TES Infernal Tutoring #65

Mike DeVo

If we want to get some advantage before the opponent draws [[Force of Will]], we can crack [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and [[Lotus Petal]] for [[Ad Nauseam]] in order to refill our hand to set us up for next turn with all the cards drawn from [[Galvanic Relay]]. Depending on what we draw, we could continue casting instants for Storm count. Except [[Burning Wish]] is a sorcery, so we have to figure out a way to win this turn.

Jordan Karim

I think we can do a lot with all of these triggers on the stack. First is to cast [[Veil of Summer]] from hand using the [[Taiga]] and see what happens. The rest of my suggestions will hinge on it resolving. If it doesn’t resolve, we don’t have many lines that are fruitful — mostly it involves drawing another [[Veil of Summer]] and action to [[Pulverize]] and potentially [[Echo of Eons]]

If our protection does resolve, we have uncounterable zero-mana spells. Take that [[Chalice of the Void]]! Casting [[Ad Nauseam]] using the [[Dark Ritual]] from Exile and [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] will hopefully result in a clean victory.

Another line that is available is to destroy the [[Chalice of the Void]] with the [[Abrupt Decay]] instead of [[Veil of Summer]]. That requires devoting more resources to this turn before knowing if our [[Ad Nauseam]] will resolve without [[Veil of Summer]] protection. We would also have to fight through the [[Force of Will]] they are drawing after this all occurs. I prefer the [[Veil of Summer]] line.

Bryant Cook

This is an interesting one! I’d likely cast [[Veil of Summer]] with the [[Urza’s Bauble]] trigger on the stack which would bypass the [[Chalice of the Void]] for zero. Assuming that it resolves, we can then easily cast [[Ad Nauseam]] using mana from [[Dark Ritual]] as well as [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. If the [[Veil of Summer]] is countered, I don’t believe there’s a winning line through the known [[Force of Will]] with what we have. That said, you do have a draw off of [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and your draw step.

The problem is that you can destroy the [[Chalice of the Void]] with [[Abrupt Decay]] after you play a land and sacrifice the [[Lotus Petal]] that’s already in play. After that, you have [[Dark Ritual]] into [[Ad Nauseam]] with [[Lotus Petal]] available. If we draw more mana, you may be able to trick the opponent with the [[Burning Wish]] somehow?

Alex McKinley

Dealing with this [[Chalice of the Void]] is necessary to win the game. The opponent might have another [[Force of Will]] in hand, but I would just cast the [[Veil of Summer]] with their [[Mishra’s Bauble]] triggers on the stack. This gives it the greatest odds to resolve and not having to spend the two mana on [[Abrupt Decay]] is good. If they have the [[Force of Will]], [[Abrupt Decay]] becomes the answer to [[Chalice of the Void]] and we have to beat a second [[Force of Will]]. I would solve that by using [[Burning Wish]] to find [[Thoughtseize]] and then casting [[Ad Nauseam]].

Alex Poling

I would respond to the abilities on the stack with the [[Veil of Summer]]. This would let us know if the opponent is holding another copy of [[Force of Will]] or not. If [[Veil of Summer]] resolves, we would be able to play our artifacts through the [[Chalice of the Void]] and continue to combo here using the [[Ad Nauseam]].

If [[Veil of Summer]] doesn’t resolve, I would then still continue to combo here. Knowing they have a [[Force of Will]] on top of their deck and they already used one for the [[Veil of Summer]], I think it’s fairly safe to continue here. I would then cast the [[Dark Ritual]] and sacrifice the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for [[Ad Nauseam]].

Caleb Scherer

Since we need to play all of our exiled cards this turn, resolving [[Veil of Summer]] is of the utmost importance. Thus, since we know that they have a [Force of Will]] on top of their deck and their draw triggers will place it in their hand, I would cast the [[Veil of Summer]] now in the upkeep. My reason is we can not cast [[Ad Nauseam]] while still holding up [[Veil of Summer]] this turn due to the [[Chalice of the Void]]. If this resolves, we are off to the races with being able to cast our [[Lotus Petal]] and then [[Ad Nauseam]].

Oliver Everhard

Knowing our opponent will draw a [[Force of Will]], I’m inclined to fire off the [[Veil of Summer]] with the [[Taiga]] right now. We miss out on the potential “gotcha” of drawing an extra card if our opponent only has a single Force effect. If it resolves, we are essentially guaranteed to win the game (and the [[Chalice of the Void]] on zero no longer matters).

Life gets a little more complicated if they have interaction for our [[Veil of Summer]]. Because we have the [[Ad Nauseam]] and the [[Dark Ritual]] in exile (and an active [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] on the board), we can follow up with the [[Ad Nauseam]] (still on upkeep) by discarding our hand for to the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and casting the [[Dark Ritual]] off of that mana — this will force our opponent to have two pieces of interaction before drawing their [[Force of Will]]. I am of the perspective that if our opponent has two pieces of stack interaction already in hand with a [[Force of Will]] on top (not to mention their [[Chalice of the Void]]), our odds weren’t getting much better from this position anyway.

One important note here — we need to pick up at least one more [[Veil of Summer]] off of the [[Ad Nauseam]] and cast it using the [[Lotus Petal]] still on upkeep, as the active [[Chalice of the Void]] will prevent us from resolving the artifact mana we’ll need to get our combo going, and we want to do it before our opponent draws their [[Force of Will]] (my assumption is that if the [[Ad Nauseam]] resolves, the [[Veil of Summer]] will resolve too).

Mike DeVo

Since we have the Storm count, I think we activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Galvanic Relay]] and cast it using [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. While we do let our opponent untap with an active [[Wishclaw Talisman]], if they use it on us, we have it again on our turn. We also have 14 cards from [[Galvanic Relay]] to decide how to take the next turn depending on what plays opponent made.

Jordan Karim

[[Collector Ouphe]] is the primary point of concern if we [[Galvanic Relay]] from here. It would require giving our opponent a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] that can be used to get any number of possible cards. Other cards to consider have been listed in the [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] package — tapping one mana to tutor and then cast [[Leovold, Emissary of Trest]] is exactly like [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] actually. The other cards that could be played are stack interaction and artifact removal. I would imagine a hatebear of some kind entering play instead.

Our deck will have one more [[Abrupt Decay]] to find after this [[Galvanic Relay]] for 15 cards. Our powerful Channel land may not answer the card they get with [[Wishclaw Talisman]], so relying on that may not be the best. Plus, we cannot actually use it from Exile like we would want to.

Bryant Cook

I would [[Galvanic Relay]]. We’re protected, and 15 cards off the top should reveal enough resources to win the game through [[Collector Ouphe]] and countermagic. The issue with passing is that these are decks with [[Force of Will]], [[Force of Negation]], [[Force of Vigor]], and [[Collector Ouphe]]. While we’re giving them access to a guaranteed [[Collector Ouphe]], can our existing hand beat the other cards? Maybe? It would be very difficult. I believe that [[Galvanic Relay]] is our best option forward.

Alex McKinley

With four available mana between the floating Black and the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], a massive [[Galvanic Relay]] is on the table. Unfortunately, this means giving the opponent the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and discarding one of two copies of [[Abrupt Decay]]. With the [[Wishclaw Talisman]], it is free for the opponent to get [[Collector Ouphe]]. This means in a [[Galvanic Relay]] we would have to flip the one remaining copy of [[Abrupt Decay]] (30% odds) or find enough ritual effects to win the game through it. The opponent also does not have any pressure and so we have some time. It is unfortunate that casting both copies of [[Echo of Eons]] missed. With only one [[Abrupt Decay]] to draw to in the deck, I would pass the turn and try to develop into the [[Ad Nauseam]] in a turn or two.

Alex Poling

I would just pass the turn. I don’t want to activate a [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and then give it to the opponent, or play the [[Abrupt Decay]] on the [[Birds of Paradise]].

The opponent can have more threatening cards, and I would rather save the [[Abrupt Decay]] for a potential [[Collector Ouphe]] or [[Natural Order]] target than the creature they would sacrifce.

Caleb Scherer

We don’t have any way of getting mana to win this turn, so I would just cast the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and then also use the [[Mishra’s Bauble]]. Since they also have a fresh seven cards, I would settle in for a longer game and anticipate using the [[Abrupt Decay]] soon and also just play land and [[Wishclaw Talisman]] next turn.

Oliver Everhard

While we can’t win this turn, we thankfully have access to an [[Abrupt Decay]] to deal with anything hateful our opponent drew into.

First and foremost, we can consider cracking our artifacts. I am of the opinion that we crack the [[Mishra’s Bauble]] here — [[Leovold, Emissary of Trest]] (a stock 3-drop [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] target) stops this card in its tracks as early as next turn, and while we aren’t totally dead to him, I’d prefer to have the guaranteed card in hand now rather than support Metalcraft on future turns.

We also have the open mana to crack the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] now, and while this might be a bit greedy, I think we do it. My thinking is this:

• If our opponent uses [[Prismatic Ending]] or [[Meltdown]] to take it out before we activate, we don’t have a ton of lines to a safe kill in the next turn or two. I am very inclined to play around this if possible.
• If our opponent uses the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to get [[Collector Ouphe]], we have [[Abrupt Decay]] as an answer. No [[Natural Order]] threat ends us — [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] is annoying but beatable, the hatebears (mainly [[Collector Ouphe]] and [[Leovold, Emissary of Trest]]) all die to [[Abrupt Decay]], and [[Omnath, Locus of Creation]]/[[Primeval Titan]] aren’t going to get there against us within a turn. We also get to activate the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] again next turn if they do this, without having to worry about them getting a second card off of it.
• Notably, our opponent does not have enough mana, even with a land drop, to cast [[Natural Order]], cast [[Collector Ouphe]], and activate the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] in the same turn.

The question then becomes what we get off of the [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. [[Veil of Summer]] is an obvious potential target (post board our opponent will have access to plenty of [[Force of Will]] effects in their fresh seven cards), as is [[Burning Wish]] (either for the second [[Echo of Eons]] or, depending on what we draw, a potential [[Peer into the Abyss]]).

Ultimately against this opponent with the [[Ad Nauseam]] already in hand, I want interaction more than anything, and I’m probably going for [[Veil of Summer]] — a [[Dark Ritual]] off the top from the [[Mishra’s Bauble]] or our next draw step casts [[Ad Nauseam]] with [[Veil of Summer]] backup. Exactly how we play this out is going to depend on what we draw — we may use the second [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to grab [[Burning Wish]], [[Aeve, Progenitor Ooze]], or another [[Veil of Summer]] depending on whether the top of our deck gives us mana, payoffs, or protection.

Mike DeVo

Knowing we have to bait the [[Force of Will]], we can start by casting [[Dark Ritual]], tapping [[Mox Opal]] for Blue, playing other copy of [[Mox Opal]] and [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], and use [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] on [[Grafdigger’s Cage]] with [[Taiga]] and the floating mana. With no hand, we can crack our copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for Blue and Black and then activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to find [[Echo of Eons]]. We cast [[Echo of Eons]], it gets countered, then we have enough mana to flash it back hoping to draw into more gas to combo off.

Jordan Karim

Just like [[Past in Flames]] functions well against [[Force of Will]], this turn can see our very own card with Flashback functioning in the exact same way! Hardcasting [[Echo of Eons]] is the goal for this turn, followed by casting it again from our graveyard. To do this, we first need to remove the [[Grafdigger’s Cage]] — a card that often does nothing against us. Luckily, we have a combo line through it. We can Channel the [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] to remove the artifact and then deploy our hand completely. With both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], two copies of [[Mox Opal]], and [[Dark Ritual]], we have 10 total mana available. This is enough to activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Echo of Eons]] to hard cast it. If it does eat our opponent’s [[Force of Will]], our goal is to Flashback the wheel abd continue through our combo turn. If our opponent interacts with anything along the way, we can simply tutor the [[Echo of Eons]] and cast it normally using the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] or pivot into a [[Galvanic Relay]] plan if [[Tendrils of Agony]] is not lethal.

Bryant Cook

We need to [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] the [[Grafdigger’s Cage]] and then hardcast [[Echo of Eons]]. After the opponent counters it with [[Force of Will]], we’ll Flashback and pray.

Alex McKinley

With the resolved [[Wishclaw Talisman]], I would attempt to get the opponent to counter one of the pieces of mana. Start with [[Dark Ritual]], then [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], then [[Mox Opal]]. In the unlikely event that the opponent casts their [[Force of Will]], depending on which piece of mana gets countered, may leave open a natural Storm [[Tendrils of Agony]] line. In most worlds, the opponent does nothing, and we get to [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] their [[Grafdigger’s Cage]] and then cast both halves of [[Echo of Eons]].

Alex Poling

I would lead off with the [[Dark Ritual]] and then use one of the Black mana and the [[Taiga]] for [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] on [[Grafdigger’s Cage]]. I would then play out the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and float a Red mana with [[Mox Opal]] before playing out the second copy. With three mana floating and no cards left in my hand, I would sacrifice both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for six Blue mana. This puts me at nine mana and an untapped [[Mox Opal]]. I would then search for and cast [[Echo of Eons]]. This would certainly be countered by [[Force of Will]], and then I would flash it back.

Caleb Scherer

Since we know almost certainly they have a Blue card and [[Force of Will]] in hand, I would now then play out all my mana leading on [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] then use [[Mox Opal]] to cast [[Dark Ritual]] and finally cast [[Mox Opal]] keeping the untapped one. Next, I would use [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] on the [[Grafdigger’s Cage]]. We can then safely sacrifice both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for Blue mana and use [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to grab [[Echo of Eons]]. We are then left with nine mana available and can brute force through their [[Force of Will]].

Oliver Everhard

In this board state, I think we are 100 percent to assume our opponent’s hand is as described — [[Force of Will]] and [[Brainstorm]]. In theory, we can go for [[Burning Wish]] into [[Peer into the Abyss]] off the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to hit the “I Win” button right now, but I can’t imagine why our opponent would not have kept that [[Force of Will]] (or at a minimum be able to [[Brainstorm]] into it and a Blue card).

This makes sense even given that they let the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] resolve. While this hand casts [[Aeve, Progenitor Ooze]] even through that [[Force of Will]] with a Storm> of at least five, we’re still dead in the air to the copies of [[Dragon’s Rage Channeler]] on the clap back, and we wouldn’t be able to generate the Storm we need to kill with a main-deck [[Tendrils of Agony]].

First and foremost, I think we play out everything in our hand except the [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] — tap the onboard [[Mox Opal]] for , cast the one from hand, cast the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], cast the [[Dark Ritual]]. Assuming nothing eats the [[Force of Will]] right now (I highly doubt a competent opponent would do so in this position), our board state will be two onboard [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], floating, untapped [[Underground Sea]] and [[Taiga]], and an untapped [[Mox Opal]] (Total potential mana = 12, Storm 4) with a [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] in hand.

The only real line I can see is this:

• Take out the [[Grafdigger’s Cage]] with our [[Boseiju, Who Endures]], tapping the [[Mox Opal]] for and using one of our floating (ten mana left available).
• Crack both [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]s for , activate the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] (nine mana left available).
• Get and cast [[Echo of Eons]] from hand. When this eats the [[Force of Will]], we’ll still have enough mana to recast it for its Flashback> cost from the yard, and we’re guaranteed to be able to wheel with a land drop remaining at Storm seven (0 mana left floating).

Notably, our opponent’s copies of [[Dragon’s Rage Channeler]] will no longer have Delirium (ie. we’re no longer technically dead on board), but we’ll be dead to double [[Lightning Bolt]] (one copy of which our opponent will be able to get next turn with the [[Wishclaw Talisman]] we just gave them). We also won’t have [[Veil of Summer]] protection up.

While I think we are still likely to lose the game (and with the [[Boseiju, Who Endures]] land might lose the game on the spot to our opponent wheeling into double [[Lightning Bolt]] or [[Chain Lightning]]) I think it’s our best shot given that we’re dead on board in the air.

One last thing to consider — if for whatever reason our opponent decides to [[Force of Will]] one of the cards currently in our hand (likely the second [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] if anything, although if I were my opponent I’d view forcing any of these cards as a mistake), we can make the choice to immediately crack our [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to get [[Veil of Summer]] and cantrip. This leaves open a LOT of live draws ([[Wishclaw Talisman]], [[Burning Wish]], a protected [[Echo of Eons]], or [[Brainstorm]] into one of these options) with only 32 cards left in deck (after the [[Veil of Summer]] is pulled out and cast). If my opponent chooses to make this play, I actually think I might prefer my odds trying for the [[Veil of Summer]] rather than trying to wheel with no mana up — just a thought. This decision would definitely be impacted by the three specific cards in exile though. If they’re all payoffs, I may try my luck with the wheel.