Kess’s Build-A-Storm! (TM)

Commander / EDH Combo Infinite Combo Spellslinger Storm UBR (Grixis)

Renga488

Sorcery (27)

• 1x Bonus Round
• 1x Brass's Bounty
• 1x Compulsive Research
• 1x Dark Petition
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Discovery / Dispersal
• 1x Doublecast
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Increasing Ambition
• 1x Jaya's Immolating Inferno
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Mastermind's Acquisition
• 1x Mind's Desire
• 1x Notion Rain
• 1x Past in Flames
• 1x Pieces of the Puzzle
• 1x Pirate's Pillage
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Scour All Possibilities
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Creature (6)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Curious Homunculus  ^Flip
• 1x Goblin Electromancer
• 1x Magus of the Will
• 1x Naru Meha, Master Wizard
• 1x Treasonous Ogre

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Jaya Ballard
• 1x Ral, Storm Conduit

Land (31)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Bad River
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 3x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Izzet Guildgate
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Memorial to Genius
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Prismari Campus
• 1x Rakdos Guildgate
• 1x Riverglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Steam Vents
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Vivid Crag
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Watery Grave

Artifact (9)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Primal Amulet  ^Flip
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Thousand-Year Storm

Commander (1)

Instant (23)

• 1x Bedevil
• 1x Behold the Multiverse
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Commit / Memory
• 1x Consume the Meek
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Desperate Ritual
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Expansion / Explosion
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Insidious Will
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Mystical Teachings
• 1x Pyretic Ritual
• 1x Release to the Wind
• 1x Repeated Reverberation
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Supreme Will

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Sideboard

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Apex of Power
• 1x Banefire
• 1x Empty the Warrens
• 1x Mind Spring
• 1x Overflowing Insight
• 1x Star of Extinction

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Doomsday
• 1x Drain Power
• 1x Epic Experiment
• 1x Finale of Promise
• 1x Spelltwine

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Arcane Melee
• 1x Storm the Vault  ^Flip
• 1x The Mirari Conjecture

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Will Kenrith

Creature (2)

• 1x God-Eternal Kefnet
• 1x Laboratory Maniac

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Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM)

(work in progress)

Intro

Like Storm? Of course you do, you’re human! (Note: Storm-haters are generally reptilian.) There’s something supremely satisfying about casting a whole bunch of spells in one turn while your opponents roll their eyes, resigning themselves to the fate of observer as you turn the game into Solitaire—it’s okay to admit, we’ve all been there. It definitely fulfills some primal urge you kind of feel guilty for having but also encourage at every juncture. Don’t worry, there are no judgments here, you’re among friends at Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM)!

About

What is Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM)? Show

Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM) is a not-really-casual, not-really-competitive combo deck that exists solely to enjoy the guilty pleasure that is Storming off. It typically wins between turns 5 and 7, though quicker wins are possible depending on draws and sideboarding.

Will I like Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM)? Show

You may enjoy this deck if:

• You love combo decks, especially Storm-y ones
• You enjoy discovering new lines of play each time you play a deck
• You like decks that play like puzzles
• You want to go off multiple times in a match
• You’re looking for a relatively affordable deck
• You don't have the land base or fast-mana artifacts or funds to make a better deck (hey, I’m honest)

You may NOT enjoy this deck if:

• You hate Storm (duh)
• You want to play creatures that do things besides support a combo
• Your meta sits on either extreme of the "Casual-Competitive" continuum
• You want an artifact-flavored Storm stew
• You read primers with utter deference and solemnity
• Grixis bums you out

What is this deck’s power level? Show

That's a great question! I don't play much outside my playgroup, so as far as its strength in absolute terms, you'll have to judge for yourself. It's likely somewhere in the 75% range, though it probably gets dinged for bad lands (not to be confused with Badlands , a good land). As far as my playgroup goes, we recently settled on an internal turn 5-7ish power level, and Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM) sits happily in this range. Lack of strong lands and fast-mana artifacts is the deck's biggest weakness, and ultimately the likely decider of its success in different metas. Of course, if your meta plays with things like Fetches and fast-mana artifacts, chances are you’re playing with a better list than this one anyway.

Who are you, and what is this? Show

I’m Renga! This my first attempt at a guide/primer-lite for my also-first attempt at an EDH Storm deck, so you’re gonna need to bear with me. I originally intended to just put up the decklist, but a recent round of insomnia has given me some free time, so I figured, what the heck?

This isn’t so much a real primer as it is a starter guide. The deck gives us a ton of options and ways to play, and figuring out its synergies and combos is what makes this deck so much fun to play!

Gameplan

Ok, so first off, you’re going to want to Storm, and then immediately after that, Storm. Next, you need to Storm, followed by Storm, Storm, and Storm. Finally, when everything is in place, bring out the big guns, and Storm. Pretty simple right?

Ok maybe not, but you get the picture.

There isn’t a single win condition that we’re aiming to assemble each game, per se, rather, our gameplan is to find lines of play that either get us out of jams (like Cabal Ritual -ing into Consume the Meek to stop a turn 4 Elfball, yes this is experience talking) or flat-out win us the game immediately.

My preferred avenue of play is the relatively straightforward and relentlessly fun brute force method of casting rituals, cantrips, and tutors (along with some copy effects and graveyard interaction) to set up a table kill with something like Torment of Hailfire or Jaya's Immolating Inferno .

But the whole point of Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM) is going off your way.

Want to zap people with Aetherflux Reservoir ? Great! How about ping infinitely with Ral, Storm Conduit ? Cool! Maybe a classic Tendrils of Agony kill? Nice!

What Storm will you choose?

Building your Build-A-Storm!(TM) Storm!(TM)

Congratulations! You’ve decided to Build-A-Storm!(TM)!

Best of luck to you as you undertake a journey that we hope will grant you an arbitrarily-large amount of mana, all the cards, and, of course, an embarrassingly-huge Storm count. Thanks again for choosing Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM) Storm(TM)!

Well, first things first, we need a nice foundation to Build-A-Storm!(TM). Below are some suggestions to get you started!

Bonus Round

A great start to any Build-A-Storm!(TM) Storm!(TM), and my personal favorite. Bonus Round acts like turn-long Doublecast , digging cantrips further while supercharging rituals and tutors. Furthermore, graveyard interaction (e.g., Mission Briefing , Kess's ability) and/or spell copying (e.g., Doublecast , Ral, Storm Conduit ) can get us multiple Bonus Rounds in play, which gets out of hand very quickly. This does copy opponents’ spells as well, though, so cast carefully...

Thousand-Year Storm

What’s better than Storm? Uhh, how about GIVING EACH OF YOUR CARDS STORM?!? And for the low, low, actually kind of high cost of 4UR, you can do just that! Yeah, it's a slightly awkward six-mana enchantment that paints a giant target on your back the moment it comes out, and, sure, it only works with instants and sorceries, but you'll be glad you didn't leave home without it.

Past in Flames

Ol' reliable. When in doubt, PIF is a good bet.

Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter

EDH staple. This deck isn’t particularly well-equipped to assemble and take advantage of this combo, but it’s an easy include and the deck has a bunch of ways to use the mana and/or cast triggers. Release to the Wind can bounce Isochron Scepter if you need to Imprint a different spell for whatever reason.

Naru Meha, Master Wizard + Release to the Wind

This loop gives us infinite casts of Naru Meha, Master Wizard and infinite copies of Release to the Wind . RttW is bad removal, but it can give us a turn to breathe or save our stuff from opposing removal. Naru Meha is another instant-speed copy effect that also happens to buff our wizards if, God forbid, we have to beat down for the last couple points of damage.

Infinite instant copy chains

Using spells like Expansion / Explosion , Doublecast , Ral, Storm Conduit , Insidious Will , and so on, we can chain spell copies infinitely. While the copies won’t tick up Storm counts, they can be used with Ral, Storm Conduit to ping for infinite damage. (see below)

Win Conditions and Outlets

Congratulations, you’ve completed Step 1 of building a Build-A-Storm!(TM) (Storm)(TM)! Nice Storm foundation you’ve got there! Now what?

Well, let’s find some outlets for that mana or those infinite cast triggers or these spell copies, shall we?

Thousand-Year Storm

Giving all your spells Storm is good, go figure. Untapping with this should be the game.

Torment of Hailfire

Make a ton of mana however you see fit, then let Holy Fire rain down and smite opponents as you play the Seventh Plague of Egy—err, Torment of Amonkhet. Copy effects are great here, as they’ll copy the resulting X value of Torment of Hailfire !

Jaya's Immolating Inferno

Like Hailfire, Jay's Immolating Inferno can be a table killer, neatly allowing us to target three anythings. While that will usually be players, it can also kill creatures and Planeswalkers giving us trouble. This finisher isn't always an option, however, as it's a Legendary Sorcery and therefore requires a Legendary creature or Planeswalker in play to use. This deck has a few that can help us cast this, and Kess is a quick cast from the Command Zone, but don’t bend over backwards trying to make this work.

Expansion / Explosion

Expansion / Explosion can kill two players with one cast (one with damage, the other via forcing a player to draw their library+1), but its real utility is as a part of various infinite combos (which will be covered later). It’s also a decent utility spell, letting you kill a problem creature/Planeswalker while refilling an empty hand.

As a copy effect, Expansion / Explosion is okay and can effectively disrupt opposing gameplans by copying key interactions or counterspells, but the CMC limit will occasionally hurt us. Note: Expansion / Explosion will copy nearly any EDH staple counter or removal spell, BUT Force of Will is a notable exception (not an issue in my playgroup).

Ral, Storm Conduit

Ral's static ability being triggered by spells AND copies is perfect for this deck, considering we have a ton of ways to make infinite copies of our various spells. Even better, Ral comes with a built-in spell copier as his -2, and honestly now I’m imagining it as like a “spell Xerox” that the Izzet guild leaders have in their offices’ shared common space, and maybe it also has a fax machine, too, for signatures and such, and the ink cartridges are never full, even though they were just replaced last Tuesday and are magic.

His +1 can definitely be useful, especially in longer games, but he’s mostly here for the ping and the spell Xerox that is only like a year old yet somehow has been serviced twelve times already. Ok, I’m feeling like I’ve overdone the Xerox bit.

Ral’s Pingfinite combos (okay, the name needs work) Show

Check out some of these options to get you started!

Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter with 2 mana from artifacts in play

Naru Meha, Master Wizard + Release to the Wind

Naru Meha, Master Wizard + Expansion / Explosion or Insidious Will : This chain requires an initial spell to copy, but that can be as simple as a cantrip or ritual (or even an opponent’s spell if you want to be rude and Storm off on their turn!). Play Expansion / Explosion or Insidious Will , targeting the initial Instant/Sorcery, then, with Expansion or Insidious Will on the stack, play Naru Meha, Master Wizard targeting the copy spell. With the new copy, target the original copy spell, and BOOM! You’re infinite!

Expansion / Explosion + Insidious Will This chain also requires an initial spell to copy. Once the initial spell is copied, the above spells will copy each other infinitely!

Primal Wellspring cuts the need for a second copy spell, though its availability depends on Primal Amulet   being flipped. Cast an initial Instant or Sorcery, copy it with an Instant copy spell using mana from Primal Wellspring , and then it’s to infinity, and beyond!

Doublecast requires a bit of finesse, because it’s sorcery-speed. With Ral on the board, Doublecast plus an instant-speed copy spell such as Expansion / Explosion or Insidious Will gets us infinite. First, we activate Ral, Storm Conduit ’s -2, then play Doublecast to give us two copies of Doublecast on the stack. We let the first copy resolve, then, holding priority, target the original Doublecast with an Instant copy spell. Now we can copy that Instant infinitely! Note: Naru Meha, Master Wizard can’t go infinite with Doublecast ; cards like Hypersonic Dragon or Leyline of Anticipation can also get around the sorcery-speed limitation, though I’ve found those cards to only be okay in the deck

Card Selections

Kess’s Build-A-Storm!(TM) is meant to primarily be a budget deck, and outside of a few outliers, it is.* I’ve found that the deck very happily plays at the level of my playgroups' decks, so the current list works for me as is. Make adjustments as needed!

Lands

Show

Lands. This deck has them!

Ok, so the land base is obviously the deck’s weak point, but that’s to be expected at its price point. While none of the other decks in my playgroup are playing good fetches, most of my playgroups’ decks are one or two colors, putting this deck’s slower three-color base at a slight disadvantage. Access to U early to cast our cantrips is crucial, though not necessarily required, depending on what hand we’ve kept (for instance, keeping a hand that can get something like Thousand-Year Storm on the table by turn 3).

Notes:

• Although we don’t have good fetches, the slow and basic land fetches we have fix us and shuffles our deck after a Brainstorm or the like
• Bad River can grab Steam Vents or Watery Grave . The other tapped fetches are cheap and nice budget options to good fetches, so grab them if you can (I plan to at some point, they’re just low-priority at the moment)
• The Vivid lands are great for early fixing
• Rainbow lands of the Rupture Spire variety are fine, but I wouldn’t add more than one or two, because paying a mana early for a land can really set the deck back
• 28 lands is a bit greedy, but you’ll find that the various duals and fetches make it relatively painless (get it?) to fix us. Also, with so many ramp options in the deck, flooding with more than 30 lands happens more than you’d think. London Mulligan really helps.

Jaya Ballard

Lady Firehands has a rough mana cost, but getting the pyromaster on the board can lead to an easy win. Her abilities outside her ult aren’t immediately threatening to other players, so she often slides under the radar, but they’re awesome for our gameplan. A free Pyretic Ritual or pillaging up to three cards per turn is right up our alley, and, better yet, both are +1 abilities. Her ultimate gives us a constant Past in Flames effect, which should essentially end the game, so if you find her at 8 loyalty, ult her immediately (even if you have to sacrifice her). An early Pyretic Ritual / Desperate Ritual into Seething Song can get her out as quickly as turn 2, and yes I’ve done it and yes it’s awesome as it sounds.

Magus of the Will

It's a BAD Yawgmoth's Will , but also a CHEAP Yawgmoth's Will

Ramp

Rituals

The deck's bread-and-butter. Chain 'em together and let that Storm count rise! Don't be afraid to use rituals to ramp out threats in the beginning stages of a game! An early threat like Thousand-Year Storm or Jaya Ballard can often seal the game, and you can always recast the spent rituals with the deck's graveyard interaction.

Mana Geyser

This is a card that is likely meta-dependent, but hoo boy when it's good, it's good. A great way to make a ton of mana to dump into something like Torment of Hailfire or Jaya's Immolating Inferno . Be sure to copy it!

Mana Cost Reducers and Dorks

Baral, Chief of Compliance , Goblin Electromancer , Primal Amulet  , and so on decrease the cost of your instants and sorcery spells, while Ruby Medallion and Sapphire Medallion reduce any red or blue spells respectively. Treasonous Ogre is awesome and highly recommended.

Artifacts

The artifact mana in this deck does its job, but it's definitely not the deck's strong suit. Artifacts played are pretty standard, though there’s probably room for more. Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter goes infinite with 2 mana from rocks and makes infinite mana with more.

Sideboard

(in progress) The sideboard consists of wish targets that can give us answers when needed. Some things to note:

Apex of Power

Its awesomeness is only surpassed in grandeur by its insane mana cost. That said, with cost reducers and rituals, this is easier to cast than you might think, but it’s really only good as a way to dig for gas when other options are exhausted. The 10 mana you get from casting it from your hand does ease the pain a bit.

Brass's Bounty

Brass’s Bounty isn't particularly good, but the urge to make a billion treasures is natural and should be encouraged. Brass's Bounty + Thousand-Year Storm is just aces. Revel in Riches can act as another win condition that works great with Brass’s Bounty, but you’ll probably want to add some other treasure-producers if you want to go that route.

Drain Power

This is a weird card that bounces between my main and maybe boards. It's sorcery speed, so opponents can respond and play/activate something at instant speed to prevent you from draining all of their mana, and you can't use it as interaction during, say, an opponent's upkeep (though cards like Emergence Zone and Hypersonic Dragon can get around this limitation). Its real strength is tapping an opponent's lands and draining their mana pool to decrease the likelihood of them interacting with you during your combo turn (it may even draw a counterspell). Otherwise it’s a bit of a brick. Hilarious against Seedborn Muse and/or Kruphix, God of Horizons .

Questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, complaints and accusations welcome!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Key combos	Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter Naru Meha, Master Wizard + Release to the Wind Brass's Bounty + Thousand-Year Storm Expansion / Explosion + Insidious Will
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 3 Mythic Rares 27 - 2 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 35 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.33
Tokens	Emblem Jaya Ballard, Foretell, Goblin 1/1 R, Treasure