To those in tune with the Firemind, there is no difference between knowledge and flame.

I have been a purveyor of Storm since Pro Tour: Return to Ravnica, the mechanic Storm has always felt close to home and has become a Legacy style dedication for myself. The deck has all but disappeared in most major tournaments these days, however you will come across Storm now and then. Many believe the reason is that there is too much hate for Storm to be competitive, I could not disagree more with this thinking.

Storm’s weakness is also its most attractive quality, its complexity. Seeing a true master of Storm play his or her game is a sight to see, since it can take a lot of time to master the deck people tend to abandon it, those who have ignited the firemind see clearly how the deck operates and can foresee a path to victory rather early.

The build is a far stretch from the typical Storm builds, which is still very powerful but lacks some elements that can push it up a tier. I have incorporated [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] into the Storm build. I have cut [card]Pyromancer Ascension[/card] and added control elements such as [card]Negate[/card] and [card]Remand[/card] to the deck. The power of [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] is insane in Storm, the card has never performed better anywhere else. I did test an [card]Unburial Rites[/card] package in the sideboard for a while, and in testing it just wasn’t needed.

Here is the current build:

Ungiven Storm – Anthony Newhook

[deck]
[Lands]
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
[/Lands]
[Spells]
3 Anticipate
3 Desperate Ritual
1 Dispel
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
2 Merchant Scroll
1 Negate
1 Noxious Revival
2 Past in Flames
3 Pyretic Ritual
3 Remand
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Pierce
1 Vapor Snag
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Electromancer
[/Creatures]
[Sideboard]
3 Blood Moon
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Bribery
3 Empty the Warrens
2 Rending Volley
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Echoing Truth
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Operating the deck:

Primary goal of the deck is to win through [card]Goblin Electromancer[/card], he is the reason for running Anticipate over any other two mana cantrip. The counter suite allows you keep him alive to combo off. The next step is finding a copy of [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card]. [card]Serum Visions[/card], Anticipate and [card]Merchant Scroll[/card] are there to aid, [card]Merchant Scroll[/card] is in all essence another copy of [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card]. However it is handy to tutor a counterspell to protect the engine or bouncing something with [card]Echoing Truth[/card] or [card]Vapor Snag[/card].

Why does the deck work now, and not the earlier versions

I believe earlier incarnations mostly known as “Ritual Gifts” were built incorrectly, the deck now has incorporated a control element to its playstyle, we have no use for Pyromancer Ascension and the deck is not built around it in cards of four. [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] allows us to run many singletons, to aid in whatever situation you can come across.

Newest additions to Storm:

[card]Sulfur Falls[/card] – Replacing [card]Shivan Reef[/card] was a hard choice, since the number of turn one plays with this build is lower than the traditional list, absolutely having a untapped mana source for turn one is not as needed. As well potential life loss with [card]Shivan Reef[/card] has always been a thorn in a Storm player’s side.

Anticipate – Since dropping Pyromancer Ascension finding a [card]Goblin Electromancer[/card] is priority one, cards such as [card]Telling Time[/card] or Peer through Depths just do not cut it comparably.

Remand, [card]Negate[/card], [card]Spell Pierce[/card] & Dispel – Adding combo protection and dealing with troublesome cards. A subtle counter suite is just what Storm needed to remain competitive.

Echoing Truth, [card]Merchant Scroll[/card], [card]Noxious Revival[/card] – An all-star utility suite, allowing us to deal with almost anything. It is very tempting to run a few more Merchant Scrolls, in testing, two (sometimes one) is the ideal number. [card]Noxious Revival[/card] is broken in the build, on upkeep bringing back a [card]Goblin Electromancer[/card] or even removing a targeted card with [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card].

Anger of the Gods – A mass sweeper was needed in Storm, many aggressive strategies are neutered by [card]Anger of the Gods[/card].

[card]Hurkyl’s Recall[/card] – Replacing Shatterstorm, [card]Hurkyl’s Recall[/card] is an improvement, instant, and two mana lower make this change an easy one to make. Shatterstorm is however very easily slotted back into its place, it is just preference.

Bribery – Sitting in the flex slot of the sideboard is a pet card of mine, I use this versus a few decks, just as an alternate win con, most notably would be Tron.

Common arguments on card choices

When you are able to cast [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] you are already winning?

Which is very true, a resolved [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] is surely a win, Storm had a gaping weaknesses, it was weak to aggressive strategies, Twin variants and sometimes discard decks. An instant tutor for four cards is back-breaking, and with our graveyard as an extension of our hand, having somewhat control of what cards are placed where is pure value. [card]Noxious Revival[/card] allows awkward Gift piles to be heavily sided in our favor.

Where is Pyromancer Ascension?

The deck has no place for it, on turn two you’re looking to do one of three things, cast [card]Remand[/card], Anticipate or [card]Merchant Scroll[/card]. You could play a turn two [card]Goblin Electromancer[/card], however depending on the deck your opponent is playing, I highly discourage this play.

Ascension decks are built with cards of four, we have a lot of threes, twos and even one ofs. This is not a Pyromancer Ascension deck.

What games does [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] win you, that the regular list wouldn’t?

In all honesty this is a rather hard question to answer right now. What it does add is that it makes it a combo with a minor control/protection element, instead of a pure combo package, having access to a subtle counter suite is rather amazing in Storm, since the deck is under the radar, opponents do not expect [card]Remand[/card] nor [card]Negate[/card], and often times end up tapping out for us to win.

Tips & Tricks with Ungiven Storm:

● Noxious Revival on your upkeep to draw that card, it also adds to Storm count.
● Remanding your own [card]Grapeshot[/card] (original copy) to cast again.
● End of turn three, three land and Pyretic/Desperate Ritual + [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card].
● End of turn two, two land and two Pyretic/Desperate Ritual + [card]Manamorphose[/card] + [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card]. *Please note I have done this once in two hundred games and was successful at comboing off the follow turn.

Common Gifts Ungiven selections:

● Pyretic Ritual, [card]Desperate Ritual[/card], [card]Manamorphose[/card], [card]Past in Flames[/card].
● Pyretic Ritual, [card]Desperate Ritual[/card], [card]Noxious Revival[/card], [card]Goblin Electromancer[/card].
● Pyretic Ritual, [card]Desperate Ritual[/card], [card]Past in Flames[/card], [card]Grapeshot[/card].
● Pyretic Ritual, [card]Desperate Ritual[/card], [card]Remand[/card],
● Past in Flames, [card]Grapeshot[/card].

In most cases you will have a card in hand that you do not need to tutor for, such a prime spell is [card]Past in Flames[/card], seeing your opponent struggle with the awkward choice of which Gift pile to ship to the graveyard is rather cruel, but enjoyable.

Sideboarding Guide

Amulet Bloom

In
[sbplan]
1 Echoing Truth
3 Blood Moon
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
1 Gitaxian Probe
3 Remand
[/sbplan]

RG Tron

In
[sbplan]
1 Echoing Truth
1 Bribery
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
1 Dispel
1 Vapor Snag
[/sbplan]

Affinity

In
[sbplan]
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Anger of the Gods
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Remand
[/sbplan]

Jund/Abzan

In
[sbplan]
3 Empty the Warrens
1 Bribery
3 Blood Moon
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Remand
1 Anticipate
1 Dispel
[/sbplan]

Burn

In
[sbplan]
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Empty the Warrens
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
3 Gitaxian Probe
3 Remand
[/sbplan]

Twin/Grixis Control

In
[sbplan]
1 Echoing Truth
2 Rending Volley
[/sbplan]
Out
[sbplan]
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Remand
1 Anticipate
[/sbplan]

Final thoughts on Ungiven Storm and its place in Modern:

You don’t see Storm in any form too much in Modern nowadays. I think this combo has been a sleeping giant for some time. [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] is severely underplayed in Modern and it feels so good to cast in Storm. The deck is a puzzle and very unforgiving when a mistake is made. Traditional style of Storm’s matches have always felt very one sided, now this new version gives a level of ubiquity and interaction that is very thrilling to play.

I highly recommend the deck if you love a challenge, finding the right puzzle piece at almost instant speed is value, I also welcome any suggestions or improvements, and if you see a sweet interaction that I have missed please let me know, the beauty about Storm is the deck is always teaching you something new.

Twitch.tv: http://www.twitch.tv/koohwen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Koohwen_