[Free Article] Riders on the Storm

[voltron00x]

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/19925_The_Long_Winding_Road_Riders_on_the_Storm.html

In this week’s article, I have a tournament report from Blue Bell Games Day #7 on 8/14.  This was my first time playing a Storm deck in a Vintage tournament, and I found it to be enjoyable and, surprisingly, much easier than I expected.

I also take a brief look at a Noble Fish deck with a  Red splash, but based on the results of the last NYSE, it appears that leaving Noble Fish close to “as-is” and utilizing Meddling Mage to negate Jace, the Mind Sculptor may be a perfectly viable metagame solution. 

Finally, I try to whittle a list of my favorite videogames of all time down to a top 10.  That proved to be much more difficult than playing Bob Tendrils…

[Killane]

Nice report, and overall great article. I enjoyed seeing some love for Worms in your best games list. Behind Magic, I've likely spent more time playing Worms in my life than any other game, ever.

Question- do you still like Rebuild in you Bob Tendrils list? I know it gets around Chalice at 2 and helps you setup to storm post-bounce, but I've found it hard to resolve at times vs Spheres and genrally I end up liking a 2nd Hurkyl's better.

What do you think can be done to improve Tendrils decks matchup vs the current crop of MUD? One though I keep having but haven't tested yet is splashing Green for Nature's Claims - but every time I sit down to down I can;t bring myself to Junk up the mana base. Of course, a green splash allows for a Oath sideboard if deired and lots of other spicy options. What do you think?

[voltron00x]

Regarding Rebuild, I like to have the bounce options spread across casting costs due to Chalice, and Rebuild is the best option against Shops when you do have the mana to cast it.  Another Hurks is perfectly reasonable though. 

As far as how to beat Shops, there are a lot of theoretical options out there – more bounce with basics and/or Ancient Tombs, Energy Flux, splashing Red or White for alternative hate cards, a transformative board, and so on.  I haven’t gotten in nearly enough testing yet to know which is the best choice yet, but hope to get testing in to help determine this.

I’ve been trying to get people to play Worms for cash ever since it came out for 360, but so far, I’ve had no takers. 

[Killane]

Regarding Rebuild, I like to have the bounce options spread across casting costs due to Chalice, and Rebuild is the best option against Shops when you do have the mana to cast it.  Another Hurks is perfectly reasonable though. 

As far as how to beat Shops, there are a lot of theoretical options out there – more bounce with basics and/or Ancient Tombs, Energy Flux, splashing Red or White for alternative hate cards, a transformative board, and so on.  I haven’t gotten in nearly enough testing yet to know which is the best choice yet, but hope to get testing in to help determine this.

I’ve been trying to get people to play Worms for cash ever since it came out for 360, but so far, I’ve had no takers. 

Energy Flux is, sadly, not enough in my opinion. By the time you get it down, they can usually pay for a few key lock pieces including a Golem and just get there.

that said, I have zero good shop players local to me. i'm not sure i even know anyone within 20 miles that owns a Shop apart from one guy who has one is an EDH deck and would never play it in vintage. The few that I'v met at events are from fairly far away and aren;t really all that friendly. Boo.

I'd never play Worms for cash against you. You'd annihilate me. I love that game, but I play video games for less than 1hr/wk and have minmal natural skill. you're a Worms Shark, aren't you 

[i_set_fire]

nice article, its good to see you branching out to storm!

i have been testing a similar bob tendrils list with these changes:
-1 preordain
-1 sea
-1 jace
+1 island
+1 bargain
+1 cabal rit

bargain is such a high casting cost and sucks to flip to bob so i assume thats why you took it out, but why did you choose bargain over desire?  bargain is easier to cast and, in my opinion, better.  perhaps i am a little biased cuz i lost after a desire with storm 9 this past weekend (all mana sorces and no business). 

i playtested my build against owen's championship deck and in ten games i lost 1 (owen's deck had turn 1 vault key activated)

[voltron00x]

I have played Worms 2 more hours than any other game, I think.  It was one of our obsessions in college, and once you master complex ninja rope maneuvering while intoxicated, the game becomes very easy when sober….. It is, I think, one of the best party games ever but also a game with a deceptively deep skill component.  I’ve been playing it a decent amount again now that it is on XB360.

Anyone who has the required items (XB360, $8, friends) should get the game.

[voltron00x]

nice article, its good to see you branching out to storm!

i have been testing a similar bob tendrils list with these changes:
-1 preordain
-1 sea
-1 jace
+1 island
+1 bargain
+1 cabal rit

bargain is such a high casting cost and sucks to flip to bob so i assume thats why you took it out, but why did you choose bargain over desire?  bargain is easier to cast and, in my opinion, better.  perhaps i am a little biased cuz i lost after a desire with storm 9 this past weekend (all mana sorces and no business).  

i playtested my build against owen's championship deck and in ten games i lost 1 (owen's deck had turn 1 vault key activated)

I like Desire because you can ram it through against an opponent who has counters in hand, whereas Bargain tends to require mana investment and is easy to stop.  It is honestly quite likely that playing Bargain is the better choice, though, because a turn 1 or turn 2 Bargain with Duress / FoW back-up is usually better than a quick Desire for 4 or 5.  I really was gunning for Trygon Tezz for that tournament and was successful, but I actually think I underestimated how good the match-up really is for Bob Tendrils.

Also, to be honest – I just really, really, really like Desire and really wanted to play it again.  I won every game where I drew it in the tournament except against MUD where I could never resolve it or pitched it to FoW.
 
I may be the only person on earth that doesn’t despise Preordain, by the way.  I wonder if the fact that I never played this style of deck in Vintage with 4 Brainstorm plays into that, b/c I’m not expecting the card to be something it isn’t and will never be.  Preordain keeps the blue spell count up, digs for mana, digs for action, prevents damage from Bob, and can hide away bad cards in combination with Jace.  I think the card is perfectly serviceable as a two-of to round out the singleton Brainstorm and Ponder.

[Killane]

nice article, its good to see you branching out to storm!

i have been testing a similar bob tendrils list with these changes:
-1 preordain
-1 sea
-1 jace
+1 island
+1 bargain
+1 cabal rit

bargain is such a high casting cost and sucks to flip to bob so i assume thats why you took it out, but why did you choose bargain over desire?  bargain is easier to cast and, in my opinion, better.  perhaps i am a little biased cuz i lost after a desire with storm 9 this past weekend (all mana sorces and no business).  

i playtested my build against owen's championship deck and in ten games i lost 1 (owen's deck had turn 1 vault key activated)

I like Desire because you can ram it through against an opponent who has counters in hand, whereas Bargain tends to require mana investment and is easy to stop.  It is honestly quite likely that playing Bargain is the better choice, though, because a turn 1 or turn 2 Bargain with Duress / FoW back-up is usually better than a quick Desire for 4 or 5.  I really was gunning for Trygon Tezz for that tournament and was successful, but I actually think I underestimated how good the match-up really is for Bob Tendrils.

Also, to be honest – I just really, really, really like Desire and really wanted to play it again.  I won every game where I drew it in the tournament except against MUD where I could never resolve it or pitched it to FoW.
 
I may be the only person on earth that doesn’t despise Preordain, by the way.  I wonder if the fact that I never played this style of deck in Vintage with 4 Brainstorm plays into that, b/c I’m not expecting the card to be something it isn’t and will never be.  Preordain keeps the blue spell count up, digs for mana, digs for action, prevents damage from Bob, and can hide away bad cards in combination with Jace.  I think the card is perfectly serviceable as a two-of to round out the singleton Brainstorm and Ponder.

I like Preordain quite a bit. Is it 4xBS? No. Is it 4xPonder? no. Is it the next best thing? Yes.

I think Desire is correct over Bargain in this build for just the reason you describe. Neither is good vs Shops due to high CMC cost, so that's out of the equation. Bargain is better vs Dredge, but that matchup is going to be won or lost over your hate, not your bombs. Bargain is godaweful vs Drains. Getting Bargain Drained is incredibly bad for you, as it requires use of resources to set up and puts them so far ahead on mana. Desire is great vs Drains. Given that the top deck of the moment is drains, I'd go with Desire. That said, it would be nice to have Bargain there as well, since it is so good in matchups when they don;t have coutners.

[voltron00x]

Just noticed that I missed a header in one part of the report, which should read as follows; it might be confusing as written.

"Round 6 – ID with Brad (4-1-1)

Brad is playing a similar deck to mine, having helped convince me to play it. He’s sitting at 4-0-1, so we ID into the Top 8. How I’m ever going to push past Brad in Blue Bell Player of the Year points if he keeps making Top 8 of every tournament is beyond me.

Quarterfinals - Win 2-1 vs. Jeff with Trygon Tezz (5-1-1)[/B]

Game 1: Once again, this is a match-up I wanted (and I think there were three players on this deck in the top eight), but I was hoping not to face Jeff until the finals. "

[Rico Suave]

One thing I've noticed is that oftentimes I will want to do something that my opponents would prefer I not do, such as drawing 14 or 15 cards in one turn.  My opponents strongly felt that I shouldn't be allowed to do this, and because we were unable to reach an accord we often met with an impartial third party to settle this dispute.  But I don't really know how impartial this Yawgmoth guy is, because when we struck a Bargain it always seemed like my opponent lost more life than I did.  It's a strong possibility this Yawgmoth was swayed by my incredibly good looks.  

[voltron00x]

One thing I've noticed is that oftentimes I will want to do something that my opponents would prefer I not do, such as drawing 14 or 15 cards in one turn.  My opponents strongly felt that I shouldn't be allowed to do this, and because we were unable to reach an accord we often met with an impartial third party to settle this dispute.  But I don't really know how impartial this Yawgmoth guy is, because when we struck a Bargain it always seemed like my opponent lost more life than I did.  It's a strong possibility this Yawgmoth was swayed by my incredibly good looks.  

Indeed. 

While I don't disagree, I also find that sometimes the desires of my mind do not match the desires of my opponents, which is unfortunate, because I desire quite a lot.  I dream big.

[Juggernaut GO]

nice articles, looking forward to meeting you at hadley.

[Troy_Costisick]

Matt,

I did an analaysis of your matches in games 2 and 3 (if necessary) comparing wins w/ Tinker vs. wins w/ Storm.  Here's what I found:

R1G2: Tinker for Win
R2G2: Storm for Win
R3G2: Tinker for Win
R3G3: Tinker into Storm for Win
R4G2: Tinker for Win
R5G2: Tinker for Win
Quarters G3: Storm for Win
Semis G2: Tinker for Win

Out of those eight games, you rode Tinker for the win five times instead not the storm.  Of the three times you did ride the storm for the win, one of them relied on Tinker.  Only in two games did you execute the storm win without needing to have Tinker in hand.  So I have a few questions:

-If you found it to be so key to so many of your victories, why not include it in the main?

-Is your deck really a storm deck or is it a Tinker deck?

-Is Inkwell Leviathan the Tinker Robot of Choice now for Ritual Decks?  What about all decks?

Peace,

-Troy

[voltron00x]

To be fair and clarify a couple of those points:

In R1, G2 – My opponent Forced my turn 1 Necro and used REB to counter my Force.  I could have also played out that turn by going Mox Jet, Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Tinker (which he’d have countered with REB), then Force on his REB, he would Force my Force, and then Necro would resolve and I’d have won by Storm instead. 

In R3, G3 – The Tinker -> Lotus play was the one that was obvious to me, but I’m sure there were other lines of play during that Yawgmoth’s Will turn that would have had the desired end result.  The Tinker definitely wasn’t necessary for the win, it was just the one I noticed that got me to exactly lethal storm.

Tinker into Inkwell is a great sideboard plan against Noble Fish, who are usually weak to your Storm plan G1 but much better post-board, and it is a great plan against Trygon Tezz because if you resolve the Tinker they don’t have any outs besides racing.  I also think it is a necessary back-up plan against Shops.  All that being said, I like the way the deck plays out, as a Storm deck, better without those two cards being in the deck for game 1.  The Storm plan is sufficient to beat those opponents most of the time, so I think you’re better off making your Storm plan as good as possible for game 1, and then going for flexibility game 2.  Some of this also comes out of talking to Steve Nowakowski over the past year and hearing him complain again and again about how Tinker -> Robot never seemed good enough game 1.  Whenever possible I would prefer to win by a method that was not Tinker -> Robot because this isn’t a control deck and I feel like that plan leaves too much to chance, yet it takes a player with a lot of self-control to not default to it when the option is available, I think.

Generally I hate to say that one Tinker choice is the “best” but if everyone is playing Trygon Tezz where you are, then yes, Inkwell is probably the best, as it is immune to Jace. 

[Troy_Costisick]

All that being said, I like the way the deck plays out, as a Storm deck, better without those two cards being in the deck for game 1.  The Storm plan is sufficient to beat those opponents most of the time, so I think you’re better off making your Storm plan as good as possible for game 1, and then going for flexibility game 2.  Some of this also comes out of talking to Steve Nowakowski over the past year and hearing him complain again and again about how Tinker -> Robot never seemed good enough game 1.  Whenever possible I would prefer to win by a method that was not Tinker -> Robot because this isn’t a control deck and I feel like that plan leaves too much to chance, yet it takes a player with a lot of self-control to not default to it when the option is available, I think.

I really like that part.  That's some good insight.