Storm Primer

JWiley129

Introduction

So you want to learn about Modern Storm? Well come on board and I’ll show you a world where the normal rules of Magic don’t apply! The Storm mechanic debuted in Scourge and was brought back in Time Spiral block. On its face the Storm mechanic is pretty simple, let’s look at one of the key cards for the deck to get a feel for how it wants to win, Grapeshot.

Two mana for 1 damage isn’t exciting, but remember that for each spell cast before you fire off the Grapeshot you get to copy it. So if you cast one spell before Grapeshot, you get 2 damage, two spells turns Grapeshot into 3 damage, and so on. That means that your goal in Grapeshot Storm is to cast 19 spells and then fire off a lethal Grapeshot for 20. How do you fire off 19 spells in a turn though? That’s where we get into deck construction, but first let’s talk about what Storm does well.

Modern Storm is one of the best Game 1 decks in Modern, as most of the hate for the deck isn’t mainboarded. With the ability to win by Turn 3, something that most other Modern decks can’t claim, it is the fastest deck in the format. It’s even faster than Splinter Twin! This leads into some of the weaknesses of the deck. Storm doesn’t mulligan too well, since you want a balanced opening hand It is quite easy to board against Storm, cards like Leyline of the Void and Relic of Progenitus add easy hate for what Storm wants to do. Also it is quite easy to disrupt Storm since it is a combo deck. Jund and Melira Pod each run Thoughtsieze and/or Inquisition of Kozilek which can provide the disruption they need to just wait out Storm. Let’s go ahead and move on to talk about how the deck is made.

Deck Construction

Philosophy

As I mentioned earlier, the deck’s philosophy is to kill your opponent as quickly as possible and to cast as many spells as possible. This is done through a combination of cards that generate mana, nicknamed Rituals, and cards that draw you more cards, nicknamed Cantrips. Making sure that your opening hand has a good balance of cantrips and rituals will help you going off as quickly as possible. From there it’s knowing when to cast a ritual and managing your mana pool, as you will have times where you will have more mana in your mana pool than cards in your library.

Key Characteristics

Remember that this deck has the edge in Game 1 in every matchup you have. Being able to combo out on Turn 3 or Turn 4 makes Storm VERY dangerous, and your opponents will be on the back foot. Storm does this through the use of a powerful mythic sorcery from Innistrad, Past in Flames, or as some people have called it the new Yawgmoth's Will. Being able to buyback your old instants/sorceries for another use makes Storm very powerful. Since we’re using graveyard synergies the deck will also use Pyromancer Ascension to copy your relevant spells.

Essential Cards

The essential cards for this deck range from enablers and win conditions. Let’s start with the win-cons:

Grapeshot: As I mentioned earlier, Grapeshot is the main win-con in the deck. Dealing damage is the main way to win games of Magic, so leaning on Grapeshot is a natural conclusion. Things to remember about Grapeshot, that a simple Remand or Spell Snare will counter the spell you cast, but not the copies that go on the stack when you cast it.
Empty the Warrens: This is the other win-con, usually sideboarded in after Game 1 if you anticipate graveyard hate. Making two 1/1 Goblins doesn’t sound exciting, but when you can make 10-12 Goblins on Turn 2, it really puts your opponent behind the 8-ball regardless of what their plan is.
Pyromancer Ascension: Since you’re casting a bunch of spells, you might as well get some value off of them. Some of the most powerful cards you can copy off of the Ascension include your rituals or cantrips. One thing to remember about Pyromancer Ascension, the copies you make WON’T count towards your Storm count since you don’t cast the copies.
Past in Flames: This is your main enabler when you’re trying to go off. Ideally you cast this with some mana in your mana pool so you don’t have to work too hard to recast your more powerful spells.
Goblin Electromancer: He is the only real creature you play in the deck, but he is almost a must-kill or your job gets insanely easy. He turns your Pyretic Rituals into Dark Rituals, your Manamorphose into a mini-ritual with a cantrip. Cost reduction is a powerful ability to have, and the Electromancer really helps you power out some impressive turns.

Supporting Cards

While those five are your main cards, these cards help you get to the point where you finish the game, hopefully with a large Storm count.

Pyretic Ritual: This one is pretty basic. It’s the basic mana-generating spell, it’s no Dark Ritual, but it does its job.
Desperate Ritual: This card COULD be included with Pyretic Ritual, but since it’s Arcane with Splice onto Arcane there are times where it is a good idea to Splice it onto another Desperate Ritual. NOTE: If you cast a Desperate Ritual spliced with another Desperate Ritual with an active Pyromancer Ascension, the copy the Ascension makes will generate since Splice basically adds the text of the spliced spell onto whatever spell you cast.
Manamorphose: All your mana generation spells only generate Red mana, while Manamorphose allows you to change that mana into Blue so you can cast your cantrips. The fact that it ALSO draws you a card should not be overlooked. An active Ascension allows you to essentially draw 2 cards and add some more mana to your mana pool.
Serum Visions: This card is one of the best card draw spells in Modern, so it’s no surprise that it shows up in Storm where card draw is one of the most important activities in the deck.
Gitaxian Probe: Anything that draws a card for “free” is important in Storm. Since Storm wants to win as quickly as possible, you’ll find yourself casting this for 2 life more often than paying for it. The Probe also helps you get information on your opponent’s hand so you can know if the coast is clear when you try and Storm off.
Sleight of Hand: This card is another card draw spell, but it will usually give you what you’re looking for. And so it means that you’ll usually want to cast this when you are looking for something specific.

Optional Cards

The following cards are among the ones where there is some debate on whether you include them in your main deck, sideboard, or at all. Each card has its pros and cons, but each player will have their own preferences.

Faithless Looting/Desperate Ravings: I include these two cards together because this is the debate that splits Storm into two main shells. Faithless Looting is Draw 2, Discard 2 for a single Red, while Desperate Ravings is Draw 2, Discard 1 at random for . Faithless Looting's strengths include being able to choose what you’re discarding and the fact that it only requires Red mana to cast and flashback. The downsides include the fact that you are using one card in your hand, so you are losing a card in the transaction. Also the flashback cost is greater than the CMC, meaning you’ll have to work harder to flash it back. Desperate Ravings’ strengths are the fact you are gaining card advantage as Desperate Ravings will replace itself. The downsides include the fact you are discarding randomly and the flashback cost requires Blue mana instead of Red. Whether you run one or the other really depends on what you think is more important in your build.
Thought Scour: If you run Thought Scour you are basically all in on Pyromancer Ascension. Being able to mill yourself 2 card and draw a card make Thought Scour an important cantrip when your main focus is filling your graveyard. You will usually see Thought Scour with Desperate Ravings, but not with Faithless Looting, since you have no control over what you’re milling.
Lightning Bolt: This card is non-optional in the deck, but it is optional whether you maindeck it or bring it in out of the sideboard. You will maindeck our good friend if you are worried about creature removal for decks like Zoo or Pod, while you can bring it in out of the sideboard if you’re more on the Ascension plan. Personally, I run 4 in the sideboard and side them in as needed since there are some decks where Bolt is very bad. It can work as a secondary win condition with an active Ascension where 1 Red mana can turn into 6 damage.

+Epic Experiment: This was used in an older version of the Storm deck, back when Seething Song was legal. But if you feel adventurous you can try running an experiment to see if Epic Experiment is worth running. If you do run a few Epic Experiments, you’ll want to prioritize mana generation so you can fire off a HUGE Epic Experiment.

Sideboarding

For sideboarding you really want to consider what’s going on in your local meta, but as an example I’ll include my sideboard with some other cards you could consider:

My Sideboard

I’ve already gone over Bolt and Empty the Warrens, so I’ll address the other sideboard options I included in my own sideboard.

Torpor Orb: Since Storm doesn’t have any Enter the Battlefield effects, running a Torpor Orb allows us to effectively hose Twin decks and make Snapcaster Mage a fancy 2/1 with Flash.
Wear / Tear: Most Storm decks don’t run any enchantment hate, but I include a 1-of Hallowed Fountain to splash for Tear to take out some of the most hateful cards against Storm: Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Leyline of the Void. There is additional utility in the fact you can Wear an Ethersworn Canonist.
Shatterstorm: Since we’re running Red we might as well worry about Affinity like everyone else, and there is no better hate for Affinity than Shatterstorm.
Blood Moon: Ah, the classic land hate. Blood Moon works wonders against decks with greedy mana bases like U/W/R Control, Pod, and the like. You will have to be cautious to make sure you have some basic Islands in play before you cast it.

Some other hate cards you can consider for your Storm deck include:

Defense Grid: Stopping control is a bit of a problem for Storm, so bringing in a Defense Grid to make it harder to counter your spells is something that you might consider.
Echoing Truth: If you don’t want to run Wear / Tear, you can avoid running another Shock land and run Echoing Truth so you can remove, at least for a time, those troublesome enchantments that stop you from Storming out.

Gameplay

Philosophy

Remember that your goal is to cast as many spells as possible to Grapeshot your opponent for 20. Ideally your opening hand will include 2-3 Lands, 1-2 Cantrips, 1-2 Rituals, and 1-2 Win-cons/enablers. With Storm my suggestions aren’t a hard and fast rule, I have kept more 1 land hands that I care to admit and been fine. But once you have your opening hand your first turn might look something like this:

Fetch Land -> Steam Vents Untapped -> Gitaxian Probe (paying 2 life) -> Serum Visions/Sleight of Hand.

You will start the game at 15 life, but you aren’t very concerned about your life total. Your goal is to win as quickly as possible, so your life is a resource that you should use at will. Starting the game at 15-17 life is happens quite frequently when playing Storm, and you shouldn’t be shy about it. There are some decks which will try to take advantage of this, namely Burn, Zoo, and Affinity. But as long as you are careful you should be able to Storm out before they can attack your life total effectively.

One of the most difficult parts of Storm is knowing when you can combo out. There will be times where you try to go off, but you’ll draw all your lands or not get the right cards at the right time. Making sure that you have enough gas to Storm off usually depends on several factors. The contents of your hand is the most important, but your graveyard and what your opponent has done is equally as important. Ideally your hand has 2-3 cantrips and 2-3 Rituals with either a Pyromancer Ascension or a Goblin Electromancer in play with a Past in Flames either in your hand or in your graveyard.

Function of Cards

Most of the cards in the deck are pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll go over some of the finer points on a card-by-card basis.

Goblin Electromancer: He won’t be around that long, and expect him to die at the worst possible times. While he can turn your Pyretic Rituals into Dark Rituals, that is usually the time that he will take a Path to Exile or a Lightning Bolt. At this point remember that you can put spells on the stack above the removal, as long as you have the mana for it.
Pyromancer Ascension: The Ascension is best when you have the ability to put two counters on it right after you resolve it. Having one stick around opens it up for removal, but it’s usually quite resilient since most decks don’t run main board enchantment removal. Also remember to use the Stack to your advantage. Specifically with cards like Desperate Ravings, casting any instants before the original resolves to prevent bad breaks when discarding.
Grapeshot: This is your win condition, so you should try to protect it as much as you can. Since Storm decks don’t usually run counterspells you can do this by making sure that Grapeshot is either in your hand, in your graveyard with Flashback, or still in your deck. Using one defensively can be done if you feel like you need one more turn in order really combo off.
Cantrips: There is a hierarchy to your cantrips, and which one you cast when can matter. Gitaxian Probe should be the first card you cast if it’s in your opening hand. Not only does it give you information but it starts your digging through your deck. Don’t be shy to cast one if you find yourself short a land to help you dig. Serum Visions is next, since Ponder/Preordain are banned, since you draw a card then Scry 2, letting you dig 3 cards deep. After Serum Visions comes Sleight of Hand, since it only shows you 2 cards and it only replaces itself. After these three come your selection of other cantrips: Faithless Looting, Desperate Ravings, or Thought Scour. Depending on your specific build you will prioritize each one differently.

Game 1

When you’re playing Storm, this is your time to shine. Game 1 is where you should be getting the win. The only advice I can really give is make sure you identify what your matchup is within a turn or 2. Gitaxian Probe is your friend here, allowing you invaluable knowledge so you know what to play around. Now I’ll put some basic gameplans for the main archetypes you should watch out for in Game 1.

U/W/R Control or Twin: These are the decks that run counterspells and the ones that will be most perilous for you to play around. Spell Snare hits most of the cards in your deck and you should always be cautious when you see any open mana from these decks. Twin will likely combo out on you, or beat you down with a Tarmogoyf or Scavenging Ooze in the RUG variety. And Control will have the tools to grind you out on the long game, since you’re basically an aggro deck.
Affinity: This deck is one of the few that can kill you faster than you can. Making sure you have the ability, and the life total, to Storm off on Turn 3.
Zoo: Zoo isn’t quite as fast as other creature decks in the format and you can definitely race it. Zoo is able to attack your life very quickly, so you’ll have to be more cautious about your life total. Don’t feel bad about firing off a defensive Grapeshot/Lightning Bolt if you feel like you need one more turn than normal. But you should really focus on trying to Storm off before your opponent is able to kill you.
Scapeshift/Storm: I’ve never played against Scapeshift, but since you’re both combo decks you should focus on the combo as much as possible. Similarly with Storm, just focus on the combo and try to get there first.
Jund: As more of a control deck, Jund has the ability to disrupt your combo very easily. Thoughtsieze and Inquisition of Kozilek aren't going to be fun to play against. Making sure that your hand has some redundancy is key in Game 1. Also Jund mainboards Abrupt Decay which hits your main nonland permanents: Goblin Electromancer, and Pyromancer Ascension. Here Gitaxian Probe is just as important as against Control so you can know when the coast is clear to combo off.

If there is an archetype you’d like me to go over in more detail go ahead and put one in the comments below.

Sideboarding

This is where playing Storm gets interesting. After your significant Game 1 advantage, it’s after boarding that your win percentage goes down. That’s because the main deck is very tuned for going off, that anything you side in or out will only dilute your main strategy. Empty the Warrens is your main combo insurance out of the sideboard, and is very effective against the graveyard hate you should expect. I’ll go over some of the better hate cards in the format.

Rule of Law/Eidolon of Rhetoric/Ethersworn Canonist: Each of these cards attempt to do the same thing, prevent you from being able to achieve Storm. The Canonist is easy to remove if you’ve got access to Lightning Bolt, but harder otherwise. Rule of Law and Eidolon of Rhetoric require other ways of getting around, usually with Echoing Truth or Wear / Tear. These are the most effective hate cards since they stop you from doing what you’re trying to do.
Relic of Progenitus/Scavenging Ooze: I put the Ooze in with Relic since they do effectively the same job, eat away at your graveyard. Ooze is better at removing specific cards, but Relic can get rid of your entire graveyard in one fell swoop. This can be devastating if you’re relying on a Past in Flames or other graveyard cards.
Grafdigger's Cage: This card doesn’t see too much play in Modern, but it’s still something you should be aware of. It is very effective graveyard hate, but is easily removed/played around.

Most decks will bring in some hate for you as well as take out most of their removal. Let’s go over what your sideboard plan should look like with different decks.

U/W/R Control: A card to watch out for from the sideboard of U/W/R Control is Counterflux. That card WILL wreck your day. That said you should also consider bringing in your Empty the Warrens and Defense Grid to help you combo off with some safety. Blood Moon isn’t a bad idea of you see your opponent getting a bit too non-basic happy. You will also see Relic of Progenitus out of the sideboard of Control, so focusing on the Empty the Warrens plan will be your best bet.
U/R or RUG Twin: Torpor Orb is very good against Twin, but ideally you want to make your deck more redundant and bring in Empty the Warrens so that you can wade through the many counterspells that either variation of Twin runs.
Birthing Pod decks: Pod decks will likely bring in Ethersworn Canonist or Eidolon of Rhetoric, meaning you should bring in ways to remove those cards. This makes Lightning Bolt, Wear / Tear, and Echoing Truth very good. Torpor Orb also stops any Pod shenanigans or if the Pod player goes for an infinite either with Melira, Sylvok Outcast or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. And similarly to U/W/R Control, Blood Moon works wonders against Pod due to their fairly greedy mana base.
Storm: The mirror is very awkward, since you should likely focus on your combo. That said, many Storm decks don’t run mass creature removal, so Empty the Warrens is still a good card to consider. If you see a lot of other Storm decks in your meta, adding Trickbind to your sideboard might not be a bad idea.
Zoo: If your Lightning Bolts! are in your sideboard, bring them out. Zoo will continue to run creatures so your Bolts will likely have a target. Otherwise your board isn’t very concerned about Zoo. You can bring in Empty the Warrens as insurance or if you feel you need to make tons of blockers at some point, but your combo should be enough. Blood Moon also runs havoc on Zoo decks, it's not as good against Zoo since Zoo does run red cards, but it's worthwhile to consider.
Affinity: There is no way you aren’t bringing in Shatterstorm. As I said earlier, Affinity CAN be faster than you, so you need some way to mitigate that in the meantime. Lightning Bolts! can be brought in as well so you can remove at least some of their creatures.
Scapeshift: This will likely be a staring match most of the time, but Blood Moon could be a consideration here to blank Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Just focus on your combo and see whether you can “get there.”
Jund: Jund has the creatures and removal to make most of what you want to do irrelevant. Lightning Bolt hits most of Jund's creatures and can help you get out of some early aggression. Wear / Tear or Echoing Truth can be brought in if Courser of Kruphix or Ethersworn Canonist (in the version of Jund that runs White) become a problem.

Conclusion

Well that does it for my Storm primer. I hope this answered all your questions and if you have any more don't hesitate to ask.

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