TES Infernal Tutoring #52

TONY SCAPONE

I would put back any two out of [[Swamp]], [[Polluted Delta]], and [[Brainstorm]]. We can’t beat two copies of [[Force of Will]] this turn, so I believe the goal is to cast [[Echo of Eons]] if [[Veil of Summer]] resolves or [[Empty the Warrens]] if it gets countered. We sacrifice [[Polluted Delta]] to get [[Badlands]], cast both copies of [[Rite of Flame]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. Our opponent is unlikely to use their [[Force of Will]] until we actually cast our [[Veil of Summer]]. At this point, we cast our [[Veil of Summer]]. If it resolves, we can cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]] and attempt to win with two mana post-wheel. We will have after sacrificing our Lion’s Eye Diamond and should leave available. If our [[Veil of Summer]] is countered, we can make 16 [[Goblin Token]]s which would be difficult for our opponent to beat since we get an attack step before they can put [[Shadowspear]] into play.

Jordan Karim

I believe that we need to make the best of any opportunity our opponent gives us when it comes to 8-Cast. This is the turn I want to go off. Two possible avenues exist in my mind, the first being less appealing than the last: [[Echo of Eons]] and see what our new seven brings, and [[Empty the Warrens]] with the goal of racing. My hesitation to wheel stems from 8-Cast’s ability to draw into [[Force of Will]] and a pitch card. Luckily this is just game one, so we don’t have to worry about [[Force of Negation]] yet.

[[Empty the Warrens]] has some merits. It doesn’t draw our opponent any more cards, which could possibly set them up with a lock piece or counter magic for our combo turn. This line also takes advantage of the fact that our opponent’s graveyard is currently a little understocked. With only a [[Lotus Petal]] and [[Urza’s Bauble]], their plan would be to slowly churn through their deck with [[Emry, Lurker of the Loch]] drawing into more powerful cards. Lastly, 8-Cast does not traditionally have any sweepers in their 75 to handle an army of [[Goblin Token]]s.

I would start the turn off by putting back [[Swamp]] and [[Polluted Delta]]. [[Polluted Delta]] will be our land for turn, fetching up a red source in [[Badlands]] or [[Volcanic Island]]. After two copies of [[Rite of Flame]] for a total of , we can preemptively cast a [[Veil of Summer]] to both increase Storm and protect our plan. If the opponent decides to interact here, our plan doesn’t change. Deploying the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and cracking it for after casting [[Burning Wish]] will allow us to get an [[Empty the Warrens]] for 14 [[Goblin Token]]s, 16 if they choose to interact with our [[Veil of Summer]]. This should be sufficient to end the game in two turns regardless of the [[Urza’s Saga]] ticking up and providing blockers alongside a [[Shadowspear]].

Bryant Cook

I would put back [[Swamp]] with [[Polluted Delta]] on top of it. Play a [[Polluted Delta]] and then cast [[Veil of Summer]]. If it resolves, I would then look to use my copies of [[Rite of Flame]] to cast [[Burning Wish]] resulting in an eventual Flashback of [[Echo of Eons]]. In a realistic world (where [[Veil of Summer]] is countered), I would just past the turn and cast [[Brainstorm]] off of [[Volcanic Island]] on the opponent’s end step. My goal would be to put [[Peer into the Abyss]] onto the stack.

Alex Poling

I think this is the turn we need to combo. Taking more turns only favors the opponent, and we have the resources here to make an attempt. I would put back a [[Polluted Delta]] and the [[Swamp]]. Then, I would play the [[Polluted Delta]] and search for [[Badlands]]. To begin my combo, I would lead off with [[Veil of Summer]]. Whether it is countered or not, I would continue to combo from here. I would then cast both copies of [[Rite of Flame]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]], and then sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to flashback [[Echo of Eons]] with three mana floating.

Alex McKinley

It is pretty easy to put back [[Swamp]] and a [[Polluted Delta]]. This then leaves the decision of how to go off. If [[Brainstorm]] hits a [[Lotus Petal]] or a [[Mox Opal]], we can generate lethal Storm for [[Tendrils of Agony]] if the opponent interacts with the [[Veil of Summer]]. This is too unlikely for my tastes. [[Empty the Warrens]] is off the table due to [[Shadowspear]] and the constructs from [[Urza’s Saga]]. This leaves [[Galvanic Relay]] and [[Echo of Eons]]. I would start the combo sequence by casting [[Veil of Summer]]. If it resolves, that gives a window for [[Echo of Eons]]. If it does not, I would [[Galvanic Relay]] for eight new cards.

Greg Sor

We put back [[Swamp]] and [[Polluted Delta]]. Play [[Poluted Delta]] and fetch for [[Badlands]]. Play our two copies of [[Rite of Flame]] for , if there is any interaction from our opponent, we can answer with [[Veil of Summer]]. If not, we play our [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], cast [[Veil of Summer]] and then cast [[Burning Wish]]. If everything resolved, I will be tempted to go for an [[Empty the Warrens]] for 14 [[Goblin Token]]s and a two-turn clock. Another viable alternative is to just draw seven new cards with our Red Necro [[Galvanic Relay]]. If our opponent show us a counter at any time, I would probably go for [[Empty the Warrens]].

TONY SCAPONE

This one is pretty simple for me. I would cast all of my rituals and cast [[Peer into the Abyss]] off of our [[Burning Wish]]. We should be able to make enough [[Goblin Token]]s to attack for lethal next turn without giving them any copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. We don’t have to worry about holding up [[Veil of Summer]] since both of their [[Tendrils of Agony]] are in their graveyard, and they would have to [[Echo of Eons]] anyways to gain access to them. The opponent will have to [[Echo of Eons]] and attempt to make even more [[Goblin Token]]s! This looks fun.

Jordan Karim

This scenario is going to be pretty simple to set up, we just need to plan the following turns out. Because of the [[Veil of Summer]] in our opponent’s hand, it’s not even worth attempting to [[Tendrils of Agony]]. It just constricts our mana trying to do something we know is futile.

To that end, our goal is to make the largest [[Goblin Token]] army we can. [[Peer into the Abyss]] works quite well for us here. We can generate enough mana from two copies of [[Rite of Flame]], two copies of [[Dark Ritual]], the [[Taiga]] as our land for turn, and the mana we have in play. [[Burning Wish]] for our powerful draw spell will start our plan in motion. From there, it should be smooth sailing. There are a few key points that we want to make sure happen though. First, we don’t want to give our opponent any copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]]: this will exasperate our attempts to prevent their follow-up combo on the next turn. Secondly, we want to ensure that we have a copy of [[Veil of Summer]] in our hand with the mana to cast it. With these two goals in mind, how we deploy our hand should be fairly straight forward. So long as we get past a Storm count of twenty, we should be good. But why stop there? Shoot for the moon!

Bryant Cook

Fun fact: [[Rite of Flame]] counts both graveyards. I would simply just play the copies of [[Rite of Flame]], [[Dark Ritual]], and then [[Burning Wish]] for [[Peer into the Abyss]]. This should gives us more than enough Storm to create an even larger army of [[Goblin Token]]s than what our opponent has. Just make sure to leave [[Taiga]] or another green mana source available for [[Veil of Summer]].

Alex Poling

I would start by casting both copies of [[Rite of Flame]] off the [[Mox Opal]], and then both copies of [[Dark Ritual]] off [[Underground Sea]]. I would then use [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to search for and cast another [[Dark Ritual]]. That’ll be enough mana to cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Peer into the Abyss]] with two mana floating and a land drop remaining with seven Storm. Drawing half the deck should allow to generate way more than additional 13 Storm to eventually put more [[Goblin Token]]s into play than the opponent. This will be our life total low, but I would be conscious to still leave up a [[Veil of Summer]] for the opponent’s [[Tendrils of Agony]].

Alex McKinley

Unfortunately, there is not a way to go straight through the opponent’s [[Veil of Summer]]. This means generating more [[Goblin Token]]s than them and having our own [[Veil of Summer]] to not die to the opponent if they can re-combo. To this end, casting [[Echo of Eons]] puts [[Empty the Warrens]] back into the opponent’s library, which allows easier access to it to make even more. I would cast [[Peer into the Abyss]], make as many [[Goblin Token]]s as I can before passing back with a few green mana available to cast a [[Veil of Summer]].

Greg Sor

On a first look we want to play [[Echo of Eons]], but what we really want is our opponent to waste cards. We can start by playing [[Taiga]], Rite of Flame for , tap [[Chrome Mox]] for [[Dark Ritual]] (), [[Tendrils of Agony]] for lethal and floating.

Our opponent can just play [[Veil of Summer]] or try to optimize their fetch by playing a [[Brainstorm]] beforehand. Now, we play out our copies of [[Rite of Flame]], Storm 6 or 7 (depending on [[Brainstorm]]) and 10 + 3 , [[Burning Wish]] for [[Peer into the Abyss]] (Storm 8/9 and in pool) so we draw 22 cards. We just need to link our spells and go bigger than the opponent with [[Empty the Warrens]]. Before we pass the turn, we always need to have an available green source for [[Veil of Summer]] on the next turn. This looks like there is still a long game to play since our opponent may be able to cast [[Echo of Eons]] in the next turn and start over.

TONY SCAPONE

We already have Metalcraft, so our copies of [[Mox Opal]] allow us to get the colors and mana we need to start things off here. We can ignore [[Endurance]] for the most part since it can only affect [[Rite of Flame]] (we have plenty of mana) and [[Echo of Eons]] (we don’t want to wheel here). If our opponent attempts to [[Force of Vigor]] in response to our first [[Mox Opal]], we conveniently have more artifacts to regain Metalcraft. We can even play around two [[Force of Vigor]] if we are careful enough, but it would force us into only being able to make one color off of our [[Lotus Petal]] and go to town with [[Rite of Flame]], [[Burning Wish]], and most likely one [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], which is enough. In the event that they have only one [[Force of Vigor]] or it becomes clear they have none, the world is our oyster and it becomes a matter of presenting multiple lethal lines. In this case, a [[Defense Grid]] is as good as lethal since we have a lethal line to follow it up with. We play out all of our mana, destroy or bounce [[Pithing Needle]], play and activate a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Defense Grid]]. If it resolves, we can proceed to kill them with [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If the [[Defense Grid]] gets hit by a [[Mindbreak Trap]], we can naturally kill them with [[Tendrils of Agony]] from hand. If they have double [[Mindbreak Trap]], we can then kill them with our [[Burning Wish]], revealing the sideboard [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If they have TRIPLE MINDBREAK TRAP, we would be forced into [[Echo of Eons]] hoping to find removal, bounce spells, and another [[Echo of Eons]] line into a way to [[Empty the Warrens]]. This is with the goal of destroying their [[Expedition Map]], shuffle their [[The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale]] or [[Glacial Chasm]] that they get off of the [[Expedition Map]] back into their deck, bounce our [[Wishclaw Talisman]]s back into our own hand, make a million [[Goblin Token]]s, and pray they draw blank on the last seven cards we give them?

Jordan Karim

Oh boy, this one is a doozy. With seven cards in hand, there are a lot of things that our opponent can be representing. Like the intro said, [[Mindbreak Trap]] and [[Force of Vigor]] are at the top of the list with [[Surgical Extraction]] being a distant third. My goal is to play around two pieces of interaction and hope for the best to plan around a third.

With our land drop available to us, we can first count our mana. Before cracking any [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]s, our [[Rite of Flame]] copies and [[Dark Ritual]]s alongside artifact mana give us 14 total mana (five , seven , and one of any color we need). Upon deploying all of this, we also have a Storm count of 10 (including both [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] copies). A timely [[Surgical Extraction]], [[Endurance]], or [[Crop Rotation]] for [[Bojuka Bog]] could potentially take us off of some mana. If played in response to the second copy of [[Rite of Flame]] on the stack, we would only make 3-5 depending on if [[Surgical Extraction]] or [[Endurance]]/[[Bojuka Bog]] was used (respectively). The more detrimental play would be for our opponent to cast [[Surgical Extraction]] on our graveyard copy of [[Dark Ritual]] the moment we give them priority.

Since our opponent did not respond to the [[Peer into the Abyss]] with a [[Surgical Extraction]], I think we can safely operate on the assumption that it is not in their hand. My guess is that we can remove a [[Force of Vigor]] from the cards we need to worry about as well. The [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and [[Chrome Mox]] have been sitting on the battlefield for this entire engagement. Since [[Pithing Needle]] is currently shutting off [[Wishclaw Talisman]], there are no better targets than what are available. I can safely assume that [[Mindbreak Trap]] is what remains after a brief process of elimination.

We can very easily put a pseudo-lethal [[Defense Grid]] on the stack to see what happens. We just need to use a [[Chain of Vapor]] to bounce the [[Pithing Needle]], and then cast [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to find the [[Defense Grid]]. Assuming that it is met with a [[Mindbreak Trap]], we are left with Storm 12, five , and five floating. Our second attempt at ending the game will simply be to cast the [[Tendrils of Agony]] we have in hand, as we have sufficient mana and Storm to finish our opponent off. If our opponent has yet another piece of interaction, all is still not lost. We have the ability to [[Burning Wish]] into the sideboard [[Tendrils of Agony]].

If somehow our opponent has THREE copies of [[Mindbreak Trap]], we can use the remaining mana to deploy another [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to find and cast an [[Echo of Eons]] with the copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. This would be a desperation scenario, looking to find ways to [[Empty the Warrens]] with the ability to disrupt our opponent’s rebuttal of [[The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale]], but we still have outs even when it looks this dire! Man, I love The EPIC Storm’s ability to be so resilient.

Bryant Cook

We’re really trying to beat two things here: [[Mindbreak Trap]] and [[Force of Vigor]]. I would start off by playing [[Bloodstained Mire]] (can search for [[Volcanic Island]]), cast [[Lotus Petal]], and then play [[Mox Opal]] (this is a desirable spot for the opponent to play [[Force of Vigor]] if they have it). If they do have the [[Force of Vigor]], you can respond with [[Chain of Vapor]] bouncing your own artifacts and then eventually the [[Pithing Needle]] naming [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. If they use [[Mindbreak Trap]], that’s fine too because it’s one less that you have to play around. But for now, let’s assume nothing happens.

I would tap the [[Mox Opal]] for and then play another [[Mox Opal]], tapping it for . Cast all the copies of [[Rite of Flame]] and [[Dark Ritual]]. You should have 7 + 5 floating.

Use the [[Bloodstained Mire]] to find the [[Volcanic Island]], I would attempt to cast [[Chain of Vapor]] on my own artifacts and then the [[Pithing Needle]]. By doing this, we can search up [[Defense Grid]] with [[Wishclaw Talisman]] which will draw out the initial [[Mindbreak Trap]].

Assuming our Storm count is high enough to beat a [[Crop Rotation]] into another [[Glimmerpost]], cast [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If that is also eaten by [[Mindbreak Trap]], we have [[Burning Wish]] into the second copy of [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If our opponent has a third copy of [[Mindbreak Trap]], we’re forced now to use our cantrips to find another copy of [[Burning Wish]] to cast the final Storm spell in [[Empty the Warrens]]. But don’t show them this yet! Before we retrieve the [[Empty the Warrens]], we’ll want to use [[Abrupt Decay]] to destroy the [[Expedition Map]] to not tip our play.

You don’t want to use [[Wishclaw Talisman]] since it will give the opponent the ability to search for [[The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale]] on their subsequent turn.

Alex Poling

In order to play around [[Mindbreak Trap]], we need to try and win the game by not relying on one specific card to resolve, or the opponent not knowing they need to counter a specific card. Thankfully, we have three initial zero cost mana sources in [[Lotus Petal]] and two copies of [[Mox Opal]], so I would play those out and the two copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], floating red off one of the [[Mox Opal]]. Using the floating red mana and the second [[Mox Opal]] for black, I would cast all of the copies of [[Rite of Flame]] and [[Dark Ritual]]. This gives me 12 storm, 12 mana, a [[Lotus Petal]], and three copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. I would then cast [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. If that didn’t get countered, I would search for and cast [[Defense Grid]]. This either gets countered or it turns off [[Mindbreak Trap]]. If [[Wishclaw Talisman]] gets countered, I would just cast a lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If that also got countered,I could cast [[Burning Wish]] for another [[Tendrils of Agony]].

Alex McKinley

Of the two cards that the opponent could have, [[Force of Vigor]] and [[Mindbreak Trap]], it is only reasonable that they have a [[Mindbreak Trap]]. The [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and [[Chrome Mox]] would have been destroyed in response to the [[Peer into the Abyss]]. I would start by deploying most of the artifact mana and then casting [[Chain of Vapor]] on their [[Pithing Needle]]. We could even [[Chain of Vapor]] a few of our own things to make a couple extra mana. I would then play a [[Wishclaw Talisman]], find the [[Defense Grid]], and attempt to cast a lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If both the [[Defense Grid]] and [[Tendrils of Agony]] get exiled by [[Mindbreak Trap]], we can present the second [[Tendrils of Agony]] through [[Burning Wish]].

Greg Sor

I would start adding man. Play [[Bloodstained Mire]] for [[Volcanic Island]], [[Mox Opal]] for , play a new [[Mox Opal]], chain our copies of [Rite of Flame]] up to and seven spells.

Now is time for [[Dark Ritual]]s, seven + 5 and nine spells. There may be some sort of interaction any time with [[Mindbreak Trap]] or [[Force of Vigor]]. For [[Force of Vigor]], we always have our [[Chain of Vapor]] to bounce our own artifacts first and – as a last target – our opponent’s [[Pithing Needle]]. Our plan loses to [[Mindbreak Trap]], which is why we want to play proactively; presenting lethal damage. [[Lotus Petal]] is Storm ten, time to [[Tendrils of Agony]] our opponnent. This is where we need to play around [[Mindbreak Trap]]. Once resolved, we can [[Abrupt Decay]] the [[Pithing Needle]], tapping the [[Mox Opal]]. We now have . If there is another copy of [[Mindbreak Trap]], we can now play out our copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and combo off with a [[Burning Wish]] plus [[Tendrils of Agony]] from the sideboard. I wouldn’t play around more than two copies of [[Mindbreak Trap]]. If our opponent doesn’t counter the first spells, I would pass. First playing a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and tutoring [[Defense Grid]]. Once we present a [[Defense Grid]], [[Force of Vigor]] is no longer a viable option. If it gets met with a [[Mindbreak Trap]], I would go with the line of [[Burning Wish]] plus [[Tendrils of Agony]] from the sideboard.