As the last snow flakes are falling on a Canadian island, the Storm season already peeks for the local Magic league. Following the last summer reports, I’m getting back into action to provide a better, improved, beginner-targeted content. I’ve surrounded myself with some of the best Stormtroopers around, a variety of TES geniuses & enthusiasts hoping their teachings will help all of us improve. With these Infernal Tutors (pun intended), we’ll take a look at different reports, scenarios, game states and other subjects of discussions over this brand new series. With the use of the amazing learning tool that is Cockatrice and the visual support it offers, we will show a new perspective over our favorite deck. Without anymore introduction, let’s bring our first case!

Please note: For these exercises, I used my last registered deck list – which is from my last league event last year. This list will change over the weeks to be much closer to the standard TES lists, as if I understood something from last summer, it’s that a good Magic player always brings the most optimal deck list for his environment.

Situation #1 – LED Dredge

We barely won game 1 and the Dredge player chooses to be on the play for game 2. We almost saw the power of Breakthrough in the first game, fortunately a lucky Dark Ritual draw gave us the win. During sideboarding, we removed the Empty the Warrens from the deck and brought in Pyroclasm from the sideboard.

Our opponent begins the second game with a Faithless Looting, discarding a Bridge from Below and a Golgari Thug to the graveyard. We kept a hand of: Polluted Delta, Rite of Flame, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Lion’s Eye Diamond, Burning Wish, and Underground Sea before drawing Dark Ritual for the turn.

EDITOR’S NOTE: You may click on the images to enlarge for better viewing.

The crucial dilemma is, do we go for Empty the Warrens and hope to win before the Zombies or do we hold on until a secure kill, but risk being hit by Cabal Therapy? What is the best line of play?

After making 12 Goblins, they were matched by 4 Zombies before they could even attack. I was victim of good a Dredge paired with Cabal Therapy (sacrificing a Narcomoeba). I tried to apply some pressure by attacking, I lost momentum as quickly as I was losing Goblins and ended up swarmed by an army of 2/2 Zombies.

Situation #2 – BUG Delver

We once again won game 1, this time after a good Ad Nauseam from 10. We saw Delver of Secrets, Hymn to Tourach, Stifle, Daze & Wasteland, but no sign of Pernicious Deeds or Golgari Charm. Since I play Bayou main deck, we could keep the 3rd Chrome Mox in and only swap Empty the Warrens for Tendrils of Agony.

The previous lessons against most Delver of Secrets decks taught me to go as fast as possible and to avoid Hymn to Tourach at all cost. Additionally, there’s roughly 40% chance of a first turn Force of Will, which is why I choose to keep the following hand:

Burning Wish, Ponder, Polluted Delta, Lotus Petal, Ponder, Lion’s Eye Diamond and Burning Wish.

Our opponent starts the game with a Deathrite Shaman out of a Polluted Delta into Underground Sea. His hand is now 5 cards, the probability of him having Daze or Force of Will are now lower. I believe the risk is worth taking with his land tapped, to help avoid Stifle or Spell Pierce for the moment.

Our turn soon begins, we draw a Rite of Flame. Do we go for it or play a Ponder?

On his second turn, a second Deathrite Shaman and a Delver of Secrets enter the battlefield. A secondary question would be, despite the blockers, do we attack to put pressure and accept to lose some Goblins, or do we hold on to block on our own, flashback a Cabal Therapy to rip their counterspells, while being at risk of a mass removal like Golgari Charm? In this case, I attacked, and ended up beaten to death by the black activation on the pair of Deathrite Shaman. 10 Goblins weren’t enough when he drew 2 Delver of Secrets that with which he blocked, killing a Goblin each time and exiling the creature later to gain 2 extra life.

Situation #3 – 12 Posts

We’re in game one against an unknown opponent. We have a hand of: Cabal Therapy, Gitaxian Probe, Bloodstained Mire, Volcanic Island, Ponder, Infernal Tutor, and Lotus Petal. As we lost the dice roll, the versatility of this hand should be more than enough to handle most situations after we see what our opponent is on. Even more in our favor, our opponent did mulligan to 6.

He opens with Thespian’s Stage & Expedition Map. Usually, these decks are slow, but we never know if a Chalice of the Void can show up or if they can kill our Goblins with The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale.

The draw for the turn is Chrome Mox. Our turn one can be crucial as we may face a Wasteland on our next turn. Despite the risk, I choose to lay down my Volcanic Island and play Ponder. Mainly because I still have a land in hand and a Lotus Petal as plays for next turn. Another option would have been to play Gitaxian Probe to make sure we weren’t facing a Chalice of the Void on the next turn. It would probably have been the better play, as we would have seen an additional card deeper with Ponder paired with the available information.

The cards seen off Ponder are Bloodstained Mire, Underground Sea, and Chrome Mox. Not exactly what we needed, I shuffle and draw an Underground Sea.

On the opponent’s second turn, they lay an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and crack the Expedition Map to search for a Cloudpost. We now know what we’re against.

Our draw for the turn is a Burning Wish. We’re lacking the mana to combo, so I cast Gitaxian Probe using my Volcanic Island to pay its cost as I don’t think I can go off this turn, and would like to save life when possible. The Gitaxian Probe reveals: Buried Ruins, Cloudpost, Glimmerpost, Maze of Ith and Expedition Map. The draw off the Gitaxian Probe is Infernal Tutor. No real threats, but to leave the Empty the Warrens option open, I choose to play Cabal Therapy using Underground Sea. This shuts off the ability to search for The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale.

On his turn, our opponent plays a Pithing Needle, naming Wasteland: we didn’t show enough for him to know we’re playing a Storm deck. On our third draw phase, we draw a Rite of Flame.

With this rather stable board, an overload of tutors in hand, what is the best play? How can we secure the victory within the next few turns?