Every so often, Legacy reaches beyond its devoted player base and draws the attention of other Magic players to this awesome format. Now is one of those times. Eternal Weekend is back! Wizards of the Coast announced the return of the beloved in-person events this year (mostly in-person, sorry Europe). Players often see success in this weekend of Legacy and Vintage events as the pinnacle achievement for their Magic career. Deck building, sideboard tweaking, and testing abound in the weeks leading up to the event as players adjust their expectations for what their event will look like. Much in the same way, The EPIC Storm is also undergoing a period of testing and changes.

With recent adjustments in the makeup of our sideboard and plans against meta decks, things have cascaded as space previously taken by [[Carpet of Flowers]] can be played around with. The first changes incorporated old favorites [[Crash]] and [[Grapeshot]] into the open slots. This was based on the understanding that lateral sideboard plans (upgrading good cards to great cards with the same effect) were not giving The EPIC Storm the match-up equity it needed. Further changes have been tested since then, with one standout decision being brought to the forefront.

As The EPIC Storm evolved to adopt a play style focused on permanents in play ([[Mishra’s Bauble]] instead of [[Ponder]], [[Wishclaw Talisman]] over [[Infernal Tutor]], and the inclusion of [[Mox Opal]]), the Storm payoff of [[Galvanic Relay]] has slotted perfectly into the deck’s construction. Since Modern Horizons 2, [[Galvanic Relay]] has seen consistent play in The EPIC Storm: slowly at first, then with a more concerted effort. This latest iteration, TES v13.4, is yet another step in that direction. The standout decision is cutting [[Tendrils of Agony]] from the mainboard to make room for a THIRD copy of [[Galvanic Relay]]. As The EPIC Storm explores the depths of play that [[Galvanic Relay]] offers, we have gone back to a main deck configuration that does not have a non-sideboard win condition. While this may seem absurd, the deck has succeeded in the past with this makeup. In fact, winning through a sideboard [[Tendrils of Agony]] has been the predominant build throughout the life of The EPIC Storm. The main-deck copy was added within the past few years, and it’s time to go back to our roots.

Playing with v13.4 will stress players to refamiliarize themselves with the quirks of playing around cards like [[Surgical Extraction]]. The benefits of having [[Galvanic Relay]] number three in its place will come out after many repetitions. Cleaner early wins with consistent “Relay Turns” will stress the fair Blue decks of the format. Lowering the average mana value for [[Ad Nauseam]] by one pip will help somewhat if the effects will only be seen after many games. The biggest boon to cutting the [[Tendrils of Agony]] is you will never draw it when you don’t want to. On the flip side, the lines involving [[Echo of Eons]] with a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] in play have been reduced somewhat. The low-resource outs of those draws have been reduced. So far that has yet to be an issue, but if you are playing this list, keep an eye out and let us know what you think.

Oh yeah, and we added two copies of [[Opposition Agent]] to the sideboard. No big deal.

This new addition speaks to the period of testing and changes that The EPIC Storm is in. A problem matchup that had the potential to be addressed was spotted. [[Doomsday]] is a combo deck that has a large amount of interaction as well. Instead of needing to use that interaction to protect their combo when we are matched up, they can use it as a major disruptive element instead. Playsets of [[Force of Will]] and [[Force of Negation]] are commonplace, as are other pieces of interaction like [[Duress]] and [[Flusterstorm]]. [[Opposition Agent]] offers a surgical tool against one of the top three decks in the meta right now. It also has the benefit of dodging [[Force of Negation]] and [[Duress]]. Landing an [[Opposition Agent]] can spell defeat, even without casting another spell! Alternatives were considered as well, perhaps you can see them in future versions of The EPIC Storm! For now, [[Opposition Agent]] has been performing well. Let’s see if these changes can make a difference in the scenarios ahead of us.

Special Guest

Matt Sperling

Matt is a competitive Magic player with over 2 decades of pro-level experience and 4 top finishes under his belt.

Deck List

SITUATION No. 1 — Ad Nauseam Tendrils

Ad Nauseam Tendrils is one of the prominent Storm decks in Legacy (generally ANT, Ruby, TEG, and TES), and is a classic choice for someone wanting to flex their combo muscles. In fact, it is one of the most common decks to have Top 8 finishes in Legacy Grand Prix competitions since the beginning of the format itself. With such a devoted following, the deck will never truly go away, despite recent modern printings harming the powerful [[Past in Flames]] strategy.

The differences that separate Ad Nauseam Tendrils from other Storm decks typically fall into either mana production or engine cards. Whereas The EPIC Storm and The EPIC Gamble utilize artifacts to make mana, Ad Nauseam Tendrils (along with Ruby Storm) rely more heavily on rituals to make mana. [[Cabal Ritual]] with Threshold is as mana-positive as [[Black Lotus]] itself! With this reliance on ritual effects, [[Past in Flames]] becomes more potent. Ad Nauseam Tendrils is a graveyard-based strategy that takes advantage of this zone more than other Storm variants. In fact, [[Past in Flames]] is a better engine card than [[Ad Nauseam]] in most cases, causing some slight confusion with naming conventions. With a lower amount of initial mana sources from artifacts, being able to loop rituals through the graveyard is more effective in low resource situations than hoping for [[Lotus Petal]] to be revealed with [[Ad Nauseam]].

Being more reliant on the graveyard does open Ad Nauseam Tendrils to more kinds of hate from opponents though. Cards like [[Leyline of the Void]], [[Surgical Extraction]], and [[Endurance]] can stop a [[Past in Flames]] line in its tracks. But there is an inherent resiliency to the card due to the Flashback ability, powering through counter magic by simply casting the card again on another turn. [[Force of Negation]] has severely limited the strength of that particular perk, but the recursive ability to try again at another point still has its benefits.

Against the pseudo-mirror, The EPIC Storm edges out the discard-based Storm deck for two reasons. First, we play an entire playset of [[Veil of Summer]]. Often touted as the reason Ad Nauseam Tendrils popularity has dropped off, there is typically no maindeck out to a resolved protection spell. Secondly, The EPIC Storm is a faster deck. Instead of focusing on cantripping and sculpting a position to strike as Ad Nauseam Tendrils does, The EPIC Storm can choose to leverage its speed if it needs to.

SIDEBOARDING:

+2 [[Opposition Agent]], +1 [[Thoughtseize]]; -3 [[Galvanic Relay]]

We find ourselves in a game one situation against our Ad Nauseam Tendrils opponent. The first turns told us a few things about our opponent. They discarded our [[Veil of Summer]] with [[Duress]] on their first turn and proceeded to cantrip twice without hitting their second land — burning a [[Lotus Petal]] to do so ([[Ponder]] shuffled). This can be taken as either a sign of weakness or that they are close to a win and need a specific piece to get there. In our second turn, we are resolving a [[Brainstorm]] and contemplating how to evaluate our opponent’s position. The obvious plan with the cards available is to cast [[Echo of Eons]] with three mana floating and a land drop to make. Since that is not deterministic, we do risk passing the turn to our opponent who has the potential to win with a fresh seven cards. The alternative would be to plan ahead with this [[Brainstorm]] and set up a win later on. How do you evaluate our opponent’s position here? Are they telegraphing weakness or strength? What should we do to resolve this [[Brainstorm]] and plan for the following turns, if there are any?

What’s the play?

Special Guest

Matt Sperling

I certainly take sacrificing [[Lotus Petal]] to [[Ponder]], shuffle, pass with no land drop as a sign of weakness. ANT remains a dangerous opponent even when showing signs of weakness. Taking [[Veil of Summer]] and then trying hard to locate a land for me signals that more hand destruction is incoming ([[Ponder]] for a land off [[Lotus Petal]] and then casting [[Thoughtseize]] puts one further ahead than casting [[Thoughtseize]] off [[Lotus Petal]] and having to find a land with [[Ponder]] the following turn, so I suspect that’s the most likely thing that’s happening here).

“Weakness vs. Strength” isn’t always sufficient, we need to use context to try and make concrete assessments of what is likely to happen next in the game, and here I think it’s hand destruction with higher likelihood than “big turn/go off” when our opponent untaps.

Since we can’t do anything close to the power level of [[Chrome Mox]] Imprint [[Galvanic Relay]], [[Rite of Flame]], [[Burning Wish]] (cracking both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]), that’s what we are going to do. We’re a mana short of [[Peer into the Abyss]] so we can [[Empty the Warrens]], [[Galvanic Relay]], or [[Echo of Eons]]. [[Empty the Warrens]] is a not quick enough, [[Galvanic Relay]] sees fewer cards with less mana than [[Echo of Eons]], and ANT doesn’t get shuffled into interaction, so I think this is just float three mana and cast [[Echo of Eons]] and let our new hand take us home.

My internal thought process for “wait or try now” is usually “Is my situation likely to get worse or likely to get better if I wait?” Often times things are likely to get worse, such as when [[Thoughtseize]] is incoming and we are [[Brainstorm]] locked, and the fact that our win is not deterministic doesn’t matter. We can’t let dreams of a different scenario hold us back from making the most of the scenario we’re in.

#TEAMTES

Jordan Karim

This is a bit of a tough spot. I keep thinking that we need to jam jam jam. But that’s not really true, is it? We are really close to casting a [[Peer into the Abyss]] and can plan for it next turn — likely handing us a deterministically lethal line. To do that, we would need to protect our [[Burning Wish]] from a discard spell by floating it on top of the library (likely with a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] underneath it). This way, if our opponent were to discard us, they would be forced into taking the remaining [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. It represents an [[Ad Nauseam]] on our next turn with both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] in play. The only thing we need to ensure is that all of our mana production is deployed this turn. Casting the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprinting the [[Galvanic Relay]]) will ensure we have all the mana we need to combo on our next turn.

Our opponent has indeed displayed weaknesses with their sequencing. Due to the lower chances for Ad Nauseam Tendrils to combo on low resources, I think it is safe to plan on surviving until our next turn.

---

Bryant Cook

The important things to note here are that our opponent resolved two draw spells on their turn, they’ve already sculpted a strong potentially game-winning hand, and that we haven’t made our land drop. Because of these things, I would put back the pair of [[Wishclaw Talisman]], cast [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: [[Galvanic Relay]]), play [[Rite of Flame]], and then [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]]. I would then sacrifice the couple of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for and then Flashback [[Echo of Eons]] floating .

Even if we fail to put a lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]] on the stack, we’re in a real spot to do some damage with one of the remaining two copies of [[Galvanic Relay]] while setting up passing the turn with [[Veil of Summer]]. More realistically, we should be able to come up with lethal with three mana and a land drop.

---

Alex McKinley

Given that the opponent was willing to burn a [[Lotus Petal]] for a [[Ponder]] and then did not play a land, it feels likely that their hand is full of rituals. This means that they are hoping to draw a tutor effect on their next turn to win the game. As suggested, [[Echo of Eons]] is the safe and obvious play to do something to try to win. Without the main deck [[Tendrils of Agony]], however, [[Echo of Eons]] becomes much harder to win with. Instead, I would put back [[Wishclaw Talisman]] on top of [[Burning Wish]], cast the rest of the mana rocks in our hand and pass the turn. Next turn, [[Ad Nauseam]] wins the game.

---

Alex Poling

Regardless of whether the opponent is showing strength or weakness we have an opportunity to combo with lots of mana floating. Against any combo deck while shields are down, I am taking it. I would [[Chrome Mox]], [[Rite of Flame]], [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]], and then use both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to flashback [[Echo of Eons]] with floating and a land drop remaining.

---

Grant Johnson

I think in this position, I would be okay with putting back two copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]] on the top of the deck and using the [[Chrome Mox]] to imprint [[Galvanic Relay]] to give us red mana to [[Rite of Flame]] into [[Burning Wish]].

Technically, this could be [[Doomsday]] in theory. Putting the copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]] on top with the [[Brainstorm]] protects them from future [[Thoughtseize]] turns, especially if our [[Echo of Eons]] doesn’t resolve.

SITUATION No. 2 — Elves

Carcinization is a textbook example of convergent evolution: the process of Nature’s attempts to evolve animals into crabs. Jundification is another example of the same effect: the process of Magic’s attempts to evolve every deck into The Rock. Currently, Elves is undergoing that process in Legacy. What was once a creature-based combo deck build to abuse [[Glimpse of Nature]], started shifting philosophy with the printing of [[Elvish Reclaimer]] and has continued with [[Fiend Artisan]]. The deck has evolved into a strategy that is more akin to a toolbox than a combo machine. Of course, this isn’t to say there isn’t a combo. [[Natural Order]] into [[Craterhoof Behemoth]] is still as effective at ending the game as ever. The plan is more value-oriented than before. Much like Naya Depths, this new version of Elves actually has more tutors than most Storm decks! There is a more extreme version of this deck, with even fewer elf creatures and more reliance on [[Fiend Artisan]], but that has gone so far away from the elf strategy that it probably shouldn’t be considered Elves anymore. Key cards in Elves include [[Green Sun’s Zenith]], [[Natural Order]], [[Allosaurus Shepherd]], [[Elvish Reclaimer]], [[Fiend Artisan]], and [[Wirewood Symbiote]]. Powerfully resilient, Elves floods the battlefield with creatures that gain value the longer they are out and pays for everything with giant taps of [[Gaea’s Cradle]] (in fact, Cradle Control is a tongue-in-cheek name for Elves that has been used ever since this philosophy shift). Their win conditions are [[Grist, the Hunger Tide]] and [[Craterhoof Behemoth]] — sometimes with alternative tutor targets out of the sideboard.

As it pertains to The EPIC Storm, Elves is primarily the biggest [[Collector Ouphe]] deck we have to contend with. Our strategy is typically faster than Elves, but this one card can shut down our game plan completely. We currently have no outs to this card in game one other than relying on rituals and [[Burning Wish]] to win. But since we have been shaving lands and cantrips in favor of more artifacts, this is not likely to happen. The goal is to win before the artifact hate hits the battlefield. [[Thoughtseize]] is a card frequently seen in Elves sideboards and [[Veil of Summer]] needs to stay in post-board in some numbers. It is unfortunate that the card has no function in game one (other than as a card to Imprint underneath [[Chrome Mox]]). One more note is that the previous list with [[Grapeshot]] did have outs to main-deck creatures like [[Collector Ouphe]] and [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]]. No sideboard is going to have the ability to beat everything. The 15 cards are in high demand and trying to have a plan for everything means that we are spread out too thinly to be impactful. The compromise here is to have a better plan against [[Doomsday]] and not have as many outs to resolved hate creatures.

SIDEBOARDING:

+2 [[Abrupt Decay]], +2 [[Chain of Vapor]]; -3 [[Galvanic Relay]], -1 [[Veil of Summer]]

Flipping [[Echo of Eons]] while resolving [[Ad Nauseam]] is never the greatest feeling. Turn-two combos though, that is a great feeling indeed. We are in a post-sideboard game against Elves and looking to find a path forward to lethal this turn. We have given our opponent a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to get this far, meaning we would need to remove it from play or make a plan for [[Collector Ouphe]] if passing the turn is the play. We do not have a clean line to lethal with our current hand. Luckily for us, we don’t have a main-deck [[Tendrils of Agony]] to reveal and kill us! The largest mana value we could reveal is two — not quite lethal. If we do reveal a two-drop, we are facing down lethal across the board. Dying to a [[Llanowar Elves]] is not a great way to go. With a floating in our mana pool, there has to be an avenue to victory. What cards do we need to flip to find a lethal line? If we need to pass the turn and try again, what protections do we need to prepare? What tools do we already have available to help make this decision easier?

What would you do?

Special Guest

Matt Sperling

I don’t think we’ve correctly assessed the current game state. There is no risk of dying to [[Llanowar Elves]] and little reason to stop resolving [[Ad Nauseam]] right now since our floor (the worst we can do, as opposed to ceiling, the best we can do) for the turn is [[Empty the Warrens]] for a bunch to ensure we don’t die to the elf even if the opponent holds a [[Veil of Summer]]. We might stop at two if we hit good one- and zero-drops from here in order to have insurance against [[Veil of Summer]]. My goal would be to [[Chain of Vapor]] my artifacts ending with a bounce of [[Llanowar Elves]]. This deprives opponent of two mana and an attacker, so if they’re holding [[Veil of Summer]] they’re somewhat likely to use it here, rather than sandbagging it. If the elf gets bounced, we still have to make a call about [[Tendrils of Agony]] vs. [[Empty the Warrens]] given the possibility that [[Veil of Summer]] still isn’t zero. We can certainly [[Tendrils of Agony]] with a lot more confidence than if we didn’t try to bounce the elf first. Obviously if we make enough mana to [[Tendrils of Agony]] and [[Empty the Warrens]] once we’re done resolving [[Ad Nauseam]], we get to have a backup plan, but without that backup plan it’s probably best if the elf is bounced to [[Empty the Warrens]] for 22-plus [[Goblin Token]]s and trust the opponent is too low on mana and resources to combo us or stop the [[Goblin Token]]s.

#TEAMTES

Jordan Karim

[[Chain of Vapor]] tricks are as neat as they are hard to miss! They’ll keep being a staple of Infernal Tutoring articles until we can learn to spot them routinely. As it stands, we have lethal on board. It is just hidden behind a little bit of work. We can stop flipping and start winning the game

We can cast all three of the zero-drop artifacts ([[Abrupt Decay]] can be the Imprint for the [[Chrome Mox]]). and start working on [[Chain of Vapor]] lines (Storm 9 | ). Using the [[Lotus Petal]], cast [[Chain of Vapor]] to bounce [[Mox Opal]]. Copy the spell twice, bouncing both copies of [[Chrome Mox]]. Notably, we have two remaining colored spells to Imprint underneath them — [[Echo of Eons]] and the spare copy of [[Burning Wish]]. We can then deploy our artifacts and cast the [[Dark Ritual]] from hand (Storm 14 | ). With the mana from our artifacts there is a total of six mana available. [[Burning Wish]] into [[Tendrils of Agony]] is a lethal line. How nice!

---

Bryant Cook

I say once again, is it even Infernal Tutoring without a [[Chain of Vapor]] line?

We can stop flipping for [[Ad Nauseam]]. Cast [[Dark Ritual]] with the floating. Play [[Lotus Petal]] and then cast [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: [[Echo of Eons]]). Based on the information that we know, the opponent doesn’t have [[Force of Vigor]] due to the on-board Metalcraft — no need to start playing around it now.

Cast [[Chain of Vapor]] using [[Chrome Mox]] targeting [[Mox Opal]], copy it twice returning a pair of [[Chrome Mox]]. We’ll replay all three of these artifacts into [[Burning Wish]] and [[Tendrils of Agony]].

---

Alex McKinley

Jordan with the [[Chain of Vapor]] lines again!

We get to stop flipping here, play out all the artifacts and use [[Chain of Vapor]] to generate the sixth mana by bouncing all of our own artifacts. If the opponent has [[Force of Vigor]], there are options to use [[Echo of Eons]] to try to win again, even through [[Collector Ouphe]].

---

Alex Poling

I would continue flipping here. Any ritual or artifact mana is lethal and a [[Brainstorm]] also could get there. If I flip something that can’t combo, I can still [[Abrupt Decay]] the elf to try and survive another turn.

---

Grant Johnson

Flipping any one ritual or two mana-producing artifacts will be lethal. We could also fall back on the [[Chain of Vapor]] trick if we need to generate more mana for [[Burning Wish]] into [[Tendrils of Agony]]. I think it’s worth one more flip for sure.

Our protections, if we have to pass the turn, will be our [[Abrupt Decay]], but we will only have to do that if the top of our library isn’t kind on our [[Ad Nauseam]] flip.

The tools currently available are the [[Dark Ritual]] and the [[Burning Wish]] into our lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]]. We can imprint the [[Echo of Eons]] and do our [[Chain of Vapor]] tricks to generate more mana into our lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]].

SITUATION No. 3 — Painter

Seeing a prolonged renaissance as of late, Painter decks are focused on abusing the interaction between [[Painter’s Servant]] and [[Grindstone]] to mill an opponent out in one action. The strategy has received a large number of useful printings in recent sets. Cards like [[Goblin Engineer]], [[Urza’s Saga]], [[Fury]], and [[Karn, the Great Creator]] have all bolstered the archetype into a strong contender in the Legacy scene. One inherent strength of Painter in the current Legacy meta is its ability to play up to six [[Pyroblast]] effects in the main deck. Generally good with a [[Painter’s Servant]] naming Blue, the emphasis on Blue decks in the format has simply made the cards that much better. Pairing up against UR Delver or any of the various 4-Color Control decks can seem like a walk in the park. Recently, the deck won the Legacy Showcase Challenge in the hands of Callum Smith, one of the more outspoken supporters/lovers of the deck. The current versions of the deck are built upon the strength of [[Urza’s Saga]], the artifact synergies of [[Goblin Welder]] and the power of [[Fable of the Mirror-Breaker]]. This new saga has rounded out non-Blue deck card selection and does everything you could want in a shell that does not leverage the power of the “Cantrip Cartel” of [[Brainstorm]] and [[Ponder]]. Painter is a very unique A + B combo deck that bolsters its main lines with backup plans of [[Construct Token]] beatdown and grindy artifact recursion.

The EPIC Storm can certainly win before Painter sets up their engines. If we cannot reach a combo turn quickly enough, the ability of Painter to interact in unintuitive ways abound. “Welding” a [[Lotus Petal]] and a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] can severely hamper our ability to deploy cards the turn before attempting a win. [[Pyroblast]]/[[Red Elemental Blast]] can also be cast using [[Simian Spirit Guide]] — don’t assume a tapped-out opponent has no interaction! Older lists that play [[Karn, the Great Creator]] have thankfully diminished in popularity (thanks in part to the strength of [[Fable of the Mirror-Breaker]]), but there are many flavors of Painter. Red and White are paired together (this variant is generally called Strawberry Shortcake) to get cards like [[Ethersworn Canonist]] and [[Enlightened Tutor]]. Out of the sideboard things like [[Mindbreak Trap]], [[Leyline of the Void]], [[Thorn of Amethyst]], and [[Pithing Needle]] are cards that need to be on a player’s radar. Let’s see our situation where we need to play around a couple of these cards at the same time.

SIDEBOARDING:

+2 [[Chain of Vapor]], +2 [[Abrupt Decay]], +2 [[Crash]]; -3 [[Veil of Summer]], -3 [[Galvanic Relay]]

Our last situation picks up on our turn two. The first turn was spent deploying a significant portion of our hand with the intent of playing around [[Mindbreak Trap]]. Thanks to the MTGO client, we know that our opponent considered casting [[Mindbreak Trap]] when we put [[Wishclaw Talisman]] on the stack (they elected to let it resolve). Originally, the plan was to cast [[Dark Ritual]] and Flashback [[Echo of Eons]] after tutoring it with [[Wishclaw Talisman]], but two things happened that require us to change course. First, we cracked a [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and our opponent’s draw for their first turn was a [[Surgical Extraction]]. Without a main-deck win condition, our opponent would have the ability to remove [[Burning Wish]] from our deck and win the game. Second, we drew a [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for our turn. With this new information, we need to formulate a new plan. One that also includes the knowledge that our opponent can “Weld” away our [[Wishclaw Talisman]] due to the [[Mishra’s Bauble]] in the graveyard if we choose to pass the turn. How can we best play around both [[Surgical Extraction]] AND [[Mindbreak Trap]] this turn? If we cannot find a line to beat both, what set of actions gives us the best out to win in the following turns?

What’s the line?

Special Guest

Matt Sperling

Since wishing for [[Thoughtseize]] and playing it (without casting a ritual so that [[Mindbreak Trap]] is off) taps us out, I don’t think we can do that. Instead, one approach would be to have our first two spells be [[Burning Wish]] and [[Echo of Eons]]. This will shuffle away the interaction, let us float mana, and not give our opponent a chance to extract a win condition or cast [[Mindbreak Trap]]. We don’t get to cast [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], so we only have one mana floating and no land drop, and either [[Dark Ritual]] or [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] is being extracted. Not ideal, but it’s functional.

Let’s see if we can do better by playing through the [[Mindbreak Trap]] instead of around it. If we start on [[Dark Ritual]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Burning Wish]] (don’t crack the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] yet), what happens in event of [[Mindbreak Trap]] and in event of no [[Mindbreak Trap]]? If they cast [[Mindbreak Trap]], [[Burning Wish]] is exiled so it still can’t be extracted, and we have floating, an untapped [[Mox Opal]], two copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] we can draw half our deck with [[Peer into the Abyss]] or we can [[Ad Nauseam]] with floating mana, our choice. If no [[Mindbreak Trap]], we [[Burning Wish]] for [[Thoughtseize]], cast it for the [[Mindbreak Trap]] and it’s [[Ad Nauseam]] time with mana floating. [[Surgical Extraction]] can hit [[Dark Ritual]] in these lines, but we’re talking about drawing so much of the deck that it likely won’t matter.

#TEAMTES

Jordan Karim

Playing around two pieces of interaction can be pretty difficult. Thankfully, with new changes with The EPIC Storm, they can be easily worked around! With [[Thoughtseize]] in the sideboard, we have an out to the [[Mindbreak Trap]] that we “know” about in their hand. We can start by playing the fetchland from hand and finding a land. [[Burning Wish]] can find the sideboard [[Thoughtseize]], castable off of the [[Mox Opal]]. Of note, [[Burning Wish]] will exile itself, avoiding any disaster scenario of being left without win conditions if it gets removed with [[Surgical Extraction]].

Once the [[Mindbreak Trap]] threat has been removed, we can begin to deploy the second copy of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. This will give us the necessary mana to activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Ad Nauseam]] — likely lethal from 19 life.

---

Bryant Cook

Sometimes you can just beat everything! Play out the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], cast [[Dark Ritual]] off of [[Mox Opal]], and then play [[Burning Wish]] floating . Assuming the opponent doesn’t use [[Mindbreak Trap]] we get [[Thoughtseize]], cast it floating . I would choose to not play the [[Bloodstained Mire]] as we’re likely to reveal a land that doesn’t lose us a life off of [[Ad Nauseam]]. Sacrifice the pair of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]], and then put [[Ad Nauseam]] on the stack.

---

Alex McKinley

With the [[Surgical Extraction]] now known, there is no reason to play into something that is known, compared to the potential of a [[Mindbreak Trap]]. I would just cast all of my cards into a [[Peer into the Abyss]].

---

Alex Poling

I feel like now is the time. If I use [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to setup future turns, they can use it to get another [[Mindbreak Trap]]. I would cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]] and then play the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and [[Dark Ritual]]. Sacrificing the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to flashback [[Echo of Eons]]. This would probably draw out the [[Mindbreak Trap]], and then I could [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Echo of Eons]] using the other [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]].

---

Grant Johnson

I think we can get away with playing a little slower. We have the option of activating [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and getting a [[Galvanic Relay]] and playing that out for the turn. That way, if we end up exiling a [[Burning Wish]], our following turn will be safe from [[Surgical Extraction]].

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