the epic Storm

One of the defining features of The EPIC Storm (TES). An incredibly powerful and resourceful element that is quite diverse in what it can do. Burning Wish allows TES to not play answers for problematic cards by either providing a solution or an alternative route to victory. One of the greatest things Burning Wish does for this deck is it allows for game one answers to permanent-based disruption as well as the flexibility of beating cards such as Veil of Summer. That’s the true beauty of Burning Wish — it can be a number of different things.

The “wish board” is comprised of Storm engines, win conditions, protection, and a few solution-based cards. The entire sideboard is not full of Burning Wish targets as it doesn’t create the greatest value out of the available slots. Generally, try to have no more than 6-7 Burning Wish targets. Lastly, having included Burning Wish into the deck, threat density is very high in comparison to other Storm decks meaning that less time is spent finding threats with cantrips which leads to a faster kill.

A relatively recent addition to The EPIC Storm over Infernal Tutor (Dec. 2019). This change was one of the bigger innovations to the deck in the last few years, primarily because it raised the artifact count high enough to finally support Mox Opal!

A common play pattern with this list is to cast Wishclaw Talisman on turn one using Mox Opal or Chrome Mox. This allows a six-mana line on the second turn instead of needing seven mana into Ad Nauseam. Unlike Infernal Tutor, the search on Wishclaw Talisman isn’t tied to a stipulation. This means being able to search for anything, such as a sided in copy of Chain of Vapor. Because of this, TES is incentivized to run powerful singleton copies of cards to search for like Crash to answer a Chalice of the Void for example.

One of the truly fantastic aspects of Wishclaw Talisman is that its activated ability isn’t sorcery speed, it’s on your turn. This means that when Ad Nauseam is on the stack, when it’s met with a Force of Will, activating Wishclaw Talisman for Veil of Summer is something that’s possible. It’s also uncounterable, which allows for sneaky situations to build up Storm count and then just activating Wishclaw Talisman into a lethal Tendrils of Agony.

An incredibly tough-to-play spell that can make or break a game all on its own. Brainstorm can often fix hands needing two specific types of cards and finding them both at once or simply putting a few situational cards back.

An important feature of this card is that in matchups with discard, it is very relevant to preserve these and use them to protect the best cards in hand. When playing TES, sequencing cantrips is extremely important, but there are also games where one card means winning on turn one. Some players scoff at casting a Brainstorm in the main phase on the first turn, but TES is an explosive deck!

The situation needs to call for it, however. Casting Ponder before Brainstorm is usually the more desirable line. Collaborating with a shuffle effect is generally the way to go with Brainstorm to avoid drawing dead spells or lands. There are times when sitting on Brainstorm for multiple turns while continuing to draw spells just to put back worse ones is the correct thing to do.

The cantrip with the best odds of finding the card(s) needed! Ponder digs the deepest out of the cards in the deck, unlike Brainstorm or Preordain — Ponder can see up to four unique cards. Because of this, in hands containing both Brainstorm, Ponder, and Preordain — it’s usually best to cast Ponder first.

Like Brainstorm, the best utilization of Ponder is often with a Polluted Delta or another fetchland. Ponder, like a fetchland, can be used as a shuffle effect for Brainstorm as well, it’s just not as ideal. It’s worth noting — be aggressive with shuffling off of Ponder. If those cards aren’t what the hand needs, why contemplate?

A holdover from the Lurrus of the Dream-Den era. During this time period, the incentive to play the main deck copy of Tendrils of Agony was incredibly high. This was mostly due to the ability to use Lurrus of the Dream-Den to generate two “free” Storm with Lion’s Eye Diamond, but there was also an incredibly high amount of Meddling Mage seeing play. In these games, it was very apparent the value of a main deck Tendrils of Agony when paired with Echo of Eons or Wishclaw Talisman even without Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

The value with Echo of Eons was that there were more available lines post-Echo of Eons that killed the opponent due to no longer needing to also cast a Burning Wish before your storm spell if you drew Wishclaw Talisman. When drawing seven cards off of Echo of Eons, it’s entirely possible to naturally draw Tendrils of Agony as well which will completely avoid any drawn countermagic off of the Echo of Eons as well and most likely kill the opponent on the spot.

An easy way to defeat blue decks is to allow them to build a Storm count for you with their countermagic, this is typically pretty easy to do when starting wars with Veil of Summer. Imagine having a Wishclaw Talisman sitting on the battlefield and all that’s required is activating the black artifact to search for Tendrils of Agony and then cast it — this is the primary reason TES has adopted Tendrils of Agony.

The EPIC Storm is the best Ad Nauseam deck in Legacy. Between Chrome Mox and Mox Opal to act as additional copies of Lotus Petal as well as a lower average converted mana cost, Ad Nauseam has an increased power level here. Our primary Storm engine and game plan, we’ve catered our deck to maximize its potential.

Something to keep in mind that Ad Nauseam is an instant, you can cast the spell in response to a Brainstorm or on an end step. There’s also the “Chrome Mox trick” — which is to cast Chrome Mox, in response cast Ad Nauseam, and in response to Ad Nauseam activate Lion’s Eye Diamond! You do this in order to be able to imprint after Ad Nauseam has resolved and is only viable if you didn’t have a card you could imprint prior to casting Ad Nauseam.

Previously, Echo of Eons was only a Burning Wish target. That changed when The EPIC Storm added Wishclaw Talisman to the main deck. There’s more reason than ever to play two copies in the 75. The difference-maker was Wishclaw Talisman’s ability to consistently find Lion’s Eye Diamond to pair with the copy of Echo of Eons (either naturally drawn or retrieved by Burning Wish).

Echo of Eons works very well with Lion’s Eye Diamond, which is why Wishclaw Talisman’s ability to find it is so important. First, play Burning Wish to retrieve Echo of Eons, then play Lion’s Eye Diamond (this plays around artifact disruption), discard the hand and add three blue to flashback your pseudo-Timetwister. Another way of getting Echo of Eons into the graveyard is to Thoughtseize yourself. While not ideal, it is a “build your a Diminishing Returns!”. Something to keep in mind, Echo of Eons is symmetrical, meaning the opponent will also draw a fresh seven-card hand. This is an issue against blue decks. To offset this, cards such as Veil of Summer, Orim’s Chant, and even sideboard options such as Hope of Ghirapur, Defense Grid, or Xantid Swarm are recommended over discard spells opening up another engine versus counterspell archetypes.

Echo of Eons is the first three-mana storm engine legal in Legacy that’s playable in quite some time. This helps quite a bit against Prison strategies or decks trying to lock TES out of the game such as Maverick or Death & Taxes.

Veil of Summer’s inclusion into The EPIC Storm is for many reasons. The first is its ability to act as a pseudo Silence effect against blue decks. Unlike Silence, it’s very effective against targeted discard which was always a weakness of the white instant. In a pinch, Veil of Summer can usually cycle to draw a card against most decks in the Legacy Format. On top of the aforementioned, it can protect copies of Hope of Ghirapur or Wishclaw Talisman against Abrupt Decay or even Oko, Theif of Crowns.

Veil of Summer can even be a complete blow-out against certain matchups such as Ad Nauseam Tendrils since the opponent will be forced to pass the turn since Tendrils of Agony is unable to target. As for synergies within The EPIC Storm, Veil of Summer’s most desirable trait is how it interacts with Echo of Eons. Thoughtseize has the issue of not protecting from countermagic drawn after Echo of Eons resolves, which means the opponent could draw new countermagic to stop us.

Now with Veil of Summer, TES can ignore countermagic for an entire turn. Worth mentioning, Veil of Summer says, “Spells you control can’t be countered this turn.” This means Counterbalance, Chalice of the Void, Chancellor of the Annex, and other effects. This clause is not relegated to colors blue or black.

The primary reason this card is played is the strength of Prismatic Ending, that said, Orim’s Chant has brought some new life to The EPIC Storm. Ever since the switch to Veil of Summer, TES has had some difficulty with Mindbreak Trap and Stifle. With Orim’s Chant, those issues have been greatly reduced especially with the ability to search for it off of Wishclaw Talisman.

Something that may not be obvious about Orim’s Chant is its flexibility, in combo match-ups, it’s an ace in the hole for blowing the opponent out of the water in a crucial spot. In situations against aggro decks, Orim’s Chant can be used as a figurative “Time Walk” to buy yourself some time. What this means is casting Orim’s Chant in the opponent’s upkeep to stop them from casting spells, if needed, you can use the Kicker ability as well.

Initially, Silence was tested in this slot, but it was found that with how few cards there are in Legacy that care about targeting that the ability to stop creatures from attacking was more valuable.

Additionally, more copies of Orim’s Chant were tried over a few copies of Veil of Summer, this proved to not be as effective as the ability to reactively cast Veil of Summer against countermagic.

A defining characteristic of The EPIC Storm, this card is one of the reasons this deck is blazing fast. It costing one mana is important for two reasons — first, it’s easier to cast in comparison to other “Ritual” effects available that cost two, and second, its converted mana cost’s impact on Ad Nauseam. Something that is often overlooked when viewing Rite of Flame and is the ability to make two red mana which is important because it generates just enough to meet the red mana requirement for both Burning Wish and Empty the Warrens in a single turn. Two Rite of Flame is also the perfect amount of mana to cast Empty the Warrens! Things become a little more interesting when more than two copies of Rite of Flame are available (see below).

Mana Generated by Rite of Flame
Cast off a single red mana source, in one turn.

• 1 Rite of Flame – Two red mana.
• 2 Rite of Flame – Four red mana.
• 3 Rite of Flame – Seven red mana.
• 4 Rite of Flame – Eleven red mana.

One of the most powerful cards in this deck and Legacy as a whole. If multiple “Ritual” effects are in hand, including a Rite of Flame, cast Dark Ritual second as it is an instant. This is incredibly helpful when it comes to playing around Daze, Spell Pierce and sometimes Flusterstorm.

Mana Generated by Dark Ritual
Cast off a single black mana source, in one turn.

• 1 Dark Ritual – Three black mana.
• 2 Dark Ritual – Five black mana.
• 3 Dark Ritual – Seven black mana.
• 4 Dark Ritual – Nine black mana.

The card is responsible for most turn one wins and is a total game-changer. When using Lion’s Eye Diamond it’s crucial to maintain priority and activate it in response to other spells before passing priority/checking to see if there are any responses. When using Lion’s Eye Diamond paired with Infernal Tutor, it’s important to cast Infernal Tutor with a card in hand and then use Lion’s Eye Diamond to become hellbent by activating the artifact.

Try to cast Lion’s Eye Diamond at opportune times. This card can be played very differently depending on the matchup. Let it sit on the table and threaten the opponent in some situations while hiding it in my hand or on top of the deck in others. Playing it right before Wishclaw Talisman, Infernal Tutor, or Burning Wish is desirable to maintain priority. This way it cannot be destroyed by effects like Abrupt Decay or Kolaghan’s Command.

Initial mana sources with no drawback that are almost always a pleasure to see — especially off of Ad Nauseam. They, like Chrome Mox, enable speedy early turn combos and generate Storm for free. Lotus Petal can also fix our mana, especially in post-board games for Carpet of Flowers and Abrupt Decay!

The EPIC Storm finally has enough artifacts to support Mox Opal! This change happened when TES realized it was able to swap Infernal Tutor for Wishclaw Talisman. With this swap, it brought the total number of artifacts up to 18-21 (this number fluctuates on if running main deck Defense Grid).

With over a third of The EPIC Storm being artifacts, Mox Opal can be active on the first turn. This helps significantly when trying to cast a first turn Wishclaw Talisman and then passing the turn. A cool trick with Mox Opal is to cast Brainstorm or Ponder AND THEN shuffle your deck with Bloodstained Mire or Polluted Delta on turn one. This allows another spell to be cast such as an additional cantrip or a business spell.

Another fancy play with Mox Opal and Chrome Mox is to play Mox Opal first, cast Chrome Mox, with the imprint ability on the stack cast Brainstorm (or even Ad Nauseam!) and then imprint onto Chrome Mox after gaining new information/cards. While on the topic of Chrome Mox, even playing it for no-imprint cost now adds extra value with Mox Opal, which is something that should be mentioned for newer Storm pilots.

Recently, in these new-fangled five-color lists Mox Opal is the glue that holds it all together. It acts like the 2010 version of Gemstone Mine for making sure we have the right colors for when we need them. This list wouldn’t be possible without it.

A card that divides TES from ANT. Chrome Mox provides additional early mana to allow for Ad Nauseam, Echo of Eons, or Empty the Warrens. A huge part of why TES has such an incredibly high success rate post-Ad Nauseam is Chrome Mox acts as an initial mana source to continue “combo-ing” out for the turn.

One of the better uses of Chrome Mox is to allow a first turn Wishlcaw Talisman meaning that the second turn combo-ing often only needs six mana. Chrome Mox also helps enable Mox Opal very early. Lists have recently bounced back and forth on the number of Chrome Mox in the main deck. At the moment, there are three copies being played — this is because the format has sped up a bit with the decline in popularity of “true” control decks in the format.

Notice there are three copies of Verdant Catacombs and two copies of Scalding Tarn and Polluted Delta as the deck’s secondary “fetchlands.” This is due to the importance of finding green mana to cast Veil of Summer, which has more copies in the deck than Orim’s Chant.

For this reason, we prioritized building the mana base around the pairing of Underground Sea and Taiga. While white mana is nice, it comes secondary as it’s only needed on the combo turn and can always be cast off of Lotus Petal or Mox Opal. Every fetchland in the current iteration of TES cannot get one land, for Verdant Catacombs that land is Tundra. That said, it can still retrieve Scrubland as its white mana provider.

There’s more to Verdant Catacombs and the other fetchlands as well. They provide shuffle effects for cards like Brainstorm or Ponder which help with the quality of draws. Fetchlands protect TES’s mana from effects like Wasteland or Rishadan Port, which is key considering TES is a five-color deck with plenty of non-basic lands.

Notice there are three copies of Verdant Catacombs and two copies of Scalding Tarn and Polluted Delta as the deck’s secondary “fetchlands.”

Like Verdant Catacombs, Scalding Tarn puts an emphasis on finding the green mana sources which is ideal. It also finds our primary dual land pairing with Underground Sea and Taiga, this makes it very desirable. Unfortunately, this means its white source is Tundra which is slightly worse than the Scrubland that Polluted Delta finds.

There’s more to Scalding Tarn and the other fetchlands as well. They provide shuffle effects for cards like Brainstorm or Ponder which help with the quality of draws. Fetchlands protect mana from effects like Wasteland or Rishadan Port, which is key considering TES is a deck with fewer lands than its other Storm counterpart.

A secondary “fetchland” due to the fact that Polluted Delta cannot search for Taiga. This is actually kind of a big deal because you want to pair Underground Sea with Taiga. Polluted Delta can only accomplish half of this task.

What Polluted Delta does well is get either white mana source, the problem here is that Tundra isn’t a combo color land and it can’t help cast Abrupt Decay — this places a lesser value to Polluted Delta as a whole. While white mana is nice, it comes secondary as it’s only needed on the combo turn and can always be cast off of Lotus Petal or Mox Opal.

What Polluted Delta lacks with Tundra can be made up for by searching for TES’s secondary land pairing which is Tropical Island and Badlands, which provides four colors, casts Abrupt Decay, and gives you combo-colored mana and protection colors.

There’s more to Polluted Delta and the other fetchlands as well. They provide shuffle effects for cards like Brainstorm or Ponder which help with the quality of draws. Fetchlands protect TES’s mana from effects like Wasteland or Rishadan Port, which is key considering TES is a five-color deck with plenty of non-basic lands.

A searchable land that provides two of the deck’s primary colors without any drawbacks. In this list, Underground Sea tends to be the primary fetchland target.

Which means that its best to pair Underground Sea with its complement which would be Taiga &mash; a prominent secondary land. When having both lands in play, four of the five colors are available which makes gameplay much easier.

A perfect example would be that Abrupt Decay can be cast off of this dynamic duo on the end step, untap, and then being able to win the game while having all of the necessary resources.

A searchable land that provides two of the deck’s primary colors without any drawbacks. Tropical Island (much like Taiga) is here to primarily be a second green source while helping balance the mana in the deck. Currently, there are three blue sources, three black sources, two red sources, two green sources, and two white sources.

Tropical Island is actually fairly critical to this by allowing a single Wasteland on the other green mana generator to not cause Veil of Summer or Abrupt Decay to be shut off. Many individuals also enjoy how Tropical Island pairs with Veil of Summer in the initial stages of the game since it helps protect on the first turn and then casts a cantrip on the second turn of the game.

Much like Underground Sea, Tropical Island has a natural compliment in Badlands. When having both lands in play, all four colors are available which makes gameplay much easier. A perfect example would be that Abrupt Decay can be cast off of this dynamic duo on the end step, untap, and then being able to win the game while having all of the necessary resources.

A searchable land that provides a secondary color without any drawbacks.

Tundra is not an ideal land for this deck, it only provides set up and protection colors of mana. But that’s exactly what this slot requires, we needed a third blue source to cast our cantrips while also needing an extra white mana provider for Orim’s Chant and Prismatic Ending.

Tundra fills a very similar role to Tropical Island, while not exciting, it accomplishes its role very well. Like Tropical Island, we would recommend pairing it with Badlands to create the protection-mana land and combo-colored land together.

A searchable land that provides a secondary color without any drawbacks.

Scrubland can be a little bit awkward at times since it makes both combo and protection mana, which is something we aim to not do — this is why we don’t play Bayou. That said, after tons of consideration and planning, it was determined that Scrubland was the best available option for what TES is looking to achieve.

In post-board games, Scrubland’s value greatly increases as it can be paired with Taiga to cast either Abrupt Decay or Prismatic Ending, which is admittedly pretty cool. While this may seem strange, the deck often sideboards out Ponder in these match-ups making this plan a consideration. Our recommendation would be to make a judgment based on the texture of the initial hand, but if we had to rank them, this is a good secondary pairing after Underground Sea and Taiga. The ability to cast Brainstorm shouldn’t be overlooked!

A searchable land that provides two of the deck’s primary colors without any drawbacks.

When pairing Badlands with Tropical Island all four of the five colors are available which makes gameplay much easier, this is something many players look to accomplish in the early game.

That said, this pairing is often worse than Taiga and Underground Sea due to your “combo color” land in Badlands can only cast a single “ritual effect” while Tropical Island cannot accomplish this. Although, if it’s only needed for Veil of Summer, this wouldn’t matter.

A searchable land that provides two of the deck’s primary colors without any drawbacks.

Taiga (much like Tropical Island) is here to primarily be a green source while helping balance the mana in the deck. Currently, there are three blue sources, three black sources, two red sources, two green sources, and two white sources. Taiga is actually fairly critical to this by allowing a single Wasteland on the other green mana generator to not cause Veil of Summer or Abrupt Decay to be shut off.

When pairing Taiga with Underground Sea, four of the five colors are available which makes gameplay much easier, this is something many players look to accomplish in the early game. A perfect example would be that Abrupt Decay can be cast off of this dynamic duo on the end step, untap, and then being able to win the game while having all of the necessary resources.