TES Infernal Tutoring #46

Julian Carr

There are two questions that are very important to ask yourself whenever you’re playing TES:

1. How much mana can I make right now?
2. What could they have?

The answer to the first question right now is eight mana, but we’d only be left with a single business spell (either [[Brainstorm]] or [[Burning Wish]]) because of [[Chrome Mox]] if we wanted to maximize our mana. The answer to the second question is: right now, nothing! But what if we let them untap?

Looking through typical lists, we’re only really going to get interacted with by either an [[Abrupt Decay]] type effect or a discard spell, and we’re probably not going to die if we pass the turn with how slow their win condition is. If we want to go for it right now, we’re just short of casting [[Peer into the Abyss]], but we can happily take an [[Echo of Eons]] line here by dumping our hand and floating three colored mana or just making [[Goblin Token]]s via [[Empty the Warrens]] and trying to kill them before the [[Marit Lage Token]] kills us. The latter of those lines doesn’t feel all that exciting, but we’re also not incentivized to kill our opponent right now either given that the scope of cards they could have that we care about is very low and we have a [[Brainstorm]] to insulate our hand from a discard spell. Plus, if they pass back and do nothing we have exactly enough after playing a second land to Wish for and play the Peer in our sideboard.

Ultimately, I think either [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]] now and going for it or just playing a fetch and leaving up [[Brainstorm]] both give us a big chance to win in this matchup, but it’s probably slightly safer just to pass without playing anything other than a land as we don’t want to get our artifacts destroyed by [[Abrupt Decay]] either. Even though getting to leave up a shuffle effect would be cute.

In any case, this feels pretty challenging to lose given most standard Slow Depths lists.

Bryant Cook

This situation is really tempting to those who may not have a lot of experience with the matchup. The temptation to make [[Goblin Token]]s with [[Empty the Warrens]] is certainly there. The issue with this is with the opponent seeing an additional three cards next turn, there is a real issue that a [[Marit Lage Token]] just outraces you.

A conservative line would to be patient and attempt to cast [[Peer into the Abyss]] on the following turn, which I dislike because it leaves you vulnerable to discard spells. Even with a [[Brainstorm]] to hide your action, the issue is that it discards mana one way or another. You could play out the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], but then you’re weak to [[Abrupt Decay]].

Oddly enough, I believe the safest line here would be to cast [[Echo of Eons]]. [[Bloodstained Mire]] searching out [[Underground Sea]], cast [[Dark Ritual]], [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: [[Brainstorm]]), [[Mox Opal]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Burning Wish]] ( floating) for [[Echo of Eons]]. Sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for and then Flashback floating .

Alex Poling

I would play the [[Bloodstained Mire]] and search for [[Badlands]] and then play the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Mox Opal]], and [[Chrome Mox]], imprinting [[Brainstorm]]. I’d using the [[Mox Opal]] to cast [[Dark Ritual]], using the [[Badlands]] and one of the floating black mana to cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]]. I would then sacrifice the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for three blue mana to put [[Echo of Eons]] in the graveyard and flash it back. This leaves two black mana floating and an untapped [[Mox Opal]]. There is a high probably of winning from here.

Alex McKinley

This opening is interesting from the opponent. The main two disruption pieces I would be concerned with are a discard spell or something like an [[Abrupt Decay]]. Our opponent gets three looks at either one of those cards, but given that they did not cast a turn one discard spell, I would guess that they currently do not have one. In our hand, we have eight mana, which is just one short of being able to cast [[Peer into the Abyss]] on turn one. One option would be to just play one of the fetch lands and pass the turn to hold up [[Brainstorm]] to respond to a discard spell. With the eight mana, casting [[Echo of Eons]] with three mana floating is also an option. Casting [[Echo of Eons]] is appealing, but given the opponent only has two cards in hand, giving them seven more makes this line worse in my eyes.

I would just play [[Verdant Catacombs]] and hold up [[Brainstorm]] in response to a discard spell and attempt to [[Peer into the Abyss]]. One thing to note is if the opponent pays eight life to the [[Sylvan Library]], a natural [[Tendrils of Agony]] might be possible.

Theo Andresier

This is an interesting matchup and is all about speed. [[Sylvan Library]] is really going to increase their resources and speed. I have been told many times that I need to not be afraid of the [[Goblin Token]]s and so I will use that now! I will fetch for a blue source and cast [[Brainstorm]] to find either another mana source or a coloured spell that is pitchable to [[Chrome Mox]]. I will then play out my artifacts and cast [[Dark Ritual]] then [[Burning Wish]] to find my [[Empty the Warrens]]. This leaves me with 14-16 [[Goblin Token]]s and two turns to win with it. A chance to use the sideboarded [[Echo of Eons]] is a shot for the win also, but too reliant on variance for my taste.

Julian Carr

Once again, how much mana do we have? Dumping everything we have nine this time, which is exactly enough to go for the [[Peer into the Abyss]] kill with this [[Burning Wish]]! This time though, our opponent is presenting significantly more resistance, especially in a sideboard game. The likelihood of them having anything that stops this win feels very high, so unless you’ve got the soul read here, I don’t think jamming is good. What’s left? Well, passing is fine. We have an [[Abrupt Decay]] for a [[Meddling Mage]] or similar effect, and they’re not really threatening to kill us quickly, but waiting forever against the blue deck isn’t always that exciting. We’ve already ground through one counter and they’re currently low-ish on cards. They’re also unable to hard-cast [[Force of Will]] (although, if they have that, they probably have a blue card too).

Given that [[Force of Will]], [[Flusterstorm]], and even regular ‘ol [[Counterspell]] present too much of a threat to go all-in on [[Peer into the Abyss]] or [[Echo of Eons]], if we don’t want to just pass, what can we do? I think it simply depends on whether we have the read for either a specific single counterspell (Such as [[Force of Will]] or another copy of [[Dovin’s Veto]]) or [[Flusterstorm]] specifically. If it’s just [[Force of Will]], casting the [[Burning Wish]] is fine. Either it gets countered and we try and draw out of it again soon, or they let it resolve and get punished by a decent sized [[Empty the Warrens]]. We even have the option of keeping some mana or an [[Abrupt Decay]] if we don’t want to pump everything into it. If they have [[Flusterstorm]] though, this plan only works if they try and counter the [[Burning Wish]] with it, otherwise we have to get [[Thoughtseize]], pass and try and win on a future turn after stripping their counterspell.

Sadly, we can’t beat two counters and if our opponent is disciplined we can’t [[Empty the Warrens]] around the [[Flusterstorm]] either. Ultimately, just passing feels bad enough that I’m willing to Burning Wish for [[Thoughtseize]] to beat the counter they’re repping and try and win on a future turn, but if you have a stronger read you have some gameplay here.

Bryant Cook

Games of Magic: the Gathering are often about creative a narrative or an idea about what’s in your hand. This is a situation where we can flip the script so to speak — we can tell the lie that the [[Burning Wish]] doesn’t matter.

I’d start off by playing [[Lotus Petal]] to avoid a potential [[Spell Pierce]] on the [[Burning Wish]]. From there, tap [[Taiga]] and [[Tropical Island]] to cast [[Burning Wish]]. This actually does a few things:

• Tells the opponent that we likely don’t have [[Veil of Summer]].
• Says that we’re likely getting [[Thoughtseize]].
• Leaves a black mana open for [[Dark Ritual]] that isn’t our [[Lotus Petal]].

Assuming that [[Burning Wish]] resolves and we get [[Empty the Warrens]], we would then play [[Chrome Mox]]. It would actually be bad if they countered this, because it would then render our pair of [[Mox Opal]] pretty useless. We would still attempt to cast [[Empty the Warrens]] using [[Dark Ritual]] however, but this would lose to a second counterspell.

If [[Chrome Mox]] resolves, I would Imprint the [[Abrupt Decay]] as the team of [[Mox Opal]] become more threatening. Ultimately, you end up in a spot where they either have a [[Flusterstorm]] or a mass-removal effect or they lose.

[[Flusterstorm]] has been on the down-swing for over a year, which means that I’m not playing around it and mass-removal just isn’t as common as it used to be, which makes this the best available line in my opinion.

Alex Poling

I would play this hand slowly and continue just passing the turn until I have access to several tutors or pay off cards. I don’t think we will be successful at trying to combo off this turn. The opponent cast a [[Brainstorm]] on their turn, so I’d guess their hand is pretty good right now. We have more resources than the opponent right now, so I see no point in trying to go all in here.

Alex McKinley

Our opponent has been casting cantrips and sculpting, but did not get to shuffle off their most recent [[Brainstorm]]. This could mean that their hand is full of counter magic or their hand has also stalled out. Unfortunately for us, our hand is not set up to grind out a longer game. Without any protection or ways to find protection, this game going longer only gets worse for us. For that reason, I would try to do something here. The only thing that this hand does is cast [[Empty the Warrens]] for 14 goblins. This is risky against what appears to be Miracles, but I believe this is the best line to win the game. The specific sequencing of this turn is important to maintain bluffs and try to get our key spells to resolve: the [[Burning Wish]] and [[Lotus Petal]]. If [[Lotus Petal]] gets countered, [[Mox Opal]] is turned off and there is no second red mana to cast [[Empty the Warrens]]. I would start by casting [[Lotus Petal]] and then tap [[Taiga]] and [[Tropical Island]] to cast [[Burning Wish]]. [[Burning Wish]] finds [[Empty the Warrens]]. Casting [[Burning Wish]] early in the combo sequence makes it appear less threating and may lead the opponent to believe that they can just counter whatever [[Burning Wish]] finds. After [[Burning Wish]] resolves, I would then play the [[Dark Ritual]] (tapping [[Swamp]] and hoping that the opponent counters it), then [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: [[Abrupt Decay]]), then both copies of [[Mox Opal]] before finally casting [[Empty the Warrens]] and hoping it gets there.

Theo Andresier

This is an interesting scenario we find ourselves in, and I’d bet that they have a counter spell in hand and maybe a win condition. I know that it is painful, but I would relax and try and draw into cantrips to sculpt the hand better. A [[Veil of Summer]] would be really useful and they have no pressure on board. Going off in the current situation would relieve us of all of our gas with very little effect.

Julian Carr

This is a really tough spot, and one of the reasons [[Doomsday]] is such a sweet deck. Not only do we have to pay respect to a counterspell here (including [[Flusterstorm]] as it’s a sideboarded game), but if we pass we risk losing the game.

If their hand is perfect, we probably can’t win so let’s think about what scenarios we can win in. One of the reasons this situation is so hard is that [[Brainstorm]] is cutting off what would otherwise be an absurdly busted hand, if only we could keep them all…

If they have no resistance, there is a winning line here. Keeping [[Verdant Catacombs]], [[Dark Ritual]], and [[Dark Ritual]] is exactly enough to [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Ad Nauseam]] and cast it. That said, it loses to every counter they play including [[Daze]] which would be a massive FeelsBadMan.

I think it’s way more likely that they do have a counter but don’t have the combo yet, if that’s our read, what should we do?

It’s pretty simple, we should resolve [[Defense Grid]], pass and hope we don’t die after they untap. Keep [[Dark Ritual]], [[Defense Grid]], and land then pass the turn after playing [[Defense Grid]]. Sadly, this will make us a mana short to go off next turn, but our deck is so full of mana sources, and we’re drawing off a fresh deck that it seems very likely we’ll hit if we survive. I looked at a bunch of lines and I don’t believe there is a way to play around [[Daze]] or [[Thoughtseize]]/[[Duress]] here either by hiding a [[Dark Ritual]] as we’ll end up too short on mana after resolving the [[Defense Grid]]. We’re also under pressure to win before they do.

Ultimately, I thought there was going to be some neat counterplay here, but this feels mostly like a 50/50 on whether or not you believe they have a way to stop you from going off and odds feels high enough that playing the [[Defense Grid]] (that at least beats [[Flusterstorm]] and will beat a single [[Force of Will]] as well if that’s all they have) will win this position for you more often than just jamming will. Sometimes you have to just send it though, so going for it is also defensible and way more fun.

Bryant Cook

The decision here is really whether or not to go for it this turn. Considering that the going for it line loses to [[Daze]], [[Flusterstorm]], [[Force of Will]], and [[Force of Negation]], it’s really tough for me to justify going for it. I believe the likelihood of them killing you is considerably lower than the odds of the opponent having absolutely nothing in hand. Because of this, I would put back a [[Dark Ritual]] and a [[Rite of Flame]] then cast [[Defense Grid]] while praying that we get to untap.

Alex Poling

The opponent playing their [[Lotus Petal]] on their first turn indicates that they have some form of counterspell here. I would not try to combo off this turn when we have access to a [[Defense Grid]]. I would put back the [[Rite of Flame]] on the bottom and a [[Dark Ritual]] on top. Sacrifice the fetch land and play the [[Defense Grid]]. This leaves five mana for next turn. If I draw any mana source next turn, I can activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and cast [[Ad Nauseam]]. The opponent doesn’t have as many counterspells as a control deck, so even if the [[Defense Grid]] were to get countered, I would still try to combo on the next turn.

Alex McKinley

One of the cards that [[Doomsday]] plays that most blue decks have eschewed in favor of more copies of [[Force of Negation]] is [[Flusterstorm]]. This, along with [[Daze]], would be the two cards I am playing around most this turn. One major decision to make this turn is whether or not to go off. If we go off and get countered, we probably lose the game. If we pass the turn, we could also just die. I believe that the [[Doomsday]] player just has too much interaction to try to go off this turn. However, there are only so many cards that to play around to not give the opponent enough time to go off themselves. I would put back the [[Rite of Flame]] and a [[Dark Ritual]] in order to play the [[Defense Grid]] this turn with the hope of drawing another mana off the top next turn. Even if the opponent casts [[Force of Will]] on the [[Defense Grid]], I would still try to go off next turn, hoping that they do not have more interaction.

Theo Andresier

There is an easy trap here to put back two spells to fetch for a land to then cast the [[Defense Grid]], but I’d much prefer to put back the [[Verdant Catacombs]] and then a [[Dark Ritual]] on top of it. I then use a [[Rite of Flame]] to cast the [[Defense Grid]] Even if it gets countered, I end up with easily enough mana and the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] makes an [[Ad Nauseam]] win easily within our grasp!