This article was written last Saturday by Jimmy McCullough who placed

11th with his Dragonstorm Deck at the ManaNation Standard Tourney. -- Trick

I am sure that many of you have seen me on the forums. I tend to frequent them quite often. I am glad to see that ManaNation is really starting to pick up and I hope that it continues to grow so that we can have a large community of like minded people to bounce ideas and opinions off of. My hat goes off to Trick for the great job that he has done setting this site and show up for us. Okay, so I guess that is enough ass kissing. But before I get to the point of this article, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I started playing Magic when Revised was first released. Yes I know that this shows my age. I am not the oldest person playing magic, I am not even the oldest on these forums, but 26 years old isn’t exactly the prime age of a competitive Magic player. I played all the way through Mirage before I called it quits. I had decided that my girlfriend was more important than a silly game so I sold all of my stuff to my buddy for the paltry sum of $50. I thought it was a pretty good deal because I thought that Magic was dieing and that I had gotten the better end of the bargain. Unfortunately the box of cards that I sold included playsets of all the Beta Dual Lands and each of the Power nine. Yep that’s right. What makes this worse is that my girlfriend and I split very soon after and as you can see Magic was still growing. Oh well…you live and you learn.

Even after I left the game of Magic I always thought about it. Whenever I would see a comic store or even a vendor with cards for sale on display I would almost always stop and chat with the person selling the cards and reminisce about old times, but it wasn't until Mirrodin that I took it back up. Right after Hurricane Charley beat up my hometown of Kissimmee, I drove by my local Comic Shop, the Coliseum of Comics, just browsing around. They got flooded out and lost tons due to damaged product. They were selling Theme decks and Tournament packs for practically nothing. None of the cards were damaged so I figured I would pick up a couple of the Theme decks and a few packs jsut for old time sake. Well, it was like giving crack to an ex-addict. I was hooked again. I mostly just played solitaire games in the beginning because I didn’t know anyone else that played, but it was still really fun. It took me a while to catch up on all the rules but once Kamigawa hit I was back in the saddle. I have been playing ever since.

Now, with that all said, lets get on to the present. Today was a great day, it is tournament day. It started off with me rolling over in bed and slapping my alarm clock because I only got 3 hours of sleep but the day was still good. So now I had to kill my hangover. A few home remedies here and few there and I was ready to go. I went over to pick up my buddy Jimmy (yes we are both named Jimmy.) We chatted about what decks we thought would be big and touched up on some strategies. By the time we got to Cool Stuff we were both sure that we were ready to go.

I sat down and chatted with Lee for a few minutes and picked his brain about my deck. He offered some very insightful things to say and I am grateful for his advice. Anyway, so I made a few adjustments to my sideboard and registered my list. After this I did a little scouting to see what other decks I could get a boost of knowledge off of. I found out that Doran, the Siege Tower was by far the most popular deck in the room. I happen to have very good match up against them because they seem to be quite slow. I also noticed that there were very few if any Merfolk decks which I am quite happy about. Those little fish can spring to lethal damage from a seemingly empty board. Unfortunately I also noticed a lot of both RDW (Red Deck Wins) and a lot of people playing Dragon’s Claw. This was not good for me. I tested against RDW and found that the match up was very much in my opponent’s favor. And Dragon’s Claw is just a nightmare for my deck. It forces me to play slower which isn’t a good thing. Lets not even talk about the games where they get multiple Dragon’s Claws. Right about this time you must be wondering what deck list I am running. Well, take a look.

So do you get it? Do you understand how the deck operates? Well here is a rundown of a solo game. Granted this is uninterrupted but it will show you how the deck works out.

Opening Hand:

Spinerock Knoll, Fungal Reaches, 2x Snow-Covered Mountain, Rite of Flame, Rift Bolt, Pyromancer’s Swath.

This hand is actually very good and quite keepable. This is how the hand would play out uninterrupted.

Turn 1: Play Spinerock Knoll. Look at the top 4 cards. (Spinerock Knoll, Fungal Reaches, Rift Bolt, Dragonstorm). We obviously choose the Dragonstorm as this is pretty much our ultimate play. Now we pass the turn. I would like to note that Dragonstorm isn’t always the optimal card to put under the Spinerock Noll. Grapeshot is just as easy of a kill condition but you must have Pyromancer’s Swath to make this win condition realistically possible. On many occasions you will whiff on these cards and you will put a burn spell under the Spinerock Noll. Trust me when I say that this is ok too.

Turn 2: Draw Fungal Reaches. Play Fungal Reaches. Pass turn. On my opponent’s EOT put a counter on Fungal Reaches (1 Counter).

Turn 3: Draw Rite of Flame. Play Snow-Covered Mountain. Pass the turn. On my opponents EOT put a counter on Fungal Reaches (2 Counters).

Turn 4: Draw Shard Volley. Play Fungal Reaches and suspend Rift Bolt. Pass turn. On my opponent’s EOT put a counter on Fungal Reaches (3 Counters).

Turn 5: During the upkeep Rift Bolt un-suspends and we target the opponents head. Draw Incinerate. Play Snow-Covered Mountain.

Breakdown of the Board: Spinerock Knoll (With Dragonstorm under it.), 2x Fungal Reaches (3 Counters) (0 Counters), 2x Snow-Covered Mountain.

Turn 5 (Continue):

Step 1:Tap Fungal Reaches to remove all the counters. (RRR in manapool).

Step 2: Play Rite of Flame. (RRRR in mana pool).

Step 3: Play Pyromancer’s Swath with (RRR). (R in mana pool).

Step 4: Play Shard Volley sacrificing the tapped Fungal Reaches. Because of Pyromancer’s Swath, Shard Volley deals 3+2 damage. This makes the total damage dealt 8 this turn (3 from Rift Bolt and 5 from Shard Volley).

Step 5: The requirement for Spinerock Knoll has been met. Tap the Snow-Covered Mountain and the Spinerock Knoll to flip up Dragonstorm (Storm Count 3).

Step 6: With 3 Copies of Dragonstorm and itself you have enough copies to search out 4 Bogardan Hellkites. This is a total of 28 damage this turn and enough to secure the win (20 from Bogardan Hellkites and 8 from Rift Bolt and Shard Volley).

That might seem complicated…but it really isn’t. This is an actual random game that I shuffled up as I wrote this article. This is a very common way of winning. I hear that turn consistent turn 5 wins is good.

So now that you know how the deck works, now lets move onto the tournament report!

Round 1: Doran

Game 1: My opponent opens with a Birds of Paradise on both turns 1 and 2. On turn 2 he also casts Thoughtseize and steals Incinerate. He drops a Chameleon Colossus on turn 4 only to have me Ramp into Bogardan Hellkite to kill off his Chameleon Colossus. This leaves me with a 5/5 flier and him in bad shape. I swing and burn to finish out this game.

Sideboarding: I don’t really have a dedicated sideboard for the Doran matchup. They have mass removal in the form of Damnation so sideboarding in Empty the Warrens seems like a bad play. Pyroclasm and Sulfurous Blast seem like natural fits here but in the end I choose to not sideboard anything because I feel that the match up is already quite good and that I feel that my main deck is more consistent than a sideboarded one.

Game 2: There isn’t a lot to say about this match. I open with Lotus Bloom and on turn 4 between Lotus Bloom and my 3 Rite of Flames I am able to drop Pyromancer’s Swath and double Grapeshot for an awesome 39 damage on turn 4. It really didn’t matter what he did this game because this was just a perfect draw for me.

Thoughts: So I end this round 2-0. I found this match up to be rather easy. I was fortunate to not see a turn 2 Doran, the Siege Tower so far. So overall I was very satisfied by the way the deck played this round.

Round 2: Doran

Game 1: My opponent gets an early 3/4 Tarmogoyf on the board. I ramp up my mana and drop a Bogardan Hellkite. I decide to kill his Birds of Paradise and the Tarmogoyf with my Bogardan Hellkite. The problem here is that I didn’t notice the Horizon Canapy on his side of the board. He sacrificed it in response to the damage and Tarmogoyf gained +1/+1 and survived. This obviously upset me so on the next turn I Pyromancer’s Swath + Grapeshot for the win. You have got to love multiple win conditions.

Sideboarding: Nothing has changed since the last Doran deck so I decide to leave my main deck the way it is.

Game 2: I drop a turn 1 Spinerock Knoll removing Grapeshot. Then I suspend 3x Lotus Bloom. On turn 4 all the copies come into play and I cast Dragonstorm for 4. This seals the victory. Triple Lotus Bloom in your opening hand is extremely rare but almost guarantees you a win.

Thoughts: I ended this round 2-0. I am very happy with the way the deck is playing. Everything seems to be going my way. This makes me 4-0 Game Wins and 2-0 Match Wins.

Round 3: Doran

Game 1: I am really starting to get bored with playing against Doran decks. This game opens up with a turn 1 Birds of Paradise and then on turn 2 I finally get hit by a turn 2 Doran, the Siege Tower. I start to take a beating but then I cast Shard Volley + Shock to kill off the Treefolk Legend. Yes I had to give him a 3 for 1 here. However I had enough moves to follow that turn up with a Pyromancer’s Swath + Grapeshot win.

Sideboarding: As with my other games I am going to stick this one out. I choose to leave my main deck alone.

Game 2: My opening hand looks like it is going to be pretty good. Fungal Reaches, Molten Slagheap, Shard Volley, Pyromancer’s Swath, Bogardan Hellkite, Rite of Flame, Shock. I decide to keep this hand. Unfortunately for me, my opponent gets another turn 2 Doran the Siege Tower and starts beating up on me. I never draw another land and by the time I am 1 mana shy of casting a Bogardan Hellkite he gets lethal damage on me.

Sideboarding: I still don’t think that I need to sideboard here because I would have done just fine this last game had I had another mana source. Rather than taking away the consistency of the deck I decide to leave it alone again.

Game 3: The first hand that I get is 6 random lands and a Shock. I mulligan this hand away. My next 6 cards are Lotus Bloom, 3x Rift Bolt, Shock, Incinerate. That’s right, a no lander. However I do stare at it for a minute and figure out if I think this hand is worth it. In the end I decide to mulligan it away going to 5. My next hand is 2 lands, 2 burn spells, and Rite of Flame. I drop my land and pass. My opponent casts Thoughtseize stealing my Rite of Flame. Then on turn 2 he casts double Thoughtseize tossing me into top deck mode except for a land in my hand. I end up getting lethal damage if the turn would pass to me, but instead I get lethal damage dealt to me and I lose.

Thoughts: Well when you mulligan to 5 and then get hit by triple Thoughtseize when you are playing a combo deck…there just isn’t a whole lot that you can do. I still feel that I made the right decisions with failing to sideboard…my deck just didn’t pull through for me this round. This puts me at 5-2 Game Wins and 2-1 Match wins.

Round 4: GR Warriors

Game 1: First of all I am relieved that it’s a different deck that I am playing against. My opening hand is an amazing one. I have the Pyromancer’s Swath + 2x Grapeshot win in my hand, I just have to wait to get to 7 mana to cast it. My opponent drops Wren’s Run Vanquisher’s as I continue to monitor my life. I hold onto all of my burn and continue to take damage building up mana for the win. When I pass him the turn that he is going to deal me lethal damage I wait until he makes a move before I do anything. He has 2x Wren’s Run Vanquisher and then he drops Imperious Perfect. If that resolves then it will put his Wren’s Run Vanquishers out of my burn range and give him lethal damage. Since I saved all my burn spells rather than using them, I am able to double Incinerate killing off both Wren’s Run Vanquishers before Imperious Perfect can come into play. I am at 2 life now and I untap with 7 mana which is enough for the Pyromancer’s Swath + double Grapeshot win. The lesson here is that as long as you keep an eye on your surroundings you can manipulate the way the game should lay out.

Sideboarding: Nothing in my sideboard is beneficial to this match up aside from Sulfurous Blast. However on turn 4 his creatures will be out of its range anyway thus making it useless. I again decide to ignore sideboarding.

Game 2: He curves out perfectly. Turn 1 Llanowar Elf. Turn 2 Obsidian Battle Axe. Turn 3 Chameleon Colossus. Turn 4 double Chameleon Colossuss’ power which is lethal. Sometimes people get insane draws and there just isn’t anything that you can do about it. I was one mana shy of being able to cast Dragonstorm for the win even through his insane draw.

Sideboarding: Well I have seen one of his tricks and unfortunately nothing in my sideboard helps this. Many people are probably thinking that Pyroclasm could take out the Llanowar Elves. This is true. But so can any of the other burn that I have in the deck. Unfortunately you have to draw it though. So I decline to sideboard again.

Game 3: Hello awesome hand if I can draw one more mana or a Storage Land. I have 2 Snow-Covered Mountain, Lotus Bloom, Bogardan Hellkite, Rite of Flame, Shock, Shock. This is a really good hand. I have 7 mana in my opening hand along with burn and something to spend my 7 mana on. All I need to do is draw a land sometime in the next 4 turns. Not only do I not draw another land, the only burn spells that I draw are Shard Volley. That’s right. I drew all 4 of them in a row. He dropped Chameleon Colossus and rode it to a victory. I was only 1 mana shy of being able to take control of the game.

Thoughts: At this point I am really starting to get frustrated and I needed to get some air before I blew up and starting handing away matches. This puts me at 6-4 Game wins and 2-2 Match wins.

Round 5: RDW

This is my dreaded match up. I tested this deck for hours and hours and couldn’t come up with a reliable way to beat RDW with Dragonstorm. Fortunately for me this was my testing partner Jimmy and he gave me the 2-0 win. We looked over the tie breaker list and mine looked like it would be the one that could put us into the top 8. The problem here is that I had to win out. This puts me at 8-4 Game wins and 3-2 Match wins.

Round 6: Faeries

Game 1: I was looking forward to this match up all day long. I have an excellent game against faeries. This match up is in my favor much like the RDW player is against me. He counters 3 of my Lotus Blooms forcing me to slow the game down. However he is forced to play spells in which I respond to on his turn which taps him out. By playing the stall game with him that I am able to build up enough mana to Dragonstorm for 4 and deal 20 damage.

Sideboarding: This was a deck that I was really expecting to see here at the tournament. I have a slough of cards for this match up. I put in 3 Pyrohemia and 3 Sulfurous Blast and I take out 4 Dragonstorms and 2 Bogardan Hellkites.

Game 2: My opening hand is mana, accel, Pyrohemia and Sulfurous Blast. This is the perfect hand for me. I get 3 Snow-Covered Mountains and a Fungal Reaches in play with 2 counters on it by turn 4. My opponent plays right into my trap. He has a Bitterblossom, 2 Faerie Tokens, Spellstutter Sprite, and Scion of Oona in play. On his attack step I cast Sulfurous Blast which he counters. This is a bait that I am setting for him. He then makes a move that cost him the game. He Extirpates my Sulfurous Blast. This taps him out except for a Mutavault and all but ensures my victory. When my turn rolls around I play Pyrohemia with (R mana open). I then play a Snow-Covered Mountain and pass the turn. During my opponents upkeep before the Bitterblossom trigger resolves, I activate Pyrohemia killing off all his creatures. Then the Bitterblossoms trigger happens allowing my Pyrohemia to stay on the board. Next turn my opponent decides to get sneaky and during my EOT he casts Cryptic Command targeting his own Faerie token and he draws a card. Pyrohemia says, “At end of turn, if no creatures are in play, sacrifice Pyrohemia.” He thought that this would kill off my Pyrohemia. However the wording says “At end of turn.” This means that since he did it during my EOT that the effect has already passed the check point and will survive the turn whether there is a creature in play or not. He thinks over the other options that he has here and passes the turn to me. I cast Pyromancer’s Swath and then cast triple Shard Volley for the win.

Thoughts: I hoped for this match up today and I only got it once. This match up is almost unwinnable for Faeries. Reveillark has a similar unwinnable match up verses [car d]Dragonstorm[/card] This makes me 10-4 Game wins and 4-2 Match wins.

Notes: Before Round 6 began I had the highest opponent win percentage in the room and I was ranked at 9th place. This all but insured that if I won my 6th round match that I would make the top 8. However I got paired down for some reason and the 10th place guy got paired up and because of this he stole my place in the top 8. It didn’t help that all my tie-breakers drew into the top 8…but that’s a different story. So to end my day I came in 11th place. Overall though I had a lot of fun and I think I managed to instill the fear of Dragonstorm in the room.

If you get nothing out of this article I hope that it is this. Dragonstorm is a very competitive deck and as long as the card Dragonstorm is in the standard format…there will be a Dragonstorm deck. Learn to play it so you can learn to beat it or it will beat you.

My Final Thoughts: I had a blast at the tournament. For those of you that weren’t able to make it…you truly missed out. It was a load of fun and I can’t wait until the next one. I am anticipating your comments on the forums. Let me know what you think of the article, the deck, and my plays. Until next time, see you on the boards.