Yes. I know. This deck is really weird but this is one of the most fun I've ever had with a modern deck. I'm sure some of you have heard of the deck called Cheeri0s but this is a little different. What this deck is is a deck that revolves around Puresteel PaladinHow is it different you might ask? Well Storm kills tend to be a lot more common but it still has plenty of backup plans in case things go wrong. It is not uncommon for someone to ruin your Storm combo and you still win with an enormous
Myth Realized
or a couple 3/2 flyers beating them down every turn.
Alright. Before I begin to explain to those of you who don't know this deck how it works and how comboing off works, let me tell you the linchpin of the deck.
Puresteel Paladin
This monster not only lets you equip for free but also gives you card advantage whenever you play an equipment, which in this deck is pretty often. You don't need him to win, but he makes life a million times easier when you have him in play.
Alright now to tell you how the combo works. This storm combo is a lot more reliable then the U/R storm deck which actually surprised me quite a bit.The combo itself is actually quite simple and to the point but I'll explain anyways.
- Play Puresteel Paladin and preferably another Puresteel Paladin.
- Play all the 0 cost artifacts in your hand then draw a ton of cards.
- Hopefully you draw into a
Retract
or already had one because you play that to play all your 0 cost artifacts again.
- Rinse and repeat until you storm up to 20. Then produce red mana via Mox Opal or Paradise Mantle to Grapeshot them.
Now to break up the deck
Your Cheeri0s so to speak are the following: Accorder's Shield, Bone Saw,
Kite Shield
, Mox Opal, Paradise Mantle, and
Spidersilk Net
. Besides helping you storm they also have other benefits like giving your equipped creature vigilance or reach.
I had a hard time deciding whether to put in
Golem-Skin Gauntlets
or Cranial Plating but I finally decided to go with with the Gauntlets for a couple of reasons: first off, one mana can make all the difference in this deck since were only running 16 lands. Second of all the only non-equipment artifacts in the deck are Mox Opal and Darksteel Citadel so I think the trade off is pretty good.
I'm only running one Monastery Mentor just because its a three-drop and they get targeted pretty fast. However it was just too good not to put one in, and usually I'm drawing enough cards in one turn to dig for him. Being able to pump out 20 1/1 (possibly 2/2's or higher next turn) right off the bat and swing with a huge Mentor is not only no laughing matter but also a great wincon.
Ah
Myth Realized
. The white Tarmogoyf. This card can get ridiculous in this deck fast. I only run two of them because they also get targeted pretty fast. Apparently people don't like getting attacked by a 15/15. Imagine. However like the Mentor I can usually dig for him pretty easily.
I put
Kitesail Apprentice
in there for just pure value and having a cheap threat on the board is always nice. It has flying which is awesome for obvious reasons and can save you a game against U/G infect or Robots matchups with blocking their Inkmoth Nexus. Plus its not uncommon to equip it with a Bone Saw and have a 3/2 flyer for one mana.
I run 3 Brave the Elements because its great against removal and swinging in with an unblockable 25/25 Myth or Mentor is pretty good.
Retract
is good for storm counting and keeping your creatures intact to removal.
Serum Visions is a modern legal cantrip.
Lands? Duh.
So statistically speaking I win about 40% of my games with Storm. I win another 40% due to a crazy Mentor or Myth and I win 20% with just regular old beatdown with regular creatures that have been pumped with equipments.
So... what are the biggest weaknesses? Well the biggest weakness so far is removal/discard. If they manage to kill all my creatures or make me discard my pieces that I need, its very hard for me to recover. (I'm looking at you Abzan Midrange) Also any anti-storm cards they might have in their sideboard can cripple me, whether I'm storming off or not.
So lets look at sideboard.
3 copies of Silence so they cant counter or kill anything that I play when I'm comboing off.
2 [dismember]s because Tarmogoyf and Eidolon of the Great Revel hurts.
3 Leyline of Sanctity for burn and also discard makes me sad.
3 Gutshot because Spirit of the Labyrinth and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben also make me sad.
3 Path to Exile for pesky creatures
1 Kemba, Kha Regent. This was pretty hard for me to not only have 1 of but also to not mainboard it. However, this is the creature that gets killed the most without it benefiting me because unlike Mentor, I cant do it right off the bat. I have to wait for my next upkeep and at that point, its dead. So I board it in when the decks I play don't have a lot of removal.
So what do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Have a question? Have a comment? Let me know! This deck is far from perfect so I respect any suggestions.
