast drain (which is going to be hard because they needed to pay to keep the fish alive) So basically TPS plays 4 Fow 1 Misdir and 4 Duress to handle any counters Tezzeret /w Remora has. Now sure, you can argue they probably have all 4 FoW's and tons of blue cards nicely in their hand  to deal with your threats because you let then draw into those and you most likely only have 1 FoW and maybe duress to deal with that and you would be right but this isn't true in most cases where even letting them draw 2 cards and resolving something like Bargain could just win you the game (Because they drew 2 lands or whatever). Which is why timing this is really crucial, they can't keep that fish alive for ever (ok multiples spell trouble) but still something like Echoing truth can help there along with Chain, Wipe Away you should be equipped to bounce the fish. Don't forget the age old trick of Baiting a counter war and then just playing Desire with lots of storm thanking your opponent in the process which also works wonders against Tezzeret /w Remora and Yes even sometimes just plain baiting a counterwar and resolving Tendrils works.

[FlyFlySideOfFry]

Just simply looking at Turn 1 Remora vs. Turn 1 Tutor->Ancestral:

Them
-3 turns
-4 mana
+1 card

Me
-2 turns
-2-3 mana
+1-2 cards

In order for them to even break even I would have to use FoW+cast another spell or FoW+topdeck tutor. Thats assuming they drop it turn 1 on the play. Don't get me started if I have the hand to tutor for Gifts or Desire and just build up a massive mana base with the best bombs sitting in my hand. Not to mention if my list runs SDT, they may as well stop paying their upkeep because I'll topdeck infinitely better than they will. Commandeer is the only card that really makes Remora scary. Then again as I said, facing Remora is a juge pile of stress and you have to change your playstyle drastically against it. I'd rather just run Grim Long and go for Xantid->Win if I was facing a huge amount of Remoras in my metagame. Marske seems to be lucky and packed with aggro and shops, which is the metagame where TPS really shines as the #1 combo deck. (Relative to the meta don't guy biting my head off ANT and GL players in Remora metas. )

[AK44]

I would also like to play TPS this summer, so here's a couple of thoughts for the Remora matchup. Feel free to ignore if you'd like, because they have not been tested, but I'm curious what others think.

The 1st is Dimir Cutpurse. I know Phyrexian Negator works because of the clock that gets applied to the opponent. It can also be cast off a turn 1 Dark Ritual. Cutpurse will obviously not deal the same amount of damage, but can offset the card drawing from Remora and even put you ahead. It has some of the same issues as Negator such as getting it to resolve though. You will most likely only have to fight through one counterspell early on since their Drain mana is tied up with Remora. Between FoW and Duress, you should be able to stop at least one FoW of theirs. I feel like Xantid Swarm is most likely better, but this allows you to stick with a 2-color mana-base.

The 2nd is Empty the Warrens. An early EtW can most certainly go the distance, as well as fighting through counterspells. Nowadays you don't even have to worry about Echoing Truth because of the printing of Inkwell Leviathan. This option will definitely tax your mana-base, but it would allow you to attack Remora in the first few turns before they have the ability to draw a ton of cards. It also gives you the option to board Red Elemental Blasts if you can somehow find the space.

I'd appreciate any input on sideboarding for the Remora matchup. Unfortunately, I know I will have to face it at some point.

[Duncan]

Then they need to have drain mana up to actually be able to cast drain (which is going to be hard because they needed to pay to keep the fish alive).

If they have 1 mox they have drain mana up at turn 1 (sapphire) or turn 2 (other mox). If they chain the first remora into a second one (not a rare situation) it gets worse.

[Stormanimagus]

The thing I was trying to illustrate with my debate on "TPS Shell" early on was simply that TPS decks often ARE and should be homogenous. The structure of the deck and the tweaking is not really what makes it so good. It's the pilot. It's the pilot's intuition with the deck and ability to find the right solution for the problem presented.

This is why so few players pilot TPS to victory at tournaments. They are looking for the "silver bullet" answer that will just outright win them the game and trump the opponent's strategy and they don't really exist for such a strategically complicated offensive deck (as TPS is). I think Stephen Menendian is one of the better TPS pilots out there and he has very valuable. Here's something he wrote in an article on

"Mastering The Perfect Storm"--

'most TPS players do not understand how to sideboard. I, too, fell into the trap of sideboarding in cards like Tarmogoyf/Phyrexian Negator and stuff like Dark Confidant for Workshop matches, and the like. Too many TPS pilots get caught up in tactical fights instead of taking the broader view. They, as I once did, look at Tarmogoyf and think that that is a trump to Workshop prison strategies, especially those with Thorn of Amethyst. They also see that as a way to beat Fish decks. Alternatively, some TPS pilots brings in more creature removal or run cards like Rack ad Ruin. This is a focus on tactics, and not on what is important.

What’s important is this: Workshop decks will try to attack your manabase. Your response should not be to stop them, because that’s playing into their strengths, but to expand your mana base and then play a silver bullet that addresses all of these cards at once. Thus they will attack your mana by playing Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, Wasteland, Null Rod, Magus of the Moon, Tangle Wire, Smokestack, and cards of that nature. You can ignore almost all of these cards. If you bring in a bunch of basic lands and blue bounce spells that will sweep all of your opponent’s artifacts into their hand, then you will win so long as you can counter the Smokestack or bounce their Smokestack before it hurts you. This plan of just playing lands while they play lock spells is the best strategy for beating Workshops, and Fish decks as well. Through deck design, rather than tactical answers, you can trump their plans and dramatically narrows the cards you care about to a manageable number. This is why my answer to Fish is the same: just bring in lands and bounce spells. They can’t actually play enough Meddling Mages or Gaddock Teegs to matter, since their clock is so slow and you’ll be able to bounce the relevant card and win before you are in real danger.'

I think he is spot on here. You don't simply run the "silver bullet" foil to a strategy when your clock/strategy is better. You find a way to employ that strategy by attacking the very thing that is threatening you.

Artifacts = Mass bounce (cheap, efficient, tutorable, and playable on the EOT step of the opponent)
Creatures = Mass bounce or spot removal/bounce, but know which ones are most important and save countermagic for winning.
Mana-denial = More land! Duh!
Ichorid = This requires more specific hate, but often times Crypt can be useful against other Bazaar decks and welder decks. This is where Sideboarding becomes a bit more pointed and targeted.

Given this understanding of TPS I'd like to propose a list that is all but identical to the one Stephen proposed in his article, but I will offer some explanations for card choices.

The Perfect Storm

Land (12):
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 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

Side Board
2 Hurkyl’s Recall (Shops)
2 Island (Shops)
1 Swamp (Shops)
3 Yixlid Jailer (Ichorid)
3 Tormod’s Crypt (Ichorid)
2 Chain Of Vapor (Remora/Fish)
2 Pithing Needle (Vault/Bazaar)

Now to the meat of explaining this deck: The Sideboard PLAN.

OK. Let's start with the menace.

*Shaymora with Commandeer + Meditate --> -1 Mox Pearl, -1 Mox Ruby,
                                                            +2 Chain Of Vapor

*Shops with Spheres + Chalice -->                -1 Chain Of Vapor, -1 Imperial Seal, -1 Misdirection, -2 Duress (when on the draw otherwise: -1 Grim Tutor, and -1 Duress)
                                                             +2 Island, +1 Swamp , +2 Hurkyl's Recall

*Ichorid -->                                               -4 Duress, -1 Misdirection, -1 Rebuild, -1 Chain Of Vapor, -1 Imperial Seal
                                                              +3 Yixlid Jailer, +3 Tormod's Crypt, +2 Pithing Needle

*Fishies (UW variants) -->                            -1 Rebuild, -1 Mind's Desire (depending on whether they use Stifle, but I'm not sure here)
                                                              +2 Chain Of Vapor

*Tezzeret-->                                              -1 Cabal Ritual, -1 Rebuild
                                                              +2 Pithing Needle

Aight, this may not be the optimal way to sideboard but it is the best way I can think of for now. Thoughts on how to improve the decklist or boarding plan? Please back up your argument with well thought out points. I don't want this threat to degenerate into a "he said, she said" train of stupidity. TPS deserves better discussion than that. If Vintage players want to see a more diverse metagame they need to get off their asses and start learning this deck. It is playable, but takes a higher skill level than other decks. The rewards of piloting TPS well are very well worth it though. The deck is a well oiled machine that has ways of dealing with ANY deck. You just need to know the lines of play that lead to victory. Hopefully future cards/unrestrictions will also give this deck new (or old in the case of unrestrictions) toys to play with. Until that time I think I have a sort of "composite" list that should cover just about everything the deck may want to cover.

Peace,

-Storm