Thousand-Year Storm

Enchantment

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, copy it for each other instant and sorcery spell you've cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.

Discussion (46)

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 13: Izzet …

2 weeks ago

According to an old myth, a king once posed his advisors an awkward problem: how to prove whether a crown was pure gold. The guy who figured it out was stumped until he took a bath. As he sank into the water he noticed his body was displacing it, and in a moment of epiphany he realized this was a method to check the crown. Evidently, this was such a stimulating realization that he jumped clean out of the bathhouse and took off down the street, buck-ass nude and shouting “I’ve got it!”

You’ve probably heard this story, and know the point I’m making: the Izzet League, Guild of Engineers and Magewrights, can best be described as a pack of over-caffeinated nerds hell-bent on chasing moments just like that. Coincidentally, this parallels the experience many magic players pursue in a given match. While you can have those moments doing anything, if you’re looking to thematically mimic Archimedes at the moment of streaking epiphany, preferably laying aside public indecency, Izzet the place to be. Today, we’re discussing commanders tied to three prevailing Blue-Red themes: Storm, Chance, and Gunslinging. As always, please bear in mind that our focus here is not necessarily competitive but rather on thematic, archetypical commanders.

Storm

I don’t necessarily mean the keyword, though Thousand-Year Storm is admittedly a favorite: I mean instants and sorceries as an overall theme. Bear with me on this: If I were to assign a card type to each color…

White: Enchantments

Blue: Instants

Black: Creatures

Red: Sorceries

Green: Lands

Understand that my suggestion here isn’t that any color has the best of the associated card type, but rather that each card type is among the color’s primary thematic interactions. Green has the closest relationship with lands, Black kills/resurrects/abuses creatures, etc. Sorceries, being generally cruder but also more powerful than instants, tie in thematically with Red, which is cruder and... not more powerful, but definitely more direct than Blue, a subtle and minimalist color.

Izzet, then, has a primary interaction with both instants and sorceries, focusing on non-permanent spells in order to capture the thematic essence of spellcraft. If you want to rock the hell out of the game by wizarding it up, I have some commanders for you to Ponder!

Simple, potent, and tasty. A copy of any given spell is welcome, and firing from the hip off the top deck is quite thematic, quasi-literally throwing ideas at your opponents, technically before you even have them.

This is very pretty art, and while maybe not the best choice for slamming down massive X drops, for raining down a pile of cantrips Veyran’s your best friend. Who would say no to getting bigger whenever you cast a spell AND doubling both the card’s own effect and that of any accompanying triggers, like Archmage Emeritus, Aria of Flame, and Firemind's Research? With a potential for solid command damage AND a great doubling effect, this is a fantastic commander.

Or, if you think cantrips are for wusses, Vadrik is probably more your speed. Power him up with, say, the Runechanter's Pike, wheel a few times, and unleash all manner of insanities by slamming down a hideously overpowered Banefire or Blue Sun's Zenith. Heck, go for broke and play Epic Experiment while having Thousand-Year Storm out as well. If anyone’s still alive after your thirty-minute turn, they’ll probably have lost all will to go on anyway.

Chance

Just as this is the pairing of inspiration, Izzet is also about boom-bust gameplay. There’s an element of chaos to it, yes, but rather than inflicting lunacy on everyone Izzet also has the potential to ride a private brainwave straight across the finish line, whether in control or not. Sometimes your plan will go off like an atom bomb. Sometimes it will fizzle, wheeze, and grind to a sad little halt. Regardless, that type of gameplay will be a LOT of fun.

and

I did promise to talk about a coin deck back in the Red article. Okaun is potentially (unreasonably) large, Zndrsplt occasionally supportive. Seeing them together is worrisome: three lucky tosses and Whispersilk Cloak or something like will kill an opponent, and it’s not unlikely. Add Krark's Thumb and you’ll probably overstock your hand, break a thousand P/T on a single creature, and strike a blow for gamblers everywhere. Bring mana rocks, bring evasion, and above all… bring Fling.

Wheeling is a mechanic that clearly illustrates chaos in magic, both for good and for bad. Doing it every time you cast a spell? Glorious. No plans. No guarantees. Just making like a leaf on the wind. Any win you get out of this commander is EARNED.

Nekusar, the Mindrazer, the sphinx-that-shall-not-be-named, or Smothering Tithe ruining the local meta? Have I got a solution for you! Jump across that fuzzy line of lunacy Izzet players so love to skip along and never draw a card again. This is neat, completely sidestepping a fundamental mechanic of the game. Throw in a few permanents that draw at instant speed, wizards are good like that, and tot up options as needed. I am very, very excited to see decks built around this.

Gunslinging

This is wordplay at its worst, and I apologize. Again, I don’t necessarily mean commanders that ping you to death. Rather, I mean commanders that are trigger-happy on the draw, or vice versa. The act of drawing is, in metaphorical terms, new ideas coming to you over the course of your wizardly duel, and ideas are very much in the provenance of Izzet. It’s only appropriate that a few commanders in this pairing either reward you for having lots of ideas or ensure you have lots of them. Obligatory mention of buggy rewards from The Locust God and Kindred Discovery goes here.

And, of course, this is where Wattles the Wizened himself comes into the conversation, being exactly what the theme sounds like. Draw cards, give him deathtouch, and torch the board. Go for broke on this moldy old cheese and attach Ophidian Eye. It’s not exactly creative, but it’s certainly effective. You know, compared to Jhoira of the Ghitu this is practically calm, but people don’t really respond to her that way. I’d like to profess ignorance as to why that might be, but having built several artifact combo decks I really can’t. She’s a solid choice, not that offensive in and of herself, and I recommend her to anyone not willing to go full Breya, Etherium Shaper. This is one I wouldn’t immediately recommend to anyone angling to compete, insomuch as one can in a casual format. However, as the literal god of insight and inspiration (and smiting Zeus-style), he’s thematically perfect. Depending on what you draw, you either get another card or a Lightning Bolt. On an indestructible, sometime 6/5 creature, that’s pretty nice. If your deck is of a caliber where it doesn’t depend on its commander, this is a very innocuous choice that’s going to mislead a lot of people and yet still get you a lot of utility.

And, for my personal favorite… She tried to replace my Okaun/Zndrsplt deck. She tried, and failed, but I still have a great deal of affection for her. This is a commander made to wheel all day who has the color access to nearly every instance of that mechanic. Fill that graveyard with ephemeral goodness, sprinkle a few evasion cantrips for flavor, and tag opponents HARD with a sweet old lady. Then bake them cookies, just to rub it in. Seriously, someone teach their grandmother magic and have her play Rielle. You’ll break the internet.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back soon for an old favorite, Golgari!

Orzhov

Simic

Selesnya

Gruul

Rakdos

Dimir

Azorius

Green, with links to the other mono-colors

enpc on Rippling Dragon's Approach

1 month ago

Is there a reason you're not running a red/blue commander for the deck? I get that Birgi is good for the combo, but adding blue gives you more artifact tutoring, countermagic/some removal, Thousand-Year Storm and Mana Severance which helps once you've got Thrumming Stone out.

Kurppa on Niv-Mizzet, Wheel of Pings

1 month ago

Awesome deck! I really like spellslinger decks, and playing this seems really fun.

However, considering how many instants and sorceries you have and the wheel theme, i'm surprised you don't have any graveyard recursion or synergy.

some cards that you could consider are: Bond of Insight, Call to Mind, Flood of Recollection, Mystic Retrieval, Pull from the Deep, Relearn, Shreds of Sanity, Backdraft Hellkite, Past in Flames, Volcanic Vision and The Mirari Conjecture

some of those exile themselves and since you have so much draw power that might actually be a downside. If i were to cut something for those I would maybe one of those shuffle effects.

here's some cards that cast instants or sorceries from your or other people's graveyards: Finale of Promise, Diluvian Primordial, Mnemonic Deluge, Mizzix's Mastery and Spelltwine.

mnemonic deluge and diluvian primordial are pretty funny, though kinda expensive. Imagine casting a wheel and then "going shopping" for spells, i highly recommend it. though these exile, so if you loop your deck you can't cast the spell you coped again.

if you want to bounce creatures with niv-mizzet, you could consider Arm with AEther or Sigil of Sleep.

some more spellcasting synergy: Firebrand Archer, Saheeli, Sublime Artificer.

i don't know how often you would be able to kill or do something significant with Spiraling Embers, but i thought it would be a fun inclusion.

here's a few cards for copying instants and sorceries:

Bonus Round, Insidious Will, Reverberate, Thousand-Year Storm, Swarm Intelligence and Twincast. twincast, reverberate and insidious will double as interaction, and you could also consider Narset's Reversal

and a few more card draw inclusions: Laquatus's Creativity and Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip.

sorry for the wall of text, just got excited about brewing so i wanted to suggest a bunch of cards. I hope that this at least gave you some ideas.

bushido_man96 on Which deck to run Thousand-Year …

3 months ago

I've got two decks that I'm try to decide between in running Thousand-Year Storm . Currently, it's in my Ydris deck, Yidris, Maelstrom Thief, but the focus of that deck has changed to be more of a theft deck, with less focus on instants and sorceries. I'm considering dropping it an slotting it into my Kalamax deck, Lightning-Butt Strikes Back!.

Just looking for some thoughts on this. Thanks!

Wizardhat91 on Epic Experiment EDH

4 months ago

Spellseeker and Thousand-Year Storm for the revamp of this deck. Last updated 8 years ago so it needs some love, still looks fun though

Neotrup on Lutri's Mechanics

4 months ago

Companion is a mechanic that allows you to access an extra card at the cost of 3 mana and restricting your deck building. When originally printed you did not have to pay the extra 3 mana, and the effect of having access to an extra card, especially a known card rather than a random one, was so powerful that wizards had to implement bans and the rule change to pay 3 mana.

You do not get the enter the battlefield effect each turn, and not all companions even have an enter the battlefield ability (such as Jegantha, the Wellspring , a popular companion in modern Tron).

Even of you did get Lutri, the Spellchaser ETB each turn, it would only copy a spell, it wouldn't copy the cast triggers of the spell, which is important for your infinite combos. The Release to the Wind combo I described has you copying the spell, but not casting it so Double Vision and Thousand-Year Storm don't trigger. I did link several cards that do work off the combo, and ones templates the same way would also work.

9-lives on Lutri's Mechanics

4 months ago

Would Thousand-Year Storm work well? I think it is one of my best bets in making an infinite combo.

Hardhitta7 on Which Card is Best For …

5 months ago

I personally like Thousand-Year Storm in my Spellslinger decks, but I also run more 1 mana cantrips than most people so it’s easy to build up storm and get multiple copies of stuff.

If your going bigger with the spells I would go with Swarm Intelligence so you can guarantee to get a copy if you only cast one big spell per turn.