Episode 036 — Once in a Blue Moon…

Welcome back to The Brainstorm Show, ladies and gentlemen! We are excited to bring you a new episode covering the state of Legacy, deckbuilding at the Pro Tour, New Miracles, Search for Azcanta, and more! We hope you enjoy.

    Grixis Azcanta by Rugved Karhade

3 Baleful Strix
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 True-Name Nemesis
1 Gurmag Angler

2 Search for Azcanta
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Spell Snare
2 Fatal Push
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyroblast
2 Thoughtseize
2 Counterspell
1 Diabolic Edict
2 Night’s Whisper
2 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Force of Will

3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Bloodstained Mire

SB
2 Flusterstorm
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Diabolic Edict
1 Painful Truths
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Blood Moon

Brief Brainstorm 006 — Musings on Shardless vs. Miracles

Quick bit of extra content for all the loyal Brainstorm Show listeners out there. We received a donation from a friend of the show, and we fielded his questions about Shardless BUG vs. Miracles in this Brief Brainstorm. Enjoy!

Episode 022 — Miracles-Slayer Delver

Welcome back to The Brainstorm Show, listeners! This week we take the ceaseless chatter about Miracles bans head on by showing you how you can take a common archetype and rethink it to be more competitive against the “best deck in the format.” We built a BUG tempo deck, and in this episode we walk through the card choices and some of the popular matchups. Take a look at the list below and the sideboard plan for the common decks in the current metagame. Enjoy!

Maindeck
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Nimble Mongoose
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
2 Spell Pierce
4 Wasteland
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Verdant Catacombs

SB
2 Disfigure
2 Go for the Throat
2 Painful Truths
2 Winter Orb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Flusterstorm
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize

Sideboarding Guide
Miracles:
-2 Dismember, -2 Wasteland, -2 Daze
+2 Winter Orb, +1 Pithing Needle, +1 Flusterstorm, +2 Painful Truths

Shardless BUG:
-4 Force of Will, -2 Spell Pierce
+2 Go for the Throat, +2 Painful Truths, +2 Disfigure

Delver:
-4 Force of Will, -2 Spell Pierce
+2 Go for the Throat, +2 Painful Truths, +2 Disfigure

Eldrazi:
-4 Stifle
+2 Go for the Throat, +2 Thoughtseize

Storm:
-4 Abrupt Decay, -2 Dismember
+3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Thoughtseize, +1 Flusterstorm

Lands:
-4 Daze, -2 Dismember
+3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Winter Orb, +1 Pithing Needle

Death and Taxes:
-4 Stifle, -2 Pierce, -1 FoW
+2 Disfigure, +2 Go for the Throat, +2 Thoughtseize, +1 Pithing Needle

Sneak and Show:
-2 Abrupt Decay, -2 Dismember
+1 Flusterstorm, +2 Thoughtseize, +1 Pithing Needle

Infect:
-4 Force of Will, -2 Spell Pierce
+2 Go for the Throat, +2 Disfigure, +1 Pithing Needle, +1 Flusterstorm

Episode 019 — GP Columbus Through a Miraculous Lens

Miracles players rejoice! The Brainstorm Show is back on the deck and this week we are providing you with a lengthy discussion about our approach to building the deck in anticipation of GP Columbus. Wilson and Phillip have worked to produce the leanest, most flexible list they could while still taking advantage of the heavy hitters in many Miracles builds. This is a list designed with the wide-open GP field in mind. We hope you enjoy the analysis and find our sideboarding map useful.

The Miracles discussion starts at about 24:00. Below you will find the decklist, as well as a detailed sideboarding guide:

The Brainstorm Show’s GP Columbus Miracles List
Spells (34)
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Preordain
2 Predict
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Terminus
1 Counterspell
4 Counterbalance
4 Force of Will
2 Engineered Explosives

Creatures (7)
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Snapcaster Mage

Lands (19)
4 Island
2 Plains
2 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa

SB
1 Mountain
4 Pyroblast
2 Disenchant
2 Blood Moon
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Flusterstorm
1 Spell Pierce

Sideboard Map

Mirror:
+1 Mountain
+4 Pyroblast
+2 Flusterstorm
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Vendilion Clique
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Terminus
-1 Plains

Grixis/RUG Delver:
+1 Mountain
+4 Pyroblast
-4 Force of Will
-1 Counterspell

BUG Delver:
+2 Flusterstorm
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Vendilion Clique
-4 Force of Will

Death & Taxes:
+2 Disenchant
+1 Entreat the Angels
+1 Vendilion Clique
-4 Counterbalance
(On the play, board in Spell Pierce over single Counterspell)

Eldrazi:
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Disenchant
+1 Spell Pierce
-4 Counterbalance
-1 Counterspell

Storm:
+2 Flusterstorm
+1 Spell Pierce
+1 Surgical Extraction
+4 Pyroblast
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Mountain
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Terminus
-2 Plains

Sneak and Show:
+4 Pyroblast
+2 Flusterstorm
+1 Spell Pierce
+2 Disenchant
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Mountain
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Terminus
-2 Engineered Explosives
-1 Plains

Lands:
+2 Blood Moon
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Surgical Extraction
+1 Entreat the Angels
+2 Disenchant
-4 Terminus
-1 Counterspell
-2 Predict

Elves:
+2 Disenchant
+2 Flusterstorm
+1 Entreat the Angels
-4 Force of Will
-1 Counterspell
(Judgment call here: might keep Force of Will vs. an inexperienced opponent because they could go all in the Natural Order plan)

Shardless BUG:
+4 Pyroblast
+1 Spell Pierce
+2 Blood Moon
+1 Entreat the Angels
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Mountain
-4 Force of Will
-4 Counterbalance
-2 Engineered Explosives

Episode 012 — Legacy Misconceptions & Miracles Crushers

Welcome back to The Brainstorm Show! In Episode 012, we dispel with some common misconceptions about the Legacy format and offer up some sweet lists to slay the Miracles monster. Dig Through Time is here to stay for the next two months at least, so don’t be afraid to engage in some “if you can’t join them, beat them” warfare with us.

Lists & Helpful Links:

The Brainstorm Show’s Death and Taxes:
4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Serra Avenger
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
3 Flickerwisp
3 Vryn Wingmare
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

3 Karakas
4 Wastland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Horizon Canopy
8 Plains

SB
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Rest in Peace
3 Holy Light
2 Armageddon
2 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant

The Brainstorm Show’s Manaless Dredge:
4 Golgari Thug
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Chancellor of the Annex
4 Bridge from Below
4 Ichorid
4 Nether Shadow
4 Shambling Shell
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Street Wraith
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Dread Return
3 Balustrade Spy
4 Phantasmagorian
1 Flayer of the Hatebound
4 Narcomoeba

SB
4 Force of Will
4 Disrupting Shoal
3 Whirlpool Rider
1 Ashen Rider
3 Faerie Macabre

The Brainstorm Show’s U/B Tezzerator:
4 Baleful Strix

4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

1 Seat of the Synod
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
3 Darkslick Shores
3 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Dimir Signet
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Sword of the Meek
3 Talisman of Dominance
2 Thopter Foundry
4 Force of Will
2 Thirst For Knowledge
2 Transmute Artifact
2 Toxic Deluge

SB
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Trinisphere
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Toxic Deluge
3 Duress
1 Night of Soul’s Betrayal
1 The Abyss

The Brainstorm Show’s Infect:
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Noble Hierarch

2 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Pendelhaven

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Invigorate
2 Vines of the Vastwood
2 Berserk
1 Become Immense
1 Dig Through Time
1 Sylvan Library
1 Crop Rotation

SB
3 Flusterstorm
2 Krosan Grip
2 Spellskite
1 Sylvan Library
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Hydroblast
1 Crop Rotation
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Karakas
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Bryant Cook’s The Epic Storm Website

Episode 004 — Miracles

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Brainstorm Show. In this episode, we bring back Phil Braverman for his first episode as an official co-host! This week we give Miracles the same treatment we gave ANT, with deck building philosophy and two-way matchup analysis. If this show format appeals to you and you want us to continue doing these deep deck analyses, please let us know in the comments. Links to referenced decklists are including below. Enjoy the show!

Phil Braverman’s current list (March 2015)

4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Counterbalance
2 Counterspell
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Councils Judgement
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
4 Terminus
2 Entreat the Angels
3 Dig Through Time

2 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Island
2 Plains
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
1 Pithing Needle
1 Spell Pierce
2 Flusterstorm
2 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Wear//Tear
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
2 Blood Moon

Phil’s GPNJ Top 8 List (Stoneforge Miracles)
RiP/Helm Miracles
Joe Lossett’s Legendary Miracles
Philipp Schonneger’s Ponder Miracles
Jim Davis’ BUG Delver