TES Infernal Tutoring #70

Vincente Mahfuz

Considering the opponent might play [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]] next turn, I’m inclined to go all-in and create a 14 [[Goblin Token]] army! This hand feels like a nearly guaranteed win, except if the opponent pulls off precisely [[Stoneforge Mystic]] plus [[Batterskull]], has enough lands, and multiple removal spells — which is plausible, but it’s an 80-card deck we’re talking about here. Even if the opponent only has a [[Swords to Plowshares]] or [[Solitude]], and [[Stoneforge Mystic]] plus [[Batterskull]], we’d still secure victory by turn three, given they have a [[Marsh Flats]] in play that will deal one point of damage.

The other option would be searching for [[Echo of Eons]], but I prefer the [[Empty the Warrens]] line. I’ll put [[Bloodstained Mire]] and [[Brainstorm]] back on top, then I’ll play [[Badlands]], [[Lotus Petal]], [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprinting [[Brainstorm]]), and [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. Then, I’ll cast [[Burning Wish]], holding priority to activate [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], producing . With [[Burning Wish]], I’ll choose [[Empty the Warrens]] and create the [[Goblin Token]] army.

If the opponent has multiple removal spells and [[Stoneforge Mystic]], maybe the extra [[Brainstorm]] from the top of the deck will be useful in the upcoming turns.

Jordan Karim

At the face of this puzzle, we can make a 14 [[Goblin Token]]—strong army. That’s a particularly effective strategy against Death & Taxes normally. The EPIC Storm has an excellent table that goes into the number of tokens required to defeat [[Batterskull]] and the life gain from it. A turn-one [[Empty the Warrens]] on the draw needs 14 (yay! we’re done right?). New information about Death & Taxes builds may shift this. [[Ephemerate]] has been seeing an uptick in play with the deck. Bringing a [[Solitude]] into play right now and a [[Stoneforge Mystic]] plus [[Batterskull]] would mean our army is insufficient. Luckily, we can overcome this with our hand!

Let’s start by putting back [[Burning Wish]] and a land. From there, we can deploy all of our artifacts (Storm 5). Using the [[Mox Opal]], we can cast the additional [[Brainstorm]] — holding priority to crack both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for (if we hit another [[Brainstorm]] or [[Ponder]], I want to keep [[Burning Wish]] on top and cantrip into it again for plus-1 Storm). Resolving the second [[Brainstorm]], we keep [[Burning Wish]] in our hand. We have six available mana and a [[Lotus Petal]]. Its quite simple to make a 18 [[Goblin Token]] army that should be sufficient to win!

Bryant Cook

We’ll start by putting back our [[Burning Wish]] and then a land on top. After that, we’ll play all four zero mana value artifacts — Storm 5. After that, we’ll cast [[Brainstorm]], holding priority we’ll sacrifice the pair of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for . Now, we resolve each copy of [[Brainstorm]] with our Storm count at 7. Assuming we take the [[Burning Wish]], any spell we can cast off of the other [[Brainstorm]] is a lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]]. If not, we can just [[Empty the Warrens]].

Alex McKinley

Given this is a game one, we would not actually know the matchup. [[Marsh Flats]], pass is more common out of Rakdos Reanimator than Death & Taxes. Both of these matchups incentivize doing something quickly. If the matchup is Death & Taxes, making 14 [[Goblin Token]]s is a pretty easy choice. Into Reanimator though, [[Empty the Warrens]] is a riskier choice because a [[Griselbrand]] can race them. Truly in the blind, I would just [[Echo of Eons]] here. It is the best against both [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]] and [[Griselbrand]]. Almost no [[Marsh Flats]] deck gives us enough time to pass the turn to play towards a [[Peer into the Abyss]].

Alex Poling

I would go for [[Empty the Warrens]] here. There’s a few different lines we can take, but I don’t see the appeal to them. [[Empty the Warrens]] for 14 Goblins beats everything, including [[Stoneforge Mystic]] for [[Batterskull]], so I see no point in risking losing with [[Echo of Eons]]. I would put back both copies of [[Brainstorm]] and then play out all of the artifacts and cast [[Burning Wish]], holding priority to sacrifice both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for , and then grabbing and casting [[Empty the Warrens]].

Oliver Everhard

We are unfortunately a mana short of [[Peer into the Abyss]]. We do appear to have a floor of 18 [[Goblin Token]]s by doing the following:

1. Put back the two lands.
2. Play out our four artifacts — Storm 5.
3. We can tap our [[Mox Opal]] for blue to cast one of our [[Brainstorm]]s — Storm 6. This will reveal the two lands that we just put back and a net new card. Put back the [[Burning Wish]] and one of the lands.
4. Crack the [[Lotus Petal]] for blue, cast the second [[Brainstorm]], hold priority and crack both copies of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for — Storm 7. Take the [[Burning Wish]].
5. Cast the [[Burning Wish]] for [[Empty the Warrens]] — 18 [[Goblin Token]]s on turn one. Can you beat it?

Notably, if we reveal something useful off of either of the [[Brainstorm]]s — an extra [[Lotus Petal]] off the first one, or a [[Beseech the Mirror]] off the second one, as an example — we can potentially get over the finish line and go for a lethal [[Tendrils of Agony]]. As a baseline, though, I would expect the 18 tokens to get there turn one on the draw, and I’d be more than happy to go for this line over something like an [[Echo of Eons]], which could potentially just whiff and wheel our opponent into a [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]].

Tony del Prete

I would put the two lands back on top, play out the artifacts and cast another [[Brainstorm]] using the [[Mox Opal]]. If the next unknown card is any free artifact, we actually just have lethal. If it is not, I would put a land and a [[Burning Wish]] back. Now, we can hold priority, use our second [[Brainstorm]], and sacrifice one copy of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for . We can now draw from our [[Brainstorm]] and put the [[Burning Wish]] back into our hand where we can hold priority again so that we can sacrifice our second copy of [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] so that we have enough mana to cast [[Empty the Warrens]] for 18 tokens. If our first [[Brainstorm]] hit a free spell, we could have cast the free spell before the second [[Brainstorm]] and we would have enough Storm to kill them with [[Tendrils of Agony]]. I chose this line as opposed to either passing the turn or going for an [[Echo of Eons]] because our opponent has shown a low chance to have [[Force of Will]] in their deck given the land they played and the Companion they revealed.

Vincente Mahfuz

This one’s quite complex! Let’s break it down:

If our opponent didn’t have [[Stifle]], we would still need five mana to try to cast [[Beseech the Mirror]] with [[Veil of Summer]] available, but we can’t have everything this turn because we need to put cards back on top of the deck. Our opponent could have [[Thoughtseize]] next turn, so I’ll put [[Rite of Flame]] and [[Beseech the Mirror]] back on top. This turn, I won’t play [[Bayou]] to protect it from a possible [[Wasteland]].

If the opponent attempts any discard on their turn, we’ll use [[Veil of Summer]], drawing an additional card, and potentially having six mana available next turn. If the opponent does nothing significant and passes back, we’ll also have five mana due to the [[Lotus Petal]] remaining in our hand.

On our turn, we start by not generating mana from [[Carpet of Flowers]]. We play [[Bayou]], tap [[Chrome Mox]], and cast [[Veil of Summer]]. If it resolves, we’ll go to the second main phase and resolve [[Beseech the Mirror]], bargaining [[Chrome Mox]] to cast… [[Song of Creation]]! We then attempt to win the game with it — we still have a [[Lotus Petal]] in our hand and a [[Rite of Flame]] on the top of our deck.

Jordan Karim

One thing is certain, we are not winning the game this turn. Two copies of [[Carpet of Flowers]] is great though, it can make up for our lack of additional mana. The plan here needs to shift from [[Gaea’s Will]] to [[Song of Creation]]. We can protect our [[Beseech the Mirror]] with [[Veil of Summer]] and hope for the best.

We don’t need [[Rite of Flame]] right now, that can go onto the bottom of our [[Brainstorm]] restack. On top should be [[Beseech the Mirror]] to protect it from any potential discard spells. Keeping our position protected also means not playing out the [[Bayou]] due to the potential to walk into a [[Wasteland]] again.

Our next turn will be a [[Beseech the Mirror]] (sacrificing the [[Chrome Mox]]) with [[Veil of Summer]] protection. We won’t have the ability to trigger it that turn, but drawing [[Rite of Flame]] will allow several chances at a win two turns from now.

Bryant Cook

I would put [[Rite of Flame]] on top with [[Beseech the Mirror]] on top of it. After that, play [[Bayou]] and [[Lotus Petal]] and then pass the turn. We can try something next turn that’s protected by [[Veil of Summer]]. I don’t like selecting an avenue turns in advance when the variables can change.

If our opponent taps out, we could look at a [[Gaea’s Will]] line but assuming they don’t it’s probably [[Song of Creation]]? There are just too many, “What ifs?”

Alex McKinley

Given the quantity of spells in the opponent’s hand this turn, I would choose to set up for next turn. The best plan to beat the [[Stifle]] is through [[Song of Creation]]. Put back the [[Rite of Flame]] and then the [[Lotus Petal]] on top. Next turn, we can cast a Bargained [[Beseech the Mirror]] with [[Veil of Summer]] back up to find [[Song of Creation]] to hopefully draw enough cards over the next few turns to win the game.

Alex Poling

An interesting note here is that [[Veil of Summer]] does not protect against [[Stifle]], but also [[Stifle]] can’t counter Bargain as it is more like Kicker and not a trigger or activated ability. With this in mind, I would put back [[Rite of Flame]] and then [[Veil of Summer]]. My plan would be on my next turn to cast [[Beseech the Mirror]] for [[Song of Creation]] with [[Veil of Summer]] backup. If the opponent plays a second land, I would still have a [[Lotus Petal]] in hand to play post [[Song of Creation]]. If I needed the [[Lotus Petal]] in order to cast [[Beseech the Mirror]], I would need to pass the turn and hope to draw something I could cast to begin the chain.

Oliver Everhard

I’m going to acknowledge the line of putting back the [[Veil of Summer]] and [[Rite of Flame]], playing out your land and [[Lotus Petal]] and firing off [[Beseech the Mirror]] into [[Daze]]. I probably wouldn’t go for this, but do you.

I don’t think there’s a great way to play this hand that doesn’t just set up for a future turn. No three cards in this hand can go off with protection, certainly not through a [[Stifle]]. Notably, the missed land drop absolutely does not mean they don’t have more lands in hand — [[Underground Sea]] ramps us significantly here, and they may choose to leave [[Wasteland]] in hand to bait us into playing our own real estate.

I think I’d go with the following line:

1. Put back the [[Beseech the Mirror]] under the [[Rite of Flame]].
2. Play out the [[Lotus Petal]], but leave the [[Bayou]] in hand. We don’t need the mana yet and they can’t be discarded, but they can be destroyed by [[Wasteland]]. We can potentially bait out countermagic to fight over a [[Veil of Summer]] in response to their [[Thoughtseize]] by playing this way, at the cost of being a little softer (but not dead by any means) to [[Meltdown]].
3. We can now draw into [[Rite of Flame]] and [[Beseech the Mirror]] over the next two turns (ensuring that we don’t draw the [[Beseech the Mirror]] before we need it). Even with no additional Islands from our opponent, with a [[Rite of Flame]] already in the yard this should give us plenty of mana to beat [[Daze]] + [[Force of Will]].

To beat the [[Stifle]], I actually don’t hate going for [[Song of Creation]] here — a single [[Stifle]] isn’t a game winner against this line. It’s very strong against the kinds of hate cards we’ll be expecting ([[Null Rod]] has entered the chat), and I doubt this deck will have much in the way of permanent removal for a CMC 4 enchantment ([[Hydroblast]], maybe?). With two [[Carpet of Flowers]] live, we can even recast it if it ends up getting bounced, and we can even trigger it this turn with the [[Veil of Summer]] if they’re not holding up relevant countermagic.

Tony del Prete

I see very little reason to do anything at all. Our opponent has no pressure on board and is missing land drops. There is a chance they will start going to discard while we get to draw additional cards or they might even play out another [[Island]] to prevent themselves from going to discard. I think it would be ill-advised to go any time soon. We have some potential to resolve a [[Song of Creation]] but it just seems like we are walking into a lot of interaction without enough resources and it feels pretty free to just wait until we have more ammo. I would likely hold the [[Bayou]] as well for at least a turn or two. It is worth mentioning we aren’t even necessarily afraid of a card like [[Null Rod]], which is sometimes a reason for Storm decks to act sooner than they want to.

Vincente Mahfuz

If I play conservatively, I would probably play [[Taiga]] from exile and cast [[Veil of Summer]] immediately. If it resolves, great! I play [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and [[Mox Opal]], generate with [[Mox Opal]], then crack [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for . Then I cast [[Song of Creation]], keeping in my pool, and then I’ll cast a naked [[Chrome Mox]] without any cards to Imprint, but drawing two cards first with the [[Song of Creation]] draw trigger. Maybe I find spells to Imprint on [[Chrome Mox]] or draw into more free spells. If I succeed, I can cast [[Burning Wish]], draw two more cards, and choose anything that seems suitable to win the game based on what I drew. If [[Veil of Summer]] doesn’t resolve, we can still cast [[Song of Creation]] around [[Daze]].

Jordan Karim

More [[Song of Creation]]! And this has an [[Empty the Warrens]] backup plan. Just the best of both previous scenarios all rolled into one, huh?

My ideal plan leads on playing the [[Bloodstained Mire]] from hand. It opens our opponent up to having perfect information, but if [[Song of Creation]] resolves, I would like to have [[Taiga]] as a guaranteed second land drop (don’t forget we get those now!). Another key piece is using the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to get Metalcraft, so that we can use our [[Chrome Mox]] after the [[Song of Creation]] resolves. Let’s start by casting [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and [[Mox Opal]]. We can tap the [[Mox Opal]] for and sacrifice the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for to put [[Veil of Summer]] on the stack. If it resolves, we can cast [[Song of Creation]] using a [[Volcanic Island]]. This would give us an additional land drop and two draws from the cast trigger from [[Chrome Mox]]. I think we would be in pretty good shape!

If the [[Veil of Summer]] doesn’t resolve or if we need to pay for a [[Daze]], the line would be to play [[Burning Wish]] into an [[Empty the Warrens]] in the hopes that our [[Goblin Token]] army would get there. Either would be successful, but I like the plan of putting [[Song of Creation]] on the stack!

Bryant Cook

Play [[Bloodstained Mire]] from hand since we can later play the [[Taiga]] off of [[Song of Creation]] Cast [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and then [[Mox Opal]]. At this point, float a using [[Mox Opal]] and then sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for and then play [[Veil of Summer]]. You now have all of the requirements to play [[Song of Creation]] followed by [[Chrome Mox]] or [[Burning Wish]] into another [[Galvanic Relay]] depending on your read if they have [[Pyroblast]] or not.

Alex McKinley

While there are a lot of options, I would choose a line that gives up the lease information about the plan at each step. First, play the [[Taiga]] from exile and cast [[Veil of Summer]]. If the opponent chooses to [[Daze]] this [[Veil of Summer]], I would pay with the [[Underground Sea]] and use [[Burning Wish]] to end up at an [[Empty the Warrens]] line. If [[Veil of Summer]] resolves, I would put [[Song of Creation]] on the stack, cast [[Chrome Mox]] and hope that that draws enough cards to win. If the opponent forces the [[Veil of Summer]], I’d likely cast the [[Burning Wish]] with the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] mana to play around another [[Daze]].

Alex Poling

I would lead with [[Bloodstained Mire]] and then casting [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and [[Mox Opal]] from exile. I would then sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for and cast [[Song of Creation]] with [[Veil of Summer]] backup. I still have the [[Chrome Mox]] to cast after [[Song of Creation]] resolves and the extra land to play. There is a high chance of winning from this position.

Oliver Everhard

We’ve got two choices here — go for a [[Song of Creation]] line, or go for something off the [[Burning Wish]].

The [[Song of Creation]] line involves us playing out our [[Bloodstained Mire]] from hand, then the [[Mishra’s Bauble]], and the [[Mox Opal]] from exile. We can now cast [[Song of Creation]] off of triple green from the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], holding up [[Veil of Summer]] (or a payment for [[Daze]]) off of [[Bayou]]. If we can push it through, we have the extra land drop off the [[Taiga]] in exile, and at least one guaranteed trigger off the [[Chrome Mox]] (two off of the [[Veil of Summer]] if we didn’t need to use it to protect the [[Song of Creation]]). Unless we hit only lands off our triggers, we should also have the mana to cast our [[Burning Wish]] from exile, which worst-case lets us grab [[Echo of Eons]] for a future turn or [[Thoughtseize]] for a peek at their hand.

We can also play more aggressively towards [[Burning Wish]] — our castable spells in exile give us at least Storm 5 with 6 mana to work with. In theory that’s 10 [[Goblin Token]]s — not nothing, but frankly not enough to ensure victory if they start deploying blockers and [[Lightning Bolt]] next turn, especially because we’ll be unable to use our [[Veil of Summer]] for this to work.

Our more reasonable options are a second [[Galvanic Relay]] (likely for something like Storm 6 or 7, depending on if our opponent interacts) or an [[Echo of Eons]] with [[Veil of Summer]] protection.

All that said, I think I’m feeling [[Song of Creation]] — our opponent is very unlikely to have much meaningful interaction for a 4-CMC enchantment game one ([[Brazen Borrower]] or bust, I would assume, and they’ve got to find it soon), so even if we whiff I think it’s very likely to stick around for at least another turn. We also get a guaranteed cast off the [[Chrome Mox]], potentially more if we don’t have to use the [[Veil of Summer]] with [[Song of Creation]] on the stack. Meanwhile, a whiffed [[Echo of Eons]] or [[Galvanic Relay]] might lose us the game on the spot, although I don’t think either is a horrible play.

Tony del Prete

I would play [[Taiga]], [[Mishra’s Bauble]], [[Mox Opal]], tap [[Mox Opal]] for , sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] for and cast our [[Burning Wish]]. If it resolves, we can get [[Empty the Warrens]], play [[Chrome Mox]] and make 10 [[Goblin Token]]s. Izzet Delver has a pretty hard time with goblins, especially after casting [[Daze]] the turn before. If our opponent tries to counter the [[Burning Wish]], we can cast [[Veil of Summer]] which might even draw us into more mana or a card that imprints to [[Chrome Mox]], letting us make even more tokens. If we don’t get an imprintable or additional mana source, we can still resolve another [[Galvanic Relay]] for seven. We could go for [[Song of Creation]] but if we play out our artifacts first, we only have a [[Chrome Mox]] to start getting triggers and if we hold our artifacts, we lose to [[Force of Will]] + [[Daze]] or [[Spell Pierce]] + [[Daze]]. The [[Burning Wish]] line has a chance to beat a lot of double interaction by drawing mana or an imprintable from the [[Veil of Summer]].