TES Matchup Battles: The EPIC Gamble

The EPIC Gamble is virtually a mono-red Storm deck. The only non-red card in the main deck is [[Echo of Eons]] and some sideboard cards that they can [[Burning Wish]] for. The deck is comprised of rituals, card generation, and tutors. The recipe of a typical storm deck, but the main difference is being mono red, so it has to play some pretty unique cards. The upside to playing The EPIC Gamble over other storm combo decks is its ability to combo faster with more turn one potential. It also leans into [[Galvanic Relay]] really well to play through counterspells, similar to the direction TES has been moving towards. The EPIC Gamble is a fairly new Storm variant and still being worked on, but it has been quite popular, so it’s a matchup we should be prepared for.

How does The EPIC Gamble matchup against TES?

[[Echo of Eons]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Gamble]] – The EPIC Gamble is consistent at casting multiple copies of [[Echo of Eons]] per game. The deck name has [[Gamble]] in it for a reason. It’s the glue to try and assemble the two-card combo of [[Echo of Eons]] and [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. With a [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] in play, [[Gamble]] is a guaranteed flashback of [[Echo of Eons]] since it doesn’t matter if it gets discarded.

[[Birgi, God of Storytelling]] – Having a card like [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]] is important to The EPIC Gamble because it can play multiple roles. [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]] can be a powerful ritual or be cast as [[Harnfel, Horn of Bounty]] and be a card draw engine. Both of these effects are great in this deck and its flexibility to be either make it one of the best cards for the deck.

[[Galvanic Relay]] – This is another payoff and way to continue comboing. Like with TES, it is a great way to generate more cards and fight through counterspells, but the downside is it requires passing the turn and trying to win on the next turn. This isn’t something either TES or The EPIC Gamble want to be doing in this matchup so neither deck will want to rely on it being as a good engine here.

[[Rite of Flame]] – [[Rite of Flame]] is another card that both decks have in common. It’s important to note because the less remembered text on [[Rite of Flame]] is that it adds more mana for each copy of [[Rite of Flame]] in ALL graveyards. This benefits both players if the other player has used copies of [[Rite of Flame]]. This can be crucial in calculating mana for a combo turn.

Deck List

the epic Storm

Ways to Win This Matchup

Our Game Plan

The game plan of winning this matchup is very simple, be the faster deck. The only interaction and protection in both TES and The EPIC Gamble for the first game is [[Veil of Summer]] and [[Defense Grid]]. These are pretty irrelevant in the matchup, so it’s down to just who combos the quickest. Both of these decks are [[Echo of Eons]] decks and can win on the same turn it is cast. A big part of this matchup is the opening hand. There is a smaller percentage of keepable hands in this matchup than other matchups. If the opening hand doesn’t have the potential to combo on the first or second turn, it is a mulligan. There is no flexibility in this as The EPIC Gamble will be using that same logic in hands they keep. If either player gets a bad seven cards off casting an [[Echo of Eons]] and have to pass the turn, there is a high likelihood of losing to the other combo deck. This is similar to why [[Galvanic Relay]] isn’t that good. A combo that requires passing the turn will most likely not be good enough to win the game.

 

Sideboarding

 

-4 [[Veil of Summer]], -3 [[Galvanic Relay]] +2 [[Opposition Agent]], +2 [[Crash]], +2 [[Chain of Vapor]], +1 [[Thoughtseize]]

This matchup is a pure race. Trying to win by storming into a [[Galvanic Relay]] to pass the turn is too risky in this matchup. More than likely, we wouldn’t get another turn. That makes [[Galvanic Relay]] an easy cut. [[Veil of Summer]] does protect against [[Tendrils of Agony]], but The EPIC Gamble can generate enough storm to win with [[Grapeshot]] and any competent pilot will be aware our only way to prevent their combo is [[Veil of Summer]], so they will play around it. [[Opposition Agent]], [[Crash]], [[Chain of Vapor]], and [[Thoughtseize]] aren’t that great in the matchup, but they’re better than what we are taking out and have some disruptive elements to them.

 

Game Play

Unfortunately I was on the draw for game one. That’s not where we want to be in a matchup decided by who combos first. I kept my seven cards, and my opponent mulliganed down to six. My opponent played their land, [[Mox Opal]], and [[Grim Monolith]] to cast a [[Galvanic Relay]] with the help of [[Simian Spirit Guide]] for three storm. It only revealed two lands and another [[Grim Monolith]]. I kept the perfect hand for this matchup, all mana and a [[Burning Wish]]. Hands that can combo on the first turn is exactly what we are looking for. On my first turn, I drew a [[Lotus Petal]] and was ready to go. The drawn [[Lotus Petal]] gave me the exact amount of mana to [[Burning Wish]] for [[Peer into the Abyss]].

[[Peer into the Abyss]] drew enough zero mana artifacts to continue storming and [[Burning Wish]] for [[Tendrils of Agony]].

1-0

For the second game, I kept another potential turn one win. It had a turn-one [[Echo of Eons]] by searching for [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] with [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. The opponent began the second game with [[Simian Spirit Guide]] for [[Gamble]] and then discarded the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. I imagined they already had the [[Echo of Eons]] in hand and hoped to discard anything else. I won the gamble on that one. On my first turn, I played out all of my mana and used [[Wishclaw Talisman]] for [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and then cast [[Echo of Eons]].

I drew lots of mana, but I didn’t have Metalcraft in play so I couldn’t play and use the copies of [[Mox Opal]] since I would only have two artifacts. In order to get Metalcraft, I needed to play out the [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. I decided to do that with the black mana I had floating and the [[Chrome Mox]]. This gave me the third artifact to play and use both copies of [[Mox Opal]] in hand. Those two in combination with the [[Rite of Flame]] gave me three mana. I decided to use one to activate [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and search for [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. The last two remaining mana I cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]] again for another set of seven cards.

The next set of seven cards was not very good. I couldn’t cast anything. I even drew the [[Opposition Agent]] for the two copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]] I gave the opponent, but I couldn’t cast it.

On my opponent’s turn, they used both copies of my [[Wishclaw Talisman]], and I got them back to cast [[Echo of Eons]], [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]], and then [[Burning Wish]] for [[Galvanic Relay]] for 10 Storm. Thankfully, they didn’t have access to black mana for [[Tendrils of Agony]]. They certainly had the win on their next turn if I didn’t win on mine. The [[Echo of Eons]] my opponent cast gave me a hand full of disruption and mana, but it didn’t come with any payoff cards. Thankfully, I got back my copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]] that the opponent used. With a hand and board full of mana, I was able to use one [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to search for [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] and the other [[Wishclaw Talisman]] to keep searching for and chaining the last two remaining copies of [[Wishclaw Talisman]] in my deck and then ultimately cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Tendrils of Agony]] to win the game.

2-0

I got really lucky to win the games I played. The games can have a ton of variance in them with both decks playing [[Echo of Eons]] and The EPIC Gamble playing [[Gamble]]. Either deck can have a dominate game since there’s very little disruption from the opponent. The matchup is just two decks doing their own thing and ignoring the other. This can create either a really fun game of being able to combo freely or a very frustrating game as you sit and watch your opponent combo knowing there’s nothing to do about it. Either way, The EPIC Gamble is a great deck, and one I enjoy having in the Legacy metagame. I hope you enjoyed this article, can take some of the lessons learned, and apply them to your own playtesting.