Since the release of Modern Horizons 3, Storm has seen a major resurgence in Modern. The arrival of Ruby Medallion and Ral, Monsoon Mage to Modern was a complete game changer for the archetype. While most Ruby Storm lists emphasize extremely fast kills, interestingly, that isn’t the only route players can take.
This week, Magic Online user ScreenwriterNY made it to 10th place in a Modern Challenge with a very unique Storm list featuring a multitude of control elements. Thanks to the power of a beefy Dragon and three-mana Planeswalker, this build is well-suited to handle hate cards and interaction.
Combo Meets Control
At a baseline, what makes this list so unique is the emphasis on Stormscale Scion as a win condition. Obviously, the Dragon is much more mana-intensive than Grapeshot and doesn’t actually end the game on the spot, so it isn’t a great option for more combo-esque Storm builds. Scion’s upside, though, lies with the fact that you usually don’t need to go all in to win. Even just making two or three copies will often be enough to let you end games the following turn.
With this in mind, there’s less pressure on you to find and stick one of your cost reduction effects early. After all, simply keeping early pressure from the opponent contained with Lightning Bolt, Remand, and Teferi, Time Raveler, then casting a couple of Rituals followed by Scion on turn four will put you in pretty good shape to win. As such, this version of Storm gets to cut Ral, Monsoon Mage in favor of more efficient controlling elements, completely blanking cheap removal spells like Fatal Push from the opponent in the process.
Notably, as important as Teferi’s role of bouncing opposing creatures and delaying pressure from aggro decks is, the Planeswalker’s most appealing factor comes from its static ability and ability to bounce hate pieces. Sticking Teferi ensures that none of your Rituals can get countered, you can’t get blown out by Orim’s Chant, and your Storm triggers aren’t vulnerable to Consign to Memory. On top of that, Teferi’s -3 ability gives you an easy out to High Noon and other problematic hate cards.
While this disruption does go a long way in buying you time and letting you maximize Scion as an excellent piece of top-end, you still need ways to help find Scion reliably. Otherwise, you risk spinning your wheels and getting nowhere. Fortunately, this deck is built to help you churn through your library.
Digging for Scion and Teferi
Even though losing out on Ral and playing with more disruptive elements makes Wrenn’s Resolve and Reckless Impulse less appealing, there are still elite cantrips and card selection spells this strategy can turn to. At the top of that list is Stock Up, which gives you a pretty good shot at finding Scion, Teferi, and/or extra Rituals to help build up Storm count when necessary. The only downside is that it’s a bit slow, but following up by flooding the board with Dragons the turn after should make it trivial to stabilize.
In matchups where you’re forced to set up a lethal board state faster and can’t take as much time to smooth out your hand with Stock Up, Preordain‘s efficiency can come in clutch. Given the vast number of two and three-mana plays in the deck, having a way to advance your gameplan on turn one is powerful. Of course, in slower games, saving Preordain and casting it as a cheap way to fuel Storm count is totally fine as well.
Once you factor in the card draw provided by Teferi and Manamorphose, consistency isn’t really an issue with this archetype. As unorthodox as this build of Storm may seem, you’re still able to create an overwhelming advantage in short order. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean this variant of Storm is foolproof.
Speed Kills
Overall, this build of Storm gets its edge compared to traditional Ruby Storm against decks like Jeskai Control that are filled with hate cards and counterspells. Speed is not a necessity versus control, and having a more robust win condition and a must-answer Planeswalker goes a long way in improving your position. The same can be said for the Dimir Midrange matchup, where having access to Stock Up as a way to rebuild post-Thoughtseize is a big luxury, too.
The problem comes against opposing combo decks like Amulet Titan and Belcher that are capable of winning even after you create an overwhelming board presence. This build of Storm already takes longer on average to cast its Storm payoff, and the fact that it doesn’t actually win the game on the spot gives your opponent even more time to slam a kill condition of their own.
Considering just how popular Amulet Titan and Belcher are in the current Modern metagame, playing this deck is pretty risky. If you expect a lot of grindy games at your next FNM and still want to jam Ruby Medallion, however, this combo and control hybrid archetype could prove to be a strong metacall.
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