We had a low turnout this week for Modern, but I was able to take it down with storm!
Round 1 vs UW control- My deck was simply faster than his both games. Storm can force counterspells at the end of the control player's turn, then drop a creature and combo off on my turn. The control player didn't see his grave hate in game 2, and there were times where his Path to Exile helped ramp me into the mana I needed to cast Gifts Ungiven to find the pieces I need. Also, Noxious Revival has proven itself in the deck, and I seem to never want to cut it since it allows for more useful gifts piles. Dispel was also clutch in the post-boarded games to protect my key spells.
Round 2 vs Obliterating Jund- In case the name didn't give it away, my opponent was on a jund plan using Phyrexian Obliterators as his top end with Lilys and Grim Flayers as additional threats. We ended up going to time in game 3, although he likely would have taken the game had we played it out. I took a quick game 1, then games 2 and 3 were grind-fests. In all 3 games he landed a Liliana of the Veil on turn 3 which didn't help my plan much. The only reason I took game 1 was because I happened to draw my 1-of MD Empty the Warrens for 8 goblins after he spent most of his hand discarding mine. I think I need to refine my sideboarding plan against grindy decks like jund for future tournaments.
Round 3 vs Living End- He wasn't happy to be playing against me, and it was soon apparent why. Even if he presents a fast clock by putting a few creatures into play on turn 3, my combo is just faster. He had little interaction against my deck, and in both games I was able to use Noxious Revival to put one of his few threats back on top of his deck in response to him casting his cascade spell, giving me time to assemble a lethal storm turn. This seems to be one of the few matchups were I don't side in much of anything, as Remand is great at countering a Living End and there isn't much to bring in from the SB.
Due to the low turnout and how all of the matches went down, I got 1st place with 7 points going 2-0-1. I've still never gotten a clean 3-0 or 4-0 with storm, but I know it's capable of doing it if I were to be a better pilot. I also think I can change up some of the SB slots (3 Blood Moons is at least 1 too many) to help with some tougher matchups. I need to test sideboarded games more to get a feel for when cutting gifts and going for grindy value is the correct play. I also want to try the fetchless version of this deck that runs a few more cantrips sometime.
