Old School and Me: Hurricane 2023 Winner’s Report

Posted on by vintagejdizzle

This was my first Old School tournament. I got into the format just a couple months earlier, when YouTube recommended OS gameplay videos by Timmy the Sorcerer to me. I watched them and really loved what I saw. I began playing Magic in November 1996 (sold out in 2008, returned in 2017) and so the prominent cards in the format were the cards I chased and played with in my earliest days. The format offered a heavy dose of nostalgia and chance to play with cards I hadn’t been able to play with in nearly 20 years, not since my Vintage days in the mid-2000s. I also really loved the back and forth and simpler gameplay the format offers. I tried Legacy a couple years earlier and it wasn’t quite the experience I was looking for, being dominated by mostly recent printings; further, my life schedule made it hard to play the format regularly and I found myself suffering in games for this.

Having slowly accumulated a sizable collection of FBB cards over the past years for both EDH and Legacy (including a set of Serendib Efreets I acquired from old friend Rich Shay), I realized I had most of the cards for a formidable deck. Back in 2019, I went to a Modern FNM at Gamers Paradise in San Antonio the night before an RCQ in the city. I was paired against a member of the Alamo City Old School Club and when our discussion turned to vintage cards, he gave me one of the group’s stickers. I knew there was Old School in Texas so I reached out to old card aficionado Nick Patten, a friend from Asgard Games, about whether there’s a group in Houston. He directed me to the Falling Stars.

With the ability to play the format in person now established, I ordered the rest of the cards for my half-completed deck, ordered proxies for the power cards I couldn’t afford any more, and my foray into Old School was in motion. I quickly learned about the Hurricane event and cleared my calendar for it. I was so excited about playing that I had trouble sleeping the night before, something Magic hadn’t done to me in a long long time.

I mentioned “my Vintage days”.  In what feels like another lifetime ago, I was JDizzle of Team Meandeck. That’s where my nickname comes from—it was my old handle on The Mana Drain. I’m not sure if there’s anyone around who remembers that name, but for the one or two who do…um I’m back? :p

Deck Tech

I played UR Tempo or as it’s called more often, Counterburn. With just four counterspells in the 75, “counterburn” doesn’t seem like a terribly great name, although it does continue the tradition that seems to permeate formats involving old bordered cards of naming decks that make no sense (Deadguy Ale, Solidarity) or are out of date for their current lists (Vintage Fish that had no merfolk, Grim Long that wasn’t designed by Mike Long…) In any case, I prefer “Tempo” because with 4 Strip Mines under EC Rules, that’s very much how it plays.

Creatures (7):
3x Electric Eel
4x Serendib Efreet

Instants/Sorceries (22):
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Braingeyser
4x Chain Lightning
4x Counterspell
2x Fork
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Psionic Blast
1x Time Walk
1x Timetwister
1x Wheel of Fortune

Artifacts (9):
1x Black Lotus
4x Black Vise
1x Chaos Orb
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Sol Ring

Lands (22):
2x City of Brass
5x Island
4x Mishra’s Factory
4x Mountain
4x Strip Mine
3x Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
2x Blood Moon
2x Blue Elemental Blast
2x Boomerang
1x Hurkyl’s Recall
2x Pyrotechnics
1x Recall
4x Red Elemental Blast
1x Shatterstorm

My list is 80% standard so I’ll just focus on the few unique choices.

  • In the one drop spot, I chose to run Electric Eel over Flying Men because of City in a Bottle. I didn’t want my entire creature base to be so vulnerable to a two mana artifact! Electric Eel does have a lower floor as it lacks the flying of the Arabian Nights creature but it has a much higher ceiling because it can hit for 3+ damage. It’s an excellent mana sink in the late game, capable of pushing that last few damage across quickly, and great at keeping opposing Mishra’s Factories in the land zone.
  • Fork as a two-off is my flex spot. These could be additional counter spells (e.g. Power Sink) or X-spells like Fireball but I chose to run Fork. The dream is to copy an opponent’s Ancestral Recall, Braingeyser, or Mind Twist (“Now we both don’t have any cards!”) but it can also counter an opposing Counterspell to force through a threat. Two mana to copy a Lightning Bolt is extra damage at an acceptable rate and duplicating your own Psionic Blast really puts an end to the game quickly. It’s a card I thought I’d board out often before the tournament but I almost never did. I just didn’t have things I wanted to bring in more than I wanted Fork. While non-blue opponents don’t give you as good of targets, the card has no risk because you don’t get 2-for-1’ed if you copy your own spell and it gets countered.
  • Mana Drain, perhaps the ultimate tempo card, is absent from the list because I didn’t feel it necessary enough to acquire one (I don’t have an original frame copy, although I’d like one). It’s a strong addition and I wouldn’t argue against it. However, this deck’s low curve and reliance on colored pip spells will frequently leave you without a sink for the mana. I think I’d rather have Fork for its versatility, although I think I will try Mana Drain at some point in the future.
  • Black Vise as a four-of may seem excessive but it’s one of your best early game play as it puts early pressure on life totals without relying on the combat step. On the play, it’s a colorless Lightning Bolt at the very least and will often do at least 5 damage, better than any creature in the format at that mana cost. Further, it turns Draw7’s into game-finishing damage sources late in the game. I often board these out on the draw against all but slow/control decks, where it loses most of its effectiveness. But since we expect to be on the play 50% of Game 1s, this card can do a lot of work for us and really punish opponents who keep slow hands.
  • I’m only running 3 Volcanic Islands because I only own three and didn’t want to proxy the last copy—mine are FWB and a proxy wouldn’t match! I subbed a second City of Brass I wouldn’t run otherwise for the last copy; in practice, the damage from an extra copy doesn’t come up in enough games to make a difference.

I think most of the sideboard is pretty self-explanatory in its inclusion. Boomerang in an all-purpose general answer to anything troublesome—you can bounce a CoP: Red and unload your hand, bounce a Maze of Ith nullifying your lethal attack, or generate tempo by bouncing a Juzam Djinn that came out early thanks to Dark Ritual. Pyrotechnics is a one-sided board wipe against Weenie decks, its primary purpose, and a high-damage burn spell that’s immune to Red Blast against control decks.

As far as matchup go, this deck has favorable matchups against anything that’s slow or takes a long time to win, with “The Deck” perhaps excepted. I spent a lot of time thinking about that matchup and I’m still not sure whom it favors (perhaps it’s even). Black Vise has a lot to do with the deck’s strength against slow decks but there’s just so much burn in this deck that inevitability is on your side in most matchups. Cards like Wheel of Fortune help provide that late-game final push.  

Fast aggro matchups are a coin flip; UR can succeed playing a control role as well, and often does on the draw, since Serendib flies over crowded boards and survives Lightning Bolt. Still, Mike Flores’ “Who’s the Beatdown” applies and it’s important not to fall into a pure control role as the deck still needs to have enough to win the game. Additionally complicating the aggro matches is that Psionic Blast, Electric Eel, and City of Brass add to the pressure on your life total.

Among the format’s most common decks, I don’t believe there’s any dreadful matchup, although large creatures can be a problem, particularly if they come down quickly. Psionic Blast takes out most things but Shivan Dragon and Erhnam Djinn are not among that crowd. Erhnamgeddon can really get you by following its eponymous Djinn or Serra Angel by slipping an Armageddon past countermagic. Aside from that, UR is incredibly consistent with a lot of interchangeable cards and doesn’t need to mulligan often, a major strength. It punishes opponents who keep mediocre hands with its speed and sometimes just runs over people even when their deck is doing its thing.

Round-by-Round Results

I didn’t think to take notes until after the tournament was over, when Andy asked me if I’d be interested in writing a retrospective on the event. I went out and made some voice memos of what I could remember of my rounds immediately after that. Seeing the posted deck photos also jarred some memories loose. Still, some of my details may be incorrect and if my opponents remember it better, I’m sure they’re right. I stand to be corrected as needed.

Magic is a game of variance and every successful tournament performance requires some level of luck. I had it on my side at several key moments during the event. My deck gave me many good hands that made some games easy and I mulliganed very infrequently. But it gave me some difficult hands and decisions as well and I’m pleased to have made the right choices in those situations.

Round 1 – Andy with Power Artifact Combo

Game 1 – He was able to get Basalt Monolith and Power Artifact down but his payoff was just a Mind Twist that hit my hand of three cards. By the time that happened, I already had a Serendib on board (which I believe I played on turn 2) and had reduced his life total significantly. I was able to fly the Serendib and whatever I drew after to victory.

Boarding: -4 Black Vise, -1 Timetwiser, +2 Boomerang, +1 Hurkyl’s Recall, +2 Red Elemental Blast (or something like this)

Game 2 – I left my Forks in for this game because while I didn’t see red in the first game, I assumed it was there. Forking a 200-mana Fireball reverses the lethality of the spell and that seemed well worth it. I think he opened with a land and a Mox, maybe two. I had an Island and a Sapphire. I had the option to play something early, maybe Ancestral Recall or a turn 2 Serendib Efreet, but I had Boomerang in my hand and wanted to slow-roll it to save to cancel a Power Artifact. He cast the enchantment into my open mana and I used the Boomerang to bounce the Monolith. After that, he just never really was able to get anything going and I was able to tempo him out, between Red Blasts and attacking Factories and a Serendib. He got a Triskelion down late that turned off my Factories but my Serendib and a Psionic Blast finished him off from 7 life.

Round 2 – Lizzy Garcia with Pink Weenie (WR Aggro)

Game 1 – I was on the play and I had a hand full of burn. I don’t believe I had a creature except maybe a Mishra’s Factory. At some point, I looked at my hand of three Psionic Blasts and realized that was most of her life total. I turned my Bolts at her creatures to make sure I stayed alive long enough to cast the Blasts and keep my life total high enough to not be in danger from her collection of red damage spells too. It worked and I was able to defeat her on the back of 12 damage from three spells.

Boarding: -4 Black Vise, +2 Pyrotechnics, +2 Blue Elemental Blast

Game 2 – A work of art for her and her deck. You want to talk about humming like a machine? That’s what she did this game. She had all her creatures on curve and every time I thought I had finally stabilized, she had the right answer right on time. Serendib to block her White Knight and Savannah Lions?  She had a Swords to Plowshares. Another Serendib? She had another one. Mishra’s Factory that could also block? Strip Mine. She was one step ahead the whole game and rode her deck’s tempo to a beautiful victory.

Boarding: no additional changes. She empties her hand too quickly for Vise to be good against her.

Game 3 – My hand was absent of threats but had 2 Strip Mines and I think a burn spell. On the play this game, I thought I could use the Strip Mines to keep her off her 2-drops and perhaps off two lands for the bulk of the game. Her deck did an excellent job of producing enough land for her—I Stripped her a third time even. She had two lands on turn 5 still but one was a Mountain that left her unable to cast her two-mana creatures. She also Strip Mined me twice, leaving me unable to cast much either. I felt good about my position but as she also cast burn spells to match my pace and I realized my life total and game situation wasn’t as firm as it seemed.  

She cast a Stone Rain and was torn between targeting my Island, my lone blue source at that stage of the game, and my Mishra’s Factory. She chose the Island with consternation, uttering words to the effect of “I’m not sure this is right” as she did. This turned out to be a critical point in the game, the match, and my tournament so I want to spend a little bit more time analyzing it.

From my side of the table, I feel she should have chosen the Mishra’s Factory. I can’t remember my exact hand and while I’m sure it had some blue cards in it, I don’t believe they were terribly great. My primary goal at this stage of the game was to push enough damage across to reduce her life total to zero and the Factory helped me do that most immediately. However, she did not have access to this information, having not seen my hand. I also didn’t know what was in her hand; I just knew that the Factory was my best source of damage at this stage of the game (but she didn’t).

Her side of the story is much more difficult and nuanced. She had just seen me struggle to keep blue mana, thanks to her double Strip Mine, and from her side of the table, removing my Island continued to brick my hand. She too was searching for enough creatures and burn to finish my life total off and cutting me off blue limits my threats: no Psionic Blast that would kill her, no Serendib, and further, if I drew a second blue source, I’d have Counterspell up and that might be an even bigger issue for her. Further, her deck contains a lot more answers to a Mishra’s Factory: she has Strip Mine, Disenchant (if she left it in), Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt (better aimed at my life, but it does keep her alive), and blockers, many of of which have first strike. By cutting me off blue, she was looking to extend the game and get a few more draw steps that might enable her to draw the last cards she needed, all the while blanking my draw steps if I drew more blue cards.

Did she make the right play?  She didn’t win the game so the glaring answer seems to be “no.”  Results-based post-analysis, however, is often fallacious. It fails to consider that she made her decision with imperfect information (because that’s how Magic works). If the cards had aligned differently after that and she won, her decision would appear to be correct. But again, that’s hindsight, and from the information she had available to her, the Island was probably correct. She had so many other ways to deal with a Factory while she wouldn’t have been as robust against a stream of blue threats and answers. Island was playing to her outs, which she did get one of, which is always the right thing to do.

The Factory attacked for two the next turn and she was able to remove it after that with, I believe, a Strip Mine, but that two damage really mattered at that point and put her down to lethal Bolt range.  Fortunately for me, I was able to draw just a bit more burn than she did to finish her before she could finish me, winning the game with 4 life remaining.

This was my tightest and tensest game of the tournament.  Luck was on my side in this match and my day would have gone very differently had fortune given Lizzy a burn spell at a different time.

Round 3 – Mark Brothers with Jund Disco-Troll

Game 1 – He resolved a turn two Sylvan Library but I was able to keep him off his colored mana with Strip Mine. He drew two Strip Mines but was so far down on mana and I was up on tempo that wisely realized he had to keep them for mana to cast spells. My memory for this game is very fuzzy so I think the best way to say it is that my deck did its thing. He cast a Sedge Troll without any black mana to regenerate it. I looked at my hand and decided the Troll was not a concern at that point, having a Serendib on board and was ahead on life. The Psionic Blast in my hand that could kill the Troll was better spent on his life. We traded attacks but my burn was able to finish him off before I was in any danger.

Boarding: -4 Black Vise, +2 Blue Elemental Blast, +2 Boomerang

Game 2 – He resolved an early Sylvan Library again. I cast a turn 1 Serendib with help from Black Lotus. He attempted to Red Blast my Serendib on my upkeep after I took damage but I had a Blue Blast to keep it alive. He got a Sedge Troll down, this time with Swamps. I drew a Strip Mine to blow up his only open black source at the time but he put a Regeneration shield on the Troll, so I decided not to throw two burn spells at it. We traded attacks and when I was at 7 life and he at 2, he drew a Lightning Bolt with a sigh of “A bit too late,” attacked for 3 to put me to one. “You got it,” I said. He was surprised. I had a Serendib on board and the trigger would put me at 0 before the attack could put him to 0. I did have a Psionic Blast in my hand that I could have used to draw the game with the Serendib upkeep trigger on the stack as it would have killed us both, but I elected not to and just move on.

Boarding: -2 Boomerang, +2 Black Vise

Game 3 – His deck is not super fast and being on the play, I wanted a couple of Vises in hopes of sticking one early. Boomerang is a reactive card and on the play, I can and need to be more proactive, so it was appropriate to take it out. The plan of mising a Vise worked and I had one turn 1. It did major work, doing some 10 damage over the course of the game. After that, I didn’t need a lot else to close it out, given what the Vise had done, and I regret that this made my opponent feel a bit hopeless as the game steered to its end. I’m afraid I don’t have better recollection of this game aside from that.

After this match, Mark told me he’s known for Strip Mines and has a deck with 75 of them in there. I thought in my head that it seemed appropriate that his first two mana sources in game 1 were just that. He presented me a pin that says “Y’all MFers Need More Strip Mine.”

Round 4 – Keith Sweeney with Underworld Dreams w/ Blue Splash

Game 1 – I had a really good hand and I was just able to keep the tempo in my favor the whole game. He destroyed one of my lands with a Sinkhole on turn 2. I had, I believe, a quick Serendib Efreet after that did a lot of work before being met with a Terror. Keith played a Sengir Vampire and I blew it away with Psionic Blast. Another Psionic Blast to his life total helped as well. I’m certain he cast a Timetwister in this match because we had a discussion about whether it gets shuffled in or goes in a new graveyard and I think it was this game but I don’t remember the circumstances around it.

Boarding: no changes. I didn’t see enough of his deck’s strategy to make changes and I didn’t think I had any relevant board cards for this. I saw he had blue but suspected he didn’t have enough to warrant Red Blast given that almost all his spells cast in game 1 were black.

Game 2 – He led on an Underground Sea and passed. I played a Mox Ruby and a Mountain, wondering if he might cast Hymn to Tourach on his next turn. Instead, he cast Ancestral Recall on my end step and I tapped RR…for Fork!  The dream! He Dark Ritualed out a Juzam Djinn the next turn but I threw a Chain Lighting and Psionic Blast at it having gone up two cards thanks to his Ancestral and with one of my own in my hand. I continued to be patient and keep my countermagic open for key spells, casting burn spells as I drew them, finally casting that Ancestral Recall that had been sitting in my hand since turn 1, my second of the game, when my hand was down. It was just too many cards for him to keep up with and my creatures and burn spells polished off his life total.

After the match, we discussed his deck a bit and it was then I learned it had Underworld Dreams in it. We didn’t see one hit the table the entire match. Keith and I met at Asgard Games a few years ago during a Legacy tournament but we hadn’t seen each other in some time. We spent quite a bit of time catching up!

Round 5 – Brian Tweedy WR Land Tax Tower 

Game 1 – Ivory Tower plus Land Tax is a really powerful combo against a burn deck. Fortunately, my deck runs on three lands and I wasn’t willing to play more to let him activate the Land Tax more than once. Further, Black Vise nullifies Ivory Tower and at one point, we each had two of them in play. I had drawn a lot of land and had three Strip Mines in my hand that I was unwilling to play because putting him down a land would have let him use Land Tax again. His life was middling, unable to gain any thanks to the Vises, and he cast a Winds of Change. My hand was four lands when he did that and he later told me his hand was 5 lands and a blank. My new hand was a Psionic Blast, Serendib, Chain Lightning, and some other piece of gas. I cast all that stuff and drew two more burn spells in a row, ending the game with a Psionic Blast that drew a sigh of “right on time”, which it very much was.

Boarding: -?? (I can’t remember what, maybe some Psi Blasts and Chain Lightning), +2 Blue Elemental Blast, +1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Game 2 – He led with an Ivory Tower. I countered with a Vise. He did not play a second land. I wasn’t sure if he was sandbagging in hopes of sticking a Land Tax or didn’t have one. I used a Strip Mine on that land. He produced a Plains on his turn but didn’t cast any spells. I had two lands in play and looked at my hand. I took a calculated risk: I Stripped his land and then cast Hurkyl’s Recall to bounce the Tower to his hand, betting he didn’t have another land in his hand to recast it. I guessed right. The Vise chewed his life total down while I cast two Electric Eels without any red mana at that point and started attacking. He discard to hand size two turns in a row. I cast a third Electric Eel and I believe a Mishra’s Factory. I attacked for 5 a couple turns in a row. I think my Vise finally went bye-bye and his Tower became active but I was attacking for more than he was gaining and his life total was low. I finally drew a second red source and could pump one of my Eels to finish the game.

After the game he revealed his hand had three CoP: Red in it! It would not have been that effective in that game as my biggest damage sources were colorless and blue. Had he been able to land one, it definitely could have extended the game by turning off my red burn spells and perhaps it would have gone differently with that active Tower.

Round 6 – Shane Remelt “The Deck”

Game 1 – Shane played an early Library of Alexandria. I didn’t locate a Strip Mine until it had drawn a good 5-6 cards and I way too far behind on cards to actually win, despite being able to get him down to 6 life. He cast all sorts of really nice cards like Demonic Tutor, Ancestral Recall, Regrowth to get back a Demonic Tutor, Demonic Tutor again, and a whole host of things. I tried to resolve things past that and didn’t succeed. He eventually cast a Recall and I had UU up. He said “Before you cast the card Counterspell, I just want to double check that Recall doesn’t make you discard as a cost.” I confirmed it didn’t. I cast the card Counterspell. He also cast the card Counterspell. He cast the Demonic Tutor he rebought and on the next turn resolved a Mirror Universe. I was going to tell a story about how I once pulled one of those out of a pack of Italian Legends but I was far less excited to see it this time. Instead I looked at the life totals. He was at 6 and I was at 25 thanks to a couple of Swords to Plowshares. I drew for the turn and then picked up my cards.

Boarding: -3 Serendib Efreet, -1 Psionic Blast, -4 Chain Lighting, +4 Red Elemental Blast, +2 Pyrotechnics, +1 Hurkyl’s Recall, +2 Blood Moon

My sideboard strategy here was to get leaner. I knew he would bring in 4 Red Blast and so having a bunch of three-mana blue sorcery speed spells was not where I wanted to be. The Serendibs also die to StP and his having 8 cards that could trade up +2 mana on the Serendibs made me take them out. I’m not sure if that was right or not. Pyrotechnics, while expensive, cannot be Red Blasted so I elected to bring those in as an additional burn spell. Blood Moon is obviously lights out and Hurkyl’s Recall is there to make my Vises better, returning a stack of artifacts to hand to get 3-5 extra damage per Vise on board. Chain Lighting is a fine card but it’s the weakest spell in the deck, being just 3 damage at sorcery speed. Having additional Red Blasts to keep him off his draw spells and force through my best threats through countermagic was a part of being leaner.

Game 2 – My opening hand was 2 Black Vise and a Strip Mine as my only mana source with a bunch of blue cards. I decided to risk it, hoping I could use the Strip Mine to keep him from doing much while the Vises chipped away at his life total and completely disabled The Deck’s biggest strength, drawing cards. It did exactly that. I Stripped his second land and he went a large stretch of the game without actual lands, relying on only a couple Moxes as his mana sources. I was eventually able to draw an Island and cast Ancestral Recall, which let me drive the rest of the game home my way.

Game 3 – I think he mulliganed once, played a Mox or two, and my early decision dilemma was when to use the Strip Mine in my hand. I elected to keep it in hand and use it to cast a Turn 3 Blood Moon when he had one card in hand and…it resolved, much to my surprise. I used a Chaos Orb on his Mox Pearl to cut off his white mana and he played a series of Mountains for the rest of the game. I remained patient and just played what I drew, a mix of Burn spells all the while keeping UU open to represent countermagic (which I didn’t have). I cast a second Blood Moon at some point and had a Lotus just sitting on board. We played draw pass a lot and he sat at 11 life. My hand of three cards was Wheel of Fortune, Fork, and Hurkyl’s Recall. I drew a Lighting Bolt! I cast it and Forked it, putting him at 5. I passed. He passed. I untapped and drew a Counterspell but decided now was the time for Wheel of Fortune because all I needed to do was draw a Black Vise and a burn spell and he’d die. I had a good chance of that in 7 cards. I drew a Vise and a Bolt and that was it.

The hand he discarded to the Wheel had a Lotus, a Copy Artifact, and a Disenchant in it. He said his plan involved trying to use Copy Artifact on the Lotus but he was hesitating, trying to draw a Red Blast to back it up. The Hurkyl’s Recall in hand would have blown him out, which he acknowledged. Blood Moon is a helluva card. We discussed our sideboarding a bit and he showed that he boarded out Chaos Orb because “I suck at flipping them.” It would have helped against that Blood Moon…with a good flick of the wrist, that is.

Conclusions

I had more fun playing Magic at this event than I ever have in 27 years in the game—and trust me, I’ve had A LOT of fun playing Magic. The atmosphere of the crowd and the format reminded me of everything I love about this game and why it’s been a part of my life in some manner, even when I didn’t own cards, for the better part of three decades. It was a fantastic first experience in Old School that 110% makes me want to come back for more. I hope I can build on the friendships I started as we play more ancient cards together!

As for my deck decisions, here’s my post tournament reflections:

  • Electric Eel performed well enough. It found itself the subject of removal spells often and I consider that a success. That opens the door for Mishra’s Factory and Serendib Efreet to remain alive. As larger attackers, that’s better. I don’t see a reason to change this out as the card did not underperform and met my expectations for a 1-drop in Old School.
  • Fork was excellent. I used it to copy my own spells most of the time and that’s good usage. Double Psionic Blast occurred at least once and that’s just a kick in the face.
  • 4x Vise is outstanding. I would not change this. Vise was gamebreaking in multiple matches and the reason I was able to win my last two rounds.
  • The manabase felt solid. I only got stuck once, I think, when I drew three mountains (I think this was the final game against Lizzy), but I was still able to win through it. Otherwise I was able to cast my spells as I desired without troubles.
  • My sideboard served me well. I didn’t feel I had any major omissions nor “why is this in here?” cards.
    • I didn’t use Shatterstorm because I never encountered a Workshop/Robots deck. The decks it might have been useful against as mana denial were vulnerable to Vise so I didn’t bring it in. Shatterstorm wasn’t intended as mana denial so this is not a loss. I do not believe I would have been better served by a single target artifact kill spell.
    • Recall is not for control decks because it’s vulnerable to Red Blast. It’s meant against discard decks and I never encountered one of those.
    • I boarded in in a couple matches but never drew a Pyrotechnics.
    • The other cards all served well in their roles and I was satisfied with each of them. Four Red Blast is a bit difficult to bring in so if I decide I need something else, I might cut one of these. Still, having access to all four is good.
    • I didn’t miss not having an X-spell nor did I feel I needed additional countermagic.