Licensed to Jack Heley for individual use, and may not be copied, modified, reproduced, or redistributed in any way.

Understanding Gush
strategies and tactics
3rd edition

Stephen Menendian

Licensed to Jack Heley for individual use, and may not be copied, modified, reproduced, or redistributed in any way.
 Eternal Central Press
A subsidiary of Eternal Central
PO BOX 220822, Chicago, IL 60622
www.eternalcentral.com

This 3rd Edition published 2016

The written contents of this book are property of the Author and Eternal Central © 2016,
and may not be copied, reproduced, edited, or distributed elsewhere in any way
without the expressed written legal consent of Eternal Central.

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in no way affiliated with Wizards of the Coast LLC., and uses those assets legally under
Wizards of the Coast’s Digital Marketing Asset Policy.

Cover Image: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer by Caspar David Friedrich

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 Table of Contents

Title and Copyright

Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Understanding Gush 4
Chapter 2: Playing Gush 14
Chapter 3: The GushBond Engine 38
Chapter 4: Gush Strategies 55
Chapter 5: Ultimate Strategic Objectives 70
Chapter 6: Intermediate Strategic Objectives 107
Chapter 7: Tactics! 149
Chapter 8: Designing & Developing Your Mana 192
Chapter 9: Role Assignment 216
Chapter 10: Matchups & Sideboarding 246
Chapter 11: The Gush Hall of Fame 295
Chapter 12: Contemporary Gush Decks 314
Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios 333
About the Author
About the Publisher
Legal Notice

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 Introduction
Wherever permitted, Gush is a format-defining card. As an unrestricted spell, it is a
card whose existence and influence simultaneously expands and constrains the
possibilities within the Vintage format. Gush opens up novel and unique ways to play
Magic and design Magic decks. It tantalizes the imagination and teases of untapped
potential. There are few cards in Vintage that inspire as much interest or arouse as
much passion as Gush. Although its power is respected and its utility appreciated,
Gush remains sadly misunderstood, and often misplayed.

For a game as exhaustively analyzed and routinely discussed

as Magic, a surprising number of the greatest and most
impactful cards were grossly underestimated or badly
misunderstood when first printed. Necropotence, one of the
greatest cards of all time, was initially panned, given the
lowest possible card grade by Inquest Magazine, in its Ice Age
set review. Such errors are not an artifact of the distant past or
a less advanced age. Jace, the Mind Sculptor was ignored
entirely in Vintage set reviews, and largely dismissed by the
Vintage community. Treasure Cruise was among the most
swiftly restricted and banned spells ever, and barely rated in
Legacy and Vintage set reviews.

Printed in Mercadian Masques, an expansion set released in October 1999, it was nearly
three years before Gush began appearing regularly in Type I tournament results,
eventually winning the de facto 2002 Type I Championship at GenCon in the hands of
Magic Hall of Famer Patrick Chapin (see Chapter 11 for details, including his decklist).

Twice restricted for format dominance (initially in 2003, and re-restricted in 2008), Gush
is one of the most popular and successful draw engines in the history of Vintage.
Unexpectedly, the DCI unrestricted Gush for a second time in 2010, and although it was
paroled into a hostile environment, Gush has been a staple of the Vintage format ever
since.

Although Gush’s presence in the Vintage metagame waxes and wanes over time, Gush
is a perennial favorite among format specialists. Gush’s power scales positively with
player skill, with stronger players drawing more value from it. It is a card whose usage
is deceptively difficult, involving many simultaneous considerations and decisions.
Gush is a supple instrument for a precise player.

With this book, I am delighted to be your guide to Gush strategies. My personal journey
in Vintage has been punctuated by my experience with Gush. I won a Black Lotus in a
Vintage tournament with Gush in early 2003, and my tournament report not only

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 Introduction

helped launch my regular Vintage column on StarCityGames.com (and my Magic

writing career), but it contributed to an explosion of Gush decks in Vintage
tournaments, and the eventual restriction of Gush a few months later.

Indescribable joy accompanied the unrestriction of Gush in 2007. I took full advantage
of the opportunity to play Gush again, winning the 2007 Vintage Championship with a
Gush deck, which also led Wizards of the Coast R&D to nominate me for the final
Magic Invitational. Unfortunately, my fun with Gush was cut short, as Gush was re-
restricted in 2008. Just as unexpectedly as in 2007, the DCI once again unrestricted Gush
in 2010. With Gush unencumbered once more, I designed and piloted a Gush deck to
another Vintage Champs Top 8 in the 2011 Vintage Championship, and to victory in the
inaugural season of the Vintage Super League, among many other high finishes and
notable performances.

But this book is more than a field guide. It is a handbook, a manual, a horn book, and an
encyclopedia. Each chapter builds on the last, progressing towards mastery of Gush
and Gush-based strategies. Although some chapters may serve as a reference guide,
concepts introduced later in the book not only rely on familiarity with earlier ideas, but
draw them together in sophisticated ways.

Chapter 1 presents a theory of Gush. As a conditional and specialized form of card

advantage, it highlights the differences between Gush and traditional draw engines,
and sets out the four forms of advantage that may be derived with Gush. Maximizing
the value that can be achieved with Gush means drawing upon all four forms of
advantage.

Chapter 2 turns from theory to practice, and offers clear rules for how and when to play
Gush. I provide specific guidelines for timing and sequencing Gush with illustrative
examples. These principles of play derive from a theory of Gush, contrasting traditional
forms of card advantage. Obeying these rules, however, is deceptively difficult. Even
the most experienced Gush pilots routinely err in following them. Becoming proficient
with Gush requires more than pedagogy and philosophy. It demands fortitude and will
power, forbearance and discipline.

Chapter 3 is a look under the hood of the GushBond engine. This engine offers one of
the most powerful advantages of piloting Gush strategies. We investigate and illustrate
how it works, identify the components, and demonstrate how to operate it.

Chapter 4 broadly surveys the range of strategic options available to the Gush pilot
with illustrative decklists, and deconstructs the four components of any Gush game
plan. The following four chapters focus on each individual component. Chapter 5
identifies the ultimate strategic objectives that Gush decks may pursue, and the cards
that allow a pilot to achieve those objectives. Chapter 6 identifies and describes the

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 Introduction

interim strategic objectives that Gush decks must achieve to advance their game plan to
the next stage. These objectives are arguably more important to understand and master.
They generate the conditions under which your ultimate objectives may be attained,
and there are fewer of them than potential finishers.

Chapter 7 concerns Gush tactics. These are the plays that support the achievement of
both interim and ultimate strategic objectives. I explore a comprehensive array of
tactical options available to the Gush pilot and explain how to utilize them.

Chapter 8 focuses on mana resources, and offers principles for designing, developing,
and deploying your mana base. I analyze mana base options, and explain how to select
a mana base that will enable your tactical and strategic objectives. This chapter also
explains how to manipulate your mana base, such as which colors to float when playing
Gush.

Chapter 9 builds on each of the previous chapters, threading together all of the concepts
and principles developed thus far. In the process, it sets out a new conceptual
framework for making in-game decisions with Gush decks. This is the most important
chapter for experienced players attempting to elevate their game. As a framework
applicable to non-Gush decks as well, it should prove helpful for all Vintage players.

Chapter 10 addresses sideboarding. It begins with a discussion of sideboard theory, and

provides matchup analysis, with specific sideboard strategies for every major matchup,
and a listing of cards you may wish to consider for inclusion against those matchups,
complete with diagrams and sideboard keys.

Chapter 11 is a look back at the all-time greatest Type I/Vintage Gush strategies. This
historical retrospective is more than a record of the Gush Hall of Fame, it is testimony to
the legacy of Gush decks and the ways in which they changed the Vintage format.

Finally, Chapter 12 surveys contemporary Gush strategies with updated decklists,

sideboard plans, and explanatory notes. Although pulling from recent tournament
results, this chapter reviews a number of Gush decks that may not currently be making
headlines, but can still prove potent and viable in modern Vintage.

This book is intended to be a renewable resource. As you begin to develop your own
Gush decks and master them, return to the relevant chapters and revisit passages that
outline principles of play or card usage. You’ll uncover deeper meaning, insight, and
additional tips and hints, and your skills will grow as your understanding of the
material expands. I wish you the best of luck and boundless fun.

- Stephen Menendian

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 Chapter 1: Understanding Gush

Gush is a naturally difficult card to play well, involving many simultaneous

considerations. It is often played at the wrong time, in the wrong sequence, or the
wrong lands are returned to hand or tapped for the wrong color of mana. Given the
number of variables involved in playing Gush, more often than not, it is played
incorrectly. Gush is a surprisingly subtle card that requires precise timing and careful
execution.

Too few players understand how to maximize the value of Gush in deck design and
construction, let alone use Gush well in game play. This is a by-product of a shallow
and superficial understanding of Gush. Plainly, Gush is a source of card advantage. It
draws two cards, a 2-for-1 spell. For many players, this is the extent of their
understanding of the benefits Gush provides. Gush, however, is much more than a
draw spell.

This chapter will cast light upon the underappreciated and subtle benefits of Gush. It
will describe four distinct forms of advantage made available by Gush, and will
illustrate, in general terms, how to achieve them. In doing so, this chapter explains how
Gush influences deck construction, mana base design and development, and spell
selection. The following chapter builds on these ideas with clear rules for play and
usage.

There are two critical impediments to learning how to play Gush well and designing
decks that maximize the value of Gush. The first is simple inexperience. Few Magic
players have experience playing Gush in any format. Remarkably, Gush has not been
legal in any other sanctioned paper format in over a decade, and Gush has been
alternating on and off the Restricted List in Vintage for most of the last. Most active
players in the format have little experience with Gush decks, or comparatively greater
expertise with non-Gush decks.

Inexperienced Gush players are more likely to pursue suboptimal lines of play or
miscue, resulting in poor performance. This becomes a vicious cycle. Inexperience
undermines confidence in one’s ability to successfully play a card, and poor
performance inhibits skill development by dissuading players from testing Gush or
using it in tournament competition.

The second and more serious impediment to success with Gush is misapplication of
principles acquired with other archetypes or in other contexts. Many of the skills
developed elsewhere in the Vintage format or in Magic more broadly do not apply to
Gush decks. Of course, many of the tactics featured in Gush decks are common to the

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

format, such as timing Ancestral Recall to maximize its chance of resolving, or card
selection with Duress or Thoughtseize. However, many skills developed with blue-
based control decks do not translate well to Gush decks or should be applied with
caution.

Blue-based control decks have been a prominent and respected feature of the format
currently known as Vintage since Bo Bell’s victory at the 1994 United States Magic
Championship. The strategic objectives, tactics, and skills developed in piloting these
decks have remained astonishingly consistent in spite of an evolving and steadily
expanding card pool.

Table 1.1: Finishers and Countermagic Through Eras

Card Type Golden Age Classic Contemporary

Finisher Serra Angel Morphling Blightsteel Colossus

Countermagic Counterspell Mana Drain Force of Will

Most Type I/Vintage blue-based control decks feature a few finishers or win conditions,
a mixture of efficient countermagic, and a suite of restricted and unrestricted sources of
card advantage. The particular cards may change, but the roles they perform remain the
same (see Table 1.1). To generate card advantage, these decks traditionally rely on two
general forms of card draw: (1) recurring, incremental card advantage generated over
multiple turns, and (2) unusually efficient spells that generate bursts of card advantage
upon resolution.

Table 1.2: Types of Card Advantage Through Eras

Type of Card Golden Age Classic Contemporary
Advantage
Incremental Jayemdae Tome Ophidian Dark Confidant

Burst Braingeyser Fact or Fiction Thirst for

Knowledge

The golden age example of recurring, incremental card advantage is Jayemdae Tome,
a.k.a. “The Book,” for its iconic, unforgettable art. Cards like Ophidian later became
representative of this form of card advantage, but have long been superseded by more
recent printings such as Dark Confidant in the modern era (see Table 1.2). Spells that
produced bursts of card advantage like Ancestral Recall, Braingeyser, and later Stroke
of Genius, Fact or Fiction, and Thirst for Knowledge were eventually restricted, and
many remained restricted well past their prime.

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

As you can see, Gush is neither incremental like Ophidian, nor a burst of card
advantage like Braingeyser or Fact or Fiction. Gush is a member of a more
contemporary class of Vintage card draw that is conditional and specialized, a group
that includes Standstill, Mystic Remora, and Thoughtcast. As such, Gush should be
played differently than traditional forms of card draw. Familiarity with traditional
forms of blue card draw or experience with traditional Vintage blue-based control will
not suffice to wield Gush effectively.

Gush not only requires a different skill set than is acquired playing Vintage control
decks, but Gush encourages a different approach to deck design as well. Gush
influences the composition and scale of the mana base, including the ratio of spells to
mana sources. This, in turn, constrains the range of spells that can be played. The final
product may only superficially resemble the traditional Vintage blue control deck.

A Theory of Gush

Gush is more than a source of card advantage. There are no less than four dimensions of
advantage to Gush: card advantage, tempo advantage, mana advantage, and virtual
card advantage. Only decks designed to tap into all four levels of advantage maximize
their utilization of Gush. Not all decks will or should do this. Some decks primarily use
Gush as a source of card advantage. For other decks, the mana advantage and virtual
card advantage are just as important as the card advantage. Whether you wish to draw
upon all the advantages Gush offers or not, you should understand
them. There are no less than
four dimensions of
Gush was designed to have a drawback. Drawing two cards for no
advantage to Gush:
mana cost was conceived by its designers to be at least a printable
trade-off for returning two past land drops to hand, an investment card advantage,
not easily recouped. In time, innovative deck designers realized that tempo advantage,
this drawback could be minimized through creative deck design. mana advantage, and
More than that, it could be turned into an advantage. virtual card
First, deck designers built tempo decks. If you play a creature, and advantage.
then use Gush to draw countermagic to win tactical battles involving
that creature (protecting it on the stack or on the battlefield), then the lost land drops
are similar to a delayed Pact of Negation trigger. When Pact of Negation is used to
protect a game winning spell, the upkeep costs are never incurred or paid. When Gush
generates tempo on behalf of a critical threat, Gush has been used to generate card
advantage at a point in the game when the opponent cannot match it, leading to a
tactical victory. If that tactical victory advances strategic ends, then the short-term
tempo advantage outweighs the forgone land drops and mana production.

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

Gush is the only free draw spell in the game that nets cards. The fact that Gush is a
“free” spell, meaning that it does not require mana, is not merely a convenience; it is a
defining feature. Because Gush has no mana cost, you can match your opponent spell
for spell and enjoy superior card advantage over your opponent to help you win critical
counter-wars (battles on the stack usually involving multiple pieces of countermagic).
Your opponent cannot match your card advantage because their card draw costs mana,
and their mana is tied up in the spells they have cast.

To illustrate this idea, suppose you just resolved a Delver of Secrets, but your opponent
is prepared for it, and is holding a Swords to Plowshares. He or she casts Swords as
soon as they receive priority. In response, you play Gush with only Force of Will in
hand, drawing Mental Misstep and a blue spell. Now, you not only have Mental
Misstep to counter Plow, but you are able to cast Force of Will as well. The lost land
drops no longer matter, because your opponent was unable to remove your (hopefully)
game winning threat. Losing access to those mana resources was an acceptable sacrifice
for achieving a more strategically important objective.

Gush can be used to achieve a strategic outcome that minimizes the cost of Gush’s
drawback. Another example that illustrates this tempo principle more vividly is
playing Gush after resolving Doomsday. After Doomsday resolves, Gush can be used to
draw the cards needed to win the game immediately (see Chapter 6 for how). Just as
Pact of Negation on a game winning play obviates the need to deal with its upkeep
trigger, returning lands to hand in order draw two game winning
Gush can be used to
cards renders irrelevant any concern over lost future mana
production. achieve a strategic
outcome that
The second way that deck designers discovered they could minimize minimizes the cost of
Gush’s drawback is if they bent their mana curve downward. Mana Gush’s drawback.
curve is a design concept in Magic under which decks should be built
to maximize their capacity to progressively cast more expensive spells as your mana
base expands, to efficiently use mana each turn as your mana resources increase. In a
traditional sense, this might mean casting a 1 mana spell on turn 1 with a single land in
play, a 2 mana spell on turn 2 with another land drop, and so on as the game
progresses. But if all or nearly all of your spells cost 0, 1, or 2 mana, then returning
lands to your hand is not preventing you from playing spells, or is only minimally
disruptive to your mana development. This is because you are not building a mana base
to ‘curve out’ or ramp up to more expensive spells in the same way as other decks. Your
mana curve can be designed so you only need 1-2 lands in play at any point in the game
to play any spell in your hand, if not every spell in your hand.

Alan Comer’s Miracle Grow illustrates both of these ideas.

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

Miracle Grow, 9th Place Grand Prix Las Vegas 2001

By Alan Comer

4 Force of Will 4 Land Grant Sideboard:

4 Daze 4 Tropical Island 2 Boomerang
3 Foil 6 Island 4 Chill
4 Gush 3 Emerald Charm
4 Brainstorm 2 Misdirection
4 Sleight of Hand 4 Submerge
4 Curiosity
4 Winter Orb
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Merfolk Looter
4 Lord of Atlantis
3 Gaea’s Skyfolk

Alan Comer’s deck has 19 free spells (including Land Grant, which today would be a
fetchland), 12 one casting cost spells, 19 two casting cost spells, and no spells more
expensive than that. Without a three, four, or even five casting cost spell to build
towards, returning two lands to hand does not impede the development of your game
plan. Comer’s deck “curves out” from one to two mana.

The third mitigation strategy that emerged was to maximize the use of returned lands.
If one of the lands returned by Gush could be replayed that turn, it might generate an
additional land drop not otherwise made. In that sense, Gush is a source of mana
advantage. It is quite literally generating additional land drops and mana. This became
more than a mitigation strategy; it transforms Gush’s drawback into an advantage.

Suppose you have two lands and a Mox in play on turn three, but no further lands in
hand. By merely playing Gush – regardless if it resolves – you will have gained the land
in hand to replay to tap and generate four mana to cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

The highest registers of power and levels of synergy in Magic can be attained when
drawbacks are inverted into advantages. Perhaps the most famous example is the
interaction of Illusions of Grandeur and Donate. Illusions of Grandeur gains you 20 life
when it comes into play, but has a cumulative upkeep and the drawback of losing 20
life when it leaves play. By casting Donate, you transfer control over this unstable
enchantment to your opponent, knowing full well that it will eventually explode in
their face, while the 20 additional life gained provides a buffer against any attack in the
interim. By casting Donate, Illusions’ drawback is transformed into a lethal advantage.

Another example of this principle is Thirst for Knowledge. Thirst for Knowledge draws
three cards, but forces you to discard either one artifact or two other cards in exchange.

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

Even if you can discard an artifact, Thirst only technically nets 1 card (accounting for
the investment of Thirst itself). Vintage deck builders quickly realized that they could
use this to great effect with Goblin Welder. Thirst allowed them to discard an unwieldy,
expensive artifact that they could effectively reanimate using Goblin Welder. The
artifact placed into the graveyard is far more valuable than in hand. By turning this
drawback into an advantage, Thirst for Knowledge, much like Gush, generates more
card advantage than is superficially apparent.

Not only can Gush provide the additional mana necessary to cast certain spells, but it
can also provide the specific color requirements as well. Perhaps the best example of
this in modern Vintage is Doomsday. Suppose you have a Tropical Island and two
Underground Seas in play on turn four, and a Doomsday and Gush in hand. You have
access to three mana, but not three black mana. Gush not only provides card advantage,
but the more important benefit is the ability to reach three black mana to cast
Doomsday this turn. If you float BB and Gush, you can replay one of the Seas for the
third black mana. Returning a land to hand that is thereafter replayed for value is in
some sense equivalent to Gush simply drawing three cards: the two naturally drawn
cards and the additional land drop that will be replayed. Being able to use Gush in this
way makes it akin to a free Ancestral Recall, and not just because it can be said to net
two cards. Consider the function of Ancestral Recall more broadly in strategic
development.

What is the purpose of card advantage? The traditional blue draw spell is intended to
generate the resources to build and achieve further incremental advantages. There is no
more efficient way to accomplish this goal in the early game than Ancestral Recall. In
fact, Ancestral Recall is so good at building incremental advantage that an early
Ancestral can be leveraged into an insurmountable advantage within a few turns if
properly channeled. When playing an early Ancestral Recall, however, it is generally
undesirable for Ancestral to draw only spells and no mana, or vice versa. Suppose, for
example, that you are playing a conventional blue Vintage control deck, and your
opening hand is:

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

Polluted Delta, Mox Emerald, Ancestral Recall, Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Yawgmoth’s
Will, Jace, the Mind Sculptor

If you cast and resolve the Ancestral Recall on your first turn, you would not want
Ancestral Recall to draw only spells. You need mana to cast the spells already in hand.
Since the purpose of Ancestral is to develop your resources, you want to draw a healthy
mix of spells and mana. Gush naturally provides such a mix, since its alternative cost
returns two lands to hand.

The mana advantage offered by Gush is one of its most important but under-
appreciated features. The difficulty is achieving it. Recall that in order to derive mana
advantage from Gush, you must be in a position to use one of the returned lands as a
land drop you otherwise would not have made. If you already had a land in hand when
you played Gush or drew a land off of your library with Gush, then the returned land
cannot be played for maximum value.

Although you cannot control whether you draw a land off of your library from Gush,
you can influence your chances for doing so. How? This is accomplished principally by
minimizing the quantity of lands in your deck. The condition for getting the most value
out of Gush is designing a low land count in your mana base, just as the condition for
getting the most out of Thirst for Knowledge is having sufficient artifacts in your deck
to reliably discard one to Thirst. Reducing the number of lands in your deck will reduce
your chances of drawing lands off of Gush. It is for this reason that a common feature of
Gush decks is a notably low land count (see Alan Comer’s Grow list above). The first
successful Type I/Vintage Gush deck – Pat Chapin’s 2002 Grow (see Chapter 11) – had
only 9 lands (and 4 Land Grant) main deck!

There is a tension between satisfying the conditions for playing Gush for free and
maximizing the mana advantage of Gush. After all, reducing the land count will make it
more difficult to find and play two lands in the first few turns to cast Gush. Deck
designers made one of the most significant and profound design innovations of all time
by resolving this paradox.

The insight that justifies astonishingly low land counts was the idea that you can
substitute lands for cheap, blue draw spells and cantrips, and reliably be able to find
lands. Eventually, this relationship was mathematized into the simple formula that 2
blue cantrips or draw spells could replace one land. Cheap blue draw spells and library
manipulation like Portent, Sleight of Hand, Brainstorm, and Impulse were each used
dig up lands when needed. In short, blue cantrips ‘fix’ your mana supply.

Let me illustrate this idea with a simple example. Suppose you are playing Alan
Comer’s Grow deck, and you open this hand:

10

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

Island, Sleight of Hand, Sleight of Hand, Quirion Dryad, Daze, Force of Will, Gush

This hand lacks the mana to play Quirion Dryad, let alone Gush. Yet, it is a keepable
hand because it has the means to find more land. Sleight of Hand gives you a good
chance to dig up another land on the first turn, and another chance on turn two so that
you can play Dryad and bring Gush online.

The notion of playing a high density of blue cantrips should be familiar, if not
ingrained. After all, nearly all Legacy blue decks are constructed on this principle. That
merely underscores how fundamental this once innovative deck design concept has
become. Just as Brian Weissman first identified and articulated the principles of card
advantage, Alan Comer’s Grow deck, and its predecessor Turbo Xerox, first described
and illustrated this principle of virtual card advantage.

By playing a low land count mana base and a high density of blue cantrips, you will
have higher quality draws. You will draw disproportionately more spells over the
course of the game than your opponent. This form of card advantage is ‘virtual’ because
you are not actually drawing more cards, but are drawing higher quality cards over the
course of the game. This produces an effect similar to actual card advantage. When you
need lands, you can find them. When you do not need lands, you can find useful spells
instead. On average, you will have better and more situationally relevant cards in your
hand than your opponent, and therefore win more games.

The restriction of both Brainstorm and Ponder in Vintage are a direct response to these
facts and design principles. Both cards gave Gush decks incredible card velocity and
search capacity. The restriction of Brainstorm, however, is particularly painful because
it is the one cantrip that can directly regulate mana production and smooth out draws
in both directions. Brainstorm can help find lands, but unlike any other one mana
cantrip, it can return excess lands into the library for spells.

11

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

For example, a 3 or 4 land hand would normally interfere with the potential for
generating mana advantage on turn three from Gush. This mana advantage could be
generated, however, by using Brainstorm to return excess lands into the library
followed by a shuffle effect, thereby setting up a turn three Gush for maximum card
and mana advantage. Without 4 Brainstorms it is more difficult to calibrate a Gush deck
to maximize Gush’s mana advantages.

Gush is not strictly needed to generate virtual card advantage with blue cantrips, but it
is a natural complement to that design approach. Gush decks generally want fewer
lands to maximize the mana advantages of Gush. There is no better way to do this than
by amassing the best blue cantrips. Gush incentivizes and encourages an approach to
deck design that emphasizes virtual card advantage, and thereby contributes to it by
empowering and strengthening decks constructed on these principles.

In the final analysis, clever and ingenious deck builders not only minimized Gush’s
drawbacks, but they turned them into strengths. Gush can provide four levels of
advantage: card advantage, tempo advantage, mana advantage, and virtual card
advantage.

Vintage players who wish to derive the most value from Gush should strive to adopt
and incorporate the mechanisms used to achieve each of these forms of advantage. This
is achievable since each form of advantage is complementary to the other. The
conservation mnemonic ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ can be used to describe design
principles that will serve these forms of advantage, and will help you keep them in
mind as you consider how to build your next Gush deck.

Reduce – Reduce your mana curve and your land count. Reduce your mana curve so
that Gush does not interfere with your mana needs. Reduce your land count so that you
minimize your chances of drawing lands off of Gush.

Reuse – Reuse lands returned by Gush by replaying them to gain land drops and
increase mana production.

Recycle – Recycle card slots earmarked for lands with blue cantrips to generate virtual
card advantage.

Designing a deck to abuse Gush influences the rest of your design choices. It affects the
size and appearance of the mana base. In turn, the size and the development of the
mana base constrain the spell options that it can support. Because Gush decks should be
designed differently than traditional blue-based control decks, they also require a
different set of skills to operate. These skills have not been developed or acquired for
the reasons I set out at the beginning of this chapter. We will remedy that now. This

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 Chapter 1 – Understanding Gush

book is an instruction manual on playing with Gush: you will learn everything you
need to know to play Gush decks, and how to get the most out of it in the process.

Table 1.3: Forms of Advantage

Form of Advantage Conditions
Card Advantage Two Islands in play, and enough turns
Mana Advantage No lands in hand, and available land drop that turn
Tempo Advantage High density of countermagic, removal, and threats
Virtual Card Advantage Survive into mid-game, and a design approach that
minimizes your overall mana base

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 Chapter 2: Playing Gush

Gush is a special and unique source of card advantage, and not merely because it is a
conditionally “free” draw spell. As illustrated in Chapter 1, Gush shapes every aspect of
deck construction and mana development. Gush’s “drawback” means that Gush does
not generate card advantage in conventional ways, and therefore is not typically slotted
in to traditional blue-based control decks. To maximize the four advantages described
last chapter, Gush decks tend to have fewer mana sources, more spells, and a lower
overall mana curve and average mana cost per spell than most blue control decks.

Maximizing these advantages, and getting the most out of Gush, requires more than
careful deck construction. Playing Gush well means learning and following counter-
intuitive timing and sequencing rules. Timing spells and sequencing plays are among
the most challenging and skill intensive subjects in Vintage Magic, matters suited for
lifetime inquiry given the variety and variability of contexts for analyzing them (as
Chapter 9, on Role, suggests). These subjects are especially important to the Gush pilot.
For the same reasons that Gush decks are designed differently, Gush the card is not to be
played like other draw spells.

This chapter provides clear guidance for how and when to play Gush, with specific and
easily applicable guidelines for usage. The principles that underpin these guidelines are
explained, and examples that illustrate these guidelines are also provided. This chapter
sets these principles of usage and rules for play in the context of the Theory of Gush
developed last chapter. These guidelines flow from the Theory of Gush and the forms of
advantage possible with Gush described in Chapter 1. They are individually tailored to
achieve the benefits of Gush and maximize its value.

The guidelines set out in this chapter are neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. Rather,
this chapter is focused specifically on when Gush should be played within and across
the turn structure. Except in relation to Gush, it does not offer prescriptions for timing
or sequencing other spells played in Gush decks. This broader subject is addressed in
Chapter 9.

The following rules are general guidelines, and not without caveat or exception. Those
exceptions, however, are generally discrete, and I will carefully describe them.
Moreover, as noted, these rules are counter-intuitive. I offer them because they run
against the grain of experience and the tactical impulse of most Magic players. In fact,
the deeper your experience of the game, the more difficult these rules may be to accept.
Expertise in the game of Magic – even professional experience - does not ensure skillful
manipulation of Gush.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

Timing and sequencing guidelines are the most important prerequisites for achieving
the myriad advantages provided by Gush, and their tenets and prescriptions should be
understood and followed. These rules are offered to discipline your play – to clarify
your decision making process, reduce uncertainty, shepherd you to better results, and
reinforce principles set out in the first chapter.

Experienced Gush pilots have likely already internalized many of these principles. If
you find yourself in agreement with these guidelines, the sections are nonetheless
important to review. They surface important principles that will be referenced and built
upon in subsequent chapters.

Moreover, whether you are a Gush novice or a master, following these rules is more
difficult than is immediately apparent. I can trace virtually every major tournament
defeat with a Gush deck, as recently as the 2015 Vintage Championship, to a failure to
follow one or more of these seemingly simple rules. Each guideline may be difficult to
accept, but will prove even harder to consistently practice.

Timing Gush

All spells are conditional in the sense that every spell has specific mana or non-mana
requirements for play. Not even Black Lotus – the most synergistic and versatile card
ever printed – can be played at any time. Gush has two ways of being cast. Although
Gush should almost always be played for its alternative casting cost, that does not mean
it should be cast as soon as those alternative mana cost requirements are satisfied. When
a spell can be played is a different question of when a spell should be played. This is
especially true of Gush. There are two guidelines for timing Gush that will help you
maximize each form of advantage offered by Gush that illustrate this idea.

Rule 1: Play Gush After Turn 2

Playing Gush on Turn 2 is probably the most common rookie mistake with Gush. My
observation is that this play is intuitive to many players, which may explain its
prevalence. One of the first things a Magic player learns is when they able to cast their
spells, counting their lands until they can play their large, exciting monster.

Furthermore, experience counsels that we cast draw spells as soon as possible and
practicable. The first reason for this is that playing draw spells as early as possible will
tend to generate a greater overall amount of card advantage by the end of the game,
and help you develop your resources and advance your game plan more quickly.
Additionally, playing draw spells as soon as possible maximizes your mana utilization.
Both reasons are intuitive to experienced Magic players, but they require some
explanation in order to understand the rule advising against playing Gush as soon as
possible.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

As a general principle, the earlier you generate card advantage relative to your
opponent, the faster you can leverage that advantage into greater advantages, and
ultimately victory. This is because the more resources you have access to, the faster you
can execute your game plan, and the wider the gulf between you and your opponent in
terms of card advantage, the better your chances for winning the game. Drawing cards
at the earliest possible opportunity generally provides more resources to accumulate
greater card advantage. Just as a large initial net worth is more easily leveraged into
greater wealth by interest math alone, greater initial card advantage facilitates the
acquisition of larger quantities of card advantage. The earlier you generate card
advantage, the more card advantage you will likely be able to reap by the end of the
game.

This is especially obvious with cards like Dark Confidant and Jace, the Mind Sculptor,
two forms of incremental, turn-based recurring card advantage. On account of the
annuity math, the earlier that Dark Confidant resolves, the more card advantage he is
capable of generating during the course of the game for his controller. The later
Confidant is played, the less value he can generate. A Turn 1 Dark Confidant may
generate four cards by Turn 5, whereas a Turn 3 Dark Confidant could only produce
two. There are very few reasons to delay playing a Dark Confidant in Vintage when
there is no immediately superior play. In a format like Vintage, you may not have
another opportunity to resolve spells, and any amount of forgone card advantage can
mean the difference between winning and losing.

Although Dark Confidant and Jace generate recurring, turn-based (annuitized) card
advantage, a related principle applies to “burst” card advantage. As noted earlier, the
earlier you can generate card advantage, the faster you can translate those additional
resources into greater card advantage and advance your game plan. For that reason, an
early Ancestral Recall is generally more impactful than a late-game Ancestral Recall
although they produce the same quantity of card advantage. An early Ancestral
produces the resources to advance your game plan faster and generate additional card
advantage helping you build towards a larger overall differential by the end of the
game. Perhaps a more vivid example that illustrates the same idea is the value of a Turn
1 Necropotence, relative to a Turn 2 Necropotence.

In addition to intuition and the principles of maximal development potential and

cumulative card advantage, there is another reason, noted earlier, to play spells as soon
as the opportunity arises and is practicable: to maximize mana utilization at every stage
of the game. If the opportunity to play a draw spell arises, and you are confident that
the spell will resolve, your unexpended mana has been wasted if you did not use it to
play your spell. Vintage decks are hyper-focused on developing their board and game
state. The opportunity cost of underutilized mana is high.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

Vintage players learn through experience as well as intuition to cast spells as soon as
practicable, all things equal. This is why many inexperienced Gush players are tempted
to play Gush on Turn 2. The temptation is even greater when a tempo threat has
already been placed onto the battlefield. Consider a game sequence led with Turn 1
Delver of Secrets.

Turn 1:
Play Island, and cast Delver of Secrets.

Turn 2:
Play Tropical Island, float mana from both Island and Tropical Island, and then cast
Gush.

A Turn 1 Delver of Secrets followed by a Turn 2 Gush is a natural and especially

intuitive sequence. With a threat on the battlefield, the lure of card advantage is even
greater. Gush promises further resources to maintain control over the game. Yet, a Turn
2 Gush in this sequence, without any other prompt, is clearly the wrong play.

The most obvious problem with this sequence is simple, yet elusive to grasp for new
Gush players: playing Gush on Turn 2 drastically curtails the Gush pilot’s mana supply
on Turn 3 for the same quantity of card advantage that could have been gained by
waiting a turn. Any tempo gained by that play is generally offset by the drastic
reduction in available mana resources the following turn, and the impairment that
would have on your development the rest of the game.

It turns out that each of the reasons to play draw spells as early in the game as possible
either do not apply to Gush, or apply with lesser force, and that playing Gush as early
as possible imposes an unacceptable cost. In order to understand this critical point, we
will revisit the principles just examined with a focus on Gush.
One of the reasons
Reconsider first the principle of maximal mana utilization. This Gush is such a
principle counsels playing spells as soon as possible in order to avoid powerful card is
wasting mana resources. This principle is obviously inapplicable to because it draws
Gush. Since Gush has no mana cost, no mana has been wasted or gone
cards while giving
unused by waiting to cast it, as is clearly the case when Fact or Fiction
or Thirst for Knowledge are not played at the earliest promising you room to make
opportunity. other plays with the
same resources it
As noted earlier, one of the reasons Gush is such a powerful card is draws from.
because it draws cards while giving you room to make other plays
with the same resources it draws from. When you tap lands to cast Thirst for
Knowledge, you cannot also use that mana to play Spell Pierce or Mana Drain. At best,
you may hope to draw more mana to play other spells. When playing Gush, you can

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

use the lands that “paid” for Gush to play any other spell you would like. You can
Duress, Mana Drain, Ancestral Recall, or even play Tinker with that mana.

In fact, maximizing your mana utilization, and the mana advantage to be derived from
Gush, requires delaying Gush rather than playing it as quickly as possible. This is the
most fundamental and important reason that Gush should not be played earlier than
Turn 3. Maximizing the mana advantage offered by Gush means timing Gush in order
to expand, rather than bottleneck, your mana production capacity. It turns out that
Gush is not actually “free” after all, and that returning lands to hand can impede mana
development unless managed well. Unless there is a compelling reason otherwise (such
as Fastbond-fueled explosive plays), this balance of leveraging mana resources vs. the
raw card advantage in the earliest stages of the game is one of the key components to
understanding Gush.

The following table illustrates the effect of Gush on your mana production capacity in
the first four turns of a game, assuming one land drop per turn.

Table 2.1: Mana Capacity Difference of Turn 2 Gush vs. Turn 3 Gush
Turn 1 Turn 2 Turn 3 Turn 4 Total Mana
Production
Turn 2 Gush 1 2 1 2 6
Turn 3 Gush 1 2 3 2 8

The key difference between a Turn 2 Gush and a Turn 3 Gush is your mana production
capacity on Turn 3. At the cost of waiting a single turn, you have tripled your possible
mana capacity from lands on Turn 3. Moreover, you have reduced your total mana
production capacity by a third over the course of the game to that point, from six to
four, and a fourth by Turn 4, with developmental consequences for the rest of the game.
To illustrate these ideas, let us revisit the Delver/Gush sequence:

Turn 1:
Play Island. Cast Delver of Secrets.

Turn 2:
Play Tropical Island. Instead of playing Gush, hold up mana for Spell Pierce or
Flusterstorm, and play Preordain.

Turn 3:
Tap Island and Tropical Island for mana. Now play Gush, drawing two cards. Replay
either land with a combination of either UG or UU floating, depending on which colors
of mana you drew out of your lands before playing Gush.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

By waiting to play Gush on Turn 3, you have increased your mana production by 33%
on Turn 3 and acquired the same card advantage that you would have generated had
you played Gush on Turn 2. Now the card advantage generated by Gush can be
leveraged in a more meaningful way. Consider a few among the range of options you
may have available to advance your game plan now:

 Cast a removal spell with Flusterstorm, Spell Piece, or Pyroblast protection.

 Cast a two mana creature, such as Young Pyromancer or Tarmogoyf with Spell
Pierce or Flusterstorm backup.
 Cast Snapcaster Mage and replay a cantrip or other spell.
 Cast a three mana creature or planeswalker, such as Trygon Predator, Dack
Fayden, Monastery Mentor, or Vendilion Clique.
 Cast a tutor, such as Merchant Scroll or Demonic Tutor for Ancestral Recall or
Fastbond, and play it.
 Play a Mox and cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

In each example, it is evident how waiting to play Gush until Turn 3 maximizes your
ability to play spells to generate additional card advantage or disruption. By waiting
until Turn 3 to cast Gush, you can play any two or three casting cost spell immediately,
and any four casting cost spell if you drew a Mox. None of these possibilities are
generally available had you played Turn 2 Gush.

Reconsider now, the point that playing draw spells earlier maximizes the generation of
card advantage over the course of the game and helps you develop the resources to
advance your game plan more quickly. It turns out that Gush is inapposite. Gush
neither resembles the annuitized, turn-based recursive card advantage of Dark
Confidant or Jace, nor the burst card advantage and resources generated from Ancestral
Recall or Necropotence, in terms of development.

As we saw, waiting a turn to play Dark Confidant will mean less card advantage over
the course of the game. The opportunity cost of foregone recurring, cumulative card
advantage does not apply to Gush. Because Gush is a form of conditional “burst” card
advantage rather than incremental, recurring card advantage (such as Jayemdae Tome
or Dark Confidant), there is no diminution in card advantage incurred by waiting to
play Gush.

A single Gush generates the same card advantage whether played on Turn 2 or Turn 10.
In fact, Gush is often better on Turn 4 than it is on Turn 2. The cost of playing Gush in
regard to the development of your mana base on Turn 4 is much less severe than when
played on Turn 2, and the benefits are just as pronounced. Compare the card advantage
generated by Gush and Dark Confidant over a five turn sequence to better understand
this idea.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

Turn 1:
Player 1: Mox, Land, Dark Confidant
Player 2: Land

Turn 2:
Player 1: (+ 1 card from Dark Confidant), Land
Player 2: Land

Turn 3:
Player 1: (+1 card from Dark Confidant), Land
Player 2: Gush, Land

At this particular juncture, Player 1 has drawn two additional cards off of Dark
Confidant. If Gush resolves, Player 2 will enjoy the same card advantage, except they
will also get another land drop out of the deal (assuming they did not have another
land already in hand and did not draw another land off of Gush), creating mana
advantage and virtual card advantage.

Continue this sequence, and examine how the Gush engine and the Dark Confidant
engine compare beyond the third turn. Assuming Gush resolved, and the mana
generated from lands returned to hand with Gush were used to play other spells.

Turn 4:
Player 1: (+1 card from Dark Confidant), Land
Player 2: Land

Turn 5:
Player 1: (+1 card from Dark Confidant), Land
Player 2: Second Gush, Land

At this point, after playing the second Gush, Player 2 is roughly even with Player 1 in
terms of card advantage. As the table below illustrates, both players have drawn the
same number of additional cards despite the fact that the Gush pilot waited to play
Gush until Turns 3 and 5.

Table 2.2: Cards Drawn by Dark Confidant vs. Gush by Turn

Turn Dark Confidant Pilot Cards Drawn Gush Pilot Cards Drawn
Turn 1 +0 +0
Turn 2 +1 +0
Turn 3 +1 +2 (Gush 1)
Turn 4 +1 +0
Turn 5 +1 +2 (Gush 2)
Total Cards Drawn +4 +4

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

Critical readers will note that the Dark Confidant pilot nets 1 more card here than the
Gush pilot, since the Gush pilot played two Gushes to draw the same amount of cards.
This is true. Although the Gush pilot may have drawn the same number of cards as the
Dark Confidant pilot, the Gush pilot has done so only because they played a second
Gush. On the other hand, looking only at the cards drawn does not take into account
the mana advantage of creating additional land drops. If the Turn 3 or Turn 5 Gush
generated a land drop, then it generated more card advantage than is represented in
this chart.

This simple analysis does not reflect the relative reliability of both sequences. Dark
Confidant has to be in hand with a Mox and a Land to be cast on Turn 1 to generate the
same card advantage as a Turn 3 Gush. In contrast, Gush need not be in hand on Turn
1, but only needs to be drawn by Turn 3. Since Dark Confidant is not always a Turn 1
play, it is about as likely that Gush will generate more card advantage in the course of a
normal game as the Dark Confidant. Beyond illustrating the differences between Gush
as a form of card advantage from turn-based recursive card advantage, this sequence
illustrates the strengths of Gush in comparison to Dark Confidant. Gush on Turn 3
draws the same quantity of cards that a first turn Dark Confidant draws by Turn 3.

However, Gush differs from other forms of burst card advantage like Ancestral Recall
in critical respects as well. Although Ancestral Recall generates the same quantity of
card advantage whether played on Turn 1 or Turn 10, as noted earlier, a Turn 1
Ancestral Recall will provide you resources both to advance your
game plan more quickly and to generate additional card advantage. Playing Gush on Turn
Card advantage in Vintage is a reinforcing feedback loop, where more 2 drastically reduces
card advantage is used to generate even greater quantities of card your mana capacity
advantage. on Turn 3, and your
total mana
Most importantly, the card advantage generated by Gush comes with
a price. As we have seen, playing Gush on Turn 2 drastically reduces production capacity
your mana capacity on Turn 3, and your total mana production for the rest of the
capacity for the rest of the game. Therefore, whatever resources are game.
generated through the card advantage derived from Gush are more
difficult to translate into either additional card advantage or advancing your game plan.
There is a resource trade-off by playing Gush too quickly, and a dramatic resource
boost from waiting to play Gush. Although it is possible in theory to translate the card
advantage generated by Gush into further sources of card advantage, this is much less
likely when your mana resources are so severely constricted.

In summary, the reasons that people seek to play spells as quickly as possible do not
generally apply to Gush, and the cost of playing Gush on Turn 2 overwhelms the
advantages of doing so.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

Table 2.3: Timing Analysis

Reasons to Play Draw Spells ASAP Reasons They Do Not Apply to Gush
Maximum Development Potential Losing 2 lands on Turn 3 constrains ability to
leverage into further advantage
Cumulative Card Advantage Gush is a burst spell, not incremental, recurring
– no opportunity cost
Mana Under-Utilization Inapplicable because Gush has no mana cost
Intuition Gush is counter-intuitive

If you are carefully following this intricate logic of math and reasoning set out above,
you may be wondering why this reasoning, and the guidance against playing Turn 2
Gush, does not also extend to Turn 3, Turn 4, or beyond. After all, if delaying Gush
from Turn 2 to Turn 3 leads to greater overall mana production, doesn’t that logic
extend beyond the Turn 2/Turn 3 turn sequence?

The short answer is no. As a practical matter, by design, Gush decks do not generate a
consistent amount of land drops without Gush. Gush may be needed to make a Turn 3
or Turn 4 land drop. In such a case, there is no reason to wait longer to play Gush
(unless you are specifically building towards a higher casting cost spell, such as Jace or
Mind’s Desire). No potential mana production will be lost.

The more technical mathematical answer is that the benefits of waiting to play Gush
have sharply diminishing returns. A Turn 3 Gush reduces the total potential number of
lands in play on Turn 4 from four to two. This is only a fifty percent diminution in
potential land based mana production on Turn 4, and only a twenty percent reduction
in total mana production over the course of the game so far. The ratio of the marginal
difference in mana production costs from playing Gush to the total potential mana
production is much greater when playing Gush on Turn 2 than Turn 3.

Just as important as the marginal percentage decrease in mana production by playing

Gush is the absolute number of lands in play. A Turn 3 Gush preserves three mana on
Turn 3 and two mana on Turn 4. As outlined in the Theory of Gush in Chapter 1, Gush
decks often operate on a much lower mana curve than other decks, so you should be
able to play most spells in your deck with that mana, especially with artifact
acceleration.

There is, however, an imperative with Gush decks to use Gush to generate land drops,
as discussed in Chapter 1. Taken to the logical extreme, maximizing the mana
advantage to be derived from Gush would counsel only playing Gush when there are
no other land drops available. As a general principle, it is reasonable to try to play all of
your lands before casting Gush. For example, if you have three lands in hand, waiting
until Turn 4 to use Gush to generate a land drop makes perfect sense.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

However, you often cannot wait to play Gush until you have made every possible land
drop in hand. It is not unsound advice to try to wait to play Gush until you have
emptied your hand of land, but it will not always be practically possible. Vintage is too
fast to sit passively making land drops to maximize your mana advantage without
regard for other considerations. At some point, the card advantage becomes more
important than mana advantage. Where that line is crossed is a contextual
determination, but I find that waiting until Turn 4 to play Gush is an acceptable amount
of time to delay your first Gush, depending on the game state.

From time to time, you will experience games where you have drawn an undesirable
amount of land in the early game as a result of variance. If, for example, you start with
two lands in hand, but draw a land on Turn 3, you will not be able to use Gush on Turn
3 to create another land drop that you otherwise would not have had. In that situation, I
believe it is both reasonable and appropriate to wait an additional turn to make a land
drop. Waiting until Turn 4 allows Gush to generate mana advantage as well a card
advantage. You will be maximizing your mana advantage, giving yourself four land-
based mana on Turn 4. In addition, you will gain a land drop that you otherwise may
not have had on Turn 5 as a result of Gush.

It is important to balance the needs of card advantage against the loss of mana
production generated by Gush. The first rule is designed to help maximize the mana
advantage generated by Gush insofar as is practicable. As noted earlier, these timing
rules are not absolute, but are general rules of usage.

If your opponent is about to resolve a game winning spell, it is advisable to play Gush
in response in the hopes of finding an answer. Similarly, if your opponent activates a
Wasteland or Strip Mine targeting one of your lands, consider playing Gush in
response, even if it is your opponent’s second turn. Your opponent will have spent a
land drop and a card to destroy one of your lands. By playing Gush in response, you
will generate additional card advantage for yourself, beyond the cards that Gush will
draw. They will have wasted a land drop and a card to destroy your card, but failed to
do so. This card advantage, tempo, and the demoralizing impact of the play, is more
than worth it. But even if it weren’t, the mana advantage principle behind the first
general rule doesn’t hold if you have lost a land to Wasteland. The point of waiting to
play Gush is to maximize your mana advantage. If they Wasteland you before your
third turn, you’ll only have a maximum of two mana from your lands on Turn 3
anyway.

In addition to those exceptions, there are reasons to play Gush on Turn 2 or even earlier.
Fastbond and Lotus Cobra are exceptions that justify playing Gush earlier. In the case of
the former, the bottleneck naturally encountered by playing Turn 2 Gush is overcome
by playing lands via Fastbond. Similarly, if you have a Lotus Cobra in play, then you

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

can easily recoup the lost mana with each subsequent land drop.

Another exception is if you are engaged in a lethal sequence. For example, playing
Gush on Turn 2 after casting Doomsday in order to initiate your final combo sequence
or to generate an additional storm or draw a tutored card before casting a lethal spell,
such as a Tendrils, justifies deviating from this general guideline.

Rule 2: Play Gush on Your Turn

Playing Gush on your turn contravenes the ancient wisdom that instants should be
played on the opponent’s turn wherever possible. This is an area where deep
experience may impede optimal play. Magic players, and control pilots in particular,
are trained to time spells on their opponent’s turn. There are excellent reasons for this
practice. First, playing instants on the opponent’s turn maximizes the tactical options
available to you. By waiting to cast a specific removal spell on the opponent’s turn, you
leave other play options available. Consider the following game scenario illustration:

In this scenario, you have available at least three spells you might cast on your
opponent’s turn. Refraining from destroying your opponent’s artifact or removing one
of their creatures preserves maximal tactical flexibility to respond optimally to the
evolving game state. You may wish to counter a spell on their turn. If they end up not

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

playing a spell, then you may target a permanent for destruction or removal in their
end step. Forbearance and patience are ingrained virtues in Magic because they
preserve flexibility in a game defined by selecting the best possible line of play among
the various decision tree branches.

Waiting until the last possible moment to commit to a play also heightens the
opponent’s uncertainty about what tactics you might have available, and what cards
you might have in hand. An opponent might be dissuaded from making an optimal
play on the basis of this uncertainty. This principle is the basis for bluffing. Bluffing
countermagic is another reason to play draw spells on your opponent’s turn (usually
their end step). Preserving your ability to play countermagic or bluff countermagic are
not compelling reasons to cast Gush on your opponent’s turn either. Rather, these
concerns inform if you should play Gush, not when.

To illustrate this subtle distinction, suppose you have Mana Drain and Gush in hand,
with just two Islands in play. Casting Gush would cut you off from playing Mana Drain
regardless of whether you cast Gush on your opponent’s turn or yours. If you wish to
keep Mana Drain available as a play, you will have to hold off playing Gush on your
turn or your opponent’s until you have drawn more mana sources. If you end up
playing Mana Drain on your opponent’s turn, then playing Gush would not disrupt
your capacity to bluff that turn, but it would prevent you from casting another Mana
Drain on the following turn. If you have three mana in play, playing Gush on your
opponent’s turn is still the wrong play. That’s because, as we will saw in the previous
section, you are unnecessarily cutting yourself off from two mana that you could use in
your main phase. It makes little sense to return the two lands you tapped to cast Mana
Drain with Gush to cast Gush on your opponent’s turn, when you can tap those same
lands for mana and then Gush on your turn.

Flexibility and bluffing are not the only reasons to play instant speed spells on the
opponent’s turn. In environments defined by the presence of countermagic, such as
Vintage, instant speed tactics are a source of situational mana advantage. This is
another intuitive ground for playing instant-speed spells on the opponent’s turn. A few
examples will illustrate this idea.

Several versions of “The Deck” featured Mana Short in the sideboard for the control
mirror. Brian Weissman would cast Mana Short on his opponent’s end step to force
them into a countermagic skirmish on their turn. Mana Short attacked the opponent’s
capacity to play countermagic, regardless if it resolved. If Mana Short resolved, the
opponent’s mana supply would be depleted (artifact mana excepted), and they would
be unable to use any or all of their countermagic until their next turn (since, at that time,
every counterspell required mana). If Mana Short was ultimately countered after a brief
skirmish, Brian would untap with full access to his on-board mana supply, while his
opponent’s resources were reduced, if not exhausted, from the battle the previous turn.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

From this position, Brian would more easily resolve critical threats such as a Disrupting
Scepter, Jayemdae Tome, or even the back-breaking Mind Twist. Any of these spells, if
protected, might eventually lead to victory.

It is for this reason that Type I/Vintage players have long been accustomed to timing
draw spells on their opponent’s end step. Cards like Stroke of Genius, Fact or Fiction,
Gifts Ungiven, and Thirst for Knowledge have long been queued to the opponent’s end
step. These plays were so ubiquitous that shorthand acronyms emerged to describe
them, such as EoTFoF, meaning “End of Turn, Fact or Fiction.” Underscoring the
gravity of such a play, the further letters, YL were added (making it EoTFoFYL) to
denote “you lose.” Even if Gifts or Fact were successfully countered, the Gifts or Fact
pilot could untap and play another copy or equally devastating play, with improved
chances of success. For these reasons, Magic players, and Type I/Vintage players in
particular, are conditioned to play draw spells on the opponent’s end step.

These reasons do not apply to Gush. The principle of mana advantage illustrated above,
for instance, is inapplicable to Gush. Quite the contrary, all of the mana advantages
accrue when playing Gush on your turn rather than your opponent’s. What makes
Gush singular in the pantheon of historically significant Type I/Vintage draw spells is
that it has no direct mana cost. Part of the reason to sequence spells like Gifts Ungiven
or Fact or Fiction across turns is their intensive mana requirements. It’s difficult to play
Fact or Fiction and support it with all of your countermagic on the same turn. It’s easier
to bait with Fact, draw out countermagic, protect it best you can, and then try again on
your turn. This is not true of Gush.

The same resources used to “pay” for Gush can and should be used to cast other spells.
You cannot use the same mana to play both Fact or Fiction and Mana Drain. With Gush,
you can. You can actually use mana generated by lands returned with Gush to play
spells already in hand or drawn with Gush. Not only does Gush not interfere with other
spells, Gush may enhance your mana capacity, regardless of whether Gush resolves.
For example, a returned land may be replayed to cast a Duress drawn with Gush or a
Delver of Secrets already in hand. Playing Gush on your turn maximizes your mana
resources by allowing you to play non-instant spells drawn with Gush or already in
hand.

Only tapped lands should be returned to hand with Gush. In a game without mana
burn, Gush demands that you generate mana with any untapped lands you plan to
return to hand whether you plan to use that mana or not. Even if you return tapped
lands to hand and an empty mana pool, you may nonetheless use a returned land to
generate mana to play spells drawn with Gush.

Playing Gush on your turn rather than the opponent’s maximizes your options to play
spells drawn with Gush or spells found by cards drawn with Gush. Sorceries, artifacts,

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

instants, creatures, and planeswalkers are all cards you may wish to play using mana
drawn from lands returned with Gush. Playing Gush on your turn rather than your
opponent’s may enlarge your tactical flexibility and spell options by using pooled mana
for the best possible spell at that moment.

Not only is there no mana cost investment that justifies playing it on the opponent’s end
step, but, more to the point, Gush does not interfere with other spells you might wish to
otherwise cast. There is no mana opportunity cost to playing Gush. There is nothing
that cannot be cast because Gush was played instead. For that fundamental reason, it
makes little sense to play Gush on your opponent’s end step rather than your main
phase.

Gush is not like other game-swinging draw spells. It is neither juicy bait nor must-
counter because it neither draws enough cards nor generates enough card quality to
compel the opponent to fight over it. Gush is unlikely to induce the kind of end-step
counterwar that a Mana Short would provoke in 1996, or Fact or Fiction might have in
2001.

Since Gush is normally played for its alternative casting cost and since it is unlikely to
provoke an end step countermagic skirmish, there is no mana advantage to be gained
by playing Gush on an opponent’s end step. In fact, just the opposite is true. Playing
Gush on the opponent’s turn denies you access to two mana on your next turn that you
otherwise would have had. Not only does Gush on the opponent’s turn deny you mana
on your turn, but it fails to harness the critical mana advantages offered by Gush, that it
can be played at the same time as other spells, and used to generate additional mana to
cast them.

Table 2.4: Gush vs. Other Draw Spell Behavior

Reasons to Play Draw Spells on Reasons They Do Not Apply to Gush
Opponent’s Turn
Mana advantage by depleting opponent’s The cost is greater than the benefit. Gush is
resources on their turn not a must-counter spell, and denies you 2
mana on your turn
Preserve tactical flexibility Gush on your turn maximizes your tactical
flexibility
Bluffing Playing Gush on your turn does not
interfere with bluffs any more than
playing it on your opponent’s turn

As mentioned above, these are general guidelines, and in dire situations you may need
to break these rules as the situation dictates. That does not mean that every time an
opponent uses a Wasteland you should respond with Gush. Rather, the exception
counsels that you may respond with Gush. There are many circumstances in which

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

doing so is the wrong play. A few examples will illustrate how doing so may cause
more harm than good.

Suppose that you have two lands in play, an Island and an Underground Sea, and a full
hand of seven cards. You have a few additional lands in hand with Gush when your
opponent attempts to Wasteland you. Should you Gush here, you will return both lands
to hand, and should it resolve, you will draw 2 more cards, leaving you with ten cards
in your hand. Not only will Gushing here leave you with no lands in play at the
beginning of your third turn, but you will, in all likelihood, have to discard cards at the
end of your next turn. This fact negates the advantage of playing Gush to preserve your
land.

Playing Gush may be disadvantageous for reasons that go beyond simply discarding
cards. Suppose you played a Turn 2 Young Pyromancer, and you have another Volcanic
Island in hand, along with Gush. Although you may cast Gush in response to
Wasteland to preserve your Volcanic Island (and generate a token creature in the
process), it may be the wrong play. First of all, the Wasteland on your land may be
better for you. The Wasteland is a tempo play on your behalf, since you have a creature
threat on the battlefield. Moreover, you have another Volcanic Island in hand, and
playing that one, and then casting Gush a turn afterward, will maximize your mana
development.

Consider another example illustrating how playing Gush in response to a Wasteland

might be wrong because it impedes your own mana development. Suppose, it is your
opponent’s second turn, and you have a Mox Ruby, Tropical Island and Underground
Sea in play with two more lands and a Jace, the Mind Sculptor in hand. If your
immediate goal is to build towards and resolve Jace, then responding to a Wasteland
with Gush is more likely to delay you from accomplishing that objective than refraining
from playing Gush. By Gushing in response to Wasteland, you will have no lands in
play at the beginning of your third turn. It is probably better, all things equal, to wait to
cast Gush so you can also play Jace a turn earlier. Not only that, but you will be able to
use Gush to protect and fuel Jace, a topic covered in Chapters 5 and 6.

The second exception mentioned above is known as the “emergency Gush.” If your
opponent is playing a game-winning or virtually game-winning play, such as the Time
Vault with Voltaic Key in play, Necropotence, or a terminal Yawgmoth’s Will, playing
Gush in response to such dire threats is justifiable as an emergency measure to attempt
to draw a Force of Will or other countermagic. Similarly, if you are engaged in a multi-
spell counter-war, you may wish to draw more cards with Gush on your opponent’s
turn in the hopes of finding one last counterspell to win the counter-war, and thereby
win the game. When the game is about to end, then waiting until a more optimal time
to play Gush is unwise.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

The complication in applying this exception arises from assessing whether the threat is
a game-winning proposition. Consider the possibility that your opponent plays a
potentially game-winning threat, such as Oath of Druids or a Tinker for Blightsteel
Colossus. In both cases, the opponent will be forced, most of the time, to give you an
additional turn. You may have an answer to any of these threats in your deck, such as a
Nature’s Claim, Grafdigger’s Cage, or a Hurkyl’s Recall.

Should you Gush immediately, in the hopes of surfacing a counterspell or another

instant speed draw spell to find one? Or should you wait, untap, draw, and Gush into
the hopes of finding an after-the-fact answer? These may not seem like mutually
exclusive options. After all, you may cast Gush, looking for Force of Will, only to find
the Grafdigger’s Cage you can play on your turn. But the impulse to respond to the
threat with Gush masks the way in which Gush interferes with your capacity to dig
more deeply for answers or deploy those answers, should you fail to find the Force of
Will. I will offer two examples that illustrate this delicate trade off.

Suppose it is Turn 2, and you have two tapped lands in play. Your opponent plays
Tinker, and you attempt to Force it, but they also have Force of Will. You consider
casting Gush. If you cast Gush, and fail to find Force of Will or another counterspell
(such as Misdirection), you will then be unlikely to be able to cast Hurkyl’s Recall, even
if you were lucky enough to draw it. You might even draw a card that serves as an
indirect answer, such as your own Tinker. You will likely be unable to play that as well.
When deciding what to do, you need to account for the probability of drawing a Force
of Will against the probability of drawing other answers. For example, if you draw
Vampiric Tutor or Mystical Tutor in your draw step, you may be able to play them to
find Hurkyl’s Recall, Gush into the Hurkyl’s, and cast it.

Vintage decks contain many direct answers, but also a good deal of connective tissue in
the form of draw spells and tutors to dig further. In high pressure tournament
situations, it is easy to slip into a binary way of thinking only about direct answers to
the threat at hand or after-the-fact counter-tactics. Yet, such thinking overlooks the
much larger set of possibilities that might yet remain. A painful real-world example will
illustrate this idea.

At the NYSE Open II, a large, prestigious tournament held in Long Island in the
summer of 2014, I was confronted with the difficult decision of whether to play Gush in
response to an Oath of Druids in the deciding game of a Quarter-Finals match. My deck
contained plenty of answers in the form of 3 Grafdigger’s Cages, Nature’s Claim, and a
Mystical Tutor to find a Nature’s Claim. I had to decide whether to play Gush in
response, in the hopes of finding a Force of Will immediately, or follow the general rule,
and play Gush on my turn.

In the pressure of the moment, I decided that Oath was sufficiently threatening that I

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

should respond with Gush, maximizing the number of answers I might be able to draw.
Indeed, I drew a Grafdigger’s Cage, and played it. But the Gush had cost me two
additional mana I might have used that turn. Because I drew Cage instead of Force, I
felt compelled to cast a Trygon Predator with it, expending the rest of my mana, in the
off chance that he had an Abrupt Decay. This prevented me from being able to cast
Flusterstorm in hand.

On my opponent’s next turn, he activated Oath of Druids, revealed Griselbrand, drew

the Griselbrand (Cage prevented it from coming into play from Oath), and he then cast
Show and Tell to put the Griselbrand into play. Had I waited to play Gush, I would
have been able to play Trygon Predator, Grafdigger’s Cage, and hold up Flusterstorm
for Show and Tell. Playing Gush on my opponent’s turn also cut me off from another
game-winning line of play, in which I could have cast Snapcaster Mage for Time Walk,
played the Trygon Predator and a Delver of Secrets, then untap on the Time Walk turn
and attack to win the game.

Sequencing Gush

The parameters established by the two rules set out so far instruct when Gush should be
played across the turn structure (on which/whose turns Gush should be played), but offer
little guidance as to when Gush should be played within turns. They suggest when
Gush should not be played, but do not help the Gush pilot sequence Gush with other
spells.

Sequencing, ordering your spells and land drops within or across the turn structure – is
a specific form or subcategory of timing. Instead of explaining on which turns or whose
turn Gush should be played, it prescribes when Gush should be played vis-à-vis other
spells. I will offer two specific rules for sequencing Gush that you should follow.

Rule 3: Play Gush Before Playing a Land

This rule follows from the reasoning offered in support of the first two. This sequencing
rule is designed to reinforce these timing guidelines and regulate your Gush mechanics.
In particular, it will help ensure that you are maximizing the mana If you cannot make a
advantages offered by Gush. The second guideline offered for
playing Gush is rooted in recognition that it is as important to land drop after
maximize this form of advantage as any other form of advantage, playing Gush, there is
including card advantage. a good chance that
you should not be
As I attempted to exhaustively illustrate, denying yourself two of
playing Gush that
additional mana on Turn 3 in order to net one card with Gush on
Turn 2 is simply not worth the trade-off. If you cannot make a land turn.
drop after playing Gush, there is a good chance that you should not be playing Gush

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

that turn. Following this rule reinforces the rule advising against playing Gush on Turn
2. This rule ensures that you maximize the mana advantages derived from Gush.

In addition to helping ensure that you maximize the mana advantage derived from
Gush, there is a very practical consideration here as well. When playing Gush, you will
lack foreknowledge of what your spell options will be for the rest of the turn. The best
you can do is make an educated guess. Playing a land before casting Gush will
prematurely commit you to certain mana combinations for the rest of the turn. Gush
may draw spells you had not anticipated or considered beforehand. Playing Gush
before playing a land will maximize your ability to play anything you may draw off of
Gush, regardless of the mana and color requirements. The spells drawn off of Gush will
inform which land to play (or replay), and what additional mana you may want to
draw out that turn.

For example, suppose it is Turn 3, and you have Tropical Island and Underground Sea
in play, and a Gush and Volcanic Island in hand. Playing the Volcanic Island before
playing Gush makes little sense. You have already been forced to commit to pooling a
mana with your dual lands before casting Gush (a topic exhaustively discussed in
Chapter 8). Playing Volcanic Island first will commit you to a color combination that
may prove suboptimal.

Suppose the top of your library is Duress and Young Pyromancer. If you cast Gush after
pooling UG and playing Volcanic Island, you not be able to play both spells. Playing
Gush before playing a land ensures that maximize your play options after Gush.

Alternatively, you might draw a specialized land with Gush, such as a Library of
Alexandria or a Strip Mine. Playing a land before casting Gush would prevent you from
optimizing your land drop that turn.

The challenge in applying this rule is that, once again, it runs against the grain of
experience. Most Magic players are accustomed to deploying their mana before casting
spells. There are good reasons behind this practice. Playing land drops as early as
possible in the turn is a practice that ensures that you do not forget to play a land for the
turn, and it provides a mental shortcut, clarifying your mana production possibilities
before fully evaluating possible lines of play and spell sequencing. Deploying all
available mana before casting spells also tends to maximize your capacity to add spells
to the stack. Following this rule is not only essential to Gush mechanics, but to ensure
that you are playing Gush to maximize your natural advantages.

The main exception to this general rule is you have already planned out, with no
uncertainty, every spell you wish to play for the rest of the turn. This may arise if you
have a deterministic path to victory, and no additionally drawn spell would change
your line of play. If you have a Fastbond in play, then there is no need to be so

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

concerned about your land drop this turn either.

One other possible exception is if you need the land to play around a Spell Pierce,
Flusterstorm, or a Mana Leak, and you are reasonably confident your opponent is
holding such a spell. In that case, you need to balance your concerns about possibly
playing a suboptimal land for the turn against your desire to play around these
conditional counterspells.

When timing Gush, most of the information needed to determine an optimal course of
action is known or irrelevant. Playing Gush on Turn 2 is a poor choice irrespective of
hidden information. Sequencing Gush, on the other hand, is a different story.
Sequencing Gush with other spells or other plays must account for hidden information.
As we just saw, this information includes cards on the top of your library, as well as
what your opponent might have in hand, and cards you might draw off of Gush. This
information matters because it will influence the order in which you play your spells
and the colors of mana you might float prior to Gushing.
Sequencing Gush is challenging for yet another reason. It requires an evaluation of
what’s important. It is desirable to sequence spells to increase the odds of resolving the
most important spell by ‘baiting’ with a less important spell. Evaluating what’s most
important in order to prepare a spell sequence is a matter of judgment. It involves a
tactical assessment of the situation as well as broader strategic vision.

Fortunately, there is a simple rule that can help you overcome both difficulties without
being the Bobby Fischer of Magic.

Rule 4: Play Gush Before Other Spells

My final guideline for playing Gush and for sequencing Gush with other spells is to
lead with Gush. This simple heuristic integrates complex reasoning into an easily
applicable rule of thumb. There are three key reasons behind this guideline, and a few
critical exceptions to be aware of. Bear in mind that this rule only applies if you have
committed to playing Gush. Leading with Gush in situations in which it is undesirable
to play Gush, such as Turn 2 or on the opponent’s turn, is inadvisable.

The first and most obvious reason behind this guideline is similar to the reason behind
playing Gush before committing to a land drop described in the previous section. There
is a good chance that Gush will draw spells you may be more interested in playing than
spells already in hand. For example, if Gush were to draw a Fastbond or a Demonic
Tutor, either play is likely better than having used the same resources already for a
Young Pyromancer or even an Oath of Druids. Gush may open new and potentially
superior lines of play or avenues of attack that should be pursued. Leading with Gush
ensures maximal tactical flexibility at each decision point. This is true with spells as well
as land drops.

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

The second reason to lead with Gush is similar to the first. Leading with Gush will tend
to increase the number of cards you will see for the turn. Many of the cantrips in a Gush
deck are best played after Gush rather than before it. If you play Preordain or another
cantrip before Gushing, sometimes you will be Gushing into cards you’ve already seen.
If you wait to cantrip after Gush has resolved, you will dig further into your deck, and
increase your chances of surfacing potent restricted cards.

The third reason to lead with Gush concerns how to interface Gush against
countermagic, and reveals how surprisingly ineffectual countermagic is against Gush.
The inescapable reality is that countermagic is, and has always been, a central feature of
the Type I/Vintage format. Most decks in the format feature some amount of
countermagic, and some compose as much as a quarter of their main deck.
Countermagic incentivizes the sequencing of spells such that the most relevant spell is
timed so that it will resolve, and the least important spells are used as bait. If not for the
prevalence of countermagic, sequencing would be far less relevant.

At first blush, Gush would seem to follow conventional Vintage sequencing analysis.
The Gush pilot would assess the relative value of each card in hand, and lead with a
card designed to draw a counter, hoping to resolve the most important spell last. For
example, if you assume that your opponent may have a Force of Will in their opening
hand, and you have Ancestral Recall, Black Lotus, and Necropotence you may lead
with Ancestral Recall to draw out the Force of Will in order to resolve Necropotence,
the more valuable and impactful spell.

A Gush pilot might conclude that Gush is the most valuable spell in hand, and therefore
the most important spell to resolve. The card advantage from Gush will help you
maintain control over the game, achieve tactical objectives, and advance your strategic
objectives. Following that logic you may decide to lead with another play. This
syllogism will lead you to the wrong play, and is a good example where practical
knowledge trumps intuitive logic.

There are two insights to bring to your attention here. First, Gush is surprisingly
difficult and risky to fight over. Second, even if Gush is countered, if you have followed
the guidelines set forth in this chapter, you will nonetheless derive some appreciable
advantages from simply having played it (and even more so if it is countered). I will
explain and illustrate both ideas.

As the Vintage format has evolved over the last few years, Wizards of the Coast has
printed a growing number of efficient niche counterspells. As a result, there are more
playable counterspells in the Vintage format than ever before, but most of these
counterspells are surprisingly narrow. Cards like Mental Misstep, Spell Snare, Steel
Sabotage, and Flusterstorm each illustrate playable, yet narrowly powerful forms of

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

contemporary countermagic. In the first case, the counterspell is constrained by the

mana cost of its target. In the third and fourth instance, the counterspell is constrained
by the card type of its target. As a result, many of the most popular forms of
countermagic are unable to even target Gush. And, many of those that can target Gush,
like Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm, have a difficult time countering Gush. Those forms of
countermagic that are able to stop Gush are either not worth deploying or easily and
devastatingly parried. To understand each claim, we must observe Gush in action.

Example:

Suppose it is your third turn, and you have a Tropical Island and an Underground Sea
in play. You tap your lands, floating UU, and play Gush.

Consider some of the more common ways in which Vintage players might attempt to
prevent Gush from resolving.

1) Force of Will

Your opponent might feel so compelled to counter Gush that they are willing to play
Force of Will. In most situations, this is a welcome trade. A Force of Will countering
Gush not only is a 2-for-1 trade in your favor, but you gained an additional land drop in
the process, deriving virtual card advantage as well. Force of Will targeting Gush is an
inefficient use of their resources, while clearing the way for anything you might play
next, such as a Jace or Tinker. Few competent opponents will expend one of their Forces
here to stop a Gush. Gush simply does not draw enough cards or generate enough card
quality by itself to justify countering it, especially when a nontrivial chunk of the
advantage provided by Gush is uncounterable (the returning of lands to hand).

2) Spell Pierce/Flusterstorm

Although your opponent can’t play Spell Snare or Mental Misstep, and probably won’t
be inclined to target your Gush with Force of Will, they may well try to Spell Pierce or
Flusterstorm your Gush. If you have followed my guidelines, and led with Gush, this is
an even less efficient response than Force of Will. Not only will you be able to pay for
the Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm with your pooled mana, but you will gain even more
card advantage in the process, since their counterspell will be unsuccessful at stopping
Gush.

3) Mana Drain

Mana Drain is probably the best possible way to counter Gush, provided Mana Drain
can be protected. While seemingly a 1-for-1, Mana Drain provides a gigantic 5 mana
boost to your opponent on their next main phase – usually more than enough colorless

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

mana to cast almost anything they wish. Gush’s pricey converted mana cost is a liability
here. Even still, there is good news.

Mana Drain is perhaps the easiest of all the countermagic to defend against. Mana
Drain is a mana intensive counterspell, so that a Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm in response
is very likely to counter the Mana Drain. Countering a Mana Drain in that way is a
devastating response because the opponent will often be tapped out on blue mana for
the remainder of that turn, clearing the way for a game-breaking play once Gush
resolves. A Flusterstorm targeting a Mana Drain targeting a Gush is a devastating
sequence for the Mana Drain controller. Not only will Gush resolve, but Flusterstorm
was traded for a Mana Drain, a one mana spell for a two mana spell, resolving Gush,
and denying them Mana Drain mana in the process.

If you are in an environment with many Mana Drains, you will want to consider Spell
Pierce, Pyroblast, or Flusterstorm simply on account of the simple sequence: Gush »
Mana Drain » Spell Pierce. This creates tempo, mana advantage, and card advantage, all
in your favor. Countering a Mana Drain targeting your Gush is the one of the best
reasons to play Spell Pierce, Pyroblast, or Flusterstorm in a Gush deck.

This line of play is so harmful for the opponent that they will feel compelled to shield
and protect their Mana Drain with a Force of Will, provided they have one. If they play
Force of Will to counter your Spell Pierce to protect their Mana Drain, you can pretty
much bury them by playing another spell of this type. For example, if you play another
Spell Pierce, targeting their Force, you will have traded a mere two Spell Pierce for their
Force of Will, Mana Drain, another blue spell, and you will have drawn two cards and
gained another land drop out of the deal. This is like trading two Pawns for a Rook and
a Knight in Chess.

If you don’t have a second Spell Pierce, Pyroblast, or Flusterstorm, I would advise you
to Force their Force, and the initial deal of trading Spell Pierce for their Mana Drain,
resolving Gush and gaining a land drop, are all maintained, still a favorable trade for
you.

The advantage of Flusterstorm over Spell Pierce in this scenario should be obvious. The
opponent will not be able to shield their Mana Drain with Force of Will if Mana Drain is
targeted by multiple storm copies of Flusterstorm, rendering their Force of Will
irrelevant.

4) Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast

Given the state of the format, you should expect to see Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast
targeting your Gush. If you’ve followed the guidelines provided in this chapter, you
will still gain land drops from that trade, and will have forced them to expend a mana

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

for a free spell. You can now use your mana to make other plays. The presence of
Pyroblast is a notable reason that Mental Misstep is an excellent protection spell in
Gush decks.

In summary, attempts to counter Gush are not only highly risky, but often
disadvantageous for the opponent. Not only is most countermagic inefficient or
ineffectual at stopping Gush, but there are readily available responses that result in
devastating outcomes. If your opponent commits with Mana Drain and Force of Will,
you have an opportunity to blow them out and end the game prematurely with your
countermagic, such as Flusterstorm.

Table 2.5: Opponent’s Response to Gush (and Your Counter-Response)

Your Opponent’s Your Response Effect
Response to Gush:
Force of Will Let it resolve, or You trade 2-for-1 and gain a land drop
counter with Mana or gain a huge mana advantage
Drain
Spell Pay two mana Gush resolves, and you gain +2 net
Pierce/Flusterstorm card advantage
Mana Drain Spell Gush resolves, and you get mana and +
Pierce/Flusterstorm 1 net card advantage
Red Elemental Blast Counter if possible You gain an additional land drop and
with Spell get mana advantage
Pierce/Flusterstorm;
otherwise let resolve

All in all, Gush is not an easy spell to stop. Your opponent may not be inclined to
expend countermagic to stop Gush, as much as they would like to do so. In many cases,
they are wise not to. As a result, leading with Gush is sensible even if Gush is one of
your most valuable plays. The usual logic for sequencing your most valuable spell last
is less applicable to Gush.

The second point I alluded to in connection with the interface of Gush and
countermagic is already described above: even if Gush is countered, by following the
rules set out in this chapter, you will nonetheless derive some mana advantage from
simply having played it. If Gush is contested, then you can expend your mana playing
countermagic of your own. If it is not contested, then you can use your mana to play
cantrips like Preordain or tutors like Merchant Scroll. In either case, you should have no
trouble deploying your spells with the mana you have available.

There are two broad exceptions to this rule that are critically important to bear in mind.
Although leading with Gush is the most important sequencing guideline, this rule is
inapplicable when sequencing Gush with a Duress effect or a card that may create a

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 Chapter 2 – Playing Gush

beneficial trigger as a result of Gush or a response to Gush. If you have a Duress or

Thoughtseize effect in hand you should lead with the Duress effect, float the remaining
mana, and then play Gush. These spells will help clear the way for the resolution of
Gush without impeding your natural game plan. That’s in part because you will wish to
play these interactive spells anyway. Therefore, you might as well lead with them and
increase your chances of resolving Gush in the process.

The other exception concerns beneficial triggers, such as Young Pyromancer, Monastery
Mentor, or triggers that might flow from attempts to combat Gush, like Mystic Remora.
For the same reasons that you will want to lead with Duress, if you have Mystic
Remora, you probably want to play Mystic Remora first, and then Gush. Mystic Remora
will, like a Duress effect, improve your chances of resolving Gush.

This is not to say that you should always lead with Quirion Dryad or Young
Pyromancer – I often prefer to lead with Gush instead. It is to say, however, that these
are examples that justify exception to the rule.

Conclusion

Timing and sequencing are among the most difficult recurring decisions in the game of
Magic. The timing rules set out above will elevate your game, discipline your Gush
mechanics, and improve your chances in any match. Applying them will resolve many
of the timing questions you may have about when to play Gush and when not to play
Gush. In this chapter, I’ve set out general rules of play that will help you maximize the
advantages derived from Gush.

Table 2.6: Timing and Sequencing Rule Review

Timing and Sequencing Guideline
Rule 1 Play Gush After Turn 2
Rule 2 Play Gush on Your Turn
Rule 3 Play Gush Before Playing a Land On Your Turn
Rule 4 Play Gush Before Other Spells

These rules are guidelines for general usage, and although they have exceptions, they
should be followed as closely as possible. They will discipline your play, and allow you
to make the right plays, even as a novice.

For experienced Gush players, this chapter has described principles of development
and tactical interaction, including concepts about bottlenecking mana and countermagic
skirmishes that define Gush play, but are situated within these rules of usage. Despite
an apparent simplicity, I have frequently struggled to apply these rules with the
discipline that I promote. These rules are well grounded in a theory and deeper
understanding of the benefits derived from Gush.

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 Chapter 3: The GushBond Engine

Gush is undeniably a form of card advantage, but, as we’ve seen, it’s much more than
that. It’s a source of mana advantage, expanding your mana supply by allowing you to
reuse the same land in a single turn. It’s a fount of virtual card advantage, facilitating
deck construction with higher average card quality per draw. It facilitates tempo
advantage by producing card advantage at no mana cost, and thereby furnishing
superior influence over the stack and the battlefield at critical junctures.

These forms of advantage are merely the foundation of Gush’s contributions to your
game. They can be used as discrete parcels of advantage, but they can also be
compounded over time towards greater ends. In that way, Gush is also an engine. An
“engine” is a widely used metaphor in Magic that generally describes a continuous or
iterative process or system that is meaningfully significant to a deck’s game plan. An
engine transforms ordinary or abundant inputs into consequential and valuable
outputs. Although the term engine in Magic is most often used in connection with
sources of card advantage, an engine can be used to generate mana advantage,
permanent advantage, life gain or any other constructive object.

A fairly straightforward engine that illustrates this basic idea is Survival of the Fittest, a
powerful enchantment. Survival is essentially a reusable “tutor” for any creature in
your library, and when combined with Squee, Goblin Nabob, transforms into an engine
that not only generates card advantage, but a potent search capacity. Other well-known
engines that have seen play in Eternal formats include Squirrel Nest and Earthcraft for
token generation, Worldgorger Dragon and Animate Dead for infinite mana, and
Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek for both token generation and life gain.

Naturally recursive, incremental forms of card advantage examined in Chapter 1, such

as Dark Confidant, may serve as draw engines. Restricted cards generally do not
constitute “engines” because they are intermittent and discrete, rather than continuous
or iterative. Fact or Fiction is an engine because it can be used to find subsequent ones,
whereas Ancestral Recall is not because it cannot be used to draw more Ancestrals.

Restricted “burst” draw spells cannot be sequenced without recursion (such as

Regrowth) or additional assistance (such as placing them on an Isochron Scepter).
Restricted cards or singletons may constitute an engine if there is a reliable means of
using them recursively or iteratively. For example, Necropotence, a restricted card, can
be used iteratively over turns consuming life as the resource input for card draw.
Similarly, with sufficient targets for equipping, a singleton Skullclamp may constitute a
draw engine. Recursive use of Baleful Strix with the aid of a Goblin Welder also
qualifies as a draw engine.

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

Gush can also be used as a draw engine. Gushes may be sequenced together over
multiple turns to generate a stream of card advantage over the course of the game. Used
this way, Gushes are optimally staggered every other turn (see Chapter 2). Extended
Grow decks from years past and contemporary Vintage aggro-control decks like Delver
use Gush in this familiar way. But it is also possible to sequence Gushes together within
a single turn using a restricted enabler, Fastbond.

As described in Chapter 1, considerable design effort was expended mitigating and

transforming Gush’s drawback into advantage. While these efforts popularized
innovative design principles and invaluably contributed to the body of Magic theory,
Fastbond is a card exclusively available in the Vintage format that can
accomplish this naturally. With Fastbond in play, each land returned to The GushBond engine
hand with Gush may be replayed immediately for the price of one life. converts life into
mana and card
Here’s how it works with Gush. With Fastbond in play you may tap advantage.
two lands, floating two mana. You then cast Gush, returning two lands
to hand. You may then replay those lands, losing life for each additional land beyond
the first one played that turn. This synergistic interaction is the nucleus of the
“GushBond” engine.

Since it features Gush, the GushBond engine is a draw engine. But it is also a mana
producing engine. The GushBond engine converts life into mana and card advantage.
The conversion formula or “golden ratio” of the GushBond engine is two cards and two
mana for two life. With Fastbond in play, Gush draws two cards and generates two
mana at the cost of two life. Lands returned to hand may be immediately redeployed to
the battlefield as mana accelerants.

Since Gush is a “free” spell, the GushBond engine can also be used as a storm engine,
for the purposes of cards such as Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, or even Brain
Freeze. By freeing mana to play more spells, the GushBond engine increases the spell
density per turn, and allows you to ramp up to a critical mass of spells per turn. Given
the myriad forms of advantage produced by this engine, and the speed with which they
can be achieved, some describe the GushBond engine as a “combo engine.”

Although the term “GushBond” was coined to describe the specific interaction of Gush
and Fastbond, the engine encompasses more than this specific interaction. The
GushBond engine refers broadly to a sequence of plays that facilitate this interaction,
and the entire package of cards used to execute those plays. The most significant
component of this engine, aside from either Gush or Fastbond, is Yawgmoth’s Will.
Although the supporting cast may change, the GushBond engine follows this basic
trajectory:

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

Table 3.1: GushBond Trajectory

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Fastbond Gushes Yawgmoth’s Replay Gushes Finisher
Will

The centrality of Yawgmoth’s Will to the GushBond engine, illustrated by the table
above, has as much to do with the mana advantage as the overwhelming card
advantage. Yawgmoth’s Will is well regarded as a devastating play largely on account
of the enormous card advantage it generates. With Fastbond and Gush, Yawgmoth’s
Will’s mana production is equally important. Yawgmoth’s Will amplifies the mana
production capacity of Fastbond and Gush beyond what they can accomplish alone.

If, through an incredible stroke of luck, you are able to chain together all four Gushes
with Fastbond in a continuous sequence, without any expenditure of additional
resources to find them, you can generate no more than eight additional mana from
lands returned to hand. To illustrate this, consider this unlikely, but illustrative,
opening hand:

Underground Sea, Tropical Island, Fastbond, Gush, Gush, Gush, Gush

Assuming your opponent is unable to stop any of your spells and you can play them
otherwise unimpeded, the two original lands can be replayed four times, generating
eight mana. Granted, more mana is likely to be drawn from the library in the process,
but there is a ceiling to the quantity of mana and cards that can be generated from the
interaction of Gush and Fastbond alone: eight cards and eight mana. This should be
enough resources to win the game, but this extreme hypothetical illustrates the best case
scenario, not the usual case.

Although it is not unusual to draw a Gush or two with an opening hand Fastbond, it is
unlikely that additional Gushes are either already in hand or drawn naturally with the
previous Gushes. It is more likely the case that further Gushes must be sought out,

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

tutored up, or otherwise replayed using cards like Preordain, Merchant Scroll, or
Regrowth.

The expenditure of resources used to find additional Gushes to power the GushBond
engine cuts into your total available mana supply and the resource potential of the
GushBond engine. For example, when using Merchant Scroll to tutor for a Gush, the
mana generated by casting a prior Gush that turn would be negated. If you play Gush
and float UU mana, and then play Merchant Scroll to find another Gush and cast it, you
only net two mana total despite having played two Gushes. Merchant Scroll for the
second Gush generated no additional mana.

The only way to continue to net mana is to Gush into more Gush directly, draw a Gush
from a one mana spell such as Preordain, or draw mana off of Gush. Like Merchant
Scroll, Regrowth helps dig deeper into the Gush chain, but nets no additional mana
directly. And cantrips, while flexible and important, are an unreliable way to find more
Gush. It generally takes more than one cantrip to find another Gush.

In a sense, pre-Yawgmoth’s Will GushBonding is running on a treadmill – a good deal

of work and effort without generating the critical mass of resources necessary to end the
game in most situations. To be sure, the card advantage is significant, and generates a
sizable advantage or lead over the opponent. But it is not likely that you are generating
much, if any, mana advantage, except as a consequence of the card advantage (that is,
playing mana sources drawn off of Gushes). It’s only when you play
Yawgmoth’s Will that every replayed Gush nets two mana. This It’s only when you
additional mana becomes the mana supply with which you are able to play Yawgmoth’s
easily advance across the finish line.
Will that every
The card and mana advantage derived from Yawgmoth’s Will, replayed Gush nets
primarily, although not exclusively, from Gushes, provides the critical two mana.
mass of cards, mana and storm to execute almost any finisher (see Step
5 in the table above). For example, if your finisher is Tendrils of Agony, it is not
difficult, post-Will, to find the Tendrils and cast it with lethal storm. Usually, all that is
needed is the four mana for Tendrils, two mana to find it (Demonic Tutor, or any
topdeck tutor plus a cantrip will suffice), and a few Gushes and mana accelerants for
storm.

What distinguishes various finishers are various mana, storm, or deck construction
requirements. Time Walk plus Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus costs just one more mana
than Tendrils of Agony, but requires less storm and probably more search capacity.
Similarly, assembling Time Vault and Voltaic Key is even more efficient, but both
combo parts require additional slots in your main deck. Time Walk plus Empty the
Warrens costs just one more mana than Time Walk plus Tinker, but offers greater
tactical flexibility than Voltaic Key + Time Vault. Similarly, Young Pyromancer or other

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

‘Grow’ finishers may be more efficient than Time Walk and Empty the Warrens or Time
Walk and Tinker, but requires more storm capacity to become lethal, or may take more
turns to provide the lethal conclusion to the game.

Regardless of the finisher, the GushBond engine, in the post-Will phase of the arc,
provides the critical mass of resources to find and execute it. That’s why a specific
finisher is not that critical – there are myriad ways to win the game from this sequence.
That is also why Yawgmoth’s Will is strategically significant to the operation of the
GushBond engine.

Please note that this engine can be implemented over several turns or it can be executed
in a single turn from Step 1 to Step 5, from Fastbond to an overwhelming Yawgmoth’s
Will with sufficient recursion to produce a lethal combo finish. Whether executed in a
single turn or across turns, the GushBond engine usually follows this basic trajectory.

In summary, Yawgmoth’s Will is the most significant element of the GushBond engine
aside from either Gush or Fastbond. It is possible to win games through the interaction
of Gush and Fastbond without resolving Yawgmoth’s Will, as the engine is powerful
enough to cycle through your deck and surface a finisher to win the game. For example,
in a Vintage Super League match, I resolved Fastbond and a series of Gushes, finding
Tendrils of Agony in the process, and cast it with exactly enough storm to win the
game. But it was not until Yawgmoth’s Will was incorporated into Gush decks that the
GushBond engine, by itself, would reliably generate the resources to end the game.
Yawgmoth’s Will generates a critical mass of resources, especially mana production, so
that the end game may unfold without further digging or draw.

The GushBond Engine in Action

Explaining the mechanics and operation of the GushBond engine is not the same thing
as seeing it in action. Let us examine the potential sequencing with this is opening hand:

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

Underground Sea, Tropical Island, Gush, Fastbond, Mystical Tutor, Brainstorm, Force of Will

It is Turn 1, and you are on the play.

Step 1: Play Tropical Island, and tap it to cast Fastbond (Storm 1).

Step 2: Play Underground Sea (-1 life, 19), and tap it to add U mana, then return
Tropical Island and Underground Sea to hand to cast Gush (Storm 2), drawing Polluted
Delta and Regrowth.

Step 3: Play Tropical Island (-1 life, 18) and Underground Sea (-1 life, 17), and tap to add
G and U mana, and then cast Regrowth (Storm 3) targeting Gush in the graveyard (still
floating U from Step 2).

Step 4: Return Tropical Island and Underground Sea to hand to cast Gush (Storm 4),
drawing Misty Rainforest and Preordain.

Step 5: Cast Preordain (Storm 5) using the floating U mana, seeing Merchant Scroll and
Mox Sapphire. Draw Merchant Scroll off Preordain.

Step 6: Play Tropical Island (-1 life, 16) and Underground Sea (-1 life, 15), and tap to add

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

UU mana, and then cast Merchant Scroll (Storm 6), finding another Gush.

Step 7: Return Tropical and Underground Sea to cast Gush (Storm 7), drawing Force of
Will and Brainstorm.

Step 8: Play Tropical Island (-1 life, 14) and tap it to cast Brainstorm (Storm 8), drawing
Ponder, Black Lotus, and Gush. Put Polluted Delta and Force of Will back on top of
library with Brainstorm.

Step 9: Play Misty Rainforest (-1 life, 13) and sacrifice it (-1 life, 12) to find Underground
Sea. Tap Underground Sea to cast Mystical Tutor (Storm 9) for Yawgmoth’s Will.

Step 10: Play (the other) Underground Sea (-1 life, 11) and cast Ponder (Storm 10) to
draw Yawgmoth’s Will.

Step 11: Play Black Lotus (Storm 11), and sacrifice it for BBB to cast Yawgmoth’s Will
(Storm 12).

Step 12: Replay Black Lotus from graveyard (Storm 13). Return Underground Sea and
Underground Sea to your hand to cast Gush from graveyard (Storm 14), drawing Force

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

of Will and Preordain.

Step 13: Play Underground Sea (-1 life, 10), and then tap it to replay Mystical Tutor from
graveyard (Storm 15), finding Tendrils of Agony.

Step 14: Play Underground Sea (-1 life, 9) and tap it for B mana, and then return two
lands replay the other Gush from graveyard (Storm 16), drawing Tendrils of Agony and
Polluted Delta.

Step 15: Sacrifice Black Lotus to cast Tendrils of Agony (Storm 17) to win the game.

This example illustrates the productive capacity of Yawgmoth’s Will in the context of
the GushBond engine. It also illustrates the trajectory of the GushBond engine, through
the steps described above. The GushBond pilot had more than enough resources post-
Will to win with any of the finishers described, despite only having played two Gushes
pre-Will.

If the Gush pilot had played three Gushes in Step 2, they would have had no less than
11 mana to work with post-Will, and with Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, and 3
Gushes, abundant search and draw capacity. With those resources even a simple Grow
creature played after Step 3 would have been more than enough to win the game.

A Flexible Engine

The sequence above illustrates the progression of the GushBond engine in its most
general contours, but is far from the only way it may unfold. As noted, the GushBond
engine refers to the sequence of plays and the package of cards that support and
facilitate this progression. This includes a broad supporting cast that lubricates the
engine and keeps it running efficiently.

The GushBond engine’s supporting cast is a critical part of the engine because it
provides consistency. Gush, Fastbond, and Yawgmoth’s Will are but half a dozen cards.
It is necessary to include cards that can provide scaffolding to support core components
with search and draw, so that these core cards may reliably be found. In the sequence
above, Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Regrowth, and Merchant Scroll all performed
this function. The table below lists the most common components of the contemporary
GushBond engine, and describes each component’s primary function in the context of
that engine.

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

Table 3.2: The GushBond Engine Components

Engine Part Primary Engine Function(s)
Fastbond Allows multiple Gushes to be played per turn
Gush Generates card and mana advantage
Merchant Scroll Finds Gush or Mystical Tutor
Regrowth Replays Gush
Brainstorm, Ponder, Finds engine parts
Preordain
Gitaxian Probe Finds mana or engine parts and provides information

Mystical Tutor Finds Gush, Demonic Tutor, Yawgmoth’s Will, or a

finisher
Imperial Seal, Vampiric Finds Fastbond, Gush, Yawgmoth’s Will, or a finisher
Tutor, Demonic Tutor
Yawgmoth’s Will Generates card advantage, mana advantage, and
storm
Finisher Ends the game

Each of the cards used by the GushBond engine performs familiar tactical roles
independent of the engine, but within the context of this engine they adopt additional
responsibilities specific to the GushBond engine. For example, Brainstorm’s familiar
function is to filter your hand for optimal development or tactical needs. If your hand is
land light, it may be used to draw additional land. If your hand is land heavy, it may be
used to exchange those lands for business spells. In the context of the GushBond engine,
it performs those functions in addition to searching for Gush and other engine parts.

In some instances, cards maintain their familiar functionality, but it may be

subordinated to a specific role within the operational context of the GushBond engine.
For example, Merchant Scroll is primarily used to tutor for Ancestral Recall in Vintage,
and secondarily used to find countermagic or Mystical Tutor to tutor chain for
something Merchant Scroll cannot find. However, in the context of the GushBond
engine, it is primarily used to find Gush, and secondarily used to find Ancestral Recall,
countermagic, or Mystical Tutor.

In addition, the specific role performed by each card may change depending on the
phase of the progression of the GushBond engine. Tutors should be used to find cards
specific to the needs of each step or phase of the GushBond engine progression. If
Fastbond has not yet been found, tutoring for Fastbond may be a priority. If Fastbond is
in play, the next priority is finding more Gushes or Yawgmoth’s Will, depending on the
amount of Gushes already played, and the availability of other resources. If Fastbond is
in play, and Yawgmoth’s Will is already in hand or resolved, then the primary function
of most tutors is to locate a finisher.

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

This flexible shifting of roles illustrates a broader point about the GushBond engine.
Although it follows the GushBond trajectory charted above, it is not a linear sequence of
specific cards or plays, but follows a general progression with myriad routes between
and among steps. The possible sequence of plays made between resolving Fastbond and
playing a finisher is virtually infinite.

Despite a few core components, most of the machinery in the GushBond engine is
flexible, optional, or elective. The lack of specificity with respect to a finisher is also
illustrative. Gush and Fastbond, boosted by Yawgmoth’s Will, launch the engine into a
variety of endgames.

The steps or phases of the GushBond engine trajectory serve as a model to follow, but
should not be viewed as a strict formula for sequencing. There may be cases where a
finisher is played prior to resolving Fastbond. For example, a Gush pilot may cast
Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor, or Talrand, Sky Summoner before initiating
step 1 of the GushBond engine. In that case, the GushBond engine is used to generate a
critical mass of creature tokens or +1/+1 counters and find Time Walk to win the game.

It may also be the case that Yawgmoth’s Will precedes Fastbond. Within a Yawgmoth’s
Will turn, the Gush pilot might use available resources to tutor for Fastbond to finish
the GushBond progression, and replay remaining Gushes and additional engine parts
from the graveyard into a lethal finisher. There may even be games where specific steps,
such as playing Yawgmoth’s Will, can be skipped entirely.

The GushBond engine is a flexible and variable engine that plays out differently from
game to game, using the same core cards to keep it running. It is not just that the engine
is assembled differently from game to game, but that the engine itself could be
packaged and fit into a wide range of strategies and decks (a topic that is the subject of
next chapter). This flexibility provides strategic and situational resilience and
adaptability that a more rigidly defined engine may lack. Each of the cards in the engine
performs a role independent of the engine, but can be brought together for explosive
synergy. They operate like Voltron: the component parts function independently or in
any combination together.

The GushBond engine resembles a multi-card Yawgmoth’s Bargain. The golden ratio is
exchanging two life for two cards and two mana with every Gush at no mana cost. But,
in some respects, the engine is superior to Bargain because it can generate mana and is
more flexible in assembly. Thus, the cards can be strung together in variable and
virtually infinite sequences to achieve the same result. In that respect, as a diffuse
engine among many cards, it is easier to assemble and more difficult to disrupt.

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

The GushBond Engine Then and Now

As noted, the GushBond engine is a flexible engine in terms of both sequencing and
assembly. The supporting cast of cards employed by the GushBond engine is even more
flexible. Aside from a few core components, the GushBond engine has evolved
dramatically over time with changes in the available card pool. New printings, the
legalization of previously prohibited sets, and changes to the Banned and Restricted
List have expanded and limited the tools for the GushBond engine.

The supporting cast of the GushBond engine is defined more by function than form.
Although there are nuances specific to the possibilities and limitations of each unique
card, the primary function of the supporting cast is to find (draw, tutor, or recur) other
engine parts. Understanding the evolution of the GushBond engine over time will
deepen one’s understanding of the mechanics of the GushBond engine, as well as help
inform how to change the supporting cast as time goes on and more changes are made
to the card pool.

Although the interaction of Gush and Fastbond had been used earlier, it was not until
the printing of Onslaught’s fetchlands in the fall of 2002 that three or four color Gush
decks could be reliably constructed. Incorporating Yawgmoth’s Will and Fastbond into
a Gush deck requires consistent and reliable access to both green and black mana
without resorting to rainbow lands (like City of Brass), which cannot be returned to
hand with Gush. Fetchlands allow a Gush player to fetch out any color combination of
Alpha’s original dual lands, which can be returned to hand with Gush since they count
as “Islands.” Onslaught created the conditions for the emergence of the GushBond
engine.

The typical 2003 era GushBond engine, depending on the preferences of the deck pilot,
looked something like this:
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Gush
1-4 Merchant Scroll
3-4 Sleight of Hand/Opt
1 Regrowth
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1+ Finisher

Cards like Merchant Scroll, Brainstorm, and Ponder were each used to find more
Gushes to continue to combo out once Fastbond was set in play. Although Brainstorm

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

and Ponder were each capable of drawing a Gush, Merchant Scroll was used to find
another Gush directly. A Gush found with Merchant Scroll replaced the mana used to
cast Merchant Scroll. Similarly, Regrowth could be used to replay a Gush already cast in
the same way.

Brainstorm and Ponder need not find Gush if they could uncover a Merchant Scroll or
Regrowth to keep the Gush engine going. Brainstorm also served the important
function of exchanging excess land or superfluous countermagic or win conditions for
vital combo parts mid-engine. Brainstorm prevented mana flooding and helped
regulate the flow of relevant cards as the GushBond engine dug deeper into your deck.

In June 2003 the DCI announced the restriction of Gush, effectively killing the
GushBond engine, which requires multiple Gushes to operate. However, four years
later, in June 2007, the DCI unexpectedly unrestricted Gush. In that time there were
several significant changes to the card pool relevant to the GushBond engine. The first
was the legalization of Portal Three Kingdom’s Imperial Seal, which could function as an
additional tutor. The second was the printing of the storm mechanic in Scourge. Since
Gush was a natural storm enabler, players developed decks using cards like Tendrils of
Agony as the desired finisher. To facilitate that, cards like Timetwister and Mind’s
Desire became optional parts of the GushBond engine in certain combo variants.

The GushBond engine changes through new printings or changes to the Restricted List,
but also according to needs and context. Sometimes it included four Merchant Scrolls,
and other times merely two or three. Regrowth was sometimes included and sometimes
omitted entirely. Timetwister and other draw spells can be used as part of the
GushBond engine.

In the fall of 2007, Ponder was printed in Lorwyn, and became a standard inclusion,
replacing other weaker cantrips like Opt and Sleight of Hand. By 2008 the GushBond
engine looked something like this:
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Gush
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal (optional)
1 Timetwister (optional)
1 Regrowth
1+ Finisher

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

The printing of Ponder pushed the GushBond engine into a new strata of consistency
and speed. In addition to the printing of Ponder, deck designers embraced a more
central role for Merchant Scroll in the operation of the GushBond engine. In the original
GushBond era, Merchant Scroll was an underutilized engine component. The printing
of Gifts Ungiven had highlighted the power of Merchant Scroll such that by the time
Gush was unrestricted, Scroll was more generally included in maximal quantities.

For the first time, there were sufficient enabling cards that this engine could be executed
consistently as early as turn one, provided Fastbond had been drawn. Cards like
Ponder, Brainstorm, and Merchant Scroll were the connective tissue that allowed this
sequence to unfold with a high degree of consistency. If Fastbond was not naturally
drawn, it would often be tutored up as quickly as possible to begin the sequence of
Gushing leading to Yawgmoth’s Will. Thus, this basic package of 20 or so cards could
be ported from deck to deck, with different finishers, countermagic configurations, and
very different strategic orientations. It could be used in control decks, Oath decks,
aggro-control decks, and storm combo decks, among others.

This engine became so ubiquitous and dominant that the DCI simultaneously restricted
Gush, Merchant Scroll, Brainstorm, and Ponder to neuter the power of this engine in
June of 2008. Once again, the GushBond engine was scuttled.

Unexpectedly, the DCI unrestricted Gush again in October 2010. With Brainstorm,
Merchant Scroll, and Ponder restricted, this was a greatly diminished engine. The
GushBond engine was not as fast or consistent, and more likely to “stall out.” In 2008,
you could play a turn one or turn two Fastbond and combo out, that is, Gush until you
resolved Yawgmoth’s Will, and then win the game, with a high degree of consistency.
This was no longer the case.

Consider this opening hand:

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

Tropical Island, Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Fastbond, Force of Will, Gush, Ponder

Before the restriction of Merchant Scroll, Brainstorm and Ponder, a hand like this could
reliably win the game on Turn 1, playing out like the long sequence illustrated earlier in
this chapter.

Merchant Scroll served as modified copies of Gush 5-8, but also with added utility. For
two mana, you could transform Scroll into Ancestral Recall or countermagic, or a Gush
and draw two cards and lose two life. This allowed you to find additional resources to
keep the engine going, and made the engine far more consistent than simply relying on
4 Gushes. The first Gush could find either another Gush or Merchant Scroll or another
cantrip to find the Gush or Scroll. It also made comboing out post-Will far more
efficient. Brainstorm served a different, but equally important function. It allowed you
to exchange excess land or useless parts, mid-combo, for vital parts. Thus, it prevented
you from being mana-flooded and kept the density of relevant cards in hand high.

Consequently, it was no longer possible to combo out with an early Fastbond with the
same degree of consistency. Until new printings provided alternative parts, the density
of connective tissue was drastically reduced.

As part of Magic 2011, Wizards printed a cantrip that was

better than Opt or Sleight of Hand, and sometimes even better
than Ponder: Preordain. It is sometimes superior to Ponder
because it allows you to keep two of the three cards on top of
your library, but can dispose of a card you have no interest in
drawing. Preordain is now a vital component of any
reconstituted GushBond engine. Without Preordain you will
need other major tools (such as storm combo engine parts) to
generate the card celerity (i.e. to dig fast enough) necessary to
advance your game plan at a reasonable speed. Preordain
does not directly translate into additional Gushes nor help
you mitigate mana flooding. In that respect, it does not perform the full range of
functions that Brainstorm and Scroll provided, but it is an automatic inclusion in a
reconstituted GushBond engine, which looked something like this circa 2011:

1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Gush
4 Preordain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Demonic Tutor

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Regrowth (optional)
1 Imperial Seal (optional)
2-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor (optional)
1 Gifts Ungiven (optional)
1+ Finisher

Jace, the Mind Sculptor was also being used by many Gush pilots as a powerful tactic
within and without the GushBond engine. Gush and Jace have a natural synergy, but
within the GushBond engine they can be even more powerful, and Jace can help the
Gush pilot continue to combo out through its +0 Brainstorm ability.

This was the state of the GushBond engine until the spring of 2013, when the DCI
unexpectedly unrestricted Regrowth, giving yet another boost to the GushBond engine.
Today, the GushBond engine includes some mix of these cards:
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Gush
4 Preordain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
0-4 Gitaxian Probe
0-1 Imperial Seal
0-3 Regrowth
0-2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1+ Finisher

Regrowth bolsters the greatly diminished GushBond engine in both consistency and
speed. It functions in a similar role to Merchant Scroll – a two mana sorcery that
becomes Gush. The difference is that Regrowth reuses a Gush you have already played
whereas Scroll fetches a new one out of your library. Sometimes Regrowth is actually
better. Merchant Scroll can only find blue instants. Regrowth can find anything in the
graveyard, and recur Time Walk or Black Lotus.

Regrowth is also useful because it allows you to replay a countered or discarded

Yawgmoth’s Will, to re-arm yourself with a Force of Will in a tenuous mid-game
position, or to replay an early Ancestral Recall for another shot of card advantage. The
problem with Regrowth is that it is slower, green, and somewhat clunky in the early

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

game.

Imperial Seal is also deserving of consideration, particularly if you run Regrowth. Seal
has a critical synergy with Regrowth, as playing it increases your chances of finding an
early Ancestral Recall, and replaying Ancestral is one of Regrowth’s strong suits.
Imperial Seal can also find Fastbond, and should be considered in decks with a stronger
emphasis on the GushBond engine. Finding Fastbond may be its greatest strength, since
being a topdeck tutor is less relevant if Gush or a cantrip will draw the card you’ve
placed on top immediately.

Gitaxian Probe is also popularly employed in Gush strategies, and often found in decks
utilizing the GushBond engine. Although Probe lacks the digging power of other
cantrips, it can be played without paying mana, and therefore can help dig deeper into
the library within the engine. Probe does, however, bring into focus the limitations of
the GushBond engine with respect to your life total.

Using the GushBond engine, especially in the post-Will arc of the progression, demands
the better part of your life total. It is not unusual to use up half of your life total when
reaching Step 3 (the Yawgmoth’s Will step) of the engine. Post-Will, you will need to
play mana lands from your graveyard or from hand in order to maximize your mana
utilization. Fetchlands in particular cost two life with each use, and should be used
carefully to ensure that you have enough life to finish comboing out. Topdeck tutors are
sometimes used to find a finisher, putting further stress on life resources.

Although replaying Gitaxian Probes using Phyrexian mana post-Will is an alluring

play, the cost to your life total may not be worth the benefit. The mana production may
be more important than the card advantage of Probe. You may even wish to hard cast
Probes or leave some unused altogether.

Although the current card pool has limitations, it also has many tools for executing the
GushBond engine. Greater patience, however, is required when executing these steps
with the current card pool. More turns will be necessary to naturally draw parts that
will eventually lead to Step 3, Yawgmoth’s Will. More set up is required. It is more
likely to stall out and is more prone to mana flooding than in years past. Using Gush to
generate short-term card advantage or sustained long-term card advantage is relatively
more important than simply assembling the GushBond engine. The one exception is
storm combo, where the GushBond engine is supported in other ways by storm spells
like Timetwister.

In general, however, the other advantages that Gush offers are more important than
ever, so that leveraging Gush in the ways described in the previous chapter is a higher
priority than before (such as for mana advantages, and the like). As an initial design
matter, Gush pilots will have to weigh how much they wish to emphasize the

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 Chapter 3 – The GushBond Engine

GushBond engine, and, in turn, how much of the potential engine package they wish to
include.

Because of the evolving card pool and changes to the Banned and Restricted List, the
GushBond engine waxes and wanes in power and reliability. The restrictions of
Brainstorm, Merchant Scroll, and Ponder are each tempered by the fact of new printings
and other unrestrictions. Today, the GushBond engine is more robust than it has been at
any time since the 2008 restriction of Gush, Merchant Scroll, Brainstorm and Ponder.
But it has to compete with alternatives such as Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time,
Snapcaster Mage, and Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, which inhibit this engine in their own ways
by providing powerful alternatives to this engine.

As the card pool has evolved with new printings and changes to the Banned and
Restricted List, components to this engine have changed in form, but not in function.
Sleight of Hand and Opt were staple components, but were superseded and replaced by
cards like Ponder and, more recently, Preordain – cards that serve the same function,
but perform better in the role. The unrestriction of Regrowth helps compensate for the
restriction of Merchant Scroll. Although the GushBond engine is not as strong as it was
at its peak in early 2008, it is far more powerful than it was at its nadir in late 2010.

The GushBond engine is a powerful weapon in the hands of an experienced Gush pilot.
Yet, it is not an engine that is unreflectively used by Gush pilots. In addition to the
impact of restrictions, competition from other Gush engines has contributed to the
decline of the GushBond engine. Most prominent among them is the Dack Fayden +
Delve spell engine, in which Dack, further fueled by Gush, accelerates in to Treasure
Cruise and Dig Through Time (covered in greater detail in Chapter 6). Mastery of the
GushBond engine, including the facility for manipulating it, is an essential skill for the
Gush expert, and requires careful management of life, mana, and other resources in
addition to a deep understanding of its mechanics.

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 Chapter 4: Gush Strategies

In the first three chapters, I set out the forms of advantage that may be derived from
Gush, offered specific guidance for playing Gush, introduced the GushBond engine,
and explained its operational principles. These principles and concepts apply to most
Gush-based strategies, and form the core of any Gush deck. As vital as Gush may be to
any deck, and as consequential as the GushBond engine may prove in any game, they
are merely an integral part of a larger whole. This larger view is the focus of this
chapter.

Gush and the GushBond engine exist as a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. It
may seem pedantic to state, but it remains necessary for clarity and sound logic: that
end is winning games. It would be churlish to deny the varying reasons people are
drawn to Magic and compete, at various levels, in the game. But for the Vintage
tournament player, the primary purpose of any card is narrow and specific: to help win
games. It is from this vantage point I write.

Despite the idiomatic way in we usually discuss these matters, neither Gush nor the
GushBond engine win games in any literal sense. Only two things are literally capable
of winning games: 1) players and 2) cards that trigger or satisfy conditions established
by the game rules (specifically, Rule 104.2 of the Comprehensive Rules) for winning the
game. Gush and the GushBond engine merely help create the conditions under which
winning games is possible and eventually accomplished. They are part of a larger
strategy.

In this chapter, I provide an overview of Gush-based strategies. The next five chapters
will break these strategies into their constitutive parts, and examine each part
respectively. In the process, I will exhaustively review the full range of card options for
Gush decks.

Strategic Support

Over the more than two decade history of the game, players, theorists and
commentators have developed a sophisticated set of heuristics and terminology to
describe strategic approaches common in the game. The terminology, vernacular, and
classification schemes used to describe these broad strategic approaches have changed
and evolved over time. Precise definitions and usage for these approaches remains
vexingly unsettled.

Traditionally, strategies in Magic were divided into three categories: Aggro, Control,
and Combo. These broad categories, and hybrid, hyphenated variants thereof, were

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

generally thought sufficient to capture the essence of any Magic strategy. More recently,
these classification schemes have been complicated with new categories like
“midrange,” which experts such as Patrick Chapin characterize as one of “four basic
types of strategies in Magic.” Due to the lack of consensus, I restrict my discussion to
the more traditional terms.

Among its many sublime qualities, Gush is distinguished for its capacity to fuel so
many different strategic approaches. In that respect, Gush is a member of rarefied
company. Most engines support one or two strategic approaches.

For example, Mind’s Desire, a card advantage engine so powerful and feared that it was
preemptively restricted, is used exclusively as a combo engine. Demanding a critical
mass of input resources, Mind’s Desire requires committed investment, but transforms
those inputs into explosive and overwhelming outputs. Like Yawgmoth’s Bargain, once
a sufficiently large Mind’s Desire has resolved, it typically provides all the resources
needed to end the game without further turns.

Similarly, Thirst for Knowledge is most often featured in control strategies. In Chapter 1
we examined Thirst’s deceptively potent contributions to the game. Dramatically
underestimated when printed, Thirst became one of the most dominant Vintage draw
engines of all time. Its success can be attributed in part to its tailored fit in a control
shell. It is efficient enough to generate card advantage quickly with minimal available
resources without crowding out other control spells. As an instant, it can be timed for
play at the most opportune moments, without forcing the pilot to choose between
casting countermagic or Thirst in advance.

Unlike Desire and Thirst, some engines appear in two strategies. Standstill, for example,
supports both control strategies and aggro-control strategies. Dark Ritual is a mana
source most associated with combo strategies.

While many engines support more than one strategy, a few exceptional engines support
many strategic postures. Gush is such an engine. There are five basic Gush strategies:
aggro-control, control, combo-control, combo, and aggro-control-combo.

As we have seen, Gush originated in aggro-control strategies, but evolved in many

different directions. The GushBond engine makes Gush especially attractive to combo
pilots, but also facilitates hybrid approaches. Because Gush can support so many
strategic orientations, hybrid strategic options are popular in Gush decks. I will briefly
survey each of these strategic approaches as powered by Gush.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Aggro-Control

Gush first appeared in an archetype known as “Blue Skies” in Mercadian Masques block,
but did not become a superstar until the invention of Alan Comer’s Miracle Grow (see
Chapter 1). Miracle Grow epitomizes the archetypal aggro-control strategy. The plan is
to resolve efficient threats and ride them to victory. Countermagic disrupts the
opponent’s plan, and can generate tempo, buying time to inflict additional damage.

The attempts to port this style of deck to Vintage (formerly Type I) were unsuccessful at
first. Patrick Chapin was the first to crack the code, and ushered Grow into the format
in 2002. Unshackled from the design assumptions of Grow in Extended, he re-
envisioned the idea of a Quirion Dryad + Gush-based aggro-control deck from the
perspective of the format he was designing for. Winter Orb was simply not disruptive
enough, as Type I decks were faster and far more disruptive, necessitating a much
larger suite of countermagic. The format transforming deck that Patrick used to win the
largest and most prestigious Type I tournament of 2002 (the GenCon $250 tournament –
the predecessor to the Vintage Championship) can be found in Chapter 11.

The Grow archetype would evolve and re-emerge from time to time. In late 2007,
Manuel Fernandez placed second at the StarCityGames Chicago P9 with this:

Vintage Grow, 2nd Place StarCityGames P9 Chicago November 2007

By Manuel Fernandez

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 3 Energy Flux
1 Echoing Truth 1 Mox Jet 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Duress 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Echoing Truth
2 Thoughtseize 1 Library of Alexandria 3 Oxidize
4 Mana Drain 3 Flooded Strand 4 Smother
4 Gush 3 Polluted Delta
4 Brainstorm 4 Tropical Island
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Underground Sea
1 Time Walk 2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Quirion Dryad
3 Tarmogoyf

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

New printings have since dramatically improved the aggro-control strategy. Most
recently, Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor have become the favored aggro-
control finishers. For more on modern Grow decks and other aggro-control Gush
strategies, see Chapter 12, on contemporary Gush decks.

Control

Gush appeared first in aggro-control and combo decks in Type I/Vintage, but soon
found a comfortable home in control decks as well. JP Meyer was the first to figure out
a way to use Gush as both a draw and damage engine in his famous Psychatog creation,
which won the first Waterbury (The Mana Drain Open) and the first Vintage
Championship in 2003 (albeit with only 1 Gush, since it was restricted by that time):

Type I Psychatog (aka Hulk Smash), 1st Place Waterbury 2003

By JP Meyer

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

2 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 3 Back to Basics
4 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 3 Smother
3 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 1 Ghastly Demise
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mox Ruby 1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Time Walk 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Seedtime
4 Accumulated 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Rebuild
Knowledge 4 Polluted Delta 1 Naturalize
1 Regrowth 4 Underground Sea 1 Shallow Grave
1 Demonic Tutor 3 Tropical Island 1 Mana Short
2 Merchant Scroll 5 Island 1 Berserk
3 Intuition 1 Swamp 1 Mind Twist
2 Cunning Wish 1 Strip Mine
1 Upheaval
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Psychatog

Control strategies flowered when Gush was unrestricted in 2007. Shortly after I won the
2007 Vintage Championship with a Grow deck (see Chapter 11 for decklist), Owen
Turtenwald would go on to win a StarCityGames Power 9 series tournament in
Indianapolis a month later with a similar strategy, but employing noticeably different
tools. This deck from Team ICBM would come to be known as Empty Gush.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Empty Gush, 1st Place StarCityGames P9 Indianapolis 09-16-2007

By Owen Turtenwald

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Pyroblast 1 Mox Jet 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Mox Ruby 2 Pithing Needle
4 Duress 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Pyroblast
2 Mana Drain 1 Sol Ring 2 Pyroclasm
1 Echoing Truth 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Rack and Ruin
1 Fire/Ice 4 Polluted Delta 1 Rebuild
4 Gush 2 Flooded Strand 1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Brainstorm 2 Underground Sea 2 Trickbind
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Volcanic Island
1 Time Walk 1 Tropical Island
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Snow-Covered Island
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Regrowth
1 Tinker
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Meloku the Clouded
Mirror

This deck was particularly effective against the Vintage

metagame menace Flash, largely on account of its density of
Red Elemental Blast effects, and efficient countermagic and
discard. It was also effective against other Gush decks because
of the large disruption package, and fewer slots dedicated to
win conditions.

When Gush was unrestricted for a second time, players were

eager to put Gush to work, once again, in dedicated control
strategies. The most successful version of this during the
spring of 2011 was simply known as “East Coast Wins.”

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

East Coast Wins

By Shawn Anthony and Allen Fulmer

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 1 Pithing Needle
3 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 2 Ingot Chewer
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Pearl 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Ruby 2 Nature's Claim
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Sensei's Divining Top 1 Mana Crypt 1 Perish
2 Preordain 1 Sol Ring 1 Pyroclasm
1 Ponder 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Island
1 Brainstorm 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Tropical Island
1 Time Walk 2 Underground Sea
3 Jace, the Mind 2 Volcanic Island
Sculptor 2 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

East Coast Wins was the first Gush strategy to employ Jace, the Mind Sculptor for a
potent synergy, which enabled a new control shell. Shawn Anthony pioneered this
particular approach during the summer of 2011 with versions of the deck presented
here. This deck proved capable of massively outdrawing an opponent while assembling
“haymaker” finishers superior to what was possible before.

Combo

Gush-based combo strategies are the oldest Gush archetype in the Vintage format, and
remain among the most successful, although they are not as popular as hybrid
strategies or other archetypes.

The first Gush deck to successfully appear in Type I Top 8s was Turboland.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Turboland, 6th Place Castricum (Netherlands) 09-08-2002

By Roland Bode

1 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Duress 1 Sol Ring 2 Aura of Silence
1 Abeyance 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Balance
1 Fire/Ice 3 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Circle of Protection:
4 Gush 2 Gemstone Mine Black
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Tropical Island 1 Circle of Protection:
2 Impulse 4 Tundra Red
1 Time Walk 4 Underground Sea 2 Misdirection
1 Trade Routes 4 Volcanic Island 2 Pyroblast
1 Timetwister 4 Red Elemental Blast
1 Enlightened Tutor 1 Spiritual Focus
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Merchant Scroll
1 Regrowth
4 Horn of Greed
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Zuran Orb
1 Sickening Dreams
4 Exploration
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

The Turboland strategy built a critical mass of card draw, using Gush both to draw
cards and to replay lands to trigger Horn of Greed, until it could unleash a lethal
Sickening Dreams. This archetype was especially popular in 2002 because it could be
played on a budget, since Moxen were not necessary to the archetype.

When Gush was restricted, combo and control players alike continued to use Gush as a
singleton for value. It appeared in combo decks like Doomsday, when Doomsday was
unrestricted in 2004. When Gush was unrestricted again in 2007, Vintage deck designers
took full advantage of the opportunity to use Gush as an engine with Storm finishers
for the first time.

That led to the emergence of The Tropical Storm (TTS), also known as Gush Tendrils.
Created by Eric Becker, it was championed by Luis Scott Vargas, who played this
version to winning finishes on the West Coast of the USA:

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

The Tropical Storm, 3rd Place Sacramento Vintage 01-12-2008

By Luis Scott-Vargas

4 Force of Will 4 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

4 Duress 1 Lotus Petal 2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Thoughtseize 1 Black Lotus 3 Dark Confidant
1 Echoing Truth 1 Mox Emerald 1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Jet 1 Island
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Brainstorm 1 Mana Crypt 1 Platinum Angel
4 Ponder 4 Polluted Delta 1 Swamp
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Flooded Strand 1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Walk 3 Underground Sea 1 Thoughtseize
1 Timetwister 1 Tropical Island
1 Necropotence 2 Island
1 Memory Jar
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

This deck overloads on draw while having enough disruption to push through a very
narrow package of game-winning threats. But this was not the only successful Gush
combo list that would emerge at this time.

While The Perfect Storm (aka TPS) style Gush decks proved
potent on account of the natural synergy of Gush as a storm
engine, another combo archetype that has always used Gush
potently is Doomsday. Gush has multiple synergies with
Doomsday, and is one of the best ways to begin to combo out
post-Doomsday (see Chapter 6 for more on this).

When Gush was unrestricted, Doomsday decks became a

popular offshoot of The Tropical Storm. Owen Turtenwald
and David Ochoa both took Doomsday Gush to winning
finishes in mid-2008.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Doomsday Gush, circa 2008

By David Ochoa

4 Force of Will 4 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Lotus Petal 4 Dark Confidant
4 Duress 1 Black Lotus 1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Jet 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Chain of Vapor 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Massacre
4 Gush 4 Polluted Delta 3 Quirion Dryad
4 Ponder 2 Flooded Strand 1 Research /
4 Brainstorm 4 Underground Sea Development
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Tropical Island 1 Thoughtseize
1 Time Walk 3 Island
1 Necropotence
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Doomsday
1 Fastbond
1 Research /
Development
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

This archetype was especially potent at the time because Research/Development could
be used to bring cards that were removed from game with Doomsday back into your
library. You would cast Doomsday, creating this library:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Lotus Petal
4) Yawgmoth’s Will
5) Research/Development
||Library Bottom||

You would use Gush to draw Ancestral Recall and Black Lotus, play both and then,
with UU mana floating, play Lotus Petal, and then sacrifice your Loti and cast
Yawgmoth’s Will. Then you would replay the Loti, and cast Research, putting Black
Lotus, Lotus Petal, and Tendrils into your library, and casting Ancestral to draw them.
You could go infinite with Research if need be to generate the necessary storm to kill
with Tendrils of Agony.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Although the post-M10 rules do not permit these kind of shenanigans due to the
creation of the exiled zone, Doomsday is more powerful than ever with Gush thanks to
the printing of Laboratory Maniac in Innistrad. This archetype will be discussed in more
detail throughout this book.

Combo-Control

Combo-control Gush decks seek to leverage the speed and power of combo with the
resilience and disruptive tactics of control decks. These strategies emerged almost
immediately after the first unrestriction of Gush. After the printing of Shadowmoor, a
new combo emerged in the format that found a new home for the GushBond engine:

Painter Gush, 1st Place StarCityGames P9 Richmond Day 2 05-11-2008

By Andy Probasco

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Pyroblast 1 Mox Jet 2 Extirpate
2 Red Elemental Blast 1 Mox Ruby 1 Gaea's Blessing
3 Mana Drain 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Greater Gargadon
4 Gush 1 Mana Crypt 2 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Brainstorm 1 Sol Ring 2 Ingot Chewer
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Tolarian Academy 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Time Walk 3 Polluted Delta 2 Pyroclasm
1 Timetwister 3 Flooded Strand
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Volcanic Island
1 Demonic Tutor 2 Underground Sea
3 Merchant Scroll 1 Tropical Island
1 Tinker 2 Island
1 Gifts Ungiven
3 Grindstone
3 Painter's Servant
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Andy’s Painter Gush combo deck became a well-known answer to both Tidespout
Tyrant Oath decks and Flash decks, which were given a potent boost with Morningtide’s
Reveillark (as part of an updated combo kill). Probasco’s deck maintained a strong
GushBond engine, with a suite of control tactics and a compact combo of Painter’s
Servant + Grindstone. Andy won the penultimate StarCityGames Power 9 Vintage
tournament with this deck.

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

A more “classic” version of a Gush “combo-control” deck is represented by Rich Shay’s

2011 Vintage Championship Top 8 deck, “Gush Storm.”

Gush Storm, 5th Place 2011 Vintage Championship

By Rich Shay

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Duress 1 Mox Jet 1 Pithing Needle
3 Mana Drain 1 Mox Pearl 1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Ruby 2 Dismember
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Flusterstorm
3 Preordain 1 Mana Crypt 2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Brainstorm 1 Sol Ring 3 Nature's Claim
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Ravenous Trap
1 Time Walk 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Duress
1 Timetwister 2 Flooded Strand 1 Praetor's Grasp
2 Jace, the Mind 3 Underground Sea
Sculptor 2 Tropical Island
1 Mystical Tutor 3 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Regrowth
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Around the same time, European pilots found themselves attracted to another Gush-
fueled storm strategy known as “Almost Blue,” whose origins lay in the heavy control
metagames of the continent. This strategy takes advantage of the storm mechanic while
building in a high density of countermagic (see more on this deck in Chapter 5). The
combo-control archetype has proven successful, but sometimes elusive in between the
more controlling and more comboish variants of Gush archetypes.

Aggro-Control-Combo

This particular strategic archetype is one of the rarest in Magic because it combines
elements seldom seen together in a synergistic form. Aggro-control-combo combines
creature-based damage, heavy disruption and defense, and a combo finisher. This
strategy has the flexibility to shift from an aggressive role to a controlling one, and back

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

again with a combo finish. The most famous version of this strategy is GroAtog,
originally known as “Growing Tog,” as first expressed by Roland Bode in the January
2003 Dülmen tournament.

Growing Tog, 6th Place Dülmen 01-13-2003

By Roland Bode

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 1 Berserk
3 Daze 1 Mox Jet 1 Diabolic Edict
1 Foil 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Duress
2 Counterspell 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Fact or Fiction
4 Gush 3 Flooded Strand 1 Ghastly Demise
3 Sleight of Hand 2 Polluted Delta 1 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm 4 Tropical Island 2 Naturalize
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Underground Sea 2 Smother
1 Time Walk 3 Submerge
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Regrowth
2 Cunning Wish
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Psychatog

Like Grow decks, this deck could deploy a Dryad and protect it while disrupting the
opponent, or could also shift into a more controlling role, using Psychatog and Dryads
for defense until it achieved inevitability, or until it assembled one of the combo finishes
(via the GushBond engine, or Gush + Cunning Wish for a lethal Berserk on Psychatog).

With the printing of the storm mechanic, combos like Psychatog and Berserk became
unnecessary, as is evident by modern Pyromancer Gush combo decks, which often
utilize a combo finish such as Yawgmoth’s Will into Tendrils of Agony (we’ll examine
these in depth in Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks).

Although this strategy seems outmoded in the era of Treasure Cruise and Dig Through
Time, not to mention cards like Snapcaster Mage and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, I played this
strategy to a 22nd place finish at the 2015 Vintage Championship (out of over 460
players) with this deck:

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

Pyromancer Gush 4C, 22nd Place 2015 Vintage Championship

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 1 Mountain
2 Cabal Therapy 1 Mox Ruby 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Ancient Grudge
4 Gush 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Nature's Claim
3 Gitaxian Probe 1 Polluted Delta 1 Yixlid Jailer
4 Preordain 1 Flooded Strand 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Ponder 1 Misty Rainforest 2 Lightning Bolt
1 Brainstorm 2 Tropical Island
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Underground Sea
1 Time Walk 2 Volcanic Island
2 Dack Fayden 1 Island
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
3 Young Pyromancer
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Regrowth
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Like GrowAtog, this deck can advance a beatdown role with Young Pyromancer, or
shift into a more controlling one with a combo finish of Tendrils of Agony, usually
fueled by the GushBond engine. The discard element supports both the aggro-control
role as well as the combo role, by proactively clearing out resistance, and providing
information, with which to better shape a plan of attack.

From Archetypes to Game Plan

Now that we have inspected these five basic Gush-based strategies in some detail, it
should be obvious that these ways of describing Gush strategies are merely heuristics.
They are, at best, rules of thumb, and inherently imprecise. They provide neither
specific guidance for deck construction, nor in-game decision-making beyond general
bits of common knowledge.

While purporting to describe strategies, these strategic approaches, or styles, actually

describe or express a concept called “role,” the subject of Chapter 9. The kinds of
strategic postures described by “role” or the broad archetypes outlined above are not

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

rigid in either strategic or operational terms. They shift from deck to deck, match to
match, game to game, and even play to play. This conflation between role and strategy
is common in the game of Magic, a game whose theory is defined more by metaphor
and folk taxonomies than carefully developed and rigorous classification schemes. For
these reasons, I have formulated an alternative, more precise, definition of “strategy” in
Magic.

Every deck has a plan, reflected in its design elements. A plan is the answer to a simple
question: how do you intend to win the game? The answer is far more complicated than
the question. At a minimum, every plan includes key objectives that satisfy Rule 104.2
conditions, the conditions established by the game rules for winning the game. These
objectives are the ultimate goals that every deck possesses. One such objective might be
to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero or below. Another might be to furnish the
opponent with ten poison counters.

A strategy, however, is more than a list of such objectives. A strategy is a plan for
coordinating resources and interim goals to help accomplish these objectives. Broken
into its component parts, a strategy encompasses four essential elements covered in
each of the next four chapters:

1) Identifying ultimate objectives and selecting cards that are capable of

satisfying those objectives. This is the subject of Chapter 5.

2) A clear understanding of the specific interim goals that advance the game state
toward ultimate objectives. This is covered in Chapter 6.

3) Selecting tactics to support pursuit of strategic objectives and to disrupt the

opponent’s pursuit of their own. This is examined in Chapter 7.

4) Recognizing resource needs to achieve strategic objectives and enable tactical

support, and designing resource provisions to sustain them. This is covered in
Chapter 8.

Chapter 9 will then explain how these elements are coordinated and managed through
a concept called “role,” sometimes known as a “strategic posture.” Please note in
advance that my definition of “role” also breaks from convention in novel ways.
The purpose of this book is to teach a mastery level framework for designing and
playing Gush decks. The four-part schematic just outlined is a critical component of this
framework, building on the principles and guidance already presented. However, this
schematic differs from the traditional strategy/tactic distinction in several ways.

Conventionally, a strategy is your game plan. A strategy is the big picture view of how
your goal, winning the game, is accomplished. In contrast, a tactic is a specific action

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 Chapter 4 – Gush Strategies

undertaken to further your plan (your strategy). That’s the distinction between strategy
and tactic, as taught by military academies.

In Magic, the difference between strategy and tactics may not be as clear – or as useful –
as these definitions may suggest. Strategic goals are implemented using tactics, so every
strategic sub-goal is also tactical, and every tactic has strategic implications. In addition,
this distinction may vault ‘strategy’ to such a high level of abstraction or generality that
the difference becomes meaningless as a practical matter. For example, it is possible to
define one’s strategy as “winning the game,” or more specifically, “winning the game
by reducing the opponent’s life total to zero or below.”

Military commanders might define their strategy in such terms, such as “defeating the
enemy.” In fact, the strategy for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, as set out in President
Obama’s policy brief, was defined at that level of generality: “disrupt, dismantle, and
defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens.” But that level of generality
does not tell us anything we did not already intuit or presume. This A strategy is a plan
creates a dilemma. The more specificity provided in describing or for coordinating
defining your strategy, the more tactical your strategy appears, resources and interim
bleeding the distinction between strategy and tactics. goals to help
This book strives to overcome these quandaries and pitfalls with the
accomplish ultimate
clear four-part framework that connects each element of your plan goals.
into a coherent strategic framework. All available resources, tactics,
and strategic objectives are part of The Plan, which I define as the coordination of these
parts towards the end goal. The end goal is the objective for winning the game, the
objective that satisfies Rule 104.2 conditions. But in every case, the end goal, and the
objective it represents, is satisfied by and correlates to a finisher or specific win
condition. While the ultimate goal might be to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero or
below, a particular card must be included to accomplish that goal. The next chapter will
survey cards that serve this purpose in Gush decks.

I contend that the ultimate objectives or end goals, and the cards that are used to satisfy
them, are strategic in nature. Although each of these cards is a particular tactic by itself,
they represent strategic objectives in the context of The Plan. With this formulation in
mind, working backwards, the cards that help generate the conditions under which
these finishers satisfy Rule 104.2 conditions are also strategic in nature. These are the
interim strategic objectives. The remaining spells protect or support these objectives, but
they do not constitute those objectives since they are not, in the absence of resistance,
necessary to achieve them. These cards I define as “tactics” (although that does not
mean that they never acquire strategic significance). The remaining cards are mana
resources that support each of these particular components. To summarize once more,
“strategy,” or plan, refers to the activity or the operation of coordinating these four
elements. This is the kind of activity described in Chapter 9.

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 Chapter 5: Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Win conditions, or “finishers,” receive more attention than acclaim. Involved in the final
play of any game, finishers are the last impression of any game of Magic. For opponents
who suffer them, they are the psychological object of undeserving and disproportionate
scorn. For those who wield them, they receive scant respect relative to the engines or
enablers that set them up or make them possible. Even this descriptor, “finisher,”
suggests something perfunctory or trivial, rather than substantial and significant.

The four-legged framework set out in Chapter 4 defining “strategy” places “finishers”
in a broader context and more useful frame of reference. Finishers are more than merely
finishers; they are strategic objectives. They are a critical link in a chain of connections
coordinated through The Plan. Because they constitute the ultimate strategic objectives
of any game, they are the final link in that chain, and the object toward which all of
your efforts are ultimately directed (even if they seem otherwise).

This chapter surveys nearly every card that might reasonable be used to satisfy Rule
104.2 victory conditions in competitive Gush decks. Due to the sheer quantity of
possible win conditions used in Gush decks, I restrict my review and commentary to
cards that see play in well-performing tournament-based Gush decks, are discussed or
frequently mentioned in connection with Gush strategies, are unusually synergistic
with Gush strategies, or were historically significant. The more commonly played
finishers receive greater attention than marginal or rarely played finishers.

Each of the cards surveyed are merely tactics when viewed outside of The Plan. In the
context of a plan or strategy, however, they transform into strategic objectives. This
survey will describe the conditions necessary or sufficient to achieve that
transformation, the strategic approaches that employ each finisher, denote strengths
and weaknesses, and provide tips for usage.

The finishers covered in this chapter are organized into four categories: 1) Tempo
finishers, 2) Storm finishers, 3) Tinker finishers, and 4) Miscellaneous finishers.

Tempo Finishers

Storm finishers may be sexier, but tempo finishers are the traditional and yet most
successful finishers found in Gush strategies. Recall that the Gush engine first emerged
as a tournament threat in Grow, an aggro-control strategy. Alan Comer’s Miracle Grow
brilliantly extracted the myriad advantages of Gush covered in Chapter 1, including
tempo advantage.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

This particular form of advantage is most commonly pursued and achieved through the
fast and efficient threats (tempo finishers) in concert with a steady stream of disruption,
such as countermagic, hand disruption, or mana denial. Miracle Grow paired Quirion
Dryad with an overwhelming amount of countermagic. Every counterspell disrupted
the opponent’s pursuit of their own game plan, while simultaneously growing the
Dryad, and purchased additional time for the Dryad to attack.

Although disruption is an essential element of tempo advantage, tempo should not be

mistaken for a control strategy or achieving what is known as “inevitability” (a concept
that will be covered in Chapter 9). In fact, tempo advantage is most easily generated in
the first few turns, when both players are developing their resources. An opponent may
have long term strategic advantages that remain unrealized because of your tempo
advantage.

Ideal tempo threats must be large enough to win the game in a few turns, but also
efficient enough to enter play on turn one or two. This is especially true for Gush
strategies, since tempo finishers must already be in play when Gush is cast in order for
Gush to generate tempo. There are very few cards that consistently satisfy these
conditions, and such exceptional cards, like Tarmogoyf, that have impacted multiple
formats, are generally well known. Cards that satisfy these dual conditions generally
enter the battlefield with average offensive stats, but grow larger in time.

Many of the tempo finishers surveyed in this section have unbounded growth potential,
which often rewards their controller for playing as many spells as possible per turn. In
this manner, finishers like Quirion Dryad were not only a template for unbounded
vertical growth, they were a precursor, if not antecedent, to the storm mechanic. In a
sense, Quirion Dryad and her progeny are functionally storm victory conditions. While
not virtually uncounterable in the sense that storm spells are, the ability to retain
“storm” over turns is a marked advantage over actual storm spells.

Today, there exists a special class of creatures that serve as viable tempo finishers in
Gush decks on account of their capacity for growth, although not all are vertical
growth, and not all have unbounded growth potential.

Monastery Mentor

Printed in Fate Reforged in February 2015, Mentor has become the epitome of the
contemporary Gush tempo threat. Mentor is efficient and deadly. His capacity to inflict
swiftly lethal damage is unparalleled among Gush tempo threats, and he is surprisingly
resilient to removal.

Like traditional tempo threats, Mentor grows “vertically,” meaning that it grows larger
as more spells are played (including artifacts), but it also grows “horizontally,”

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

generating new token creatures as well. Critically, these tokens are not mere attendants,
but virtual copies of the Mentor, sans the replication power. By combining vertical and
horizontal growth, Mentor achieves an exponential growth potential unique among
Gush finishers. In this way, Mentor is the apotheosis of the Gush tempo threat, and is as
popular and feared today as any creature in the format’s history.

What Mentor lacks in efficiency, he more than compensates in speed. It is not

uncommon to win a turn or two after resolving Mentor. With Mentor and three
brothers, you only need to three prowess to sum 17 power.

For example, consider this hand:

Black Lotus, Mox Ruby, Monastery Mentor, Volcanic Island, Misty Rainforest, Preordain,
Mental Misstep

This hand can cast a first turn Mentor, and generate at least two Monk tokens as well. It
is not unreasonable to think that it could win the game within a few turns, with the
right draw steps. Consider this sequence:

Turn 1:
Play Black Lotus and cast Monastery Mentor.
Play Mox Ruby (generating a Monk token).
Play Volcanic Island and cast Preordain (generating a Monk token).
On your opponent’s turn cast Mental Misstep on their spell (generating a Monk token).

Turn 2:
Play Land and cast a Gitaxian Probe (generating a Monk token and growing existing
creatures).
Attack with Mentor + 3 Monk tokens (all +1 for the turn), for 9 damage.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Turn 3:
Play Land, then cast Gush (generating a Monk token and growing the existing
creatures), then cast Dig Through Time (generating another Monk token and growing
the existing creatures).

Attack with Mentor and the 4 non-summoning sick Monk tokens (all +2 for the turn) for
16 damage (lethal).

Of course, resolving Mentor on the first turn is the ideal case, but it is realistic to cast
Mentor on Turn 2 or 3. Nonetheless, Mentor’s lightning speed makes it not only a
deadly threat and Gush often a terminal play, but it provides a tempo threat that can
race threats like Tinker and Oath of Druids. Passing the turn has never been more risky.

Unlike Quirion Dryad or Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor is triggered by nearly

every spell type. Casting a Mox or a Dack Fayden boosts Mentor just as readily as
Mental Misstep. This broader scope for triggering Mentor and swifter clock makes
Mentor a more popular spell than Pyromancer, despite Mentor’s greater initial mana
investment. At three mana, Mentor is rarely a first turn play, and can be challenging to
defend with countermagic such as Flusterstorm.

Mentor’s greater than usual casting cost for a tempo threat not only makes Mentor more
difficult to defend, but also requires additional mana acceleration in order to reliably
cast by turn two and three. It is not unusual to see Mentor decks with off-color Moxen
and even colorless accelerants like Sol Ring or Mana Crypt. Without additional Moxen,
Mentor is not only more difficult to cast, but also more challenging to defend. In turn,
the Moxen and other artifact acceleration boosts Mentor and the Monks in his cohort.

Mentor’s dual growth potential serves as a trump against nearly every other tempo
threat, and, if it is not quickly exterminated, Mentor will take over a game. In fact, even
one or two remaining tokens, left behind from a removal spell targeting Mentor,
performs well as a serviceable finisher. Many lone Monks have ended games.

Mentor’s strength in the metagame and growing prevalence has not only boosted the
fortunes of Gush decks, but has brought into the format a wide range of less commonly
played removal spells, including Sudden Shock, Dread of Night, and Sulfur Elemental.
Because Mentor not only boosts himself when spells are cast, but his whole army as
well, traditional board sweepers like Pyroclasm are much less effective.

I was an early adopter of Mentor in Vintage, and one of the first to employ his services
just as it became available for the Vintage Super League’s second season. Although
Mentor now sees play in a wide range of Gush decks of varying color combinations and
tactical supports (as we will see in Chapter 12), this list represents a popular version of
the Mentor strategy, which I took to 3rd place at the 2016 Asian Vintage Championship:

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

PyroMentor Gush, 3rd Place 2016 Asian Vintage Championship

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Pearl 1 Containment Priest
2 Pyroblast 1 Mox Ruby 1 Wasteland
2 Lightning Bolt 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Library of Alexandria 2 Shattering Spree
1 Stony Silence 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Flooded Strand 1 Swords to Plowshares
4 Gush 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Wear/Tear
4 Preordain 1 Polluted Delta
1 Ponder 3 Tundra
1 Brainstorm 2 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Island
2 Dack Fayden 1 Strip Mine
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
2 Young Pyromancer
4 Monastery Mentor

Young Pyromancer

Released in the summer of 2013 in Magic 2014, Young

Pyromancer was instantly recognized as a new tempo
finisher for Grow decks. Like Dryad, Young Pyromancer is a
1C casting cost creature that generates 1 power and
toughness when certain spells are played. For just two mana,
Pyromancer is a reliable Turn 1 or Turn 2 play, and
devastating that early if left unchecked.

Unlike Quirion Dryad, Pyromancer is red rather than green,

enters the battlefield with 2 power rather than one, and
triggers when instants or sorceries are played, instead of non-
green, non-colorless spells. Like Dryad, Pyromancer is an
excellent tempo threat because it generates more board power and presence with each
spell played. The more you interact with your opponent, the faster you can inflict 20
damage.

Most importantly, however, Pyromancer distributes its power horizontally rather than
vertically stacking them onto itself. At first blush, this may appear to be a severe

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

drawback. After all, spells played the same turn as an attack cannot boost Pyromancer’s
power as they do with Quirion Dryad, Kiln Fiend, or other creatures that grow
vertically as spells are played. However, horizontal growth overcomes the most
significant flaw in Quirion Dryad, which is that its removal from the board, whether
being destroyed, exiled or merely bounced, evaporates all of the efforts to build tempo
and power.

The swarm effect of tokens (similar to that of Empty the Warrens) makes it difficult to
stop all of the damage produced by Young Pyromancer. In contrast, a single tiny
creature can stop a lumbering 10/10 Dryad, allowing the opponent to survive yet
another turn. Neither Jace nor Abrupt Decay can wipe out the growth caused by Young
Pyromancer. This not only renders Young Pyromancer less vulnerable to these threats,
but it also makes it much easier to kill planeswalkers and defend against other threats.
The production of permanents through Young Pyromancer can create a small army of
tokens that make Jace very difficult to defend.

The horizontal distribution of power not only renders Pyromancer less susceptible to
removal or targeted bounce, but it also provides a superior defense. A single bit of
power can be sacrificed as a “chump” block, thrown in front of a much larger attacker,
while the remaining team counter-attacks the next turn. In that way, the token
generation power performs a dual offensive and defensive function. In fact, the capacity
to generate tokens on the opponent’s end step, even as all of your creatures are tapped,
is an unnerving tactical surprise factor.

While the horizontal production of tokens is generally an advantage, there are instances
in which it is not. Shoring up the weaknesses of vertical tempo threats has produced
other holes. Removal such as Lightning Bolt can take out a Pyromancer at any time, but
merely annoys a sufficiently hulked up Quirion Dryad. Board sweepers like Pyroclasm,
Rolling Earthquake, Toxic Deluge, or even Slice and Dice are far more attractive and
effective at single-handedly wiping out tempo gains from Pyromancer, and tactics such
as the Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale impede Pyromancer’s swarm potential.

That said, not all sweepers can take out the tokens and the source. Engineered
Explosives is a particularly limited and far less effectual answer to Pyromancer. You
have to choose between wiping out the growing number of tokens – like cleaning out
the bacteria without the source of the infection – or the source, while leaving the colony
intact.

Pyromancer clogs up the battlefield against aggro-control decks, singlehandedly trumps

many Workshop tactics, and gives slow control decks fits. Pyromancer revived the
Grow archetype, and here is an exemplary version of a Pyromancer-based Grow deck I
took to the Top 8 at a Eudemonia Vintage tournament in Berkeley (CA, USA):

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

PyroGrow, Top 8 Eudemonia Vintage 2013

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 4 Leyline of the Void
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mountain
2 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Ruby 3 Ingot Chewer
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Nature's Claim
4 Preordain 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Thoughtseize
1 Ponder 1 Misty Rainforest
1 Brainstorm 1 Flooded Strand
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Polluted Delta
1 Time Walk 2 Volcanic Island
2 Jace, the Mind 2 Underground Sea
Sculptor 2 Tropical Island
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
3 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
3 Young Pyromancer
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

To appreciate the tempo generated by Young Pyromancer, let us examine a simple

sequence using the decklist above. Suppose this is your opening hand, from the deck
above, in a sideboarded Game 2:

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Underground Sea, Mox Ruby, Polluted Delta, Gush, Thoughtseize, Flusterstorm, Young
Pyromancer

This hand presents the option to play a tempo game, by which you play a threat on the
first turn, and then attempt to generate Time Walk-like effects each successive turn.
Long term control is never completely attained, but some measure of control is
sustained just long enough to win the game. Observe:

Turn 1:
You: Play Underground Sea and Mox Ruby, and then cast Young Pyromancer.

Opponent: Play land, Mox, and pass the turn.

Turn 2:
You: Draw Jace for the turn, play Polluted Delta, and then cast Thoughtseize
(generating an Elemental token from Pyromancer). By playing the land first you will
have Flusterstorm protection in case the opponent responds with something like
Ancestral Recall, creature removal, or even their own countermagic.

Opponent: Play a land, potentially cast a spell. Depending on what this is, you could
possibly Flusterstorm it (which would generate another Elemental token).

With the Pyromancer already in play and generating tokens, your opponent will be on a
quick clock, and may be under pressure to do something quickly. This will allow you to
grow Pyromancer more by interacting with any countermagic or removal you draw.

Turn 3:
You: Draw Gush, and float mana from your two lands, and then return them to hand to
cast Gush (generating yet another Elemental token from Pyromancer). Depending on
what is drawn, you could either cast more cantrips (to fuel Pyromancer and sculpt your
hand), or you could replay a land, and then cast Jace, using up the floating mana, your
replayed land, and the Mox Ruby.

From this position, Jace can be used to generate card advantage and clear the board of
blockers, allowing Pyromancer and company to win the game in short order.

The key judgment call in this opening sequence is the choice to play Young Pyromancer
on the first turn, before casting the Thoughtseize in your hand. Thoughtseize could
potentially clear out any opposing countermagic or removal, as well as provide
information to map your subsequent plays. But by playing Pyromancer on the first turn
we are able to generate maximum tempo advantage. These decisions should be
carefully weighed in the context of each opposing deck you are playing, and
understanding what gear or strategic stance you want to play, and you will gain

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experience and insight over time as you test out these decks. Tempo can be produced
using almost any of the disruption and countermagic now found in the format, as well
as cards like Time Walk to narrow the opponent’s opportunities for recovery.

Since the re-unrestriction of Gush, the chief obstacle to success not only for tempo-based
Gush decks, but Gush decks in general, has been Mishra's Workshop-based decks.
Workshops punish Gush decks for all of the reasons described in Chapter 10, by taking
away virtually all of the tactical and design advantages of Gush decks: the virtual card
advantage generated by the Turbo Xerox principle, the efficiency of Gush being free,
and so much more. Combating Workshops means striking a balance between
preserving the natural advantages of Gush decks while accommodating the Workshop
matchup.

Pyromancer helps Gush decks overcome this dilemma because it is a strategic and
tactical answer to Workshop decks, which dominate the board and prevent you from
playing spells. One of the ways that they do that is through permanent advantage
generated by cards like Tangle Wire and Smokestack. Young Pyromancer leverages
your spell celerity to match and even overcome that advantage. Consider this simple
sequence:

Turn 1:
You: Play Volcanic Island, cast Mox Ruby, and cast Young Pyromancer.

Opponent: Play Mishra’s Workshop, cast Mox Emerald, and cast Lodestone Golem.

You: Force of Will the Golem, generating an Elemental token from Pyromancer.

At this point, you have 4 permanents on the table. It is not easy for most Workshop
decks to recover from this board state. Tangle Wire will only tangle up your tokens.
Even if Spheres enter the battlefield, every cantrip and counterspell you play generates
more permanents.

Pyromancer’s Achilles’ heel is low-damage board sweepers, like Electrickery, Slice and
Dice, and Pyroclasm, whereas Monastery Mentor and Managorger Hydra show more
resilience against those answers. But Pyromancer more than makes up for these
deficiencies with myriad advantages.

Delver of Secrets

Printed in Innistrad in late 2011, Delver has had a long run as a popular tempo finisher
in Vintage. With modest library manipulation, time or a bit of luck, this is a 3/2 flyer for
1 mana. There are very few one mana creatures with three power in the format, and all
are conditional in some way. The condition here is relatively easy to satisfy, even if it is

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not as simple as merely playing spells. That said, the density of spells that make Young
Pyromancer so powerful means that it’s relatively easy to flip Delver into its larger
form.

Delver lacks the unbounded growth potential of most of the

incremental tempo finishers found in Gush decks, but makes
up for it in terms of efficiency and general utility. Delver’s
trigger does not require you to reveal the card unless you
wish, so you need not reveal more than necessary, whilst you
can use that information to decide, for example, whether you
want to cast Vampiric Tutor, break a fetchland, or otherwise
manipulate your library. In this way, one of Delver’s most
underappreciated but useful secondary benefits is card
selection and virtual card advantage. For example, if you see a
Lightning Bolt, you may want to reveal the Lightning Bolt to
flip Delver, but you may not want to draw it in this matchup,
so you can use a fetchland to shuffle before drawing for the
turn.

Even as the most efficient one casting cost creature in the format, Delver of Secrets is
rarely enough to mount a tempo threat by itself, except in multiples, and is generally
paired with other tempo finishers like Young Pyromancer. The ultimate pack animal,
Delver has anchored team-based tempo decks in every constructed format in which it
has been legal, including Vintage.

In a team context, Delver’s evasive capabilities provide another dimension of play.

Pyromancer or Mentor logjams on the ground can be difficult to break through. Delver
can provide an answer by attacking through the air. In addition to other tempo threats,
Delver is frequently paired with direct damage and other elements that can accelerate
Delver’s clock.

Mike Solymossy popularized the RUG Delver strategy in 2012, utilizing a creature suite
including Delver, Tarmogoyf, Vendilion Clique, and Trygon Predator (you can find
Mike’s decklist featured in Chapter 11: The Gush Hall of Fame). The printing of modern
threats like Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor, and Thing in the Ice has largely
outmoded Tarmogoyf for the reasons described above. Here is an archetypal example
of URW Delver you might see in 2016:

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URW Delver 2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Ruby 3 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Containment Priest
2 Lightning Bolt 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Wear/Tear
2 Swords to Plowshares 1 Misty Rainforest 3 Ingot Chewer
1 Wear/Tear 1 Polluted Delta 2 Shattering Spree
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Flooded Strand 1 Mountain
4 Gush 4 Volcanic Island 1 Pyroblast
4 Preordain 2 Tundra 1 Sudden Shock
1 Ponder 1 Island
1 Brainstorm 1 Strip Mine
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Dack Fayden
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Snapcaster Mage

Delver can be played at any time, but it is often best on the first turn. Delver usually
needs just one co-attacker to create the kind of tempo advantage that a single Dryad
usually could mount when the GushBond engine was at peak power and capacity.
Wherever you wish to build a Gush deck with more than a single tempo threat, Delver
of Secrets will be a serious consideration.

Regarded by some as “the worst card” in these Gush tempo decks, such simplistic
power rankings ignore the necessity and significance of this card in critical matchups.
Delver is a powerhouse against Workshops, Merfolk, and white-based “hate bear”
decks. Being blue, Delver will often be kept in hand as Force of Will or Misdirection
fodder, or will be used proactively to bait out Mental Missteps. Delver will often be
countered by Mental Misstep or targeted by Bolt or Pyroblast for removal.

Thing in the Ice

Printed in Shadows over Innistrad in early 2016, Thing in the Ice is yet another powerful
tempo finisher printed for Gush-based strategies. Whereas Delver of Secrets grows from
one to three power, Thing in the Ice bursts from zero to seven power when flipped, one
of the most extraordinary bursts of power among suite of tempo finishers.

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Like most growing creatures, Thing in the Ice is triggered by spell production.
However, rather than growing incrementally, Thing in the Ice requires a critical mass of
spells in order to transform into a fully powered threat. The critical mass feature is a
drawback relative to other tempo threats because it means that, until conditions are
satisfied, Thing in the Ice is incapable of generating any tempo whatsoever. It can,
however, serve as a defensive stop with a decently sized toughness.

You will want to be able to play as many instants and sorceries as quickly as possible in
order to awaken the horror in the ice. Since only instants or sorceries trigger Thing in
the Ice, any strategy built around it will need not only the regular complement of Gush
related tactics, but likely a full complement of Gitaxian Probe as well. Even with Probe,
Preordain, removal, and Gush, it will likely take at least some countermagic to finally
thaw out the monster.

One of the most critical features of Thing in the Ice finishers is that when it transforms,
it will bounce all non-horrors in play back to their owner’s hands. This means that
virtually any other creature in play is likely to bounce into its controller’s hand. Of
course, this precludes use with most of the tempo threats in the format, since any effort
put into building up vertical or horizontal power will be undone when the horror
awakens. However, it does suggest a possible synergy. Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion
Clique both have useful triggered abilities that could be profitably reused after being
bounced, and are among the creatures most likely to be paired with Thing in the Ice.

One of the tactical features of Thing in the Ice is controlling and modulating the bounce
effect with multiple Things in play. Since Thing lacks evasion, it is critical to time each
thawing to maximize your capacity to inflict damage and disrupt the opponent.

Managorger Hydra

Released in 2015 as part of Magic Origins, Managorger Hydra

is the most recent iteration of the vertically unbounded
growing tempo threat. Managorger Hydra offers a subtle
mixture of features and capacities that need to be carefully
considered.

Managorger Hydra enters the battlefield with the same basic

stats as Quirion Dryad, a generally unimpressive 1/1
creature. Like Dryad, the Hydra’s growth is unbounded, and
occurs by playing other spells. Unlike Dryad, however, Hydra
grows whenever any player casts any spell, and therefore will
have a much faster rate of growth compared to Dryad. By
costing three mana, Hydra, like Mentor, is a fairly uncommon first turn play, the best
time to deploy a tempo finisher.

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The Hydra, however, features a simple keyword ability that overcomes one of the more
significant limitations found in vertically growing tempo threats. As noted earlier, one
of the fundamental problems with vertically growing threats is that they can be stymied
by “chump” blockers, or creatures that are thrown before the tempo finisher to protect
their controller. This is a more serious problem than ever before now that token
generators like Pyromancer and Mentor are so common in Vintage. In that respect, the
Hydra’s trample ability provides an evasive answer to this problem.

Taken together, Managorger Hydra appears to present the best unbounded, vertically
growing tempo finisher for contemporary Gush strategies. It has appeared in a number
of Vintage Top 8s, and for Gush pilots who wish to experience the power of vertical
growth, Managorger Hydra is an attractive consideration.

Myth Realized

Released in March 2015 in Dragons of Tarkir, Myth Realized is

yet another recently printed tempo finisher for Gush decks.
Having seen little play thus far, Myth Realized is a tantalizing
tempo finisher for Gush decks with a unique set of
characteristics from the larger class of threats.

Myth Realized is the most efficiently costed, unbounded

vertical growth threat, at just one white mana. Like
Managorger Hydra, Myth Realized grows with spells of every
color (or the absence of), and most card types. Like Monastery
Mentor, the only exception is creature spells.

As an enchantment, Myth Realized is not naturally a creature, but must be activated to

transform into a creature threat. As noted, one of the fundamental flaws with vertically
growing tempo finishers is their susceptibility to spot removal like Swords to
Plowshares. All of the work and effort done to “grow” these threats is instantly
unwound. On the other hand, since this card is only a creature when turned activated
(harkening back to Jade Statue), it is less susceptible to creature removal, and
enchantment removal is even less common in the Vintage format.

Myth Realized has another feature unique to the class of threats here – it allows you to
pay additional mana to add counters. Thus, in a mid or late-game attrition battle where
spells are scarce but mana relatively abundant, you can pay to add additional power.
This maximizes your mana utilization at every point in the game.

It must be acknowledged, however, that the one mana activation is a serious

impediment to general usage. The advantage of the tempo threats surveyed thus far is

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

that they can be played early and used every turn without having to do anything other
than disrupt your opponent’s game plan. The activation requirements of Myth Realized
means that it cannot be practically activated every turn, and will require spare or
superfluous mana to safely activate without impairing your capacity to maximize
countermagic or other disruption at the same time. As a consequence, Myth Realized is
not quite as effective as a tempo threat as if often is as a late game finisher. In that
respect, the efficiency of Myth Realized is overstated and a bit misleading. It is this
feature, along with the creature exemption, that explains why Myth Realized sees
infrequent play. Nonetheless, it is a powerful tempo finisher option.

Vendilion Clique

Printed in early 2008, Vendilion Clique sometimes appears in

Gush decks as another tempo finisher. Vendilion Clique
neither grows larger over time nor enters play as quickly as
the creatures reviewed so far. Nonetheless, it has appeared in
a variety of Gush decks, from more controlling strategies to
tempo-based versions. Today, Clique primarily sees play in
tempo-strategies, from those paired with Thing in the Ice, to
those anchored around Delver or Pyromancer.

While most tempo finishers also serve other combat roles,

such as defensive stops in addition to power closers, Clique is
unique in that it can generate tempo in other ways, and has
general utility features. Clique would not see play as a vanilla 3/1 flying creature, but
it’s disruptive, Duress-like enters the battlefield (ETB) effect, combined with instant
speed castability, which makes Clique more than the sum of its parts.

Clique’s evasion and flash ability interact to create a notable anti-Jace tactic. It can come
into play at a point at which Jace cannot be used to return it to hand, and returning it to
hand has its own perils. But Clique’s disruptive ability protects the Grow pilot while
inducing final points of damage.

Consider the following example, from the 2013 Vintage Championship, Round 6 feature
match between Kevin Cron (4C Control) and Benjamin Marleau Donais (RUG Delver).
On turn 11 Benjamin casts Vendilion Clique on Kevin’s draw step, stripping him of the
Demonic Tutor he just drew, preventing Kevin from potentially winning the game. This
was the penultimate play of the game for Benjamin, and Clique generated the final
tempo needed to put the nail in Kevin’s coffin. The disruptive ETB ability clears out
resistance the control pilot may have drawn or had in hand, while providing another
body to increase the amount of on-board damage next turn. Because Clique is played on
the opponent’s turn, the Clique pilot untaps and swings with Clique before a full turn
cycle has elapsed.

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This situation is not unique. Clique often needs only one or two turns to win the game.
This is, of course, not because Clique grows to lethal proportions, but because Clique,
like Delver, is a team player, not a solo act. Tarmogoyf and Delver enter battle first, but
Clique will often finish off the opponent, or join the team at the time of the final kill.
Clique is most often used in RUG Delver Gush decks, but it is sometimes used in more
controlling Gush decks as well, such as my Confidant Gush deck from the 2011 Vintage
Championship (see Chapter 11).

Clique’s past usage and occasional appearance as a tempo finisher warrants

consideration as a possible inclusion in many Gush strategies. Using Clique effectively
introduces a cluster of difficult decision making, from timing Clique to deciding
whether to take a card or not, and if so, which card to select. These considerations
pertaining to Clique’s disruptive role are covered in more detail in Chapter 7.

Other Tempo Finishers

Monastery Mentor, Young Pyromancer, Delver of Secrets, and Thing in the Ice are
currently the growing tempo finishers in Gush decks that see the most gainful
employment in contemporary Vintage. The other tempo finishers surveyed beyond
them see far less play, but still appear in Vintage tournaments.

The presentation of tempo finishers reviewed thus far remains incomplete and far from
exhaustive. Nearly any creature is capable of generating tempo in Gush decks, if the
conditions are right. Most of the creatures discussed thus far share certain
characteristics that allow them to generate more tempo by either growing larger than
their initial stats (Quirion Dryad, Pyromancer, Managorger Hydra, Delver of Secrets,
and Monastery Mentor) or disrupting the opponent to take away meaningful turns
(Clique).

There are other creatures that find employ in Gush decks for other purposes, but
nonetheless can generate tempo to win games, such as Dark Confidant or Snapcaster
Mage (covered in Chapter 7). Additionally, there is a class of finishers that satisfy the
conditions for tempo finishers, capable of growing larger quickly in Gush decks, but
may not see play for a variety of reasons, but bear mention here. A brief survey of a few
additional and notable tempo options follows.

Scab-Clan Berserker was released with Managorger Hydra as part of Magic Origins in
2015. Scab-Clan Berserker is a reminder that the kind of growth associated with tempo
threats comes in an endless variety of forms. Some creatures grow vertically; some grow
horizontally. Some creatures grow incrementally, while others grow to a fixed point.
Scab-Clan Berserker technically does not grow at all, but it does inflict massive amounts
of damage.

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At three mana, Scab-Clan Berserker sits at the margin of castability as a tempo threat,
but compensates with two synergizing features. First, with haste, the Berserker will be
able to attack and connect with an opponent, a planeswalker, or a defender, the turn he
enters play. Secondly, once he achieves renown – a feat more easily accomplished on
account of his other ability – he becomes a one sided Pyrostatic Pillar without mana cost
bounds. In so doing, he generates one of the most powerful forms of tempo advantage
conceivable. His mere presence on the board will dissuade any opponent from playing
many spells.

Talrand, Sky Summoner was released in the summer of 2012 in Magic 2013, and was
once a popular backup win conditions for Gush decks, and appeared mostly as a
strategic finisher in more storm-focused and oriented Gush decks. A good example of
this is Pau Cantero’s Almost Blue deck, referenced later in this chapter.

Talrand is an incremental tempo creature, and control finisher. Talrand, however, is

notably the first tempo finisher to “grow” horizontally, and serves as a precursor to
subsequent printings such as Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor. Talrand can
be accelerated out like a tempo threat, from which position the pilot can play a control
role to eke out victory. Alternatively, Talrand can be played as a late game finisher, in
the throes of a lethal Yawgmoth’s Will, much like Empty the Warrens.

Talrand is an all-purpose backup win condition. He takes up the slot that was once used
by control-combo decks like Empty Gush for Meloku, can replace the Tinker-bot pair,
and can go on offense like Empty the Warrens or a tempo finisher. Unlike Empty the
Warrens, Young Pyromancer, or Monastery Mentor, Talrand is on-color (blue), meaning
it does not push you to splash yet another color, and can still be pitched to Force of Will
if need be.

One of Talrand’s last prominent appearances was in the 9th place deck of the 2013
Vintage championship. As its pilot Vito Picozzo explained, “Talrand [is] one slot. The
other choice is Tinker/bot, which is two slots. I hate having the bot dead in my hand,
and I'm not running a million Jaces. I played Talrand in the past, and was pretty
comfortable with him. Unlike Pyromancer, when he sticks the game ends fast, even one
or two activations is hard to handle.”

Tarmogoyf was released in Future Sight in 2007, and has appeared in multiple eras of
Vintage Gush strategies as a serious and potent tempo finisher, although it has seen a
drop off since the printing of Young Pyromancer, and even more since the printing of
the delve spell drawing duo, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time. Tarmogoyf shares
many characteristics with Quirion Dryad (both are 1G casting cost green creatures that
grow larger as spells are played), and the differences, while easy to recognize, are
difficult to evaluate.

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The growth pattern of Dryad/Pyromancer and Tarmogoyf is

fundamentally different. Tarmogoyf grows as the graveyard
grows, which is a byproduct, rather than direct effect, of spells
being played. This has several subtle operational effects of
note. The time that Tarmogoyf enters play matters less than
when Dryad or Pyromancer are played. Pyromancer and
Dryad need to be played as early as possible in order to
achieve maximum growth potential. Tarmogoyf can be played
at any time and will have the same power and toughness
regardless. This makes Tarmogoyf a better mid- and late-
game topdeck. This relates to the second critical difference.

Tarmogoyf generally enters the battlefield larger than Dryad, so it is often a better
blocker from the outset. It also has a higher initial power, but has a lower ceiling for
potential growth. Although Tarmogoyf may appear to be an incremental grower, unlike
Mentor, Pyromancer or Dryad, Tarmogoyf lacks unbounded growth potential. Like
Delver of Secrets, it has a hard cap. Tarmogoyf generally maxes out at 6 power in
Vintage (land, instant, sorcery, creature, artifact, planeswalker), and rarely gets larger
than 5/6. A Tarmogoyf will never grow naturally larger than a Dryad, but because it
enters the battlefield larger, may deal more damager per turn on average.

Tarmogoyf can roam solo, but the lower ceiling and higher starting value makes
Tarmogoyf a better pack animal. He can join the fray mid-battle, and still inflict
significant damage. The GushBond engine will not help his stats. In contrast, Quirion
Dryad needs to enter the battlefield early in order to contribute meaningfully.

Tarmogoyf’s strength remains mostly undiminished, but in a token-heavy metagame,

he suffers from the same problems as other vertically growing tempo finishers without
evasion. Perhaps most critically, however, the printing of Deathrite Shaman, Treasure
Cruise, and Dig Through Time drastically undercuts Tarmogoyf’s growth trajectory,
and partially explains why Tarmogoyf has receded even further.

Tarmogoyf lacks the strategic flexibility of Dryad or Pyromancer, who can double as
storm-finishers ala Empty the Warrens, when fueled by a Time Walk and a Yawgmoth’s
Will. No amount of storm will improve Tarmogoyf’s statistics and allow it to win in a
single, lethal attack. For that reason, Tarmogoyf is best when paired with other threats,
like Delver of Secrets.

Seeker of the Way arrived a few months before Monastery Mentor with Khans of Tarkir
in the fall of 2014. A far more limited tempo threat, Seeker of the Way’s incremental
growth is temporary, like storm. Seeker of the Way occasionally see play in the more
controlling versions of Mentor as a hedge against various forms of hate by boosting its
controller’s life total.

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Nivmagus Elemental was printed in late 2012 in Return to Ravnica, and was once used
in UR tempo decks as a finisher, as noted in the next section under Grapeshot.
Nivmagus Elemental is a unique finisher with great natural speed, but requires narrow
circumstances to trigger desirable growth. Nivmagus Elemental requires special design
consideration, with as many storm spells as can be packed in, such as Flusterstorm and
Grapeshot, to reach maximum effectiveness.

Psychatog was once best friends with Quirion Dryad, and exemplifies the idea of a
creature that grows larger with Gush. Every Gush equates to 6.5 potential points of
damage, since the returned lands can be used to fuel Tog’s power. With Berserk, it only
takes a few more points to kill the opponent. Tinker, and the printing of more efficient
creatures, has made the “Tog” obsolete, but it is still a useful reference for thinking
about how Gush can power tempo finishers.

Kiln Fiend is a notable, but vulnerable tempo variant that highlights the limits and
significance of the features of Quirion Dryad. At two mana, it costs the same as Dryad
and Pyromancer, triggers to the same spells as Pyromancer, but rather than distribute
them in an orderly +1/+1 manner either onto itself or across the battlefield, Kiln Fiend
gets a larger, but temporary, power boost. Kiln Fiend’s benefits are substantial, and it is
surprisingly easy to underestimate its deadly speed. To offer but one actual example, I
played a turn two Kiln Fiend, and was able to attack for lethal damage the next turn by
playing: Duress, Gush, Preordain, Demonic Tutor, Gush, and Force of Will targeting my
Gush (to pump Kiln Fiend further). That was nineteen damage on turn three without
doing anything particularly special. It rarely sees play anymore, but is still worth
keeping in mind.

Table 5.1: Tempo Finishers

Tempo Finisher Strengths Weaknesses
Monastery Mentor Vertical & horizontal 3 mana to cast, Balance,
growth, speed, defensive Sulfur Elemental, Dread of
capability Night
Young Pyromancer Horizontal growth, Small size in combat, very
swarming capacity weak to all board sweepers
Delver of Secrets Low mana investment, on- Easy to remove or counter,
color, flying dependent on top of deck
Thing in the Ice Potential creature and Only a blocker until
combat trump, on-color numerous triggers achieved
Managorger Hydra Fast growth triggered by 3 mana to cast, often easy to
both players, trample remove
Myth Realized Fast growth, low mana Mana intensive, subject to
investment numerous forms of removal
Vendilion Clique Disruptive ETB ability, Small backside for
flash, flying, on-color blocking, easy to remove

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The printing of storm finishers introduced alternative strategic options for Gush pilots,
and tempo finishers, such as Dryad, were initially seen as outmoded. Some Gush pilots
preferred the sleek design of laser-focused strategies with minimal finishers and
maximum support for those finishers. A subtle format bias against creatures found
expression in storm-based Gush decks, whose designers did not want to pollute their
decks with vanilla creatures used primarily for combat purposes.

Yet, in the cauldron the global Vintage metagame, empiricists observed that storm-
focused approaches proved no more successful on average than tempo-based
approaches or hybrid strategies that fused elements of both. Narrowly focused storm
strategies were more vulnerable to silver bullets, and strategically flexibility tempo-
based decks or hybrid decks were better at adapting to unfavorable game states and
inhospitable metagame climates.

Ultimately, tempo-based finishers cohabitated with storm finishers in Gush decks, and
continue to do so today. In fact, tempo finishers for Gush decks currently thrive in the
Vintage metagame, and often complement storm finishers, which we’ll examine next.

Storm Finishers

Since its inception as a format distinctive from what had previously been “Constructed
Magic” in 1994, the Vintage format (then dubbed Type I) acquired unfortunate and
undeserved stereotypes about its relative speed and interactivity. Marginalized by some
players as a non-interactive format, this reputation was unwarranted but difficult to
dislodge.

Although games of Vintage can feel brutal and unforgiving, first turn victories were
and remain rare in Vintage. Even second turn victories are uncommon. Vintage
enthusiasts, however, generally admit that the Vintage format’s action and decision-
making is compressed into fewer turns on average relative to other formats, with
intense activity beginning as early as turn one. It is not uncommon for Vintage players
to play 2-3 spells on the first turn regardless of archetype or strategy.

The mana acceleration permitted exclusively in Vintage allows Vintage strategies to

develop and advance their game plan more quickly within the turn structure. The mana
acceleration and compressed decision-making into fewer turns entails more spells
played per turn, on average, than in other formats. This, of course, is the essence of the
storm mechanic, and explains the enduring popularity of the mechanic in the Vintage
format. Storm is, and continues to be, regarded as a premier Vintage mechanic.

Gush bolsters and exemplifies the elements which render storm attractive to Vintage
pilots. Gush is itself a “free” spell and therefore a storm engine, but Gush also generates
mana and card advantage that enables further spell production per turn (also known as

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“storm”). Storm rewards its pilot for playing more spells over the course of a turn. This
meshes naturally with the GushBond engine and Gush-based strategies, which have
more spell velocity than other decks, and a higher density of efficient search and draw
than other decks.

Prior to Gush’s first restriction in 2003, the set from which the storm mechanic hails,
Scourge, had not yet been printed. A historical irony, Scourge became legal for
tournament play the same day that Gush was first restricted. The significance of this fact
is that storm combo engines and finishers were never traditionally paired with the
GushBond engine, nor fueled by Gush as a storm enabler. Although the release of
Scourge ostensibly played no role in the decision to restrict Gush, Gush would have
been a natural inclusion in storm decks, and vice versa. Vintage players had no
opportunity to experience the GushBond engine in storm combo decks until 2007, when
Gush was unrestricted.

When the DCI announced the unrestriction of Gush, players eagerly relished the
prospect of building storm decks fueled by Gush for the first time. These hopes proved
well-founded.

Tendrils of Agony

Tendrils of Agony is among the most popular and enduring

Vintage win conditions ever printed, and is the gold standard
for storm finishers in Gush and non-Gush decks alike.
Tendrils of Agony found reliable employment in Gush decks
in the 2007-2008 period (the second period in which Gush was
unrestricted), and continues to see play in Gush-strategies
today. Initially, Tendrils was preferred only in Gush decks
that featured dedicated storm engines such as Timetwister,
Necropotence, and Mind’s Desire. Storm-focused Gush decks
had been developed as soon as Gush was unrestricted (known
generally as Gush TPS), but had not found a consistently well
performing home until Eric Becker’s The Tropical Storm (TTS,
après TPS) was published in late 2007, and picked up and developed by Luis Scott-
Vargas, who won a tournament in northern California with it in early 2008 (see this
actual decklist in Chapter 4).

The Tropical Storm strategy features the usual Vintage storm-combo accoutrements,
paired with the GushBond engine. Tendrils eventually became more widely defuse as
Gush pilots grew more efficient at manipulating the GushBond engine, especially with
the printing of Ponder, which provided remarkable consistency to that engine.

In the final StarCityGames Power Nine Vintage weekend held in Richmond, Virginia,

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Brian DeMars and AJ Grasso finished first and second, respectively, on the second day,
both sporting Gush decks with Tendrils of Agony as a finisher. Brian and AJ’s decks ran
minimal amounts of storm production engines, and were hyper-focused on harnessing
the GushBond engine for storm production.

Gush Storm, 2nd Place StarCityGames P9 Richmond Day 2 05-11-2008

By AJ Grasso

4 Force of Will 1 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

2 Misdirection 1 Lotus Petal 1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Thoughtseize 1 Black Lotus 2 Extirpate
3 Duress 1 Mox Emerald 1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Extirpate 1 Mox Jet 1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Ruby 2 Pyroblast
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Rebuild
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Mana Crypt 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Demonic Tutor 3 Flooded Strand 4 Tarmogoyf
4 Merchant Scroll 3 Polluted Delta 1 Tinker
4 Gush 1 Tropical Island 1 Tropical Island
3 Ponder 3 Underground Sea
4 Brainstorm 1 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Island
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

With decks such as this, Tendrils of Agony shifted from dedicated storm finisher to
broad-based GushBond finisher. The consistency of the GushBond engine, either by
improved design or training, rendered Tendrils a mainstream, if not default, Gush
finisher. The GushBond engine was so potent that Tendrils of Agony eventually made
its way into non-traditional Storm Gush decks as a secondary or even primary win
condition. Rich Shay’s Gush Combo decklist from 2011 Vintage Champs in the previous
chapter is a perfect example of this strategy.

Tendrils of Agony is a deceptively resource intensive card. While it appears to only cost
but four mana, its primary cost is not mana, but storm. In most Vintage games, Tendrils
requires roughly 8-9 storm preceding Tendrils in order to win upon the resolution of
each Tendrils copy. Generating that amount of storm is no small task, and generally
requires resources investments much greater than the four mana required to cast it.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Although it is possible to win games with a small Tendrils (preceded by less than 7
storm), or a fortuitous and timely combination of Moxen and Hurkyl’s Recall, this is not
the norm. Generating a critical mass of storm, and the mana and draw necessary to
generate that storm, and then cast Tendrils requires dedicated investments and a well-
tailored plan.

Supporting Tendrils of Agony typically requires either adoption of the GushBond

engine, including a high degree of reliance on Yawgmoth’s Will, or other specific storm
engine support such as Mind’s Desire, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Doomsday, Timetwister,
or Necropotence.

Mind’s Desire and Yawgmoth’s Bargain are powerful storm generators, and both create
a critical mass of card advantage necessary to support Tendrils. Timetwister can
support Tendrils, but is not reliable unless you have Fastbond in play. Necropotence
supports Tendrils, but not always directly, as seven new cards with Necropotence are
often not enough to generate the requisite Storm to win. Necropotence is best used to
set up other engines like Yawgmoth’s Will or Mind’s Desire, or a mini-Tendrils that
fuels one of those cards the following turn. Repeal and other bounce effects such as
Hurkyl’s Recall or Chain of Vapor helps generate Storm at no or a low mana cost, which
can help you get over the threshold storm minimum and create a lethal Tendrils. Each
of these storm engines will be discussed in the context of Gush decks in more detail in
the next chapter.

In general, however, the GushBond engine (as described in Chapter 3) will suffice, as it
functions as a strong and reliable Tendrils engine, making Tendrils the storm finisher of
choice. For that reason, Tendrils is not only the gold standard storm finisher, it is a
default Gush finisher. When designing a deck with the GushBond engine, the question
is not whether you should run Tendrils, but why you should not. We will survey the
other storm options, and their relative advantages and disadvantages, in the rest of this
section.

Empty the Warrens

Empty the Warrens is another popular and synergistic storm finisher for Gush decks.
Printed in the fall of 2006 in the anchor block expansion set Time Spiral, it did not
become popular in Vintage until Gush was unrestricted in the summer of 2007. Tendrils
of Agony had already ascended the heights of the Vintage metagame, but storm decks
were accustomed to guaranteed lethal finishers, given the dedicated support systems
they employed to facilitate it. There was little serious consideration of using Empty the
Warrens as a substitute or alternative storm finisher until Gush was unrestricted. Recall
that Owen Turtenwald won the StarCityGames P9 Vintage tournament in Indianapolis
in October 2007 with Empty Gush (as described in the previous chapter), and Owen’s

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

teammates, playing the same deck, took up two other slots in the same Top 8. Although
Owen’s deck featured several finishers, Empty the Warrens could be cast with Gush
and a Mox or two for a quick clock.

Owen and teammate Tommy Kolowith had been experimenting with Empty the
Warrens as a Gush finisher at the 2007 Vintage Champs at GenCon, where Tommy
piloted this deck to a 10th place finish. In a short time, the advantages of Empty the
Warrens were apparent. Not only could Empty be paired with Time Walk to fuel a
game-winning turn, but it could also be played with a relatively small storm count and
still be a meaningful threat. You could cast Empty with 3-4 storm very early in the
game, generating 6-8 Goblin tokens, and use that permanent and board advantage to
win games within just a few turns. As a consequence, you needed just a modest amount
of countermagic to prevent your opponent from stopping you or winning the game in
the interim.

In contrast to Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens is a more flexible finisher. Tendrils
of Agony is a binary spell: it has enormous value or very little, depending on whether
you have sufficient storm to win the game. In that respect, Tendrils of Agony is a bit
like a Tinker finisher: it is a spell you almost never want to have in hand, but is a card
you want in your library to tutor for when you have reached a critical mass. Empty the
Warrens, on the other hand, works almost as well as Tendrils as an ultimate finisher in
a storm strategy, while being useful in the early and mid-game as well. Empty the
Warrens is useful in a broader range of situations and game states, and has value even
without a large storm count.

Because Empty the Warrens proved a useful play with fewer storm, it could be used by
decks that do not employ dedicated storm engines. In other words, it was a natural fit
into Gush control decks, which lacked combo storm engines. With Empty the Warrens,
Gush control decks had found not only a new win condition, but also a powerful
defensive play. Empty the Warrens could clog up an active battlefield, offering a
protective moat from opposing attackers, and further buy time to advance strategic
goals.

A more recent archetype featuring Empty the Warrens prominently is Josh Potucek’s
take on Empty Gush. Josh’s deck was an innovative and unconventional strategy
attacking the format from precise angles. Wrapped in a tenebrous control package, it
could easily find and deploy one of the multiple Empty the Warrens as an
uncounterable tempo threat, or as a challenging defensive play. Lightning Bolts clear
out threats as well as blockers, and the deck can finish with a huge Yawgmoth’s Will or
squeeze through a small window with a few Empty tokens.

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Goblin Storm, 4th Place Top Deck Games (Philadelphia, PA) 04-20-2013
By Josh Potucek

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Emerald 4 Yixlid Jailer
2 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Lightning Bolt 1 Mox Pearl 2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Ruby 2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Mana Crypt 1 Dismember
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Sol Ring 1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Demonic Tutor 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Merchant Scroll 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Viashino Heretic
4 Gush 1 Flooded Strand
1 Brainstorm 3 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Tropical Island
1 Time Walk 2 Underground Sea
3 Jace, the Mind 2 Island
Sculptor 1 Mountain
1 Fastbond
4 Empty the Warrens
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Empty the Warrens for 4-6 storm can win games in a few turns. This is often enough to
win the game against Workshop or Fish decks, and can be quite strong against slower
blue decks. The damage that some decks self-inflict only abbreviates this clock. Empty
the Warrens remains a viable finisher even when the GushBond engine or Yawgmoth’s
Will has been shut down with Tormod’s Crypt or Grafdigger’s Cage.

The obvious disadvantage relative to Tendrils of Agony is that Empty the Warrens
requires an attack step to inflict damage, and this demands an additional turn. The cost
of an additional turn is the basic tradeoff for tactical flexibility. It should be noted that
the life gain that Tendrils produces can matter, especially in decks that do damage to
themselves with Fastbond and Thoughtseize.

Empty the Warrens has long been a contender as a finisher in any Gush-based list. It’s
more flexible than Tendrils, it is a compact win condition, and has a design space
advantage over Tinker for that reason. It is also a natural win condition as a tempo play
in the early game or as a post-Will win condition capped off with Time Walk. To
maximize Empty the Warrens, you will need to consider playing the full suite of
Moxen, and even running cards like Repeal.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

The proliferation of vertically growing tempo finishers, however, has marginalized

Empty the Warrens in Gush-based strategies in the last few years. Although Empty
retains its advantage of relative uncounterability (absent Flusterstorm or Mindbreak
Trap), the threat of swarming an opponent with tokens is reduced when an opponent
can generate nearly as many tokens on defense with a Young Pyromancer. Tempo
based finishers that birth tokens are more efficient, easier to cast, and require less setup
than Empty the Warrens. Nonetheless, Empty the Warrens remains a viable
consideration for Gush-based strategies searching for a storm-based finisher.

Brain Freeze

A third Storm finisher for Gush decks, Brain Freeze is a

specialized strategic implement. At a mere two mana, Brain
Freeze is more efficient than Tendrils of Agony or Empty the
Warrens, and inhabits a better slice of the color pie, but
requires more setup and storm support to win the game.
Brain Freeze, by itself, requires roughly 17-18 storm to empty
the opponent’s library, and cause them to deck with their next
draw.

The conversion of resources into storm makes Brain Freeze, in

some respects, a more expensive card than either Tendrils or
Empty. Empty the Warrens may be played with a small
fraction of the storm required for Brain Freeze and retain lethal force. The marginal cost
of 11-17 storm is, as a general matter, greater than the first nine, more than
compensating for the additional expense in casting Tendrils of Agony. Setting Brain
Freeze up requires a narrower strategy and a focused plan for generating an otherwise
unusual quantity of storm.

The first successful attempt to marry Gush and Oath of Druids in Vintage, Tyrant Oath,
proved to be an ideal home for Brain Freeze. Tidespout Tyrant is the perfect engine for
Brain Freeze. With two Moxen, you can generate infinite colorless mana (playing one to
bounce the other), and as much storm as you would like. All that is needed to cast Brain
Freeze is a spare blue mana. Tidespout Tyrant, Oath of Druids, and Brain Freeze had
been tried in conjunction before, but it was not until Jeff Carpenter and Jeremiah
Rudolph’s efforts in Salem, MA (USA) in 2007, that Tyrant Oath was grafted into a
Gush shell. Rich Shay refined the deck and enjoyed great success with it, which he used
to win the 87-player TMD Open:

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Tyrant Oath, 1st Place TMD Open 02-16-2008

By Rich Shay

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Emerald 1 Blazing Archon
1 Chain of Vapor 1 Mox Jet 2 Extirpate
4 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 1 Fire/Ice
4 Ponder 1 Mox Ruby 2 Pithing Needle
4 Brainstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Forbidden Orchard 3 Shattering Spree
1 Time Walk 2 Polluted Delta 1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Flooded Strand 2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Demonic Tutor 2 Tropical Island
3 Merchant Scroll 2 Underground Sea
4 Oath of Druids 2 Volcanic Island
2 Tidespout Tyrant 1 Island
1 Flash of Insight
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Brain Freeze
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Although less than ideal, a sub-lethal Tendrils at least exchanges life points, making it
harder for the opponent to inflict the requisite amount of damage to win the game.
Similarly, Brain Freeze offers noteworthy marginal advantages at a sub-lethal storm
count. Brain Freeze can be fired off in an effort to negate an opponent’s topdeck tutor,
forcing them to put the tutored card into the graveyard.

Unlike Tendrils and Empty the Warrens, however, a sub-lethal Brain Freeze on an
opponent as a general tactic is a dangerous play, possibly helping the opponent fuel
their graveyard before a Yawgmoth’s Will, Snapcaster Mage, or other graveyard-based
recursion. Brain Freeze also is stronger in multiples since it is much cheaper to cast than
other storm finishers, and the total storm count need only be 7-8 before the first Brain
Freeze to wipe out the opponent’s library.

Brain Freeze is an uncommon storm finisher, but shines in the right home. It remains a
consideration in the appropriate strategy.

Although Tyrant Oath decks have appeared from time to time utilizing this storm
finisher, the most popular use of Brain Freeze in Gush decks is a European strategy
known as “Almost Blue.”

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Almost Blue, 1st place LCV 04-27-2013

By Pau Cantero

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Black Lotus 2 Abrupt Decay
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Emerald 1 Ravenous Trap
3 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Remand 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Rebuild 1 Mana Crypt 4 Oath of Druids
3 Repeal 1 Sol Ring 2 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Mystical Tutor 2 Misty Rainforest
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Polluted Delta
1 Demonic Tutor 2 Scalding Tarn
1 Merchant Scroll 1 Flooded Strand
1 Gifts Ungiven 3 Underground Sea
4 Gush 2 Tropical Island
1 Ponder 3 Island
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Regrowth
1 Noxious Revival
1 Fastbond
1 Talrand, Sky
Summoner
2 Brain Freeze
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Pau has won many sizable tournaments since the most recent unrestriction of Gush in
2010 with this Gush variant. This archetype can play a control role until the point at
which it can generate the critical mass of storm to make Brain Freeze lethal. To that end,
it includes a suite of storm enablers like Repeal, Rebuild, and Remand, and often runs
the Timetwister. It is not uncommon to see this archetype with a full complement of
Repeal, which serves both as a storm enabler as well as a defensive measure.

Grapeshot

The least heralded of the storm finishers used by Gush pilots, Grapeshot may be among
the most interesting. Grapeshot suffers from the conspicuous disadvantage of requiring
the most storm for a lethal kill (all 20), but offers some exceptional utility as an
immediate tactic. Grapeshot is a functionally uncounterable removal spell, which can

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

address multiple blockers in a single play, a quasi-board sweeper, for just two mana. As
a nearly-uncounterable spell, Grapeshot is never a dead card in most Vintage matchups.
Much like an Abrupt Decay, it can steal tempo back from even the most precarious
board state, but retains its potential as a late game finisher.

Talrand Grapeshot, 1st Place Zurich 05-19-2013

By Marius Morger

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 1 Engineered
2 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Jet Explosives
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Ruby 3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Mana Drain 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Lightning Bolt 1 Mana Crypt 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Mountain
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Polluted Delta 1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Demonic Tutor 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Pithing Needle
1 Merchant Scroll 2 Underground Sea 1 Ravenous Trap
4 Gush 2 Volcanic Island 1 Yixlid Jailer
3 Preordain 1 Tropical Island
1 Ponder 2 Island
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Jace, the Mind
Sculptor
1 Fastbond
2 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Talrand, Sky
Summoner
1 Grapeshot
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Although printed with Empty the Warrens in the Time Spiral expansion, Grapeshot had
not manifested its presence in Vintage until the printing of Nivmagus Elemental. This
UR tempo deck, which won a sizable Vintage tournament in Europe, exemplifies the
potential for Grapeshot and its flexible use. With Nivmagus, Grapeshot achieves its
maximal usage potential as a defensive removal spell, a giant pump spell creature
booster, and as a strategic finisher. Grapeshot is an unlikely storm finisher in Vintage,
but its particular synergies in corner-case strategies render it a rare consideration.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Table 5.2: Storm Finishers

Storm Finisher Advantages Disadvantages
Tendrils of Agony Immediately lethal Requires a critical mass of
storm to win
Empty the Warrens Flexibly playable, requires Requires a turn to win,
the least amount of storm absent Time Walk
to be lethal
Brain Freeze Instant speed, 2cc, blue Requires 17-18 storm to win
Grapeshot Instant speed, 2cc, can Requires 20 storm to win
serve as removal spell

Tinker Finishers

Although not as popular as it once was, Tinker remains a viable strategic objective in
Vintage, and Gush decks are no exception. Tinkering for an enormous artifact creature
(aka “The Robot”) is a familiar and serious consideration for any Gush pilot. Although
one Tinker finisher predominates above the rest, there are several valid options. A
careful understanding of the merits of each Tinker finisher rounds out any serious Gush
pilot’s education.

In previous editions of this book, I took as a given that most Gush decks would at least
consider playing Tinker, and a strong plurality would end up using it. While that is no
longer be the case, it illustrates Tinker’s historical significance and contemporary
potency. Gush pilots that decide to use Tinker must be aware of its advantages and
disadvantages, as well as the varied finisher options, each of which presents their own
complex set of advantages and disadvantages to weigh.

The first Tinker finisher that saw heavy play in Vintage was Darksteel Colossus, and its
printing changed the format. When Gush was originally played in Vintage, Mirrodin
block had not yet seen print, and so, like storm, Tinker was not yet widely used by
Gush decks as a win condition. When Gush was unrestricted, many Gush pilots
adopted Tinker as a win condition to summon out the Colossus (such as the Empty
Gush lists designed by Team ICBM). Since then, an array of Tinker finisher options
have seen print, each of which has their own advantages and disadvantages. This
makes Tinker an even more attractive option, since it can be fitted to serve most Gush
decks, and the variety of options allows the pilot to tailor the option to their metagame
and strategy.

The potency of Tinker as a win condition is by now well appreciated. Tinker offers a
uniquely efficient and compact channel for a lethal win condition requiring the
resolution of just one spell, and a turn or two to win the game. For only three mana it
can be played at almost any point in the game, and can easily be protected with
countermagic and other proactive disruption. A turn one or turn two Tinker can often

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

win the game with little set up required. Aside from three mana, the only condition is
that a Mox or other cheap artifact has been drawn and resolved.

At the same time, Tinker is more than a fantastic and unparalleled tempo play, it is also
a great late-game finisher. Tinker can be tutored up during a Yawgmoth’s Will turn,
and protected easily through the generation of card advantage in that turn, and each
subsequent turn that it takes until the game is won. Time Walk, played (or replayed)
during the Will turn, makes that task even easier.

Tinker is also prized for preying on aggro-control matchups that attack blue decks from
vexatious directions, choking off mana development, employing disruptive creatures,
and mounting a tempo attack. Tinker is a single card play that can not only steal back
much lost tempo, but end the game before answers can be found in the relevant time
frame.

Tinker is not without drawbacks. Some are tactical, and some are an inevitable
consequence of relying on Tinker as a strategic finisher. Some can be minimized, and
others can be mitigated, but none can be avoided altogether.

Many players have a low tolerance threshold for Tinker’s inevitable side-effect of
drawing the finisher to hand. There are few things more frustrating to the experienced
Vintage pilot than drawing the Tinker finisher more frequently than the natural
incidence in a course of testing or tournament play. This mulligan-inducing drawback is
considered an acceptable consequence of Tinker’s greater power, but those squeamish
about it might consider otherwise before using it.

Although Brainstorm is now restricted, there are more effective ways to mitigate this
problem today than ever since. Dack Fayden and Jace, the Mind Sculptor provide
convenient outlets for addressing this issue, by discarding the Tinker robot in exchange
for a better card or by depositing it back into the library directly. Although uncommon
in Gush decks, others may rely on Thirst for Knowledge as a discard mechanism if
employing certain Tinker targets.

The next chapter will discuss Tinker itself in more detail, including the various counter-
tactics alluded to above. For now, our focus is on the finishers that might be paired with
Tinker.

Blightsteel Colossus

Blightsteel has become the most favored Tinker finisher in the Vintage format, and is
such for Gush decks as well. Blightsteel is respected for being quickly lethal, a tempo
advantage no other Tinker finisher can match. Blightsteel not only inflicts a lethal blow
in a single attack, but is difficult to block, as it deals trample damage with infect. On the

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

other hand, Blightsteel is an easy target for bounce (like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, or
Hurkyl’s Recall), targeted removal (like Swords to Plowshares), and even theft (the
omnipresent Dack Fayden). Blightsteel’s tournament performance attests to its value in
spite of these obstacles. Yet, these weaknesses, and the general frustration of drawing it
in the opening hand or otherwise can lead players to look for alternatives.

Myr Battlesphere

The only Tinker finisher that generates permanent advantage, Myr Battlesphere is the
best answer to cards like Tangle Wire and Smokestack because it generates 4 additional
token permanents when it comes in to play. This permanent advantage also serves as a
form of evasion, since it, like Voltron, can break off parts of itself to attack and play
defense. Myr Battlesphere can win in two swings, an eternity compared to Blightsteel,
but far faster than the other options. Yet, like Inkwell, it’s feasibly played from hand.

As the table below demonstrates, each of the Tinker targets has particular matchup and
situational advantages. Selecting a Tinker target requires a careful evaluation of which
advantages are most important to you, and which drawbacks are most concerning.
Even minor features like Blightsteel’s automatic reshuffle ability can matter in corner
cases, such as preventing decking, or tactically shuffling your deck. When playing a
Gush deck, it is important to consider which Tinker finisher best fits your strategy, and
which matchups you are trying to shore up, selecting Tinker targets that shine in your
weakest matchups, not your best.

Tinker finishers are potent win conditions in Gush decks, even those with few artifacts.
Tinker is strong early as a tempo play, something Gush decks excel at. And it is good
late as a cleanup win condition once complete control has been achieved or a post-Will
finisher. The ubiquity of Grafdigger’s Cage and Dack Fayden has dimmed Tinker’s
light, but it remains a steady weapon for any Gush player.

Inkwell Leviathan

What makes Inkwell an attractive alternative is its casting cost and its color. Both of
these mitigate the most irritating feature of the Tinker package, drawing the Tinker
finisher. Inkwell Leviathan is more castable than other Tinker finishers, and even more
so with Mana Drain mana. Moreover, it’s never dead in an opening hand, not only
because it can be cast, but because it is pitchable to Force of Will.

The Leviathan cannot be targeted by traditional bounce spells or removal, and therefore
does a serviceable job of winning the game with little protection. In exchange, it
requires more time, two more turns to be precise. Leviathan’s dual forms of evasion
reduce chances for impeding it, but it takes nearly the most time of any of the viable
Tinker alternatives.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Sphinx is sometimes viewed as a marginal Tinker option, but receives far greater
respect among experienced Vintage players. Sphinx shines against decks where Tinker
targets are weakest, where a quick offense is not sufficient. With protection from red
and green spells, and with lifelink and vigilance, Sphinx is as strong on defense as it is
on offense, and immune to Dack Fayden’s trickery.

The main reason to play Sphinx, however, is because of the life gain. It gives you a
cushion of life after aggressively using life as a resource to get in position to resolve
Tinker. The flying ability is a useful form of evasion – not necessarily better than
islandwalk or trample, but important.

Table 5.3: Tinker Finishers

Tinker Target Advantages Disadvantages
Blightsteel Colossus 1 turn clock, evasion, Can be targeted, bounced,
indestructible removed; not blue
Myr Battlesphere 2 turn clock, permanent Slower than Blightsteel,
advantage, difficult to answered with artifact
remove, playable from hand destruction
Inkwell Leviathan 3 turn clock, untargetable by 3 turns is sometimes too slow
any spell or ability, blue
Sphinx of the Steel Wind 4 turn clock, lifelink, evasion, The slowest Tinker finisher
protection from artifact
destruction and theft

Miscellaneous Finishers

The three classes of strategic finishers surveyed thus far constitute the bulk of those
employed by Gush decks. Yet, there remain a potent few that elude these broad
classification schemes. These critical options will now be reviewed below.

Laboratory Maniac

Printed in Innistrad in late 2011, Laboratory Maniac revived Doomsday as a new

finisher. Doomsday not only creates the conditions under which Laboratory Maniac’s
stupendous ability may be triggered as a Rule 104.2 victory condition, but places the
Maniac in an accessible position (akin to tutoring for it), and provides the resources to
play and protect it. Doomsday costs three black mana to cast, and because Gush can
draw two cards for no mana cost, Gush is an integral part in this process.

First, Gush is used to draw two cards from the five card library constructed with
Doomsday, ideally the first two. As we will discuss next chapter, resolving Gush in

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

such a situation usually results in victory that turn. Second, Gush can be used to draw
additional cards within the Doomsday-built library, digging closer to emptying to the
end and a lethal Laboratory Maniac trigger. Third, Gush can be used to trigger the
Maniac directly, if it is played with less than two cards remaining in your library.
Finally, Gush is used as an engine that naturally supports and facilitates the entire
Doomsday deck. This topic will be covered in more detail next chapter and in the
Appendix.

Among the first to recognize its potential, I discussed this role in my Innistrad Set
Review, and the first to Top 8 with it less than a month later at the esteemed Waterbury
tournament.

Maniac Doomsday, 6th Place Waterbury 10-08-2011

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Jet 2 Island
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Duress 2 Polluted Delta 3 Teferi's Realm
4 Thoughtseize 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Xantid Swarm
2 Hurkyl's Recall 2 Flooded Strand 2 Yixlid Jailer
4 Gush 1 Misty Rainforest
4 Preordain 4 Underground Sea
1 Ponder 1 Tropical Island
1 Brainstorm 1 Island
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Doomsday
1 Fastbond
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Laboratory Maniac must be protected. Gush provides the resources to do this as well.
Casting Gush into, say, Ancestral Recall and Flusterstorm, provides the countermagic to
shield the Maniac from harm. Alternatively, proactive disruption spells like Duress can
be placed in the Doomsday piles to address tactics like Abrupt Decay and Sudden
Shock.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Tidespout Tyrant

For a brief time in early 2008, Tidespout Tyrant was a popular finisher for Oath lists
fitted with the GushBond engine, and has seen play since the re-unrestriction of Gush,
as seen in the Tyrant Oath deck shown earlier in this chapter. Tidespout has particular
synergies with Gush that can be built into a focused strategy using Oath of Druids.

The GushBond engine can support many different strategies, although it is no longer so
broken as to support just any strategy, having been somewhat diminished by
restrictions over the years. Gush is a draw engine that helps you find and resolve Oath
of Druids, but it shines once Oath has resolved, since Gush can trigger Tidespout Tyrant
to wipe the opponent’s board and to go infinite and win with Brain Freeze.

Tyrant is useful as a defensive tactic as well, for bouncing your opponent’s board to buy
more time. Tyrant can address multiple permanents, with Gush and other free spells,
and each cantrip can take a chunk out of your opponent’s board. Tyrant is not the only
Oath finisher available to Gush pilots, but it is probably the most synergistic.

Dragonlord Dromoka

A Brian Kelly specialty, Dragonlord Dromoka occasionally appears in more controlling

Gush decks as a big mana finisher. Although the Dragonlord presses the limit of
castability in Gush decks with more expansive mana bases, it’s uncounterability renders
the overall casting cost less critical, since no mana is needed to help resolve it on the
stack.

Dragonlord Dromoka’s abilities serve as one of the ultimate control finishers for any
Vintage strategy, Gush decks included. The lifelink helps seize back any tempo loss,
and helps its controller achieve inevitability. The disruptive shield it places over the
opponent’s ability to play spells on your turn protects the remainder of your strategic
objectives. Dromoka is a serious consideration for any multi-colored control deck,
including Gush strategies.

Grindstone

Grindstone is another unusual win condition that appears in Gush decks as part of a
game-winning two card combination. Painter’s Servant allows the controller to change
the color of all cards in the game, allowing Grindstone to activate and mill the
opponent’s entire library. This combo can be assembled for six mana, including the
activation of Grindstone, but Grindstone itself only costs one mana, making it a fast and
easy play. Outside of the combo, Grindstone can be used similarly to sub-lethal Brain
Freeze, to disrupt the opponent’s top deck plans, or for other ends.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Gush-based Painter decks first appeared in 2008, but have returned in recent months.
Grindstone most typically appears with Tinker and Blightsteel Colossus. Here is a
representative Painter strategy from 2016:

Gush Painter, 2nd Place Deal Me in Games P9 Series 05-14-2016

By Adam Turk

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mountain
1 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Tormod's Crypt
4 Pyroblast 1 Mox Ruby 4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Pearl 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Mana Drain 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Sulfur Elemental
3 Gush 1 Mana Crypt
1 Ponder 1 Sol Ring
1 Brainstorm 1 Tolarian Academy
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Scalding Tarn
1 Time Walk 3 Misty Rainforest
4 Thirst for Knowledge 3 Volcanic Island
1 Treasure Cruise 2 Underground Sea
1 Dig Through Time 2 Island
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
2 Grindstone
3 Painter's Servant
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is another finisher sometimes found in Gush decks, although
Jace is, of course, much more than a finisher. In fact, Jace’s role as a finisher or ultimate
strategic objective is secondary in terms of its importance as an interim strategic
objective and tactic. As an ultimate strategic objective, its features and operations in
Gush decks will be covered next chapter.

Typically Jace elevates to the role of an ultimate strategic objective or “finisher” through
its ultimate ability or by helping assemble other combos. Otherwise, it is primarily an
enabler and a draw engine, a complement to Gush. In other words, Jace is a finisher for
the assembled Time Vault combo in the same way that Tyrant is for Oath, and
Laboratory Maniac is for Doomsday.

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Once the Time Vault combo is activated, the Time Vault

player can then begin using Jace’s so-called “fateseal ability”
as a prelude to setting up its “ultimate” or final ability, which
will generally force a concession, since the opponent’s library
will often be exiled. If any library remains, the ultimate ability
can be used again, to guarantee a lethal end.

Jace can sometimes perform the job of a win condition or

finisher without the Time Vault combo when fatesealing the
opponent is a superior or roughly equal line of play to
iterative +0 “Brainstorming” with Jace. There may be
matchups, such as Oath of Druids, for example, where
playing a creature is verboten or overly risky, and it is here that Jace can really shine, by
denying the Oath pilot combo parts, while building towards his ultimate ability.

Jace’s fateseal ability leading to its ultimate ability may also be employed more
generally in control mirrors or in game states where Jace’s controller has achieved some
measure of control. In these games the fateseal ability is used to help maintain control
long enough to activate Jace’s ultimate ability. Jace’s incredible synergies within Gush
strategies are canvassed more deeply next chapter, and it remains a potent finisher.

Table 5.4: Miscellaneous Finishers

Tinker Target Advantages Disadvantages
Laboratory Maniac Compact kill synergistic Can be targeted, bounced,
with Doomsday and Gush removed
Tidespout Tyrant Can be used as a Difficult to hard cast if
standalone kill condition or drawn into hand
as an engine, on color (blue)
Dragonlord Dromoka Uncounterable, lifelink, and Green and white may be
ensures your subsequent out of the normal color
strategic objectives resolve range, relatively slow in
combat
Grindstone The most efficient mana Countered by Mental
requirements Misstep, weak to Dack
Fayden, and all artifact
removal
Jace, the Mind Sculptor Can be used as a Matches up poorly against
standalone kill condition or token generating threats
as an engine, on color (blue) like Young Pyromancer and
Monastery Mentor

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 Chapter 5 – Ultimate Strategic Objectives

Table 5.5: Ultimate Strategic Objectives Summary

Name Usage Importance
Monastery Mentor Tempo Finisher *****
Young Pyromancer Tempo Finisher *****
Delver of Secrets Tempo Finisher ***
Thing in the Ice Tempo Finisher **
Managorger Hydra Tempo Finisher *
Myth Realized Tempo/Control Finisher *
Vendilion Clique Tempo Finisher *
Scab-Clan Berserker Tempo Finisher/Anti- **
Storm tactic
Talrand, Sky Summoner Tempo Finisher *
Seeker of the Way Tempo Finisher/Special *
Tactic
Tendrils of Agony Storm Finisher *****
Empty the Warrens Storm Finisher **
Brain Freeze Storm Finisher *
Grapeshot Storm Finisher *
Blightsteel Colossus Tinker Finisher ****
Myr Battlesphere Tinker Finisher *
Inkwell Leviathan Tinker Finisher *
Sphinx of the Steel Wind Tinker Finisher **
Laboratory Maniac Doomsday Finisher ****
Tidespout Tyrant Oath Finisher *
Grindstone Painter Servant Finisher *
Jace, the Mind Sculptor Multi-Use Finisher ***

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 Chapter 6: Intermediate Strategic Objectives
Chapter 4 set out a four-part framework for understanding the components of any
Gush strategy, coordinated through The Plan. Chapter 5 began our examination of this
framework with a survey of the range and function of possible ultimate strategic
objectives. This chapter continues that journey, but focuses on the intermediate strategic
objectives that Gush pilots pursue during the course of a game of Magic.

It would be a mistake to consider these intermediate objectives any less important than
those examined last chapter. Quite the contrary – in many ways these strategic
objectives are more so. They tend not only to be more difficult to set up and execute,
and therefore a greater achievement, they precondition the end-game and create the
conditions that allow finishers (the ultimate strategic objectives set out last chapter) to
satisfying Rule 104.2 by generating the requisite storm, mana, or card advantage.

The ultimate goal of winning the game is accomplished by playing, resolving, and
protecting finishers, which in turn is made possible by establishing the preconditions
under which these finishers may accomplish that end. This chapter concerns those
preconditions, embodied in specific strategic goals, and represented by the successful
resolution and execution of strategically significant spells. Understanding these
conditions and goals, including how they are established or accomplished is essential
knowledge for any Gush pilot or deck designer. It affects not only your game play, but
it will also influence your selection of finishers and other design choices. Design
questions and game play decision making are not separate processes, but integrated
frameworks. The strategic options reviewed in this chapter will influence the selection
of finishers, tactical options, and in-game decisions.

While these strategic objectives are vital to the regular operations of Gush decks, they
are not always necessary to victory. In most cases, the intermediate strategic objectives
surveyed in this chapter are incapable of satisfying Rule 104.2 victory conditions. It is
unusual, even rare in some Gush decks, but it remains possible to win a game of Magic
without achieving any of these intermediate strategic objectives.

Unusual circumstances and corner cases may arise in which games are won without
accomplishing these objectives. For example, it is possible to win via a Tinker finisher
without ever having played Tinker, by playing the finisher for its full mana cost.
Similarly, an Empty the Warrens can be played and yet win the game without a storm
engine preceding it. This dynamic is more common for aggro-control or tempo-based
Gush decks, but remains the exception rather than the rule. In most games, at least one
of these strategic objectives will have been accomplished en route to victory.

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Gush

The greater part of this book is dedicated to documenting and imparting the
significance of Gush as a strategic objective. A universal strategic objective for all Gush
decks, Gush serves the manifold purposes set out in prior chapters, including the
various forms advantages carefully described in Chapter 1, and the even greater
strategic roles described in other sections of this book, such as the GushBond engine in
Chapter 3. All Gush decks will use Gush for whatever immediate or long-term
advantages can be derived.

Ancestral Recall

Ancestral Recall is another universal strategic objective for all

Gush decks. The well-known purpose of Ancestral Recall is to
generate card advantage. Yet, Ancestral Recall’s strategic
significance goes beyond mere card advantage. There are
many cards that are capable of generating card advantage, but
few that can provide card advantage with the same efficiency
as Ancestral Recall. Nonetheless, Ancestral Recall enjoys pride
of place among strategic objectives in Gush decks, if not
Vintage strategies more generally.

A deeper understanding of Ancestral Recall’s strategic

importance begins with an appreciation of the significance of
Ancestral’s minimal mana cost.

First, Ancestral Recall requires no set up or specialized mana sources, but can be played
with all but a few mana sources found in any Gush deck. Most sources of significant
card advantage require deeper mana investments, such as Jace or Yawgmoth’s Bargain.
These spells require mana accelerants like Moxen, Dark Ritual, Lotus Cobra, Mana
Drain, or multiple turns to play enough lands to cast them. As a consequence, Ancestral
is uniquely flexible in terms of timing. The requisite mana investment of other sources
of card advantage just noted, Gush included (requiring, generally speaking, two lands
in play), render Ancestral uniquely opportunistic and easier to pursue and to resolve. It
is for this reason, among others, that Ancestral Recall is a popular tutor target. It is
probably the easiest significant strategic objective to set up and achieve. Mystical Tutor,
Vampiric Tutor, and Merchant Scroll probably target Ancestral Recall more than any
other individual card.

Second, Ancestral can be played as early as the first turn without any expenditure of
other resources, and thereby preserve those resources for other spells. In contrast, a first
turn Jace usually requires the investment of Black Lotus. Ancestral Recall provides an
immediate boost of card advantage, but then allows its caster to proceed to the next

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

strategic objective. This is a chief reason that resolving Ancestral Recall is empirically
correlated with winning games of Magic. Ancestral Recall is, like Gush, a strategic
objective that provides the resources and protection for the next strategic objective. This
is another reason why Ancestral is a popular tutor target in the early game, and one of
the main contributing factors to the restriction of Merchant Scroll.

Third, Ancestral’s impact on the game makes it irresistible bait. It is a spell that an
opponent will be compelled to try to stop in most cases, without consuming your
resources, and yet can be used to clear a path for a more significant and game-swinging
strategic objectives, such as Tinker. Similarly, using Ancestral Recall on the opponent’s
end step to instigate a larger counter-war, whether won or lost, can clear a path for
resolving such strategic objectives. Not only will your opponent have expended
countermagic, but they will have expended resources to deploy such countermagic as
well.

Finally, just as Ancestral’s efficiency makes it a popular tutor target, it is also a popular
recursion target. Regrowth or Snapcaster Mage targeting Ancestral Recall is one of the
strongest and most popular uses of both cards, further burying the opponent with card
advantage.

Determining whether Ancestral Recall will resolve is no longer as easy as it once was,
largely on account of the presence of Mental Misstep in the Vintage format. Prior to
Mental Misstep, it was not difficult to imagine the possible configurations of
countermagic that the opponent could apply to the stack based upon the number of
cards in hand and mana available.

Misdirection was long the most feared response to Ancestral Recall, but has all but
disappeared in recent years. Because many blue pilots include the maximum number of
Mental Misstep, a player with no available mana and only a few cards in hand may well
be able to thwart a well-protected bid for Ancestral Recall. As a consequence, the best
defense against Mental Misstep in contemporary Vintage is your own Mental Missteps.

As a general rule, Ancestral Recall should be timed not only to maximize its chances of
resolving, but also to maximize the chances for other important strategic objectives to be
accomplished. Ancestral Recall should be played when it can be protected, but it should
also be timed to allow you to resolve other spells. In some cases, this means playing
Ancestral Recall in response to an opponent breaking a fetchland or on the opponent’s
end step. In other cases, it will mean waiting until more countermagic (or proactive
disruption in the form of discard) can be drawn.

Suppose your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Mox Jet, Island, Tropical Island, Merchant Scroll, Flusterstorm, Preordain, Force of Will

The plan with a hand like this is to cast Merchant Scroll for Ancestral Recall on the first
turn, and then cast Ancestral on the second turn with Flusterstorm and Force of Will
protection. This is a sequence that, if properly leveraged in a well-designed deck, can
lead to ultimate victory.

Variations of this basic sequence can be found in many Vintage matches, with different
tutors. Consider, for example, this opening hand:

Polluted Delta, Tropical Island, Gush, Mystical Tutor, Mental Misstep, Force of Will, Preordain

With a hand like that, you will be tempted to cast Mystical Tutor on the opponent’s end
step for Ancestral, and then seek to resolve it on your turn or in the near future. You
could substitute Vampiric Tutor in the Mystical slot and the principle remains the same.
Although still a viable play, using a tutor with inherent card disadvantage to find
Ancestral Recall is less attractive than it once was because of the prevalence of Mental
Misstep.

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Ancestral Recall is the most efficient way to generate card advantage in the early game,
to develop your resources to find and set up other critical strategic objectives, and to
establish control over the game, preventing your opponent from achieving their
strategic objectives.

Fastbond

The primary purpose of Fastbond is to allow you to play multiple Gushes per turn, or
chain Gush with even more spells. As illustrated in Chapter 3, Fastbond is
fundamentally a mana accelerant. More broadly speaking, Fastbond transforms Gush’s
drawback into a fearsome advantage. Recall the GushBond trajectory in Table 3.1:

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5

Fastbond Gushes Yawgmoth’s Replay Gushes Finisher
Will

Fastbond is the first step in actuating the GushBond engine. Gush can precede
Fastbond, but Fastbond must resolve for the GushBond engine to execute. Rather than
recapitulate that discussion, I will elaborate on it in the context of strategic objectives
and address other matters related to Fastbond that have not been discussed, such as
timing and baiting with Fastbond.

As suggested by the discussion of the GushBond engine, Fastbond has a critical

relationship to other strategic objectives, especially Gush and Yawgmoth’s Will, but
Fastbond’s importance extends beyond just these spells. Fastbond can be used to
accelerate out other strategic objectives, such as Monastery Mentor or Jace.

Unlike most intermediate strategic objectives, Fastbond does not directly generate card
advantage. Fastbond indirectly facilitates card advantage by allowing you to play
additional Gushes (or other strategic objectives) when you otherwise could not. For that
reason, Fastbond can be a great bait spell when you do not have multiple Gushes or
other strategic objectives (or ways to find them) in hand. A countered Fastbond can be
replayed later during a Yawgmoth’s Will turn, or recurred with Regrowth, for example.

Given its strategic significance, it is important to understand when casting Fastbond

should be attempted, and when it should be protected. Like Ancestral Recall, Fastbond
is played at a bargain basement price, and can provide tremendous rewards. Because
Fastbond can be played on almost any turn during your main phase, the primary
consideration in deciding to play Fastbond is, much like Ancestral, maximizing its
chances for resolving, or, alternatively, use as bait for drawing out opposing counters.

In deciding whether Fastbond should be held back in order to improve chances of

resolution or use as bait, the most important consideration to evaluate is whether

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Fastbond will facilitate other cards in hand. If there are no cards in hand that can be
used with Fastbond in the immediate future, Fastbond is probably best used as bait. For
example, suppose this is your opening hand:

Island, Flooded Strand, Fastbond, Force of Will, Mana Drain, Mental Misstep, Jace, the Mind
Sculptor

This hand is loaded with countermagic, and is oriented towards a control posture.
There are no cards in hand that can be accelerated into play by Fastbond. Here,
Fastbond is an acceptable turn one play intended to draw out a counterspell, such as
Mental Misstep or even Force of Will. Playing Fastbond on the first turn will not
prevent you from playing any other counterspell or cantrip. The only drawback to
playing first turn Fastbond is that you will be required to fetch out a Tropical Island,
and expose yourself to a Wasteland. If that hand had a Gush in instead of the Mana
Drain, I would be more inclined to protect Fastbond. If Fastbond resolves, allowing you
to play another land and then cast Gush, you could potentially use Gush to cast Jace on
Turn 1 if you draw another mana source.

Suppose your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Underground Sea, Tropical Island, Fastbond, Gush, Gush, Timetwister, Force of Will

This is a clear case where you will want to use Force to protect Fastbond. Any hands
with Fastbond and two or more Gush are hands that are capable of winning the game
on the first turn, or building an insurmountable advantage.

The importance of Fastbond also makes it a serious consideration as a tutor target, and a
similar set of considerations apply. In a hand with multiple Gushes, or in the midst of a
Yawgmoth’s Will turn, Fastbond is an obvious tutor target. In a hand with just a single
Gush or no other sources of card advantage or intermediate strategic objectives,
Fastbond is probably not a worthwhile tutor target, especially for topdeck tutors.

If you have Gush and a topdeck tutor in hand, like Imperial Seal, you may be tempted
to tutor for Fastbond. In most cases, Ancestral Recall is a better choice. Playing a
topdeck tutor for Fastbond, and then Gushing into Fastbond will net + 0 card advantage
and no mana advantage. However, if you have two or more Gush in hand and a
topdeck tutor, then Fastbond is a stronger consideration. In such a situation, you may
realize that you can only play the second Gush by resolving Fastbond now. If, by
chance, you have three or more Gush in your hand, then tutoring for Fastbond is almost
certainly worthwhile. Again, a similar set of considerations for whether to protect
Fastbond apply as to whether to tutor for Fastbond.

When employing Fastbond, you should always remember the few pitfalls and dangers
associated with its usage. First of all, while you will often need to Fastbond aggressively
in order to maximize your mana capacity, you will want to bear in mind the dangers of
losing to a well-aimed Lightning Bolt or even a possible Sudden Shock. Life awareness
is critical with Fastbond, although it is easily overlooked in the excitement.

Second, you should also be prepared to consider possible spot removals spells for
Fastbond itself. While it is not likely that an opponent will bring in removal simply for
Fastbond, multiple strategies in Vintage play with Abrupt Decay in the main deck or
sideboard. When facing an Oath deck or BUG deck, you can well anticipate the
possibility that an Abrupt Decay may be heading your way at the least opportune
moment, such as mid-combo within a Yawgmoth’s Will turn. Preparing for this
possibility can help you avert disaster.

Yawgmoth’s Will

Yawgmoth’s Will is a source of overwhelming card advantage, perhaps unparalleled in

the format. The avalanche of card advantage is used to bury your opponent by
assuming complete control of the game, or to assemble combo parts with which to end
the game, in manners described in Chapter 3 and 5. The card advantage generated by
Yawgmoth’s Will allows you to deploy and protect almost any finisher or prevent your

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

opponent from achieving their own strategic objectives. For this reason, Yawgmoth’s
Will is regarded by some as the most “powerful” card in the Vintage format, and often
colloquially shortened to “Yawg Win.”

As with Fastbond, the significance of Yawgmoth’s Will, as well as many of its

operational mechanics, has been covered in Chapter 3, in the context of the operation of
the GushBond engine. Yawgmoth’s Will is arguably the most important interim
strategic objective in any Gush deck featuring it. There are few decks that abuse
Yawgmoth’s Will as ruthlessly as a Gush deck, largely on account of the GushBond
engine. Only Dark Ritual decks are as adept at generating mana advantage from
Yawgmoth’s Will. Because of its significance in the GushBond engine, any Gush deck
with Fastbond would be unlikely to omit Yawgmoth’s Will. But even in a Gush deck
without Fastbond, Yawgmoth’s Will is a strong consideration.

Although Yawgmoth’s Will serves a notably specific purpose in the context of the
GushBond engine, Yawgmoth’s Will has critical functionality beyond it, as intimated
last chapter. All of the cards replayed by Yawgmoth’s Will, especially draw spells, are
more valuable when played from the graveyard than when played from hand. As
noted, Ancestral Recall nets only 2 cards when played from hand, but nets a full 3 when
played via Yawgmoth’s Will. Yawgmoth’s Will gently increases the value of each card
in the graveyard, and allows them to be played as if from hand. Demonic Tutor actually
generates card advantage in this way, not simply card quality or virtual card advantage.
This card advantage can and should be leveraged into a commanding position.
Consider this simple sequence:

Turn 1:
Play Polluted Delta, sacrifice Delta to find Island, and cast Ancestral Recall.

Turn 2:
Play Black Lotus, and sacrifice to cast Yawgmoth’s Will. Replay Polluted Delta,
Ancestral Recall, and Black Lotus.

This sequence illustrates the value of Yawgmoth’s Will at its most fundamental level as
a source of card advantage. The use of Yawgmoth’s Will, to replay Ancestral and a
Polluted Delta, made free with Black Lotus, is a worthwhile play. This simple play nets
4 cards in terms of card advantage. Ancestral from the graveyard generates a net of 3
cards, the Black Lotus is replayed for future use, and the Polluted Delta was replayed,
replacing the Yawgmoth’s Will itself.

The strategic importance of Yawgmoth’s Will reaches beyond such elemental or

mathematical calculations. Yawgmoth’s Will’s unique production of card advantage,
inherently a mixture of direct card advantage and mana production, as well as the
diversity of cards that flow from it, from tutors to removal, makes Yawgmoth’s Will a

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

truly versatile strategic weapon. Yawgmoth’s Will’s full value lies in the way in which it
enables endgame execution of strategic finishers. This pattern is evident in the context
of the GushBond engine, but remains true outside of it as well.

In storm combo lists, Yawgmoth’s Will is a critical strategic objective to executing a

lethal Tendrils of Agony. In control lists, Yawgmoth’s Will is important to set up,
execute, and protect a Tinker or Empty the Warrens and Time Walk, or assemble the
Time Vault combo. In tempo lists, Yawgmoth’s Will helps you grow Pyromancers or
Mentors, and find and resolve Time Walk.

To accomplish these ends, there is a common pattern of plays to follow after resolving
Yawgmoth’s Will. The first step is to identify the most efficient route to victory. In some
cases, this will mean tutoring up one combo piece (such as Time Walk), when the other
is already in hand (such as Tinker). In other cases, this will mean tutoring up Fastbond
to execute steps 4 and 5 of the GushBond engine (see Chapter 3). The inherent card
advantage generated by Yawgmoth’s Will can produce many of the resources needed to
execute the remainder of the sequence, and will already be in hand, in play, or found
without needing to play a tutor. This is because you will see plenty of cards in your
library with Gush and other blue cantrips or draw spells. Use the tutors to search out
the remaining components needed to win.

Given its strategic importance, the critical question is when to play Yawgmoth’s Will.
Unlike most strategic objectives, Yawgmoth’s Will is not a card to be played at the
earliest possibility. Using Yawgmoth’s Will to extract card advantage at the earliest
opportune moment is generally inadvisable. At one extreme, this is illustrated by the
futility of a turn one Yawgmoth’s Will with an empty graveyard. Achieving the full
strategic importance of Yawgmoth’s Will requires some set up and a graveyard with a
selection of useful cards.

The value of Yawgmoth’s Will in any given game state can be forecast by measuring the
card advantage to be derived from its resolution. As a general rule of thumb, the more
cards in the graveyard, the more valuable Yawgmoth’s Will becomes. In the example
above, the Ancestral Recall, Black Lotus, and Polluted Delta were both replayed after
Yawgmoth’s Will, generating +4 card advantage for the cost of Yawgmoth’s Will. A
simple examination of your graveyard and the mana available after Yawgmoth’s Will is
usually sufficient to gauge the strength of a potential Yawgmoth’s Will.

The true cost of Yawgmoth’s Will is the opportunity cost of a later, and therefore more
card advantageous, Yawgmoth’s Will. Unlike most spells in Magic, Yawgmoth’s Will
cannot be reused because it exiles itself upon resolution. It is a precious commodity that
can only be used once.

Just as playing Yawgmoth’s Will too early minimizes its potential contribution to the

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game, waiting too long can be just as costly. Yawgmoth’s Will could be stripped from
hand, countered, or the graveyard could be removed with spells like Nihil Spellbomb,
or stripped of usefulness by Deathrite Shaman or Scavenging Ooze.

Deciding when to play Yawgmoth’s Will may well depend on your Gush deck’s
strategic orientation (see Chapter 4). Control decks demand greater patience when
timing Yawgmoth’s Will, and seek to generate a game-ending Yawgmoth’s Will with a
critical mass of resources in place. In contrast, tempo and combo decks may seek to use
Yawgmoth’s Will as soon as practicable for even modest advantage. Although Will may
only achieve its full strategic potential when assembling finishers, it need not be used
for that purpose. In tempo decks, with Young Pyromancers in play, for example, using
Yawgmoth’s Will just to replay a few spells (say, a Duress, Preordain, and a fetchland)
can be valuable enough to win the game through tempo advantage.

In timing Yawgmoth’s Will, it is better to err on the side of aggressive use to generate
card advantage. Always bear in mind the main purpose of Yawgmoth’s Will is to
generate card advantage. Yet, if circumstances suggest a larger Yawgmoth’s Will in the
offing, such that it will invariably lead to victory, circumstances may warrant patience
despite the risks such behavior entails.

Some of the best games of Vintage are defined by a jockeying back and forth to gain the
mana and card advantage to protect and resolve Yawgmoth’s Will. Any time you are
deciding whether you should play Yawgmoth’s Will, an estimation of the risks must be
conducted, not just the advantage to be gained if it were to resolve. Such risks apply to
the execution of most of the strategic objectives investigated in this chapter, but apply
with greater force to Yawgmoth’s Will because of the value in delaying its resolution.
These basic questions of timing will be investigated more fully in Chapter 9, and their
lessons apply with great force to the operational mechanics of Yawgmoth’s Will.

The only other consideration to bear in mind is the presence of other recursion in your
deck. Decks with Snapcaster Mage or Regrowth are incentivized to play Yawgmoth’s
Will more aggressively, meaning cast it in riskier, but high value situations. If
Yawgmoth’s Will resolves, it can win the game. But if it is countered, it can be recurred
with one of these effects.

Treasure Cruise

Released into Vintage in September 2014 within Khans of Tarkir, Treasure Cruise has
established itself as one of the best draw spells ever printed. Cruise’s printing, along
with its sibling, Dig Through Time, elevated and reshaped Gush decks at the same time.
They gave a boost to the power and influence of Gush decks while remaking them in
the process. Although both spells are now restricted, they remain major intermediate
strategic objectives in many Gush decks.

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Unlike Gush, Treasure Cruise is a card of brute power and

overwhelming force. Treasure Cruise is generally cast as soon
as practicable, although delays for a turn or so to improve
chances of resolution are common. For example, waiting a
turn to cast Treasure Cruise so that you can protect it with
Flusterstorm or to try to draw more countermagic is perfectly
sensible.

Although counter-intuitive, under the rules, paying ‘delve’

technically generates mana. It is this fact which not only
allows Treasure Cruise to get around Mental Misstep, but
also means that you can cast the delve spells for one mana
under a Trinisphere or other Sphere effects. This is accomplished by exiling cards in
your graveyard to pay for Sphere of Resistance and the like. Thus, there are
circumstances in which Treasure Cruise is actually superior to Ancestral Recall.

Treasure Cruise was most effectively abused by tempo-based Gush decks such as
Delver with Pyromancer up until its restriction, and it is these decks where it remains
most potent. That said, Treasure Cruise is also used in other strategies as well, such as
control decks or combo-control decks.

One of the tensions with traditional Gush strategies and Treasure Cruise is the lack of
synergy with Yawgmoth’s Will. By eating up so much of your graveyard, Yawgmoth’s
Will – and by extension the broader GushBond engine – operates at cross-purposes with
Treasure Cruise. As a result, Treasure Cruise most naturally fit into Gush strategies that
already omitted the GushBond engine – the tempo-based strategies. Since these
strategies are so powerful and popular in contemporary Vintage, it has contributed to
the marginalization of the GushBond engine more broadly.

Treasure Cruise is an incredibly important consideration for any Gush pilot, but its
inclusion entails heavy costs on the machinery of the GushBond engine. In any case,
using Treasure Cruise in a deck with Yawgmoth’s Will, Snapcaster Mage, Regrowth, or
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy demands great care when deciding which cards to remove for
delve.

Dig Through Time

In a few critical respects, Dig Through Time is actually more powerful than Treasure
Cruise, and better suited for certain Gush strategies. Dig cannot compete with Treasure
Cruise’s raw card drawing efficiency, but Dig is often better for the Control role. There
are several reasons for this.

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First, Dig Through Time is an instant, and therefore suits the control role better than
Treasure Cruise. You can play Dig Through Time at the moment that it is most likely to
resolve. For example, if you go to your end step, and your opponent sacrifices a
fetchland, momentarily taking them off of the mana needed to cast Mana Drain or Red
Elemental Blast, that may be the right time to cast Dig Through Time. Similarly, you can
cast it on your opponent’s end step or even first main phase in order to get them to tap
down on their turn, clearing the path for more spells to resolve on your turn.

Second, in general, it’s better to draw two of the top seven cards than three random
cards when playing a control role. In that role, card selection is at a premium, and
drawing two great or situationally relevant cards is better than drawing three average
cards.

Relative to Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time is a more skill intensive card. It is more
decision-intensive, both in terms of timing and card selection. For stronger players, the
nature of Dig Through Time is an advantage, but for players who seek to outdraw the
opponent will find it a poor substitute for Treasure Cruise.

Dig’s main disadvantage is that it costs another blue mana, yet that is often more than a
fair trade-off for costing one less delve, and being able to be cast at instant speed. In
addition, as with Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time imposes serious costs on the
machinery of the GushBond engine via the delve mechanic.

Tinker

The main purpose of Tinker is to deploy finishers to the

battlefield from the library. In this respect, Tinker generates
both tremendous mana advantage and virtual card
advantage. Tinker generates mana advantage by allowing
you to both find and put expensive spells into play for only
three mana and an artifact. It also generates virtual card
advantage by tutoring up the finisher, saving you the trouble
of having to find the finisher by other means (as Show and
Tell, for example, requires).

For some Gush decks, Tinker is a major interim strategic goal.

It is the primary way in which a critical finisher is deployed.
These finishers are analyzed in the last chapter. Despite this overwhelmingly important
primary function, Tinker can perform other roles as well. Tinker can be used to
summon mana acceleration, Memory Jar, or other tactical artifacts.

Tinker has value in finding select targets to address strategic threats, by tutoring up
Tormod’s Crypt, Nihil Spellbomb, Pithing Needle, or even Grafdigger’s Cage against

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graveyard based strategies. In combo strategies, Tinker is often used to find Memory Jar
(see below for more on this).

Tinker is also used to find Black Lotus or other mana acceleration immediately prior to
Yawgmoth’s Will. Suppose that your battlefield consists of Mox, Land, Land. If you
Tinker for Black Lotus, you can tap out to play Tinker and still resolve Yawgmoth’s
Will. If the Tinker resolves that may also indicate that the opponent is unable to stop
Yawgmoth’s Will, and clear the path for a successful, game-winning Yawgmoth’s Will
turn. You can replay the Mox and the Black Lotus, and hopefully a fetchland, to
generate five mana this turn, despite having tapped out to play Tinker.

While Tinker is used primarily to summon finishers, it would be a grave error to

assume that this means that Tinker must be timed for the mid- or late-game. Perhaps
the most valuable use of Tinker is on the first turn. Consider this sequence:

Turn 1:
Play a land, cast a Mox, cast another Mox, and cast Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus.

This simple sequence threatens a quick victory, giving the opponent just one turn to
find an answer at a developmental stage of the game where they are least capable of
finding such answers. While many Vintage decks have answers to Blightsteel Colossus
in this scenario (often Swords to Plowshares or Hurkyl’s Recall), few are capable of
finding it in the time allotted, especially if this play is protected or aided with
disruption. For example, if you have Force of Will, another blue spell, or a Mental
Misstep in hand, the Tinker-finisher may be impossible for the opponent to stop. This is
why this sequence is stronger in tempo based decks like most Gush decks, since they
have highly efficient forms of disruption to protect the Tinker plan.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Jace is undoubtedly one of the most potent strategic objectives in the format, and is
especially synergistic with Gush. Resolving Jace accomplishes a major strategic
objective, and undoubtedly gives its controller a significant edge in the race to victory.

One of the few planeswalkers with four abilities, all of which see use, Jace’s many
abilities provide flexibility and situational versatility over other strategic objectives, and
is one reason for its enduring popularity. As noted last chapter, Jace can be used as a
finisher, but it is far more significant as an intermediate strategic objective.

Most prominently, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is a multi-faceted source of card advantage.
Recall the description of recursive draw engines surveyed in Chapter 1, such as
Jayemdae Tome. Jace’s + 0 Brainstorm ability not only draws cards like Jayemdae Tome,
but by Brainstorming, also generates virtual card advantage in the process. Like

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Jayemdae Tome, Jace’s ability draws at least one new card every turn, but it also
generates superior card quality by allowing its controller to exchange inferior cards for
superior ones. This particular feature of Jace is important for Gush strategies.

The fact that Gush returns two lands to hand is particularly significant in the context of
Jace’s Brainstorm ability. This particular Jace ability allows the Gush pilot to exchange
the two lands returned to hand to the top of the library to keep three “fresh” cards with
Jace’s activation. In other words, Gush followed by Jace’s Brainstorm ability generates
far greater virtual card advantage than either Jace or Gush independently. This synergy
is more than the sum of its individual parts. Gush, in a sense, turns Jace’s Brainstorm
ability into something that more closely resembles Ancestral Recall. Jace is phenomenal
once you have been Gushing, and will help you consolidate your advantage into an
impenetrable defensive position.

The mana advantage generated by Gush is important to Jace in another way. Jace is
somewhat expensive for a Gush deck. The returned lands can be used to make a land
drop and generate the requisite mana to cast Jace. This basic sequence is a formula for
abusing both Gush and Jace:

Turn 1:
Play a land and Mox.

Turn 2:
Play a land.

Turn 3:
Float two mana and cast Gush. Replay a land. Cast Jace. Activate Jace’s +0 Brainstorm
ability.

Gush’s mana advantage ensures that the Gush pilot will have a third land drop to cast
Jace. In fact, that particular advantage is manifested even if Gush is countered.
Sometimes, that may even be the desired result. If the opponent counters Gush, it will
reduce the chances that they can stop Jace, and Gush will still leave you with a
superfluous land in hand to exchange with fresh cards on top of your library. If Gush
resolves, it can help you find the resources to resolve and protect Jace once it is in play.
Either way, Gush helps resolve Jace, and will power up its Brainstorm ability. Gush’s
advantages are truly evident with Jace.

Jace’s Brainstorm ability may be the most important, but it is far from the only relevant
ability. Jace’s -12 “ultimate” ability has already been noted as a strategic finisher in the
context of a control game-state. Jace’s +2 “fateseal” ability, looking at the top card of a
library, and -1 “unsummon” ability are also commonly used.

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Jace’s fateseal ability is a popular ability for reasons beyond generating card advantage.
This ability is the only way to boost Jace’s loyalty counters. This ability is important not
only for protecting Jace from potential attackers, but also from shielding Jace from
instant speed burn spells such as Lightning Bolt. For that reason, Jace’s fateseal ability is
commonly used in the first instance, with the Brainstorm ability subsequently
employed.

The fateseal ability is also used in situations in which denying an opponent a particular
resource may be more important than Brainstorming. For instance, if an opponent is
mana-flooded or mana screwed, then fatesealing them can be far more valuable than
Brainstorming. It should also always be remembered that the fateseal ability can be
used on yourself. If you return a card with Brainstorm that you do not want or need, it
may be worthwhile to fateseal yourself on your next turn before Brainstorming again.
Fatesealing is a vital way to generate virtual card advantage.

Jace’s -1 “Unsummon” ability is also quite important. While it derives primary

significance from being able to bounce a Blightsteel Colossus, clearing out a blocker or
bouncing a Young Pyromancer or an artifact creature threat are all common plays.

Deciding which play or ability is situationally best will sometimes prove difficult, and
yet decisive in terms of the game outcome. There will be instances or game states in
which all three of the top line abilities appear to be reasonable options. As a general
rule, the Brainstorm ability is the default. Drawing three cards, even if two have to go
back, is generally going to be more valuable than trying to minimize the value of an
opponent’s next draw. Bouncing a lethal attacker will always be more important than
Brainstorming, but bouncing an attacker that has designs on Jace is a closer question.

Jace’s controller may well determine that drawing three cards and redirecting an attack
and damage to Jace is more valuable than bouncing the attacker. Jace’s controller
should never forget the value of essentially redirecting a creature’s attention, even for a
turn. This can allow the Jace pilot to dig more deeply for answers or other strategic
objectives. Buying time while drawing more cards has value. On the other hand, if the
pilot has countermagic in hand or a density of counterspells, then bouncing the
creature, with plans to Mana Drain it, for example, may be the better play. Deciding
which Jace ability to use will often require careful evaluation of the situation and the
merits of each, as well as great judgment and insight.

Fatesealing, surprisingly, is often the best initial activation, since it provides enough
loyalty to survive a Lightning Bolt hit and a little buffer against possible attacks later on.
Although covered last chapter, it should be noted that the ultimate ability is a potential
finisher whose value varies from matchup to matchup. But in those scenarios where the
ultimate ability is an important path to victory, fatesealing is clearly a priority.

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While deciding which ability to use may be the most difficult aspect of manipulating
Jace, deciding whether to play it and when to cast it are not always easy issues either.
Jace is such a significant strategic objective that it is worth playing at a time when it can
resolve and take over a game. Also, deciding whether to play a Jace when you already
have one in play is difficult, and also complicates the matter of which Jace abilities to
use in both instances. Again, careful analysis is necessary to help evaluate your options
and weigh their relative merits.

At four mana, Jace is often at the top of the curve for spells in a Gush deck. Playing with
Jace will require mana accelerants, and demand the inclusion of more accelerants than
normally used in typical Gush decks. Cards like Mana Crypt and Sol Ring are
particularly attractive with Jace because they help accelerate out Jace more quickly than
relying on Moxen and land drops alone. As a consequence, Jace compels the design of a
larger mana base than is traditionally found in tempo or aggro-control decks. This is the
reason that Jace is often absent from the tempo-oriented aggro-control Gush decks.

Tempo-oriented Gush decks typically do not use off-color Moxen or colorless

acceleration. Minimizing your mana base maximizes the virtual card advantage by
topdecking fewer mana sources. And since tempo decks have a high density of one
mana spells, off-color or colorless mana sources have less value. The Jace sequence
illustrated above only works if you also drew an artifact accelerant, otherwise having
Jace in hand will delay your Gush play a turn, and slow your deck down.

There are few unrestricted spells in Vintage that are as powerful a draw engine as Jace.
Jace is a single card draw engine that is perhaps most valuable for setting up and
executing notably potent strategic objectives such as the Time Vault combo, Fastbond,
Tinker, Yawgmoth’s Will, or other strategic objectives. After “Jace-storming” for a few
turns, you will draw one of these cards or a tutor or other draw spells to find them. For
that reason, Jace is a versatile option since he complements the other strategies well.

Dack Fayden

Printed in the unique specialty set Conspiracy in May 2014, Dack Fayden has quickly
become the most popular planeswalker employed in Gush strategies. Unlike Jace,
Dack’s mana cost is within normal bounds of any UR Gush strategy, and does not
require additional mana acceleration to play. Dack Fayden is a major strategic objective,
whose relevance depends heavily on the matchup.

At first blush, Dack Fayden appears to be primarily an anti-artifact tactic, like Trygon
Predator. After all, Dack Fayden can be used to conscript cards like Lodestone Golem
onto your side of the table. He can steal a Smokestack, a Mox, or a freshly played
Forgemaster with equal aplomb. Like Trygon Predator, Dack Fayden can be played pre-

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emptively, and need not rely on your capacity to resolve a three mana spell once the
board has filled with Spheres.

It should be noted that, like Trygon Predator, Dack Fayden’s

capacity to steal artifacts is useful against non-Workshop
strategies as well. Whereas a Trygon Predator may be used to
break up the Time Vault combo or diminish the opponent’s
artifact mana supply, Dack Fayden can do that more
effectively in some cases.

You need not wait an entire turn to activate Dack, and Dack’s
capacity to put Time Vault or Voltaic Key on your side of the
battlefield is sometimes superior to putting either of them into
your opponent’s graveyard. Likewise, instead of destroying
an opponent’s mana supply, Dack allows you to use those
artifacts in future turns, expanding your range of resources turn over turn. It should be
noted that taking a Sol Ring or a Mox Sapphire also marginally improves the value of
main deck spells like Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm. Most importantly, Dack Fayden
provides another main deck answer to Blightsteel Colossus.

Experience has demonstrated, however, that Dack Fayden’s broader strength has been
less in his capacity to steal artifacts than drawing cards and generating virtual card
advantage. While stealing artifacts makes Dack Fayden a game-winning threat in the
Workshop matchup, his capacity to filter through the library is what makes him so
valuable in most other matchups.

Dack Fayden’s filtering ability allows the Gush pilot to maximize the value of every
card in hand for situational utility and overall power level. Inferior cards are exchanged
for more valuable answers or threats. In decks flush with conditional growing spells,
Dack Fayden can help you find a card that is capable of “growing” your tempo
finishers.

With the printing of delve draw spells, Dack Fayden’s stock saw a dramatic rise. Dack is
used to power up and fuel Treasure Cruise by quickly filling up your graveyard. Doing
so also helps you chain Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, as a delve spell or
Gush, followed by Dack Fayden’s +1 ability, gets you much closer to the next major
draw spell, not just playing it.

Perhaps most importantly, however, there is an inherent synergy between Gush and
Dack Fayden. Dack Fayden is naturally played the turn Gush is used (turn 3 or 4), and
with the lands returned to hand, surplus land can be discarded with Dack. This is not
quite as powerful as Jace preceded by Gush, but it’s quite powerful nonetheless.

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As the game progresses, Gush decks rely on very few lands, and all of the superfluous
lands can be deposited or exchanged for business spells with Dack Fayden.
Interestingly, this makes Dack’s artifact stealing ability more valuable, as you can
simultaneously dispose your mana base with Dack while expanding it by stealing your
opponents.

As attractive as stealing an artifact is, you must use his -2 ability with some caution, as it
may preclude you from stealing an artifact that needs to be addressed the following
turn. For example, stealing a Mox the turn it comes into play, when the opponent
Tinkers for Colossus or plays a Kuldotha Forgemaster the next turn, can be a fatal error.

Dack Fayden will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 10, on sideboarding, in

connection with Workshop strategies.

Time Vault + Voltaic Key

Assembling the Time Vault and Voltaic Key combination is a

major strategic objective for many Vintage decks, and a
serious consideration for Gush decks as well. Time Vault plus
Voltaic Key is the most efficient two card game-winning
combinations in the format, if not the game of Magic. Once
assembled, Time Vault and Voltaic Key generate virtually
unlimited tempo, mana, and card advantage, while denying
your opponent access to any more draw, attack, or untap
steps. As long as Time Vault is activated continuously, the
opponent must compete for the rest of the game with the
cards in hand and mana available.

Activating Time Vault with Voltaic unleashes a nuclear fusion reaction on your
opponent’s game plan, but such power has a price. Each half of the combo is of little
value individually. Without a way to activate it, Time Vault’s contributions to any game
state are miniscule, such as serving as a sacrificial artifact to Tinker or boosting your
mana supply with Tolarian Academy. Since Gush decks only occasionally feature
Tinker, and Tolarian Academy even less, these uses account for little in Time Vault’s
ledger.

There are, however, a few corner cases in which Time Vault can make a meaningful
contribution to your game. Time Vault’s capacity to store a turn for later usage can be
leveraged into a situational strategic advantage. By skipping a turn, Time Vault can
exchange tempo advantage for mana advantage. This mana advantage may be
leveraged into achieving a strategic objective. To understand this idea, consider the
following example.

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Suppose you resolved a first turn Time Vault against a generic control pilot, with Dack
Fayden and Tinker in hand. If you skip your next turn, you will likely be able to take
two turns in a row. On your next turn, you can cast Dack Fayden. If Dack Fayden
resolves, you can activate Time Vault to take another turn, which will allow you to
benefit from another activation of Dack Fayden. If, on the other hand, your opponent
manages to prevent Dack Fayden from resolving, you will have improved the chances
of resolving Tinker on your next turn, provided by the additional turn from Time Vault.
Your opponent’s resources, including mana and cards in hand, will likely have been
expended in the effort to stop Dack Fayden, creating a window of opportunity for
Tinker to win the game.

In this manner, Time Vault allows you to sequence threats or other strategic objectives
in a manner that can overwhelm the opponent’s immediate resources at the cost of
some tempo. The risks of this play, however, vary. Skipping a turn against a fast combo
deck or a deck with a tempo advantage may be too great. You would not wish to skip a
turn if there is a chance your opponent might win the game on their next turn. Given
how fast and unpredictable Vintage games can be, skipping a turn entails real dangers.
Assessing when to use Time Vault in this manner requires experience and good
judgment.

Considerations to bear in mind are the flow of the game and possible surprise value.
The advantage gained from using Time Vault in this manner can be maximized if the
opponent is caught off guard. If you decide to skip a turn and untap Time Vault, there
is no opportunity for an opponent to use any unspent mana from their turn. There are
many situations in which an opponent is mentally preparing to play spells on your
turn, such as a draw spell in your upkeep or a topdeck tutor on your end step. By
activating Time Vault to skip a turn, you will have done more than disrupt your
opponent’s game plan, possibly inducing miscues or other unforced errors, you have
objectively undermined their mana utilization.

Another potent corner case use for Time Vault is the advantage that can be gained
against symmetrical lock components, such as Smokestack and Tangle Wire. Time Vault
can be used to minimize the impact of these spells on your board, and maximize the
pain for your opponent’s. Consider the following example to illustrate this idea.

Suppose you resolve a first turn Time Vault off of a Mox and a basic Island. Suppose,
further, that your opponent plays a first turn Tangle Wire of a Mishra’s Workshop. If
you activate Time Vault to skip a turn, your opponent will untap, and Tangle Wire will
fade to 3 counters, while forcing them to tap down all of their permanents. Not only
have you diminished the impact of Tangle Wire on your board in future turns, but you
have effectively exchanged a turn in which you would have had to tap down all of your
permanents for a possible turn in which you have more resources to play with.

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On your next turn, you can activate Time Vault to take another turn with Tangle Wire
on the stack. Although you must tap the Mox and the Island to the Tangle Wire, you
can play another land, and cast a spell and possibly play another permanent. If you play
another Mox, for example, then you will have a free mana source on your Time Vault
turn to play more spells, since you will only have to tap three of your four untapped
permanents. You might seek an even greater advantage by waiting another turn before
activating Time Vault, so that your opponent’s Tangle Wire has even fewer counters.

This example illustrates the function of Time Vault against Tangle Wire, but this
scenario has an infinite number of imaginable permutations. Whether it is the early
game or the late game, or your opponent has a single Tangle Wire or many, Time Vault
can be used to make it slightly less symmetrical. You can use Time Vault in a similar
manner to disrupt an opponent’s Smokestack calculations.

This is most obvious when an opponent is ramping up a Smokestack aggressively in

order to wipe your board. If your opponent has multiple soot counters on Smokestack,
and you activate Time Vault to skip a turn, they may be unexpectedly forced to sacrifice
the Smokestack on their next upkeep without having achieved their objective of wiping
your board. As a result, you will not only avoid having to sacrifice any permanent to
Smokestack, but will be able to take an additional turn free from Smokestack’s
interference. In this scenario, Time Vault performs an invaluable service, preserving
your entire board.

Although Time Vault’s value is marginal until a way to activate it can be found,
Voltaic Key has slightly more value as an independent tactic. First and foremost, Voltaic
Key can be used as an indirect mana booster with cards like Sol Ring or Mana Crypt, or
can be used to turn one form of mana into a more useful element, such as using a Sol
Ring to untap an on-color Mox, turning a colorless mana source into a more
situationally valuable resource. This can have meaningful surprise value when
untapping a Mox Sapphire, for example, to cast Flusterstorm or Spell Pierce.

Voltaic Key can also be used to generate card advantage with Sensei’s Divining Top,
drawing an additional card per turn for the price of two mana. The Key can be used to
untap the Top in response to a Top activation, drawing the Top and the card drawn
with Top. As with Tinker and Tolarian Academy, however, Gush decks are less likely
than other blue decks to use the cards that offer secondary uses for Voltaic Key or Time
Vault. Nonetheless, Sensei’s Divining Top sees play in a range of Gush decks, from
Mentor to Doomsday.

While the combo has incalculable value when assembled, the miniscule independent
value of each combo part entails a high opportunity cost in deck design. In an opening
hand, early or mid-game draw, each individual combo part will have very minimal
value. Consider this opening hand:

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Polluted Delta, Mox Sapphire, Volcanic Island, Ponder, Force of Will, Gush, Time Vault

What is the value of Time Vault here? It makes each of your tutors more dangerous, but
the opportunity cost of the Time Vault here is great. Consider alternative cards that
might be played in that slot. For example, would you rather have a Young Pyromancer
in this hand or the Time Vault?

Of course, there are many factors that would have to be considered, including the
metagame and likely opponent. Although we cannot know with certainty, a strong case
can be made that Pyromancer has more value in this hand. It’s plausible that, on
average, the Pyromancer would win the game before the Time Vault combo could be
assembled.

What is more certain is that any Gush deck with the Time Vault and Voltaic Key combo
would be designed to support it and provide maximum synergies. Gush decks with the
Time Vault combo are more likely to include Tinker and a Tinker finisher because
Tinker is another tutor for either part of the Time Vault combo. Any Gush strategy with
the Time Vault combo is also likely to have Dack Fayden and/or Jace, the Mind
Sculptor, to help assemble the combo more quickly by drawing upon their search
capacity.

Another consideration in deciding whether to include Time Vault combo is what your
metagame consists of. The Time Vault combo is more compact than a team of tempo
finishers, and may be more suitable for combo heavier environments, by freeing up
space for more disruption and countermagic. At the same time, the Time Vault combo
can be assembled more quickly than a tempo attack can be successfully mounted
against decks with great speed but less disruption than the average blue deck.

Time Vault is popular because it is an efficient combo of explosive power, but it is not
always an optimal strategic objective. Time Vault is best used in decks with a longer

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

time horizon, a density of tutors, and few, if any, tempo threats. Tutors, planeswalkers,
and Tinker increase the value of Time Vault and make Time Vault combo a faster threat.
Tempo plays diminish the value of Time Vault by increasing the opportunity cost of
Time Vault and Voltaic Key in those slots, where another card may have greater overall
value. For these reasons, Time Vault is best played in control and combo-control
oriented Gush decks. These decks minimize the opportunity cost and maximize the
Time Vault combo’s strategic value.

Doomsday

Doomsday is a complex multi-card tutor which provides near immediate access to all
the tools (mana, storm, and win conditions) to win the game. It is a source of nearly
perfect virtual card advantage, stacking your library by selecting the few cards
necessary for victory, and ordering them in a situationally ideal sequence.

Doomsday is a specialized, but enormously powerful,

strategic objective available for Gush decks. The quantity of
possible Doomsday stack permutations, potential risks, and
relevant situational considerations makes Doomsday one of
the most skill intensive cards ever printed in Magic. Selecting
five cards from your library, while exiling the rest, imposes a
steep penalty for failing to select the right cards or place them
in the proper order. The loss of life magnifies the risks of a
minor miscalculation. But the virtual card advantage of
reordering your library to your immediate specifications is
regarded a fulsome tradeoff. For this reason, Doomsday is
attractive to those who are comfortable grappling not only
with the complexity, but those that thrive on it.

A five card library gives the Doomsday pilot enough space to build in a win condition,
protection, draw, and contingency plans, as well as situational answers to known or
anticipated tactics. Knowing what to select requires not just knowledge and deep
understanding of your own strategic objectives, but also anticipating what the opponent
might do, and building in answers to address it. Failing to correctly guess a potential
counter-tactic can result in a game loss.

Gush has many synergies with Doomsday, which is why they are so often found
together. First, Gush can be used to draw the first two cards off of the reconstructed
library or “Doomsday pile” for no mana cost. Second, Gush can be placed into a
Doomsday-organized library and used to draw two cards remaining in that library for
no mana cost. For example, Gush can be placed in the top position, and used, from
there, to draw the second and third cards in the Doomsday library. Third, Gush can be
used to empty the library and to trigger Laboratory Maniac’s victory condition of

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drawing a card from an empty library. Finally, Gush can be used to generate the mana
to cast Doomsday with just two Underground Seas, and therefore two black mana,
available. For example, on turn three, with two Underground Seas in play, Gush can be
played to return one of them to hand (after floating BB) to generate an additional land
drop to cast Doomsday.

If Gush is in hand when resolving Doomsday, this pile can be used to win immediately:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Lotus Petal
3) Black Lotus
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Yawgmoth’s Will (or Gitaxian Probe)
||Library Bottom||

Gush can draw Ancestral and the Petal to play it, drawing the remaining cards. From
there, you can either play the Maniac and Probe to win the game, or Yawgmoth’s Will
to replay the Loti, Maniac, and then Ancestral to win the game.

In a hand without Gush, Gush can still be used to win the game post-Doomsday with
this library:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Gush
3) Black Lotus
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Yawgmoth’s Will
||Library Bottom||

If the Ancestral Recall is countered, then you can use Gush to draw more cards. If
Ancestral resolves, then you can play Maniac, and cast Gush to trigger the Maniac.
Gush can also be used for aggressive protection in libraries such as this one (provided
you have the mana):

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Gush
3) Flusterstorm
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Flusterstorm
||Library Bottom||

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This kind of hand is used in later Doomsdays with plenty of mana available. The first
Gush draws Gush and countermagic protection. The second Gush draws the Maniac
and additional protection, allowing you to cast the Maniac with the mana drawn from
Gush. With another cantrip, you can win the game.

Doomsday is an enormously powerful strategic option for Gush players. Yet, it is one
with notable vulnerabilities that requires meticulous planning and expert knowledge.
The variable options for constructing libraries with Doomsday is capacious and beyond
the scope of this description of Doomsday as a strategic objective. These important
topics are reserved for deeper inquiry in the Appendix to this book, which explores the
range of pre-planned Doomsday and a variety of principles to bear in mind.

The key to winning with Doomsday is anticipating threats, and building in contingency
plans. Beyond the complexities of constructing or planning Doomsday libraries and
post-Doomsday scenarios, the other key to winning with Doomsday is knowing when
to cast Doomsday.

The basic approach I developed Doomsday with Maniac in late 2011 (See Chapter 11)
remains the foundation for contemporary Doomsday decks in Vintage. Despite a
common set of principles and considerations, there remain a wide range of approaches
with Doomsday in Gush decks, although most share the Maniac and Tendrils finishers.
Some pilots prefer a more aggressive version, and play with Dark Rituals in varying
complements from 1-4, even omitting Fastbond entirely. Other pilots, like myself, prefer
a more controlling version that minimizes the number of Dark Rituals and maximizes
the disruptive control suite. This is a topic that is discussed further in Chapter 12.

Mystic Remora

Mystic Remora is a conditional draw engine and source of

card advantage that is sometimes employed by Gush decks
with great effect. Remora offers a unique set of features and
synergies that can fuel a range of Gush strategies, but is most
often found in the more controlling spectrum of Gush decks.
In these strategies, Remora is a major intermediate strategic
objective.

Since Vintage decks naturally play more spells per turn than
perhaps decks in any other format, Mystic Remora’s potential
for generating card advantage is enormous. Not only do
Vintage decks play more spells per turn, but the format is
largely defined restricted and highly efficient mana acceleration, free or low-cost
countermagic, draw spells, and tutors, all of which trigger Remora. Every Mox and
cantrip will trigger Remora. As a consequence, Mystic Remora will likely trigger against

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almost any deck in the format, and is therefore a useful draw engine in almost any
Vintage environment.

Mystic Remora is a special consideration for Gush decks because of the specific synergy
between Gush and Mystic Remora. Remora does many things a Gush deck wants: it
slows the game down, generates card advantage, provides a solid and reliable first turn
play, protects Gush and shields other threats, since opponents will be less interested in
countering your spells with Remora in play.

The most common effect of resolving Remora is that opponents will try to avoid
triggering it, which disrupts their game plan directly. By not playing their Moxen or
other cantrips, the opponent will decelerate their game plan in an attempt to wait out
the Remora or build to four mana so that they can play a Mox without drawing you
cards (by paying four mana they can negate the draw trigger). By waiting to play these
spells, the burden shifts to Remora’s controller to either pay to keep it around or invest
resources into its upkeep that make it harder to combat the opponent’s strategic
objectives.

In most game states, opponents will play a spell into your Remora at least once, making
it card neutral (replacing itself). If they don’t, they will be discarding cards unless they
can make sequential land drops. Either way, the advantage is yours. The opponent is
not making the developmental plays they need, and you are free to do whatever you
want. By slowing the game down, the opponent plays into the Gush pilot’s game plan.

Recall that Gush is not a play that should be attempted until turn three. This natural
dynamic meshes well with the upkeep costs on Remora. A Turn 1 Remora supports the
eventual play of Turn 3 Gush, illustrated here:

Turn 1:
Play a land and cast Mystic Remora.

Turn 2:
Pay for Remora. Play a land.

Turn 3:
Pay for Remora. Cast Gush, and then replay a land.

At this point, if your opponent has played any non-creature spell in the preceding two
turns, Remora has paid for itself. Gush allows you to replay lands even after they’ve
been tapped to pay for Remora, while Remora provides insurance for the Gush against
the opponent’s countermagic. At the same time, the Remora has dissuaded the
opponent from developing their board and advancing their game plan until the point at
which Gush can be played to generate card and mana advantage.

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Mystic Remora also serves other important functions. Remora also creates unique space
for setting up the GushBond engine and protects other key strategic objectives. Observe
this sequence, for example:

Turn 1:
Play Land, Mystic Remora.

Turn 2:
Pay for Mystic Remora. Play Land, and cast Imperial Seal for Fastbond.

Turn 3:
Pay for Mystic Remora. Draw Fastbond for the turn, and then cast Gush. Cast Fastbond.
Replay your other land.

What is your opponent to do? If they fight over your Gush or Fastbond, they will be
drawing you cards, and walking into a battlefield of your choice. Should they engage in
a lengthy battle, it will be particularly brutal for them, as your free countermagic will
come online. If they choose to fight over any of those spells, there is a good chance you
can just combo out with GushBond that turn. If they don’t, you are making plays
undisrupted, strengthening your overall hand, and building a long term advantage.

The Turn 2 play illustrated in the example above could be Ancestral Recall, Monastery
Mentor, Tinker, or any number of powerful and efficient plays that warrant a typical or
necessary response. The principle is the same: Remora does an excellent job of shielding
your threats by either dissuading the opponent from attempting to stop them or by
helping generate resources to protect them if such an attempt is made. Note that the
printed card and Oracle text are different; while Remora previously required the
opponent’s spell to resolve, it now needs an opponent to merely cast a spell, which
gives you an opportunity to draw a counterspell with their spell on the stack.

Although Mystic Remora will find value in almost any Vintage environment, it shines
most brightly in environments with maximal amounts of Mental Missteps, Spell Pierces,
Flusterstorms, and other cheap and efficient countermagic. Remora is most strategically
valuable against combo strategies and other Gush decks. Since Gush decks are
constructed on smaller mana bases, they are compelled to play spells in order to make
land drops, feeding Remora in the process. Gush decks also tend to play more free
spells in order to cast more spells per turn, also playing into the Remora plan.

Remora is weakest against Oath, Landstill, or heavy creature decks. This is because
Oath and Landstill decks do not need to resolve many spells to achieve their major
strategic objectives. Creature strategies are also problematic for Remora pilots because
Remora contains an exemption for creature spells.

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Although Remora has been available in the Type I/Vintage format since the mid-1990s,
it is only in this decade that Remora has emerged as a Vintage tactic. For that reason,
Remora is conspicuously absent from Gush decks in earlier periods. Had it been
rediscovered in that time, it may well have shaken up the format. With Brainstorm,
Ponder, and Merchant Scroll unrestricted, Gush decks of that era were fast and brutal.
They could accelerate out the GushBond engine with amazing speed and consistency
because of the presence of so many available solid cantrips. Mystic Remora would not
have only proved an incredible answer to those Gush decks, but a brilliant tactic in
Gush mirror matches.

The GushBond player must resolve many spells as it chains cantrips and Gushes.
Mystic Remora could draw a dozen cards against a Gush player in single turn in those
days. Even on a dull turn, multiple cantrips were being played. Remora would have
been an effective answer.

Gush decks today are less focused on the GushBond engine, and feature more tempo
finishers, making Remora useful, but not quite as effective as it would have been in
2008. If you play Mystic Remora, you will usually want a healthy complement of
artifact acceleration to pay for its upkeep. Remora is even better if you have Repeals
because you can use Repeal to bounce Remora during your upkeep, and then recast
Remora to effectively “reset” it when the cumulative upkeep becomes prohibitive.

Remora is also good against more controlling Workshop variants, which attempt to
play as many lock components as they can every turn. Remora will generate resources
on your behalf so that you may avoid being locked out and keep their larger threats off
the table. Since Remora is a permanent, it is unaffected by Sphere effects, and will draw
you cards as long as you can afford to keep it in play.

Dark Confidant

Dark Confidant is primarily a draw engine, and a source of

card advantage. Dark Confidant embodies the recursive,
iterative form of card advantage covered in Chapter 1.
Confidant is remarkably efficient, and can be played, like a
tempo threat, on the first turn, while also attacking for a non-
trivial amount of damage per turn. Dark Confidant can also
be used on defense, like tempo threats, to protect Jace and
other planeswalkers from attack.

Once one of the most popular spells in Vintage, Dark

Confidant sees modest play in the contemporary format, and
even less play in Gush decks. Dark Confidant is inherently
strong against slower control decks and Workshop strategies. Against control decks, it

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

can be slipped into play on the first turn, before an opponent can mount effective
resistance, and its gradual card advantage will eventually overwhelm the most skilled
opponent. Cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor can eventually be used to mitigate any
potential loss of life by manipulating the top of your library so that each flip is as
painless as possible.

Dark Confidant is an excellent source of card advantage and board stability against
Workshop decks, especially those with Thorn of Amethyst. Since Dark Confidant is
unaffected by Thorn, Dark Confidant can serve the vital function of helping the Gush
player generate card advantage under Thorns, something Gush is much less effective at
doing. For example, Dark Confidant helps you find more land to break out of the soft
lock, and is a highly efficient play. So long as Thorn is such a popular Sphere effect,
Dark Confidant and cards like Trygon Predator will continue to be valuable tactics.

One of the primary purposes of Dark Confidant is to improve your mana base under
challenging conditions by generating recurring, incremental card advantage. Thus,
every time Confidant flips a Mox or a land under Sphere effects, you are one step closer
to breaking the soft lock of the Workshop player. Even under normal circumstances, the
card advantage is often just used to generate additional land drops.

The problem, however, is that Dark Confidant is weak to many of the best strategies in
Vintage, including Oath, Gush-based tempo decks, and Workshop Aggro. These
strategies either capitalize on the loss of life to place the Dark Confidant controller in a
perilous position, or exploit the fact that he is a creature for even greater advantage.

Dark Confidant fares poorly across from the horizontally growing tempo finishers,
since he can neither attack for damage nor block without killing himself. Although Dark
Confidant is a potent source of card advantage, the loss of life and prevalence of spot
removal such as Swords to Plowshares and Lightning Bolt render him even less reliable.
These factors all help explain why Dark Confidant has waned in recent years, but there
are additional factors that explain why it sees even less play in Gush decks.

Because Gush decks tend to have at least 8 five-casting cost spells (4 Gush and 4 Force
of Will), few Gush pilots have the courage to employ Dark Confidant as a strategic
objective. Most Gush players dismissed this idea as potentially too painful when
flipping Gush to Dark Confidant. Recognizing this prejudice, I sought to exploit it by
designing the best possible Dark Confidant-based Gush deck for the 2011 Vintage
Championship.

Initially, I included cards designed to mitigate the risks of flipping high casting cost
spells and removed Tinker, since Tinker-finishers often make another painful flip. I
included a critical mass of library manipulation to control Confidant triggers. In
particular, I tested 4 Preordains and 2 Sensei’s Divining Tops. Preordain and Top allow

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

the pilot to manipulate the top of the library before each Confidant trigger, reducing the
risk of high flips. The critical mass of Tops and Preordains means that roughly half of
your Confidant flips, or more, will be controlled flips. I tested and tuned the deck until I
had discovered the threshold level of library manipulation spells needed to achieve this
goal. After testing, I realized that extreme measures were unnecessary. The amount of
damage over the course of a normal game was not much greater than in non-Gush
decks. I ran this deck to a 3rd place finish in the 2011 Vintage Championship:

Confidant Gush, 3rd Place 2011 Vintage Championship

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Emerald 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Mox Jet 2 Ingot Chewer
4 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Sensei’s Divining Top 1 Mox Ruby 2 Lightning Bolt
4 Preordain 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mountain
1 Ponder 1 Flooded Strand 2 Pyroblast
1 Brainstorm 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Polluted Delta 1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Time Walk 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Mystical Tutor 2 Tropical Island
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Underground Sea
1 Demonic Tutor 1 Volcanic Island
1 Merchant Scroll 1 Island
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Dark Confidant
3 Trygon Predator
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

For my tournament report, please see the Appendix. Dark Confidant was not only a
source of card advantage, allowing me to combo out quickly, but I also featured a
critical mass of other creatures that could race my opponents. I won many games by
attacking with two or three creatures per turn in a tempo-game, reminiscent of Grow
decks.

Dark Confidant is not without weaknesses, and is not an automatic inclusion in any
Gush deck. Beyond the obvious life-management risks, Dark Confidant may
underperform in key situations, especially after turn one or turn two. Dark Confidant
does nothing for a full turn after it comes into play, and only then does it break even in

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

terms of card advantage. Dark Confidant is like Smokestack or Sylvan Library in that
respect; it does nothing immediately, but if the game goes long, it takes over. For that
reason, an early Dark Confidant is an amazing play. But a turn three Dark Confidant, or
later, exposes the pilot to potentially devastating counterplays. When drawing a mid-
game Dark Confidant, the Gush pilot will have to decide whether the risks of playing
Dark Confidant are worth the rewards. Playing Dark Confidant will generate card
advantage in subsequent turns, but the opportunity cost is high.

The Vintage metagame constantly churns and cycles, but it is not likely that Dark
Confidant will ever reach the level of a preeminence he once enjoyed. Nonetheless, he
remains a persistent element in the format, and appears from time to time in Gush
strategies, including Esper Mentor. The presence of superior tempo threats in recent
years also renders Dark Confidant a high opportunity cost supplement within Gush
decks. Nonetheless, Dark Confidant remains a strategic consideration for any Gush
pilot.

Timetwister

Timetwister is an antique strategic objective, yet manifestly

contemporary insofar as it generates storm and card
advantage for the Gush pilot. Ever since the printing of storm
finishers, Gush pilots have used Timetwister for these
purposes.

Timetwister appears even where other storm-related strategic

objectives are absent for a simple reason: it is highly
synergistic with the GushBond engine. Necropotence is at
odds with Fastbond by requiring life, and Memory Jar’s
casting cost is too ambitious for the average Gush deck.
Timetwister’s efficient 2U mana cost makes it an easy play
and enormous boost with the GushBond engine.

Whether Fastbond is found before playing it or after it resolves, Timetwister is a great

way to jumpstart the entire GushBond engine, and often gives you mana as well as card
draw to continue to combo out. This is why Timetwister has life even where other storm
strategic objectives are not present.

The rules of thumb for playing Timetwister are simple but difficult to apply. The best
time to play Timetwister is your first turn, and this is especially so if you are on the
play. A first turn Timetwister is effectively a forced mulligan for your opponent. Any
subsequent Timetwister entails risks.

Timetwister should generally be timed to maximize your chances for winning the game

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immediately after it resolves. The worst case scenario is giving your opponent a better
hand than you draw. Never throw away a great hand with Timetwister, but if you are
confident they have counterspells, Timetwister can serve as threatening bait. In that
respect, Timetwister can also be used to draw out countermagic.

Because it is symmetrical, you do not want to give your opponent an opportunity to

gain an advantage over you. The best way to do that is to deny them another turn by
setting up a combo finish. This is also why Timetwister generally only appears in Gush
decks that are capable of winning the turn it resolves.

If both players are in a topdeck mode, with neither player having a clear advantage, this
is also another possible time to play Timetwister. Another consideration is whether
your opponent has a clear advantage in the present game, for which Timetwister can
help create parity, despite giving them a new hand. Such a “hail Mary” Timetwister is
also understandable.

Necropotence

Necropotence is one of the greatest draw engines ever

printed. It is an unparalleled siphon, channeling life directly
into cards. As a card advantage spell, it’s arguably the most
efficient ever printed, provided roughly 6 cards for each mana
investment, a ratio more than twice as efficient as Ancestral
Recall.

If Necropotence resolves, you should have little difficulty

executing nearly any other strategic objective. Once it
resolves, you can draw anywhere between five to thirteen
cards on average to refill and sculpt your hand, all in the
hopes of winning either the following turn or the turn after
that.

As powerful as Necropotence is, it is not always the best fit in Gush strategies. In the
first place, it is not an ideal strategic objective for Gush decks that require multiple turns
to win the game. You’ll probably never see Necropotence in tempo strategies.

More importantly, Necropotence requires dedicated mana support to play. In general,

Necropotence can only be included if you include either Dark Ritual or Lotus Cobra.
Conversely, if you include either one of these cards Necropotence is a presumptive
inclusion. For example, consider my Cobra Gush deck from 2011:

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Cobra Gush, 1st Place Sandusky 09-03-2011

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

1 Pyroblast 1 Mox Emerald 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Mox Jet 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Mox Ruby 1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Rebuild 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mana Crypt 1 Lightning Bolt
1 Time Walk 3 Scalding Tarn 1 Fire/Ice
1 Brainstorm 2 Polluted Delta 2 Trygon Predator
1 Ponder 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Ingot Chewer
4 Preordain 2 Flooded Strand 1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Gush 2 Underground Sea 1 Pyroblast
1 Necropotence 2 Tropical Island
1 Timetwister 1 Volcanic Island
2 Jace, the Mind 1 Island
Sculptor
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Lotus Cobra
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Casting Necropotence is easy with Lotus Cobra. Consider this sequence:

Turn 1:
Play Tropical Island, Mox, and Lotus Cobra.

Turn 2:
Play Polluted Delta (generating B with Lotus Cobra), and sacrifice Delta to find
Underground Sea (generating another B with Lotus Cobra). Then tap Underground Sea
and use the BB in mana pool to cast Necropotence.

From this position, Necropotence can be used to reload your hand turn after turn until a
dominating control over the game or a simple combo, such as Time Vault and Voltaic

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Key, can be assembled. Like Doomsday, Necropotence is a skill intensive card.

Manipulating Necropotence effectively requires a number of simultaneous calculations
involving numerous factors. You have to decide how many cards to draw with Necro,
how much life you can afford to pay, and which cards you wish to keep and which you
wish to remove from game. You also have to construct a contingency plan in case your
primary plan is thwarted. Consider the following real life examples to illustrate these
issues.

Suppose you played turn one Dark Ritual, Necropotence, and your opponent attempted
to counter it with Force of Will, and you responded with Force of your own. Then, you
paid nine life (going to ten) to set aside nine cards, after which you had the following
cards in hand:

Duress, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Time Walk, Dark Ritual, Polluted Delta, Mox Jet, Brainstorm,
Hurkyl’s Recall, Gush, Yawgmoth’s Will, Merchant Scroll

Since you must discard down to seven cards, recognizing that Necropotence’s discard
trigger will exile those four discarded cards, which cards should you keep and which
should you pitch? The cards you will keep will obviously depend upon the matchup, so
assume you are playing against a blue based control deck. Take a moment to check off
the seven cards you’d keep.

The complexity of scenario arises from the fact that each decision affects your remaining
choices. It would be simplest to eliminate cards until you have whittled your hand
down to seven. That is not a good method for using Necropotence and will only resolve
a fraction of your decisions. For example, we can eliminate Yawgmoth’s Bargain, since
it’s almost entirely superfluous with Necropotence in play. Your choices will depend on
other choices, and cannot be made in isolation. Deciding what to throw away requires
some reference to available options.

The better way to decide what to keep is to identify a plan while leaving your options
open as much as possible. The most obvious plan for this hand is to use Time Walk to
generate further card and board advantage. I have described the overwhelming
strategic importance of Yawgmoth’s Will, and it is the card that stands out most in this
hand. However, it doesn’t appear that you have the immediate resources to set up and
play a game winning Yawgmoth’s Will. Additional turns and mana will be needed.
That’s where Time Walk can help.

If you keep Mox, Delta, and Time Walk, you can play Time Walk and either Duress or
Brainstorm next turn, then draw more cards off Necropotence, and then untap and
Yawgmoth’s Will with even more resources. This seems like the best plan because it sets
up the largest and most powerful Yawgmoth’s Will.

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Given the emphasis on setting up Yawgmoth’s Will, it follows that you will want to
keep Dark Ritual, which fuels Yawgmoth’s Will. Your graveyard only has a Dark Ritual
and Force of Will, but with two Dark Rituals, you will have good mana to begin
comboing post-Yawgmoth’s Will.

So far, we tentatively plan to keep:

Mox Jet, Polluted Delta, Time Walk, Yawgmoth’s Will, Dark Ritual

This leaves two more cards we can keep out of the remaining five options:

Hurkyl’s Recall, Brainstorm, Gush, Duress, Merchant Scroll

Each of these options have merit. Since your plan is to resolve Yawgmoth’s Will,
keeping Duress seems like a good idea. Necropotence may have resolved, but that does
not mean that Yawgmoth’s Will (or Time Walk) is going to resolve. Your opponent will
have a turn to build up additional resistance.

Keeping Merchant Scroll to find Force of Will is an alternative option that only costs one
more mana, and potentially one more card and one more life, but it gives you more
protection in case, for example, your opponent has double Force of Will, as Duress can
only take one. It can also be used to generate additional card advantage and build up
Yawgmoth’s Will by finding Ancestral Recall.

Gush is also another source of card advantage. Brainstorm is one of the most efficient
ways to dig into your deck, and seems like a great play next turn with Time Walk.
Brainstorm is also great post-Will. If you were facing a Workshop deck, you would
want to keep Hurkyl’s Recall to bounce any Sphere effects they would play next turn.

How do you eliminate three cards from this bunch? I would take a look at which cards
are most immediately useful and contribute to your plan to execute a game-winning
Yawgmoth’s Will. Gush is not a spell you’ll play next turn, since you want to build your
board for Yawgmoth’s Will. Brainstorm, on the other hand, sees more cards next turn,
and is playable with Time Walk with just three mana. Brainstorm seems like the best
card of the bunch, and a solid choice here. That leaves one more card to keep.

Merchant Scroll is also good, but if your plan is to Brainstorm, Time Walk, draw more
cards with Necro, untap and win with Yawgmoth’s Will, then Merchant Scroll is
possibly too slow. Duress is probably not going to be played next turn, but it is the kind
of card you want to play before Yawgmoth’s Will. On the other hand, Gush is also a
card you probably want to play the turn you Will. There is a decent chance you’ll see
another Gush or Duress/Force of Will on your next turn. It’s not an easy choice, but I
would probably keep Duress, just to be safe. It may not be necessary, but it gives you

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

additional security.

I would remove Hurkyl’s Recall, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Merchant Scroll, and Gush from
game, and keep these seven:

Yawgmoth’s Will, Dark Ritual, Duress, Mox Jet, Polluted Delta, Time Walk, Brainstorm

This scenario illustrates some of the complexity in using Necropotence, as well as the
dangers of over-Necroing. Setting up a game-winning plan may require more than one
more turn, and that means planning beyond your next turn. Drawing 5-7 cards a turn
for a few turns is a legitimate way to abuse Necropotence, rather than trying to combo
out in a turn or two.

Here is another hypothetical for you to test your ability to winnow down your post-
Necro hand to seven cards. Assume the same scenario, turn one Necropotence, with
Force of Will backup, but that your hand is now this instead (after having drawn cards
with Necropotence before end of turn):

Duress, Preordain, Preordain, Demonic Tutor, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Force of Will,
Underground Sea, Mox Sapphire, Brainstorm, Tendrils of Agony

Take a moment to note what you would keep.

This hand is full of redundant cards and little explosive acceleration. It is slow. You
have to keep Tendrils of Agony, since it is your only copy of the card, and you cannot
afford to lose it. Duress and Force are automatic keeps, since you will need more time to
draw more cards. I would also keep Brainstorm, because it lets you draw the most
additional cards.

So far, I would keep: Duress, Force of Will, Brainstorm, and Tendrils of Agony. That
leaves three other options. Here are the remaining choices:

Demonic Tutor, Mox Sapphire, Preordain, Fetchland

There is a cost to losing any one of these. If you pitch Demonic Tutor, you have just lost
a fast route to Yawgmoth’s Will. If you pitch Preordain, your only blue spell to pitch to
Force is Brainstorm. If you pitch all of your lands, you are relying on Brainstorm or
Preordain to find another land, which is a risky proposition. To keep Force active, I
could keep Preordain, leaving three other options.

To support the Brainstorm, I would also keep the fetchland, since you will want to
shuffle post Brainstorm. That leaves Mox Sapphire or Demonic Tutor. This is not an
easy decision. I would probably keep Demonic Tutor and pitch Mox Sapphire. Then,

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

next turn my plan would be Brainstorm, Fetchland, and Duress, followed by drawing
additional cards with Necropotence.

Executing Necropotence is an important skill, since it is usually one of the best cards in
your deck. It requires careful analysis, practice, patience, and strategic understanding.

Mind’s Desire

The purpose of Mind’s Desire is to generate card advantage, mana advantage, and
storm. It’s the ideal storm engine. Gush complements Mind’s Desire nicely. Gush helps
you generate the additional blue mana to play Desire, and increase the storm count for
no mana cost. Despite its hefty mana cost, Mind’s Desire is a very strong consideration
for any Gush Storm list. Here is an example of a Gush deck that optimizes Mind’s
Desire:

Gush Storm
By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 4 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

3 Duress 1 Lotus Petal 1 Mountain
3 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 1 Volcanic Island
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Emerald 1 Hurkyl’s Recall
4 Gush 1 Mox Jet 4 Ingot Chewer
4 Preordain 1 Mox Pearl 1 Tinker
1 Ponder 1 Mox Ruby 1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Brainstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mana Crypt 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Time Walk 1 Sol Ring 1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Timetwister 1 Tolarian Academy
1 Necropotence 4 Scalding Tarn
1 Mind's Desire 1 Polluted Delta
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain 1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystical Tutor 4 Underground Sea
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Tropical Island
1 Demonic Tutor 1 Island
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Mind’s Desire can be carefully set up, by tutoring for it early, and then playing it on a
critical turn with Gush. However, Mind’s Desire can also be played aggressively. A
Mind’s Desire for 4 or more is your goal, which should generate enough card advantage

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

that you can continue to combo out or try again the following turn.

The disadvantage to Mind’s Desire is that it is often expensive to cast and sometimes
cumbersome in hand. If you play Mind’s Desire, you will want to include the full
artifact acceleration complement, and you will want to include Tolarian Academy as
well. Gush decks typically lack the full artifact acceleration to support Mind’s Desire,
and Mind’s Desire is no longer as potent as it was prior to the printing of Flusterstorm
and Mindbreak Trap. Nonetheless, in dedicated Storm decks, Mind’s Desire can be a
potent weapon.

This deck is elegant and melds the commonly used storm engines into a Gush shell. It
can combo out using traditional storm spells or it can combo out via the GushBond
engine. The storm engines naturally complement the GushBond engine, making this a
synergistic monster. In this deck, Mind’s Desire is relatively easy to set up, and one of
your better strategic objectives since it requires less protection. A typical sequence
might be:

Turn 3:
Tap Underground Sea and Island for blue and black mana, and play Gush. Gush
resolves, drawing two cards. Play Mox Ruby. Play Mox Pearl. Play Dark Ritual. Play
Tolarian Academy. Tap Academy for UU. Play Preordain. Play Mind’s Desire for 6
storm.

Unlike other combo-oriented strategic objectives, timing Mind’s Desire is not difficult.
As soon as you have the mana and at least 4 storm, Mind’s Desire should be played at
the earliest opportune moment. Unless your opponent has Flusterstorm or Mindbreak
Trap, they are unlikely to stop it.

Yawgmoth’s Bargain

Yawgmoth’s Bargain is a draw engine for combo and combo-

control decks, and remains another strategic option for Gush
Storm lists, provided there is space. It is mana hungry, but
only marginally more so than Mind’s Desire. Like
Necropotence it allows you to easily trade life for cards in
hand, but with the added benefit of drawing the cards at
instant speed, and not having to wait until the end of turn to
take them into your hand.

Yawgmoth’s Bargain, like Mind’s Desire or Necropotence,

requires a much larger mana base and more acceleration. It
requires, in addition to more artifact acceleration, either Dark
Rituals or Lotus Cobra. Once resolved, Bargain should be used at least up until your

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

hand is filled up, provided you have enough life without putting yourself in danger. If
you have no on-color mana available, and you have already played a land for the turn,
it is probably wise to draw no more than a card or two more beyond seven before
passing the turn. This will preserve your resources for winning next turn.

Memory Jar

Memory Jar is a source of card advantage, and more asymmetrical than other Draw7s.
Memory Jar is an extremely specialized strategic objective that is essentially only used
in Gush decks fueled by Dark Ritual. Memory Jar is outside of the range of playability
for most Gush decks, except those that play with Dark Ritual or Lotus Cobra. In a Gush
deck, Memory Jar is primarily a Tinker target, and will generally not be played for its
full mana cost. Like Timetwister, Jar is excellent with Fastbond, and is a strong
consideration for any Gush storm shell.

The advantage Memory Jar over other Draw7 spells is twofold. First, it is less
symmetrical. The risks of activating Memory Jar are not as great as playing, say, a
Timetwister with respect to filling up the opponent’s hand. Because the opponent will
only keep their Jar hand until end of turn, you do not risk being combed out as a result
of giving them a new hand. Second, Memory Jar can be activated at the most opportune
time, such as an upkeep, unlike other Draw7s. Often, the best time to activate a Memory
Jar is your next upkeep step. This will allow you to draw a card in your draw step
within the Memory Jar, so to speak, giving you a hand of 8 cards to start the turn with.

Oath of Druids

The purpose of Oath of Druids is to summon finishers, like

Tinker. And like Tinker, it both cheats mana costs and
manipulates the library. The library manipulation provided
by Oath of Druids can entail other advantages as well. For
example, by moving cards from the library to the graveyard,
they become more easily, and in some cases, immediately,
accessible. Cards with the retrace, dredge, or flashback
mechanics can be utilized once they have moved zones.

Oath of Druids has become an increasingly feared strategic

objective in the Vintage format over time. Although Oath is a
conditional spell, the primary drawback of Oath of Druids is
the difficulty of constructing reliable draw support for it and around it. Popular draw
engines like Standstill or Dark Confidant are incompatible with Oath, and even Gush is
difficult to reliably use in a mana base with a full complement of Forbidden Orchard.
One of the best draw engines for Oath has proven to be planeswalkers such as Jace, the
Mind Sculptor. Yet, the use of Orchard makes these planeswalkers harder to defend.

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

Forbidden Orchard is a necessary inclusion for use against decks that either do not play
with creatures or can afford to avoid playing them until they have assumed control of
the game. Yet, Orchard clearly interferes with Gush by delaying or preventing Gush
from being played for its alternative mana cost, since Orchard is not an Island.

Nonetheless, Gush is occasionally used with Oath because it is an unrestricted, free

draw engine that does not interrupt or interfere with the capacity to play or trigger
Oath. Gush will help dig up Oath, and find and create the card advantage to protect
and trigger Oath. In fact, Gush and Oath can both be played on the same turn.

More importantly, Gush has excellent synergy with one of the Oath finishers, Tidespout
Tyrant. Recall the archetypical Gush-based Oath list, Reflection Tyrant Oath, and
observe its basic architecture in the previous chapter. There have been times in the
history of Gush decks where, believe it or not, this strategy was the best performing
Gush strategy. When Gush was unrestricted in 2010, and before the printing of modern
tempo threats, this strategy was one of the most effective tournament Gush decks in the
metagame, especially in heavy Workshop fields. Mishra’s Workshop decks are the most
challenging matchup for Gush-based strategies. Oath of Druids is the best strategic
objective against Workshop strategies because it is achievable under multiple sphere
effects. You only need to resolve and trigger a single two mana permanent to win the
game. It does not require Yawgmoth’s Will or another multi-spell turn to win the game.
Oath finishers like Tidespout Tyrant are particularly effective against Workshop based
strategies, which are based on board superiority and having more permanents. With
free spells like Gush, Tyrant can bounce spheres and Tangle Wires at instant speed on
the opponent’s end step or any other time.

More specifically, Oath of Druids punishes recent design trends visible in Workshop
strategies, including the reliance on Lodestone Golem and other aggro-oriented threats.
Oath of Druids also happens to be good against other common strategies in the format,
such as Dark Confidant control decks and Fish decks that have emerged to combat
Gush. In short, Oath of Druids shores up most of the weaknesses evident in Gush-based
strategies, making it an ideal metagame foil.

Jace offers unique synergies in the other direction as well, helping you return relatively
useless Oath combo parts into your library in exchange for more relevant resources. The
Gush-Jace synergy has already been covered above, even in the absence of Oath combo
parts, helping you maximize the advantage from every Jace activation.

This strategy can win by attacking with Tyrants, or it can generate infinite mana and
storm with Tyrant and two Moxen, to play a lethal Brain Freeze. Oath is not only a way
to summon creatures to the board, and begin the process of comboing out with either
Jace or Brain Freeze, or simply winning through beatdown, but it also offers library
manipulation. By activating Oath, you can transfer cards with the flashback, dredge, or

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

retrace mechanic into your graveyard. Spells like Flash of Insight, Ancient Grudge, and
Memory’s Journey not only trigger Tyrant, but they offer tactical options, helping you
tutor up missing combo parts or finishers like Brain Freeze, destroy opposing Spheres
or other lock parts, and prevent you from decking. Finally, Oath of Druids is supported
by Forbidden Orchard, which expands your mana base. Such a mana base provides
extra security in the Workshop matchup. It also offers color stability to support a potent
array of sideboard options.

Oath is weakest against combo and control decks, where Tinker-like tactics, plays that
help you cheat finishers into play, are at their weakest. Oath creates a board advantage,
and in those matchups, board advantage is not as important as winning on the stack. In
those matchups, the Gush engine can help compensate, since it generates helpful card
advantage. As noted in the previous chapter, Gush can trigger the Oath finisher,
Tidespout Tyrant, directly and help initiate the endgame. Finally, in those matchups the
library manipulation provided by Oath can translate into compensatory card
advantage, such as the use of Flash of Insight to find cards like Yawgmoth’s Will or
Brain Freeze.

Another weakness of Oath as a focused strategic objective is the printing of viable

answers, not only the incredibly efficient tactics like Grafdigger’s Cage, but the
popularity of tactics such as Abrupt Decay, Nature’s Claim, Containment Priest, and
even cards like Leyline of Sanctity, Orbs of Warding, Eon Hub, Witchbane Orb, Steel
Hellkite, and Qasali Pridemage.

The strategic diversity already present in the Gush deck makes any one of these threats
less relevant. They might have Leyline, but you subsequently combo out with Fastbond
and Gush. They might Nature’s Claim your Oath, but you achieve control with Jace. But
Oath-based Gush decks are unusually focused on Oath, and eliminating Oath as a path
to victory leaves you with tenuous options.

Painter’s Servant

Painter’s Servant is an interim strategic objective for Grindstone combo decks. Not only
does the Painter precondition the Grindstone activation to win the game, but it also
turns every Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast into an instant-speed Vindicate. In the
Grindstone strategy, resolving and protecting Painter’s Servant is your most important
interim strategic objective.

Gifts Ungiven

The purpose of Gifts Ungiven is to generate card advantage and to set up other major
strategic plays. Its inclusion in Gush decks is mostly a function of its power, and has
little to do with the GushBond engine or synergies with Gush directly. That said, there

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

are a few critical synergies between Gush and Gifts to take note of.

In general, Gifts is often too expensive for Gush decks, and

inferior to Jace at the top of the curve because of the synergies
that Jace provides with Gush. Gifts Ungiven is best in lists that
run both full complements of artifact acceleration and include
some number of Mana Drains. If you have Regrowth or
Snapcaster Mage in your deck, Gifts becomes a more
powerful play.

Although Gifts is uncommon in Gush decks, it may be more

accurate to say that Gush is a worthy consideration in Gifts
decks or decks with Gifts. A topic seldom addressed in this
book is the possibility of playing Gush in quantities less than
four, and even as a singleton. As a singleton or pair, Gush can be an excellent selection
for Gifts piles. Suppose your opponent has tapped down on their third turn, tapping
down a Volcanic Island, an Underground Sea, and a Mana Crypt with no other lands in
play to cast Gifts Ungiven, and they found these four cards: Ancestral Recall, Gush,
Brainstorm, and Force of Will.

What cards will you give them? Of course, the answer is impossible to determine out of
context, but the fact that Gush draws not only two cards here, but affords an additional
land drop and mana source, makes it a particularly dangerous card to hand off. The
situation is made even more perilous if you pair Gush and Brainstorm, which the
former fueling the latter. Control decks without the GushBond engine may use Gush in
this way as a utility spell.

Gifts Ungiven may be among the most skill intensive cards in the Vintage format,
perhaps second only to Doomsday. When deciding which cards to include in your
Gifts, I would consider pulling out every card you might wish to include, and then
whittle your options down to 4 cards, much as you would settle on 7 cards post-
Necropotence. For any four cards there are six possible Gifts pile permutations. It is
important that you consider each permutation and construct piles that will give your
opponent no good option.

Conclusion

There are fewer major interim strategic goals for Gush pilots to consider than there are
finishers that represent ultimate strategic objectives. Each major interim or intermediate
strategic goal serves multiple strategic ends, and nowhere is this more evident than
with Yawgmoth’s Will.

As a Gush pilot, you must select a mixture of strategic finishers and interim strategic

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 Chapter 6 – Intermediate Strategic Objectives

objectives when designing a Gush deck. The mixture should be synergistic and
supportive of each other. I have outlined the most common options for you, so that you
may choose for yourself from the many possibilities. In the next chapter, I will explore
the tactical complements that you will need to select to support your strategic goals.

Table 6.1: Intermediate Strategic Objectives Summary

Name Usage Importance
Gush Every Gush Deck *****
Ancestral Recall Every Gush Deck *****
Fastbond Combo and Control ***
Yawgmoth’s Will Combo and Control ****
Treasure Cruise Tempo and Control ****
Dig Through Time Tempo and Control ****
Tinker Control ***
Jace, The Mind Sculptor Control, and some Tempo ***
Dack Fayden Control and Tempo ****
Time Vault + Voltaic Key Control ***
Doomsday Combo ***
Mystic Remora Control **
Dark Confidant Control **
Timetwister Combo *
Necropotence Combo *
Mind’s Desire Combo *
Yawgmoth’s Bargain Combo *
Memory Jar Combo *
Oath of Druids Control *
Painter’s Servant Control *
Gifts Ungiven Control *

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 Chapter 7: Tactics!
After settling on a strategic approach or a particular set of victory conditions and
strategic objectives you wish to pursue, you must fashion a deck around them. To do
that, you need to select the mix of parts that best serve and fit your strategic objectives.
In this chapter, I set out the tactical options that help you accomplish this goal.

Tactics are used to help you achieve your own strategic objectives or thwart your
opponent’s pursuit of their own. Tactics surround and support your strategic objectives,
but they are more than filler, occupying space to satisfy minimum deck size
requirements. Tactics form a carapace, reinforcing your strategic approach, and shaping
the resilience, consistency, feel, and flow of your game plan.

The tactics available to a Gush pilot are nearly as broad and diverse as the Vintage
format itself. This chapter will comprehensively review tactics employed by Gush pilots
or otherwise worth considering. For ease of reference, the tactics are divided into
categories: search (primarily tutors and cantrips), countermagic and discard, removal
and bounce, and recursion. Matchup specific tactics, especially those predominantly
found in sideboards, are reserved for Chapter 10.

Tutors

Spells that dig and draw through the library are essential elements of any Gush deck for
the now-familiar reasons presented in Chapters 1 and 3. Tutors, in particular, are
primarily used to locate strategic objectives or cards that support those objectives.
Tutors perform a specialized function in the context of the GushBond engine, such as
locating Gush, Fastbond, Yawgmoth’s Will, and other GushBond engine components.
In some cases, those interactions are quite specific and unique, and any Gush master
must familiarize themselves with them. Consult Table 3.2 (The GushBond Engine
Components, in Chapter 3) for a review of these functions by spell.

Demonic Tutor

Among the most versatile cards in the game, Demonic Tutor is a deceptively skill-
intensive card. There are two basic issues to consider and resolve for any usage: when
to play Demonic Tutor, and what to find. Demonic Tutor is capable of fetching any card
out of your deck, but it would be impractical to consider each possibility with equal
care.

Although Demonic Tutor can be used to find any card, and the most brilliant
applications will involve unusual suspects, something similar to the Pareto principle
(the 80/20 rule) roughly applies to the use of Demonic Tutor, and most other tutors:

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

80% of the cards you select with these tutors come from 20% of your deck. In most Gush
decks featuring Demonic Tutor, there are usually no more than a dozen cards that merit
serious consideration.

In most cases, Demonic Tutor should be used to select

something of strategic significance (that is, a card covered in
the previous two chapters), such as a finisher or a strategic
objective, or a card that helps support, protect, or set up a
strategic objective, like Black Lotus or Force of Will. For
example, Demonic Tutor can be used within the GushBond
engine to find key parts such as Fastbond, Yawgmoth’s Will,
or another finisher. The general exception to this rule is a
situation which requires an immediate tactical response or a
critical answer, such as a removal spell or particular
counterspell. In such instances, tactics or situational answers
acquire strategic significance. Using Tutor to find a Hurkyl’s
Recall can be a strategically significant play against a Workshop opponent, just as
finding a Yixlid Jailer can be against a Dredge opponent, or an Abrupt Decay for Oath
of Druids.

With those parameters in mind, you may narrow the focus of your search depending on
the stage of your game plan. In the late game, Demonic Tutor is most often used to find
finishers or strategic objectives. In the early game, when a development of card
advantage or mana resources is paramount, Demonic Tutor may be more often used to
find cards like Ancestral Recall or Black Lotus.

In such instances, Demonic Tutor becomes a mana accelerant, not dissimilar to a Cabal
Ritual without threshold (for 1B mana it can generate BBB). At the same time, Demonic
Tutor’s selection criteria must also include consideration of the overall game state. In a
hand with multiple Gushes, Demonic Tutor may find Fastbond for superior results. In
the mid-game, Demonic Tutor may be used to set up or protect key interim strategic
objectives, such as finding Yawgmoth’s Will, Doomsday, or a Force of Will or
Flusterstorm to protect it.

Deciding when to play Demonic Tutor may involve fewer options, but is no less skill
intensive. Playing Demonic Tutor may interfere with your ability to maximize your
projection of countermagic or capacity to disrupt your opponent in other ways.
Learning when to play proactive spells rather than maintain situational flexibility is a
topic reserved for Chapter 9, on role.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Vampiric Tutor

Like Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor is exceptionally proficient in locating critical

strategic objectives and one of the most versatile cards in the format. Despite superficial
similarities, however, Vampiric Tutor’s use, timing and target range is remarkably
different. In many respects, Vampiric Tutor is an even more skill intensive card than
Demonic Tutor.

As an instant, Vampiric Tutor creates more opportunities for play, and therefore more
opportunities to err. Whereas Demonic Tutor is always played in one of your main
phases, Vampiric Tutor is commonly played on an opponent’s end step. This confers
several advantages over Demonic Tutor.

First, by casting your tutor on your opponent’s end step, you maximize your disruptive
capacity during your opponent’s turn. By playing Demonic Tutor, you foreclose your
capacity to cast counterspells or removal with that mana. Vampiric Tutor preserves
tactical flexibility.

Second, you reduce uncertainty about the value of your tutor target. For example, if you
play Turn 1 Demonic Tutor for Tinker, you must generally wait until Turn 2 to cast
Tinker. But if you play a Vampiric Tutor on your opponent’s end step for Tinker, you
will likely be able to cast Tinker immediately thereafter, with more confidence about the
merits of that line. A Turn 1 Demonic Tutor entails risks that an end step tutor does not,
especially against an unknown opponent.

Generally speaking, Vampiric Tutor is more opportunistic. Your opponent may commit
to a line of play that can be exploited by tutoring for a specific threat or tactic. As an
instant speed tutor, Vampiric Tutor can seize unanticipated windows of opportunity.

In this respect, Vampiric Tutor’s instant speed also creates tempo advantages. Suppose,
for example, that your opponent plays Ancestral Recall. You may consider casting
Vampiric Tutor for Misdirection, and use Gush to draw the Misdirection.

Vampiric Tutor is also frequently played in your own upkeep. Suppose that you Mana
Drained an opponent’s spell on their turn, tapping all of your mana to cast Mana Drain.
On your turn, you may cast Vampiric Tutor in your upkeep for a strategic objective to
sink your Mana Drain mana into, such as Treasure Cruise or Yawgmoth’s Will.

Vampiric Tutor may also be played in your own main phase, using cantrips or other
draw spells to put the tutor target in hand. For example, it is not uncommon to use
Vampiric Tutor to find a finisher or other strategic objective in your main phase, when
your plan is to cast Gush to draw them. A lethal Tendrils of Agony may sometimes be
found and cast in this manner.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Although Vampiric Tutor obeys similar rules of thumb for evaluating tutor targets as
Demonic Tutor, instant speed timing and card disadvantage subtly changes the
calculus. As we have seen, the tempo possibilities expand the range of desirable tutor
targets, but the card disadvantage also raises the stakes of some lines of play. For
example, in a format where Mental Misstep sees widespread use, losing a battle over
Ancestral Recall found with Vampiric Tutor is a compound injury.

Such a play may be justified, however, by recursive tactics, such as Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
or Regrowth. Decks with multiple Regrowth, in particular, may be less concerned about
having Ancestral Recall countered in this manner since Ancestral Recall has more value
in the graveyard than in the library in these scenarios.

Vampiric Tutor trades off efficiency and timing for card disadvantage relative to
Demonic Tutor. Yet, as we have seen, this often makes Vampiric Tutor the superior
tutor. Even the card disadvantage itself is always a deficit. For example, when an
opponent plays a discard effect like Duress or Mind Twist, placing the tutor target on
top of the library may be a safer location.

Mystical Tutor

Mystical Tutor is similar to Vampiric Tutor in many ways,

except that it has a narrower scope of operation. Mystical
Tutor is primarily limited to finding Ancestral Recall,
Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Time Walk, Tinker,
Yawgmoth’s Will, removal, and countermagic. Mystical Tutor
can also be tutor-chained to find any other card via Demonic
Tutor, and is in a similar link for Merchant Scroll.

In the early game, Mystical Tutor is nearly always used, if at

all, to find Ancestral Recall, Time Walk or Tinker.
Countermagic is also a possibility, but the tempo
disadvantage creates a stronger incentive to find something
that can recoup that disadvantage, as with Vampiric. In the late game, Yawgmoth’s Will
is usually one of the best options in Gush decks running it, although removal spells,
such as Hurkyl’s Recall, and sideboard tactics, are common.

Mystical Tutor was once most valued for its capacity to find Ancestral Recall, yet the
prevalence of Mental Misstep has not only diminished the value of that play, but the
tutors themselves by extension. The printing of Treasure Cruise (and Dig Through
Time) rescues Mystical Tutor by providing another great, and possibly superior, tutor
target, since Cruise cannot be targeted by Misstep (or Misdirection).

Topdeck tutors have long been viewed suspiciously by blue pilots concerned with

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maximizing card advantage, and this bias is especially evident in tempo-based Gush
decks, where Mystical Tutor is rarely played. Yet Mystical Tutor serves strategic and
tactical purposes in Gush tempo decks that are underappreciated and undervalued,
because they are unique to the archetype. Putting a card on top of your library can
actually be a benefit if you are trying to trigger Delver of Secrets. With a pair of Delvers
in play, Mystical Tutoring for Time Walk is one of your best options, and guarantees no
less than 12 attacking power in the air (over the course of that turn, plus the Time Walk
turn).

Another criticism of Mystical Tutor in Gush-based tempo decks is the absence of

“haymakers.” In decks with Tinker or Yawgmoth’s Will, Mystical Tutor is an obvious
inclusion. But in decks that are more homogenous, Mystical Tutor seems less
compelling. It’s my position however that Mystical Tutor deserves serious
consideration nonetheless on account of the fact that finding Time Walk is often good
enough to win the game with strategies like Mentor.

Moreover, Mystical Tutor is more than just a Treasure Cruise or Time Walk tutor in
tempo strategies, it is also an important tutor for singletons generally. Cards like
Fire/Ice, Swords to Plowshares, Wear/Tear, Shattering Spree, Ravenous Trap,
Extirpate, Ancient Grudge, or Nature’s Claim become much more sensible inclusions
within your total 75 when playing cards like Mystical Tutor. Mystical Tutor effectively
doubles the number of these cards in your deck, and creates more sideboard space that
would otherwise be dedicated to duplicates of key cards. Mystical Tutor justifies the
inclusion of singletons, and even main deck answers like Nature’s Claim.

Finally, Mystical Tutor actually plays a subtle, but very much underappreciated role, in
providing situational answers and a storm booster for Flusterstorm. For example,
Mystical Tutor and Gush in hand functionally equates with any counterspell in your
deck at instant speed. When you are faced with an uncertain situation, and you are
uncertain how to respond, holding Gush and a Mystical Tutor in hand gives you the
flexible answer you need at instant speed. Whether it is Yawgmoth’s Bargain or Show
and Tell on the stack, you can find the best answer (which may be Spell Pierce for the
former and Flusterstorm for the latter). And don’t forget about finding Misdirection for
Ancestral Recall or Abrupt Decay!

Similarly, in a late game situation, Mystical Tutor can boost a Flusterstorm in hand. For
example, if you are building for a counter-battle, holding Mystical and a Gush will not
only find the situational answer you need, but tremendously power up your finishing
Flusterstorm, which your opponent will be that much less likely to be able to pay for.

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Merchant Scroll

Although superficially innocuous, Merchant Scroll is one of

the most powerful tutors in the Vintage format. Although
broadly playable in Gush decks, it is often omitted from Gush
decks despite obvious synergies. In most blue decks,
Merchant Scroll’s primary target is Ancestral Recall for card
advantage. In Gush decks, however, it is a direct tutor for
Gush as well. Note that in both instances, it generates more
card advantage than any of the topdeck tutors, usually a
worthwhile price to pay for being sorcery speed and one
additional mana.

Merchant Scroll is also used to find Dig Through Time,

Mystical Tutor, and any counterspell in your deck. In this respect, it can find or support
a range of strategic objectives.

Merchant Scroll is sometimes dismissed for being slow or inefficient, as it turns

Ancestral Recall into a three casting cost, two-phase spell. Alternatively, finding Gush
generates no immediate mana advantage, and nets only one card. What these criticisms
overlook is the fact that recursion is often an important component of Merchant Scroll’s
strength. The full value of Ancestral Recall is not solely embedded in its initial usage,
but it’s potential when replayed (via Regrowth, Snapcaster Mage, or Yawgmoth’s Will)
for even greater value. Merchant Scroll is a critical part of this process.

Recall the operation of the GushBond engine described in Chapter 3. While Merchant
Scroll may be mana neutral with respect to Gush, it nets two mana in the downward arc
of the GushBond engine. The recursive properties of Gush decks boost Merchant Scroll
beyond its apparent value. Finding Ancestral Recall as quickly and efficiently as
possible, and firing it off with maximal protection – enabled by the lack of card
disadvantage in its retrieval – is a way to set up and power recursive tactics, and
generate tempo advantage.

An early Merchant Scroll can find Ancestral Recall, Force of Will, or Flusterstorm. The
second or mid-game Merchant Scroll can find Gush, where Gush is used as described in
Chapter Two, or possibly a Dig Through Time. The late-game Scroll can find any of
these threats or answers, or find Mystical Tutor to find Yawgmoth’s Will or a game
winning Time Walk with tempo threats in play. The actual in-game use of Scroll
deviates from this basic script frequently, but it provides a basic flow-chart of usage.

Despite having fewer targets, Merchant Scroll may be used to find a more diverse set of
tactics than Mystical Tutor. Scroll’s maintenance of card parity is a significant
advantage over Mystical Tutor, and justifies a wider range of targets. For example,

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finding Brainstorm or Mental Misstep with Mystical Tutor would be exceptional for
Mystical, but hardly questioned with Merchant Scroll. Searching for situational
countermagic is a perfectly justifiable use of Scroll, especially in a game building
towards a major battle on the stack. For example, if you already have Ancestral Recall
or a Tinker in hand, you may wish to use Merchant Scroll to find a Mental Misstep,
Force of Will, or Flusterstorm to shield it.

Similarly, Scroll’s provision of immediate access to its target serves Gush decks in other
ways, such as growing tempo threats or boosting the storm count. These advantages,
which flow from the simple fact of not imposing card disadvantage, are each
underappreciated in theory, however internalized they may be in practice. They also
explain why Scroll was slow to be adopted into the Vintage metagame, and why its
restriction has proven necessary.

Imperial Seal

Imperial Seal will rarely make the cut, but should always be considered when designing
Gush decks. Seal is a specialized tutor that is occasionally used by Gush decks, despite
having perhaps greater synergies with Gush strategies than elsewhere in the Vintage
format. Although sharing more features with Vampiric Tutor, Imperial Seal is used
more like its cousin Demonic Tutor, than its brother. This fact illustrates the remarkable
distance that a single difference can provide.

Imperial Seal is a developmental play on turn one or two, and a useful way to
dramatically expand your resources in the earliest turns, by finding Ancestral Recall or
Black Lotus. But as the game goes on, it will generally be used to retrieve strategic
objectives that define the course of the game, such as Mind’s Desire or Yawgmoth’s
Will. For these reasons, Imperial Seal is most likely to see play in decks with a greater
density of strategic threats, such as combo and combo-control oriented Gush decks (see
Chapter 4 for a discussion of these strategic differences).

Imperial Seal also subtly changes the valuation of recursive tactics in any Gush deck. A
deck with Imperial Seal will have greater use and potential value from Regrowth or
Snapcaster Mage, which will compensate for its inherent card disadvantage.

Cantrips

Cantrips have long played a major role in Gush strategies. In truth, they are the
interstitial glue that holds any Gush deck together. Cantrips are critical to the
development of virtual card advantage, helping minimizing the land to spell ratio, and
executing the GushBond engine. As noted in Chapters 1 and 3, cantrips are part of most
Gush decks and a vital service to GushBond engine. Here we will examine how to use
these cards in their particularity, and how to sequence them with each other.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Because of their light mana bases, early game cantrips are relied upon in Gush decks to
find land in order to make land drops. In the late game, cantrips have the opposite
function, helping you pass over land in favor of strategic objectives or disruptive spells.
Each of the cantrips performs this general function, but they also serve specific and
particular roles as well. It is important to understand these differences, which inform
when to use them and how to sequence them. More recent printings invalidated inferior
cantrips, and cards like Sleight of Hand, Portent, and Opt have been replaced with
Ponder, Preordain, and Gitaxian Probe.

Although seemingly simple effects, these cantrips feature a tremendous number of

subtle choices with each usage. Selecting cards in situational magic with unknown
variables is among the most skill intensive decisions in the game. Not only do these
cantrips provide structural glue for strategic and tactical ends, as well as virtual card
advantage, but they also provide flexibility and reward format knowledge.

Brainstorm

Brainstorm is not unique in being able to see three cards, but it is unique in that it is the
only one mana spell in the game that can put cards back into your library from your
hand. This is both a tremendous advantage and a huge drawback. If you are using
Brainstorm, as you may often be using cantrips, to dig for a second land, it can be
devastating if you fail to find one. If, on the other hand, you need to use Brainstorm to
smooth out a draw, by exchanging excess land for business spells or to put a Tinker-
finisher back into your library, it can be brilliantly helpful. The key to maximizing
Brainstorm, is to learn how to minimize its risks and draw out its advantages.

Suppose your opening hand is:

Misty Rainforest, Gush, Gush, Brainstorm, Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Demonic Tutor

A hand like this is generic enough to represent many Gush decks. Yet, it illustrates the

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allure and risks of Brainstorm. In a deck with an average of 14 lands, as is the case with
many Vintage Gush decks, fetching out a land on turn one will leave you with just 12
lands in your library, not enough to offer high confidence in finding one on turn one
with Brainstorm. If you fail to find a land with Brainstorm, you will be stuck, unable to
advance your game plan, develop your board, or impede your opponent for several
turns.

In a situational like this, the basic rule may actually be to play the fetchland, and wait to
try to draw a second land on turn 2, and, failing that, then play Brainstorm. It is an
inefficient use of your mana, but it reduces your chances for getting mana screwed by
not seeing another land.

Brainstorm can perform a mana fixing function, but it reaches peak power when doing
the opposite: improving spell selection. Brainstorm is most explosive after Gush, as the
analysis of Jace, the Mind Sculptor last chapter suggests. The two lands returned to
hand with Gush can be put back into the library in exchange for two fresh new spells
which can be kept in hand and used immediately.

Brainstorm is also most effective when it can be followed up with a shuffle effect. In
initial Grow decks, an early Brainstorm could be used to place extra lands back in the
deck, as just described, and then followed up with a Land Grant, which not only finds a
land, but shuffles the library in the process. Today, a similar effect is generated by
fetchlands like Polluted Delta, or with the tutors described above.

Brainstorm requires three decisions: 1) when to play it, 2) what two cards to put back, 3)
and in what order. The “when” is probably the most open-ended, since, being an
instant, it can be played at almost any time. The benefits of immediate usage must be
weighed against the greater digging power and virtual card advantage of waiting.

Deciding which two cards to put back is generally straightforward, although there can
be some subtleties. Excess land or cards like Tinker-finishers, storm-finishers or
matchup or situational tactics like Hurkyl’s Recall are usually easy targets for putting
back into the library. While you will often put back the least useful or most unimportant
spells, that is not always the case. In some instance you will wish to safely “hide” a card
on top of your library, to shield from discard effects. This may be ideal when trying to
hide a strategic objective like Tinker or Yawgmoth’s Will.

Another reason to put a card on top may be to trigger a Delver of Secrets, or to

minimize life loss from cards Dark Confidant will reveal. Such library manipulation is
most effective with Brainstorm compared to other cantrips.

The most difficult decision with Brainstorm may be ordering the cards put back on top
of the library. In the usual case, the second card has as good of a chance of being

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

shuffled away as being drawn as. In this case, it is generally correct to put your best
card on top of your library to hide it, and the worst card beneath it – but only if you are
certain you will draw the top card. Otherwise, you should put your worst card lowest,
and the next worst card on top of that.

Ponder

Ponder is superbly powerful, and remains underappreciated

even today. The most important feature of Ponder is that it is
the only 1 mana cantrip capable of seeing four different cards.
This makes it exceptionally useful for the early game purpose
noted earlier.

Reconsider the hands analyzed just above, except substitute

Ponder for Brainstorm. Here, Ponder shines where Brainstorm
entails risks. If the top three cards have no lands, Ponder not
only shuffles the deck, but gives you another chance to draw a
land. Ponder is the only one mana cantrip that can shuffle
your library. This is an advantage it has over all other such
cantrips, and should be exploited as such.

Ponder may be the most difficult cantrip to use optimally. It also involves nested
decisions that begin with three choices: 1) when to play it, 2) how to order each card, 3)
and whether to keep or shuffle. If you decide to keep the three cards on top, you have to
then make three further decisions: which card to draw, which card to keep on top, and
which card to keep below that. There are six different possibilities, where A, B, and C
represent the top three cards of your library:

ABC
ACB
BAC
BCA
CBA
CAB

Ordering the top of your library with Ponder requires consideration of which card you
want in hand now, if any, and which card to put on top after that. The lines of play that
emerge from Pondering must then be weighed against the issue of deciding to shuffle.
Deciding to shuffle and draw a random card from your library is a decision that is
probabilistic at best, and cannot be predicted with perfect certainty unless your library
has just one card in it or only cards of the same name.

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Preordain

Preordain has less digging power than Ponder, but it compensates with superior
selectivity. Ponder is an all or nothing proposition: you have to keep all three cards
(albeit one is put directly in hand) or shuffle them all away and draw a fresh card. In
contrast, Preordain sees fewer cards, but provides more flexibility.

To understand how Preordain functions, it is useful to apply the heuristic used with
Ponder. Suppose the top three cards of your library are:
A
B
C

Preordain initially reveals only A and B. Preordain then allows you to rearrange your
library five different ways:

1) Put A into your hand and B on the top of your library, leaving C below it.
2) Put A into your hand and B on the bottom of your library, leaving C on top of
your library.
3) Put B in hand, and A on the top of your library, leaving C below it.
4) Put B in hand and A on the bottom of your library, leaving C on top of your
library.
5) Put A and B on the bottom of your library and draw C.

Understanding the implications of each decision is difficult in the abstract, so it may be

useful to contrast these sequences with Ponder, and imagine conditions under which
Ponder or Preordain may be superior.

With respect to the top three cards of your library, we might imagine four general
possibilities regarding whether you wish to draw them or not:

1) You wish to keep all three cards on top of your library.

2) You wish to keep two of the three cards, and shuffle or bottom the third.
3) You only want to keep one of the three cards, and shuffle or bottom the other
two.
4) You want to bottom or shuffle away all three cards.

Under which of these conditions is Ponder or Preordain superior, and what does that
reveal about how and when to use them?

In condition (4), Ponder is clearly preferable to Preordain, as Preordain will bottom the
top two cards, but compel you to draw the equally unwanted third. In condition (4),
Ponder will shuffle away all three cards, and draw you a random card.

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In condition (1), both Ponder and Preordain will allow you to keep three cards, but
Ponder is better because it allows you to optimize the order, giving you knowledge of
card C.

Now consider the possibilities for condition (2), where you would only want to keep 2
of the 3 cards. There are three possibilities here: a) you love A and B, but do not want C;
b) you love A and C, but do not want to draw B; c) you love B and C, but do not want to
draw A.

Does Ponder or Preordain perform better under these sub-conditions?

Under condition (a), Preordain and Ponder are roughly equivalent, providing
immediate access to A and B, but Ponder has the advantage of letting you know what is
in position C so that you may try to shuffle it away or plan around it.

Under condition (b), Ponder performs better only if card C is the best card among the
three. If card A is the best card, then Preordain performs better by allowing you to
bottom card B.

Under condition (c), Ponder is better, again, if C is the best card among the top three, as
it provides immediate access. But Preordain is better if B is the best card among the
three, as it bottoms card A.

In general, Ponder is superior in any situation in which position C is the best card
among the three, and you would want to keep at least 2 of the 3 cards.

It is only when we turn to condition (3), that you only want to keep 1 of the 3 cards, but
you would not want to shuffle all three, that Preordain becomes strictly superior.

If you only want to keep A, then Preordain is superior to Ponder in that it allows you to
bottom B. If you only want to keep B, then Preordain is superior to Ponder as it allows
you to bottom A. If you only want to keep C, then Preordain is superior because it
allows you to bottom A and B, but draw C.

This analysis suggests that, in general, Ponder is the superior card. Preordain is only
clearly superior when you would only wish to draw one of the top three cards of your
library. This suggests that Preordain may be better in a deck where, in any given
situation, one card is much more valuable than others. Decks with silver bullets and
situational answers may find greater value in Preordain than Ponder. Yet, decks filled
with more high power cards and strategic objectives, where most of the top of the
library will be of high value, will probably want to play Ponder before the first
Preordain.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Gitaxian Probe

Gitaxian Probe is a widely played tactic in Gush decks,

although it is an unconventional cantrip, and its utilization
and usage requires explanation and discussion. Gitaxian
Probe may be one of the most challenging and endlessly
intriguing cards to analyze in Vintage. In some respect, it may
be incapable of complete analysis or full comprehension of its
effects, value, and utility. Like an onion, we’ll begin with the
outer layer, and peel away.

Probe’s most obvious use is to “thin” your library while

providing information. Unlike other cantrips, Probe does not
provide any direct card selection, but the information
provided allows you to plan and sequence your spells around your opponent’s hand
and their future plays for a low cost. For example, knowing whether your opponent
plans to play Sphere of Resistance or Smokestack on their first turn might direct you
toward different lines of play. That information might call for you to play cantrips while
the other might suggest you play a creature.

Being a “free” spell, it also can help “grow” some tempo finishers or generate tokens,
and accelerate towards a more lethal attack. Finally, by cycling through your library, it
can help fill your graveyard faster to fuel delve spells. These are all areas of obvious
synergy for a Gush deck, and reasons to include Probe.

Moving to the second layer, consider the value of thinning your deck. The premise
behind deck thinning is the idea that you will see your best cards more often. Early in
the history of the game, the DC(I) rules mandated 60 rather than 40 card deck
minimums, so that players were compelled to play with more unique cards. A 40 card
deck can generate much greater consistent opening hands with 4-ofs and a 7 card
opening hand than a 60 card deck. The theory goes that thinning gets you closer to a
functionally 56 card deck, and therefore closer to your best cards, such as Ancestral
Recall, Time Walk, etc. This simplistic analysis elides a number of facts. The first is that
while thinning may actually get you marginally closer to your best cards, it comes with
a cost, and not just the life lost.

One of the costs of running cards like Probe is the added complexity of mulligan
decisions. Although you would probably not keep a 0-land hand with a single Probe, a
2 or 3 Probe hand is not so readily dismissed. The added uncertainty to mulligan
decisions is a cost that must be weighed against the benefits provided by thinning.

While thinning is a valuable benefit, card selection is even better, and the two are too
easily and often conflated. As noted many times, Gush decks are constructed on

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

principles that make cantrips necessary. But the cantrips that have the most value are
those that provide card selection – cantrips that allow you to find land in the early
game, spells in the late game, and see more cards through the course of the game than
your opponent. In simplistic form, cards like Probe pose this fundamental question:
would you rather draw the top card of your library for 0 mana or the second card of
your library instead for 1 mana (with Preordain, for example)?

To explore this question, assume that one of the top two cards of your library has great
situational value and the other has very low situational value (for example, suppose one
is Force of Will and the other is a card that has almost no value in this particular
matchup, like a Swords to Plowshares against a combo deck). If the high value card is
on the top card of your library, then Probe is presumptively better than Sleight of Hand.
If the top card is the low value card, then the one mana cantrip looks more attractive.

Of course, these are relative matters. Sometimes, you will want both cards, and
sometimes you will want neither. Even if you want both cards, one card is likely to have
more immediate value than the other. These factors reinforce the value of card selection
over mere thinning. The fact that Preordain sees more play in Gush decks than Probe
reminds us of the overall importance of card selection for Gush strategies. Nonetheless,
the fact that Probe sees play over, say, Sleight of Hand, also illustrates the value of
thinning over mere card selection (although, we cannot rule out that Sleight of Hand
would see play if Preordain were restricted).

For many Gush decks the utility of “deck thinning” without card selection entails a high
opportunity cost for the slot. For decks like Delver or other tempo decks, which are
fairly homogenous, the power differential between cards may not be so great to justify
running an otherwise suboptimal card merely to thin. Probe’s inclusion must be
explained by its additional contributions, such as generating tokens for no mana or
revealing the opponent’s hand.

The most serious criticism of Probe is the full opportunity cost to the spell configuration
in your deck more generally: cutting spells for Probes cuts into the density of the deck
in uneven ways. In practice, the cards that more likely get shaved are counterspells.
What matters with respect to countermagic is not just which counterspells you have,
but their overall density in your deck. Cutting Spell Pierces, Flusterstorms, or even
Gush for Probes does not actually balance out by adding Probe. You actually weaken
your game plan in a number of ways. It means that when searching for countermagic
with Preordain, you are less likely to find the situational countermagic early on. It
means that you cannot sculpt your hand as easily for matchup specific situations. It also
means that you will less be able to defend yourself from sustained or powerful assaults.
Probe may be more explosive, but it weakens your defenses.

While these costs may weigh more heavily against Probe’s inclusion in any Gush deck

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

in the abstract, there are strategically specific synergies that weigh towards its inclusion.
For example, Probe’s capacity to generate tokens, and therefore by tempo, in tempo-
based Gush decks is a significant advantage beyond the inherent benefits it offers.
Revealing an opponent’s hand also has specific tactical advantages in decks with Cabal
Therapy, where Probe is a presumptive inclusion. Probe also serves a critical role in the
Doomsday combo, both to generate information that can be used in sculpting a more
optimized Doomsday library and protect the Laboratory Maniac as well as to cycle
through the Doomsday library. Probe also fuels Delve spells by cycling through your
library more quickly.

Whether Probe is included is a sensitive and challenging matter for any Gush pilot to
resolve for themselves. In decks with specific synergies, Probe may be a presumptive
inclusion. In other decks, deciding to include Probe may turn on play style and comfort
level of the pilot.

Sensei’s Divining Top

A unique and potent card, Sensei’s Divining Top has multiple

functions, one of which is a quasi-cantrip. Like the core
cantrips found in Gush decks, it can be used in the early game
to locate additional lands. For example, it can be played on
Turn 1, and activated on the next turn to find another land,
much like Ponder. And like cantrips, it can be used to search
for business spells to generate virtual card advantage in the
middle and late-game, especially with fetchlands and other
shuffle effects.

In exchange for iterative use, Sensei’s Divining Top is notably

mana hungry. It costs a mana to play, but then requires
additional mana for each peek at the top three cards. If you have shuffle effects, that
could lead to multiple activations per turn, searching for answers or superior threats. It
is not uncommon to activate Top to peek at the top three cards, sacrifice a fetchland,
and peek again, all on the opponent’s end step.

In addition to being mana intensive, Top is both time and skill intensive. If we consider
the decisions in playing a Ponder or resolving Preordain, Top multiplies those decision
trees with repeated activations. Each activation can take up precious game clock time, in
addition to require careful forethought. For this reason, Top may be regarded, along
with cards like Doomsday and Gifts Ungiven, as among the most skill-testing cards in
the format. Like Brainstorm, Top is capable of hiding cards in a position where they
cannot be stripped by discard effects.

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In addition to isolate usage, interfacing Top with other cards requires carefully
weighing the costs and benefits. For example, if you have Preordain in hand, you have
to decide whether to use the Preordain first, or expend a mana using Top first, in an
activation that could well prove a complete waste of time. In the waning minutes of a
match, each Top activation could make an unintentional draw more likely as well.

The mana demands of Top and the availability of strong substitutes make Top an
uncommon choice for Gush decks. Generally, Top is included only when Gush decks
run off-color mana acceleration or when its core functionality is supplemented with
specific usages or compelling needs. For example, Top becomes a serious consideration
in Gush decks that employ Dark Confidant. Its primary function in that context is to
mitigate life loss with Dark Confidant. The Confidant-Gush pilot can suffer several
turns of uncontrolled Confidant triggers, but eventually a Top (or Jace) will have to be
secured in order to minimize damage and play into the endgame.

Top also serves well against Workshops, since it can be played under Lodestone Golem
without penalty, and since it can be used repeatedly under Spheres (or even when
tapped with Tangle Wire). In that circumstance, it is better than Preordain. It produces a
spell-like effect, but preserves your mana and allows you to expand your mana base.

Top is also a potent consideration in any Doomsday strategy. Like Gush, Top can be
used both to draw the first card out of a Doomsday stack and to trigger Laboratory
Maniac to win the game. In Doomsday, Top is also a strong mid-game play, being used
to draw cards with topdeck tutors or find critical strategic objectives.

Sylvan Library

Sylvan Library is a seemingly unusual inclusion in Gush strategies. Given its voracious
appetite for life, Sylvan Library competes with Fastbond in Gush strategies with green
spells. With the decline of the GushBond engine, Sylvan Library has emerged as a
potent hybrid tactic and strategic objective.

Like cantrips, Sylvan Library can help a Gush pilot find a second mana source to
reliably fuel Gush, but can also dig for additional spells and cards to protect your
strategic objectives and thwart your opponent’s. It is a powerful source of card
advantage, especially in controlling matchups. Sylvan Library’s power is at its apex in
matches with a long game, as it becomes more powerful turn after turn, like Jace, the
Mind Sculptor. The more turns that the game progresses, the more than Sylvan’s actual
and virtual card advantages manifest.

Gush strategies with Sylvan Library, like those with Jace, are more likely to run a full
complement of Alpha Moxen so that Sylvan is a more reliable first turn play. These
strategies compensate with larger mana bases by featuring strategic objectives like

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Sylvan Library and Sensei’s Divining Top to improve card selection.

Thirst for Knowledge

Thirst is another form of card advantage for artifact heavy Gush lists, such as Painter
Servant’s decks, those with Tinker finishers, and control decks. Its resolution can help
give you the resources to achieve other strategic goals. As Gush players expand their
artifact mana base, even going so far as to use cards like Lotus Petal and Mox Opal to
combat Workshops, Thirst for Knowledge can offer a powerful draw tactic. Gush can
also help Thirst generate raw card advantage in a similar way to Brainstorm, by
exchanging the three new cards for two unneeded lands.

Countermagic and Discard

In Vintage, countermagic performs two functions that are best comprehensible from the
strategic framework set out in Chapter 4. They disrupt the opponent’s attempts to
achieve their strategic objectives, and shield your strategic objectives from the
opponent’s similar efforts at disruption. While simply stated, this understanding of the
role of this form of disruption is not well appreciated.

The countermagic available to the Gush pilot varies not only in quality, efficiency,
versatility, and scope, it also varies in terms of its general orientation in terms just
described. While most countermagic can be used for offensive and defensive purposes,
each tactical option has a slightly different emphasis. Some countermagic, like Pact of
Negation and Misdirection, is predominantly used in an offensive mode: protecting
your own strategic threats. In contrast, other countermagic, like Steel Sabotage or
Mindbreak Trap, is primarily used to stop opponent’s threats.

Using Misdirection to protect a game-winning Yawgmoth’s Will within the GushBond

engine is an offensive use that shields your strategic objective, and is a leading example
of the offensive use of countermagic. In addition to protecting strategic objectives,
countermagic can be used to shield strategic objectives that do not win the game
immediately, but will purchase time to allow a finisher to win. Countermagic can be
deployed in sequence to buy discrete bits of time, parts of turns, until the opponent
cannot recover. Understanding which countermagic is most useful in each strategic
orientation is just as important as knowing how to use the countermagic effectively in
games.

Force of Will

Force of Will is the ultimate counterspell. It has unlimited scope of application, is

brilliant on defense, and even more potent on offense. It is the ultimate tempo play,
exchanging card advantage to generate a free play. As the most played unrestricted

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spell in the Vintage format, its centrality to the format cannot be overstated.

No Gush deck that I am aware of would play less than a full complement of Force of
Will. Force of Will requires a critical mass of blue cards to support it and reliably cast it,
usually at least 16-17 total blue spells. Since Gush decks are already heavily blue, they
are naturally able to support Force of Will as well.

Force of Will is most popularly known for being able to stop the opponent’s threats
before your first turn, such as an opposing Lodestone Golem from a Workshop deck, or
a Chain of Vapor on your Leyline of the Void when squaring off against a Dredge deck.

It is on offense, however, where Force of Will truly shines, and justifies its card
disadvantage. The card disadvantage of Force of Will purchases tempo. If you use Force
of Will to protect Tinker or the Tinker finisher, the card disadvantage is well worth the
price if the finisher wins the game. While this is the platonic ideal of what Force of Will
can accomplish, even more mundane threats are worth protecting. Playing Force of Will
on a removal spell targeting a tempo finisher, like Monastery Mentor, is often worth the
cost.

Regardless of your strategic objective, Force of Will can help you protect and achieve it.
Force of Will serves every possible role in this deck, and supports every strategic goal. It
is an automatic inclusion. The more important questions are knowing when to play it,
and which spell to pitch to it. These are subjects reserved for Chapter 9.

Misdirection

Misdirection is similar to Force of Will in many respects, but

its differences illuminate the strategic differences in
counterspell usage in Gush decks. Like Force of Will,
Misdirection trades mana efficiency for card advantage, and
can be used to protect your threats on the stack (its most
important feature). This is done by having Misdirection re-
target the opponent’s countermagic on to the Misdirection (or
on to their own spells). Unlike Force of Will, Misdirection is
less capable of being defensive – it cannot target threats like
Arcbound Ravager, Dark Petition, or Tinker. For that reason,
Misdirection shines in proactive, tempo-based Gush decks
and combo-based Gush decks.

That said, Misdirection can serve a defensive function in a few notable scenarios. First,
it is superior to Force of Will when targeting spells that target like Ancestral Recall,
Abrupt Decay, Swords to Plowshares, or Lightning Bolt. Not only does Misdirection
prevent the spell from hitting its desired target, but it can actually be used to draw you

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

cards or destroy an opponent’s permanent. There are few more devastating plays in the
format that Misdirecting an opponent’s Ancestral Recall. My anecdotal observation is
that running Misdirection as a 1-of introduces about a 1 in 20 game chance of that
happening on average.

Misdirection can be used in a more purely defensive posture when protecting other
countermagic targeting the opponent’s strategic objective. For example, if the opponent
has just cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and you cast Mana Drain or Spell Pierce, and
protect that answer from additional countermagic with Misdirection. In this instance,
you would redirect the opponent’s counterspell to the Misdirection (or to the Jace on
the stack).

When playing Misdirection, it is important to announce your targets to avoid confusion,

and more importantly, to avoid being tricked. It is important to understand what are
legal targets and what are not, and to understand how the stack clears. For example, a
Red Elemental Blast used in the ‘target a blue permanent in play’ mode cannot be
Misdirected to a blue spell on the stack, because Red Elemental Blast is modal.
However, a Nature’s Claim targeting an artifact can be Misdirected to an enchantment
because Nature’s Claim is not.

When casting Misdirection on spells targeting permanents, players necessarily indicate

new targets. For spells on the stack, however, players casting Misdirection sometimes
leave targets implicit. Some players know that Misdirection can counter counterspells
targeting other spells, but may not understand why. Sharp opponents may seek to trip
up a nervous player by asking them to identify the new target for the spell being
Misdirected.

When Misdirection targets a counterspell, that counterspell requires a new target. The
proper target is usually Misdirection itself. Understanding this is not only important to
avoid confusion, but because of collateral effects. After Misdirection resolves, the
counterspell targeting it will “fizzle” by virtue of having no legal targets. Misdirection
resolves first, redirecting the counterspell to it. But since the resolution of Misdirection
removes it from the stack, the counterspell targeting it will have no legal targets. Thus,
when Misdirection Mana Drains, its controller will receive no additional mana on their
next main phase, although they may believe otherwise.

Misdirection has always been a consideration in Gush decks, which thrive on free
spells, a high spell density, and tempo, and is particularly strong in Grow-based
strategies. Grow decks typically need to win multiple counterwars over cards like
Ancestral Recall and Yawgmoth’s Will, where Misdirection is most potent. It is dead
against Workshop decks. Because of the availability of a diversity of countermagic
substitutes like Mental Misstep and Flusterstorm, Misdirection sees minimal play.
Although currently dormant, Misdirection can be a powerful weapon in the arsenal.

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Mental Misstep

Printed mid-2011, Mental Misstep has become a format staple. Mental Misstep is
narrow in scope, but one of the best counterspells available to Gush decks. Its efficiency
is unequaled, with no imposition of card disadvantage, trading 1-for-1 on the stack. The
cost of running Mental Misstep is the opportunity cost of the slot, and its narrow scope.

Although there are limitless conditions designed into countermagic, the most
prominent are restricting the card types that can be targeted, the mana that can be paid
to negate it, or the casting cost of spells that can be targeted. Following the lineage of
Alpha’s Red and Blue Elemental Blasts, Legends introduced countermagic that could only
target specific card types, like Remove Soul or Flash Counter, which targeted only
creatures or instants, respectively. Cards like Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm carve up the
card pool in unique ways, specifying either cards they can or cannot target.

The second common limitation on countermagic is allowing it to be evaded if the

opponent controls enough mana. Power Sink countered the opponent’s spell unless the
opponent could pay X amount of mana. Force Spike was a simpler iteration: countering
the spell unless an opponent paid 1 mana. Spell Pierce and Mana Leak extend that
notion by another mana each.

The third common limitation on countermagic is restricting the casting cost of spells
that can be targeted. Nix, Mental Misstep, and Spell Snare illustrate this design
approach from 0 to 2. In the same vein, Prohibit enjoys that entire scope, but is less
efficient.

Mental Misstep embodies the third approach. Although it can target any card type, it
can only target spells with a converted mana cost of 1. Obviously, only a fraction of the
playable Vintage card pool sits at this casting cost. Nonetheless, it has proven a large
enough fraction to justify playing it. Ironically, its printing makes it more valuable,
since opposing Missteps offer more opportunities to counter 1 casting cost spells.

The most valuable targets to hit with a Mental Misstep are restricted cards like
Ancestral Recall, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Fastbond, and Brainstorm, but they are far from
the only desirable targets. Countering accelerants like Dark Rituals, opposing
counterspells like Spell Pierce and Spell Snare, and removal spells like Swords to
Plowshares and Lightning Bolt are all common plays.

Costing zero mana and countering a 1 casting cost spell makes Mental Misstep not only
a solid counterspell, but a tempo answer. It generates tempo not only by countering an
answer to your threats, but also simply by being cast. Your opponent will have likely
expended mana while you have not. Although you have the option to play Mental
Misstep for mana, in most cases you will pay the Phyrexian mana alternative, 2 life.

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You will only pay a blue mana to cast Misstep when mana is abundant, your life is
extremely low, it would not interfere with playing any other card in your hand, and
there is no chance of your opponent answering with a spell like Spell Pierce of
Flusterstorm.

In addition to generating tempo on defense, Misstep may have greatest value in

generating tempo on offense, such as when shielding a tempo threat from a Lightning
Bolt or Swords to Plowshares. In these situations, you gain all of the mana and tempo
advantage of countering your opponent’s threats as well as the strategic advantage of
being closer to victory. Countering an opponent’s threat does more than prevent them
from winning; it brings you one step closer to winning. Countering your opponent’s
Ancestral Recall with Mental Misstep is great, but countering their Mental Misstep to
resolve your Ancestral Recall is even better. Protecting your Mystic Remora by
countering their Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, or Red Elemental Blast will resolve your
Mystic Remora. From there, your opponent’s will be reluctant to do much, giving you
free reign to resolve bigger threats and more Gushes.

Because Mental Misstep trades 1-for-1, and generates tempo in the process, it is worth
using Misstep to counter almost any spell, especially if you already have a modest game
advantage. For example, using Misstep to counter Ponder or Preordain if you have a
threat on the board and an otherwise equal board state generates tempo on your behalf.
That may seem like trading for uncertain value, but with a board advantage, it would
be worthwhile to trade 1-for-1 for the rest of your opponent’s hand? If you have a chess
piece that can win the game, and you could trade every single other piece on the board,
that would be worth doing. The tempo advantage is a fair trade, and countering clearly
superior spells like Brainstorm or Sol Ring are certainly worth the trade.

Mental Misstep’s printing has changed the Vintage format in ways both subtle and
profound. The presence of Mental Misstep has diminished the value of traditional
counterspells like Red Elemental Blast – trumping them on the stack – in favor of
narrower, but more resilient answers like Flusterstorm.

It is also worth mentioning the interaction of Mental Misstep with cards like Snapcaster
Mage, which provide flashback. Phyrexian mana may be used to pay a flashback cost,
unlike Gush’s alternative mana cost.

Mental Misstep is excellent against combo, tempo decks, blue decks, and Dredge. Many
of Dredge’s answers to graveyard hate, such as Chain of Vapor, Darkblast, and Nature’s
Claim all cost one mana. Misstep is excellent at protecting your Leyline of the Void,
Containment Priest or Yixlid Jailer against these answers. But Misstep is virtually
useless in the Workshop matchup, where most Workshop decks are mono-brown, and
run roughly one or two 1 casting cost spells in their entire deck (Sol Ring and Mana
Vault). Mental Misstep is therefore the equivalent of running main deck Red Elemental

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Blast or Flusterstorm: virtually useless against Workshops, but quite valuable against
blue decks.

Flusterstorm

Flusterstorm is an essential consideration for any Gush deck.

Although narrower in scope than most countermagic, it has
unique features that render it powerful and skill testing.
Flusterstorm is naturally synergistic with Gush. Being a free
spell, Gush can be cast without consuming mana resources,
while increasing the spell density per turn.

Consider the most obvious way in which Flusterstorm

protects Gush – casting Gush on Turn 3 with Flusterstorm
protecting it, from, say, Mana Drain. This sequence also
illustrates Flusterstorm’s specific synergy with Gush. The
mana to play it is created by Gush, and Flusterstorm protects
Gush or any subsequent spell played in the process. This sequence also illustrates the
powerful duality of Flusterstorm as well. Flusterstorm is impressively effective when on
the offensive, shielding threats from disruption and countermagic.

Flusterstorm’s efficiency is matched only by free countermagic and spells like Spell
Pierce. But unlike almost any other playable counterspell, Flusterstorm has functional
uncounterability, on account of the storm mechanic. Every storm copy has to be
countered in order to stop Flusterstorm. Generally speaking, the only playable spells
that can do this are Mindbreak Trap and another Flusterstorm. This makes Flusterstorm
an incredible shield for your threats, but an even more potent defensive weapon.

Flusterstorm breaks the stack. There is probably no better counterspell for ensuring that
any spell you want countered is countered. Its virtual uncounterability ensures that the
opponents Ancestral, Tinker, or Yawgmoth’s Will is truly countered. Flusterstorm is a
spell stopper.

While Flusterstorm’s greatest strength may be its virtual uncounterability, its capacity
for card advantage is a close second place. Like Mindbreak Trap, Flusterstorm can be
used to counter multiple cards at the same time. Ironically, this allows Flusterstorm to
be used in a defensive and offensive posture simultaneously. For example, playing
Ancestral Recall in response to a spell you wish to counter is a way to set up a
Flusterstorm that can both protect your Ancestral Recall and stop their threat. This not
only illustrates Flusterstorm’s capacity to counter multiple spells at once, but the need
to carefully identify targets for each Flusterstorm copy. As was the case with
Misdirection, targets must be selected upon announcement, and errors in this step can
lead to confusion and disappointment.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

The storm trigger must go on the stack at the same time that Flusterstorm’s target is
announced, but the storm triggers do not resolve at that time. Because so many
elements of Magic play are tacit, I advise Gush players in paper Magic to be
exceptionally careful with their Flusterstorm announcements and mechanics.
Professional Magic players will do their best to induce confused or novice players into
targeting the wrong spells with Flusterstorm, and I have seen more than one player lose
a game they would otherwise win on this account.

Despite its strength as a defensive tactic, it is an irony that slower control decks tend not
to play Flusterstorm. That’s because Flusterstorm is paradoxical – it shines most
brightly in decks that are capable of generating storm, and winning the game before the
opponent can develop a large enough mana base to circumvent it. Yet, its narrower
scope – only capable of targeting instants and sorceries – makes it less attractive to
control decks which place a premium on versatility.

Spell Pierce

Released in Zendikar in late 2009, Spell Pierce enjoyed a

meteoric rise, but has fallen back to earth with the release of
other competing countermagic. Briefly the “go to” hard
counter for Gush decks, Spell Pierce remains a consideration
for Gush pilots, but only with a careful understanding of its
advantages and limitations beyond superficial appearances.
Spell Pierce remains amazingly potent in the right home, but
has been surpassed in quality in other shells.

The most obvious advantage of Spell Pierce is its scope. Spell

Pierce counters all but one card type, arguably the least
relevant card type in the format except for tribal and
enchantment. Spell Pierce can counter Oath of Druids, Sphere of Resistance, and Jace,
the Mind Sculptor, card types that are beyond the reach of Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep
or Misdirection.

However, Spell Pierce’s disadvantages are increasingly evident. Spell Pierce is

somewhat easily overcome, by having just two mana available. While that may seem
comparable to Flusterstorm, that’s only true if the spell being targeted was the first and
only other spell played that turn. Flusterstorm retains greater value into the mid- and
late-games. Flusterstorm is not only harder to evade, but much more difficult to
counter.

Being easier to counter makes Spell Pierce weaker to cards like Mental Misstep, which
love trading with Spell Pierce for tempo. The printing of cards like Mental Misstep and
Flusterstorm each consumed deck space and air time that Spell Pierce once

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

monopolized. Although Spell Pierce hits many more card types than Flusterstorm,
sorceries and instants are more than half of the cards you would use Spell Pierce to
counter, making Flusterstorm better most of the time in the context of Gush decks.

Like most hard counters, Spell Pierce is excellent on both offense and defense. But given
its weaknesses in late games, Spell Pierce tends to be most useful in mid-range decks
and control decks with a faster clock. In those decks, Spell Pierce’s breadth gives it the
nod over Flusterstorm. Those decks also have a greater desire to be able to counter
cards like Oath of Druids, Jace, or Smokestack, which Flusterstorm cannot stop.

Spell Pierce’s limitations explain why it shows up in small quantities in most decks that
employ it, and use it as part of a broader package of countermagic. That said, Spell
Pierce has synergy in multiples, as two Spell Pierces can function like a hard counter in
the late game. In some respects, this is the card’s saving grace. Multiple Spell Pierces
allow Spell Pierce to function in the late game without substantially interfering with
your game plan, since Spell Pierce is so efficient.

Spell Snare

Printed in 2006, Spell Snare was largely unused in Gush decks in 2007-2008, but has
become a marginal consideration for modern Gush decks. Spell Snare is used for
pinpoint precision in a broad range of matchups. Like Spell Pierce, it tends to be used in
a suite of countermagic. The key spells it hits are Oath of Druids, Sphere of Resistance,
Thorn of Amethyst, Chalice of the Void set to 1, Burning Wish, Demonic Tutor, Dark
Confidant, Time Vault, Young Pyromancer, Thing in The Ice, Null Rod, Snapcaster
Mage, Mana Drain, and a wide variety of “hatebear” creatures, giving you useful
targets in almost every matchup.

Because of the differential mana cost between it and its targets, Spell Snare will always
be used to generate tempo. The rise of decks using Snapcaster Mage and tempo-based
Gush strategies makes Spell Snare a relevant consideration in any Vintage metagame.

Mana Drain

Once one of the most popular cards in the format, Mana Drain remains a consideration
for Gush decks. While answering an opponent’s threat, Mana Drain fuels your attack by
helping you cast strategic objectives. Though slower than other countermagic, Mana
Drain shines in more controlling Gush lists and is an important mid-game counterspell.
Having a hard counter instead of another conditional counterspell like the ones above
provides important security.

Mana Drains will help you maintain control over the game for a longer period of time,
preventing your opponent from achieving their strategic objectives. In that regard,

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Mana Drain is the inverse Spell Pierce. Spell Pierce is better at protecting your own
spells, and weaker at stopping the opponent’s strategic plays. Mana Drain is weaker at
protecting your own spells, and excellent at stopping the opponent’s strategic plays.
That said, Mana Drain is a ferocious way to fuel your own spells, generating mana in
your next main phase.

When playing Mana Drain, it is important to understand how Mana Drain works and
consider when to play it. Mana Drain has a delayed trigger that pools mana at the
beginning of your next main phase, whenever that may be. If you play Mana Drain in
your first main phase or combat step, it will enter your mana pool at the beginning of
your second main phase on the same turn. If you play Mana Drain in your upkeep, it will
pool in your first main phase.

In order not to forget the Mana Drain trigger, I recommend using a physical object
(such as dice) to remind yourself of your incoming mana. I’ve observed countless
players forget to pool mana with Mana Drain.

Players blustering through their turns without being attentive or carefully tracking
phase progression may find themselves misqueuing Mana Drain as well. For example,
if a player draws a card and pass the turn, an opponent, seeking to minimize their
ability to use Mana Drain, might ask the player to rewind to their first main phase,
where they can play a spell, hoping to bait out Mana Drain and waste the Mana Drain
mana in their second main phase.

One of the endemic problems with Gush decks is that their strongest tactics tend to be
weak against Workshop decks. Duress, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep,
Flusterstorm and Misdirection are each marginal if not useless against Workshop decks.
Mana Drain is among the best tactics for this matchup, and that’s another reason why it
deserves consideration.

Mindbreak Trap

Mindbreak Trap is another unique and powerful form of countermagic available to

Gush decks. Mindbreak Trap has many subtle aspects that should be noted. Mindbreak
Trap has one of the most unique conditionalities among countermagic: it requires a
certain number of spells be cast by the opponent before it can be played for free. Yet,
this strange conditionality may obscure profoundly unique and powerful elements.
Mindbreak Trap is much more than it seems.

First, Mindbreak Trap technically exiles spells rather than counter them. This means that
Mindbreak Trap, unlike other countermagic, can effectively “counter” uncounterable
spells, such as those played with Cavern of Souls, Boseiju, or otherwise. Abrupt Decay
may be uncounterable, but it can be exiled from the stack by Mindbreak Trap.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Second, as a result of exiling the spell, it can deny the opponent the opportunity to
replay them with recursion such as Regrowth, Snapcaster Mage, or Yawgmoth’s Will.
With recursion being such a salient element of the Vintage format, exiling the spell is of
real value.

Third, Mindbreak Trap can be a source of card advantage much like Flusterstorm or
Misdirection. Mindbreak not only exiles its target, it exiles any number of targets. It
means that Mindbreak Trap can remove every Flusterstorm copy on the stack, perhaps
its most valuable feature. It also means that it can clear out as many spells as the
opponent was foolish enough to put on the stack at the same time, just as Flusterstorm
may do, but with a wider range of possible targets.

Mindbreak Trap’s conditionality is well designed. The trigger makes Mindbreak Trap
playable, but not universally useful. Many players who have used Mindbreak Trap
know this frustration when the opponent plays Island, Mana Crypt, Tinker – or a Mox
and land into Oath of Druids, and are left sitting helplessly with Mindbreak Trap in
hand. As a compensatory measure, Mindbreak Trap is easier to hard cast than Force of
Will or Misdirection.

Mindbreak Trap useful against a wide range of decks (including Workshops), but its
features render it a primarily defensive card. The function of Mindbreak Trap is to serve
as a manaless defensive counterspell, and it shines in slower control decks.

Mindbreak Trap first entered the Vintage format as a tool for Mystic Remora decks, a
place that it continues to shine today. One of the biggest handicaps to Mystic Remora is
overextending. An opponent can build a powerful position, and then try to combo out
in a single turn. This is where Mindbreak Trap comes in, providing such an efficient
answer to opposing threats, that it will prevent the opponent from trying to trump your
Remora with the one big-turn play. It fortifies a Remora board position.

Mindbreak Trap is also an insurance measure against broken openers, like Turn 1
Mind’s Desire or Goblin Charbelcher. While competing with other countermagic like
Flusterstorm in control decks, Mindbreak Trap is situationally superior, not just because
of the breadth of potential targets, but the other features, such as being free, and exiling
spells.

Pyroblast & Red Elemental Blast

Once the province of sideboards in Vintage, Pyroblast has once again returned to its
Weissman roots as a frequently played main deck counterspell. Although Pyroblast and
Red Elemental Blast may only counter or destroy blue spells or permanents, they can
target spells that other countermagic has difficulty reaching, including Dack Fayden
and other planeswalkers and Standstill.

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As noted in Chapter 2, Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast are also some of the best
spells to try to counter Gush with, since spells like Flusterstorm and Spell Pierce can be
overcome by the Gush pilot by paying two mana. However, Pyroblast and REB often
run into Mental Misstep.

Critically, Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast are not functionally identical. Pyroblast
can target any spell or permanent, but only destroys or counters those permanents if
they are blue, whereas Red Elemental Blast may only target blue spells and permanents.
Pyroblast’s ability to be cast on anything can allow it to be used to fill up the graveyard
faster to fuel Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time, and can also be used in conjunction
with Dack Fayden’s -6 “ultimate” ability, to attempt to take control of an opposing
permanent by targeting it with Pyroblast.

Steel Sabotage

This narrow counterspell earns its keep as a maindeckable form of countermagic

because of its unusual modality of being able to bounce artifacts as well as counter
artifacts. This allows it to perform a function largely reserved for Hurkyl’s Recall:
bouncing Blightsteel Colossus. Steel Sabotage is maindeckable, and will be found in
Delver and other tempo decks, but is also worthy of sideboard consideration.

Duress & Thoughtseize

Duress and Thoughtseize are among the strongest forms of disruption you can play in a
Gush deck. These cards not only strip out your opponent’s best spells, but they provide
critical information on the resources and game plan of the opponent. This information
can be used not only to inform your own game plan, but to map your plays to their
limitations.

At a more granular level, these targeted discard spells can strip away the opponent’s
best and most powerful cards, serving on defense, or strip out countermagic to protect
subsequent spells you intend to play, serving on offense. They can also take cards to
help slow the game down (such as fast mana acceleration), to create a short term
advantage, which serves a tempo role. Consider some illustrative examples of each
mode. Suppose you play Turn 1 Underground Sea, cast Thoughtseize, and you see the
following in your opponent’s hand:

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, Black Lotus, Force of Will, Time Walk, Dark Confidant,
Yawgmoth’s Will

Taking Force of Will (or Time Walk, the supporting blue card) is the right play if there is
a spell you wish to resolve either that turn or in the near future. It is a play made when
you are the aggressor. If your goal is to resolve a card next turn, you probably take
Force, and not Time Walk, since your opponent only needs to topdeck a blue spell to
bring Force back online.

If you are concerned about them resolving Dark Confidant, you may want to take
Confidant or the Black Lotus. If you take the Confidant, you may even bait them into
expending their Yawgmoth’s Will prematurely to replay the Confidant.

Finally, taking Yawgmoth’s Will is a great defensive play if you are settling in for a
longer game. It is like taking your opponent’s queen off the board on the first turn in
chess. The queen is not immediately impacting the game, but it will. The card you take
depends upon the cards you have and the role you are adopting.

Duress and Thoughtseize shine in decks with tempo dimensions. They generate tempo
by exchanging themselves for the opponent’s best card, slowing down the opponent
while often growing the threats on board, like Young Pyromancer or Monastery
Mentor.

Until the printing of Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm, Duress and Thoughtseize were the
primary one-casting cost disruptive spells for Gush decks aside from narrow cards like
Red Elemental Blast. Since the printing of Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, and
Flusterstorm, the discard suite has seen less play in recent years. Although they are
efficient, easily played before or after Gush, and providing tactical flexibility, the
prevalence of cards like Mental Misstep make the discard spells less attractive.

Although no longer quite as popular, discard tactics are still valuable in Vintage, and

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

there are few places they shine more than in Gush decks. The only other possible place
where they are better is in dedicated Storm Combo (like Dark Petition Storm), where
Duress clears the way to resolve a giant bomb. The reason Duress effects are arguably
better in Gush decks is because later Duress topdecks are stronger in Gush decks than
in DPS-like decks, because Gush decks often take more turns to win the game.

Thoughtseize’s value has marginally improved over time, mainly because creatures like
Dark Confidant, Monastery Mentor, and an abundance of Workshop-driven artifact
threats has become an ingrained part of the current Vintage metagame. Thoughtseize
can pluck out a Dark Confidant or Mentor, while Duress cannot. Though the life loss
matters in most games, it is a cost worth paying. In more dedicated Gush Storm lists
though, Duress is usually better. Creature threats are less of a concern when the
strategic aims are different, and the life loss that Thoughtseize presents matters more in
a deck that plays cards like Necropotence and Yawgmoth’s Bargain.

Among the drawbacks to consider with discard spells is their relative weakness against
Workshop decks. While Thoughtseize and Cabal Therapy both provide the option to
strip away critical threats from the Workshop player, they typically expose your mana
base to Wasteland attacks. This is problematic because the best time to play a discard
effect against them is on turn one. Being that most Gush decks will likely not run a basic
Swamp, the Underground Sea that would be used to cast the discard spell is
immediately in harm’s way from Wasteland, before Gush is online to potentially protect
your lands.

The other relative weakness of discard spells when compared to countermagic is the
fact that they cannot combat spells that are drawn off the top of the deck by the
opponent. While discard spells can provide valuable information and proactively
disrupt the opponent (even stripping away uncounterable spells such as Abrupt Decay
or Extirpate), the aforementioned cards like Mental Misstep and Mana Drain are
obviously much better answers to cards drawn as the game goes on. Gush-fueled decks
like Doomsday utilize discard effects for a variety of the reasons above, but all of these
positives and negatives need to be carefully weighed when choosing the disruptive
tactics that will provide the backbone of Gush decks.

Cabal Therapy

Although Duress and Thoughtseize no longer see as much play as they did in the 2007-
2008 Gush era, Cabal Therapy sees much more play. Cabal Therapy’s inherent card
advantage helps overcome the tempo loss of possibly being Misstepped. Moreover, the
proliferation of horizontally growing creatures has led to a surge of play for Cabal
Therapy.

Cabal Therapy can be used to help clear the way to resolve a tempo threat, and then

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

helps generate additional tempo once the threat is generating tokens. Even when one of
these creatures is not yet in play, Therapy is attractive because it will eventually have an
opportunity to flashback, provided the game goes long enough. In addition to the
element of inevitability, it should also be mentioned that Therapy triggers prowess in
Mentor and Mentor’s Monk tokens.

Some commentators have called Cabal Therapy one of the most skill intensive cards in
Magic because of the choice involved in naming cards, and reading the opponent. In
general, Cabal Therapy should be used to strip out common forms of defense or
strategic threats, like Oath of Druids.

Vendilion Clique

Vendilion Clique was profiled in Chapter 5, but its use as a disruptive tactic requires
elaboration. While sharing many features of discard spells, Clique is profoundly
different in several respects. Like discard spells, Clique disrupts the opponent by taking
either their best card or situationally most important card. As is the case with the
discard spells mentioned above, Clique provides invaluable information about the
opponent’s hand, resources, and game plan.

However, Clique differs from Duress and Thoughtseize in several critical ways. It has
flash, and can be played at instant speed, and can be played any time you have priority
and mana, rather than only in one of your two main phases. As an instant, Clique can
be played as if it were a counterspell in the midst of a counter-war battle, removing a
tool from the opponent’s available arsenal, like Flusterstorm. You can play Clique any
time you have priority and mana rather than only in one of your two main phases.
Clique will and should be played at strange times. In fact, perhaps the most common
time that Clique is played is in the opponent’s draw step after they have drawn for the
turn, but before they move to their main phase.

The draw step begins with a mandatory draw that no longer uses the stack. Yet, the
draw step does not conclude until both players have passed priority after the active
player (the technical term that indicates whose turn it is) has drawn a card. Casting
Clique before passing priority and allowing the active player to proceed to their main
phase is one of the best times to cast Clique. This gives Clique’s controller an
opportunity to seize a card that was drawn in the draw step, before it can be placed on
to the stack in the main phase, and even if Clique does not resolve, it can be used to
ensure that resources and mana are tied up to fight it during an inopportune time for
the opponent. Similarly, it is common to cast Clique on the opponent’s end step,
helping to clear the way to resolve another critical tactic on your own turn, after you
have a chance to untap.

Despite having flash, there may be reasons to play Clique on your own turn. When you

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

are facing multiple Tangle Wire, you may wish to play Clique in your own upkeep, as a
way to maximize your mana, and to deploy another permanent to the battlefield. There
are other reasons to play Clique on your own turn besides Tangle Wire or Smokestack
effects.

In a tournament match I faced an opponent who had a Goblin Welder in play, and had
tapped out to play both Voltaic Key and Demonic Tutor on their last turn, leaving just
one card in hand. I quickly surmised that they likely tutored for Time Vault. With
Vendilion Clique in hand, I considered the situation. Had I passed the turn, and
allowed them to untap, and then cast Vendilion Clique in their draw step, that would
allow them to counter my Clique, if the card drawn happened to be countermagic. I
concluded that I should play Vendilion Clique on my turn or their upkeep, and it
turned out they did have the Time Vault in hand.

Notice that a traditional discard spell would not have worked here, as my opponent
had an active Goblin Welder in play. This highlights another aspect of Clique: sending a
card to the bottom of the library is sometimes better than forcing them to discard it.
Clique’s ability to put a card into your library is not solely a disruptive tactic. It can also
be an advantage for its controller.

When I played Confidant Gush in the 2011 Vintage Championship, I used Vendilion
Clique, in large part, for its capacity to put cards from my hand into my library. I did
not want to run Jace because of its high casting cost in a deck already dense with
expensive and painful cards to flip with Dark Confidant. Testing had shown that I
needed an effective way to get Blightsteel Colossus back into my deck if drawn, and
since Blightsteel was my primary win condition, I needed more ways than simply
Brainstorm to put it back into my library. Another consideration that led me to play
Clique in that deck (profiled in Chapter 11), was the fact that Jace, the Mind Sculptor
was among the most popular spells at the Vintage Championship that year. Rather than
running Jace (which then suffered from an older Legend rule), I decided Clique was a
superior tactic, since it can be played on an opponent’s end step, and attack to kill an
opposing Jace.

Perhaps the most difficult decision with Clique is not when to play it or whom to target
with Clique, but whether to elect to bottom a card in hand or not. Unlike discard spells,
putting a card to the bottom of an opponent’s library is optional, and not risk free. If
you decide to force them to bottom a card, they will draw another card in its place.
Deciding whether to bottom a card or not often devolves down to two basic pieces of
information: the objective strength of cards in hand (such as whether they are restricted
or not), and the situational relevance of cards in hand.

Suppose you cast Clique in your opponent’s draw step, and it resolves, and you see the
following three cards: Brainstorm, land, land. While Brainstorm may not seem like an

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objectively overpowering card, in a hand with two lands, it may have incredible value.
Allowing them to draw three fresh cards and return two lands to their library may be
functionally equivalent to simply letting them Ancestral Recall here, so it would
behoove you to “bottom” the Brainstorm with Clique’s trigger.

Clique derives value from many sources: its ability to deal fast, evasive damage, the role
as a blocker to trade with threats like Lodestone Golem, the capacity to answer
opposing planeswalkers, the information it provides, and its disruptive capability to
strip away opposing tactics at critical junctures. All of these things matter, and are
reasons why Clique is a potent weapon in the arsenal of any Gush players’ toolbox.

Removal and Bounce

Spot removal was long relegated primarily to sideboards or to a few bounce spells, but
has surged in recent years and is now widely visible in Vintage mainboards.

Lightning Bolt

The Alpha common was once feared in the Type I format, but eventually disappeared in
all but fringe burn decks. Because of the renewed importance of creatures in Vintage
and the widespread usage of planeswalkers, Lightning Bolt is once again a surprisingly
potent and popular tactic in tempo Gush decks. It is used in many Delver of Secrets and
Monastery Mentor variants in multiples, and is played in main decks and sideboards in
many other Gush decks. Ironically, despite an ever-rising power level in the format,
Lightning Bolt is notably well positioned as a broadly useful tactic.

Lightning Bolt is superior to simple creature removal in large measure because of the
creation of planeswalkers. Lightning Bolt is such a popular answer to Jace, the Mind
Sculptor that many Jace pilots now automatically use the “fateseal” +2 ability first, as a
way of surviving a potential Lightning Bolt hit. Cards like Lodestone Golem, Dark
Confidant, Young Pyromancer, Delver of Secrets, Metalworker, Phyrexian Revoker, and
Deathrite Shaman are all excellent reasons to play Lightning Bolt.

Snapcaster Mage has also reinforced the use of efficient removal such as Bolt. Lightning
Bolt combined with Snapcaster Mage (flashing back the Lightning Bolt) is often an 8
point life swing in a single turn, and is often enough to unexpectedly turn the tides of a
drawn out struggle, and win the game without notice or warning. This specific synergy,
not merely its removal power, explains its popularity in Delver decks.

Here is an example of a UR Delver list I piloted to a 2nd place finish in California in

January 2014:

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

UR Delver, 2nd Place Eudemonia January 2014

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

1 Misdirection 1 Mox Ruby 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Flusterstorm 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Ingot Chewer
2 Steel Sabotage 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain
3 Lightning Bolt 1 Polluted Delta 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Fire/Ice 1 Flooded Strand 1 Pyroblast
4 Gush 3 Volcanic Island
4 Preordain 3 Island
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique

Having three Lightning Bolts lowers the chances of a double Bolt opening hand, while
giving consistent access to Bolt when needed. Lightning Bolt also generates tokens with
Young Pyromancer, generating both power and tempo. Lightning Bolt is a presumptive
inclusion in any Gush tempo deck with red.

Swords to Plowshares

Once a staple of the Type I format, Swords has seen a renaissance in recent years. With
the printing of Monastery Mentor, white has become a very popular secondary color in
Gush strategies, and Swords to Plowshares has doubly benefited. Not only is Swords
the best creature removal spell in the format, but it is also one of the only effective ways
to deal with Monastery Mentor. Swords also benefits from being broadly useful against
Workshop strategies, hatebears and other aggro decks.

Path to Exile

Similar to Swords to Plowshares in efficiency and casting cost, Path to Exile does not
give the player whose creature was exiled additional life, but instead grants them the
ability to search out a basic land from their deck and put it in to play. Because of this,
Path can often be a consideration for tempo-based Gush decks, because the life gain that
Swords to Plowshares gives is unwanted when you are trying to beat your opponent

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down, and grant them as few turns as possible with your creatures.

Fire/Ice

Fire/Ice first appeared in Gush decks in 2003, but remains a playable removal spell for
Gush decks to this day. A useful removal and tempo play, Fire/Ice has obvious
disadvantages relative to Lighting Bolt, but a few subtle advantages that make it a
consideration as a singleton in decks such as the UR Delver deck just listed.

Unlike Lightning Bolt, Fire/Ice can naturally generate card advantage by destroying
two creatures at once, picking off Phyrexian Revokers, Pyromancers, Delvers,
Confidants, Lotus Cobras, and tokens – each two at a time. Furthermore, it can hit two
toughness pests like Deathrite Shaman, but where it fails in comparison to Lightning
Bolt is its inability to destroy a Jace or a Lodestone Golem.

Yet, Fire/Ice also compensates by being blue. The blue side of the card allows it to be
fetched by Merchant Scroll, and provides a tutor target with Scroll, expanding Scroll’s
repertoire. Ice is never a dead card, by virtue of being “pitchable” to Force of Will, or by
being cycled to draw a card. Even if the threat can’t be destroyed with Fire, sometimes
tapping a creature down like Griselbrand or Blightsteel Colossus can be enough to
inflict lethal damage in a stunning tempo move. The cantrip draw can also be used with
topdeck tutors to initiate critical sequences or continue GushBonding.

Sudden Shock

Very narrow in scope, Sudden Shock has the unique ability of being able to easily snipe
opposing Young Pyromancers and Monastery Mentors. Notably it cannot kill
Triskelion, Lodestone Golem, Thought-Knot Seer, and many other creatures that see
play in Vintage, but it is a useful tactic if you constantly battle Monastery Mentor.

Supreme Verdict

An unlikely Vintage spell, Supreme Verdict is gradually appearing in Vintage main

decks, Gush strategies included, as token-based strategies continue to deepen their grip
on the Vintage format. Spot removal spells are widely used, but largely ineffective once
token proliferation achieves a critical mass. Not only is Supreme Verdict uncounterable,
but it also wipes the board, and is one of the best anti-tempo plays in the format.

Verdict is most powerful when an opponent overcommits to the board, but it is

nonetheless vital for redressing or unwinding a board state dominated by Mentor or
Pyromancer. When an opponent has expended countermagic protecting or shielding
their tempo threats, Verdict is a devastating play. The main drawback to Verdict is the
challenge of casting it, and generating the requisite colors of mana in a timely manner.

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Toxic Deluge

Prized for its efficiency and versatility, Toxic Deluge has the capacity to remove any
threat, including Blightsteel Colossus, albeit with a significant life cost. It is generally
used by control strategies, but is played in other Gush variants, typically as an answer
to “hatebears” and other pesky creatures. It is also a tactical answer to strategies like
Dredge or threats like Young Pyromancer, and is generally played as a singleton tutor
target, but also occasionally seen in sideboards.

Snuff Out

Printed in the same set as Gush, Snuff Out serves as a highly efficient, but life intensive
removal spell for a range of creatures. It requires a deeper investment in black, and
utilizes a significant chunk of life, and typically appears in tempo strategies rather than
combo or GushBond decks. As an Instant, Snuff Out can be played at any time, but will
require the controller to fetch out an Underground Sea first, exposing the caster to
Wasteland effects. The life cost and investment into black mana (which is not just a
mana cost) is generally considered worth it against decks that pinch your mana supply
most aggressively, including Thalia-based decks, Workshop decks, and Eldrazi
strategies. Snuff Out is a strong consideration in many Gush decks with black, but is
particularly attractive in decks like Grixis Pyromancer, where it most often appears.

Murderous Cut

A long overlooked removal option, Murderous Cut has only recently appeared in
tempo-based Gush strategies, such as Grixis Pyromancer. With the restriction of both
Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, having the fuel present for the “delve” cost of
Murderous Cut is now easier than ever. This presents a versatile and efficient removal
spell for larger threats, such as Eldrazi and Triskelion. Importantly, additional cards can
be exiled upon casting to pay delve costs, making it especially useful in a format shaped
by taxing Sphere and Thalia effects.

Baleful Strix

More a removal tactic than a tempo threat, Baleful Strix has also appeared in Grixis
Pyromancer Gush strategies as a card advantage neutral tactic that can bypass Thalia
and Thorn effects, while also serving as useful fodder to flashback Cabal Therapy. Strix
is one of the most efficient ways to thwart larger creature tactics like Eldrazi, and can
easily be played early or late with the same effectiveness.

Abrupt Decay

Printed in late 2012, Abrupt Decay was slow to gain traction in Vintage, but is now

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

viewed as a tactical staple. Abrupt Decay helped bring general spot removal back into
vogue in Vintage. The built-in uncounterability of Decay has proven worth the mana
cast for its ability to hit enchantments, artifacts, creatures, and (certain) planeswalkers
alike, and rarely be a dead draw. What makes the uncounterability so important is the
capacity to buy back tempo. While Abrupt Decay is excellent at destroying Oath of
Druids, Time Vault, and a bevy of creatures, what makes Abrupt Decay so valuable is
the way in which it steals back tempo in a format so dense with countermagic. For that
reason, Abrupt Decay shines in control decks, which cannot simply defeat a tempo deck
through countermagic alone. Here’s an example of a Gush deck where Abrupt Decay
would prove quite useful:

BUG Tinker Gush, Top 8 Harrisburg (PA, USA) 10-26-2013

By Paul Mastriano

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 2 Abrupt Decay
3 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Jet 2 Flusterstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Pearl 2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Abrupt Decay 1 Mox Ruby 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Nature's Claim
4 Preordain 1 Mana Crypt 2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Ponder 4 Misty Rainforest
1 Brainstorm 1 Polluted Delta
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Scalding Tarn
1 Time Walk 1 Flooded Strand
2 Jace, the Mind 3 Underground Sea
Sculptor 3 Tropical Island
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Fastbond
2 Regrowth
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Here, Abrupt Decay functions similarly to how both Ancient Grudge and Hurkyl’s
Recall are often used – as a hedge for a wide range of threats. Unlike spells that have to
be precisely timed to maximize their chances of resolution, Abrupt Decay can and
should be played to maximize its disruptive force and surprise value. If the opponent

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

believes they are on the verge of victory, Abrupt Decay can rattle an opponent’s resolve
and confidence.

Hurkyl’s Recall

Hurkyl’s Recall is an all-purpose singleton that appears in many blue decks in modern
Vintage, and Gush decks are no exception. It has two broad purposes of equal
importance. Not only is it a hedge against Workshops – a singleton tutor target that can
unwind all of the efforts of the Workshop pilot through the course of the game, but it
also earns its spot by being an essential answer to the menace of Blightsteel Colossus
and other Tinker finishers. Occasionally, it can be used to disrupt the Time Vault combo
as well. When an opponent goes to activate Voltaic Key, targeting Time Vault, you can
Hurkyl’s them, and unless they can generate 4 more mana that turn, you will have
bought a turn to find an answer, or win the game first.

Hurkyl’s Recall can also be used as both a storm and mana engine in decks with large
quantities of artifact acceleration, although this is less common in Gush decks.

Because of its versatility, a copy of Hurkyl’s Recall is a presumptive consideration in

Gush decks, but is especially so in combo decks that can also use Hurkyl’s to generate
mana and storm with artifact acceleration. Substitutes for Hurkyl’s Recall such as
Rebuild and Steel Sabotage have slightly diminished its usage, but it still remains a
critical tactic against Workshop decks. In fact, Hurkyl’s Recall may be more important
as a sideboard card than a main deck singleton, and will be covered in more detail in
Chapter 10.

Ancient Grudge

Printed in late 2006 in Time Spiral, Ancient Grudge did not become a popular Vintage
tactic until the printing of Lodestone Golem in 2010. The ability to hit two targets with a
second casting represents more than simply card advantage, but is also a form of virtual
uncounterability. If the first attempt fails, the flashback will often resolve. This makes
Ancient Grudge better than if it was simply a Rack and Ruin effect, where a single
counterspell could spoil the effort. That’s why Ancient Grudge is so useful against Time
Vault assembly.

Ancient Grudge is one of the best anti-Workshop tactics in the format. Ancient Grudge
is efficient enough to be played under sphere effects, and can be played around Tangle
Wire triggers at low cost to take out the best threats a Workshop player can muster.
Alternatively, Grudge can simply break up a bunch of lock spells, smashing through
them like Mario smashes bricks.

Ancient Grudge is sometimes main decked in 3-4 color Gush decks, provided they can

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

feature green and red. It shines as both an anti-Workshop and anti-Time Vault tactic,
but also as a way to trigger Pyromancer twice while taking out mana artifacts or other
utility artifacts in the process. Ancient Grudge is a consideration for any Gush deck
with green and red because it is useful in a range of strategies, from tempo decks to
control decks.

Repeal

Repeal represents a paradox for Gush decks. It is a cantrip much in the mode of the
kind often found in Gush decks. Optimal usage of Repeal often requires a more
expansive mana supply than is usually found in Gush decks. Casting Repeal for more
than 2 is usually out of range for a deck planning to play Gush by turn three. But
consider this list:

Talrand Gush, 2nd Place Milan 01-24-2015

By Luca Lovino

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 2 Dismember
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 1 Forest
2 Mana Drain 1 Mox Ruby 1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Nature's Claim
4 Gush 1 Mana Crypt 2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Preordain 1 Sol Ring 1 Oxidize
1 Ponder 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Surgical Extraction
1 Brainstorm 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Trygon Predator
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Scalding Tarn 3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Time Walk 3 Underground Sea
1 Timetwister 3 Tropical Island
1 Jace, the Mind 3 Island
Sculptor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Gifts Ungiven
3 Repeal
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Talrand, Sky
Summoner
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Repeal is more generally used as a hybrid all-purpose bounce spell and cantrip in decks
with storm-based win conditions like Empty the Warrens, Talrand, or Brain Freeze.
Repeal usually appears in Gush decks of two varieties: heavy blue storm lists, and
Remora Gush. In Mystic Remora lists, Repeal not only can draw cards, but can help you
“reset” Mystic Remora by returning it to hand once Remora’s cumulative upkeep
becomes prohibitive.

While oriented as a combo-control deck, this deck uses Repeal (as well as Hurkyl’s
Recall) to generate tempo and storm. Repeal can not only bounce threats, but it also
generates meaningful draws at crucial points in the game, such as when going off with
Fastbond and progressing through the steps of the GushBond engine. Because it is so
mana-intensive, a full complement of Moxen are recommended in these lists to support
Repeal.

Nature’s Claim

A one mana Disenchant, Nature’s Claim is unrivaled in terms of mana efficiency. It

frequently destroys something more expensive and the life gain is negligible. The card’s
ability to disrupt or break up the Time Vault combo, destroy Oath of Druids, and low
casting cost in the face of sphere-effects make it a strong consideration in any Gush
deck. It is sometimes even worth running a single copy as an emergency tutor target,
although it will primarily be featured in sideboards, which is why it will be covered in
more detail in Chapter 10.

Trygon Predator

Released in 2006, Trygon Predator followed the trajectory of

Ancient Grudge. Largely unused by Gush decks in the 2007-
2008 era, Trygon Predator has become a staple for Gush
decks of both the control and aggro-control varieties in the
modern era. Trygon Predator is first and foremost a Mishra’s
Workshop silver bullet. For 3 mana it generates recurring
card advantage with its capacity to destroy opponent-
controlled artifacts repeatedly. Being a creature, it evades
Thorn of Amethyst, and being blue, it can be pitched to Force
of Will. Most importantly, as a permanent, it can be played
and used proactively, deployed before the opponent can
deploy their threats. This allows Trygon Predator to slip into
play before the threats it may eventually target, unlike reactive removal like Ancient
Grudge or Nature’s Claim.

Trygon Predator is also generally useful against most Vintage decks, which contain
artifacts, and particular strategies, like Oath. Against aggro decks it is also a blocker,

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

with a three toughness body that can often be used to protect its controller from many
hatebears and utility creatures.

Trygon Predator’s wide utility make it a main deck consideration, especially in

Workshop-heavy environments. Trygon Predator’s use against Workshop is covered in
more detail in Chapter 10.

Wear/Tear

With the rise of white as a secondary color in Gush decks, Wear/Tear sometimes
appears main deck as a singleton in Gush decks in the same manner as Nature’s Claim.
It is a versatile Mystical Tutor target or singleton that can help address or hedge against
strategies like Oath and Workshops.

Recursion

In contrast to every other sanctioned format, Vintage is defined by a Banned &

Restricted List. Since no card is banned in Vintage for power level reasons alone, the
most broken printings of all time are all permitted, albeit in limited quantities.
Recursive spells like Regrowth and Recall were swiftly restricted, not simply because of
the versatility or situational value they offered, but because they undermined the notion
of restriction: that these offending cards should have a limited influence on the game.
Recall was often famously used to recur Time Walk and Regrowth simultaneously,
which could lead to three more consecutive turns of play. Feldon’s Cane was even
briefly restricted in an effort to curb endless recycling of restricted cards.

In a format with the search and draw capacity of Vintage, recursion functions a bit like
tutoring. Rather than search the library, you may search your graveyard for the best
available or situationally relevant card. In this mode, Noxious Revival or Regrowth is
used to replay a countered or destroyed Oath of Druids, or Snapcaster Mage is used to
replay a Flusterstorm, Ancestral Recall, or Mana Drain.

In Vintage, recursion spells are widely played, and they are used for situational utility
as well as to abuse restricted cards. But in Gush decks, recursion acquires additional
abusive properties that should also be noted.

Snapcaster Mage

The last Magic Invitational submission, Snapcaster Mage has lived up to the hype, and
is widely regarded as one of the best creatures in Vintage. Superficially similar to
Regrowth, Snapcaster Mage is very different in terms of use and role. While Regrowth
plays a major role in facilitating the GushBond engine and recurring restricted cards,
Snapcaster Mage is much more tactical.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Snapcaster Mage is played for value, which can often be as

mundane as recurring a Preordain or a Mental Misstep, and
this is the primary use of Snapcaster Mage. Recurring
Ancestral Recall and Time Walk are incredible plays, but not
the primary role of Snapcaster Mage.

Ironically, Gush decks probably abuse Snapcaster Mage as

well as any other deck in the format, despite the anti-synergy
between the two cards. Yet, the ways in which Gush supports
and fuels tempo decks make them an odd, but powerful
couple. This is why Delver decks usually use both cards.
Snapcaster Mage won’t get you closer to a lethal Yawgmoth’s
Will, but it may simply win the game by dramatically increasing the clock on the
opponent, as illustrated in the section on Lightning Bolt earlier this chapter.

As noted, Snapcaster Mage’s primary targets are usually not restricted cards, partially
because you may want to recur those cards later with Regrowth or Yawgmoth’s Will.
This principle extends with greater force to the sideboard, where Snapcaster Mage
really powers up a deck’s strategy. Cards like Surgical Extraction, Extirpate, and
Nature’s Claim benefit greatly from having Snapcaster Mage main deck, since they can
each be replayed for value and tempo.

Regrowth

Long a serious consideration in Gush decks, the unexpected unrestriction of Regrowth

in 2013 has proved a boon for Gush decks, and the GushBond engine in particular.
Regrowth has been played in Gush decks in the format since Gush first saw play in
Type I. Regrowth not only recurs situationally relevant cards and broken restricted
cards, but in the context of the GushBond engine an unrestricted Regrowth can be used
to replay Gush to continue Gushing with Fastbond in play in the same way that a once
unrestricted Merchant Scroll was used to find Gush in years past.

Merchant Scrolling for Gush costs 1C, netting no mana with Fastbond, but drawing 2
cards, and netting 1, while digging ever closer to critical strategic objectives like
Yawgmoth’s Will or the tutors to find it. Regrowth is virtually identical, with the sole
caveat that Gush must already be found. But once a Gush has been drawn, Regrowth
can function identically to Merchant Scroll in the course of the GushBond engine.

A contemporary deck that features this reconstructed GushBond engine is PyroGrow,

found in Chapter 12. In that deck, Regrowth’s primary role is to facilitate the GushBond
engine as illustrated in Chapter 3. Absent the GushBond chain, Regrowth is also used to
recur Ancestral Recall and Time Walk, as well as a previously countered Yawgmoth’s
Will.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Regrowth benefits from maximal tutor suites. As noted in Chapter 3, Regrowth benefits
from the inclusion of cards like Imperial Seal, which help provide consistent access to
the deck’s best restricted cards. Regrowth also benefits from cards like Gifts Ungiven, as
Regrowth can be placed in game-ending Gifts Ungiven piles (such as Voltaic Key, Time
Vault, Regrowth, Yawgmoth’s Will).

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy (JVP) is the latest and one of the most
powerful recursion spells to see play in Gush decks. Entering
play as a two mana creature, JVP fits into slots usually
dedicated for tempo threats. He flips fairly quickly, usually
after an activation or two, and then begins to generate
recursive card advantage by replaying Preordains, Gushes,
and other spells.

Unlike Snapcaster Mage, he does not give spells flashback,

but, rather, allows them to be played from the graveyard like
Yawgmoth’s Will. This is why Gush can be reused with Jace,
whereas it cannot with Snapcaster Mage. Although both
forms of recursion are stopped by Grafdigger’s Cage, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy provides
situational flexibility with the looting ability, and a defensive mode that weakens an
opposing attacker.

One of the best features of Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, is that you use the looting ability and
the recursion ability in the same turn. After using the recursion ability, you must use
the +1 ability next before turning to the recursion ability again. This meshes nicely with
sequencing Gush, since the first Gush is usually played on Turn 3. Gush is often the
second spell you wish to recur with JVP.

Noxious Revival

Noxious Revival has proven most popular in Oath decks, which benefit from having a
larger than normal graveyard on average to choose cards from, as well as tricks with
creatures that get Oathed out like Griselbrand and Tidespout Tyrant. Not only can
Noxious Revival can be used to recur Oath itself, but it can be used to recur combo
components dredged into the graveyard through Oath’s activation, or can simply be
used to recur Gush in the midst of GushBonding.

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 Chapter 7 – Tactics!

Table 7.1: Tactics Summary

Name Usage Importance
Demonic Tutor Any Gush strategy with black *****
Vampiric Tutor Most Gush strategies with black *****
Mystical Tutor Any Gush strategy with Yawgmoth’s Will ***
Merchant Scroll Any Gush strategy with Fastbond ****
Imperial Seal Combo *
Brainstorm Staple *****
Ponder Staple ****
Preordain Staple ****
Gitaxian Probe Staple ***
Sensei’s Divining Top Mentor decks, Doomsday, control **
Sylvan Library Control strategies **
Force of Will Staple *****
Mental Misstep Staple ****
Misdirection Specialized *
Flusterstorm Multi-Use ***
Spell Pierce Multi-Use **
Spell Snare Rare *
Mindbreak Trap Specialized **
Mana Drain Specialized *
Steel Sabotage Specialized *
Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast Ubiquitous ****
Duress/Thoughtseize Staple **
Cabal Therapy Staple ***
Vendilion Clique Multi-Use *
Lightning Bolt Staple ****
Swords to Plowshares Staple ****
Path to Exile Specialized *
Repeal Specialized *
Fire/Ice Multi-Use *
Snuff Out Specialized *
Murderous Cut Specialized *
Baleful Strix Specialized *
Toxic Deluge Specialized *
Sudden Shock Specialized **
Supreme Verdict Specialized **
Hurkyl’s Recall Staple ****
Abrupt Decay Specialized **
Nature’s Claim Staple ***
Trygon Predator Multi-Use **
Ancient Grudge Multi-Use ***
Wear/Tear Specialized *
Snapcaster Mage Staple ***
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy Staple ***
Regrowth Specialized *
Noxious Revival Specialized *

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 Chapter 8: Designing & Developing Your Mana
Despite the accumulating volume of words and years of analysis dedicated to Magic:
The Gathering, the overwhelming emphasis is application rather than theory, and the
focus is prevailing professional (Pro Tour and Grand Prix) tournament strategy, rooted
in specific metagame conditions. This book carefully foregrounds matters often left
implicit, underspecified, or ignored altogether. By now you should appreciate the
strategic framework developed by this book, and the structure it entails.

The preceding three chapters set out, described, and illustrated the first three elements
that comprise your strategy, which I defined as a “plan for coordinating resources and
interim goals to help accomplish ultimate goals.” The final element of that plan is
“recognizing resource needs to achieve strategic objectives and enable tactical support,
and designing resource provisions to sustain them.” In other words, this element refers
to mana design and production.

The mana base is one of the most fundamental resources in Magic, as nearly every other
resource depends upon it. The term “mana base” refers to the mana resources included
in any particular deck and its productive capacity. Proper design and utilization is
essential to success. The design of your mana base must be carefully tailored to your
strategic and tactical needs. Similarly, the in-game development and deployment of
your mana base must also be tailored to those needs. In this chapter, I present principles
of mana base design and development for Gush decks, and then offer guidance on how
to apply those principles in practice.

Designing a Mana Base

A mana base is constituted of familiar components: basic lands, fetchlands, dual lands,
specialty lands, and accelerants and other mana boosters. The table below lists each of
these options for you.

Table 8.1: Mana Base Options

Type Description
Basic Lands Island, Mountain, Swamp, Forest, Plains, and Snow-Covered
variants
Dual Lands Tropical Island, Volcanic Island, Underground Sea, and Tundra
Fetchlands Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, and Flooded Strand
Specialty Lands Tolarian Academy, Library of Alexandria, Forbidden Orchard, Strip
Mine, Wasteland, Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls
Accelerants Black Lotus, Moxen, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Lotus Petal,
Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lotus Cobra, Deathrite Shaman, Spirit
Guides

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

The range of options for designing a mana base may not be as varied and diverse as
selecting a spell configuration, but selecting the proper mixture and ratios among those
options is far more important. Playing a deck with too few mana sources will prevent
you from consistently executing your game plan. But playing (and drawing) too much
productive mana capacity leads to mana flooding. Similarly, poorly considered color
ratios will prevent you from consistently utilizing the full range of tactics at your
disposal. There are common rules of thumb that can be applied to guide you.

Fundamentally, the mana base may be divided into lands and accelerants. Accelerants
are composed of either artifact accelerants or other mana boosters, such as Dark Ritual
and Lotus Cobra. Experience has proven that most Gush decks require approximately
14-16 lands. Fewer lands will result in too many mulligans and unreliable use of Gush.
Getting two Islands in to play by turn two is imperative. Even with a spate of cantrips,
less than 14 lands is simply too few to reliably find two lands by turn two.

Running much more than that amount of lands will result in drawing too many lands
during the course of a game, and being unable to take advantage of the mana advantage
derived from Gush. In the ideal situation with Gush, you would have found a second
land by turn two, but drawn no more by turn three, so that Gush can be used to
generate your third turn land drop, as described in Chapter 2. Running much more than
14-16 lands will lead to mana flooding and inefficient use of Gush.

Every optimized Gush deck will also include Black Lotus and on-color Moxen. Black
Lotus is simply among the best cards in the game, and fits seamlessly into even the
most efficient Gush strategy. On-color Moxen refer to the Alpha Moxen that produce the
colors played in your deck. On-color Moxen are included because of their capacity to
play spells faster than if you relied on land alone. An exception may be made for
tertiary colors. Doomsday lists with a tiny splash of green, just for Fastbond, for
example, may wish not to include Mox Emerald, because there are few other spells
which Emerald will be used to cast.

Beyond these two basic parameters, the size and configuration of your mana base is
chiefly determined by two factors: 1) your mana curve (the range and relative expense
of spells in your deck) and 2) your color requirements. Your mana curve will determine
your mana production needs, and your color requirements will determine the ratio of
lands, and the specific mixture of basics, duals, and fetchlands.

Mana Curves

Decks with higher mana curves require more accelerants and more mana productive
capacity. Decks with lower and tighter mana curves require less acceleration, and fewer
overall mana producers. Decks with fewer colors can include more basic lands and

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

fetchlands, minimizing the number of dual lands. Decks with three or more colors
require more dual lands to support consistent mana capacity in those colors.

By virtue of striking a Turn 3 Gush, every Gush deck is designed to be able to generate
three mana by Turn 3. Recall the mana production discussion in Chapter 2 that
illustrates the mana production capacities of land from Turns 1 to 4. On Turn 4, the
Gush pilot will only have two lands in play, barring effects that permit additional land
drops. In the usual case, that means just two mana obtainable from lands on Turn 4. In
other words, Gush decks do not build mana capacity or curve up and outward like
other Magic decks. Instead, they expand and contract in regular cycles.

Given this pattern, all Gush decks are naturally capable of supporting mana curves that
top out at three mana – or a spell range of 0-3 casting cost. Yet, it also follows that Gush
decks that wish to reliably cast four casting spells or more require additional mana
acceleration. Playing on-color Moxen and a Black Lotus will usually prove insufficient
to that task. Such decks will need to consistently find additional acceleration, usually
artifact acceleration, by Turn 3, the point at which Gush generates a third land drop.
This is why Gush decks employing Jace and other higher casting cost tactics will
generally run a full complement of Alpha Moxen, often Sol Ring, and possibly a Mana
Crypt as well.

Gush decks with scale busting spells (for Vintage), such as Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Mind’s
Desire, or color-intensive spells, such as Necropotence or Doomsday, will generally
need additional or specialized support, such as Lotus Cobra, Lotus Petal, or Dark
Rituals. Simply maxing out on artifact acceleration is usually insufficient to support
reliable casting of Yawgmoth’s Bargain.

Dark Ritual is an important accelerant in Vintage, and appears in some combo Gush
decks, like Gush TPS, as well as some versions of Doomsday. Dark Ritual is used not
only to play color intensive spells like Necropotence, but also to fuel strategic objectives
like those surveyed in Chapter 5 and 6, such as Tendrils of Agony and Timetwister.

There are a number of creatures that are also used to provide color boosts as well as
expand your mana supply. Lotus Cobra is one such notable accelerant, and one that
has many synergies with Gush. Like Dark Ritual, Cobra is excellent at accelerating out
expensive spells. Lotus Cobra can be played on Turn 1, to enable a Turn 2 Jace with this
simple sequence:

Turn 1:
Play a land, cast Mox, and cast Lotus Cobra.

Turn 2:
Play a fetchland (triggering Lotus Cobra, generating a colored mana), sacrifice the

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

fetchland to grab a another land (triggering Lotus Cobra again, generating another
colored mana), tap your Mox and a land, and then cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor (note that
this sequence also allows for an unused land, which could be used to cast a reactive Spell Pierce
or Flusterstorm to help ensure Jace resolves).

If fetching an Underground Sea, a similar sequence can be used to cast Necropotence as

well. Lotus Cobra is not just useful for accelerating out more expensive spells, but has
special synergy with Gush, which generates additional land drops, further leveraging
Lotus Cobra. This helps minimizes Gush’s drawback by providing plenty of mana even
with few lands in play, and especially earlier in the game when mana is at a premium.
With two Cobras in play, Gush is transformed into an explosive mana accelerant that
can quickly put the game out of reach, by virtue of sheer mana advantage while your
opponent may be relatively bottlenecked. Here is an example of a Cobra-fueled Gush
deck that I piloted to a first place finish at a Team Serious Open in late 2011, and then
replayed to a less successful finish at the 2012 Vintage Championship (with a more
streamlined list, shown below):

Cobra Gush
By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

4 Flusterstorm 1 Black Lotus 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Gush 1 Mox Emerald 2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Ponder 1 Mox Jet 1 Pyroblast
1 Brainstorm 1 Mox Pearl 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mox Ruby 1 Nature’s Claim
1 Time Walk 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Ingot Chewer
1 Necropotence 1 Mana Crypt 2 Lightning Bolt
4 Jace, the Mind 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain
Sculptor 1 Misty Rainforest
1 Imperial Seal 1 Polluted Delta
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Flooded Strand
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Underground Sea
1 Demonic Tutor 2 Tropical Island
1 Merchant Scroll 1 Volcanic Island
1 Tinker 1 Island
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Trygon Predator
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Lotus Cobra can be a lackluster topdeck, but the same could be said of many other
mana accelerants. Cobra serves multiple roles in a deck like this, not only accelerating
into threats like Jace, but also protecting planeswalkers from attack. They can also
combine for a clock, especially when backed with other threats.

Beyond unusual mana costs or a higher mana curve, there are a few other reasons to
include off-color or colorless acceleration. Even with a tight curve, there may be an
overriding need or desire to play some threats as soon as possible. For example, spells
like Dark Confidant, Merchant Scroll, Lotus Cobra, and Young Pyromancer benefit
from being played as soon as possible, or to help play around and through cards like
Mystic Remora or Sphere of Resistance effects. Additional accelerants may often be
included for that purpose, even when not maxing out on them.

Some Gush decks include one off-color Mox (but not more), in order to slightly increase
acceleration without noticeably diminishing the deck’s virtual card advantage.
Similarly, Lotus Petal may often be included in storm-based Gush decks as an
additional way to generate storm count during a Yawgmoth’s Will. One other unique
consideration for Lotus Cobra variants is to slightly rework fetchland ratios to include
additional fetchlands (at the cost of other artifact accelerants, and perhaps trim down on
the amount of each dual land), in order to reliably make Lotus Cobra more explosive
once it hits play.

In summary, all Gush decks are capable of reliably supporting mana curves that range
from 0-3 mana casting cost spells, but designing a deck with more expensive spells,
such as Jace or Mind’s Desire, requires additional acceleration. Similarly, unusually
color intensive spells, such as Doomsday or Necropotence, generally require specific
support, such as Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual.

Color Requirements

The second factor that determines the appearance and shape of your mana base are
your colored mana needs. There are general parameters that are consistently observed
by successful Gush decks. The mixture of fetchlands, dual lands, and basics distributed
over the main deck and sideboard are similar across archetypes.

In general, Gush decks run 14-16 lands, with 7 fetchlands being the norm. They also
tend to feature at least one basic Island main deck, and one additional basic land in the
sideboard in the secondary color. The distribution of dual lands is generally consistent,
depending on the number of colors used and the depth of a secondary color.

The color combinations used by Gush decks has evolved over time. Until recent years,
virtually every Gush deck would employ the GushBond engine, and therefore had a

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

base of Blue-Black-Green. With more varied uses and strategies with Gush seeing play,
this is no longer the case. Examples of two color, three color, and four color Gush decks
abound, often eschewing Fastbond altogether. Delver and Doomsday are sometimes
found in two color variants, as well as their more familiar three color versions. Control
decks and combo decks are found in two, three and four colors.

Without presuming what the future may hold for Gush decks or how Gush decks may
evolve, the only certainty is that Gush decks will necessarily have a blue base. Let us
review the possibilities for color combinations for Gush decks.

Mono Blue

Although an unlikely possibility, mono blue Gush decks once existed in Masques Block
Constructed, known as Blue Skies. Although seemingly the most straightforward
possibility, a mono-blue Gush deck introduces notable complexities. For example,
would you play fetchlands, and if so, how many? Would you run specialty lands, and if
so, which ones?

It is likely that a mono-colored Gush deck would run either fetchlands, specialty lands
or both. Fetchlands serve purposes beyond color fixing. They are useful as shuffle
effects with cards like Brainstorm, Ponder, Delver, Sensei’s Divining Top, and Jace.
They are also useful for thinning the deck in long games, by removing lands and
decreasing the chances of drawing lands over time in cumulative draws.

Specialty lands, like Cavern of Souls, Strip Mine, or Library of Alexandria are also
strong possibilities in a mono-blue Gush deck. The trick will be maximizing the
presence of Islands in order to reliably use Gush. This is a ratio cracked by the Team
Reflection with Tyrant Oath, who figured that you could reliably Gush with 4 Orchards
and 12 Islands, with a total of 16 lands (the top end for Gush decks). One could imagine
a fierce deck of the future emerging to play some Caverns or other specialty lands, and
playing enough Islands for consistent Gushing.

Two Colors

Two color Gush decks were unheard of in the 2007-2008 period, when the entire UBG
GushBond engine was ported from deck to deck in its entirety. However, they existed
before the printing of Onslaught (UG Grow/Emerald Alice, for instance), and have re-
emerged in recent years. Prominent examples include UR Delver and UB Doomsday.

These decks share similar mana base characteristics, and it is likely that future two-color
Gush decks will feature the same mana base structure. Most two color Gush decks will
feature:

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

 1-3 basic Islands

 3-4 on-color dual lands
 All 4 on-color fetchlands
 3 off-color blue fetchlands
 Both on-color Moxen and Black Lotus
 1 secondary color basic land in the sideboard

Some two color lists may want a specialty land, like Library or Strip Mine, in the 14th
land slot, instead of a fourth dual land, or simply as additional lands. Other two color
lists will run off-color or colorless artifact accelerants, like Sol Ring and Mana Crypt.
Doomsday plays Lotus Petal to help it accelerate out Doomsday on turn two (and for
use in Doomsday and Yawgmoth’s Will piles), and has greater need for the fourth
Underground Sea, in order to reliably get to BBB without Dark Ritual, although
Doomsday decks generally run some number of Dark Rituals as well.

Two color lists have the advantage of drawing upon the full firepower of two colors,
while maintaining a high basic land count and thereby mana base strength and
resilience. In addition, two colors has the advantage of a lower overall mana count and
greater mana consistency. With only 14 lands, on-color Moxen, and Black Lotus, that is
but 17 mana sources main deck, with another in the sideboard, giving you maximal
virtual card advantage with each draw.

Three Colors

Three color Gush decks are probably the most popular historically and at present. Three
color Gush decks can reliably draw from each color and maintain color consistency.
Thanks to Onslaught’s fetchlands, it is possible to splash green for a single card, like
Fastbond, with almost no negative impact on the mana base. All that must be included
is a single Tropical Island, which can be tutored out with any fetchland.

It was the printing of Onslaught’s fetchlands that broke Gush, creating a reliable way to
extend the mana base to three colors, and allowing Gush decks to play the most potent
cards available across a broad spectrum of options. Three color Gush decks follow this
general formula:

 1 basic Island
 3-4 UX, where X is your second most prominent color
 1-3 UY, where Y is your third most prominent color
 6-7 Fetchlands total, with 4 of the UZ fetchland, where Z is the non-blue color for
which you have a basic land in your sideboard. Z will not always be your
secondary color
 3 on-color Moxen and Black Lotus
 1 basic land in the sideboard in color Z (such as a Mountain or Forest)

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Recall that these are generally the minimal features of three color Gush decks. Players
will add lands, often up to 16 total land, and additional artifact acceleration, depending
on their needs, as described above, or strategic orientation, as discussed below.

Four Colors

Although less common than three color Gush decks, four color Gush decks have proven
popular and effective. Four color decks work because fetchlands allow you to reliably
find tertiary colors. A fourth color does dilute mana consistency beyond three color
variants, but can be managed if well designed.

One of the ways that this is managed is by ensuring that one of your colors is a later
game color, and not immediately needed. Another manner in which this is managed is
to slightly expand the mana base by including an additional land or two.

Some three color Gush decks only feature a single dual land in a tertiary color. Some
Doomsday decks, for example, include only one Tropical Island. For four color Gush-
based control decks, however, most players will want at least two of each dual land: one
to fetch early on, and a backup in case the first is hit by Wasteland. For these reasons,
four color Gush decks tend to follow this basic framework:

 1 basic Island
 3 UX, where X is your second most prominent color
 2 UY, where Y is your third most prominent color
 1-2 UZ, where Z is your fourth most prominent color
 6-7 fetchlands, with 4 of the U* fetchland, where * is the non-blue color for which
you have may have additional basic lands in your sideboard (otherwise, it is an
even mix of fetches)
 1 * colored basic land in the sideboard
 4 on-color Moxen and Black Lotus

If specialty lands like Library of Alexandria or Cavern of Souls are added, they will be
added additionally beyond the core of 14 lands.

If the fourth color is more than a splash, the Gush pilot may have to spread the dual
land configuration more evenly into a 3-2-2-2 or 2-2-2 mix. This is undesirable, but
necessary for a deck that needs reliable access to green for Regrowth, red for Young
Pyromancer, and black for tutors and discard spells, for example, or white for
Monastery Mentor, green for Sylvan Library, and red for Dack Fayden and Pyroblast

When the fourth color is required early or reliably, then it is probably not possible to
include a single dual land to support it. If, on the other hand, the fourth color is mostly

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a sideboard color or supports just one or two main deck cards, then a single dual land
main deck is often sufficient.

Oath of Druids three and four color variants will play a full complement of Forbidden
Orchards, and usually 12 other total lands.

Five Colors

Of all of the possible color configurations, this may be the rarest of all. Predicting how
such a deck would be constructed is more speculative, as there are no examples of
historically successful archetypes broadly employing Gush built on all of the colors in
the game.

A five color Gush deck would likely be designed on principles other than those
common to most Gush decks, such as basics, dual lands, and fetchlands alone, but
would be anchored by a specialty mana production, such as Forbidden Orchard or even
specialty accelerants and mana boosters like Lotus Cobra. At a minimum, I would
expect at least 15 lands in a five color Gush deck, and likely 16. Lotus Cobra could
feasibly anchor a five color Gush deck, but you would also need dual lands to support
it. I imagine that a five color Gush deck would probably have this basic mana skeleton:

 0-4 “rainbow” mana producing specialty lands

 0-1 basic Island
 2-3 UW dual lands, where w is the secondary color
 2 UX dual lands, where x is the tertiary color
 1-2 UY dual land, where y is the fourth color
 1-2 UZ dual land, where z is the fifth color
 5-7 fetchlands
 5 Moxen and Black Lotus
 Other specialized mana accelerants, such as Deathrite Shaman or Lotus Cobra

Of course, there would likely be some significant augmentation or additions, but this
would be the starting point, depending upon the mana requirements of the rest of the
deck.

In addition to mana curve and color requirements, there is another major factor that
informs the design of your mana base: your strategic approach. Control decks, for
example, are much more likely to include Library of Alexandria, a specialty land that
delays usage of Gush, but is much more reliably activated in Gush decks, thanks to
Gush’s capacity to put 4 cards into hand for no mana.

Similarly, Strip Mine is much more likely to be included in tempo and aggro-control
strategies that are three or fewer colors, as they can use Strip Mine main deck to

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generate tempo and disrupt the opponent’s game plan. Despite the structural
differences among color combinations, these are general rules of thumb to follow when
building a mana base in a Gush deck.

Here are some common adjustments to make for specialty lands:

 Strip Mine can be included over a dual land or second basic land in two or three
color decks, and reduce your overall blue land production count to 13. If you
play a four color deck, Strip Mine is generally the 15th or 16th land.
 If you run Tolarian Academy, you will cut a fetchland to make room for
Academy.
 If you play Forbidden Orchards, you cut at least two fetchlands and increase
your land count to 16.
 If you play Library of Alexandria, you’ll cut one fetchland or a basic Island to
make room, or simply add Library as the 15th or 16th land.

The other major question you’ll have to decide is how to design or settle upon the
proper mixture of artifact accelerants. While most Vintage decks run all five Alpha
Moxen, this is not true of Gush decks for the aforementioned reasons. Because of the
compressed mana curve, most cards cost a single color of mana, making off-color
Moxen less useful.

A good number of Combo/Control Gush lists are running Mana Crypt to accelerate out
Tinker, Jace, and Empty the Warrens, among other spells. One reason for this is the
popularity of Workshop decks. Mana Crypt can easily played through Sphere effects. If
you choose to run Repeals and Mystic Remora, Mind’s Desire, or Yawgmoth’s Bargain,
Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and Mana Vault all become important considerations.

Your mana base needs to be tailored both to your strategy and to your color needs. Both
elements are important. You should include additional lands in your sideboard for the
Workshop matchup, but more on that in Chapter 10.

Mana Development

Designing, managing, and developing one’s mana base is the most fundamental skill in
Magic. In Vintage this skill is of even greater importance. Vintage features fewer turns
per game than any other constructed format, but more decisions and spells condensed
into those precious turns over the course of an entire game. To accept this is not to buy
into the stereotypes of the format, but to recognize that the presence of mana
acceleration and tutors offers faster and more efficient routes to strategic objectives.

It follows that every mana development decision, from which land to play, when to
play it, and how to use it, has a more significant and consequential impact than in other

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formats. The first and second turn land drops in Standard may be interchangeable, with
no effect on the outcome of the game. Playing the wrong land on turn one in Vintage
can be an irrecoverable error.

A prominent illustration of this idea is the 2013 Vintage Championship finals. AJ Grasso
was playing RUG Delver, and was facing Joel Lim, who was piloting mono-blue
Merfolk with 4 Wastelands. In Game 1, AJ’s opening hand was:

Gush, Volcanic Island, Spell Pierce, Ancient Grudge, Tarmogoyf, Black Lotus, Force of Will

AJ drew Scalding Tarn on his first turn, and led with Volcanic Island instead of Scalding
Tarn. He then played and used his Black Lotus to cast Tarmogoyf. Joel followed up by
Wastelanding the Volcanic Island on the ensuing turn. The effect of this was not only to
prevent AJ from using Gush on turn two or turn three in a natural way or in response to
Wasteland, but it cut him off from being able to play more threats until it was too late.

The simple misplay of this first turn land drop had consequences that reverberated
throughout the rest of the game, and was arguably the principal cause of his game loss
that would follow. I believe that AJ could have won that game had he sequenced his
plays differently, playing Scalding Tarn on the first turn instead of a dual land.

While mana base design may be the most important design element in the game, mana
development may be the least appreciated aspect of game play. More technical mistakes
per game arise from improper use of the mana base than any other aspect of Vintage
game play, from novice to expert alike. The following errors are common:

(1) Playing the wrong land in a given turn

(2) Fetching out the wrong land with a fetchland
(3) Sacrificing a fetchland at the wrong time
(4) Playing Moxen at the wrong time
(5) Not playing Moxen or other mana accelerants when they should be played

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Most magic strategy articles and forum discussions aimed at play improvement focus
on card choices and emphasize tactical and strategic decisions. Mana base discussions
neither attract readers nor sell articles, and not nearly enough attention is devoted to
constructing and managing one’s mana base.

Because most players are not focused on mana base decisions, these decisions are not
scrutinized by other players to the same degree as other in-game decisions, nor have we
trained ourselves to apply the same degree of scrutiny. We are more adept at spotting
when someone flubbed a Gifts Ungiven pile or Doomsday stack than if they played the
wrong land. Yet, the dual land is often the more consequential play.

Moreover, a land miscue is usually temporally distant from the ultimate result of the
game, and therefore difficult to recognize as an error. This makes the error difficult to
perceive, let alone pinpoint. The significance of the error may only manifest many turns
later, as a series of cumulative constraints disabled the pilot’s ability to make optimal
decisions, as it did in AJ Grasso’s case. Not having the right mana hinders optimal
development, which, compounding over time, creates an inferior board state. It is like
playing a game of chess where your opponent develops his pieces seamlessly, opening
broad avenues of egress and exit, while yours are underdeveloped, blocking and
interfering with each other.

There is also the human element. People playing games of Magic pay more attention to
spells than mana development. We are quick to spot a sequencing or timing error with
spells, but more often overlook a subtle error in sequencing land drops or miscuing a
fetchland activation. In playtesting contexts, we often rely on our playtesting partners to
help identify errors in order to improve play. But if they are less likely to spot errors in
mana development, then such errors are less likely to be corrected.

To underscore how easily mana base mistakes are made and overlooked, on several
occasions, I have caught an opponent attempting to play spells for which they were
missing a specific color of mana. In each case, the error was easy to overlook, as the
game states were often complex and involved, and my opponent controlled a resource
capable of producing the requisite mana, but had already used it.

Beyond the simple lack of attention paid to mana development, identifying errors in
mana base development is often objectively more difficult, not simply less noticeable.
The multiplicity of choices makes each land drop consequential, but many of the factors
that must be weighed are remote and marginal. Vintage mana bases generally resemble
spell configurations: many singletons, restricted cards, some tutors (fetchlands), and a
few key playsets (dual lands). In an opening hand with multiple land drop options,
deciphering the optimal play is both a context sensitive inquiry and an evaluation of
objective factors. There are many tensions that arise in your decision matrix, with some
factors weighing in support of one choice, with other factors in support of another.

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For example, when deciding how to use fetchlands, you often have to balance the need
for mana stability by either leaving the fetchland unused or finding a basic land against
the need for mana flexibility by finding a dual land. The risk of being Wastelanded
must be balanced against your need to play spells in hand.

Suppose you have both Mana Drain and Dark Confidant in hand, and two fetchlands in
play. Playing Dark Confidant will require you to fetch out an Underground Sea, which
could expose your land to Wasteland, potentially shutting off your ability to cast the
Mana Drain. Balancing these factors against each other can be perilous and challenging,
and like chess, requires calculating multiple turns ahead for optimal play, and
evaluating risks based upon known information.

Similarly, when either playing lands from hand or deciding which lands to fetch out,
you may be forced to choose between the capacity to play one spell or another. If you
fetch or play an Underground Sea, for example, so that you may cast Vampiric Tutor,
you may be cutting yourself off from playing Lightning Bolt or Swords to Plowshares
until your next turn. The remainder of this chapter presents practical guidance for
surmounting these various challenges in mana base development and management.

The Three Keys to Mana Development

Presenting the full range of considerations that inform mana development is beyond the
capacity of any practical guidance. Many factors that influence your decision matrix
will be situational and contextual. Additionally, many critical mana base decisions are
complex and equivocal, with some factors weighing in favor of one option, while others
support yet another option. Moreover, the weight given to any factor will also be
probabilistic and speculative. Acknowledging these facts does not render guidance
hopeless or useless, but requires forecasting, scenario planning, and weighing complex
factors on the fly.

The first step towards improved decision-making is to conquer confusion. Clear

thinking will always win out in the long run over muddled maneuvering or arbitrary
guesswork. There are three considerations you should always bear in mind when
developing your mana base. These considerations may be applied in virtually every
game state presenting a choice regarding how to develop your mana base. They are not
exhaustive, but are foundational. They can point you in one direction or another,
although they cannot conclusively determine the best choice.

The first principle of mana development is to maximize your capacity to cast spells in
hand. This may seem simple to the point of simplistic or pedantic, yet that is actually a
strength. When confronting a dizzying array of options, first allow yourself to be
anchored by this simple thought, and let it guide you towards a presumptive play.
Consider this hand, after your first turn draw:

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Mox Pearl, Misty Rainforest, Island, Underground Sea, Ancient Grudge, Lightning Bolt, Spell
Pierce

Which land should you play on the first turn?

You are presented with three different possible land drops, a choice as to whether to
play Mox Pearl, and a possible secondary choice about when to fetch, and what to
retrieve, should you play Misty Rainforest.

Applying this first principle, and assuming you have a Volcanic Island in your deck,
Misty Rainforest is presumptively the correct first turn play, as it is the only land drop
that permits you to cast the two red spells in hand, allowing you to potentially react to
your opponent on their turn at instant speed. If they play a first turn creature or an
artifact, you can fetch out a red mana source and cast either red instant on your
opponent’s turn. Not only does playing the Misty Rainforest maximize your capacity to
play spells in hand, but it also maximizes your overall mana utilization potential.

Given this analysis and the principle just presented, you will likely cast Mox Pearl as
well. By playing Mox Pearl, you are now capable of playing Ancient Grudge, in
addition to either Spell Pierce or Lightning Bolt.

The analysis and guidance presented thus far directs us to play Misty Rainforest, but
does not answer the further question of when to fetch. In a case like this, you will want
to fetch when you need to play Ancient Grudge or Lightning Bolt, but likely no sooner,
in order to both guard against Wasteland, and to provide less information to your
opponent.

Playing lands that permit you to cast spells in hand is one of the first things learned in
Magic. Yet, there may be tensions that are not easily resolved in trying to effectuate this
principle, and I should add a caveat to applying the first principle of mana
development introduced above. Consider this example, with your opening hand of:

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Island, Flooded Strand, Young Pyromancer, Lighting Bolt, Monastery Mentor, Mental Misstep,
Gush

Which dual land should you fetch on turn two with Flooded Strand?

The tension introduced with this opening hand is that you have two mana sources, only
one of which can fetch a dual land that can produce the red or white mana needed to
cast spells in hand, but not both. Maximizing your ability to play spells in hand would
weigh towards using the Flooded Strand to find a Volcanic Island rather than a Tundra.
This would permit you to cast both Young Pyromancer and Lightning Bolt, as opposed
to just Mentor. While that is probably the correct play, the situation is not as simple as
mere arithmetic. Not all spells are equal. It’s possible, if not likely, that the Mentor is a
strategically more significant play.

To illustrate this tension more clearly, consider an example where the math is more
indeterminate. Consider this opening hand:

Mox Sapphire, Polluted Delta, Underground Sea, Red Elemental Blast, Force of Will, Mental
Misstep, Trygon Predator

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Applying our first principle, the correct turn one land drop will be Polluted Delta, to
give yourself a chance to cast Red Elemental Blast on turn the first turn. If the need
arises to use it, the Delta could be used to find Volcanic Island to cast the Red Elemental
Blast. However, doing so would prevent you from establishing the green mana needed
to cast Trygon Predator on the next turn.

The first principle of mana development is incapable of resolving this conundrum. You
have one spell that requires a green mana source, and one spell that requires a red mana
source, and fetching the red or green mana source is a mutually exclusive option. To
resolve this problem, the most important factor to consider is the relative importance of
either spell. Depending on the matchup, either the Red Elemental Blast or the Trygon
Predator may be more strategically significant. Similarly, whether you wish to play
Trygon Predator or fetch a Volcanic Island to cast Red Elemental Blast may depend on
the importance of the opponent’s spell that you may consider countering.

As counter-intuitive as this notion may seem, it is also important to note that not all
spells are maximized by mana production alone. Tensions between maximizing your
ability to play one spell and get the most out of another may come into conflict.
Consider the following opening hand:

Mox Pearl, Misty Rainforest, Island, Scalding Tarn, Ancient Grudge, Empty the Warrens,
Mana Drain

What mana should you play on the first turn?

The principle presented thus far would include you towards playing Mox Pearl in order
to cast Ancient Grudge as needed. However, if you play the Mox Pearl, you will reduce
your potential storm count with Empty the Warrens at a later point in the game.

If you know what your opponent is playing, and are certain they are not playing a
Workshop deck, then you may wish to hold the Mox Pearl in case you need it to

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propagate storm for Empty the Warrens or Mind’s Desire. Against Workshop decks
though, it is best to play your Moxen as soon as possible. If you plan to play turn one
Ancient Grudge, then you’ll need to play the Mox to do so. Decisions like these require
recognizing what you are potentially playing against, and then trying to plan ahead to
maximize your resources.

There are a number of contextual factors to consider in real-time regarding weighting

the importance of your spells, storm count, and more, but what matters most is that you
considered your options, weighing the pros and cons, as the game unfolds. Mistakes
will never be eliminated entirely, but by considering the options given available
information, and planning ahead, they can be reduced and minimized. Most of the
mistakes made in developing a mana base are entirely avoidable.

While developing your resources to maximize your capacity to play cards in hand is
paramount, that is not the only foundational consideration you should bear in mind. If
the first key to mana base development is to position yourself to be able to play spells in
hand, you must also be prepared to cast spells not yet in hand. The second key to mana
base development is to develop mana resources able to cast spells you might draw or
other strategic objectives.

Although the priority is casting spells in hand, you must prepare to cast spells you will
eventually need or want to draw. A mana base tailored to cards in hand may
misrepresent your overall mana needs as the game progresses.

The organization of this book illustrates your mana production needs at each stage of
the game, from finishers to strategic objectives to tactics. In some sense, strategic
importance is inversely related to their likelihood of being in your opening hand.
Strategic objectives are generally less likely to be in your opening hand than tactics.
Moreover, the mana requirements of these spells are often quite different, and more
resource intensive. Tendrils of Agony or Doomsday are extreme examples, but most
strategic objectives are more expensive than tactics, like Spell Pierce or Lightning Bolt.

The need to develop mana capacity to cast spells not yet drawn, especially critical
strategic objectives, is second only to spells already in hand. In most cases, you can
ensure availability of needed colors by waiting to use fetchlands. In some cases,
however, you will need to fetch out a third color sooner.

Suppose you are playing 4C (UWGR) Sylvan Mentor (see Chapter 12), and you have
Island, Volcanic Island, and a Scalding Tarn in play. You intend to cast Dack Fayden,
but must first commit to fetching out another land in order to do so. Suppose you have
no white or green spells in hand. Which land might you fetch, a Tundra or a Tropical
Island?

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

One way of calculating the answer to this question might be to review the decklist, and
decide whether you have more white or green spells. But arithmetic alone cannot
resolve the issue of strategic significance. While you may have more green spells in
hand, the white spells may be more strategically important, or vice versa.

If you were playing a three color deck, then the hypothetical, with respect to the second
principle, would be easy to resolve: you simply find the dual land that provides access
to the absent color source. However, as a four color deck, this hypothetical requires at
least three other considerations, the ratios of green and white spells in your deck, and
their relative objective and contextual significance.

The more colors that are in your deck, the more you must consider your options with
each fetchland, weighing the importance of strategic objectives as the game goes on.
Not all of these will be of equal importance, so it’s important to identify your potential
role in the game, and then put yourself in the best position to execute that role.

Yet, strategic importance is not enough to resolve the situation either. As we have seen,
strategic importance sometimes varies inversely with situational importance.
Sometimes the least important spell to draw mid-game is the finisher. We might reverse
the hypothetical to illustrate this idea. Suppose you have eight white and six green
spells left in your library, but the green spells are more immediately important in a
tactical sense, whereas the white spells can be held in hand for a period, and need not
be used immediately, despite having greater strategic significance as the game
progresses. That would counsel in favor of fetching Tropical Island here, and is
probably what I would do, all things being equal.

Developing on-color mana before it is required is sensible and smart planning. It is

better to have your mana needs met proactively than to scramble to provide it when the
need has arisen and risk unnecessary delay. Windows of opportunity should be
exploited as soon as they arise for maximum impact.

A relatively common instance that illustrates the necessity of carefully considering

mana development involves Vampiric Tutor. Any time you cast a Brainstorm, Ponder
or Preordain, it is possible that you may uncover Vampiric Tutor. What is unusual
about Vampiric Tutor is its time sensitivity. A turn one Brainstorm, for example, that
uncovers Vampiric Tutor is best followed up by playing Vampiric Tutor in your Turn 2
upkeep. The tutor will both shuffle the returned cards back into your library and find
the best card in your deck in order to draw it in your Turn 2 draw step. If you fetched
out an Underground Sea to cast Brainstorm, then this play is possible. If you fetched out
a basic Island or another dual land, then you are likely unable to use Vampiric Tutor in
this way.

Aside from Vampiric Tutor, developing mana in order to cast draw spells perhaps most

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vividly brings into focus the necessity of carefully considering which land you might
fetch. In the example directly above, a land must be fetched in order to cast Dack
Fayden, and deciding which land to put onto the battlefield requires a consideration of
not only the ratio of green and white spells in your library, but their relative strategic
importance and time-sensitivity. These last two factors are often ignored in simplistic
mathematical calculations, and illustrate the deeper complexity of this game, not easily
yielding to computer logic.

A draw spell that puts this issue into stark relief happens to be the subject of this book.
Before moving onto the third principle of mana development, we must first take a brief
detour into a very important subject: floating mana with Gush.

Floating Mana with Gush

Recall that the second key to mana development is to develop mana resources in order
to cast spells you may draw later in the game. This includes cards you may draw with
Gush or your cantrips. Therefore, germane to this guidance is the universal issue of
floating mana prior to playing Gush. Despite the many nuances of mana development,
there is no broad area of greater complexity or technical expertise in mana management
with Gush decks than learning how to optimally draw mana prior to playing Gush.

Making irrevocable mana production decisions prior to knowing precisely the ends for
which they would be put is not foreign to the Vintage format. Lotus Cobra triggers
must be resolved before cantrips or other draw spells are cast in most cases. Lion’s Eye
Diamond must often be used before Timetwister resolves.

In 2002 Burning Tendrils experts developed rules of thumb for selecting mana supplied
with Lion’s Eye Diamond before knowing which spells that mana would be used to
cast. The same principle applies here. Gush pilots must learn the rules of thumb that
govern mana production with lands returned to hand with Gush prior to casting Gush,
drawing cards that will often need to be cast next.

While this information is unknown, it is governed by probability, and knowledge of

one’s decklist is vital in this analysis. It is not necessary to conduct detailed calculations
mid-game. Instead, logic will often suffice.

Suppose you are playing RUG Delver and your mana base is Tropical Island + Volcanic
Island, with two unflipped Delver of Secrets in play. It is your third turn, and you
intend to cast Gush, with no other cards in hand. What colors of mana should you tap
for and float before casting Gush (and returning the Volcanic and Tropical to hand)?

This example brings into focus a number of important considerations. First, it is

important to recognize that two different dual lands will also generate four possible

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color combinations. In this case, your options are: 1) UU, 2) UG, 3) UR, or 4) GR.

If you are a Gush beginner or novice player, I recommend that you sketch out your
options on a piece of paper prior to Gushing, and use a pen or pencil to eliminate
options. This practice takes little time, but can clarify your thinking. Even experienced
Gush pilots can benefit from this technique.

In this example, the second principle of mana development is the only operational one.
There are no cards in hand that could be played. This allows us to focus on what you
may draw. You can quickly eliminate the GR option, as that prevents you from casting
Dig Through Time, Snapcaster Mage, flashing back a blue spell, or any combination of
two blue spells, such as two cantrips or a Flusterstorm (which you may want to hold
up) and a cantrip.

It is possible, however, unlikely, that you may draw two non-blue spells. You could, for
example, draw a Young Pyromancer and a Lightning Bolt, or a Nature’s Claim and a
Pyroblast. Tapping for UU would then prevent you from making both plays. Granted,
if you draw two blue cantrips, and one of those cantrips finds another blue spell, you
will also not be able to play them all out. For example, you may draw a Preordain,
which finds Ponder, which finds Ancestral Recall. In that case, you would want UU.

This brings into focus an important fact: although there is an optimal play, you cannot
always plan or prepare for every eventuality. Even optimal plays sometimes produce
suboptimal results. Nonetheless, as between the possibility of needing UUU this turn or
UUC, I would plan for the latter. This leaves you maximum flexibility.

That leaves either option (2) UG or (3) UR. Either one of those options may be roughly
equivalent, depending on how your deck is built. If you do a quick calculation you can
roughly count the ratio of each color, in terms of spells left in your library, and select
that color. This will allow you to cast the greatest combination of spells you could
possible draw with Gush.

How would this situation change if you had spells in hand, such as a Flusterstorm or a
Lightning Bolt? If you had just a Flusterstorm in hand, it would mean that you want to
have a good chance to end the turn with untapped dual land in play, which would
mean that you really want to strike the right color combination of either UR or UG off
the bat. In the case of a Lightning Bolt, it may have the counter-intuitive effect of
making you more likely to tap for UG, because having Bolt in hand probably means
that you play Volcanic Island this turn as your land drop.

A similar analysis can be conducted for almost any situation. Suppose you are playing a
four color PyroGush deck, and your board looks like this on turn three:

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Underground Sea and Tropical Island

Your hand is: Gush, Spell Pierce, Preordain, Force of Will, Polluted Delta.

You tap your Underground and Tropical to float mana before you cast Gush. What
mana do you tap for though? This is a typical scenario, and you have the following
options here: UU, UG, UB, and BG.

The chief considerations are cards in hand, cards you may draw, and the weighted
importance of what your strategic goals you are hoping to draw to and accomplish.
Given the presence of so many blue spells in hand, we can eliminate GB as a viable
option. Green may be an option in case you draw Regrowth or Fastbond. Black matters
in case you draw Demonic Tutor or a Cabal Therapy. Bear in mind you also have a
chance of drawing a Young Pyromancer in this situation, and you’ll need to play the
fetchland to cast it.

At the moment, you have neither green nor black spells in hand. But supposing you
want to play both a green and a black spell this turn, it makes more sense to float UB or
UG than GB. This is because you can replay a land this turn or play the fetchland. For
example, if you draw Duress and Oath of Druids and you have either UB or UG
floating, you can replay a land, lead with Duress, and then resolve Oath of Druids.
Alternatively, you may simply wish to play Oath of Druids and protect it with Spell
Pierce. If, however, you draw Ancestral Recall, you will be sorely disappointed that you
cannot protect it with Spell Pierce. There is nothing you can draw that you would need
BG floating that you cannot do with either UB or UG and another land drop. We can
eliminate GB for that reason.

But which is better in this scenario, UB or UG? Again, if you draw a black and a green
spell, you can still play both with the additional land drop. But which is more likely? In
most Gush decks, it is more likely that you’ll draw a black spell than a green one. If you
are playing Oath or Managorger Hydra, then chances may be closer to even. If you
draw Oath or Hydra, you can still play Tropical Island and use the black mana to play
Oath or Dryad. If you draw Fastbond, though, you can play the Tropical Island and
play the enchantment. If you draw Fastbond and Duress, it works just as well to float
UB as it does to float UG. For those reasons, I prefer UB over UG.

The real issue, and the most difficult question, is whether you should float UU or UB.
The rationale behind UU is that you may draw more blue cantrips. For example, you
could draw Ancestral Recall and Ponder, or Ponder and another Preordain, or Mystical
Tutor and Ponder, or cantrip into another cantrip. In any of those scenarios, you may
need UU and wish to hold up Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm next turn. The answer
depends on your deck and your hand. On the off chance you draw two black spells, you
may be happy if you generated UB. If you have a black spell in hand, such as Demonic

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Tutor, UB makes the most sense. Floating UB will not prevent you, in most scenarios,
from playing almost anything in your deck, even if you fail to draw a black spell.

The previous examples illustrated some of the decisions to be made when you have two
different dual lands in play. However, having two of the same dual land can be just as
challenging to evaluate. Consider the following example, when you are playing
Doomsday, and it is turn three. You have two Underground Seas in play, and are about
to cast Gush. Your hand is: Mental Misstep, Force of Will, Gush.

What mana do you float? Your options are UU, UB, and BB. The BB option here cannot
easily be eliminated, because if you draw Doomsday you may want to replay an
Underground Sea can cast it here. Since none of the cards in hand require blue mana,
that poses less risk than would otherwise be the case. Depending on if your hand was
slightly different (with Flusterstorm, for example), or if you have multiple Dark Rituals
in your deck, it may be more appropriate to float UB mana here. There are obviously a
number of factors that go in to this decision, but considering what you might draw is
critical.

Selecting which colors of mana to float before casting Gush is a very important skill for
Gush players to develop. Consider your options carefully before selecting color
combination and you will maximize your chances for winning any game.

Mana Base Resilience

The third principle of mana base development is to minimize

exposure to Wasteland and Strip Mine, which are both
common in Vintage, and hinder the utilization of Gush. Given
Gush decks’ light land complement, getting Wastelanded or
Strip Mined will prevent you from playing Gush in the first
few turns. Therefore, it is important to develop your mana
base in a manner that minimizes exposure to these tactics
until the point at which you can Gush for advantage.

How do you minimize exposure to Wasteland or Strip Mine?

You do this in one of two ways: you lead by leading with a
basic land, or by fetching out a basic land. Consider this
example opening hand:

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Misty Rainforest, Tropical Island, Volcanic Island, Hurkyl’s Recall, Lightning Bolt, Gush, Force
of Will

Which land should you play first? There are at least three options, but one is clearly
wrong. Following the first principle, we might be tempted to lead with Volcanic Island,
and maximize our ability to play spells (Lightning Bolt). Following the third principle,
minimize exposure to Wasteland or Strip Mine, we should lead with Misty Rainforest. If
your opponent does not play a Wasteland or Strip Mine, you can even break the
fetchland for a dual land, such as a Tundra or other land on their end step. Why
Tundra? Assuming this is a UWR Mentor deck, Tundra would be the only long-term
mana color you do not have access to. Following the second principle, you need to
develop your mana base to prepare to play spells you might draw.

If they do play a Wasteland, you can break the fetchland for an Island and, with
priority, you can play a dual land. When they try to Wasteland you, you can then
respond with Gush. Applying the second principle, think about what you might draw
off of Gush that you would want to play at instant speed. More on this below.

The point of the example just presented is to illustrate the possible tension between the
keys to mana development. The mana requirements to play spells in hand or that might
be drawn must be balanced against mana resilience. If you know your opponent is not
playing with Wasteland or Strip Mine, minimizing exposure is unnecessary. If you do
not know what your opponent is playing, then prudence suggests minimizing exposure
so long as it doesn’t seriously interfere with either your development or your game
plan.

Here’s another example in a similar vein, applying the third principle. Suppose your
opening hand is:

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 Chapter 8 – Designing & Developing Your Mana

Polluted Delta, Underground Sea, Forbidden Orchard, Vampiric Tutor, Oath of Druids,
Brainstorm, Force of Will

Which land should you play first? There are three options. In terms of mana
requirements, you have a black, blue, and a green spell in hand. If we were simply
applying the first and second principle, we might play Orchard. However, applying the
third principle, we arrive at a different result. Strategically, your goal is to resolve Oath
as quickly as possible. You give yourself the best chance of doing that with turn one
Polluted Delta. This assures you even Strip Mine invulnerability, at least until Oath is
on the stack. For that reason, playing the fetchland is the correct play. It also preserves
your ability to play Vampiric Tutor or Brainstorm on your opponent’s end step, or
Brainstorm if need be.

In general, however, the third principle may prove the most important. For a Gush
deck, preserving your mana base is often more important than maximize your capacity
to play spells in hand or that may be drawn. Gush decks place a premium on placing
two Islands in play at the same time, and losing an Island can impede the use of Gush,
and slow the development of your game plan.

Table 8.2: The Three Keys to Mana Development

Point of Emphasis
Key 1 Develop your mana base to maximize your ability to play spells in hand
Key 2 Ensure availability of mana you will eventually want to use or to play spells
you might draw in the near future
Key 3 Minimize exposure to Wasteland and Strip Mine

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 Chapter 9: Role Assignment
This book offers a comprehensive framework for designing and playing Gush decks.
Chapter 1 presents a theory of Gush, describing the forms of advantage derived from
Gush, and the design principles that maximize them. Chapter 2 introduced specific
guidance on timing and sequencing Gush in order to extract maximal advantage.
Chapter 3 analyzed the GushBond engine, breaking it into its constituent components,
while describing its trajectory and illustrating its progression. Chapter 4 surveyed the
five broad strategic approaches available to the Gush pilot, and introduced a four-part
schematic for organizing your strategy into integral components. The next four chapters
explored each element of this framework.

Working backwards, Chapter 5 surveyed the cards that satisfy conditions for winning
the game, the ultimate strategic objectives. Chapter 6 investigated the interim or
intermediate strategic objectives that precondition and help set up ultimate objectives.
Chapter 7 focused on the tactics employed by Gush players to protect their strategic
objectives and disrupt the opponent’s pursuit of their own. Chapter 8 identified
resources needed to achieve strategic objectives and enable tactical support, and offered
guidance for designing resource provisions to sustain them.

The principles of design and play described so far supplies the technical knowledge to
proficiently operate Gush decks. To win tournaments, however, it is not sufficient to
have awareness of strategic objectives, faithful application of timing and sequencing
principles, careful tactical decision-making to advance strategic objectives, and
painstaking design. You must harmonize these processes into a coherent scheme. The
coordination effort is the focus of this chapter.

Chapter 4 explained that every deck has a plan. I defined “a plan” as “a strategy for
coordinating resources and interim goals to help accomplish ultimate goals.” The
preceding chapters covered those resources, interim goals, and ultimate goals. This
chapter emphasizes the element of “coordination” through the concept of “role.” While
certain cards fulfill tactical needs and others serve strategic objectives, the framework
that coordinates these activities – the plan – is the metaphor of “role.”

Who’s the Beatdown?

The metaphor of role acquired immortal significance for Magic players in a

foundational essay by Magic columnist Michael Flores, entitled “Who’s the Beatdown?”
Flores’ elegantly codified role theory in the simple equation, “mis-assignment of role =
game loss.” This premise, and its more general articulation, suggests the idea that in
any given game of Magic each player must adopt a role, and selecting the wrong role
results in defeat.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

In Flores’ model, there are two possible roles: “beatdown” or “control.” While each
mode correlates to the general strategic approaches described in Chapter 4, the role of
“beatdown” does not necessarily signify a strategy of attacking with creatures to win
the game. Nor does the “control” role necessarily represent a strategy not involving
creature attack. Rather, the “beatdown” expresses an aggressive posture relative to the
opponent, encompassing winning through various spell combinations, including many
of the strategic objectives surveyed in Chapters 5 and 6. Similarly, a “control” role is a
posture of primarily preventing the opponent from accomplishing their strategic
objectives. This is generally accomplished by playing spells that disrupt their game
plan, such as countermagic, discard, or destroying or denying other resources.

The basis of this conceptual framework is that any deck, and the strategic objectives
they embody, can be classified and sorted into either generalized “role,” control or
beatdown. The context for Flores’ observations was investigating role selection among
similar strategies. This is often forgotten, but Flores was concerned with identifying the
optimal role for each player between two aggro decks or two control decks. The genius
of this model is the insight that, in any given matchup, each deck is advantaged when
adopting a particular role, and strictly disadvantaged when adopting the other role.

Flores’ article received widespread fanfare and enduring acclaim. Flores took a familiar
idea, of a strategic orientation or role, and applied it to an unusual context, such as
similar strategies, with strikingly practical implications. But how was a player to
determine which role they should adopt? Although Flores offered some criteria and
guidance for helping assess optimal role, it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that “role”
selection between similar strategies merely reduced to some measure of deck speed.
After all, in a race between two aggro decks, the slower deck is incapable of
accomplishing its strategic objectives without disrupting its opponent first. Conversely,
in a control mirror, the deck with more draw and permission seems optimized for a
control role.

Fortunately, Magic is not so simplistically reductive, as tactics vary in relevance and

utility from matchup to matchup, not simply strategy to strategy. Speed alone cannot
define a deck’s optimal role assignment, as a deck’s general tactics may be naturally
disruptive to its opponent. Role assignment requires an understanding of the matchup.

The deeper problem is understanding what role operation means in any particular
situation. After all, certain activities seem to embody different roles in different
contexts, making application of the “role” metaphor hazardous at best. For example,
countermagic might be used to disrupt the opponent’s plan in one situation or to
protect your own plan in another, yet the tactic may be the same. If we appreciate that
the concept of role in Magic is merely a metaphorical construct, then both its insights
and limitations come into view.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Metaphors are nothing more than a conceptual mapping of a set of characteristics from
A to B. This juxtaposition of two distinct ideas, and the intimation of a set of similar
characteristics through metaphor, is often the source of new insights. The “clock”
metaphor was instrumental to the progress of western civilization by inspiring
scientists and philosophers to conceive of the universe in mechanistic terms, thinking
that helped spur the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. More deeply,
metaphor has proven fundamental to human thought, as ideas and concepts from one
domain have been relentlessly borrowed and applied to others with startling effect.

The beatdown and control metaphors suggest a range of behaviors. Beatdown suggests
an aggressive or proactive posture, whereas control implies a defensive or reactive
posture. Yet, applying these orientations to games of Magic is imprecise at best. Not
only can identical tactics, such as a Force of Will, appear to represent different roles in
different contexts, but sometimes the context can dramatically shift the strategic
significance of a play. For example, attacking with a creature may signify a control role
if the opponent’s strategy relies on Necropotence. Denying the opponent life, rather
than implementing a more direct route to victory, is actually the means of preventing
them from achieving their primary strategic objective: Necropotence.

That context may transform the meaning of a play is not a fatal flaw. As heuristics, all
metaphors are inherently imprecise. After all, if it were a perfect mapping, then it
would be a literal rather than metaphorical description. The role metaphor suffers this
imprecision.

At the same time, the application of the metaphor of “role” and its concomitant
associations generate useful heuristics for decision-making. These heuristics optimize a
player’s ability to win games by counseling plays that align with a deck’s relative
strengths. In that way, the metaphor of “role” can be used to define and prioritize
strategic objectives. It also ties tactical decisions and resource utilization to these
objectives, and therefore coordinates decision making through a unifying theme.

Because Magic strategies are already organized along these axes, the control/beatdown
or control/aggressor binary is useful for conceptualizing and directing certain kinds of
operations in Magic games through the metaphor of role. Some players have sought to
overcome the imprecision in the role metaphor by reframing the role query. In his
article “Who’s the Beatdown II?” Zvi Mowshowitz asks his readers, instead, “Who has
Inevitability?” This question reorients the role discussion to identifying the control
pilot, rather than the beatdown. This question provides another lens for answering the
difficult question as to who should adopt each role without relying on ambiguous
metaphorical constructs in favor of a simple strategic assessment as to who will
eventually win a long game. I leave it to you to determine whether that question is any
easier to answer.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Who’s the Beatdown II?

While the “role” metaphor is among the most important fundamental theoretical
insights ever advanced for game play, and its application provides useful heuristics for
decision making, the traditional conceptualization of this metaphor is ultimately too
rigid and simplistic in several respects. Many writers have struggled to break the
confines of the original model’s rigid constraints. For example, William Spaniel took
issue with the original model’s role binary. Rather than a binary, “role,” he wrote, is
actually a spectrum or continuum. Although I have no quarrel with a binary model, this
re-articulation of the role metaphor offers a more expansive range of possible meanings
and heuristics for analysis and decision-making.

Bristling at another rigid aspect of the original model, Zvi pointed out that “role” is
more fluid than the original model permits. In the original model, each player adopts
one of two roles for any given matchup. The model is dynamic only in the sense that a
given deck’s optimal “role” may change from matchup to matchup, the model’s most
critical insight. In any particular matchup, however, role is static.

In Zvi’s re-conceptualization, both players may compete for role assignment during the
course of a game, and the most likely game winner is the player/deck that can seize or
adopt both roles. The implication is that if you can deny your opponent an optimal role,
they cannot win. Therefore, the best decks are those that can accomplish this feat. While
I agree with that essential insight, Zvi’s model is also overgeneralized and too rigid.

Zvi’s revised model is informed by a key observation. Static role assignment does not
seem to reflect the dynamic and sometimes hybrid nature of deck operations. For
example, when a deck deploys a creature and then counters a removal spell, it is
arguably shifting roles from beatdown to control in that turn. Decks may shift roles
post-board or within a match. Players switch roles not simply from match to match, but
game to game.

Disciplined application of role assignment within the original model does not always
yield optimal plays. The value of the role assignment model is that it helps us
accomplish this by counseling plays that comport with our deck’s designed strategic
advantages. This fails to do so because the original model is too rigid. I agree with Zvi
that “role” is more fluid than envisioned in the original model, that “role” changes not
just from match to match or game to game, but from turn to turn, and even play to play.

Although a valiant effort to revamp a foundational metaphor in Magic theory to reflect

more accurately the dynamic operations of the game, Zvi is unable to escape the gravity
of the original model’s rigid assumptions. In particular, his reformulation remains
captured by the tacit assumption that role assignment is mutually exclusive between
players. In the original model, each player must play one role, and the other is forced

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

into the opposite. In Zvi’s revised model, role remains fluid to the extent that players
may optimally shift roles within a game, even achieving both, but it remains framed as
a kind of competition between players. As one player achieves a role, the other player is
forced into the other role in order to survive or compete, at least in that moment.

In my view, it is not that players compete against each other for role within the match so
much as they routinely shift between roles to achieve strategic objectives or to prevent
an opponent from accomplishing theirs. Rather than a static assignment or a
competition between players, role is a metaphor that helps define and guide deck
operations at a particular moment within the context of a larger plan.

It is here that the full importance of the distinctions between the four elements of “The
Plan” first defined in Chapter Four become apparent. Recall that I distinguished
between ultimate strategic objectives, interim strategic objectives, tactics, and mana
resources, working backwards from the ways in which a deck plans to achieve Rule 104
conditions. I defined The Plan as the strategy of coordinating these activities. Within
that plan, role is a mechanism or operation at a particular moment that serves as a
heuristic for decision-making. To illustrate role operations in this way, I recommend an
alternative metaphor, that of a mechanical gear. Alien to Magic vernacular, a
mechanical gear metaphor is not pretty, but it represents a far more accurate
metaphorical mapping to real-world game play.

Who’s the Beatdown III?

Most readers are probably familiar with the experience of shifting gears on a bicycle,
having observed the chain move from one gear to another to generate more or less
torque (or twist). Different kinds of torque are needed or suitable for different speeds of
rotation, and different gears generate different torque. For example, the gear needed to
drive on a highway is not the same needed to start a car or decelerate. Consequently,
we use multiple gears in automobiles and bicycles so that we might adjust to different
circumstances.

A collection of gears, and the process of shifting from one gear to another, is known as
transmission. Playing a Magic deck, particularly a Vintage deck, is much like having a
transmission. Each gear represents a role. Just as a bicycle might transition between
high and low gear depending on incline and desired speed, Magic decks transition
between gears during the course of a game, between control and beatdown, back and
forth again over the course of matches, games, turns, and plays.

The gear and transmission metaphor captures the dynamic quality of role assignment
identified by Zvi and others, but offers many additional insights. It illustrates the idea
that role operations are sensitive to prevailing conditions and part of a larger plan, just
as a gear is a mechanism that is part of a more complex machine. In doing so, this

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

metaphor satisfies the overriding need, stressed by Zvi, to be sensitive to that which is
most important. The larger purposes (your strategic objectives) are always in view, as
role as a transmission is used to support your plan for winning by tailoring your role
(gear) to the circumstances. As circumstances shift, the gear required to operate the
engine efficiently will shift accordingly.

Importantly, the transmission metaphor permits us to discard the assumption that

optimal role assignments are mutually exclusive. The original model posited a different,
optimal role for each player. Zvi dismissed that limitation by suggesting that players
compete for roles, but the transmission metaphor closes the circle by rendering it
irrelevant.

Applying the transmission metaphor, both players may be locked in the same gear
operation (either control or beatdown modes) in an attempt to achieve role supremacy.
We can imagine two cars drag racing down a stretch of road just as two combo decks
might be racing to combo out or burn decks racing towards 20 points of damage, or we
might imagine two control decks gently but patiently maneuvering, drawing cards, and
stockpiling countermagic.

It might still be the case that role assignment is a competition between players or
mutually exclusive in any given moment, but that fact is relatively unimportant. The
importance of a particular gear is not that it forces the opponent into a different role, but
that it is the most efficient way to achieve your goals in that moment. In that way, the
gear/transmission metaphor, while offering a more accurate depiction of Magic game
operations, preserves the most important insight of the role metaphor: the idea that
there is an optimal decision at any given moment informed by a particular “role” that
best matches your deck’s designed advantages.

The gear/transmissions metaphor is also less rigid in the sense that it need not be a
binary model. For those who endorse William Spaniel’s critique of the binary role
model, there is much to say for a gear/transmission metaphor, which is amenable to a
spectrum or range of modes.

Having introduced the gear and transmission metaphor for specific roles and the
process of role assignment, I will now redefine the traditional role binary in terms of
this metaphor. I provide examples that illustrate these gear operations in different
contexts. In doing so, I will illustrate the practical value of this revised metaphor. I then
explain how to operate the transmission and navigate between roles during the course
of a game. This skill is among the most difficult but important for any Magic player,
although it is one that the original model glosses over entirely.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Control: Low Gear

Magic players intuit the meaning of a control role, yet theorists have struggled to define
it. As a strategic orientation or a metaphor, role definition can prove surprisingly
elusive to pin down. Please recall that a control role is not equivalent to being a control
strategy. Many, if not all strategies, are capable of playing a control role, as Flores’
article suggests. After all, in his model, one of the control decks must be the
“beatdown.”

Previous theorists seem to conclude that the control role is ultimately defined
contextually (as Zvi does), but has many suggestive features: card drawing, permission,
removal, etc. The framework developed in this book for defining
“plan,” and the distinctions drawn between the elements of a plan, The Control Role is a
allow me to define the control role with unusual precision. mode in which a
player seeks to
In the context of a plan and its constitutive elements, the control role is
thwart their
a mode in which a player is primarily focused on thwarting their
opponent’s strategic objectives. It follows that a control role is opponent’s strategic
operationally oriented towards playing spells that destroy, prevent, or objectives.
otherwise address cards that correspond to an opponent’s strategic
objectives. As I’ve defined strategic objectives and tactical plays and the cards that
represent them in preceding chapters, you will surely recognize that most cards that
represent a control mode are tactical in nature, although many strategic objectives are
common control tactics, especially blue draw engines.

In practical terms, a control mode in contemporary Vintage is pursued by maximizing

your ability to interact on the stack. This means leaving mana available to play
counterspells like Spell Pierce or Mana Drain, or maximizing your ability to play free
countermagic like Force of Will and Mental Misstep. Historically, it also entailed
leaving mana available to play situationally optimal removal spells, a fact increasingly
true of contemporary Vintage once again with the printing of spells like Abrupt Decay.

Role assignment and assessment is not merely a diagnostic, but prescriptive. Role
assignment informs what spells to play, what not to play, and how to play them. A few
examples will illustrate these ideas.

Example 1:

Suppose you are on the play, and your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Scalding Tarn, Island, Lightning Bolt, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Delver of Secrets, Gush

The critical decision about whether to cast Delver of Secrets or leave up mana to cast a
counterspell or Lightning Bolt can be reduced almost entirely to role assignment. If the
proper role in this matchup and in this situation is beatdown, then you should cast
Delver of Secrets here. On the other hand, if the proper role is control, then you should
not only leave up mana, but probably play Scalding Tarn to preserve maximum mana
flexibility to cast either Bolt or a blue counterspell.

Applying the transmission metaphor, maximizing your ability to interact on the stack is
a decision to remain in low gear or the control role. Playing Delver of Secrets is moving
into a higher gear. The transmission metaphor offers a natural language for describing
these decisions in the context of role assignment.

This example illustrates how role assignment serves as criteria for what to play, and just
as importantly, what not to play. But it also illustrates how those decisions affect
resource management as well. In the beatdown role, you would probably be advised to
play the Island, in order to minimize exposure to Wasteland, as described last chapter.
Yet, in the control role, you lead with Scalding Tarn to give yourself the option to fetch
out a Volcanic Island or Mountain to play Lightning Bolt.

Tempo-based finishers pose this fundamental tension between the desire to maximize
your capacity to thwart opposing strategic objectives, while also pursuing those of your
own. As long as there is a tension between those two objectives, a decision regarding
optimal role assignment must be made. Consider another example:

Example 2:

Suppose you are on the play, and your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Volcanic Island, Misty Rainforest, Mox Jet, Thoughtseize, Flusterstorm, Young Pyromancer,
Gush

This hand is merely another expression of the same fundamental dilemma as presented
in the first example. You have a choice between deploying a first turn Young
Pyromancer, or maximizing your ability to disrupt your opponent’s strategic objectives
by casting Thoughtseize, and leaving up mana for Flusterstorm.

Adopting the control role, the optimal line of play is to play the fetchland and Mox Jet,
and cast Thoughtseize. Adopting a beatdown role, the implementing line is to cast
Young Pyromancer here. Once again, role selection determines not only which spells to
play, but which spells not to play, and the resources that support them.

The role assignment question influences not only which spells you play, but how you
use those spells, or which lines of play you pursue more broadly

Example 3:

Suppose you are on the play and your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Island, Polluted Delta, Mox Ruby, Preordain, Mental Misstep, Gush, Force of Will

You play Island, and cast turn one Preordain, and you see: Empty the Warrens and
Spell Pierce.

What do you do? There are five possible options:

1) Bottom both cards.

2) Keep both cards, and draw Empty the Warrens.
3) Keep both cards, and draw Spell Pierce.
4) Bottom Empty the Warrens, and draw Spell Pierce.
5) Bottom Spell Pierce, and draw Empty the Warrens.

Any decision involving keeping Empty the Warrens is indicative of a desire to move
into a higher gear, and therefore an intent to shift to a beatdown role in the near future.
Putting Spell Pierce in hand and bottoming Empty the Warrens is not only a low gear
play, since it will maximize your ability to interact on the stack next turn, but also is
indicative of an intent to remain in low gear in the near future.

Empty the Warrens here represents any ultimate or intermediate strategic objective. It
could be Doomsday, Tinker, or even a tempo-finisher, and the principles that underlie
this example remain the same. Knowing what gear you are in, and which role you
assume, will provide criteria for selecting among cards. Consider another example
involving tutoring that illustrates the same principle.

Example 4:

Suppose you are on the play, and your opening hand is:

Mox Ruby, Polluted Delta, Underground Sea, Merchant Scroll, Mental Misstep, Gush, Jace, the
Mind Sculptor

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

In the first two examples, the question was whether to play a threat or leave up mana
for countermagic and removal. The question posed by this example and the last is not
which spell to play, but how to use it. There is no compelling reason to wait to cast
Merchant Scroll here. The main question is what to find with it. As noted in Chapter 7,
where Merchant Scroll was discussed in detail, common targets are Ancestral Recall
and Force of Will. Each option presents a choice of roles. Finding Force of Will
maximizes your ability to interact on the stack now, and is therefore the lower gear play.
Selecting Ancestral Recall is indicative of a higher gear. What does that mean?

Beatdown: High Gear

The more aggressive “beatdown” posture is high gear. This role is defined, in the
context of The Plan, as an effort to achieve strategic objectives. When operating or moving
your deck into a high gear, you are generally pursuing or playing spells covered in
Chapter 5 on finishers or Chapter 6 on interim strategic objectives, although some
tactics may be played in a high gear.

Every Magic deck has both a high and a low gear. Magic players generally begin games
in a low gear, a fact especially true of Gush decks, which contain an abundance of
permission and a slow draw engine. In the absence of free or alternative casting cost,
instant-speed strategic objectives, players on the draw will always begin the game in
low gear. Even the most aggressive combo decks usually feature some minimal
amounts of tactical interaction that permit a control role (even Goblin Charbelcher
decks can sometimes play countermagic to disrupt the opponent, or protect their own
strategic objectives).

Although Magic players generally begin games in low gear, every Vintage deck features
a high gear, and Gush strategies are no exception. Even the most passive Gush decks
will eventually shift to a higher gear, just as The Deck was eventually compelled to cast
Serra Angel. The question is not if, but when. The critical difference between strategic
orientations is often the speed with which the pilot shifts gears. Aggro and combo decks
shift into a high gear early in the game, whereas control decks usually shift into a higher
gear much later.

To illustrate more clearly a decision to move into higher gear, consider the following
opening hand:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Polluted Delta, Force of Will, Spell Pierce, Gush, Tinker

This hand presents strong lines of play in either role. You can remain in low gear, and
hold up countermagic in the form of both Spell Pierce and Force of Will. Or you can
shift into high gear immediately by executing a major strategic objective, casting Tinker
for a finisher, such as Blightsteel Colossus. You can protect either the Tinker or the
Tinker finisher with Force of Will.

A familiar sequence to most Vintage players, this opening hand is often enough to win
most games. Few opponents will have the time or resources to address the Blightsteel
Colossus through your countermagic protection on the first turn. Playing Tinker is an
extremely aggressive tempo play that represents a shift into high gear. You are reducing
your capacity to interact on the stack in exchange for a quick, high probability victory.

Shifting into high gear is sometimes a gambit, where you sacrifice a piece to gain a
greater strategic advantage. Playing Tinker here is a gambit – you are not only
sacrificing cards in order to gain a superior strategic advantage, but you are reducing
your capacity to interact as well. In the early days of Magic, playing a turn one Serra
Angel off of a Mox, Black Lotus, and a land was known as the “Angel gambit,” because
you sacrificed resources to try and steal a win quickly.

Moving into high gear is not always a gambit, but very often entails some costs in terms
of your ability to stop your opponent. Reconsider the first two examples in this chapter.
The decision to play a first turn Delver or Young Pyromancer interferes with your
maximal disruptive capacity. These tensions persist through most games.

Example 6:

It is turn 4. You have four mana in play. You can play Yawgmoth’s Will and replay a
land, and then replay a few spells. Or you can hold up countermagic, untap, and play
Yawgmoth’s Will on the next turn with even more mana available, and you would have

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a chance to win the game that turn if Yawgmoth’s Will resolves.

It is a simple but common scenario. You can Yawgmoth’s Will now, and gain
measurable card advantage, or you can Yawgmoth’s Will later and gain a much larger
advantage, with a greater probability of winning the game. What do you do? Though
this is a timing question, it is also a role question. Upon close inspection, timing is really
a matter of role assignment. If you cast Yawgmoth’s Will now, you are moving into
high gear. If you wait, you are staying in low gear.

The preceding examples not only illustrate the difference between a control and
beatdown role, or low and high gear, but they also suggest the elements that determine
role implementation, including which cards to play for each role, which cards not to
play, when to play them, how to use each card, and which cards to select when
resolving spells.

Tutors and draw spells (especially cantrips) that select among cards are classes of cards
that involve role assignment decisions in their resolution, although we may not always
recognize them as such. Ponder, Brainstorm, and Preordain are absolutely vital
components of most Gush deck’s role assignment as a function of card selection.

As noted many times in this book, early Gush strategies depended upon efficient blue
cantrips to facilitate mana development, tactics, and strategic goals. These decks relied
upon Brainstorm, Sleight of Hand, and Opt, and more recently Ponder. Now, Preordain
is the lynchpin of these decks. Ponder and Brainstorm still loom large and play a vital
role in this process. Yet, putting them in a role assignment context will inform our card
selection process. Selecting among cards using these cantrips involves more than
decisions about development, but entails critical decisions regarding role assignment.

Consider one more example that illustrates a choice between high and low gear in terms
of card selection.

Example 7:

Suppose it is your fourth turn, and you can cast Regrowth. There are two targets you
are considering: Force of Will or Gush. You don’t have any other countermagic in hand,
but you do have another blue spell. The decision about which card to select is a role
decision. If you take Force of Will, you are remaining in low gear. If you go for Gush,
you are moving into high gear.

The preceding examples each illustrated the difference between role assignment in
terms of selecting or casting a threat versus drawing or keeping open a disruption spell.
Role assignment decisions involving card selection are not restricted to selecting
between a threat or disruption spell. Here, role assignment becomes trickier to

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recognize, but it may involve choosing between a mana source and a threat, or a mana
source and a disruption spell, or even an unknown card over a threat and a disruption
spell. Consider the following examples:

Example 8:

Suppose it is your second turn, and you cast Preordain and see Underground Sea and
Polluted Delta. As a general matter, if your hand has no other mana sources or is land-
light, you will likely want one or both of these lands. On the other hand, if you already
enough lands and mana production in each color, you will likely want to bottom both
cards. The decision will be the same in either gear. But suppose that you play Preordain
and instead see Underground Sea and Duress. Even though you may wish to remain in
the control role, and further that goal by selecting Duress, if you have no lands in hand,
you will likely select the Underground Sea instead. Underground Sea can be deployed
immediately, even if there are no spells that should be cast off it right now, and you can
follow up with the Duress next turn.

All of the general considerations that apply when making decisions such as these are
equally applicable, and should not be set aside simply to optimize role assignment. Just
because you are pursuing a role does not mean that you would select a suboptimal
situational tactic merely because it is consistent with that role. If Preordain or Ponder
reveal a card of low situational value, it should be jettisoned even if it is consistent with
optimal role assignment, provided you feel you have a good chance at randomly
drawing a better card.

Transmission: Shifting Between Gears

By now you should have a clearer sense of how role assignment maps to the gear
metaphor, with low gear corresponding to a control role, and high gear representing the
beatdown role in the “Who’s the Beatdown?” framework. The most valuable insight of
the transmission analogy is that it helps us see how decks transition between roles
during the course of the game. The gear metaphor brings into focus the simple fact,
illustrated in the examples presented above, that Gush decks shift roles (gears) during
the course of the game, not simply from game to game or match to match, as is implied
in the original role assignment framework.

In mechanical engineering, shifting gears is known as a transmission, and the

transmission metaphor richly captures the natural dynamics of Gush decks, with their
fluid strategic postures and contextually adaptive role assignments. Thus far we have
presented scenarios that pose questions about which role to adopt to illustrate the
differences between high and low gears, but we have not illustrated the dynamic
quality of role assignment. A control deck playing a late game finisher or an aggro-
control deck playing a tempo-finisher, and then shifting to low gear (a control role) are

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familiar examples of natural gear shifts. But as the transmission metaphor suggests,
gear shifts occur as regular adjustments to evolving circumstances rather than as abrupt
shifts at predetermined game junctures.

Example 9:

Consider this opening hand:

Mox Pearl, Misty Rainforest, Underground Sea, Kiln Fiend, Duress, Gush, Merchant Scroll

This hand presents many first turn options: You can play Duress, Merchant Scroll, or
Kiln Fiend. Ignoring the differential role implications for the moment, suppose you lead
with Kiln Fiend with the following three turn sequence:

Turn 1:
Play Underground Sea, Mox Pearl, and cast Kiln Fiend.

Turn 2:
Draw Flusterstorm for the turn. Play Misty Rainforest, cast Duress, and attack with Kiln
Fiend for 4, then pass the turn.

Turn 3:
Float UU and play Gush (Kiln Fiend gets +3/+0). Replay Underground Sea. Tap Mox
and use one of the floating U to cast Merchant Scroll (Kiln Fiend gets +3/+0), to find
Ancestral Recall. Cast Recall (Kiln Fiend gets +3/+0). Tap Sea to cast something else
(Kiln Fiend gets +3/+0), and use a Mental Misstep to counter it. Attack with Kiln Fiend
for 16 damage to win the game.

This simple sequence illustrates multiple gear shifts. You moved into a high gear on the
first turn, but then shifted back into low gear on the second turn, despite attacking, by
Duressing the opponent and leaving up Spell Pierce rather than casting Merchant Scroll

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for, presumably, Ancestral Recall. Then, you moved back into a higher gear on the third
turn with the goal of triggering Kiln Fiend enough times to win the game. This
sequence illustrates three different turns, each defined by a different gear than the
previous turn.

It is already stated, but worth reiterating. Dynamic role assignment is the norm, not the
exception for Gush decks. Unflinchingly pursuing a static role assignment for many
turns before shifting at a penultimate moment is less common than navigating between
roles regularly over the course of the game. A major reason for this is that many Gush
decks are hybrid strategies, capable of pursuing both roles in some measure. Combo
decks illustrate this duality as well.

Example 10:

Suppose your opening hand is:

Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Dark Ritual, Necropotence, Force of Will,
Preordain

You can play a Turn 1 Necropotence with Force of Will protection, and likely should.
But suppose you play Necropotence and it resolves without resistance. You will have
Necro in play and your hand will be: Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Force of Will, and
Preordain.

How many cards should you draw?

Does it really make the most sense here to gorge on your library, drawing a bunch of
cards (say 9, 10 or even 11), only to have to pitch most of them? Probably not. It makes
more sense to use Necropotence to sculpt your hand to protect yourself, developing
your mana and resources over the next couple of turns, and then try to combo off. In
that way, the game may play out as follows:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Turn 1:
Play Underground Sea, cast Dark Ritual, and play Necropotence (resolves). Set aside 6
cards, going to 14 life. At the end of the turn, put the following cards into your hand:
Dark Ritual, Tropical Island, Gush, Duress, Steel Sabotage, Mox Jet (added to your initial
remaining hand of Misty Rainforest, Polluted Delta, Force of Will, Preordain)

Then, you will have to exile three cards to get your hand back down to seven before
passing the turn. Dark Ritual, although useful for supporting your strategic objectives,
will probably be pitched along with at least one of the three lands in hand, as you shift
back into a control role for a turn as you develop your mana and resources. On your
second turn, you will use Necropotence more aggressively, with the goal of trying to
win the game on turn three. Once again, this is a game in which you transition between
gears, moving from high to low to high gear within the space of three turns.

Although gear shifting between turns is common, it also happens on a smaller scale:
you may decide to shift gears within turns as well.

Example 11:

Suppose your opening hand is:

Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Volcanic Island, Duress, Mana Drain, Force of Will, Empty the Warrens

Suppose that your plan is to play a control role, and you intend on playing Duress and
holding up Mana Drain. But when you cast Mox Jet and play Duress, you see that your
opponent has an unusually slow and reactive hand, with no countermagic that can be
played at this time.

Having seen your opponent’s hand, you realize that Empty the Warrens will likely win
this game. Instead of remaining in a control role, you play Volcanic Island and Black

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Lotus, and then cast Empty the Warrens (Storm 4) to generate eight Goblin tokens. You
win the game three turns later (with Force of Will backup).

Example 12:

Suppose your opening hand is:

Black Lotus, Gitaxian Probe, Monastery Mentor, Flusterstorm, Mana Drain, Volcanic Island,
Tundra

Your initial excitement with this hand is based upon the plan of casting a turn one
Mentor. But when you cautiously decide to play Gitaxian Probe first, you discover that
your opponent is playing Belcher and can win on the first turn through one of your
counterspells. Instead, you decide to keep Black Lotus unused to maximize your
countermagic.

Swift role reassignments were necessary in both Examples 11 and 12 in order to

maximize your chances of winning the game, despite how those hands may seem most
naturally to play out.

As an elaboration of the gear/transmission metaphor, these examples underscore the

serious limitations of the original role assignment model. Gush decks shift gears over
the course of the game, not just once, but again and again. The transmission metaphor
reflects the expectation of multiple role shifts within games as well as an overriding
sensitivity to context. Recognizing this is a prerequisite to mastering Gush decks.
Understanding this idea, however, does not tell you when to shift gears.

When to Shift Gears

If the original “Who’s the Beatdown?” framework identifies optimal role assignment

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

based upon static characteristics of the matchup, how do you identify the optimal role
at any particular moment when each player is expected to shift roles during the course
of the game? The flexible and dynamic framework suggested by the transmission
metaphor is more difficult to operate since it involves a contextual inquiry. The only
question in the original model was what role to play. In my revised model, the only
question is when to shift gears.

The formula “mis-assignment of role = game loss” holds not only at the matchup level,
but at a micro level as well. Selecting the wrong role in any given moment may
contribute to a game loss, making proper role assessment and assignment an operations
priority.

Understanding when to shift gears is the most difficult and among the most important
skills that a Gush pilot can develop. That is why this issue is the final major subject of
this book (with the exception of sideboarding, covered next chapter). Fortunately, there
are determinant criteria to consider when deciding whether to shift gears. These criteria
are contextually sensitive, yet universally applicable, and build on key concepts
developed in this book.

As described earlier, operating in low gear is a general mode of denying your opponent
the ability to achieve their strategic objectives. In contrast, high gear is a mode of
actively pursuing your strategic objectives. Consequently, low gear is predominantly
tactical, and high gear is generally, although not exclusively, represented by spells that
correspond to strategic objectives. Ultimately, optimal role assignment is a balance of
pursuing your strategic objectives while thwarting your opponent’s.

Shifting From Low to High Gear

Recall that every game of Magic begins with both players in low gear by virtue of the
fact that neither player has yet advanced their strategic objectives. To move into a high
gear, you must have the resources and capacity to achieve a strategic objective. This
threshold question is more subtle than it appears. It contains several component parts.

 First, do you have the mana, spells or other relevant resources to accomplish a
strategic objective?
 Second, do you have the resources to protect your strategic objective?

In almost every case, the first question is susceptible to a yes or no answer. If the answer
to that question is no, then you must remain in low gear. No matter how eagerly you
wish to cast your Necropotence in hand, for example, you cannot do so without three
black mana. If the answer to the first question is yes, then you must further assess
whether it is achievable under present circumstances.

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Answering the second question usually entails a degree of uncertainty, since you
generally lack complete knowledge of your opponent’s hand and deck. This question is
essentially risk analysis: assessing the resources at your disposal to protect or shield
your threat (note that this may mean baiting with one strategic objective for the purpose
of resolving another) against the possible answers your opponent may have in hand,
may draw or otherwise at their disposal. An example will illustrate this dilemma.

Example 13:

Suppose your board is: Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Tropical Island, and Time
Vault. And your hand is Voltaic Key and Red Elemental Blast.

Your opponent has one card in hand and a Deathrite Shaman, Island, Polluted Delta,
and Tropical Island in play.

Should you play Voltaic Key? You have the resources in hand to achieve a major
strategic objective: the Time Vault and Voltaic Key combination. The obvious problem
is that you cannot be sure that you can protect this objective. A Red Elemental Blast can
stop any counterspell, but it can’t stop a removal spell such as Nature’s Claim or
Abrupt Decay. For that, you will either need a proactive discard effect or other
countermagic.

Suppose instead of Red Elemental Blast, you had just Mental Misstep in hand. Would
that change your decision? Misstep could stop Nature’s Claim, Spell Piece, or opposing
Missteps, but not address a Mana Drain or Abrupt Decay. In most cases, the decision to
pursue strategic objectives entails some risks based upon uncertainty and imperfect
information.

If you believe that the answer to the second question above is “yes,” or “probably so,”
then you should move into high gear. On the other hand, if you believe that you cannot
or probably cannot achieve a strategic objective, then you should remain in low gear
unless one of two conditions exist. First, if you believe that you will lose the game
unless you attempt to achieve a strategic objective, you must try even if your chances of
success are low. If low gear is a death sentence, because, for example, you are dead on
board next turn, then you may have no choice but to move into high gear.

Second, you may wish to attempt a strategic objective in order to draw out an
opponent’s resources even if you do not have another strategic threat in hand. This
second exception requires an assessment of whether you believe that you can draw
more threats before the opponent can draw more answers balancing two probabilistic
uncertainties instead of just one. If you aren’t certain about your capacity to achieve a
strategic objective, then you need to assess the risks of being able to accomplish a
strategic objective against the risks of staying in low gear.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

There is a third question that must also be considered. Even if you have the capacity to
attempt a strategic objective and the resources to protect it, you must further assess the
degree to which such an attempt impairs your ability to thwart your opponent’s
strategic objectives. Do you impair your ability to thwart your
As a general rule, you
opponent’s strategic objectives by, say, choosing to play Demonic Tutor
instead of leaving mana open for Mana Drain, or by selecting Empty should shift from low
the Warrens instead of Spell Pierce when playing Preordain in the gear to high gear
examples above? when you have the
resources and
As a general rule, you should shift from low gear to high gear when
capacity to achieve a
you have the resources and capacity to achieve a strategic objective
without impairing your ability to thwart your opponent’s strategic strategic objective
objectives. If you do not in any way impair your ability to thwart your without impairing
opponent’s objectives by making a strategic move, aside from the fact your ability to
that you are reducing the number of cards in your hand, and you have thwart your
already answered the other two questions in the affirmative, then you
opponent’s strategic
should almost certainly move into high gear. In such a case, there is
virtually no risk in playing a threat. You have the resources to execute objectives.
and protect a strategic objective without compromising your capacity
for a control role.

Example 14:

Suppose your opening hand is:

Delver of Secrets, Island, Flooded Strand, Gush, Gush, Mental Misstep, Mental Misstep

In this case, the decision to play Delver of Secrets on the first turn does not in any way
diminish your capacity to cast countermagic or find countermagic. If, however, you had
a Force of Will or a Preordain in hand, then playing Delver of Secrets would potentially

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

do so. Delver of Secrets is not only a card that could pitch to Force of Will, but it would
prevent you from playing Preordain to find more countermagic.

Example 15:

Suppose your board is Volcanic Island, Volcanic Island, Volcanic Island. And your hand
is: Young Pyromancer, Red Elemental Blast, Mental Misstep, Mental Misstep, Force of Will.

Does playing Young Pyromancer here impair your ability to thwart your opponent’s
strategic objectives? While the risks are slight, it could well do so. By playing
Pyromancer you may weaken your Red Elemental Blast by allowing your opponent to
Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm it. Yet, the risks seems low. Since you have multiple pieces
of countermagic in hand that do not require mana, this may be an opportune time to
cast Young Pyromancer.

This example illustrates the further guidance that if pursuing a strategic objective only
marginally impairs your ability to thwart your opponent’s strategic objectives, then the
risks are usually worth taking. If you significantly or substantially impair your ability to
interact, then it should be avoided.

Example 16:

Suppose you are facing an Oath of Druids deck, and it is your second turn, and your
board is Island and Volcanic Island. Your hand contains: Spell Pierce, Flusterstorm,
Mental Misstep, Gush, Young Pyromancer.

If you play Young Pyromancer here, you cut yourself off from most of your
countermagic, including your capacity to stop an Oath of Druids. Given that your
opponent just needs a one turn window to cast Oath, the risks are probability not worth
taking. Playing Young Pyromancer this turn would substantially impair your ability to
thwart their Oath.

In most cases, by making a strategic move early in the game, you impair your ability to
thwart your opponent in some measure. The question is twofold: what is the degree of
that impairment, and what are the risks of harm should your opponent achieve a
strategic objective? If the harm is minimal, then the risks are often worthwhile. But if
the harm is catastrophic, even if the probability is low, then the risks are often not worth
taking.

Reconsider Example 5 above, whether to play turn one Tinker. In that situation, you
impair your ability to play both Force of Will and Spell Pierce that turn. However, you
can still play Force of Will to protect yourself from a turn one threat, and Spell Pierce
the following turn. It’s unlikely that you have substantially impaired your ability to

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

answer your opponent’s threats. More importantly, it’s unlikely that any turn one threat
they might play and protect would be so deadly as to make you wish you had held up
Spell Pierce. The answer depends on what your opponent is playing, and what sort of
strategic objectives they are likely to pursue.

In general, if you only minimally impair your ability to thwart your opponent’s
strategic objectives, and the risks of imminent danger if they were to achieve their
objective is not that great, then you probably wish to move into high gear. If, however,
the risks are great or you substantially impair your ability to stop them, then you
probably want to remain in low gear. The answer to these questions will be contextual.

Example 17:

To illustrate this further, in another instance let’s assume you are on the play, and you
can play Oath of Druids on turn one, or hold up Spell Pierce and pass the turn. Your
opponent is playing a mono brown Workshop deck. What should you do?

Walk through the three steps: 1) do you have the resources to play a turn one Oath?
Answer: yes. 2) Do you have the resources to protect a turn one Oath? Answer: yes.
Since this is pre-board, there is nothing your Workshop opponent can reasonably play
on turn one that can stop you from Oathing. 3) Do you impair your ability to thwart
your opponent’s strategic objectives? Answer: possibly. You had Spell Pierce, but you
won’t be able to play it if you play Oath instead. However, there is almost nothing they
can play that can’t be addressed by Tidespout Tyrant or a Griselbrand. A Smokestack or
Tangle Wire can both be theoretically bounced by Tyrant, and the overwhelming card
advantage of Griselbrand is likely to help you break most locks. The risks are low.

What if your opponent is playing Dark Petition Storm (DPS), a storm combo deck, in
this example? The answers to the first two questions are likely the same, but the
calculus for the third question may change. In that case, you may wish to hold up Spell
Pierce instead of playing Oath, to protect yourself from a turn one threat that could
potentially swing the game in your opponent’s favor before your Oath of Druids
activation(s) would likely win you the game.

The flow chart below summarizes the three steps of deciding whether to shift from low
to high gear.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Shifting From High to Low Gear

A central implication of the transmission metaphor is that decks shift between gears
many times during the course of a game. I have just outlined a framework and set of
considerations for deciding when to shift from low to high gear. The impetus behind
that shift is pursuit of strategic objectives. High gear represents the pursuit of strategic
objectives. The complex set of considerations that inform your decision to shift to high
gear would seem to preclude a shift to a lower gear. Once you have already taken steps
to achieve your strategic objectives, why would you then shift back into low gear?
There are three general reasons to shift into a lower gear. While these are intuitive, they
should also be clearly understood at a conceptual level.

1) Your Strategic Objectives Require Time to Mature

Jace, the Mind Sculptor and other planeswalkers are cards that provide more value with
each activation. Even the great Necropotence requires additional turns to make use of
the cards drawn from it. Accomplishing a strategic objective, even the ultimate strategic
objectives covered in Chapter 5, does not necessarily entail satisfaction of Rule 104.2

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conditions for winning the game. Neither Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus, nor
assembling Time Vault and Voltaic Key wins the game by itself. Rather, attacking with
Blightsteel Colossus, or activating Time Vault in an iterative sequence is necessary to
accomplish that end. The additional step is usually time or mana, or both. This is
especially true for tempo-based finishers.

Threats like Monastery Mentor, Young Pyromancer, and even Delver of Secrets need
time to grow larger and more menacing. A turn one tempo finisher is a great threat, but
it’s hardly a lethal board presence. Even a Kiln Fiend probably needs two additional
turns to win the game. Yet, once you have a resolved a threat of this nature, you are
often served by shifting back into a low gear. The following example will illustrate why.

Example 18:

Suppose your opening hand is:

Young Pyromancer, Mox Ruby, Polluted Delta, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Force of Will,
Gush

Supposing you decide to play Young Pyromancer on Turn 1, it seems likely that you
can leverage that position into a strong control position. If you draw any additional
countermagic or disruption, you can use it to reinforce your position. If you draw any
additional land you can use it to fuel Gush. If you draw a cantrip you can use it to draw
more disruption (or more cantrips). If you draw a blue creature like Delver of Secrets,
you can use it to clock the opponent, or use it to pitch to Force of Will. Almost any draw
is going to reinforce your control advantage, which compounds once Young
Pyromancer (or Monastery Mentor) is on the battlefield.

Gush decks utilizing tempo finishers are especially familiar with shifting from high to
low gear. The time needed to ultimately win the game requires a low-gear throttle, as
the tempo finisher ticks away at the opponent’s life total. In fact, the tempo finisher may

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

be serviced, in the near term, as a defensive mechanism to reinforce a control role.

Tokens with Young Pyromancer are often used to chump attackers until the
Pyromancer pilot has out-muscled the board.

This is not simply a function of how tempo-finishers work, but a defining point of how
Gush decks can be designed. All of the design advantages enjoyed by Gush decks often
take time to manifest. Gush itself is most often a turn three play, at the earliest.
Resolving multiple Gush requires many more turns. Moreover, the virtual card
advantages described in Chapter 1 grow stronger with each turn, as the variance in land
distribution is reduced, as cantrips and superior card celerity accumulate and manifest
in real on-board and hand advantages. In fact, it is not unusual for tempo-based Gush
decks to deploy a finisher, and then shift into a hard control role for the duration of the
game.

When Gush decks behave in this way, they are the epitome of Zvi’s description of a
deck that can “seize both roles,” and deny the opponent an optimal role at all. Yet, it is
the transmission metaphor that permits us to see this dynamic clearly and without
confusion. The transmission metaphor allows for role shifting of the kind that happen
in Magic games all of the time. Gush decks have an uncanny capacity to shift gears
rapidly and pursue and seize all viable roles. It is this multi-dimensionality that makes
Gush decks not only so skill-testing, but rewarding to play.

2) You Need Time To Accomplish Further Strategic Objectives

The second general reason to shift from high to low gear concerns the sequencing of
strategic objectives. Some strategic objectives are used solely to set up or precondition
other strategic objectives, and there is an unavoidable lag and downtime between them.
To accomplish ultimate objectives, it is necessary to shift into low gear (the control role)
in the interim.

This rationale is similar to, but different from, the first reason to shift from high to low
gear. The difference is that in the first example, you have already accomplished the
ultimate strategic objectives, but those objectives merely need time to satisfy Rule 104.2
victory conditions. Here, you have not yet accomplished your ultimate strategic
objectives, and must advance from interim to ultimate objectives. Although you may
have accomplished one of your strategic objectives, you will need time to translate that
objective into the resources or capacity to accomplish another. There are many examples
of this. Consider a simple example with Oath of Druids.

Oath of Druids is a strategic objective that can be used to deploy finishers to the
battlefield if certain conditions are met. If those conditions do not yet exist, then
resolving Oath of Druids is insufficient to accomplish your ultimate strategic objectives.
You may need time to find a Forbidden Orchard to trigger the Oath of Druids.

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

A more common set of circumstances may be resolving Jace, the Mind Sculptor or other
major draw spells. Strategic objectives that generate tremendous card advantage are
almost always used to deploy other strategic objectives. In the case of Jace, you may use
Jace’s +0 “Brainstorm” ability to generate and accumulate overwhelming and superior
card advantage. Just as decks built around Gush, over time, generate virtual card
advantage, so too do decks that resolve Jace benefit from shifting to a control role with
the natural capacity to protect it.

A turn one Necropotence can be used to draw many cards, but even after gorging on,
say 7-9 life on turn one to refill your hand, you still may lack the resources in hand to
win the game on turn two. You will likely have to pay more tribute to The Skull to draw
more cards to set up an ultimate finisher. In the time between resolving Necropotence
and winning the game, you may be compelled to shift into a lower gear, before moving
back to high gear to finish the game. Suppose, for example, that you resolve a Turn 1
Necropotence, emptying your hand, and you use Necro to draw into these 9 cards:

Mox Ruby, Dark Ritual, Duress, Flusterstorm, Force of Will, Gush, Polluted Delta, Preordain,
Demonic Tutor

Which seven cards would you keep? It would be tempting to keep all of the disruptive
cards, as they are most likely to preserve your advantage and protect you going into
your third turn, after you feed off Necro again.

A similar set of considerations applies to the role shifts of Doomsday players. Once
resolving Doomsday, the Doomsday pilot is sometimes compelled to shift into a
temporary control role until they can peel off more cards from their library. These shifts
in role are not only normal, they are warranted. Ultimate strategic objectives described
earlier require time to set up, and that time is purchased through a control role by
preventing the opponent from accomplishing their strategic objectives. This leads to the
third general reason to shift to a control role (low gear).

3) Your Opponent Threatens a Strategic Trump

The problem with resolving a major strategic objective is not simply that your opponent
can remove it or answer it, but, even worse, that they might trump it with one of their
own. A removal spell on a threat or a counterspell on a strategic objective is irritating,
but not a cause of deep concern. Both players are returned to their prior game state,
which was hopefully one of parity or better. Yet, in the case of a strategic trump, your
strategic objective is not only answered, but your grasp on the game itself is brought
into question.

Consider resolving Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus once more. That is not an impressive
play if your opponent were to resolve Dack Fayden. They could capture your threat,

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

and turn it upon you. If you anticipate that your opponent may attempt a strategic
trump or finisher, you must move into a low gear mode to survive. You may have
decided to shift into a high gear for all of the right reasons, but that is not reason to be
locked into that mode once you’ve accomplished a strategic objective. Rather, you
should give yourself the flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances to give yourself
the best chance to win.

Plan, but Remain Opportunistic

In this chapter, I’ve explained the role framework, including the foundational metaphor
of “Who’s the Beatdown?,” introduced an alternative metaphor that defines each role in
terms of a transmission, and elaborated on the conditions for moving from low to high
gear and high to low gear. Consistent with the theme of dynamic play and sensitivity to
contextual factors, I close this chapter by underscoring the importance of adjusting to
local conditions.

Role is a framework for action and a metaphor for behavior. Every game plan should be
informed by role considerations, but it should not be a straightjacket. Even the harshest
control decks permit themselves to shift roles unexpected, as Brian Weissman’s “Angel
gambit” illustrates. It is essential to allow yourself to not only adjust to circumstances,
but to remain open to the full range of possibilities. While you may have in mind the
goal of shifting gears or of staying in the same gear, allow your deck to signal a
different mode. A few examples illustrate how unexpected and fast these shifts may be.

Suppose your current hand is:

Yawgmoth’s Will, Spell Pierce, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, Preordain, Gush

Your board is Tropical Island, Underground Sea, Island, and Mox Jet. Your graveyard is
Duress, Ancestral Recall, and Merchant Scroll.

Now suppose you play Preordain and see Black Lotus and Imperial Seal. Your plan
may have been to simply pass the turn, but now you’ve been given the resources to
move into high gear immediately. You can put Black Lotus in hand and fire off
Yawgmoth’s Will. Your hand seemed ideally suited to a strong control role, but a fast
and unexpected shift in role became not only an option, but the optimal play.

Consider one more example in that vein. Suppose your opening hand is:

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

Misty Rainforest, Tropical Island, Duress, Preordain, Gush, Gush, Force of Will

Now suppose the game plays out as follows.

Turn 1:
Play Rainforest, sacrificing it to find Underground Sea, and then cast Duress.

Turn 2:
Cast Preordain, seeing Fastbond and Spell Pierce.

What do you do? You can draw Spell Pierce or you can draw Fastbond and start
Gushing now. Suppose you drew another blue spell this turn, which means you do not
have to pitch a Gush to cast Force. In a situation like this, it is worth being
opportunistic, because not only do you have the ability to shift into a higher gear, but
you also have Force of Will to serve as protection should your aggressive turn stall. You
can play Fastbond and then cast Gush twice, drawing 4 cards and generating mana for
the price of 3-4 life.

In conclusion, your general strategic posture should be fluid, but influenced not only by
the circumstances of the game but the strategic and tactical options available in your
deck. There is a strong relationship between your plan, your strategic objectives, and
your role (gear). The selection of a particular set of victory conditions shapes your plan.
Each win condition naturally lends itself to a particular role in any given matchup.
Playing Tendrils of Agony does not necessarily pin you to a combo strategy or a high
gear, but it orients you in that direction. Next, each win condition influences the deck
designed around it, and that shell (meaning the rest of the deck) will lend itself to a
particular role, or strategic posture.

To fully appreciate the hybridization options and the different ways in which players
can strategically situate their deck, remember that the win conditions surveyed earlier
in this book are not mutually exclusive. These options can be mixed and matched,

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 Chapter 9 – Role Assignment

combined and recombined in nearly infinite ways. In fact, they should be. The strength
of these win conditions varies by matchup. Storm combo approaches can quickly
overwhelm control decks, but are weaker than control approaches to Workshops. This
fact underscores the importance of being flexible and opportunistic.

The flexible, hybrid, and dynamic features of Gush decks, including the variety of
strategic approaches surveyed in Chapter Four, make Gush decks especially adaptable
to changing circumstances. Gush lists are so flexible that a simple, singular strategy
gives you less opportunity to exploit particular game states than adopting a flexible and
dynamic approach. This chapter has provided you with a framework for thinking about
when and how.

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 Chapter 10: Matchups & Sideboarding
We now turn to matchup analysis and sideboarding strategies. This chapter will set out
a theory of sideboarding, explaining the reasons for developing a sideboard and a
sideboard plan, a few broad parameters and advice to bear in mind, and then turn to 5
broad matchup categories: Workshop strategies, blue control decks, storm combo decks,
Dredge, and disruptive aggro and aggro-control strategies. We’ll examine the dynamics
of each matchup, a comprehensive list of tactics to address them, and real world
sideboarding sample plans for each matchup.

A Theory of Sideboarding

In constructed Magic, sideboard games constitute a majority of game play, by virtue of

matches being best-of-3 games (or best-of-5 games). Having a carefully constructed
sideboard and a well-formulated sideboard plan is essential to tournament success. For
such an important topic, there is a remarkable paucity of serious guidance and theory
on sideboarding strategies.

To begin, we must understand the need for sideboarding. Most players intuit why, but
a theoretical discussion will help frame the discussion that follows. There is not a
singular reason for developing a sideboard plan, but rather a host of reasons. To
understand these reasons and the differences between them, we first need a model for
thinking about matchups.

Although there are an infinite variety of ways to conceptualize matchups, two basic
models dominate popular discourse. The first takes the view that most decks have
favorable and unfavorable matchups. Borrowing from the natural sciences, in this
model some decks are natural prey for certain strategies and other decks are natural
predators. Natural predators exploit their prey’s weaknesses either by design or
through the structure of the metagame. For example, Dredge strategies are generally
regarded as strategically weak to speedy combo decks because of their relatively fast
clocks. Storm and Goblin Charbelcher combo decks not only have a faster clock, but
Dredge’s disruption is generally too slow to prevent the combo deck from winning first
or accomplishing their strategic objectives.

The disruption used by a particular strategy plays a critical role in determining

predator-prey relationships. This is most obvious when a strategy relies on an element
that naturally but inadvertently attacks another strategy directly. For example, Two-
Card monte is a Workshop-based strategy that uses Leyline of the Void main deck as
part of a combo with Helm of Obedience. One can easily imagine how this would pose
problems for a Dredge-based strategy. Similarly, Oath of Druids strategies are better
against creature-heavy decks than creatureless decks for the same principle.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

According to this view of matchups, where strategies appear, in course of their natural
evolution, to have favorable and unfavorable matchups, the resulting metagame
resembles a more complex Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) model. It may seem strange to
represent complex Magic metagames in terms of the RPS model. After all, Magic
metagames with deep card pools are teeming with strategies and decks, and there are
no matchups in Vintage that enjoy the lopsided win percentages suggested by RPS.
There are no guaranteed wins in Magic (although some matchups can get pretty close).

Nonetheless, as a heuristic, the RPS usefully represents Magic metagames in a few

critical respects. It captures the essential idea, represented in the first view of Magic
matchups, that there are favorable and unfavorable matchups, predator and prey, based
upon inherent features and tactical elements. Just as in ecology, new decks can emerge
and survive in the metagame environment only to the extent that they can find a niche.
This means having favorable matchups against existing metagame competitors and
avoiding predators. Because this is an iterative process, as each emergent strategy is
designed to defeat the most successful decks in the metagame, the fundamental
dynamics begin to represent RPS, albeit with many more strategies in the framework.
When new decks designed to prey on the top deck(s) in the field emerge, either a
natural predator lurking in the field will subsequently surge to help control the new
menace, as when predators are carefully reintroduced into environments with invasive
species, or a new predator emerges to address the problem, such as when medical
science engineers create new vaccines or treatments for new pathogens.

In contrast, the second basic model of Magic matchups takes the view that Magic
metagames are so complicated that there are no naturally favorable or advantaged
matchups. Under this view, over time, matchups revert to the mean, and approach an
even (50%) win percentage across matchups, with small differences in deck construction
and player skill determining matchup outcomes.

The premise of this view is that Magic metagames generally, and Vintage metagames in
particular, contain card pools large enough to find tactics or synergies that can be
employed to combat any extant strategy. For example, if a land destruction deck begins
to dominate, then anti-land destruction tactics like Sacred Ground may be employed to
combat it. If storm combo decks begin to rise in the metagame, the players can
incorporate counter-tactics, like Arcane Laboratory.

In this model of Vintage matchups, popular strategies seem to reach a dynamic

equilibrium, as they tweak themselves back and forth in response to shifts in the
metagame. As one matchup rises, a particular set of tactics is adopted, and when
another rises, they are jettisoned in favor of another set.

As the metagame shifts in one direction, Workshop pilots may include cards like Null
Rod, and as it moves in another direction, they may shift to cards like Arcbound

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Ravager. These adjustments are not “new” in the sense that they have never been
attempted before, but they are responsive to external pressures. In fact, some may argue
that this capacity to “tweak” or “tune” your deck to adapt to extant conditions, while
retaining all of your expertise and mechanical knowledge, is the most important skill in
Vintage.

The RPS view of the metagame, which takes as a given the presence or existence of
favorable and unfavorable matchups, and the “dynamic equilibrium” view of
metagame evolution appear to be contradictory perspectives. After all, how can it be
possible that a deck is both naturally favored and also evenly matched in the same
matchup? It turns out that both models accurately describe important, but different
dynamics within in the Vintage metagame.

The RPS model describes the process of deck generation and the macro-scale evolution
of Magic metagames. The dynamic equilibrium model describes the micro-level forces
as players jostle for small positional advantages within established metagames in
response to macro-level dynamics. In long-run metagames, decks can develop and
implement an array of tactics to improve their odds. Regardless of where you tend to
fall in terms of ascribing to either theory, the RPS dynamic is merely a heuristic, and not
a technical description of the metagame. Similarly, decks can improve their matchups,
but not necessarily make them completely even. There are always going to be structural
features that will advantage or disadvantage particular strategies in different matchups.
This leads to the first reason that we sideboard.

The first and most common reason to sideboard is to improve a generally weak or
unfavorable matchup. The feature that makes constructed Magic a fair and enjoyable
endeavor is the simple fact that no strategy or deck is favored against every matchup. If
there were, there would be no rational reason to play anything else. Since Alpha, the
game has been intentionally designed to include in the card pool solutions that punish
almost any tactic or conceivable strategy. Given the size and depth of the Vintage card
pool, it is exceptionally difficult for a single strategy to dominate the format.

If every matchup can be improved by drawing upon tailored counter-tactics, it requires

some explanation as to why these tactics are kept in the sideboard. The main reason is
that you optimize your overall matchup win percentages against the field by keeping
them there.

The general explanation for this rationale is that such tactics are overly narrow for a
general field. For example, dedicated graveyard removal such as Tormod’s Crypt or
Leyline of the Void may be necessary to combat Dredge, but is probably too narrow to
run in full quantities against a general field. Specific color hosers, such as Circles of
Protection, Cleanse, Blue Elemental Blast or Tsunami depend upon the presence of
specific colors in your opponent’s deck. These cards may be excellent in the target

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

matchup, but useless more often than not, in the mainboard. Sideboards serve as
repositories for overly narrow, but highly effective, counter-tactics.

A related reason for sideboarding is to strengthen and optimize favorable matchups.

Although fewer sideboard spaces will be devoted to these matchups, it is often
worthwhile to include such tactics to either preserve your matchup advantage or to
improve your chances for winning. The reason for this is the same reason that one
might include “hosers” or counter-tactics for poor matchups. Brian Weissman famously
played two main deck Red Elemental Blasts in The Deck for a while, but he had two
more in his sideboard. Brian was prepared for the control mirror match, but sought
further optimization.

A third reason to sideboard is to bring in answers to address hosers or “silver bullet”

counter-tactics targeted at your deck. Certain strategies are vulnerable to narrow, but
highly effective tactics. Traditional examples of these kinds of tactics include cards like
Blood Moon, Choke, and Jester’s Cap. Contemporary examples include threats like
Magus of the Moon, Arcane Laboratory, and Rest in Peace. Should your opponent draw
such weapons against you, you must at least have some answer to them in your
sideboard if you wish to have a chance to win games involving them.

A fourth reason to sideboard is to bring in answers to your opponent’s answers to your

threats. This is similar to, but distinct from the third reason. Whereas the third reason
for sideboarding is to address cards that hose you, this reason focuses on addressing
your opponent’s answers to your threats. For example, traditionally, an opponent might
bring in a Circle or Protection of the appropriate color spell type to prevent you from
ever winning the game. If you are playing a deck that may be vulnerable to Circle of
Protections, you may want either damage that can get around it (such as a colorless
threat) or a way to remove, destroy or otherwise overcome the Circle of Protection.
Contemporary examples include Leyline of the Void, Null Rod, and Leyline of Sanctity,
all cards designed to address specific threats. The post-board matchup against Dredge
is defined not by the cards that are run main deck, but by the battle amongst the
sideboarded cards, as the Dredge pilot brings in many cards to address the graveyard
hosers, while the opponent races to find and protect them.

These four reasons are the most widely recognized reasons for sideboarding, but they
are not exhaustive. A fifth reason to sideboard is to surprise the opponent. One form of
surprise is known as the “transformational sideboard,” in which a player makes a
radical change from their main deck strategy. Historical examples include bringing in
the Illusionary Mask/Phyrexian Dreadnaught combo out of the sideboard as a radical
strategic shift, bringing in the Oath of Druids package, or the so-called “Minus Six”
strategy of sideboarding out the Worldgorger Dragon combo into a Tezzeret and Time
Vault suite.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

There are several reasons for such trickery. While such tactics are often exciting, the
most compelling reason to attempt them is to win games by surprise. When opponents
are unprepared for a strategy or anticipate something else, they often make suboptimal
decisions given the circumstances. In the course of a brief best two-of-three match, a
game can easily be won under such circumstances, and thereby the match. Players will
commit to lines of play, make decisions, and execute sideboard plans they would never
repeat once they are aware of the trick.

The other reason for transformative sideboard plans is more mundane, and is to negate
the effectiveness of narrow sideboard tactics, and to attempt to render them dead
draws. The oldest example of this is a creatureless deck sideboarding a bunch of
creatures in, as the opponent sideboards out all creature removal. This is the rationale
behind the Worldgorger Dragon combo shift to Tezzeret with Minus Six. The opponent
may bring in graveyard hate to answer that combo, and find it of no value in dealing
with the Time Vault combo. Even if the opponent is aware of the threat, it’s a risky
gambit to bring in a maximum amount of graveyard hate. The mere threat of the
transformative sideboard strategy affects the opponent’s decision matrix.

Developing a Sideboard Plan

Understanding these broad reasons for sideboarding is the foundation of designing

your own sideboard, but merely the first step. The reasons for sideboarding will inform
the development of your sideboard plan, but there are many others to consider.

Perhaps the most common advice for sideboarding is to create as much value as
possible. This derives from the limited card space provided by a sideboard. Rather than
include highly effective but overly narrow silver bullets for singular matchups, it is
often better to include more versatile cards that can address multiple problems or
improve multiple matchups simultaneously. For example, Grafdigger’s Cage may not
be the best available option for fighting Dredge or Oath of Druids, but the fact that it is
effective in both matchups gives it much greater value than it would otherwise.

Sideboard space scarcity may mean selecting the second or third best option for any
particular matchup rather than choosing the best option for one or the other matchup.
Similarly, it will often prove to be the case that the tiebreaking factor or consideration
for including one tactic over another is utility in a broader range of options. When
constructing a sideboard, it is important to look holistically rather than looking
narrowly at individual matchups.

The second parameter for sideboard construction is to include in your sideboard no

more cards for any matchup than you can afford to take out of your main deck. It
makes little sense to dedicate seven cards to a matchup if you can only justify
sideboarding out five. If you have to cut two high value cards to make room for two

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

more sideboard spells, then you may need to rethink your plan. For this reason, every
carefully designed plan will map out in advance which cards are being cut for
sideboard cards in each matchup. The rest of this chapter will do that, while exploring
the range of cards that you may wish to consider including as you design your own
Gush sideboard.

The cards covered in this chapter, as well as cards discussed in previous chapters, shift
in significance in the context of a sideboard strategy. This is a critical subtlety that must
be appreciated in light of the discussion culminating last chapter. Cards that may have
functioned primarily as tactics in many or most matchups often acquire strategic
significance in the context of a sideboard plan or a post-board strategy.

For example, Trygon Predator is primarily a tactic, but it is also a strategic goal against
most Workshop decks. To understand this better, think about Yixlid Jailer. Jailer is a
tactic: it exists to shut down and turn off Dredge cards. At the same time, it is a win
condition and a strategic goal. Simply resolving and protecting Jailer is all that is
necessary to win the game. The same is often true of Predator in the Workshop
matchup. In the context of a sideboard plan, they become central to your “plan.”

Although the strength and value of individual cards varies from matchup to matchup,
there are generalizations that hold across matchups, especially among typical strategies
anchored by format staples like Mishra’s Workshop and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Despite the range of strategic possibilities within Gush decks (as covered in Chapter
Four), Gush decks often interface similarly against opposing archetypes because of the
specific weaknesses endemic to Gush decks or common structural features shared by
Gush strategies. Although the solutions to any particular problematic matchup vary
across Gush strategies, there are sufficient similarities to warrant a general description
of the case. We begin with the most challenging matchup for the Gush pilot.

Sideboarding Strategy vs. Workshops

We begin our matchup analysis with Workshops because it is

the matchup that Gush decks will need to plan for most
carefully. The most common features of Workshop strategies
transform Gush decks’ greatest strengths into appalling
weaknesses, and these tend to be Gush decks’ worst
matchups. In the Rock-Paper-Scissors model of Magic
metagames, some matchups have naturally unfavorable
matchups due to the ways in which their weaknesses are
naturally exploited by predators. Unfortunately, Workshop-
based strategies and Gush decks exemplify this structural
relationship.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

All of the advantages of Gush described in Chapter 1 are either muted, nullified, or
transformed into drawbacks by tactics common to Workshop-based strategies. Recall
that Gush decks tend to be designed with lighter mana bases, tight mana curves,
disproportionate amounts of “free spells,” and play a higher density of spells per turn.
These features of Gush decks are intended to draw out the card advantage, mana
advantage, virtual card advantage, and tempo advantage of Gush. Workshop decks not
only negate each of these advantages, but they invert them into weaknesses.

The fundamental play embedded in Gush

decks designed under principles described in
Chapter 1 is a first turn cantrip, often digging
for a second land. The cantrips ensure that you
make additional land drops while relying on a
lighter than usual mana base. Now consider
how this sequence and design strategy interacts
with the broad class of spells commonly used
by Workshop strategies, including Sphere of
Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, Trinisphere,
Chalice of the Void, and Lodestone Golem. The
class of effects that increase the cost of casting
spells disrupts this fundamental sequence.
Sphere of Resistance makes it impossible to
play the first turn cantrip to dig to find the
second land drop off a single land or mana
source.

Furthermore, because of the light mana base,

not only will the Gush pilot potentially be unable to make a turn two land drop, but
they may be prevented from playing spells altogether. The only way to overcome
effects such as Sphere of Resistance is to make additional land drops, but Spheres
prevent the Gush pilot from finding additional lands in a deck that is already relatively
land-lite to begin with. It’s a catch-22. The Gush pilot is impeded from playing spells
and from finding the lands needed to play more spells. This would matter less if Gush
decks included more artifact accelerants, but they tend not to for the same reasons that
they run fewer lands. Adding additional mana acceleration would diminish Gush
strategies inherent, long-term virtual card advantage.

This leads to the third way in which this class of effects negates the advantages of Gush.
Gush decks rely on an abundance of free or highly efficient spells so that they may play
multiple spells per turn. Although Gush decks play fewer artifact accelerants, it is not
unusual for Gush decks to play 12 or more “free spells.” Chapin Grow played Gush,
Force of Will, Misdirection, and Foil. Today, Gush pilots play spells like Mental
Misstep, Gitaxian Probe, and Mindbreak Trap in addition to Gush and Force of Will.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

The mana advantage of playing alternative casting cost spells or of Gush itself is
undercut by Sphere effects.

One might wonder whether the natural spell efficiency of Gush decks could be an
advantage in the Workshop matchup. After all, if Workshop strategies tend to make
spells cost more, then the spell efficiency of the average Gush would prove less of a
burden. A zero casting cost spell costing one mana is less of an imposition than a four
casting cost spell costing five mana instead.

Even this, however, turns out to be a weakness. The fourth way this class of effects
negates the advantages of Gush is that Gush decks rely on playing a higher density of
spells per turn. Because of its spell efficiency, Gush decks are designed to cast multiple
spells per turn. While Spheres make spells marginally more expensive, these effects are
more painful the more spells you intend to cast per turn. Part of the purpose of Gush is
to play other spells with the mana production generated prior to Gush, something
much more difficult to achieve with Sphere effects in play. Spheres exact a greater toll
when playing three 1-casting cost spells rather than one 3-casting cost spells (6 mana,
instead of 4). Unfortunately, this is exactly what Gush decks do. Spheres punish the
reliance on cantrips and efficient draw more than they punish expensive draw spells.

Workshop decks transform all of the advantages or sources of advantage of Gush decks
into glaring weaknesses. What is most frustrating is that the means by which they do
this renders any tactical response infeasible. Since Workshops make it difficult to play
spells in the first place, simply adding spells that destroy Spheres is trumped by
Spheres that prevent you from playing them in the first place.

The only way to resolve this tension is to expand your mana base by including more
land and more acceleration. Yet, the structural changes necessary to enable you to play
such answers undermines the very reason for playing Gush decks in the first place. You
lose the mana advantage and virtual card advantage of Gush if you expand your mana
base.

Although Gush decks are disadvantaged against Workshops, there are several general
lines of play that produce victories for Gush decks, and there are myriad sideboard
options and tactical threats that can help balance the matchup. I will address each of
these in turn. These are the keys to the Workshop matchup.

Permanent-Based Mana Acceleration

There is also no matchup for Gush decks where being on the play or draw matters as
much as the Workshop matchup. While this is true for every deck in Vintage, it is
especially critical for Gush decks because they are less willing to compensate by playing
maximal artifact acceleration. The capacity to deploy Moxen helps other decks develop

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

the resources to combat and overcome Sphere effects. On the play, the Gush pilot will
be free to play cantrips to dig for land, cast tempo threats, and execute broken starts. On
the draw, the Gush pilot will have none of these advantages unless they can Force of
Will the first Sphere effect, and the Shop pilot is only capable of playing one.

Mishra’s Workshop strategies bring into focus a subtle distinction among forms of
mana acceleration: permanent-based mana acceleration versus sorcery and instant-
based mana acceleration. The former are among the best tactics against Workshop
decks, while the latter are among the worst. The weakness of the latter illustrates the
strength of the former.

Spells like Dark Ritual, among the best spells in the format, are at their weakest against
Workshop decks. Because Workshop decks impede your ability to play spells, every
spell you play is an investment. Paying two mana for a Sol Ring does not net any
immediate mana, but becomes a priceless resource in future turns, helping evade two
other spheres for just one permanent. Mana production that clears out at the end of the
phase is a poor investment against Workshop decks, and that’s why spells like Dark
Ritual are often sideboarded out in this matchup.

One of the strongest plays against Workshop decks is to deploy artifact acceleration.
Moxen can be played without hindrance through Lodestone Golem, and can help
establish permanent advantage and mana advantage against Spheres. Suppose your
opponent opens with Mishra’s Workshop into Sphere of Resistance. If your opening
hand has Land, Mox, Mox you can play around the Sphere. Against Lodestone Golem,
that mana will allow you to play a first turn Young Pyromancer or Dark Confidant.

Artifact acceleration is critical in the Workshop matchup primarily because of the

centrality of Lodestone Golem, but it also is of high value in any situation involving
Sphere of Resistance type effects. The only way to play spells under this kind of duress
is to develop additional mana resources. This is especially difficult since Gush decks
tend to have fewer of these to begin with. Cards like Mana Crypt are uncommon
enough in Gush decks, but can be a valuable sideboard card in the Workshop matchup.

Second only to artifact acceleration is creature-based mana acceleration. Just as artifact

acceleration is often highly efficient and unimpeded by Lodestone Golem, creature-
based mana acceleration (Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, Deathrite Shaman, and
Lotus Cobra) are unimpeded by Thorn of Amethyst. As with the range of artifact
accelerants, these creatures each have subtle advantages and disadvantages, but they
are all strong tactics against Workshop decks. This Gush decklist got 9th place at the
2013 Vintage Championship in no small part because of Deathrite Shaman:

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Gush Tendrils, 9th Place 2013 Vintage Championship

By Vito Picozzo

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 2 Trygon Predator
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Nature's Claim
1 Nature's Claim 1 Mox Pearl 1 Forest
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Ruby 1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Toxic Deluge 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Mindbreak Trap
4 Gush 1 Sol Ring 1 Toxic Deluge
4 Preordain 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Brainstorm 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Ravenous Trap
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Scalding Tarn 2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Time Walk 3 Underground Sea 2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Jace, the Mind 2 Tropical Island
Sculptor 2 Island
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Talrand, Sky
Summoner
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Vito’s use of Deathrite Shaman helped shore up a critical matchup against Workshops,
which allowed him to win his final Swiss round to finish with a record of 7-2.

Removal

The more removal incorporated main deck, the better your chances against Workshop
decks. Tactics like Lightning Bolt, Ancient Grudge, Swords to Plowshares, and
Dismember dramatically improve your chances against Workshops. Strategic trumps
like Dack Fayden or Hurkyl’s Recall are prized most of all. In a game one scenario
where both players are stalemated, Hurkyl’s Recall or Ancient Grudge can break it
open, and allow you to combo out or deploy threats and achieve strategic objectives.

The emergence of Eldrazi in Vintage provides a key limitation to reliance on simple

anti-artifact removal tactics as a solution (as Eldrazi are colorless, but not artifacts), but
also makes traditional creature removal marginally better.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Fastbond

Despite all of the disadvantages that Gush decks face against Workshop strategies,
there is one silver lining. The centerpiece of GushBond engine, Fastbond, happens to be
a superb tactic against Workshop decks. Workshops attack your mana base, making it
difficult, if not impossible, to play spells. Fastbond is an unusual mana accelerant,
allowing you to explode in the early game or to evade the limitations that their board is
imposing on your ability to play spells.

Although Gush decks lack artifact acceleration, a hand with Fastbond and a single Gush
is likely to put the Gush player in a position to play nearly any “answer” or threat they
need. For example, a first turn Fastbond, with a second land drop and a Gush, can be
used to cast a first turn Trygon Predator, a devastating first turn play unless it is
immediately answered. This is possible because the Gush pilot will float a mana pre-
Gush, and then replay both lands to cast Predator.

If you can play Fastbond and even Gush more than once, it will likely leave you with
more than a few lands on the table, and more than enough card and mana advantage to
play spells for the foreseeable future without serious impediment, regardless of their
first turn. In facing Workshop decks, hands with Fastbond are among the most
promising. A hand like this, especially on the play, is likely to result in a victory over
Workshops:

Tropical Island, Scalding Tarn, Mox Jet, Fastbond, Spell Pierce, Preordain, Gush

It will allow you to get 3-4 lands or more into play before the end of the first turn,
giving you the space and resources to make further plays. Fastbond can also help you
defeat cards like Tangle Wire or Smokestack by simply comboing out in a single turn.
On the draw, this hand would give you a fighting chance against a first turn Lodestone
Golem, as you’d be able to replay both lands post-Gush, and have drawn three more
cards, and hopefully gotten closer to an answer (such as, say, Lightning Bolt).

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Force of Will

A common hand capable of defeating a Workshop deck is a hand that features Force of
Will. If you can Force the first threat or Sphere effect, and then deploy a threat of your
own, such as a Young Pyromancer, it should be possible to compete in the game. Few
hands with Force follow that precise trajectory, however. More likely, you can Force the
first key threat, allowing yourself to dig up or find answers or threats which you can
deploy in subsequent turns. Workshop decks generally lack a card advantage engine
other than resolving a spell like Smokestack or Goblin Welder. If you can disrupt or
neuter their first few threats you can take advantage of their lack of library
manipulation as they draw dead while you win in the interim.

Tinker

Tinker was extensively analyzed in Chapter 6, and the range of Tinker finishers were
analyzed in Chapter 5. Tinker is among the best strategies against Workshop decks
regardless of the Gush deck’s strategic orientation. Most win conditions in Gush decks
require multiple turns, multiple cards, or a heavy mana investment. Tinker is an
exception to all of these generalities.

Against a deck that seeks to prevent you from playing spells altogether, resolving a
three casting cost spell (and an artifact to sacrifice to it) is a reasonable goal. However,
Workshop decks offer fleeting windows of opportunity to resolve spells at all. With
removal and counters, there will often be at least one opportunity to resolve a three
casting cost spell. Tinker is a devastating play to seize such opportunities. Finally,
because of the swiftness of most of the Tinker finishers, the resolution of Tinker will
often spell death unless the opponent has a narrow range of sideboard tactics or an even
smaller list of commonly main decked answers in hand.

A Blightsteel Colossus only needs a one turn window to win many, if not most, games.
With Blightsteel Colossus as a finisher, an early Tinker is more often than not going to
lead to victory. But even less common finishers such as Myr Battlesphere or Inkwell
Leviathan have tremendous value in the Workshop matchup. A Myr Battlesphere can’t
be tied up with a Tangle Wire, and an Inkwell Leviathan can’t be removed by
Duplicant. Myr Battlesphere can win the game in two swings, and Leviathan in three.

Speed is of the essence. While a Tangle Wire can tangle up any Tinker finisher except
Myr Battlesphere, it will almost always slow you down. But a Blightsteel only needs a
single turn to attack to often win the game. The main advantage that blue decks have
against Workshop decks in this respect is the capacity to manipulate their library. A
Workshop deck has either drawn the answer or not. A blue deck can use its array of
draw spells and tutors to find threats and answers. A second turn Tinker can be

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

accomplished via virtually any tutor (first turn Vampiric, Demonic, or Mystical, being
the chief vehicles). The Workshop deck has answers to Tinker finishers. But if the
Workshop deck does not have a Phyrexian Metamorph or Duplicant already in hand, or
a Kuldotha Forgemaster already on the battlefield, there are few ways to answer it.

Time Vault Combo

The Time Vault combo is second only to Tinker as a general strategic plan against
Workshops. Like Tinker, it is fast and efficient. And like Tinker it can be assembled with
a single tutor to find the absent piece. The primary difference is that it requires
assembling two cards (unless assembled by Tezzeret the Seeker). The Time Vault combo
also has the advantage of being able to be played on separate turns, and evades
Lodestone Golem. The controller only needs to have a single free mana to activate the
combo, once assembled.

That said, the Time Vault combo has several weaknesses. It can be stopped by Null Rod,
Phyrexian Revoker, or Pithing Needle. The Workshop pilot must balance using Revoker
to break up this potential combo, versus using it to shut off a mana source that may
allow you to advance other strategic goals.

Young Pyromancer & Monastery Mentor

Using these token generating creatures as an engine is particularly great at negating the
permanent-based advantage that is often key to the Workshop player’s strategy. One of
the ways by which Workshop decks choke off the opposing player’s mana supply is by
tying up their permanents. This works well since Vintage decks are more spell than
permanent based. Tying up their mana supply with cards like Tangle Wire and
Smokestack is far more viable than in other formats that seek to establish and build a
board presence.

Pyromancer and Mentor represent a fundamental advantage against cards like Tangle
Wire, and either one only needs a modest number of triggers to trade with a Lodestone
Golem or other attackers. Cheap creatures are generally a weak spot for Workshop
decks, which rely on cards like Thorn of Amethyst to prevent their opponents from
playing spells. These strategic trumps against Workshop decks generate other creatures
simply by casting the rest of the cards in the Gush decks. All together, these possible
lines of play do not represent a winning matchup for Gush decks. Instead, sideboard
tactics or other mainboard tactics must be employed for success.

Sideboarding Options vs. Workshops

Combating Mishra’s Workshop-based strategies requires that Gush decks take

advantage of the wider color pie. Red happens to have the best anti-Workshop tactics,

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

followed closely by green. Ideally, you would mix and match green and red solutions.
Ingot Chewer

As a signal of its importance in combating Workshop, it is

rare to find a Gush deck playing red featuring less than 3-4
Ingot Chewer in the sideboard. Ingot Chewer may not be as
game-changing as a resolved Hurkyl’s Recall, Dack Fayden,
or Trygon Predator, but it is invaluable for three reasons.
First, it only costs one mana, using the evoke ability, to
destroy an artifact. This makes it possible to play Chewer
under the most oppressive circumstances. Second, Chewer is
a creature, which means it can be played despite any number
of Thorn of Amethyst in play, which is the most played
Sphere effect. Third, it can be used to destroy virtually any
Chalice of the Void, even Chalice at 1. Although it is now
restricted, Chalice at 1 is often a devastating tactic against Gush decks, but it does not
stop or slow Ingot Chewer. Ingot Chewer also doubles as a late game win condition.

As long as Workshop decks have a meaningful presence in the metagame, Ingot

Chewer will likely be relied upon to help improve your matchup odds. Although Ingot
Chewer is a format staple, it is not particularly effective at combating Hangarback
Walker, and has limited use against Arcbound Ravager. Destroying Hangarback with
Ingot Chewer can create more threats, and an Arcbound Ravager can move its power to
another threat. Dealing with these effects requires further support. Be cognizant of these
threats when analyzing your opening hands, and how you anticipate games playing out
if one or more of these show up.

As implied above, Ingot Chewer is best used in a capacity that allows you to resolve
other strategic objectives. By creating breathing room, Ingot Chewer can help you
resolve spells and establish a more reliable mana base. Ingot Chewer is and will be a
format staple for the foreseeable future, and will be an essential tool for Gush decks as
long as Workshop decks remain a metagame threat.

Nature’s Claim

Nature’s Claim is regarded as the best green anti-Workshop tactic as a one-mana

Disenchant. Unlike Ingot Chewer, Nature’s Claim be played at instant speed. Although
Nature’s Claim does not evade Chalice set at 1 or Thorn of Amethyst, it is sufficiently
efficient to be playable under all but a complete lock. It is not uncommon to have four
Nature’s Claims between the main deck and sideboard in any Gush deck without red.
Nature’s Claim’s instant speed renders it more useful than Ingot Chewer when dealing
with Tangle Wire. Nature’s Claim’s efficiency, speed, and versatility give it a huge edge
over its competitors.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Shattering Spree

Shattering Spree is another powerful and highly efficient anti-Workshop tactic. Like
Ingot Chewer, Shattering Spree can only be played at sorcery speed, and can be used to
remove a Chalice of the Void set at 1 by paying additional mana for the replicate ability.
Shattering Spree is affected by Thorn of Amethyst, but compensates because it can be
used to remove multiple artifacts simultaneously. This makes Shattering Spree a serious
consideration for any Gush deck deeply in red.

The replicate ability interfaces differently with different sphere effects. Under a
Trinisphere, the replicate cost can be paid to remove multiple artifacts, as follows. With
a Trinisphere in play, you can pay RRR to destroy three artifacts, RR1 to destroy one,
and R2, to destroy one. With a Trinisphere and a Sphere of Resistance in play, you can
pay RR1 to destroy two artifacts.

Hurkyl’s Recall

One of the most important cards in the format, Hurkyl’s

Recall was briefly covered in Chapter 7. Hurkyl’s Recall is a
multi-faceted card that has several critical functionalities in
Vintage, although it’s most important role is the Workshop
matchup. Its importance as an anti-Workshop tactic lies in its
ability to single-handedly remove any number of Spheres
from the battlefield. The only other playable card that can do
this is Rebuild, which costs an additional mana. Against a
deck that seeks to deploy Spheres that prevent you from
playing spells, the difference of a single mana is enormous.

In most Gush decks, Hurkyl’s Recall clears space to resolve

any available strategic objective, from Yawgmoth’s Will to Trygon Predator or Dack
Fayden. In Gush combo decks or combo-control decks, your entire strategy may be
focused on resolving Hurkyl’s. The goal is to marshal your resources, free and clear of
Spheres and other disruptive artifacts, to achieve any of your strategic objectives.
Hurkyl’s Recall will often be a mid-game tutor target for that reason. All of the other
removal spells in your deck may be little more than support to make Hurkyl’s castable.
Every Ingot Chewer, Nature’s Claim, and Shattering Spree is sometimes little more than
digging a path for Hurkyl’s. The goal, post-Hurkyl’s, is to win the game. The ideal time
to play Hurkyl’s is on the opponent’s end step, but you may find yourself playing it on
their attack step, or on your upkeep.

Once Hurkyl’s has resolved, you will likely try to set up a finishing combo, such as
playing a half dozen spells to attack with a lethal Mentor and Monks, Tinkering for

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Blightsteel Colossus, assembling the Time Vault combo, executing the GushBond
engine, or casting a massive Yawgmoth’s Will into any of those end-games. Hurkyl’s
Recall is a tactic, but it also acquires strategic significance because of its importance in
this critical matchup.

Ancient Grudge

Ancient Grudge shares the top tier of anti-Workshop tactics with spells like Ingot
Chewer, Nature’s Claim, Hurkyl’s Recall, Dack Fayden, and Trygon Predator. Ancient
Grudge costs one more mana than the most efficient of those spells, but trades off that
efficiency with card advantage and instant speed. Ancient Grudge’s card advantage
makes it one of the very best anti-Workshop tactics. Workshop decks use multiple
Sphere effects to resolve their most important threat, often a big monster.

Ancient Grudge can take out the key threat with pinpoint precision, and then be used to
do again. As valuable as Grudge is at taking out big threats like Kuldotha Forgemaster,
Grudge may actually shine best in picking off Sphere effects. By removing Spheres,
Ancient Grudge helps clear a path for the rest of your spells to do their job.

As noted in Chapter 7, Grudge is worthy of main deck consideration because of its

general value against other strategies, but it is especially useful in Gush decks. Ancient
Grudge is at peak power if you are running one of the tempo finishers, because the
flashback ability is not only highly relevant, but it can also grow your creatures. Ancient
Grudge is rightfully ubiquitous in Vintage, and should be a strong candidate for any
Gush deck or sideboard.

Dack Fayden

Dack Fayden is among the powerful strategic objectives that can be resolved against a
Workshop player. Most obviously, Dack Fayden can steal threats from the Workshop
pilot, such as Lodestone Golem, Hangarback Walker, and Kuldotha Forgemaster. In this
capacity, Dack Fayden can be used to turn threats against their owner. But his capacity
to steal threats is actually no more important than the simpler capacity to steal mana.

Workshop decks are primarily mana denial strategies. They do this not simply by
attacking your mana base, but by making it more difficult to play spells. Taking a Mox
with Dack Fayden is a double injury. It expands your mana base while diminishing
your opponent’s. From this position, it is easier not only to play more spells, but to
answer remaining threats.

Perhaps the most devastating non-creature artifact that Dack could steal from the
Workshop player is Crucible of Worlds. This lets you continually replay fetchlands
from your graveyard, and also helps combat opposing Wastelands.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Dack’s +1 ability is also no less important. Cycling through your library for tactics and
additional mana is often just as important as stealing cards from your opponent. Dack’s
usage against Workshop decks often begins by stealing something, followed by two +1
activations, and then stealing another artifact.

As powerful as Dack Fayden is, once it resolves, the Workshop pilot will become
circumspect about playing anything that is usefully stolen for your own purposes. The
only artifacts that will be played are those like Tangle Wire, Phyrexian Revoker (which
can shut off Dack Fayden), and Sphere effects. On multiple occasions, I have stolen a
Tangle Wire simply for the permanent advantage and to reduce its asymmetry.
Stealing a Tangle Wire is a permanent on your side of the board.

Dack Fayden is difficult for Workshop players to remove. They need Triskelion,
Phyrexian Revoker, or Staff of Nin to deal with it directly, or cards like Mishra’s Factory
or Slash Panther to attack it and kill it. While Trygon Predator cannot be turned off by a
Phyrexian Revoker, it is not as immediately useful as Dack is. Dack does not require an
attack step or clear skies to perform his work. In addition, Dack is better at dealing with
Hangarback Walker and even Ravager than Trygon in many cases.

Like Trygon Predator, however, Dack Fayden can be used proactively. Most of the
answers to Workshop decks are instant or sorcery based. For the reasons noted earlier
in this chapter, being a permanent is significant against Workshops. It means that Dack
Fayden can be played proactively before numerous Sphere effects have clogged the
board and constrained your resources. A first or second turn Dack Fayden is plausible
on the play, and a proactive answer to virtually any Workshop threat.

Unlike Trygon Predator or Viashino Heretic, Dack Fayden can be used immediately
upon entering the battlefield, and does not need another turn to become active. Like
both of those creatures, Dack Fayden can be used iteratively to generate card
advantage. The only caveat is that you will need to intersperse the activation with the
first ability. In concert with other tactics, Dack Fayden is a formidable anti-Workshop
tactic, whether in a sideboard or main deck.

Trygon Predator

Trygon Predator is among the strongest anti-Workshop tactics available. Despite its
mana cost, it is not overly difficult to get into play. When it does, it has the capacity to
single-handedly take over the game if protected.

Workshop decks are permanent-based strategies that rely on artifacts in play to prevent
the opponent from playing spells. Despite their tremendous mana capacity, Workshop
decks rarely play more than 2-3 permanents per turn. Moreover, there is usually a

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

tremendous differential in importance among those permanents. When a Sphere of

Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst, and Lodestone Golem are in play, the clear target is
usually Lodestone Golem.

A Trygon Predator can fly through the air and pick off the best permanents, pecking
away at their life total in the process. Once Predator has resolved, the Workshop player
must answer it quickly or find themselves devastated by it. Trygon Predator also
protects itself by providing you breathing room to play your countermagic.

Common answers to Trygon Predator are cards like Phyrexian Metamorph and Tangle
Wire. An early Trygon Predator can be negated by a Metamorph copying it. Tangle
Wire can tie up the Predator for a turn or two. Other answers or trumps include
Hangarback Walker and Arcbound Ravager, Triskelion, Steel Hellkite, and targeted
removal sometimes found in Workshop decks, such as Dismember. When playing
Trygon Predator, you may have to simply chance the possibility that your opponent has
a Metamorph. If they do, you will need an additional artifact removal spell to answer it.
If they don’t, you will have achieved a fast lane toward victory. Unimpeded for a turn
or two, Trygon Predator will generate card advantage and gradually trash the
opponent’s position.

As noted in Chapter 7, Trygon Predator will sometimes be played main deck because it
has natural value in a range of matchups by chewing up Moxen, Oath of Druids, and
combating Workshop decks. Trygon Predator is also a blocker who will survive combat
with almost any hatebears.

Trygon Predator’s status as a creature turns out to be an advantage. Not only does he
elude threats like Thorn of Amethyst, but he can be played proactively, before a Sphere
has even been cast. Among the most devastating start to a game against Workshops is a
first turn Trygon Predator. This can be played off of a pair of Moxen, Lotus, or with
Fastbond and a Gush (this usually results in the best position). Reactive spells like
Nature’s Claim or Ingot Chewer risk being cut off before they can be used. Trygon
Predator is more expensive than these answers, but he can be re-used turn after turn, is
a win condition, and can be played proactively.

Workshop players are used to dealing with answers that are reactive, spells that can be
stymied from the outset. It takes only a modest amount of mana acceleration to resolve
a turn one or turn two Predator, fast enough that the Workshop pilot may have little
opportunity to add Sphere effects to the board first. This can lead Workshop pilots to
underestimate Trygon Predator’s efficacy. To illustrate this point, consider this hand:

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Mox Emerald, Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, Force of Will, Spell Pierce, Trygon Predator, Gush

How often do you think this hand is able to resolve Predator? On the play, you will be
able to resolve the Mox and play a fetchland on the first turn, and likely counter the first
turn Sphere or threat (or both!). This should clear the way for a turn two Trygon
Predator. Substitute Fastbond for Spell Pierce, and you can play Trygon Predator on
turn one. Substitute Mana Crypt (and then Black Lotus) for Mox Emerald, and the
answer is almost the same. Finally, suppose your opponent’s turn one play is Thorn of
Amethyst. On the draw, you can Force the first threat, and try to resolve a turn two
Predator.

The trickiest part of playing with Trygon Predator is not deciding when to play him, but
how to use him. Suppose you finally resolve Trygon Predator, and your opponent’s
board is: Ancient Tomb, Sol Ring, Mox Pearl, Sphere of Resistance, Thorn of Amethyst,
Tangle Wire (with 3 counters), and Arcbound Ravager.

What do you target first? There may be good reasons to take any one of these artifacts.
If you take out the Tangle Wire first, you can get access to two more mana next turn, but
if you take out the Ravager, you’ll have more life. The answer is contextual and
depends on your hand and board, but it illustrates that the decision about how to use
Trygon Predator is far from simple.

Basic Lands

Sideboarding land is technology as old as the format itself, and just as good today as it
has ever been. Some decks attack your mana base. One of the best answers to a land
destruction deck is more land. This was true in 1994 and it is still true today.
Sideboarding an additional land or two is a good idea when facing disruptive decks
with Wasteland. With the full array of fetchlands available, you can pinpoint your basic
land inclusion to support your spell base. If you play predominantly red anti-Workshop

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

cards, you should include a basic Mountain. The same holds true for playing a Forest
for predominantly green sideboard cards, and an extra Island is also another
consideration.

Artifact Accelerants

Cards like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, or off-color Moxen are perfectly acceptable sideboard
tactics for improving the Workshop matchup.

Strip Mine & Wasteland

Strip Mine and Wasteland are useful against Workshop decks because they neutralize
the opponent’s ability to deploy additional threats while also subtly expanding your
own mana supply. A Workshop player who has set his plan on recursive use of
Mishra’s Workshop may find himself blown out by a well-timed Strip Mine or
Wasteland.

Sideboarding these disruptive lands was once rare in Gush decks which are constructed
on Turbo-Xerox principles, but they have proven to be effective in various metagames.
For example, Princess_Power won the January 2016 MTGO Vintage Premier event with
this decklist:

URW PyroMentor Gush, 1st Place MTGO Vintage Premier Challenge 01-31-2016
By Princess_Power

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Pearl 3 Wasteland
4 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Ruby 4 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Ingot Chewer
4 Lightning Bolt 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain
4 Gush 3 Misty Rainforest 2 Null Rod
3 Gitaxian Probe 3 Volcanic Island 1 Shattering Spree
4 Preordain 2 Tundra
1 Ponder 1 Island
1 Brainstorm 1 Strip Mine
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Wasteland
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Young Pyromancer
4 Monastery Mentor

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

This deck is illustrative of the principle of using Wastelands as a tactic against not only
Workshops, but also Dredge. The ability to use Wasteland and Strip Mine as a tempo
play as well makes this an interesting consideration for Gush deck designers.

Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt is chiefly creature removal at the same casting cost as Shattering Spree
and Ingot Chewer, but can be played at instant speed. Bolt can be played under a
Tangle Wire to free up Dack Fayden or to pick off a copied Trygon Predator. It destroys
Mishra’s Factories and removes Lodestone Golem, and has a wide range of applications
against other decks as well.

Swords to Plowshares

Like Lightning Bolt, Swords serves not only as Lodestone Golem removal, but can
remove any creature Workshop deploys, such as Kuldotha Forgemaster or Hangarback
Walker. It has not been as popular as Bolt because white has traditionally been a weaker
tertiary color in Gush decks, although that is slowly changing with the widespread
adoption of Monastery Mentor.

Steel Sabotage

Steel Sabotage is used as a single-artifact Hurkyl’s Recall and as an artifact Annul at one
mana. This versatility makes Steel Sabotage particularly playable, and an excellent
complement for a sideboard strategy in a single color, such as green. Steel Sabotage can
bounce Spheres to make Nature’s Claim or Trygon Predator playable, or counter a key
threat in the first place. Steel Sabotage is sometimes played main deck because of its
versatility, but remains a sideboard candidate as well.

Pulverize

Pulverize is another option for the Gush pilot committed heavily to red, and is a
devastating tactic against Workshops if used correctly, but it is somewhat difficult to
resolve. Pulverize requires careful consideration when crafting the mana base in decks
designed to feature it as a trump card, often including 4 Volcanic Islands main, as well
as basic Mountain, and sometimes even Steam Vents. The fact that it is a “free” spell
(sacrificing two Mountains as the alternate casting cost) means that it can often be cast
even after part of your board has been tapped down by Tangle Wire, if you can manage
any additional mana requirements to pay for Sphere effects.

Kataki, War’s Wage

Kataki is not a direct removal spell, but is a very challenging threat for the Workshop

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pilot to contend with. For just two mana, this creature dramatically impacts the
opposing board, and because it is a creature, it can easily be played through Thorn of
Amethyst. As a Legendary creature, Kataki is most often seen as a 1 or 2-of in
sideboards, and it is important to keep in mind that it is very weak against Triskelion.

Abrupt Decay

Covered in Chapter 7, Abrupt Decay has some notable applications in the Workshop
matchup. Abrupt Decay has a challenging mana cost, but can be used to remove
Spheres, Revokers, Thorns, and any Chalice of the Void (even one set at 2), all at instant
speed. Abrupt Decay will primarily be in the sideboard for other matchups, but can and
should be brought in against Workshops merely for additional removal.

Wear/Tear

The printing of Wear/Tear has given blue-white-red decks a new versatile tool, which
can be used against a broad spectrum of archetypes, including Workshop decks.
Notably, Wear can also be used to destroy Chalice of the Void set to 1.

Dismember

Like Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares, Dismember has the ability to only cost a
single mana, and this is obviously valuable when playing through Sphere effects. It
merely requires a single colorless mana to cast (if paying life), so is an important
consideration if you choose not to splash red and/or white in your deck.

Energy Flux

Energy Flux is among the oldest anti-Workshop tactics. It is

especially painful for Workshop decks because it takes away
the advantage that Mishra’s Workshop itself provides.
Workshops can be used to cast artifacts, but cannot be used to
activate or pay the upkeep cost of artifacts. Moreover,
Workshop decks are based on creating board advantage,
where Energy Flux singlehandedly takes that away. It is not
impossible for Workshop players to win through Energy Flux,
but it is difficult. Aside from Smokestack or preventing the
opponent from resolving it, it is difficult if not impossible for
the Workshop player to remove. Karn Liberated and Spine of
Ish Sah remain two rare answers. When Energy Flux resolves,
the Workshop game plan shifts to trying to establish a mana base with lands like City of
Traitors, Wasteland, and Ancient Tomb to keep 2-3 artifacts in play to try to win the
game. Metalworker is also notable as a counter-tactic to Energy Flux for its ability to

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generate a large amount of mana at instant speed.

Energy Flux is a highly disruptive threat, but its casting cost is prohibitive under
numerous spheres, and being an enchantment, it must be played at sorcery speed.
Although it shares a casting cost with Trygon Predator, it cannot come into play
through Thorns. And, although it can be played proactively like Trygon Predator and
Dack Fayden, it will often punish your mana at the same time by requiring you to pay
an upkeep cost on your precious artifact accelerants. Energy Flux is not a silver bullet,
but it is a scaffold that will easily support additional pinpoint removal that should clear
out stragglers or central threats.

Ancient Tomb

For decks that only need to resolve a single spell like Oath of Druids or Hurkyl’s Recall
against Workshops, Ancient Tomb is among the best support cards you can run. It
expands your mana base both in terms of land density in your deck, and in terms of
mana supply on the battlefield, facilitating your capacity to resolve one of these critical
spells. Ancient Tomb will be a rare sideboard card in Gush decks, but can be extremely
valuable in the right strategy.

Teferi’s Realm

Teferi’s Realm is a fringe tactic for combo-based Gush decks. Teferi’s Realm can wipe
out overwhelming Workshop boards for decks that simply need to clear all artifacts off
the table for one turn to win the game. For example, Doomsday decks only need to
remove all Spheres in order to cast Doomsday and cast a cantrip to win the game. Since
Gush-based Doomsday decks play few artifacts, Realm is rarely symmetrical. But like
Energy Flux, Realm is a three mana enchantment that can only be played at sorcery
speed, and can be hard to resolve in the face of multiple Sphere effects.

Rebuild

The additional one mana of Rebuild compared to Hurkyl’s Recall often makes it much
more difficult to cast, but it is has some notable benefits. It can get around a Chalice of
the Void set to 2 counters, and can be played to bounce all artifacts, even if the
opponent has Leyline of Sanctity or Orbs of Warding in play after sideboarding. Not
only can Rebuild be cycled for another card in a pinch, but when cast it also bounces all
of your own artifacts as well. This is notable because those can then be used to generate
storm count, or Mentor triggers, in the appropriate Gush decks.

Artifact Mutation

An often overlooked tempo monster, Artifact Mutation briefly had a home in Grow

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sideboards circa 2003. Playing Artifact Mutation on a Lodestone Golem, Steel Hellkite,
Smokestack or Karn is usually enough to win the game. The tokens tap down to Tangle
Wire, give you board superiority against a Smokestack, and can just deal enough lethal
damage in a tempo situation. The primary problem is the awkward mana cost to play.
Reliably getting green and red mana into play at the same time is not only a challenge,
but often unwise to justify playing over the more efficient alternatives above. I would
only recommend this card for the tempo Gush lists, and for surprise value only.

Snuff Out

Snuff Out is an efficient answer to Lodestone Golem for Gush decks deep in black. A
first turn Lodestone Golem can be removed with a single land and Snuff Out. Snuff Out
should be a serious post-board consideration for any Gush deck with a basic Swamp in
the sideboard, but worth testing even without one. Gush decks like Doomsday may
consider Snuff Out in concert with additional answers.

Crucible of Worlds

Crucible of Worlds serves several roles against Workshops. Most obviously, it protects
your mana base from removal by allowing you to replay lands destroyed by Wasteland
or Smokestack. Second, it also generates permanent advantage and virtual card
advantage by allowing you to replay fetchlands every turn to thin out your deck. As an
artifact, Crucible can be played through Lodestone Golem, and can be played
proactively. Crucible won’t win any game by itself, but it is a powerful tool that
supports your other answers.

Back to Basics

There are few proactive spells that devastate Workshop mana bases as much as Back to
Basics. Workshop decks rarely play basic lands, and will rely on non-basic lands to play
almost all of their spells. The main answer is Metalworker, but for decks without
Metalworker, the main answer to Back to Basics is to Wasteland their own lands and
replay them with Crucible of Worlds. The reason that Back to Basics sees almost no play
against Workshops is because it is highly symmetrical. Gush decks can use Gush to
replay lands tapped down by Back to Basics, but that is an inconsistent way to get
around it. If you can manage the high mana requirements, Back to Basics coupled with
Energy Flux is essentially a hard lock against most Workshop decks.

Disenchant

Disenchant is not as efficient as the red and green options above, but may be a
necessary resort for Gush decks that primarily use white as a secondary color. It also
has other applications, such as fighting Oath of Druids.

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Serenity

Like Disenchant, Serenity is another anti-Workshop option for any Gush deck that
employs white as a secondary color. Serenity has a key advantage over Disenchant in
that it may remove a slew of artifacts in one fell swoop. However, it only activates on
your next upkeep. In many cases you would rather destroy artifacts on your opponent’s
end step. Nonetheless, Serenity is a useful spell to try to slip into play against
overwhelming might to reset the game.

Toxic Deluge

Covered in Chapter 7, Toxic Deluge is a fringe support card against Workshop decks.
Its casting cost is prohibitive, but it is probably worth sideboarding in against
Workshops if it is already in your sideboard. Not only does it remove the most critical
threat on the battlefield, but it will also destroy any other creatures on the board as well.
See Vito Picozzo’s Gush Tendrils deck earlier in this chapter for an instance of Toxic
Deluge both main deck and in the sideboard.

Sideboarding Strategy vs. Blue Control

Blue control decks are a broadly inclusive category that refers to decks that includes
many Gush decks, and are identifiable from their heavy reliance on countermagic,
removal, and strategic threats like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Time Vault combo, and
Tinker with Blightsteel Colossus. At the time of this writing, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is a
defining feature of this broad class of decks for its versatility and capacity for
generating card advantage. Jace, the Mind Sculptor-based blue control decks won the
2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2015 Vintage Championships.

Just as Gush decks are fundamentally disadvantaged against Workshop-based

strategies, they are fundamentally advantaged over blue control strategies. Gush decks
run similar quantities of countermagic and disruption, but have greater quantities of
draw and search, and typically a lighter mana base. This results in higher card quality
per draw over time, and a greater density of countermagic. Blue control decks must
seize an early lead or else risk losing any long game to Gush decks. The longer the game
goes, the more the virtual card advantage will accumulate. Yet, the kinds of threats and
tactics Gush decks can employ, such as Young Pyromancer, make it difficult for slower
blue control decks to seize the early game either. Gush decks are often capable of
deploying a threat and protecting it just long enough to win most games against blue
control decks.

There are a few control decks that are capable of combating Gush-based strategies head

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on. Extremely slow control strategies with robust unrestricted draw engines such as
Landstill, with Standstill and Jace, the Mind Sculptor, an equally dense countermagic
suite, and a full complement of Wastelands, can pose real challenges for Gush decks
even in a long game. Similarly, Cavern of Souls-based control decks with meaningful
aggro elements can punch through a counterwall, and even set up lethal combos like
Auriok Salvagers with Trinket Mage. These are matchups where pursuit of a control
role is either infeasible or not advisable. Against more traditional control decks, Gush
decks can achieve a superior control role end game.

Gush decks also enjoy a fundamental advantage over blue control decks in that Gush is
a free spell. By being free, Gush decks will always have momentary card and mana
superiority. When the blue control player engages in a counterspell battle with a Gush
deck, the Gush deck is able to play Gush during the battle without depleting any
resources to do so. In contrast, blue control decks must expend mana to cast spells like
Thirst for Knowledge to draw more countermagic during a skirmish. Gush decks tend
to have more counterspells in hand at critical moments than the blue control deck,
making it difficult for the blue control deck to “seize” control.

When facing blue control decks, there are a few strategic and tactic elements that recur
across the spectrum of Gush strategies. Here are some keys to the matchup.

Role Assignment

The first key to the blue control matchup is role assignment, as covered in detail last
chapter. Many Gush decks have the tools and inclination to pursue aggressive lines of
play against most blue control decks, yet a control role will often provide a firmer
footing for eventual victory. Gush decks’ natural advantages accumulate over the
course of the game, and a control role maximizes their accretion.

This is not to suggest a pure control role either. As elaborated on in the previous
chapter, the key to role assignment in the blue control matchup is to know when to
pursue either role when called for, to maximize your chances of winning. If the Gush
pilot can achieve control and a tempo position, then the blue control deck will have no
viable plan for winning. The Gush pilot must be sensitive to context, pursue both roles
and strike where opportunity lies.

The Oath of Druids matchup is unusual in a few other respects that bear mention. Gush
decks will often need to play the control role in the Oath matchup, and either keep the
Oath off the table, destroy it when it resolves, or do everything to prevent it from
triggering. This generally means not playing creatures that may trigger an unresolved
Oath and destroying any creatures that may trigger Oath. Oath can be a challenging
matchup for Gush decks, especially pre-board. But Gush decks have many tools to
combat Oath post-board.

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Do Not Over-Extend!

One of the few tools for control decks seeking to combat Gush decks is the use of
removal or board sweepers. Cards like Supreme Verdict and Volcanic Fallout can
actually swing an entire game back in favor of the control deck from a seemingly lost
position. It may be tempting, especially on the precipice of victory, to play a third
finisher in order to advance with the entire team next turn, yet this may open the door
for a last-ditch Toxic Deluge, backed by any remaining countermagic. Be careful not to
overextend your resources, and especially at the cusp of victory.

Patience

The control mirror is about patience and picking your spots. Impulse-control is
rewarded more often than not when playing the control mirror. Control decks may
have haymakers, but they rarely win the game on the spot. There is often an urge to
break the emergency glass discussed in Chapter 2, and fire off a Gush on your
opponent’s turn in response to an alarming threat. Yet, more often than not, following
the rule announced in Chapter 2 will produce a better outcome.

This guidance is especially useful in the Gush mirror. It can be frustrating to watch an
opponent resolve Mentor and 4-5 spells on their turn, including Moxen, cantrips, and
even big draw spells like Treasure Cruise. Yet, if you have a similar turn in store on
your side, then playing Gush in the forlorn hope of disrupting their turn will diminish
the resources needed to launch your even bigger turn.

Null Rod & Stony Silence

One of the fundamental advantages over big blue decks is the asymmetrical reliance on
artifact acceleration. Stony Silence and Null Rod not only hurt the opponent much more
than you, but can shut off a whole range of powerful tactics like Time Vault and
Sensei’s Divining Top while impeding the use of cards like Yawgmoth’s Will or Tinker.
Resolving an early Null Rod or Stony Silence is one of the best plays against these
decks.

Yawgmoth’s Will & Treasure Cruise & Dig Through Time

Following Ancestral Recall, these three card advantage spells are usually among the
most important to resolve in the blue matchup. They each represent a critical and
overwhelming blast of card advantage that will advance you to your next goalpost.
Resolving them is a top priority.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Yawgmoth’s Will is a critical strategic play in the blue control matchup because it
represents a role pivot. Yawgmoth’s Will is a point at which you may shift from a
control role into a higher gear. Regardless of the game state, Yawgmoth’s Will’s
resolution signals the endgame, and serves as the entry point for a number of strategic
finishers to come online. Building towards a lethal Yawgmoth’s Will is the plan for
many control oriented Gush decks.

Sideboarding Options vs. Blue Control

Red Elemental Blast & Pyroblast

These tactics are essentially a one mana counterspell against most of the spells that a
blue control player will use against you, with a few notable exceptions. The exceptions
include the Time Vault combo, Oath of Druids, and Yawgmoth’s Will, among others.
Although not free, these tactics are among the best spells that can be brought in to
combat the blue control matchup, and should be brought in where space to include
them is possible. Despite the limited number of targets, these tactics are great at
destroying permanents like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Delver of Secrets, and Dack
Fayden.

Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast are often just better than Spell Pierce for the most
part, although they are not free like Mental Misstep nor “uncounterable” like
Flusterstorm. Nonetheless, Pyroblast and its cousin force your opponent to invest
resources in casting their card, meaning you will always hit for more “value.” They will
have spent more to cast their spell than you have to undo it.

There are a few differences between these two cards that are worth noting. Pyroblast’s
slightly different wording permits it to target any spell or permanent, whereas Red
Elemental Blast may only target blue spells or permanents. This matters for two
reasons. Pyroblast can be Misdirected to any target. For example, suppose you cast
Pyroblast targeting your opponent’s Jace on the battlefield, their only blue permanent.
Misdirection may be used to redirect the Pyroblast to any permanent, including a land.
Red Elemental Blast, in the same mode (targeting permanents) cannot be Misdirected in
that case.

On the other hand, this difference happens to be superior in the case of Gush decks with
Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor. The fact that Pyroblast can target any
permanent turns out to be a notable advantage with these token generators. Suppose,
for example, that your opponent is at 8 life, and you have two Young Pyromancers in
play with no tokens, and a Pyroblast and Mental Misstep in hand. Your opponent’s
hand is empty. On their end step, you might cast Pyroblast targeting one of their lands,
and cast Mental Misstep in response to target the Pyroblast. This would trigger both of
your Pyromancers twice, and you would then have enough power to win the game on

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

your turn. Similarly, casting Pyroblast just to get it in your graveyard can fuel a faster
Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time in a pinch.

Flusterstorm

Flusterstorm was covered extensively in Chapter 7, but it approaches peak power and
efficiency in the blue control matchup because of the range of critical tactics and
strategic objectives it addresses. Flusterstorm is one of the few answers to opposing
Flusterstorms, and is also much stronger in any deck with Gush. Flusterstorm is a
natural sideboard option for any Gush deck, but is especially useful for those without
red, where Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast are not options. This is not to suggest that
Flusterstorm is inferior to Pyroblast or Red Elemental Blast in the control matchup.
Aside from the fact that Flusterstorm has a few notable cards it cannot target, just as the
Blasts do, it is often just as useful as they are, if not better.

Grafdigger’s Cage

Grafdigger’s Cage is primarily used to combat Oath of Druids, graveyard tactics like
Ichorid, and the potent strategic objectives of Tinker and Yawgmoth’s Will. It is among
the best answers to Oath of Druids because it is capable of preventing the Oath pilot
from putting the Oath creature from their library into play. Moreover, it will stop any
number of Oath from performing that function. Against non-Oath blue control decks,
Grafdigger’s Cage has the dual function of stopping both Tinker and Yawgmoth’s Will.

Grafdigger’s Case is one of the most important tactics in Vintage, but much like
Tormod’s Crypt, it is largely a sideboard tactic. It should be noted that Grafdigger’s
Cage will inhibit your own plays, like Yawgmoth’s Will, Tinker, or Snapcaster Mage as
well. For this reason, it is probably best served in Delver and Pyromancer decks that do
not use Yawgmoth’s Will.

In the Oath matchup, Cage will address Oath, but only until an opposing Abrupt Decay
or Nature’s Claim can remove it. Getting multiple Cages into play is worthwhile, so do
not pass up or bottom a second Cage when using Preordain. You may need another
Cage if the first one is destroyed.

Duress & Thoughtseize & Cabal Therapy

Targeted discard tactics are another option for marginally improving the blue control
matchup. Duress and Thoughtseize can proactively nab an Oath of Druids or a
counterspell, making your other countermagic more potent or less critical. They also
cannot be hit by opposing Red Elemental Blasts in counterwars.

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Misdirection

Misdirection can have marginal value as an additional counterspell when brought in for
spot removal or other cards of lesser value in the blue control matchup.

Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt is primarily used to pick off critical threats like Jace, Dark Confidant, or
Tezzeret, but it can also be used to destroy tactics like Vendilion Clique or an opposing
Young Pyromancer or Monastery Mentor.

Darkblast

Darkblast is a consideration for sideboarding in against any deck with four Dark
Confidants, as is Fire/Ice, or even Lightning Bolt. It can also be effective, if used in a
timely manner, against Young Pyromancer or an unflipped Delver of Secrets.

Fire/Ice

If you have a Fire/Ice in your sideboard, it is a fantastic card to bring in against any
Dark Confidant deck. It can pick off two Dark Confidants, Snapcaster Mage, or
Vendilion Cliques at a time. It also handles Deathrite Shaman.

Nature’s Claim

Nature’s Claim is on par with Grafdigger’s Cage in combating Oath of Druids. Not only
does it pick off their most valuable threat, but it can be recurred with Snapcaster Mage.
Nature’s Claim also has secondary benefits of being able to disrupt the Time Vault
combo. Time Vault is such a powerful combo that it may be worth having at least one
out to it in the deck as an emergency tutor target. For example, you may need to use a
top deck tutor and cast Gush to draw it in response to your opponent’s attempt to
untap the Time Vault.

Ancient Grudge

Ancient Grudge also serves as an anti-Vault tactic, with the advantage that it cannot be
effectively Duressed away, and can still provide value by destroying artifact mana
sources.

Wear/Tear

Wear/Tear is similar to Nature’s Claim or Disenchant in function and role, in that it can
hit Oath of Druids or break up the Time Vault combo, and is rarely a dead draw, as it

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

can be used to destroy opposing artifact acceleration, if nothing else.

Trygon Predator

Although Trygon Predator is generally reserved for the Workshop matchup, against
Oath of Druids, Trygon Predator is a consideration for sideboarding in. The danger of
Trygon Predator is that your opponent may be able to get one Oath activation in with a
Time Walk. The upside is that once you get an active Trygon Predator in play before
your opponent lands Oath, it will be extremely difficult for your opponent to ever
trigger an Oath.

Containment Priest

A useful tactic against Dredge and Workshops as well, Containment Priest is more
explicitly an anti-Oath of Druids and Show and Tell tactic. As a Human (like Young
Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor), Containment Priest can also be cast off of Cavern
of Souls to make it an uncounterable trump card against certain blue strategies.

Mystic Remora

Mystic Remora is a unique tactical element that is particularly effective in Gush mirrors.
Since Gush decks rely on card efficiency and high spell counts, Mystic Remora can be
brought in within Gush mirrors for significant strategic advantages, as described in
Chapter 7.

Supreme Verdict

Covered in Chapter 7, Supreme Verdict is increasingly visible in sideboards to combat

Gush-based tempo strategies as an uncounterable board sweeper.

Sudden Shock

Sudden Shock has become an increasingly popular answer to Mentor, and appears in
sideboards and main deck for that threat.

Sulfur Elemental

Sulfur Elemental, like Sudden Shock, is used to combat Mentor, but has the advantage
of also addressing Monk tokens that may have already been created. Notably, it is also
effective against other common threats like Thalia, Guardia of Thraben.

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Dread of Night

Another sideboard tactic tailored specifically for Mentor, Dread of Night sometimes
appears in the sideboards of decks like Grixis Pyromancer.
Slice and Dice

A more challenging spell to cycle, this card is an amazing answer to Pyromancer

strategies as another uncounterable board sweeper.

Sideboarding Strategy vs. Storm Combo

From a structural perspective, storm combo decks may seem like a favorable matchup
for the Gush pilot. Storm combo decks have expansive mana bases, a limited number of
threats, build toward a critical mass, and rely on speed and brute force to execute their
game plan. In contrast, Gush decks have lean mana bases, a higher density of
countermagic and disruption, and can answer speed with efficiency. After all, Gush
decks also run more free spells than almost any other strategy in Vintage as well.

Storm combo decks’ most central weakness is efficient countermagic, which Gush decks
run in maximal quantities. Gush decks tend to feature the most disruptive blue and
black spells in the format, and they also run maximal search and draw to find them
reliably. Gush decks reload with free draw and lean deck construction.

On the other hand, Storm combo decks actually have several critical advantages over
Gush decks. No matter how quickly Gush decks are capable of establishing a defense,
they reload slowly. If you follow the rules laid out in Chapter 2, Gush is a Turn 3 play,
at the earliest, under normal circumstances, and the other draw spells, like Treasure
Cruise and Dig Through Time, are just as slow.

Storm combo decks rely on two features to overwhelm their opponents: speed and
power. Storm decks rely on a class of restricted spells, primarily blue and black draw
engines, such as Necropotence, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Timetwister, and Mind’s Desire.
These threats are sometimes supported by cards like Burning Wish or Dark Petition for
reliable access, in addition to the restricted tutors. The problem for Gush decks is not
only that these threats can be played very quickly, but that once resolved, they are
overwhelmingly difficult to stop. Necropotence, for example, is very difficult to
overcome, and is easily cast on the first turn.

It is true that Gush decks can combat these threats with efficient counter magic, but
storm decks have compensated with tactics like Defense Grid, which are difficult to
address. Defense Grid resolves through Mental Misstep, Flusterstorm, and Pyroblast,
and often evades a Spell Pierce. Defense Grid also plays to a weakness of Gush decks:
lower land counts and minimal artifact acceleration. Storm combo remains a

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

challenging and fascinating matchup for the Gush pilot.

Storm combo decks have enjoyed some resurgence in recent years thanks to the
unrestriction of spells like Burning Wish and the printing of Gitaxian Probe and Dark
Petition. The key to the matchup is blue and black disruption, and the Gush deck must
force itself into a hard control role (low gear) in this matchup.

Sideboarding Options vs. Storm Combo

Flusterstorm

Flusterstorm is the strongest anti-Storm combo tactic available to Gush pilots. It is here
that its capacity to generate storm is most critical, and its narrower than usual scope is
minimized. Flusterstorm’s storm capacity is naturally most valuable against decks that
also generate storm. But it is against threats like Mind’s Desire, Empty the Warrens, and
Tendrils of Agony, among others, that other forms of countermagic prove relatively
ineffectual. Flusterstorm has the capacity to counter every Tendrils of Agony or Mind’s
Desire storm copy outright.

It should be remembered, however, that countering a single spell with multiple

Flusterstorm copies is not the same as countering multiple Tendrils or Desire copies
with Flusterstorm. If, for example, the opponent casts Mind’s Desire for 6, with two
mana available, although your Flusterstorm will target each copy once, and one copy
twice, the opponent can pay to let two of the copies resolve. Nonetheless, Flusterstorm
functions better than almost any alternative here, with Mindbreak Trap being a notable
exception.

Flusterstorm’s most glaring limitation, being able to target only sorceries and instants, is
also minimized in this matchup. Storm combo decks run more instants or sorceries than
probably any other strategy in Vintage. It follows that storm decks run few, if any,
planeswalkers, creatures or artifact threats, three of the four major card types ignored
by Flusterstorm. The primary artifact threat used by Storm decks is Memory Jar, which
is most often put into play by Tinker or a pair of Dark Rituals, either of which can be
stopped by Flusterstorm. The most important exception to Flusterstorm’s scope is
enchantment, given the significance of Necropotence and Yawgmoth’s Bargain to storm
combo decks. In addition, Oath of Druids is sometimes a popular weapon in Storm
decks.

Mindbreak Trap

Mindbreak Trap is another strong answer to storm combo decks. Mindbreak Trap has
four critical advantages over Flusterstorm beyond being free. First, like Flusterstorm,
Mindbreak Trap has the capacity to counter all copies of an opponent’s storm spell at

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

once. However, unlike Flusterstorm, this feature cannot be bypassed by simply paying
additional mana to resolve storm copies. Second, unlike Flusterstorm, Mindbreak Trap
can be played even if you are on the draw. For example, if your opponent casts a first
turn Timetwister off of two Moxen and a land, Mindbreak Trap can answer that even
more efficiently than a Force of Will. There is a great deal of emotional security in
knowing that you have answers to first turn draw engines even if you are on the draw.
Third, Mindbreak Trap exiles all of the targeted spells. This prevents recursion of
threats with spells like Yawgmoth’s Will. Fourth, Mindbreak Trap can target any non-
land card type that is put on the stack.

However, Mindbreak Trap’s advantages are countervailed by a few weaknesses. Unlike

Flusterstorm, Mindbreak Trap can be easily countered by an opponent’s Force of Will
or even Red Elemental Blast. Flusterstorm is not so easily stopped. Second, Mindbreak
Trap requires three spells be played before it can be used without paying its mana cost.
For example, it cannot stop Dark Ritual into Necropotence, Mana Crypt into Tinker, or
a Mox and a land into Oath of Druids.

Granted, Flusterstorm can only stop the Tinker play or, if you have enough foresight,
the Ritual before the Necropotence, but these are differences that matter. Mindbreak
Trap is a potent weapon, but there are trade-offs to consider.

Duress & Thoughtseize & Cabal Therapy

These discard spells are often main deck in Gush decks with black, but are sometimes
placed in sideboards for matchups such as storm combo because of their capacity to
efficiently pick off the best card in the storm player’s hand. They also provide
information that permits the Gush pilot to play with optimal sequencing, including
decisions such as whether to play Preordain and what to filter with it. These advantages
come at a cost. Countering a threat is generally preferred to proactively forcing them to
discard one for the simple reason that when countering a threat, the opponent has
invested mana and other resources into playing it. If there is a choice between leaving
up mana to cast Flusterstorm or playing a Duress, I would generally choose the former,
with the plan of playing Duress when more mana is available.

Null Rod & Stony Silence

Because of the nature of the tools that are used to build most storm combo decks, Null
Rod and Stony Silence are usually very potent tools for dramatically narrowing the
mana production capacity that the combo deck will be capable of. Although they do not
affect Dark Ritual, shutting off all of the fast artifact mana that storm decks typically
rely on is effective, and these are also effective tactics against some of the other fringe
combo decks of the format like Two-Card Monte and Painter’s Servant combo. When
coupled with copious amounts of countermagic and tempo finishers, Null Rod and

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Stony Silence prove extremely strong considerations.

Leyline of the Void/Tormod’s Crypt/Nihil Spellbomb/Grafdigger’s Cage/Rest in Peace

Storm combo decks tend to build toward critical mass finishers, and there is none more
important than Yawgmoth’s Will. These anti-graveyard tactics are worthwhile
considerations for combating storm, despite their limited effect on the board. A skilled
storm pilot can select a line of play that ignores these threats, but most storm pilots will
often become flustered or baffled by straining to pursue sequences of that type. Nihil
Spellbomb is especially preferred because of its capacity to recoup itself upon
activation. In addition to Yawgmoth’s Will, it is useful to activate these effects in
response to a Timetwister, which the Storm pilot may be using to recur spells in their
graveyard.

In addition to disrupting a potential Yawgmoth’s Will, these effects also impede the use
of Dark Petition by denying spell mastery. For that reason, Leyline of the Void and Rest
in Peace also deserve consideration. In fact, the centrality of Yawgmoth’s Will is so
pronounced, that I would often bring in Grafdigger’s Cage against the storm combo
matchup in Gush-based tempo decks.

Arcane Laboratory & Ethersworn Canonist

The central tenet to storm decks, and the storm mechanic itself, is playing a chain of
spells in a single turn to generate the necessary victory condition. Arcane Laboratory
and Ethersworn Canonist significantly disrupt this possibility, especially when paired
with countermagic. It is important to keep in mind the timing of your own spells, so
that you do not fall victim to an opposing Chain of Vapor on your end step after you
have cast your single allowable spell during your turn.

Sideboarding Strategy vs. Dredge

A graveyard centric reanimation strategy, Dredge is a strategy that attacks the game
from angles that most Vintage decks cannot or are unprepared to combat pre-board. By
relying on the interaction of the dredge mechanic and Bazaar of Baghdad, it is a
virtually manaless strategy, using mana only to incorporate answers to counter-tactics.
It is also able to win the game by casting only free spells or spells cast by alternative
costs. Consequently, it achieves a critical mass in the first few turns, and consistently
wins games between turns two and four in game one.

The strategy is a model of clockwork efficiency anchored around Bazaar of Baghdad.

Dredge is able to reliably find Bazaar of Baghdad using Serum Powder, and once
Bazaar is activated, it will deposit a dredge card into the graveyard. The dredger will
then be activated in the second turn upkeep by Bazaar of Baghdad, and again in the

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draw step, depositing upwards of 18 cards into the graveyard from the Dredger alone,
and more from the Bazaar of Baghdad itself. Creatures are generated by Bridge from
Below, Ichorid, Narcomoeba, or playing a land and triggering Bloodghast. The critical
spells like Dread Return are all preceded and protected by Cabal Therapy. None of this
can be stopped by conventional means.

Dredge presents an almost unwinnable game one for almost any Vintage strategy,
including Gush decks, since the only way to stop it is to stop Dredge from filling up the
graveyard with cards or win in the first three turns. The latter is not impossible, but
beyond the capacity of many Gush decks. The former is almost impossible to do, since
Dredge need not play a single spell to put its entire deck into its graveyard.
Consequently, the matchup is not defined by either deck’s strategy, but almost entirely
by the sideboard plan you have devised to combat it and their response to your plan.

The key to the Dredge matchup is incorporating a critical mass of anti-graveyard tactics,
and protecting them during the game. As a general rule, you want at least 5-6 anti-
Dredge sideboard cards, and probably more like 7-8 to be safe, to give yourself a solid
footing in the matchup. You need not only to consistently find a Dredge answer in your
opening hand or first few draws, but you will also likely need to find another shortly
thereafter.

The Dredge decks are designed, post-board, to be able to answer almost any counter-
measure you may pursue. For example, Dredge decks typically sideboard in Chain of
Vapor, Nature’s Claim, Ingot Chewer, Wispmare, and other similar tactics. They can
use Bazaar of Baghdad to find these answers, and will use lands like Mana Confluence,
City of Brass, or Undiscovered Paradise to cast them.

It follows that no “answer” is entirely secure. Activating a Tormod’s Crypt is merely a

short-term remedy, and cards like Leyline of the Void will be targeted with pinpoint
removal or bounce. Answers in hand will be targeted with discard spells like Unmask
and Cabal Therapy. For that reason, topdeck tutors are a critical tactic in combating
Dredge.

The quantity of answers needed depends in part of the celerity of your deck. Strategies
with less search and draw than Gush decks will need more Dredge answers. A better
formula is that you will need to find at least two anti-Dredge answers over the course of
a post-board game. If you can find or play three with the usual amount of countermagic
protection, you will be favored to win the game.

The kind of Dredge answers also depends on the particularity of your strategy. There
are four broad classes of Dredge answers. There are those that sit in play and defuse the
graveyard continuously (Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace, Planar Void, and Yixlid
Jailer, etc.), those that remove the graveyard in one shot (Tormod’s Crypt, Nihil

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Spellbomb, Ravenous Trap, and Timetwister, etc.), those that remove portions of the
graveyard (Extirpate, Faerie Macabre, and Surgical Extraction), and those that interfere
with the use of Bazaar of Baghdad (Pithing Needle and City in a Bottle, etc.). Some
cards fall across categories by being able to do both (like Relic of Progenitus or Rest in
Peace). Both the kind you select and the particular combination of effects depends on
their synergy together as well as the tactics and strategic tools available.

Decks with more tempo elements may rely more on temporary solutions like Ravenous
Trap or Nihil Spellbomb. Decks with a slower clock and more countermagic may elect
to use permanent-based answers like Leyline of the Void. Your access to colors and
other resources will also affect your choice of Dredge solutions. Decks with Tinker, for
example, will often include a single artifact answer, such as City in a Bottle or Tormod’s
Crypt.

The Dredge matchup is defined by a post-board and metagame battle over answers and
counter-tactics. Carefully metagamed Dredge pilots will select the suite of answers that
best matches up to the most popular set of anti-graveyard tactics employed to combat
Dredge. This in turn prompts the Vintage field to shift to answers less susceptible to
Dredge pilot’s sideboard plans, in an endless cycle.

Sideboarding Options vs. Dredge

Leyline of the Void

Leyline of the Void is the single best solution to the Dredge matchup. The reason for
this is quite simple: it is structurally less susceptible to the range of counter-tactics that
Dredge may employ because it can never be stopped by Unmask, Mental Misstep, or
Cabal Therapy. By coming into play before the game begins, Dredge’s natural suite of
discard effects are useless against it. Leyline also has the advantage over many other
tactics of affecting the opponent before you have a turn, so if they were to activate
Bazaar on their first turn, the three cards discarded are automatically exiled.

Leyline of the Void is nonetheless answered by a wide range

of counter-tactics, including Chain of Vapor (which is often
equivalent of destroying it – since it can’t be easily recast),
Nature’s Claim, Serenity, and Wispmare. However, if Leyline
of the Void can be successfully defended, it is almost
impossible for Dredge to win the game. Decks with high
numbers of Mental Missteps and Flusterstorms can create a
very difficult wall to penetrate around Leyline, countering
Chain of Vapor and Nature’s Claim, among others. The
greatest danger with Leyline is a Game Three scenario on the
draw, where the Dredge player can play a land and cast a

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

one-mana spell to try to bounce or destroy the Leyline.

Protecting Leyline requires more than simply narrow countermagic. Wispmare and
Serenity are strong counter-tactics because they evade spells like Mental Misstep and
Flusterstorm. Wispmare also trumps Spell Pierce. This underscores the difficulty of
protecting a Leyline for an entire game. It is more likely than not that the opponent will
be able to eventually destroy the Leyline. At that point, you will need to have either
played another answer or play another one. You will likely be in a position to cast
another Leyline, if all has gone well. For that reason, Leyline will always need to be
paired with other cards.

There are reasons not to run Leyline. First of all, Leyline is a card that cannot be reliably
found in the opening hand. When running Leyline, you will often need to mulligan
once or more to find it. Leyline may not be the best answer for your deck. In Gush
decks with Snapcaster Mage or a huge density of cantrips, you may wish to rely on
your superior search and recursive capacity to run temporary answers like Ravenous
Trap. This is especially true of decks that are generally incapable of hard casting
Leyline, like UR and RUG Delver. Leyline of the Void is the gold standard for Dredge
solutions if you can protect it, but it may not always be right for you.

Yixlid Jailer

Yixlid Jailer is one of the strongest anti-Dredge tactics in the Magic card pool. While it
does not exile cards in graveyards or cards that would be put there, this zombie wizard
completely neutralizes all graveyard effects, from Bridge from Below triggers, to
flashback, to dredge. It renders their entire graveyard inert and useless so long as Jailer
remains in play. While Jailer cannot prevent dredging or triggers or flashback before it
comes into play, it has the advantage of neutralizing anything that came into play
before it once it hits. Jailer also happens to be a ten turn win condition as well as an
answer, and is a nice complement to tempo finishers.

While Jailer has many advantages, it also has many weaknesses. A Jailer can be
bounced with Chain of Vapor, and then stripped out of hand with a now-flashbackable
Cabal Therapy. This illustrates a weakness of Jailer relative to spells that purge the
graveyard like Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace. Jailer can also be removed with
answers like Darkblast, Sudden Shock, or Barbarian Ring.

Jailer is not a card that needs to be played in maximal quantities. It is an ideal target for
a topdeck tutor like Vampiric Tutor, and it can be dug up with search and draw. Jailer is
best used as a complement to other Dredge answers, and can be used in multiples or as
a singleton.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Containment Priest

Like Yixlid Jailer, Containment Priest is a strong option against Dredge because it is
usually harder for the Dredge deck to answer than artifact and enchantment-based
tactics. But unlike Yixlid Jailer, Containment Priest can be cast at instant speed by virtue
of its flash ability, and because of the wording of Priest, it can actually exile creatures
like Narcomoeba that may trigger from the Dredge player. Containment Priest is a very
strong anti-Dredge option if splashing white, and as discussed before, is useful against
a range of other strategies.

Grafdigger’s Cage

Grafdigger’s Cage is among the most important tactics in Vintage, but it is primarily a
sideboard tactic. We have already covered its utility in the blue control matchup and
against Oath, but it is just as important, if not more so, as an anti-Dredge tactic.

It is important to carefully understand how Grafdigger’s Cage impacts the Dredge

matchup, and what it cannot do. Grafdigger’s Cage’s simple text is a source of endless
confusion. Here is what Grafdigger’s Cage does:

 Prevents Ichorid from entering play

 Prevents Bloodghast from entering play
 Prevents Cabal Therapy from being flashbacked
 Prevents Dread Return from being flashbacked
 Prevents Narcomoeba from entering play

Like Containment Priest above, Grafdigger’s Cage is a rare solution that can prevent a
Narcomoeba from entering play from the library. Granted, cards like Leyline of the
Void and Yixlid Jailer can prevent the opponent from ever dredging in the first place to
trigger a Narcomoeba, but Cage prevents this directly.

Unlike Yixlid Jailer or Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger’s Cage does not prevent the
opponent from dredging nor putting tokens into play by triggering Bridge from Below,
since they do not come into play from the graveyard. With a Cage in play, the Dredge
pilot’s primary task will be to generate Bridge tokens. The Dredge pilot’s strategy will
shift to attacking with 2/2 zombies. Yet, if Bloodghasts, Narcomoebas, or Ichorids can’t
enter play, how can they accomplish this? One method is to evoke creatures like Ingot
Chewer and Wispmare, which by simply going to the graveyard trigger Bridge from
Below. Another possibility is that they may try to hard cast creatures and then destroy
them with cards like Darkblast to generate tokens.

Despite its efficiency, Cage is especially vulnerable. It can be countered by Mental

Misstep, stripped by Unmask or Cabal Therapy, and destroyed by Ingot Chewer,

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Nature’s Claim, Serenity, Ancient Grudge, and much more. Cage is an effective partial
answer to Dredge, but it must be supplemented by other tactics.

Cage may also create unintentional interference with your own strategy. For example,
Cage directly interferes with the operation of the GushBond engine by preventing you
from using Yawgmoth’s Will for full effect, or from using Snapcaster Mage to flashback
a spell (although it doesn’t prevent Regrowth from targeting a spell in the graveyard).
The decision to use Cage must be weighed against these facts.

Planar Void

Planar Void is a powerful weapon most similar to Leyline of the Void, with a critical set
of tradeoffs. Unlike Leyline of the Void, Planar Void does not come into play before the
game begins, and therefore does not prevent dredging or triggering of cards put into
the graveyard before Planar Void came into play. Therefore, a Bloodghast or Bridge
placed into the graveyard can be safely used even after Planar Void enters the
Battlefield. Relatedly, because it can’t be played before the game begins, Planar Void is
vulnerable to Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Mental Misstep.

On the other hand, Planar Void has several advantages over Leyline of the Void. Since it
only costs one mana, it can be replayed swiftly if bounced with Chain of Vapor.
Similarly, it need not be in your opening hand like Leyline in order to be placed onto
the battlefield. This also means you need not mulligan to find it, but can draw in to it
with cantrips and tutors.

Planar Void has one other critical drawback, and that is its symmetry. Like Grafdigger’s
Cage, Planar Void interferes with your own tactics, including Yawgmoth’s Will,
Regrowth, and Snapcaster Mage, among others. Most importantly, Planar Void’s
problem is its symmetrical interference with your ability to set up a giant Yawgmoth’s
Will. This card is powerful in the matchup, but is typically avoided in favor of other
solutions, especially since cards like Yixlid Jailer do not suffer this drawback.

Rest in Peace

Rest in Peace may lack the structural advantage of coming into

play before the game begins, but it is otherwise the ideal anti-
Dredge tactic. Without including exotic or unusual features
like indestructibility or shroud or improved mana efficiency, it
is difficult to imagine how to design a more perfect answer.
Like Leyline, every card headed to the graveyard is exiled
instead, but like Tormod’s Crypt or Ravenous Trap, it clears
out the graveyard when it comes into play. This means that it
can probably support a Dredge plan on its own weight and

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

without needing much help. Even if Rest in Peace is destroyed or removed, it will have
provided a crucial function of cleansing the graveyard of evil spirits temporarily. The
main disadvantage of Rest in Peace, as compared to Leyline of the Void, is that Rest in
Peace can be stripped out by discard before it can be played. This would matter less if
Rest in Peace did not cost two mana. Without a Mox or other accelerant, there is a real
danger that Rest in Peace will either be stripped out of hand before it can be cast, or it
may arrive too late to make a difference.

Ravenous Trap

Ravenous Trap is one of the better anti-Dredge tactics for Gush decks. Like Tormod’s
Crypt, Ravenous Trap is a temporary tactic that buys time, delaying the Dredge pilot’s
critical mass development, rather than a silver bullet. The condition on Ravenous Trap
will be satisfied every time Bazaar is activated, so there will be few times where it
cannot be played.

The main concern and thing to be wary of is that it may be stripped from hand with
Cabal Therapy or Unmask before it can be played. Whereas permanent based answers
like Tormod’s Crypt must contend with spells like Ingot Chewer or Nature’s Claim,
answers played from hand must risk being discarded. Fortunately, because most
Dredge pilots will activate Bazaar in their upkeep, Trap can be played in response to
most discard spells. It is possible that a first turn Unmask or Cabal Therapy may take it,
but that is a risk for all Dredge hate besides Leyline of the Void. Another risk for
Ravenous Trap is Leyline of Sanctity, a card that is sometimes found in Dredge
sideboards. Leyline will prevent you from casting this spell.

Trap is most at home in aggressive Gush decks with recursive elements. Slower Gush
decks will find that Trap is probably insufficient to their needs, especially relative to
silver bullets like Leyline of the Void. In a Gush deck like Delver, Trap can buy enough
time to win the game with a natural clock. Cantrips and search can find additional
Traps, and recursive elements like Snapcaster Mage or Regrowth can be used to buy
more time.

Tormod’s Crypt

Unlike many of the tactics surveyed here, Tormod’s Crypt is not a silver bullet, but a
delaying tactic, buying at least one turn and possibly more. You can force your
opponent to dredge much of their deck before sacrificing the Crypt. If you wait until a
Narcomoeba trigger is on the stack, you can take out quite a few threats in one fell
swoop. Ideally, you will take out at least 20 cards with Tormod’s Crypt. But often you
can’t wait to use it.

Crypt’s resolution affects the flow and direction of the game in less direct ways. Once

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Tormod’s Crypt hits, the Dredge pilot will generally stop dredging or dredge a modest
amount further sufficient to create board pressure to tempt the Tormod’s Crypt
controller to activate it, but not so much to overextend. Once Tormod’s Crypt has been
activated, the Dredge pilot will need to quickly refill their graveyard and begin
comboing out again. At the same time, the Dredge pilot may try to destroy it in order to
compel you to activate it prematurely.

Ultimately, Tormod’s Crypt is a useful complement to other tactics as part of a

comprehensive plan for combating Dredge. It is often an excellent singleton as a Tinker
target, but used to support more permanent answers. Unless it is paired with other
disruption or followed up by victory, it will not be sufficient to stave off death.

Nihil Spellbomb

In any deck with reliable black mana, Nihil Spellbomb is generally preferred to
Tormod’s Crypt and Relic of Progenitus. Nihil Spellbomb is nearly identical to
Tormod’s Crypt in functionality with two obvious exceptions. First, it costs one more
mana to play, and thus can be hit by an opposing Mental Misstep. However, when
Nihil Spellbomb is activated (or goes to the graveyard for any reason), its controller
may pay a black mana and draw a card. This ensures that Nihil Spellbomb replaces
itself, even if you are simply Tinkering it away, or if it has been destroyed by an Ingot
Chewer or Nature’s Claim. Nihil Spellbomb may also simply be cycled to find more
important cards in the late game.

Relic of Progenitus

Relic of Progenitus has an advantage over Tormod’s Crypt

and Nihil Spellbomb with its capacity to perform
incrementally. Whereas Tormod’s Crypt and Nihil Spellbomb
are all or nothing propositions, Relic can be activated to
compel the opponent to exile a card from the graveyard a turn
at a time. When the opponent is dumping three to six cards
into the graveyard per Bazaar or dredge activation, that may
not seem relevant, but it can potentially delay the moment in
which Relic must ultimately be activated. It may also pressure
the Dredge pilot to extend themselves ever more slightly than
they would if Relic were Tormod’s Crypt or Nihil Spellbomb.

Where Nihil Spellbomb conditionally replaces itself, activating Relic to exile all cards
from all graveyards draws you a card. The obvious disadvantages relative to Nihil
Spellbomb is that Nihil Spellbomb can be activated without having to pay a mana and,
more importantly, Nihil Spellbomb does not exile your own graveyard in the process.
The symmetry on Relic of Progenitus is a deterrent to its use, as it may wipe out the

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

contents of a potentially useful Yawgmoth’s Will turn or simple recursive targets for
Regrowth or Snapcaster Mage. On the other hand, the symmetrical nature of Relic
means that it cannot be thwarted by Leyline of Sanctity, as both the Crypt and
Spellbomb are.

Pithing Needle

Pithing Needle is one of two cards potentially employed by Gush decks that can
prevent Bazaar from being activated. The force that powers the post-board battle over
answers and counter-tactics is Bazaar – allowing the Dredge pilot to draw three cards or
more per turn, and therefore find disruption and answers more quickly than the one-
draw per turn natural draw of the Gush pilot. With an active Bazaar, your opponent can
begin to cycle garbage to find the solutions they need, drawing two additional cards a
turn. Shutting this down has a huge effect over the course of a post-board game. Pithing
Needle dramatically reduces the Dredge pilot’s access to answers, relying entirely on
topdecks. A first turn Pithing Needle can be even more devastating. It can prevent a
Bazaar from being activated in the first place, and dramatically minimize the critical
Turn 2 upkeep activation. When you announce Needle, they can respond by activating
Bazaar and discard Bridges and dredgers. But they won’t be able to use Bazaar
iteratively. Pithing Needle on the draw, while buying some time by preventing your
opponent from using the Bazaar on their second turn’s upkeep to dredge, will not stop
them from dredging entirely.

Therefore, Pithing Needle plays two critical roles: it slows the Dredge pilot’s game plan,
but it also prevents them finding answers more quickly. It follows that Pithing Needle is
a powerful Dredge answer, but it really needs to be used in tandem with other answers
rather than by itself. Needle is best used with silver bullet tactics rather than delaying
tactics such as Tormod’s Crypt or Ravenous Trap. Needle supports cards like Rest in
Peace, Leyline, and Jailer much more effectively, buying time to find and resolve them
while protecting them once in play.

City in a Bottle

City in a Bottle may be the most unique Dredge solution among many of the most
unique cards in the Vintage card pool. In many respects, City in a Bottle is comparable
to Pithing Needle in that it prevents Bazaar of Baghdad from being activated or used to
trigger the dredge mechanic or to find answers. Yet, besides costing one more mana,
City in a Bottle has multiple advantages over Pithing Needle. First, City in a Bottle
destroys any and all Bazaar of Baghdad already in play. Pithing Needle may prevent
Bazaar from being used, but once Pithing Needle has been removed itself, then the
Bazaars become immediately usable. The City’s destruction of all Bazaars in play means
that removing the City does not bring Bazaar back into use.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Second, City in a Bottle is a unique card in that it that can actually prevent a Bazaar of
Baghdad from being played in the first place. As a general rule, there are few card that
can prevent an opponent from playing lands, but City in a Bottle will prevent Bazaar
from ever being played so long as City in a Bottle remains in play. Therefore, not only
will City in a Bottle destroy any Bazaars in play, but it will prevent the opponent from
even playing one in the first place. This is significant for a number of reasons, but the
most important being that the Dredge pilot will not be able to use it to generate mana
from Riftstone Portal or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

Third, City in a Bottle will destroy or prevent from being played other, commonly
played Dredge cards, including City of Brass. City of Brass, along with Mana
Confluence, is the anchor to the Dredge player’s post-board mana base. City in a Bottle
has the capacity to take out up to eight lands out of the opponent’s 75 cards, and
preventing them from even playing Bazaar and City in the first place!

Surgical Extraction

Surgical Extraction is a targeted graveyard removal spell with critical secondary

benefits. Surgical Extraction’s great strength is its ability to slow the Dredge pilot’s
game plan by removing the best answer in their graveyard, whether that is a Golgari
Grave-Troll or a Bridge from Below. But it not only strips out the Dredge spell, it also
removes it from their hand and library, providing you valuable information on tactics
in hand and in library. In multiples, Surgical Extraction can seriously slow the Dredge
pilot’s game plan, if not remove critical win conditions, and create space for you to race
them or find additional answers.

Another key advantage of Surgical Extraction over almost any other anti-Dredge card is
that it can be played before your first turn, if your opponent was on the play. Being
essentially free (just 2 life), it does not interfere with your general development, and can
easily be replayed with Snapcaster Mage at instant speed. Another consideration for
Surgical Extraction is its potential for increasing storm, even if it is not needed to
remove tactical threats from a graveyard. Surgical Extraction’s free mana cost is
consistent with Gush decks general operational functionality, while ramping up the
storm count.

Extirpate

Extirpate has been superseded in most ways by Surgical Extraction, although Extirpate
still retains the nontrivial advantage of having Split Second, so that it can cut through
any response the opponent may muster. The mana cost difference between Extirpate
and Surgical Extraction means that Extirpate will rarely be played, but the reason it
would be played over Surgical Extraction is because it may be of more use in a wider
range of matchups. As discussed in the Theory of Sideboarding section above,

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

sometimes deck builders will select slightly inferior sideboard cards for particular
matchups because of the potential for broader application. This is a principle that
applies across sideboard strategies, given the space constraints of a sideboard.

Timetwister

Timetwister is not generally a sideboard card, but it should be viewed as a sideboard

tactic for combo and combo-control Gush decks against Dredge. Timetwister is
excellent against Dredge because it shuffles their graveyard into their library. In that
sense, Timetwister functions much like a card that clears out graveyards, with the
difference that rather than exiling the contents, it resets them to the original position.

Sideboarding Strategy vs. Merfolk & Hatebears

You may be surprised to learn that these strategies are possibly second only to
Workshop-based strategies in terms of being the most structurally difficult matchups
for many forms of Gush decks. Merfolk and Hatebears are highly disruptive strategies
that attack Gush decks from multiple angles: the mana supply, their capacity to draw
cards, or even cast spells. These decks tend to have a dense supply of mana denial
tactics, like Wasteland and Strip Mine, but they also run Null Rods and Stony Silence.
This generally is not a weak spot for Gush decks, which run fewer artifact accelerants
than usual, but if cards like Thorn or Thalia appear alongside them, then they can be
devastating. The restriction of Lodestone Golem has rendered Thalia a larger part of the
metagame, and Thalia-based strategies have surged as a result. Thalia-based strategies
are not only hatebears variants, but also appear with Eldrazi.

Non-blue disruptive aggro decks can be especially challenging because they not only
attack Gush decks in the same way that Workshop decks do with cards like Thalia, but
they can do much worse. Cards like Spirit of the Labyrinth prevent Gush from drawing
cards at all, and cards like Gaddock Teeg prevent Gush from being cast at all. Leonin
Arbiter and Aven Mindcensor not only attack your mana supply, but they can also
prevent you from tutoring for effective answers. Cards like Ghost Quarter may also be
employed since Arbiter and Mindcensor limit your search range. These features are
exacerbated by the underlying fact that Cavern of Souls renders many of these threats
uncounterable. Gush decks’ greatest advantage, countermagic density, is minimized if
not neutralized. There are three keys to the Merfolk and Hatebears matchups.

Board Advantage & Tempo Finishers

The first key to these matchups is board presence. Tempo-based Gush decks have an
inherent advantage in this matchup by running larger and more threatening creatures.
A Delver of Secrets, Young Pyromancer, or especially Monastery Mentor can serve as a
strategic trump to cards like Spirit of the Labyrinth. The Gush pilot’s goal is simply to

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

outrace the Beats pilot. Merfolk can grow large quite quickly, but that is the Gush deck’s
specialty.

Combat Math

The second factor in this matchup is combat math and shifting role assignment. There
will be a tension between developing a board presence and generating tempo. Deciding
when to attack and when to hold back may involve a complex set of considerations.
You may seem to have an impenetrable board position, but the opponent’s control over
critical resources may render that temporary. Board positions may become dense and
complex in these matchups, and trades must be contemplated and weighed. Knowing
when to attack and press an advantage and when to hold back and defend a control
position is a challenge that is deeply contextual and situational. The key here to beating
Merfolk is incredibly tight play and maximum utilization of your resources. You should
win, but barely.

Removal

The third key to the matchup is removal. Countermagic can play a role, but it has
limited scope, and not just because of Cavern of Souls. The real key will be the density
and quality of removal spells such as Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Fire/Ice, Swords to
Plowshares, Dismember, and mass removal such as Toxic Deluge, Pyroclasm, and
Volcanic Fallout. Because of the restrictions on drawing and tutoring, these spells must
be present in large enough quantities to be drawn naturally and consistently. It follows
that most of the tactics surveyed in this section fall under this umbrella category.

Sideboarding Options vs. Merfolk & Hatebears

Lightning Bolt

Precision removal at its finest. There are few Merfolk or Hatebears creatures that can
survive a Bolt, with Tarmogoyf being the notable exception. Lightning Bolt clears out
the most disruptive elements and allows your game plan to proceed at minimal cost.
Decks with Snapcaster Mage make Lightning Bolt especially attractive as spot removal.

Swords to Plowshares

A virtual auto-include for any Gush deck deep in white, Swords to Plowshares is a
reliable source of pinpoint removal since it is capable of removing any creature without
shroud. Swords has the disadvantage of providing some life gain for the opponent, but
when used against hatebears or disruptive threats, that drawback will be minimized.
Swords to Plowshares should be used to pick off the most problematic threat in any
situation, and Snapcaster Mage will often be used to run it back.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Fire/Ice

Fire/Ice is a potential source of card advantage, picking off two threats with one card,
such as a Thalia and a Spirit of the Labyrinth, or a Dark Confidant and a Young
Pyromancer, depending on the opponent. Fire/Ice is less recursive than more efficient
removal spells, but it is has the versatility of being able to tap down a Blightsteel
Colossus or Tarmogoyf for a tempo advantage (or just a land in your opponent’s
upkeep), while also pitching to Force of Will for being blue. Gush decks with Merchant
Scroll and Lightning Bolt should consider a Fire/Ice as a Scroll target, and a potential
source of card advantage. Cards like Delver or Deathrite Shaman can also be picked off
with Fire/Ice, and creatures that cannot can always be tapped down.

Darkblast

Darkblast is a naturally recursive form of pinpoint removal that should be considered

for any Gush deck deep in black. Darkblast can remove the most troubling of creatures,
such as Thalia, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Dark Confidant, Young Pyromancer, and Notion
Thief for a single mana. Under certain circumstances, it can also be used to remove two
power creatures, by being played and then recursed with a draw effect, such as Gush or
Preordain, to be replayed to remove a two-toughness target.

Abrupt Decay

Abrupt Decay has already been covered in this chapter, but this matchup is another
instance where Abrupt Decay shines. Decay’s uncounterability is less relevant in the
Hatebears matchup, but it matters against Merfolk decks, and is useful in a broader
range of matchups. Decay may not be the best creature removal spell, but its capacity to
remove non-creature spells matters, as spells like Null Rod and Stony Silence can
present a challenge to winning. Abrupt Decay’s versatility is inhibited somewhat by its
mana cost, but that is less of an issue in decks with Deathrite Shaman to support it.

Snuff Out & Dismember

Among the most efficient removal spells, Snuff Out and Dismember can be played for
little or no mana, while evading answers like Mental Misstep. The alternative casting
cost may be too costly to justify including just for these matchups, but for any deck
already sporting it for the Workshop matchup, it can and should also be brought in
against disruptive hatebears decks. Snuff Out’s main disadvantage is that you need to
have a reliable source of black, at least 11 lands that produce black or can find a Swamp
or Underground Sea, to be able to cast this on turn one consistently.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Red Elemental Blast & Pyroblast

Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast are as good as gold against Merfolk, but are largely
dead against Hatebears decks. They are not useful enough on their own in this matchup
solely to justify including them, but since they are almost always played for other
purposes, they should be brought in against Merfolk if available.

Slaughter Pact

Another consideration for Doomsday Gush decks, especially as Gaddock Teeg removal.
Slaughter Pact is as efficient as you can get in terms of removal, and the upkeep penalty
is either unnecessary (because you will have won the game), or easily payable at three
mana.

Toxic Deluge

Probably the single best mass removal spell in the format for its capacity to address any
number of threats simultaneously. Toxic Deluge is a serious sideboard consideration for
any Gush deck light on creatures. Deluge’s scalability makes it excellent for keeping
your own threats live while wiping out an opponent’s army.

Pyroclasm

Pyroclasm is the default mass removal spell for Gush decks with red, but no black.
Pyroclasm will sweep away most Hatebears, although less precisely than a Toxic
Deluge, but can be tricky against Merfolk if one or more “Lords” are out (pumping each
other). At two mana, it is more efficient than Toxic Deluge. It can also be used after
combat to wipe out a larger creature who has already suffered some amount of damage
from an attacker.

Volcanic Fallout

The additional mana used to cast Volcanic Fallout is unlikely to be worthwhile since it
is against blue decks that it matters most. Hatebears decks are unlikely to match your
countermagic firepower, but rather will attempt to slow you with mana disruption and
interfering with your sources of card advantage. The capacity to also inflict damage on
the opponent is nontrivial. Volcanic Fallout is best used by slow control decks against
aggro-control decks heavily in blue.

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 Chapter 10 – Matchups & Sideboarding

Massacre

The most dangerous hatebears reside in White. For any Gush deck with reliable access
to a swamp, Massacre is an excellent surprise. Although it is stymied by Gaddock Teeg,
it can serve as a free Wrath of God in the right matchup. Like Snuff Out, you will
require reliable access to a Swamp in play as a precondition for casting Massacre at the
discounted rate.

Supreme Verdict

At four mana, Supreme Verdict has a steep cost, and highly specific colored mana
requirements. But the uncounterability of Verdict has proven a valuable tradeoff, and
this has seen tournament play in some successful UWx Mentor Gush variants in 2016 in
both main decks and sideboards.

Engineered Explosives

Although vulnerable to Null Rod and Stony Silence, Engineered Explosives has the
ability to clean up numerous creatures against Merfolk and Hatebears decks, and is also
useful in other matchups (such as against Workshops).

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 Chapter 11: The Gush Hall of Fame
This book offers a comprehensive view of Gush strategies, from theory to practice and
strategy to tactic. Virtually every facet of Gush-based design and play has been
examined and discussed in the Vintage format context. By now, you have a panoramic
view of the range of strategies and tactics employed by Gush decks, and should enjoy
and appreciate the range of considerations and mixture of factors that influence in-
game decision making and deck design. This chapter broadens that context and
deepens that understanding by introducing the most historically significant Type
I/Vintage Gush strategies.

The successes enjoyed by Gush strategies over the years was more than the
implementation of a brilliant strategy, the product of a collection of powerful tactics, or
faithful application of a set of principles. These elements were carried by particular
decklists built for real-world metagames. In this chapter, we will survey the most
successful and impactful Gush-based strategies of all time. By studying these strategies,
we might learn more about Gush strategies than can be derived from further analysis
alone.

History may not repeat, but it certainly rhymes. The Vintage card pool evolves, but
particular functionalities and their relationships endure. Appreciation of these
strategies may help us better understand contemporary Gush strategies and serve as a
wellspring of ideas. These decks may no longer exist in contemporary Vintage, but they
provide a set of reference points or analogies that may signal clues for fruitful directions
or hint at pitfalls and traps to avoid. History cannot foretell the future, but may reveal
parallels to inform our discretion.

These strategies are not only the greatest Gush strategies ever developed, but they are
among the most memorable Type I and Vintage strategies ever played. They brought
renown to their designers and pilots. They won Championships and transformed
metagames. I give you the Vintage Gush Hall of Fame.

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Miracle Grow (2002)

Chapin Grow, 1st Place GenCon Type I $250 August 2002

By Patrick Chapin

4 Force of Will 4 Land Grant Sideboard:

4 Misdirection 1 Black Lotus 1 Emerald Charm
2 Daze 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Living Wish
2 Foil 1 Mox Emerald 3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Divert 1 Mox Pearl 1 Morphling
1 Disrupt 1 Mox Ruby 1 Strip Mine
4 Gush 1 Sol Ring 1 Hydro Blast
1 Opt 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Sleight of Hand 4 Tropical Island 1 Fact or Fiction
4 Brainstorm 4 Island 1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk 1 Back to Basics
2 Merchant Scroll 1 Divert
1 Cunning Wish 1 Seedtime
1 Regrowth
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Ophidian

Miracle Grow first emerged as a powerhouse strategy in Extended, a now defunct

format that bridged Standard (then known as Type II) and Vintage (then known as
Type I). Magic Hall of Famer Alan Comer first revealed “Miracle Grow” at Grand Prix
Las Vegas in the fall of 2001 (see Chapter One). Miracle Grow soon became the hottest
deck in the format that season, but Type I players largely ignored its potential, and
those that recognized it had minimal success porting the concept to the format.

In early 2002, rumors surfaced that future Hall of Famer Patrick Chapin was battling
opponents with a Type I version of Comer’s creation. Skepticism subsided somewhat
when no less an authority than Brian Weissman reported getting pummeled by
Chapin’s Grow in the hallways at Pro Tour: San Diego.

With the restriction of Necropotence in 2000 and Fact or Fiction in 2001, Type I was
dominated by fully powered, multi-color control decks in the Weissman mold.
Ironically, it was Type I players’ fidelity to the original Extended concept that hindered
Miracle Grow’s emergence in Type I. Chapin’s brilliance was recognizing the
fundamental deeper structure of the archetype while discarding elements unsuited for
Type I play.

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

A creature-dense deck in Extended, Chapin stripped the tempo finisher package to just
Quirion Dryad, and replaced less effectual tactics like Winter Orb, and the other tempo
finishers with more countermagic and the Ophidian draw engine. This gave Chapin the
reach to crush combo decks, but the resilience to challenge control decks on their own
turf through superior countermagic and tempo.

Grow was the first successful Gush-based aggro-control

strategy in Type I and became a paradigm for this strategic
approach. This deck’s game plan focused on deploying a
Quirion Dryad and then aggressively protecting it while
disrupting the opponent’s game plan, which would
conveniently also “grow” the Dryad. Quirion Dryad served
as Chapin Grow’s ultimate strategic objective, and Ophidian
and Gush were the deck’s interim strategic objectives, setting
up the finisher, and drawing the tactical support to protect it.
Every counterspell cast countering an opponent’s spell either
targeting the Dryad or attempting to develop its own game
play served to grow the Dryad. Similarly, while the cantrips
were used in the early game to find lands, they also could be chained in the late game to
grow the Dryad or dig up protective countermagic.

Like many Gush deck, Grow was bimodal. While capable of boldly playing a Dryad
and aggressively protecting it for an inevitable victory, Grow was also capable of
playing a hard control role (low gear), fueled by the dual draw engine of Gush and
Ophidian and supported by fourteen counterspells. In that sense, describing it as an
aggro-control deck is more than a hybrid label, but reflective of its capacity to pursue
both roles.

Fourteen counterspells seemed revolutionary at the time for a Type I deck, but it was all
the more so when you consider that most of the countermagic was cast for “free,” or no
mana cost. Chapin Grow gave Misdirection the full respect it had never enjoyed until
this point, and cards like Foil had never been successfully employed in the format
before. Moreover, the density of cantrips and draw spells created an even greater
effective concentration of countermagic than the nearly 1 in 4 ratio suggests.

Perhaps the most astonishing feature of Chapin Grow was the deck’s mana base. While
Comer’s Grow and Turbo-Xerox decks featured unusually small mana provisions,
running a mere nine lands was a kind of sticker shock for the Type I player, even
though Land Grants functionally expanded the mana base to 13 lands, not counting the
Moxen and other artifact acceleration. The contrast could not have been greater to the
control decks of the era, which, under Weissman design orthodoxy, were composed of
nearly 50% mana sources.

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

The summer of 2002 was hot in the Type I community on account of the audacity of
Chapin’s claims about his Grow deck – claims that were reflexively scrutinized by
skeptical players. Chapin’s assertions exposed a wider fault line between Wizards of the
Coast and the Type I community when Mark Rosewater parroted them as fact.

This only made Chapin’s victory at the largest and most prestigious Type I tournament
at GenCon (7 rounds of Swiss, and a Top 8 playoff), a de facto Type I Championship, all
the more poignant. In one of the most impressive examples of actions backing up one’s
words, Chapin’s victory more than silenced the critics, it revolutionized the format and
brought Gush into the mainstream.

GroATog (2003, 2007-2008)

GroATog, 1st Place 2007 Vintage Championship

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

2 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 2 Pithing Needle
2 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Mox Ruby 1 Ancient Grudge
4 Duress 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Berserk
4 Gush 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Fire/Ice
4 Brainstorm 3 Polluted Delta 1 Oxidize
3 Opt 3 Flooded Strand 2 Pyroblast
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Underground Sea 1 Rack and Ruin
1 Time Walk 2 Tropical Island 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Volcanic Island 1 Rushing River
1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Island 1 Island
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Cunning Wish
1 Fastbond
4 Quirion Dryad
1 Psychatog
1 Yawgmoth's Will

In the fall of 2002 Wizards printed a cycle of lands that changed Magic, and Type I,
forever: the Onslaught fetchlands. These lands were essentially a superior and
uncounterable Land Grant (which could only find Forests). Now, multi-color
consistency could be built in to small mana bases without resorting to five color
“rainbow” lands. With fetchlands and a few dual lands, a 13-14 land mana base could

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

be reliably constructed in three or even four colors, as we’ve seen in Chapter 8.

Moreover, Onslaught fetchlands made the GushBond engine possible.

The printing of the Onslaught fetchlands made it possible, for the first time, to reliably
add black to Gush decks. Without dual lands, Gush cannot be used as part of a three or
four color strategy. But the fetchlands meant that dual lands of the most needed blue
combination could reliably be found. Tropical Island can be used to play Fastbond, and
Underground Sea can be found to play tutors and the eventual game-ending
Yawgmoth’s Will. But without fetchlands it is not possible to reliably access both black
and green in the early game, and efficiently utilize Gush.

In January, 2003, a brilliant young deck designer named Roland Bode fashioned a new
strategy built on these principles, which he dubbed “Growing Tog,” and which would
be anglicized into “Grow-A-Tog,” or GroAtog. He gave his friend Benjamin Ribbeck his
deck, and Roland got 6th place (see Chapter Four for his list) in a local tournament
known as the Dülmen, while his friend, Benjamin, won the tournament.

Growing Tog, 6th Place Dülmen 01-13-2003

By Roland Bode

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 1 Berserk
3 Daze 1 Mox Jet 1 Diabolic Edict
1 Foil 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Duress
2 Counterspell 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Fact or Fiction
4 Gush 3 Flooded Strand 1 Ghastly Demise
3 Sleight of Hand 2 Polluted Delta 1 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm 4 Tropical Island 2 Naturalize
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Underground Sea 2 Smother
1 Time Walk 3 Submerge
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Regrowth
2 Cunning Wish
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Psychatog

GroAtog was entirely made possible by Onslaught fetchlands, and it was this printing
that triggered an evolution in the archetype. The GushBond engine, as described in

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Chapter 3, violently came into existence. With black, Grow burst the confines of the
aggro-control shell, and was able to become Magic’s first aggro-control-combo deck.

Psychatog replaced Ophidian as not simply a virtually impenetrable blocker, but a

combo finisher. With Gush and a Cunning Wish, Berserk could be fetched from the
sideboard and played on an attacking Psychatog for an evasive victory. Gush alone
gave Psychatog 6.5 additional power and toughness, and even a minimal supply of
additional cards in hand or the graveyard would be enough to make Berserk lethal. In
other words, Psychatog became not only a defensive tactic, but an ultimate strategic
objective. Yet, making Psychatog lethal required more than simply casting it. This made
cards like Gush and Berserk additional strategic objectives.

I took first place at a large Midwestern regional Type I tournament that spring with the
same archetype, but made a few refinements of my own to win a Black Lotus:

GroATog, 1st Place March 2003

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 3 Naturalize
3 Counterspell 1 Mox Jet 1 Emerald Charm
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Ebony Charm
3 Sleight of Hand 1 Library of Alexandria 3 Smother
4 Brainstorm 3 Polluted Delta 2 Submerge
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Flooded Strand 2 Compost
1 Time Walk 4 Underground Sea 3 Duress
1 Mystical Tutor 4 Tropical Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Merchant Scroll
1 Cunning Wish
1 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
1 Berserk
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Psychatog
1 Yawgmoth's Will

This list helped popularize the archetype in the United States when I wrote a report for
StarCityGames.com. I began advocating multiple Merchant Scrolls, wherein Bode and
Ribbeck used a single one, and put a pair of Duress in the sideboard. Soon afterward,
GroAtog players would begin splashing red for Red Elemental Blast and other
sideboard tactics. In fact, GroAtog became the hottest and one of the most popular

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

decks in the format, and had become further shortened simply as GAT. Within a few
months, Wizards announced the restriction of Gush, effective July 1, 2003.

My friends and I decided to play our favorite deck until the music stopped. I played
three consecutive Type I tournaments at Origins in the last week of June 2002, winning
a 45 player tournament, with GATr.

GATr, 1st Place Origins Day 1 Vintage 06-26-2003

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Misdirection 1 Mox Emerald 2 Artifact Mutation
4 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Gush 1 Mox Ruby 3 Duress
3 Sleight of Hand 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Brainstorm 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Fire/Ice
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Polluted Delta 1 Berserk
1 Time Walk 1 Flooded Strand 2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mystical Tutor 4 Underground Sea 2 Naturalize
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Tropical Island 2 Submerge
1 Demonic Tutor 1 Volcanic Island
2 Merchant Scroll
1 Cunning Wish
1 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Psychatog
1 Yawgmoth's Will

GroAtog was important first and foremost because it got Gush restricted. But it was
also the first strategy to fully take advantage of the new mana base capacity, and stitch
together a powerful set of synergies for explosive effect with Gush at the heart of it.
GroAtog would also transform the Vintage format – it would spur innovation, bring
Workshops into a top metagame player, and shape the perception of a vibrant, active,
and fun format.

When Gush was unrestricted three years later, the natural assumption was that the
format had radically changed, and that storm finishers would naturally replace the
tempo finishers of the “old” Gush shells of 2002-2003. Yet, after extensive testing, I was
surprised by how strong GroAtog remained, a testament to the strategy’s fundamental
power, and how weak the storm finishers were in the relevant matchups at the time. I
enrolled in the 2007 Vintage Championship at GenCon with GroAtog, little changed
from 2003, except for the additional emphasis on addressing the Workshop matchup.

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Among the nearly 150 players that signed up, Rich Shay and I squared off in the finals,
both playing GroAtog, where I emerged victorious using the deck at the beginning of
this section.

Not only was this the first Gush victory in a Vintage Championship, 2007 GroAtog put
Gush back on the map after its unrestriction. GroAtog continued a resurgence, and even
got second place in a large European tournament in January 2008. It continued to
appear in tournament Top 8s, although often with Tarmogoyf replacing or
supplementing Quirion Dryad. But after a six month renaissance following Gush’s
unrestriction, GroAtog sputtered and petered out as Gush strategies diversified beyond
two mana green creatures in 2008 and beyond.

The Tropical Storm & Gush Tendrils (2007-2008)

The Tropical Storm, 1st Place OvinoGeddon (Milan, Italy) 09-23-2007

By Nicholas Baxter

4 Force of Will 1 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

1 Mana Drain 1 Lotus Petal 1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Chain of Vapor 1 Black Lotus 3 Duress
1 Rebuild 1 Mox Emerald 1 Echoing Truth
4 Brainstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Extirpate
4 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mox Ruby 1 Massacre
1 Time Walk 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Naturalize
1 Timetwister 1 Mana Crypt 1 Psychatog
1 Frantic Search 1 Sol Ring 2 Trickbind
1 Memory Jar 1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mind's Desire 3 Polluted Delta
1 Mystical Tutor 3 Flooded Strand
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Underground Sea
1 Imperial Seal 2 Tropical Island
1 Demonic Tutor 1 Island
4 Merchant Scroll 1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tinker
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Jester's Cap
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth
1 Brain Freeze
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

The unrestriction of Gush in 2007 prompted a great variety of storm-based Gush decks
to emerge, but they enjoyed marginal success at first. Gush-based storm decks lagged
far beyond GroAtog in both quantity of Top 8s. Excepting the deck above, which won
the 290 player Italian “OvinoGeddon,” it wasn’t until 2008 that Gush decks utilizing
storm, rather than tempo finishers, began to consistently perform at a higher level.

Although Storm was a popular and intuitive mechanic to graft into a Gush deck, there
was little consensus about how to build an optimal Gush deck with storm finishers.
Some players simply replaced Dryads with a storm finisher or two, as Team ICBM’s
“Empty Gush” deck suggests (see Chapter 4). In other variants, a single storm engine
like a Timetwister was added, and despite little more than replacing Dryads with a
Tendrils of Agony, these decks were often renamed “Gush Tendrils.”

Gush TPS was an attempt to retrofit the GushBond engine into a traditional combo
deck, with the full panoply of storm-engines, from Yawgmoth’s Bargain to Mind’s
Desire, without rethinking how they may be tailored for each other. In late December
2007 Erik Becker published an answer that received much attention and acclaim.

The Tropical Storm, December 2007

By Erik Becker

4 Force of Will 4 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

4 Duress 1 Black Lotus Xantid Swarm
2 Thoughtseize (or 1 Mox Emerald Dark Confidant
Xantid Swarm) 1 Mox Jet Leyline of the Void
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Sapphire Bounce Spells
1 Echoing Truth 1 Mana Crypt
4 Gush 1 Sol Ring
4 Ponder 4 Polluted Delta
4 Brainstorm 3 Flooded Strand
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Underground Sea
1 Time Walk 1 Tropical Island
1 Timetwister 2 Island
1 Necropotence
1 Memory Jar
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Eric selected Tinker/Memory Jar, Timetwister, and Necropotence as interim strategic

objectives, but notably omitted the more expensive Desire and Bargain. He also
emphasized the unique role of Ponder in decks like these, often performing better than
Brainstorm, and justifying cutting off-color Moxen. Eric’s approach found favor with
players worldwide, but perhaps none more important than Luis-Scott Vargas and his
teammates, who picked up the deck with great success in the Western United States
from January to June. Their tournament reports remain archived on TheManaDrain.

Eschewing the name “The Tropical Storm,” while adopting many of its precepts, Gush
Tendrils players enjoyed improved success for the short while that Gush would again
be legal. AJ Grasso (using the Gush Storm list in Chapter 5), got second place at the final
SCG Power 9 tournament in May, and Francesco Giani managed a fourth place finish at
the 194 player Bazaar of Moxen (Annecy, France), a week later with a similar list. Storm
had finally come into its own, and had managed to achieve a series of notable victories
and high-place finishes just before Gush was once again restricted. This would not stop
this archetype, however. When Gush was unrestricted, players again attempted
variants of the Gush Tendrils archetype with varying degrees of emphasis, quantities of
Dark Ritual, and storm engines.

Tyrant Oath (2008)

Tyrant Oath, 2008

By Jeff Carpenter/Jeremiah Rudolph/Team Reflection

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

3 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Emerald 1 Blazing Archon
1 Chain of Vapor 1 Mox Jet 2 Extirpate
4 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 1 Fire/Ice
4 Ponder 1 Mox Ruby 2 Pithing Needle
4 Brainstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Forbidden Orchard 3 Shattering Spree
1 Time Walk 3 Flooded Strand 1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Flash of Insight 2 Polluted Delta 2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Vampiric Tutor 2 Tropical Island
1 Demonic Tutor 2 Underground Sea
3 Merchant Scroll 2 Volcanic Island
4 Oath of Druids 1 Island
2 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Brain Freeze
1 Fastbond
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Yawgmoth's Will

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

From July 2007 through June 2008, the second Gush era, Gush decks surged to the top
of the metagame, but were beaten back by Workshop strategies that found themselves,
once again, well positioned to exploit Gush’s strategic vulnerabilities. It was in this
environment that Jeff Carpenter, Jeremiah Rudolph, and Team Reflection designed a
radical innovation that once again put Gush decks on top. In January 2008, they got first
and second place in a 50 player tournament in Massachusetts. But it was Rich Shay’s
stunning 11-0 match run in the large February Waterbury tournament that puts this
deck in the Gush Hall of Fame. Rich’s deck could not only beat Workshops running
nine Sphere effects, but he also went 7-0 against GroAtog along the way.

Although Tidespout Tyrant and Brain Freeze are this deck’s

ultimate strategic objective, the critical strategic objective is
resolving and triggering Oath of Druids. Tyrant Oath was the
first Oath deck that had the potential to win immediately after
Oathing up the first creature, something Oath decks today are
accustomed to, yet was not thought possible at the time.
Before Tyrant, most Oath decks had to wait a turn or two to
win with attacking creatures. Tidespout’s unique ability
created a chain reaction to victory.

The combo worked like this: first, flashback the Krosan

Reclamation to shuffle Yawgmoth’s Will into your library.
Use the Tyrant trigger to return a Mox to hand. If you have another Mox, or any other
artifact accelerant, you may replay the Moxen to generate infinite mana, using Tyrant to
bounce one Mox after playing the other. This also generates infinite storm. You may
then flashback Flash of Insight to pop Yawgmoth’s Will into hand, then play it win the
game. By the end of your turn, your opponent will have no permanents in play and no
cards in their library, as Brain Freeze will have emptied their library.

Even if you did not Oath the Reclamation or the Flash of Insight into your graveyard, a
Gush is often sufficient to trigger Tyrant to bounce Moxen to generate infinite mana
towards the same end, or a Gush and a few other spells can be chained together to
bounce some or all of the opponent’s permanents. This is usually disruptive enough to
buy a turn to win with the following turn’s Oath activation. Later versions of this
strategy could also go infinite with Mox Sapphire and Jace, the Mind Sculptor, to draw
their entire deck (using Mox Sapphire to iteratively replay Jace to iteratively draw
cards).

The other breakthrough represented by this deck was the mana base. This was the first
successful Gush deck that proved you could construct a GushBond engine around a
specialty land like Forbidden Orchard without severely impeding the ability to abuse
the GushBond engine. Gush was still reliably used, but it was not quite as simple as it

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

had been before. Tyrant Oath remained a potent and powerful answer to Workshop-
based strategies, especially for Gush-strategies.

East Coast Wins (2011)

When Gush was unexpectedly unrestricted in the fall of 2010, it was reintroduced into a
particularly hostile metagame defined and shaped by powerful Workshop strategies. It
was not until the early summer of 2011 that a Gush deck began to consistently appear in
tournament Top 8s. Pioneered by Shawn Anthony, that deck was dubbed East Coast
Wins.

East Coast Wins

By Shawn Anthony

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

2 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Emerald 4 Leyline of the Void
3 Mana Drain 1 Mox Jet 2 Pithing Needle
1 Nature’s Claim 1 Mox Pearl 2 Thoughtseize
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Ruby 2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Nature's Claim
4 Gush 1 Mana Crypt 1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Preordain 1 Sol Ring 1 Ingot Chewer
1 Ponder 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Pyroclasm
1 Sensei's Divining Top 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain
1 Brainstorm 2 Underground Sea
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Volcanic Island
1 Time Walk 2 Tropical Island
2 Jace, the Mind 3 Island
Sculptor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

East Coast Wins rejected the template of either the combo strategy or the tempo
strategy, and produced a powerful and consistent control deck with a potential combo

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

finish. Although the GushBond engine was a prominent feature of the deck, East Coast
Wins was the first Gush strategy to successfully integrate Jace, the Mind Sculptor
together with the Voltaic Key + Time Vault combo.

Confidant Gush (2011)

With Gush unexpectedly unrestricted in the fall of 2010, just after the 2010 Vintage
Championship, I had nearly a year to determine how best to abuse Gush in the 2011
Vintage Championship. After trying a number of Gush variants with modest success,
an analysis of the metagame revealed that Gush-Jace and Confidant-Jace decks were
converging as the two top blue strategies in the metagame. Viewed as competing draw
engines, I informed my teammate Paul Mastriano that if it were possible to fuse those
strands, to create a Confidant-Gush deck, I would figure it out. A few weeks of focused
effort produced the desired result.

Confidant Gush, 3rd Place 2011 Vintage Championship

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Emerald 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Hurkyl’s Recall 1 Mox Jet 2 Ingot Chewer
4 Gush 1 Mox Pearl 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Preordain 1 Mox Ruby 2 Lightning Bolt
1 Ponder 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mountain
2 Sensei’s Divining Top 1 Flooded Strand 2 Pyroblast
1 Brainstorm 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Polluted Delta 1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Time Walk 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Mystical Tutor 2 Tropical Island
1 Vampiric Tutor 3 Underground Sea
1 Demonic Tutor 1 Volcanic Island
1 Merchant Scroll 1 Island
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Dark Confidant
3 Trygon Predator
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

I shared the list with Paul, and we played this deck to a combined 2nd and 3rd place
finish at the 2011 Vintage Championship. Although I beat Paul in the Swiss rounds, I
lost to him in the Top 4, and he was felled by Dredge in the finals. The essence of this

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

decklist is to leverage the format’s two best draw engines in a single shell. Gush may
seem suicidal in a deck with Dark Confidant, which explains why it had never seriously
been attempted before. Although Force and Gush were always going to be painful Dark
Confidant flips, with library manipulation and design elements that bent the mana
curve downward, the risk of losing to high mana cost flips could be minimized. A pair
of Sensei’s Divining Tops could reduce long-term damage, and a team of creatures
could race my own life loss. In place of Jace, Vendilion Clique could perform the
function of returning Blightsteel Colossus to my library from hand, attack opposing
planeswalkers, and also race the opponent while being a softer flip to Confidant.

A few months later, Chris Pikula took the archetype and added a few copies of Jace, and
won an 80 player tournament in the Northeast. Although present in the metagame only
briefly, this deck nearly won the Vintage Championship, and then disappeared, as new
printings for Gush decks drew attention elsewhere in the final months of 2011.

Maniac Doomsday (2011-Present)

Since its unrestriction in 2004, Doomsday had long been a niche strategy in Vintage.
Ironically, restricted Gush was a potent singleton in unrestricted Doomsday decks.
With the unrestriction of Gush, it only made sense that Doomsday decks would once
again make use of Gush and the GushBond engine. The problem was that there was no
natural win condition as there had been prior to the M10 rules changes that neutered
the infinite engine of Research/Development.

The printing of Laboratory Maniac in Innistrad in September 2011 changed all of that.
As I pointed out in my Innistrad set review, Laboratory Maniac had immediate
applications as a Doomsday finisher (ultimate strategic objective), especially with Gush.
As noted in Chapter 5, Laboratory Manic and Gush have many synergies. Gush can not
only be used to trigger the Maniac at instant speed, but it may also be used to draw the
first card in the Doomsday pile, and to quickly deplete the Doomsday-constructed
library. After resolving Doomsday, Gush may be played to draw Ancestral Recall and
Black Lotus to win the game. Ancestral draws the remaining cards in the library,
including Laboratory Maniac and the mana to play it.

With a major Vintage tournament, the Waterbury, scheduled for October that year, I
excitedly developed a new Doomsday decklist, and began working on the primer,
which I intended to publish regardless of my performance. I believed that my decklist
was sufficiently intriguing to warrant a thorough explanation. But by making Top 8,
losing to the only Workshop deck in that top 8 (I believe I was favored in every other
matchup), Doomsday was firmly established as a metagame competitor.

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Maniac Doomsday, 6th Place Waterbury 10-06-2011

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Xantid Swarm
4 Thoughtseize 2 Polluted Delta 3 Teferi’s Realm
1 Duress 2 Flooded Strand 2 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Hurkyl’s Recall 2 Misty Rainforest
4 Gush 1 Scalding Tarn
4 Preordain 4 Underground Sea
1 Ponder 1 Tropical Island
1 Brainstorm 1 Island
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Doomsday
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Doomsday is one of the most skill intensive cards in the game of Magic, and it is a card
that appeals to not only hard core gamers, but pilots who wish to show off their
intelligence and problem solving capacity. The deck I designed moved away from
conventional thinking in a number of respects.

The first counter-intuitive design decision I made was to cut all of the Dark Rituals.
After testing, it became apparent that the deck was capable of winning without Dark
Rituals at all without sacrificing much speed. Dark Rituals could only do one thing, and
I often found that it was better to wait to cast Doomsday until I had firmer control over
the game. Rather than accelerate out Doomsday, I played Doomsday like a control
finisher. If Doomsday resolved, I was likely to win the game, since I could build a
virtually undefeatable pile full of Gush and countermagic.

What marks this Doomsday deck as special is its innate capacity to seize both high and
low gear. The deck is constructed to be as controlling as any Gush deck ever, but with a
combo finish. In low gear, this deck is capable of establishing a hard control role with a
panoply of countermagic and hand disruption. The compact win condition of

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Doomsday, Maniac, and alternative win condition of Tendrils, means that every card in
the deck is “pure gasoline.” Doomsday was launched into the Hall of Fame on account
of its uniqueness, and its enduring performance as a potent archetype in Vintage.

RUG & UR Delver (2012-2015)

Innistrad not only ushered in a new Gush strategy built around Doomsday thanks to
Laboratory Maniac, but is also responsible for reviving aggro-control and tempo-based
Gush decks thanks to Delver of Secrets (and Snapcaster Mage). Although printed in
2011, it wasn’t until several months later that first Gush Delver decklist appeared in a
Vintage Top 8, in the hands of Jimmy McCarthy, a Vintage Championship finalist.
Jimmy won a local tournament in Sandusky, Ohio (USA), with this early list, designed
by Rich Shay and JR Goldberg.

Even then, it took several months for this archetype to catch on. Delver-based Gush
decks began to enjoy success using the team-based tempo approach reminiscent of
Extended Miracle Grow, with their teams of creatures to swarm opponents. Delver
decks use a battery of “growing” tempo finishers, a suite of countermagic, and
disruptive tempo tactics to finish the game.

RUG Delver, 1st Place 2012 Vintage Championship Prelim 1

By Mike Solymossy

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

2 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 3 Nature’s Claim
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Ruby 3 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Spell Snare 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Steel Sabotage 3 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain
1 Ancient Grudge 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Lightning Bolt 3 Tropical Island 1 Pyroblast
1 Mystical Tutor 3 Volcanic Island 1 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Gush 2 Island 2 Ingot Chewer
3 Preordain 1 Forest 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tarmogoyf
2 Vendilion Clique

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Vintage grinders like Mike Solymossy picked up the archetype, refining it and working
out its kinks until it was a well-oiled machine. Most importantly, Solymossy realized
that Fastbond, and the broader Fastbond engine, could be discarded or removed – that
they were not sacrosanct inclusions in a Gush deck. It was this realization that allowed
Delver to escape the gravity of Gush design assumptions and reach its full potential (as
discussed at length in Chapter 5). As a result, Solymossy piloted the RUG Delver list
above to a first place finish at the 63 player 2012 Vintage Championship Prelim
tournament, in a top four stacked with this archetype.

His success may have backfired, as Mike’s performance may have shifted the metagame
prematurely to adapt to this menacing archetype. Despite Mike’s failure to extend his
own success to the main event, RUG Delver blossomed into a successful archetype
worldwide, but especially in Europe, where it enjoyed great success on the Vintage
circuit there. It won or got second place in almost every single LCV League tournament
in Spain in 2013.

Anchored with the incredibly efficient Delver of Secrets, these decks also incorporated
Tarmogoyf for ground based power. But it was not until the printing of Young
Pyromancer in 2013 that these decks became a true metagame force, placing two players
into the Top 8 of the Vintage Championship that fall, including a finalist.

RUG Delver, 2nd Place 2013 Vintage Championship

By AJ Grasso

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Ruby 4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Spell Pierce 1 Mox Sapphire 3 Nature's Claim
3 Flusterstorm 2 Polluted Delta 2 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Lightning Bolt 2 Flooded Strand 2 Ancient Grudge
1 Steel Sabotage 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Pyroblast
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Misty Rainforest 2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Gush 3 Tropical Island
2 Preordain 3 Volcanic Island
1 Ponder 2 Island
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Young Pyromancer

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

In time, it would soon become evident that Young

Pyromancer was simply superior to the now-outclassed
Tarmogoyf. But a more important development was to arise.
In the fall of 2014, Kahns of Tarkir introduced two powerful
draw spells that would radically boost the archetype –
Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time.

Treasure Cruise-based RUG Delver decks placed fully half of

the Top 8 of the 2014 Vintage Championship, and carried me
to victory in the first season of the Vintage Super League.
Dack Fayden was used to fuel the delve mechanic while also
combating Workshops. Delver decks were already successful
strategies, but a series of potent printings rendered them among the most dominant
ever created. I used the deck below to win the final round of the inaugural Vintage
Super League on Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO).

RUG Delver, Vintage Super League Season 1 Finals

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

2 Misdirection 1 Mox Ruby 4 Ingot Chewer
3 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Ancient Grudge
2 Flusterstorm 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Nature's Claim
2 Pyroblast 1 Polluted Delta 1 Mountain
3 Lightning Bolt 1 Flooded Strand 4 Leyline of the Void
1 Fire/Ice 1 Misty Rainforest 3 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ancient Grudge 3 Volcanic Island 1 Pyroblast
1 Mystical Tutor 2 Tropical Island
4 Gush 1 Island
4 Preordain 1 Strip Mine
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
3 Treasure Cruise
3 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Trygon Predator

This strategy was so successful that it led to the restriction of Treasure Cruise in early
2015, and then contributed to the restriction of Dig Through Time in the fall later that
year. Although Delver strategies remain a contemporary archetype, printings and
restrictions have marginalized Delver strategies. In particular, the restriction of

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 Chapter 11 – The Gush Hall of Fame

Lodestone Golem reduces the incentive to play Delver over other tempo-finishers, and
the printing of Monastery Mentor has led to the emergence of a superior set of Gush-
based strategies utilizing similar tactics.

Delver remains a part of the contemporary metagame, but its presence is greatly
diminished relative to its height from 2012 to 2015. Nonetheless, the astounding success,
high level finishes, and contributions to changes in the Restricted List ensure Delver’s
place in the Gush Hall of Fame.

There have been many other successful Vintage Gush decks in the history of the format,
but these specific archetypes and particular decklists have earned a place in the history
of the format and in the annals of Gush strategies based upon sustained performance or
exceptional finishes. Next, we will turn our attention to contemporary Gush strategies
that have proven viable in modern Vintage tournaments (as of this writing).

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 Chapter 12: Contemporary Gush Decks
This book offers not only a comprehensive framework for designing and playing Gush
decks, but also presents a full range of Gush strategies through their many expressions
as they have emerged and developed through the years. Gush decklists can be found
throughout this book to illustrate the use of some card or some other play or design
principle. Chapter 4 broadly surveyed the five basic strategic possibilities for Gush
decks, with notable and illustrative decklists pulled from reported tournament Top 8s.
Chapter 11 celebrated the most historically significant Gush strategies with explanatory
context and attention to their noteworthy features. Virtually every chapter in this book
presented at least one decklist to consider.

This chapter focuses on contemporary Gush decks, with an emphasis on those that have
proven competitive, not simply viable, in modern Vintage. With that goal in mind, two
large caveats are warranted and offered. First, the decklists presented in this chapter do
not constitute the full range of possibilities for Gush strategies. Rather, the strategies
covered here reflect those that have proven themselves capable of performing well in
Vintage tournaments. They should not be taken as the only Gush strategies capable of
high level performance. Such myopia would not only limit the creative potential
inherent in the game, but would also hamper the experimentalist impulse that is so
often the key to metagame advancement and innovative design solutions.

Second, the strategies covered in this chapter reflect those that have emerged and exist
as of this writing. As a point of reference, the decks offered to the reader as contemporary
expressions of Vintage in the previous editions of this book are outmoded or outdated.
The churn of the Vintage metagame renders up-to-date decklists vital for the
tournament competitor, but less important for the broader purposes of this book. This
book has been organized and designed primarily to impart skills rather than share
ephemeral technology.

With recognition that such content is necessary, yet mindful that it may soon become
obsolete – a snapshot of Gush decks from a particular moment in time – I reserved this
discussion for the end of this book. Nonetheless, I hope that this discussion will not
only inform the deck design and selection choices of contemporary readers, but serve as
a point of reference for the development of future strategies. None of the ideas
discussed herein should be new to the reader, but perhaps they may be viewed with
fresh eyes.

If you have read the preceding chapters, you are looking to develop skills rather than
learn a deck. I hope that this book will serve as a practical guide, if not a reference, for
years to come. The strategic framework set out in this book, and the general

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

descriptions of strategic orientation, the parts of The Plan, and the mechanics of role
assignment, should remain applicable for the foreseeable future and beyond.

Jeskai Mentor

Monastery Mentor forms the foundation for the most

successful tournament performing Gush strategies in
contemporary Vintage. Although a wide range of Gush
strategies appear in Vintage Top 8s and Magic Online results,
Mentor decks are roughly 50% of all of the top performing
Gush decks in contemporary Vintage. Mentor does not
always appear in Gush decks, but that is its most familiar
home.

There is a wide spectrum of Gush strategies featuring

Mentor, but the most prevalent and successful are the aggro-
control varietals. While these variants usually feature 3-4
Mentors, they are often distinguished or identifiable by the presence of additional
tempo finishers, such as Young Pyromancer or Delver of Secrets. Here is what I
consider to be a representative version of this essential strategy:

PyroMentor Gush, 3rd Place Asian Vintage Champs 03-27-2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 4 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Pearl 1 Containment Priest
2 Pyroblast 1 Mox Ruby 1 Wasteland
2 Lightning Bolt 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Library of Alexandria 2 Shattering Spree
1 Stony Silence 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Flooded Strand 1 Swords to Plowshares
4 Gush 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Wear/Tear
4 Preordain 1 Polluted Delta
1 Ponder 3 Tundra
1 Brainstorm 2 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Island
1 Time Walk 1 Strip Mine
2 Dack Fayden
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
2 Young Pyromancer
4 Monastery Mentor

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

As with all aggro-control or tempo-inducing Gush strategies, the game plan for this
strategy is to deploy a tempo threat and then shift into a control role, while feeding
your threat. Once the threat is in play, all attempts to disrupt and slow your opponent’s
game plan simultaneously accelerate your clock and advance your position.

Although the deck is anchored by Mentor, it requires additional threats in order to

develop and press a tempo advantage in the early game. A full complement of Mentors
alone are simply insufficient to reliably generate a tempo threat early in the game. There
are too many games where a threat cannot otherwise be found until deep in the mid-
game. Adding Young Pyromancer and/or Delver of Secrets provides not only
additional targets for removal, but also a more consistent early threat.

It is for this reason that a healthy number of Gush-based Mentor decks run one or both.
Mentor decks that rely solely on Mentor have proven less successful than those that
supplement Mentor with additional threats. Mentor decks with 2-3 Young Pyromancer
or some number of Delver of Secrets as a supplemental threat also benefit from
additional resilience from tactics that narrowly target Mentor, such as Dread of Night or
Sulfur Elemental. At the same time, they are also able to race more quickly and shift
gears into an aggressive role more freely.

That is not to say that these Gush strategies are weak in the control role. Far from it. The
Mentor deck above is just as capable of playing a control role as virtually any Gush
strategy. Instead of deploying threats, it can choose to bottom them with cantrips, or
discard them with Dack Fayden, building a formidable wall of countermagic and
keeping up mana to deploy that protection and removal.

This particular Gush strategy, Mentor flanked by other tempo threats and the deep
tactical removal suites of red and white, probably represents the most consistently high
performing Mentor, if not Gush strategy, in the Vintage format. Although there are
infinite permutations of this basic archetype, sometimes referred to as “Jeskai Mentor,”
this strategy is readily spotted in the Top 8s of many of the largest Vintage tournaments
since Mentor’s printing.

Time and experience have revealed the best performing variants of this archetype, and
many aspects of design for this archetype have become relatively standardized,
although a good deal of variation remains. The rise of Eldrazi and restriction of
Lodestone Golem has refocused the removal suite around Swords to Plowshares,
although a mix of Swords to Plowshares and Lightning Bolt can be found in
complementary co-existence. Sensei’s Divining Top is sometimes present, but usually
only in versions with more expansive mana bases, and versions that generally eschew
Stony Silence – an equally attractive tactic.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Relative to Young Pyromancer and other tempo threats, Monastery Mentor’s mana cost
incentivizes Gush pilots to include off-color Moxen, a judgment I endorse. Off-color
Moxen present dead late games draws in most Gush decks, but not so in Mentor
strategies, where a Mox represents a boost in power, and token generation. I prefer a
single off-color Mox to provide a slight boost in acceleration without greatly impacting
the mana base efficiency. I also prefer a 15th land in Mentor decks, to accommodate the
slightly greater casting cost of Mentor. Delver and other Pyromancer decks can often
play games on only two mana, but Mentor imposes a greater demand on your mana
base.

The more expansive mana base, the mixture of red and white removal spells, and a
deep sideboard bench of red anti-artifact tactics make Jeskai Mentor possibly the best
Gush deck to combat Workshop, Eldrazi, and hatebears strategies. Wherever
Workshops, Eldrazi, and hatebears strategies are a significant metagame presence,
Jeskai Mentor, supported with additional tempo threats, will often serve as your most
reliable Gush strategy.

Here is my recommended version of this strategy tailored for the Fall 2016 metagame:

Jeskai Mentor, 08-26-2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mountain
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Pearl 2 Shattering Spree
1 Pyroblast 1 Mox Ruby 4 Ingot Chewer
2 Swords to Plowshares 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Lightning Bolt 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Pyroblast
1 Fire/Ice 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Containment Priest
1 Wear/Tear 1 Flooded Strand 4 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Misty Rainforest
4 Gush 1 Polluted Delta
4 Preordain 3 Tundra
1 Ponder 2 Volcanic Island
1 Brainstorm 1 Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Strip Mine
1 Time Walk
2 Dack Fayden
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Young Pyromancer
4 Monastery Mentor

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Vryn Mentor

While the team-based approach embodied in the strategy

above is the most popular Mentor variant, pairing Jace, Vryn’s
Prodigy directly with Monastery Mentor has also enjoyed
tournament success. Deployed in the same manner as a tempo
threat, but creating a much more dangerous source of long-
term and recurring card advantage, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
provides a Swiss Army Knife of tactics that result in
overwhelming card advantage.

In addition to pairing nicely with Mentor, Vryn forces

opponents to over-extend their suite of removal, while
offering a more controlling threat with real card advantage,
for a more robust mid-game.

Vryn Mentor Gush, 1st Place Top Deck Games 12-12-2015

By Joe Brennan

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 1 Pyroblast
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 1 Mountain
1 Pyroblast 1 Mox Pearl 1 Shattering Spree
2 Swords to Plowshares 1 Mox Ruby 2 Stony Silence
1 Wear/Tear 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Wear/Tear
1 Supreme Verdict 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Supreme Verdict
3 Gush 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Gitaxian Probe 1 Misty Rainforest 2 Rest in Peace
3 Preordain 1 Flooded Strand 2 Containment Priest
1 Ponder 3 Tundra 1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Brainstorm 3 Volcanic Island 1 Pithing Needle
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Island
1 Time Walk 1 Karakas
1 Dack Fayden 1 Strip Mine
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4 Monastery Mentor

More controlling in some respects than PyroMentor or other Mentor lists, the Vryn lists
have a key weakness in that they are less successfully able to deploy Grafdigger’s Cage
in a wide range of matchups, but they do make the most of the young planeswalker.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Grixis PyroGush

Grixis (URB) Gush decks sporting Young Pyromancer and Cabal Therapy began to have
success in mid and late 2015, and are still relevant today. Sporting the combo of
Gitaxian Probe and Cabal Therapy, Randy Buehler’s Grixis Therapy deck from the
Vintage Super League in 2015 also features Young Pyromancers and Snapcaster Mages
together for a more controlling mid to long game. Dave Kaplan’s Grixis Delver from the
Top 8 of the Vintage Champs 2015 Prelim features a slightly more aggressive stance,
sporting Delver of Secrets, a very lean mana base, and a full complement of Lightning
Bolts. Here is an interesting example of a recent Grixis PyroGush deck in 2016:

Grixis PyroGush, 2nd Place NYSE IV 06-04-2016

By Tom Metelsky

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Jet 1 Null Rod
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Ruby 1 Mindbreak Trap
4 Cabal Therapy 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Pyroblast
1 Pyroblast 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Dread of Night
2 Sudden Shock 3 Polluted Delta 1 Dismember
3 Gush 3 Volcanic Island 1 Murderous Cut
4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Underground Sea 2 Ingot Chewer
3 Preordain 1 Island 1 Shattering Spree
1 Ponder 1 Strip Mine 3 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Brainstorm 3 Ravenous Trap
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Dack Fayden
1 Jace, the Mind
Sculptor
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Baleful Strix
3 Young Pyromancer
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Tom Metelsky (aka i_b_TRUE on Magic Online) piloted this deck to a second place
finish at NYSE IV. The version above sports maximum Gitaxian Probes and Cabal
Therapies, in conjunction with both Baleful Strix and Young Pyromancer, to ensure
significant disruptive ability and card advantage.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Grixis Pyromancer substitutes black for white or green in

order to abuse Cabal Therapy. This deck relies upon the
efficiency and long-range utility of Cabal Therapy to survive
the early game and boomerang for a late game advantage.
This approach has specific metagame advantages, including
shoring up weaknesses against Dredge, but it also requires
specific tactics for Mentor, as Tom has included here.

Sudden Shock has replaced Lightning Bolt in this build, and

Dread of Night in the sideboard provides a cheap answer to
Mentor tokens as well as hatebears like Thalia (and cannot be
removed by opposing creature removal). The Dismember and
Murderous Cut in the sideboard provide extremely mana efficient removal against
larger creature threats ranging from Arcbound Ravager to Monastery Mentor to
Thought-Knot Seer and the Eldrazi menace.

Sylvan Mentor

Although most of the Mentor lists that have been appearing

in Vintage Top 8s and on Magic Online appear in the more
traditional aggro-control form, there are some important
Mentor lists that take a much more controlling form. Brian
Kelly and Rich Shay have pioneered lists of this type, so-
called Sylvan Mentor, for the namesake cards Sylvan Library
and Monastery Mentor.

Sylvan Library is a cheap and reusable form of card

advantage, allowing for a steady stream of deck manipulation
for a one time mana cost, similar to the planeswalkers this
deck employs – Dack Fayden and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
This allows for compounding card advantage as the game goes on, potentially
leveraging in a quick kill once Monastery Mentor lands.

With a slightly more expansive mana base, this strategy is designed for maximal
situational flexibility rather than raw power or speed; yet, it features some of the most
robust draw spells in the format, pairing the Gush draw engine with the restricted
Delve spells, a pair of Sylvan Libraries, and a suit of planeswalkers for overwhelming
advantage.

Despite featuring a smaller complement of countermagic, these lists are on the more
controlling end of the Mentor spectrum, and more often use Mentor as a finisher once
control has been established, rather than as a quick tempo threat. In addition, like other

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

non-Gush control decks, they use other forms of library manipulation and draw, most
obviously Sylvan Library, to bridge the gap. Sylvan Library allows this deck to generate
virtual card advantage in the blue mirror without having to rely on a lighter mana base.

Sylvan Mentor, 1st Place MTGO Vintage Premier 05-01-2016

By Rich Shay

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 2 Dread of Night
1 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pyroblast 1 Mox Pearl 2 Ingot Chewer
1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Mox Ruby 1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mountain
1 Supreme Verdict 1 Sol Ring 3 Pulverize
4 Gush 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Ravenous Trap
2 Gitaxian Probe 2 Flooded Strand 1 Sudden Shock
1 Ponder 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Brainstorm 2 Scalding Tarn
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Polluted Delta
1 Time Walk 3 Tundra
2 Sylvan Library 2 Volcanic Island
2 Dack Fayden 2 Tropical Island
2 Jace, the Mind 1 Island
Sculptor
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Erayo, Soratami
Ascendant
4 Monastery Mentor

This strategy supplements Mentor with a diversity of tactical and strategic threats.
Aegis of the Gods, for example, is an anti-Oath tactic. Dragonlord Dromoka and
Supreme Verdict are especially indicative of this deck’s game plan.

The design of the deck renders it effective in a range of matchups, but it is most
susceptible to attack by faster combo decks. Storm combo in particular can pose a
particularly effective threat by presenting threats faster than this deck can mount a
defense. Sylvan Library may be fantastic against blue decks, but is slow against combo
decks.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Delver

As noted last Chapter, Delver has greatly diminished as a

metagame presence since 2015, but it does see play from time
to time. The last chapter gave a brief history of the archetype,
but it remains to be explained how to play it, and to recognize
its variant features with distinctive areas of emphasis. There
are many critical differences among Delver lists, not least of
which are color inclusions.

Although Delver first appeared in Blue-Red-Green shells,

white and red are now the most common splashes, with white
providing Containment Priest, Rest in Peace, and Swords to
Plowshares, among others. With access to Containment Priest
and Wear/Tear, green is viewed as less important for combating Oath, and red
provides sufficient tactics to combat Workshops.

Delver decklists are defined by a fairly short list of creatures that appear in these
decklists: Delver of Secrets, Young Pyromancer, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique,
Containment Priest, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, and Trygon Predator, among others. Some
fringe creatures, such as Nivmagus Elemental or, in the even rarer black splash, Dark
Confidant, have appeared, but the core team is constituted by the six creatures first
mentioned, with the first two being the most popular. We may see the newly printed
card Thing in the Ice land in some of these decklists as well in the near future.

Delver and Pyromancer are the muscle behind the team, as they embody the highest
power to casting cost efficiency ratio among any of the options in this strategy. They are
the chief tempo threats. In the parlance of this book, these threats constitute Delver’s
ultimate strategic objectives. As noted in Chapter Five, Pyromancer has the distinct
advantage over Tarmogoyf of growing “horizontally.” This insulates much of
Pyromancer’s growth from targeted bounce and removal, which is especially important
against threats like Jace, Swords to Plowshares, and Abrupt Decay. Tarmogoyf may
arguably be the superior tempo threat, but Pyromancer offers a defensive posture and
other tactical advantages in modern Vintage, including permanent advantage against
Tangle Wire (and Smokestack), and a stream of defensive tokens against opposing
threats.

Although Delver decks are no longer as popular, following the restrictions of Lodestone
Golem, Treasure Cruise, and Dig Through Time, as well as the printing of Monastery
Mentor, a useful example of a well-performing list is Ryan Eberhart’s Top 8 list from the
March MTGO Vintage Premier event:

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

URW Delver, Top 8 MTGO Vintage Premier 03-27-2016

By Ryan Eberhart

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Ruby 1 Flusterstorm
1 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 2 Containment Priest
1 Spell Pierce 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Lightning Bolt 3 Polluted Delta 3 Ingot Chewer
2 Swords to Plowshares 3 Volcanic Island 1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Shattering Spree 2 Tundra 1 Mountain
3 Gush 2 Island 2 Rest in Peace
2 Gitaxian Probe 1 Strip Mine 2 Wasteland
4 Preordain 1 Wear/Tear
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Dack Fayden
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

These decklists are often capable of a stronger control role, a firmly low gear, and are
better positioned in Jace-Control matchups. Countermagic predominates Delver’s
disruption package: Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Spell Snare, Steel
Sabotage, Flusterstorm, Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, and Misdirection, among
others. The ratios of countermagic and the specific inclusions vary, but the basic tools
are largely the same from decklist to decklist.

The emphasis on countermagic should not draw attention away from the strength of the
archetype’s removal. Mike Solymossy described Lighting Bolt as “THE reason to play this
deck…as long as Lodestone Golem and Dark Confidant exist, Lightning Bolt has incredible
value.” Lightning Bolt, like efficient countermagic, is strengthened by the instant speed
recursive properties of Snapcaster Mage. In addition to Lightning Bolt, Delver decklists
have access to other burn and spot removal, such as Fire/Ice, Ancient Grudge, Nature’s
Claim, Wear/Tear, and many sideboard options like Ingot Chewer and Shattering
Spree.

Delver has always had difficulty simultaneously combating Dredge, Oath, and
Workshops, three challenging matchups, but these problems are compounded by the
even greater challenge of dealing with Mentor strategies. Delver decks generally need

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

dedicated ways to address Mentor, like Swords to Plowshares, Sudden Shock, or Sulfur
Elemental.

In many respects, the Delver deck has the simplest game plan of any Gush deck: deploy
an efficient tempo-finisher and ride it to victory, using your draw and disruption to
prevent your opponent from accomplishing their strategic objectives. Yet, much as
Chapin Grow illustrates, the game plan is complicated by a nuanced role ambiguity.
Not only is Delver capable of executing the sharpest tempo plan in the format, but it is
also capable of playing a severe and often uncompromising control role. Delver decks
have a dense concentration of countermagic, amplified by the forms of virtual card
advantage. Navigating between these roles, tempo to control, and back again, can be a
source of difficulty for even experienced players, as Chapter 9 illustrates.

It follows that among the most difficult decisions for a Delver pilot are whether to play
a threat or to hold up countermagic, and, secondarily, whether to expend countermagic
to protect a threat in play, or to let it go use those resources and protect yourself from
your opponent’s strategic objectives. For example, if you have the capacity to play turn
one Delver or hold up Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm, should you? Similarly, if you have
turn two Pyromancer, should you play it or hold up countermagic? The same question
could be framed in terms of development: should you play Delver or cast Preordain?

These are role questions examined more deeply in Chapter 9, but they constitute the
most critical set of questions for any Delver pilot, especially running a decklist capable
of comfortably playing either role. Delver decks are naturally adept at playing a strong
tempo role, and there will be a temptation to put the pedal to the metal. This may not be
wrong. Under the right circumstances, a tempo role aggressively pursued is the best
chance for victory.

On the other hand, a broad countermagic suite and Young Pyromancer gives Delver
pilots a long-term win condition that is not reliant on tempo value alone. Although
Pyromancer is an overall better card, Tarmogoyf may be better at generating tempo. In
many respects, it is in the control role that Pyromancer shines. Pyromancer’s defensive
capacities create role flexibility and dynamism. The strongest players benefit from this
versatility by being able to shift into situationally optimal roles.

In the control role, it will often be the correct play to hold threats in hand. Holding
Delver or Trygon Predator in hand is often correct in order to have blue spells to pitch
to Force of Will or Misdirection. But it is also the case that the Delver pilot must be wary
of overextending. If they play every threat, they may find themselves overextended in
the face of a Toxic Deluge or similar board sweeper. Role assignment may shift from
game to game depending on your sideboard plan.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

The pre-board plan against Oath is to do everything you can to prevent Oath from
resolving. The primary answers here are: Force, Spell Piece, Wear/Tear, Nature’s
Claim, and Trygon Predator usually. Spell Pierce shines in the Oath matchup, as
compared to something like Flusterstorm or Pyroblast. When playing against Oath, the
Gush pilot is using all of their resources to dig up relevant countermagic at the expense
of all other lines of play. So, for example, if you know you are playing against Oath, you
would either hold up countermagic if you already had it in hand, or you would play a
first turn Preordain looking for relevant countermagic, rather than cast Delver of
Secrets.

Post-board, the plan shifts to finding and playing as many Cages as possible. Because
the Oath pilot will have answers like Abrupt Decay, Grudge, and Nature's Claim, the
plan is to dig up as many Cages as fast as possible and simply play them in larger
amounts than they can answer them, and with maximal countermagic. This can be
buttressed with additional copies of Wear/Tear or Nature’s Claim. This plan generally
works, as I've been able to defeat regular Control Oath in tournaments most of the times
I’ve faced it with Delver.

The plan against Workshop decks is to use Ingot Chewer to create small windows of
opportunity or destroy deadly threats rather than solve the matchup. Chewer allows
other plays, such as Dack Fayden and Ancient Grudge, to enter the picture. Nature’s
Claim supports these plans as well. These tactics, as well as information on the other
sideboard elements charted above, are covered in more detail in Chapter 10.

Maniac Doomsday

This archetype is often among the most appealing of the Gush

strategies in Vintage because of its artistic flair and its raw
power. While Doomsday always had these elements, the
compact win condition, flexible and situational pile options,
and inherent resilience in the compact kill and counter-magic
options therein makes it irresistible to both the daring and the
technically skilled. Doomsday is a puzzle within a deck, with
blistering fast victories, full-on interactivity, and remarkable
consistency.

Doomsday is a bimodal deck in two respects. First, like the

more controlling versions of Delver, it can play a control or an
aggressive (combo) role, a low or a high gear. Second, it is actually powered by two
engines, the GushBond engine culminating in a Tendrils of Agony victory, and the
Doomsday package, usually culminating in the Laboratory Maniac victory. Both
modalities endow it with situational flexibility.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

The Doomsday combo can be set up a few different ways. Doomsday can easily be cast
off of a Black Lotus or Dark Ritual, but it is just as easily cast off of three Underground
Seas, or two Underground Seas with Gush and a land drop to generate the third black
mana, as described in Chapter 8. Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor may be used to
find Black Lotus, and Mystical Tutor may be used to find a Dark Ritual (this happens to
be a chief argument for a single Dark Ritual).

Doomsday decks exist on a spectrum from more controlling to more aggressive. At one
end are faster and more aggressive lists that play anywhere from 2-4 Dark Rituals, and
at the other end are the most controlling variants, like the debut Maniac Doomsday
deck I played at the 2011 Waterbury, which is listed in Chapter 11. Here is an updated
version of that deck, which I recently played in the Vintage Super League Season 5:

Maniac Doomsday, Vintage Super League Season 5, May 2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Dark Ritual Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Lotus Petal 4 Leyline of the Void
3 Flusterstorm 1 Black Lotus 1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Jet 1 Forest
1 Duress 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Hurkyl’s Recall
4 Gush 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Nature’s Claim
1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Polluted Delta 3 Trygon Predator
4 Preordain 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Massacre
1 Ponder 1 Flooded Strand 1 Toxic Deluge
1 Sensei’s Divining Top 4 Underground Sea
1 Brainstorm 2 Tropical Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Island
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Doomsday
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Manipulation of both the GushBond engine, as well as constructing optimal Doomsday

piles are the most important skills for the Doomsday pilot, followed by the ever

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

enigmatic and difficult question of “when to play Doomsday.” The Appendix contains a
complete list of Doomsday piles, rather than address those here.

This archetype is respected and regarded by many Vintage players as one of the most
naturally feared archetypes in the format, but has one Achilles heel: the Workshop
matchup. Chapter 10 carefully described the nature of Gush deck’s weaknesses to
Workshop strategies, and offered means to address this problem. Doomsday pilots will
have to carefully consider a plan to combat Workshops, whether it is red for cards like
Ingot Chewer and Ancient Grudge, or green for Nature’s Claim and Trygon Predator,
or something else entirely like an Oath of Druids sideboard package. The approach I
have listed above is merely but one method prescriptive measure to consider.

In addition to the tempo and combo Gush decks, combo-control has been an anchor for
Gush strategies for many years, as noted in Chapter 4. This strategic orientation finds
many expression in recent Gush decks, but the combination of cards that has had the
most success resembles what Mike Brotzman played to the NYSE Open II Top 8 above,
and what Vito Picozzo played to 9th place at the 2013 Vintage Championship,
presented in Chapter 8.

Mike specifically attributed Vito’s deck as his inspiration, and it was Vito who
recognized the potential of Deathrite Shaman in Gush decks. In a sense, Deathrite
Shaman fills the niche briefly occupied by Lotus Cobra, which has direct synergy with
Gush. As with Cobra, Shaman accelerates threats to the battlefield, and can help play
though Workshop’s Sphere effects. Shaman’s flexibility and multi-functionality seem to
give it the nod over Cobra. In a Tendrils oriented deck, a Deathrite Shaman or two can
bring an opponent low enough that a mid-sized Tendrils can prove lethal.

A deck like this is closer to the control quadrant on the strategic orientation wheel, but,
thanks to the GushBond engine, is capable of executing a brutal finish. These different
approaches provide examples of the strategic and tactical flexibility to respond to the
metagame.

Cobra Gush

Cobra Gush presents a distinctive set of strategic options available to few other Gush
decks. As discussed in Chapter 8, Lotus Cobra introduces unique mana production
capacities in both quantity and color combinations. Cobra permits Gush strategies to
cast spells that would be out of a Gush deck’s natural range, either because of overall
cost or specific mana requirements. Here is an updated contemporary version:

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Cobra Gush, June 2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 1 Volcanic Island
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Emerald 4 Ingot Chewer
1 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mox Jet 1 Shattering Spree
4 Gush 1 Mox Ruby 4 Leyline of the Void
3 Preordain 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Ponder 1 Mana Crypt 1 Ancient Grudge
1 Brainstorm 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Sulfur Elemental
1 Ancestral Recall 3 Polluted Delta 1 Dread of Night
1 Time Walk 1 Flooded Strand
1 Timetwister 1 Misty Rainforest
1 Necropotence 2 Tropical Island
3 Jace, the Mind 2 Underground Sea
Sculptor 1 Volcanic Island
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain 1 Island
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Lotus Cobra
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

This deck’s game plan is to resolve Lotus Cobra, and then power out one of the deck’s
more expensive strategic objectives, such as Jace, Necropotence, or even Yawgmoth’s
Bargain. A first or second turn Cobra can easily accelerate out a Jace or Necropotence
the following turn with a single fetchland.

Confidant Mentor Gush

Dark Confidant is no longer the format perennial it once was, but it is still a remarkable
draw engine, and with Gush is a potentially overwhelming and dangerous pairing.
Gush increases the number of high mana reveals (and potential life loss) with Dark
Confidant, but also dramatically accelerates your game plan.

Brian Kelly has designed and successfully played an updated Confidant Mentor Gush
list that has not only a larger number of answers, but it is one that is also very explosive
without relying on the GushBond engine. Brian used this deck in the Vintage Super
League Season 5, as well as taking it to the Top 8 of the large NYSE IV tournament:

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Confidant Mentor Gush, Top 8 NYSE IV

By Brian Kelly

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Emerald 2 Rest in Peace
1 Steel Sabotage 1 Mox Jet 3 Containment Priest
1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Mox Pearl 2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Gush 1 Mox Ruby 1 Balance
3 Gitaxian Probe 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Karakas
3 Preordain 1 Mana Crypt 1 Disenchant
1 Ponder 1 Library of Alexandria 1 Steel Sabotage
1 Sensei’s Divining Top 3 Polluted Delta 1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Brainstorm 3 Flooded Strand 1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Ancestral Recall 2 Misty Rainforest
1 Time Walk 3 Underground Sea
2 Jace, the Mind 2 Tundra
Sculptor 1 Island
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Dark Confidant
2 Monastery Mentor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

The version differs significantly from the UBG Confidant Gush deck in Chapter 6 (built
for a different metagame, before Monastery Mentor was printed). Instead of seeking to
find and quickly resolve Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus, Brian’s version above uses
Tendrils of Agony as a backup plan to Mentor. This can both act as a buffer for
Confidant damage, and also provide a combo kill with or without Yawgmoth’s Will.

4C Grow

While Pyromancer and Mentor decks are undeniably successful, they have one
overarching shortcoming: the lack of the GushBond engine. Some of the decks employ
this engine, but not on behalf of control strategies. If RUG Delver is the heir to Miracle
Grow, Pyro and Mentor Grow are the heir to GroAtog. These decks seek strategic
flexibility and haymakers relative to many of the popular Gush decks surveyed thus far.

This deck has many of the features of GroAtog, and incorporates Cabal Therapy for
additional card advantage. Pyromancer serve on defense as well as offense, even

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

though it is unlikely to break through a Mentor board. Tendrils of Agony is a critical

strategic finisher, and Pyromancer can clog the board until a lethal Tendrils can be
executed. After long deliberation, I employed this strategy in the 2015 Vintage
Championship to a 22nd place finish (that deck can be found in Chapter 4). Below is an
updated version of that deck.

4C PyroGrow, June 2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Lotus Petal Sideboard:

3 Mental Misstep 1 Black Lotus 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Emerald 1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Cabal Therapy 1 Mox Jet 1 Nature's Claim
1 Ancient Grudge 1 Mox Ruby 3 Ingot Chewer
4 Gush 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Ancient Grudge
3 Gitaxian Probe 1 Mana Crypt 1 Mountain
4 Preordain 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Lightning Bolt
1 Ponder 1 Polluted Delta 1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Brainstorm 1 Flooded Strand 1 Sudden Shock
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Pyroblast
1 Time Walk 2 Underground Sea
1 Dack Fayden 2 Volcanic Island
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 2 Tropical Island
1 Mystical Tutor 1 Island
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Regrowth
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

When Young Pyromancer was revealed, this was the first deck I focused attention on
designing. This deck is designed to maximize Pyromancer’s role versatility while
maximizing the GushBond engine with unrestricted Regrowth. This is the Gush deck
that can play all three roles: aggro, control, and combo. It is also the deck that has the
strongest or most consistent GushBond engine in contemporary Vintage, utilizing
Regrowth.

One of the most important trends in modern Vintage is strategic role duality and
flexibility. Not only are most of the top strategies in Vintage right now hybrid decks,
but they are capable of playing multiple roles well. Decks that are less flexible, and

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

more singularly focused, are falling by the wayside in favor of seemingly 'weaker'
hybrid strategies like this.

This approach can also work with Monastery Mentor.

4C MentorGrow, June 2016

By Stephen Menendian

4 Force of Will 1 Black Lotus Sideboard:

4 Mental Misstep 1 Mox Emerald 4 Leyline of the Void
2 Flusterstorm 1 Mox Jet 1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Thoughtseize 1 Mox Pearl 1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Cabal Therapy 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Nature's Claim
1 Hurkyl's Recall 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Forest
4 Gush 2 Scalding Tarn 3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Gitaxian Probe 1 Flooded Strand 1 Abrupt Decay
4 Preordain 2 Underground Sea
1 Ponder 2 Tundra
1 Brainstorm 2 Tropical Island
1 Ancestral Recall 1 Island
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
3 Monastery Mentor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

This strategy is an approach by which Gush pilots may enjoy every facet of the strategic
range within contemporary Gush decks. Mentor is centrally featured, but no less is the
GushBond engine or the gamesmanship with Therapy and horizontal growth. This deck
is capable of winning early with a broken start, or fighting for inevitability.

Decks that are role flexible can exploit situations by adopting the optimal role. Decks
like PyroGrow can play all three basic strategic modes in Magic (and each correlating
role), which allows players to suss out the optimal role in any given board state.

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 Chapter 12 – Contemporary Gush Decks

Conclusion

The span of viable strategies is beyond cataloguing, but these are strategies that have
established themselves as viable in contemporary Vintage tournament environments.
While these strategies will change, evolve or disappear in time, many principles, tactics,
and ideas endure. This chapter may become a time capsule, but will remain informative
and insightful nonetheless.

The full flavors of tempo, control, and combo are each within Gush’s wheelhouse.
Different decks combine and reconfigure elements to position themselves for particular
metagames, but the success of a few strategies should not dissuade the idealistic deck
builder from attempting others.

Gush decks bloom in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Neither history nor
recent experience should circumscribe your imagination or limit your ambition in
designing an even better Gush strategy. Gush is expansive enough to embrace your
wildest dreams, yet powerful enough to achieve them.

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios
Introduction

Resolving Doomsday is one of the most important skills tested in piloting a Doomsday
deck. Unfortunately for Doomsday pilots, it may also be one of the most skill intensive
plays in Vintage, if not the wider game of Magic. It entails not only selecting five cards
from your library and graveyard, but also determining their position in a new library.
There is probably no other card that offers as many possibilities and requires as many
considerations in a single play. Moreover, the consequences of error are brutal. A slight
miscalculation with Doomsday might well result in defeat.

Guidance on resolving Doomsday merits chapter-length treatment. I have reserved this

vital but generally neglected topic for the Appendix because it is not applicable to non-
Doomsday pilots. Given the importance of the subject, it is notable how little treatment
this subject has been given among the Vintage commentariat.

Given the overwhelming complexity of the subject, it may be nothing short of hubris to
attempt to offer a comprehensive or systemic framework for constructing Doomsday
stacks. The complexity of Doomsday scenarios arises from the innumerable variables
that inform optimal stack construction. Not only are the possibilities for constructing a
library virtually limitless, but so are the number of relevant variables, including life
totals, available mana, cards in hand, board state, and possible counter-tactics. This
complexity is magnified by the fact that each of these variables interact, but must be
evaluated holistically in a single decision matrix. For example, having a few points of
additional life might reduce your mana requirements for winning the game or improve
your capacity to address counter-tactics. These considerations must be factored together
despite arising along different dimensions of game play. In short, almost everything is
relevant in the process of constructing Doomsday stacks, but the result must be a single,
well-considered decision.

Nonetheless, in this Appendix we will systematically analyze general principles and

parameters for designing Doomsday stacks, review key variables, and examine a
spectrum of Doomsday stacks and variants.

General Principles

Doomsday’s Function

This book presented a unique conceptual model that ties deck design and in-game
decision-making together into a cohesive framework by organizing deck components
into categories that relate to game play and progression. Within this framework,

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Doomsday is classified as a major strategic objective, but one that is an interim step,
rather than an ultimate objective, or finisher. By itself, Doomsday is incapable of
winning the game, but resolving Doomsday meaningfully advances your game plan.

Although covered in Chapter 6, it is necessary to revisit Doomsday’s role in the game

plan and game progression. Doomsday performs three distinct but related functions
within your game plan. First and foremost, it creates conditions under which
Laboratory Maniac may win the game. In order to trigger Laboratory Maniac’s
replacement ability, one must place a draw trigger on the stack with an empty library.
Even the most potent draw engines in the format are generally incapable of drawing
your entire library without significant resource investments and time. For just three
black mana, Doomsday exiles most of your library in a single play, thereby creating
conditions under which a draw trigger in the near future will activate Maniac’s
replacement ability.

Second, Doomsday functions as a multi-card tutor. Not only does Doomsday generate
the conditions for winning the game with Laboratory Maniac, but it also provides
access to that win condition and other supporting elements. Rather than having to
locate the Maniac naturally or through other tutors, Doomsday immediately retrieves
the Maniac or alternative win condition from either the library or the graveyard, and
places it in your reconstructed library. It is not only, however, that Doomsday can locate
your win condition that matters – it also tutors for cards that support and protect that
strategic objective. For example, you may embed countermagic or other forms of
protection or disruption into your Doomsday stack.

Third, Doomsday orders your new library to your specifications and needs. The
tutoring function would alone have value, but is greatly enhanced by the further
capacity to order and organize those elements to support your ultimate strategic
objective in the most resilient and efficient manner possible. Without that functionality,
you would be unable to reliably combo out deterministically post-Doomsday.

Since these functions may seem abstract, it is helpful to observe them with an
illustration. Suppose you tap three Underground Seas to cast Doomsday, and it
resolves. You might construct this library:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Gush
5) Duress
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

When you draw the Ancestral Recall, you can cast it to draw Black Lotus, Laboratory
Maniac, and Gush. After resolving Black Lotus and Laboratory Maniac, you can cast
Gush to win the game by triggering the Maniac’s replacement ability. If you are
concerned that your opponent might have countermagic, you could wait a turn to draw
a Duress to pluck it out.

Stack Construction Parameters

Despite the complexity involved in designing Doomsday stacks, there are a few
parameters that will inform and help structure your card selection and placement
decision-making process.

1) First, you will almost always include a win condition. In most Vintage Doomsday
lists, there are two ultimate strategic objectives: winning with Tendrils of Agony or
winning with Laboratory Maniac. The Tendrils will be the last spell you intend to put
on the stack. In the case of Laboratory Maniac, you must get it into play and then
trigger its replacement ability by triggering a draw with an empty library. If you do not
have either win condition in hand, you will need to include at least one in your
Doomsday pile in order to achieve one of your ultimate strategic objectives.

2) Second, you will almost always include draw spells in your reconstructed library.
Card draw helps efficiently cycle through the remaining cards in your library. In most
cases, you will want to include draw spells capable of generating card advantage, like
Gush or Ancestral Recall. Both of these cards play a critical role in Doomsday stacks, as
discussed in more detail next section. Cycling cantrips are useful, but card advantage is
most helpful because it provides more resources to cast and protect your finisher.

3) Third, you will generally include mana accelerants. Most Doomsday stacks include
Black Lotus and other accelerants because they permit you to play the remaining spells
in your library more quickly than otherwise. The main exception to this general rule of
thumb is when you already have enough mana to play a finisher and anything else

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

needed to win the game. Another exception arises if there is a particular artifact “hoser”
in play, such as a Null Rod or Stony Silence. Even then, however, you may wish to
include a Dark Ritual or alternative form of mana acceleration or enabler, such
Fastbond.

4) Fourth, you will sometimes include tactics that protect or support your strategic
objectives, such as countermagic, targeted discard, disruption, removal, or recursion.
Countermagic will often be included in Doomsday stacks to protect both the draw
spells as well as the finisher. Discard spells can be used for a similar effect, to extract
removal or countermagic from the opponent’s hand. Sometimes it is wise to include
recursion spells for a similar purpose. If your Laboratory Maniac is countered or
destroyed, Yawgmoth’s Will serves a valuable backup plan.

The overarching question when resolving Doomsday is: How do I build a Doomsday
pile that wins the game as quickly as possible with minimal risk? The answer to this
question will almost always include some combination of (1) and (2) unless you have
one or both of those already in hand, and will generally always include (3), and often
include, if there is room, (4).

The Role of Gush in Doomsday

Gush plays an especially important role in the Doomsday strategy. In addition to the
many forms of advantage derived from Gush canvassed in Chapter 1, Gush plays
additional roles in the Doomsday deck. It is used as a zero-mana draw trigger post-
Doomsday to draw the first cards of a Doomsday stack, and to trigger the Maniac’s
ability.

Assuming you have two Islands (subtype) in play and there are no permanents or
abilities that otherwise interfere with your capacity to play spells (such as a Sphere of
Resistance or Arcane Laboratory) or draw cards (such as Spirit of the Labyrinth), Gush
can draw the resources to win the game deterministically without any additional
conditions or requirements. How?

If you are holding Gush, you can resolve Doomsday and construct this library:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Lotus Petal
3) Black Lotus
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Gitaxian Probe
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Upon resolution, Gush will draw Ancestral Recall and Lotus Petal. The Petal can be
played and used to cast Ancestral Recall, which will draw the remainder of your
library. From there, you can use Black Lotus to cast Laboratory Maniac, and then
Gitaxian Probe (paying 2 life) to generate a draw trigger that activates Laboratory
Maniac to win the game, on account of an empty library.

When resolving Doomsday, Gush is one of the best possible cards to have in hand.
However, it still plays a critical role even when you do not already have it in hand after
resolving Doomsday.

Without Gush in hand, you will need another draw trigger in order to draw the first
card off of the post-Doomsday library. This might be produced from a Preordain, a
Gitaxian Probe, or your next draw step. In either case, the default Doomsday stack
looks like this:

||Library Top|
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Gush
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Black Lotus
5) [any card]
||Library Bottom||

Unlike the Default Stack with Gush in Hand, winning post-Doomsday requires not
only another draw-trigger, but one blue mana to cast Ancestral Recall. Ancestral Recall
will then draw Black Lotus to cast Laboratory Maniac, and Gush to draw the final card
of your library and to activate Maniac’s replacement ability (as with the Default Stack
with Gush in Hand, you must also have two Islands that can be returned with Gush).

In the first illustration, Gush was used to draw the first two cards of the Doomsday
stack. In the second illustration, Gush was used to draw the last card and trigger the

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Maniac. It is important to understand the role of Gush in the post-Doomsday game

plan, not just in the terms illustrated above, but more deeply to understand its potential
and its limits. The following scenarios illustrate this idea:

With Gush in hand, post-Doomsday, Gush draws:

G1
G2
3
4
5
X

Without Gush in hand, post-Doomsday, Gush draws:

1
2
3
4
G5
G X (win via Laboratory Maniac’s trigger)

Notice that with Gush in hand, Gush draws the first two cards, while Ancestral draws
the rest. In other words, Gush and Ancestral Recall interact synergistically, and,
together, are responsible for drawing cards as follows:
G1
G2
A3
A4
A5
X

This illustrates an important principle. Together, Gush and Ancestral Recall can draw
all five cards, but only if Gush was already in hand. This is an important source of
confusion: a Gush included in a Doomsday stack can never be used to draw an
Ancestral Recall cast for the purpose of drawing the remainder of your library without
also decking. If Gush were the top card of your Doomsday stack, here is what each card
would draw:
1 (Gush on top of Library)
G2
G3
A4
A5
A X (win via Laboratory Maniac’s trigger)

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

For this reason, in any situation without a Gush already in hand, Ancestral Recall is
almost always used to draw into Gush rather than vice versa.

The only way to draw all five cards without decking or triggering the Maniac is to have
Ancestral Recall or Gush already in hand post-Doomsday. In the rare case of having
Ancestral Recall in hand post-Doomsday, here is how that would work:
A1
A2
A3
G4
G5
X

Ancestral Recall draws the top three cards, and Gush draws the final two, but would
not be able to trigger the Maniac. Here, a Tendrils of Agony kill is more attractive, as we
will see shortly.

These diagrams also illustrate the centrality of Ancestral Recall to the execution of the
post-Doomsday game plan. Ancestral Recall is generally used to draw most of the post-
Doomsday library, either the middle three cards or the last three. But, unless Ancestral
is already in hand after resolving Doomsday, it is never used to draw the first three.
Rather, it is used to draw 2-4 or 3-5, as illustrated above.

Thus far we have seen Gush draw positions 1-2, 5-X, and the rare instance (Ancestral
Recall in hand post-Doomsday), where it draws 4-5. There are, however, instances,
where Gush is used without Ancestral Recall or to draw cards in the middle of the
Doomsday stack. These will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter, but for
now it is important to note the theoretical possibilities.

With Gush in hand, Gush can draw another Gush, which can be used to draw cards 3
and 4, where the Gush in hand is represented by G1 and the drawn Gush is represented
by G2:
G1 1
G1 2
G2 3
G2 4
5
X

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Extrapolating further, you can see how a third Gush or a replayed Gush may be used to
draw the rest of the library and trigger Maniac.
G1 1
G1 2
G2 3
G2 4
G3 5
G3 X (win via Laboratory Maniac’s trigger)

Similarly, if Gush is in the first position, multiple Gushes can draw through your post-
Doomsday library as follows:
1 (Gush 1 on top of library)
G1 2
G1 3
G2 4
G2 5
G3 X (win via Laboratory Maniac’s trigger)

Most cards that only generate a single draw, like Preordain, Ponder, or Gitaxian Probe,
do not materially change this analysis. They can be treated as exogenous draw triggers
within this framework. However, Brainstorm and Sensei’s Divining Top present special
cases that warrant additional analysis because they return cards to the library.

For now, it is sufficient to understand the key roles that Gush plays in the post-
Doomsday game plan, and the ways in which Gush and Ancestral Recall can – and
cannot – be used to draw most of the reconstructed library. These principles and
parameters naturally prescribe the general Doomsday stacks we have already seen,
which I describe as the “default” Doomsday stacks because they are the most
commonly used stacks. To recap:

1) Default Doomsday Stack with Gush in Hand (as illustrated in the graphic above)

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Lotus Petal
3) Black Lotus
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Gitaxian Probe
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

2) Default Doomsday Stack without Gush in Hand

||Library Top|
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Gush
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Black Lotus
5) [any card]
||Library Bottom||

The tools available in Vintage and the parameters of the Doomsday pile (five cards)
naturally lend themselves towards two basic Doomsday stacks. As a result, they are not
only the most common Doomsday piles constructed when piloting Doomsday, but they
are “default” stacks that depend on one variable: whether you have Gush in hand or
not.

Flexibility

It is important to understand that the “default” Doomsday stacks are flexible, and have
many workable variations both in terms of substitutability and placement. Most
obviously, any card can be placed in the final position of the Default Stack without
Gush in Hand above.

The cards selected for the Default Doomsday Stack with Gush in Hand are even more
flexible. For example, a Mox Sapphire can be substituted for Lotus Petal to execute the
same sequence. Some substitutes can be used to accomplish the same objectives, but
with a slightly different route to get there. For example, Yawgmoth’s Will can be
substituted for Gitaxian Probe. In that case, the Petal and Lotus can be replayed to cast
Maniac and Ancestral Recall to trigger the Maniac.

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

That pile might look like this:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Lotus Petal
5) Yawgmoth’s Will
||Library Bottom||

As you may note when comparing this pile with Probe, there is a certain degree of
flexibility in placement as well. The precise order of each card, within certain bounds, is
also flexible. Cards 1-2 can be placed in either position, cards 3-5 can be placed in any of
those positions, and Petal and Black Lotus can be substituted for each other. That is,
Black Lotus can be placed in the Lotus Petal position if vice versa.

Each alternative or variation on the default pile offers minor tradeoffs. The advantage of
this pile over the one containing Probe is that it does not require two additional life to
cast Probe. The disadvantage is that it exposes your post-Doomsday game plan to
graveyard disruption, like Surgical Extraction or Tormod’s Crypt.

To underscore the complexity at issue, even these trade-offs can be mitigated in other
ways. For example, a Mana Crypt can be placed in the Lotus Petal position in either
variant of the “default” stack above, avoiding the need to pay two life with Probe, but
that entails another trade-off: including Mana Crypt in your deck.

Ordering for Resilience

As noted, there is a certain degree of flexibility in ordering the default Doomsday

stacks. This is perhaps most obvious in the Default Stack without Gush in Hand. Any

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

of the cards in positions 2, 3, and 4 can be placed in any of the other positions. This is
because Ancestral Recall will draw all three cards simultaneously. The same is true of
cards in positions 3, 4, and 5 in the Default Stack with Gush in Hand. However, this
does not mean that the order in which you place these cards is immaterial.

The first order of business when designing a Doomsday stack is to build one that is
efficient and leads to victory as quickly as possible. Since, however, there is a degree of
flexibility within these parameters, optimal construction of Doomsday stacks should
take advantage of this flexibility to afford contingency plans in case things do not go as
planned.

What this means practically speaking is that you should not necessarily stack your
library in the order in which you wish to sequence spells. Most commonly, this means
placing draw spells near the top of your library. Reconsider the default stack without
Gush in hand. Ancestral Recall is placed at the top of the stack, but the next three cards
can be placed in any order. If placed in order of spell sequence, here’s how that stack
would be constructed:

||Library Top|
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Gush
5) [any card]
||Library Bottom||

If Ancestral Recall were countered, Black Lotus would likely not be the best next
possible draw. Rather, among the three cards in positions 2, 3, or 4, Gush is probably
the next best draw, as it would draw Maniac, and Lotus, and threaten to win the game
next turn. That’s why the optimal stack configuration probably involves Gush in
position 2.

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

This positioning of cards improves your chances of winning the game by accelerating
your game plan, if Ancestral Recall is countered, without any material change in the
cards selected for inclusion in the stack. However, it is also possible to use open or
flexible slots to enhance your resilience. For example, in the pile above, the 5th slot
could be filled with a Yawgmoth’s Will in case the Maniac is countered or destroyed
before you can win the game.

Building for Resilience

Doomsday is a strategy that requires you to consider many factors simultaneously.

Optimizing your Doomsday stacks is far more than a matter of simply identifying a
solution (meaning, identifying a stack that is capable of winning the game as quickly
and efficiently as possible). You must also consider how to build in maximal resilience
by anticipating possible obstacles or resistance from the opponent. One way of doing
this is by taking advantage of the flexibility afforded within the stack, as just discussed.
Another is by drawing upon additional resources, such as cards in hand or available
mana, to protect your game plan.

Both of the default stacks presented assume that there is no additional mana available.
That may well be the case, but even a single additional mana can dramatically change
the situation and improve your resilience. Suppose, for example, that in the Default
Stack with Gush in Hand, you may replay a land returned to hand with Gush to
generate an additional mana or that you have a spare mana otherwise available. That
materially changes the complexion of the situation.

Lotus Petal was included in this stack in order to generate the mana to cast Ancestral
Recall. If Ancestral Recall can be cast, post-Gush, without needing Lotus Petal, that frees
the Lotus Petal slot for another card. What might go in that position?

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) ?
3) Black Lotus
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Gitaxian Probe
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

There are myriad possibilities, but the answer to what could be feasibly placed in that
spot depends principally upon three factors: cards in hand, available mana, and life
total. For example, if you have a spare blue card in hand, such as a Preordain or
superfluous Gush, you might put a Force of Will in the Lotus Petal position. Gush
would then draw Ancestral Recall and Force of Will, and you could then cast Ancestral
Recall, Black Lotus, Maniac, and Probe with the benefit of Force protection. Of course,
this assumes that you have enough life to pay for Force and Probe. If you have a blue
spell, but only three life post-Doomsday, you may, instead, wish to include a
Misdirection in that position.

If, on the other hand, you have two additional mana, you can put a Flusterstorm or
Duress effect in that spot or include Force but then use the additional mana to hard cast
Gitaxian Probe.

By now it should be clear that perhaps the most important dimension that affects your
capacity to include additional resistance is available mana. If you have five additional
mana post-Doomsday, then you do not need to include any mana acceleration
whatsoever, and can fill both the Black Lotus and Lotus Petal slots with countermagic,
discard, or additional draw. It also matters what form this mana takes. If you have five
lands in play, and an available land drop, you can play three Gushes in sequence.

Life also matters. Doomsday decks use life as a material resource with Fastbond, Force
of Will, fetchlands, and Gitaxian Probe. Some Doomsday decks include multiple Probes,
and Probes can be used to cycle through a post-Doomsday library quickly at the cost of
life alone. It is unlikely that a Doomsday pilot will have more than ten life post-
Doomsday, and likely substantially less.

The critical point is that additional mana and life more readily allow a Doomsday pilot
to construct a more resilient Doomsday stack. With one additional mana, the slot used
for the Lotus Petal to cast Ancestral Recall can be used for another card, such as Force of

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Will. With two additional mana, that card can be a one mana spell, such as Duress or
Flusterstorm.

Speed vs. Resilience

Most of the discussion in this Appendix assumes that Doomsday piles should be
constructed in order to win the game as quickly as possible. The basis for this
assumption is the premise that winning the game as quickly as possible reduces the
chances that your opponent will be able to disrupt your post-Doomsday game plan (or,
in the parlance of this book, reduce the capacity of the opponent to thwart the
achievement of your ultimate strategic objectives). This is not always a valid premise.

Opponents will sometimes allow Doomsday to resolve because they believe that they
can stop the post-Doomsday spell sequence, and thereby win the game more quickly, or
because they have narrow answers (e.g. Red Elemental Blast, Mental Misstep, or
Dismember), and therefore cannot stop Doomsday, but may be able to interact with
spells cast post-Doomsday.

One of the key factors to consider in constructing a Doomsday pile is calibrating speed
against resilience. For reasons made evident in the previous subsection, it is possible to
build Doomsday stacks with countermagic and other disruption. This is simply
optimization when additional mana is available, but there is another resource to
consider as well: time. One way to generate additional mana (or draws) is to take
additional turns. Of course, taking additional turns generally involves giving additional
turns, and therefore giving the opponent more resources, including draw steps and
mana, to attempt to disrupt you. It is possible, and sometimes desirable, however, to
construct Doomsday stacks that sacrifice time for resilience.

Consider the following scenario. Suppose your opponent is holding Spell Pierce or
Flusterstorm when you resolve Doomsday without Gush in hand. Rather than execute a
combo kill that loses the game next turn if the opponent counters your Black Lotus or
Ancestral Recall, you might decide to give your opponent another turn thereafter, in
order to build a more resilient stack as well as to be able to reuse your available mana.

Your stack might look like this:

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Gush
3) Flusterstorm
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Gitaxian Probe
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

The Gush/Gush/Disruption stack is one of the common structures for a resilient

Doomsday stack. The first Gush is difficult to stop with a spell like Flusterstorm or Spell
Pierce. If the first Gush resolves, then Flusterstorm will be drawn to stop anything that
might happen next. The second Gush can be played, generating two more mana for a
total of four mana to cast both Maniac and Flusterstorm. The Probe is played for free to
win the game.

Variations on a Theme

As we have seen, there are two default Doomsday piles, one for a situation in which
you already have Gush in hand, and one in which a Gush is not in hand, and which
usually begins with Ancestral Recall. However, we have already established that both
stacks enjoy some leeway and flexibility in both substituting cards and ordering them.

We have already seen how flexibility and resilience can be designed into Doomsday
stacks. The Doomsday stacks themselves permit variability, and additional mana or life
allows additional substitutions. In this section, I will systematically analyze key
variables that influence your design solutions that flow from the discussion on
variations above.

A. Combo Card Already in Hand or in Play

The default Doomsday stacks each involves putting finishers and other key parts into
the Doomsday stack. These cards include Laboratory Maniac, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal,
Dark Ritual, Gitaxian Probe, Tendrils of Agony, or Yawgmoth’s Will. We have already
addressed handling the stack design when Ancestral or Gush are already in hand.
Having any one of these other cards in hand already serves as an opportunity to replace
the position in the stack normally occupied by that card with any other card of your
choice. For example, if you have Laboratory Maniac in hand, you can insert another

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

counterspell in that position. The same is true of the rest of the combo parts. Having a
combo card already in hand essentially functions to tutor for additional resilience.

For example, with Laboratory Maniac in hand or in play, you can build this stack:

||Library Top|
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Lotus Petal
4) Force of Will
5) Yawgmoth’s Will (or Gitaxian Probe)
||Library Bottom||

B. Additional Mana Available

As noted above, mana availability post-Doomsday dramatically affects the degree of

resilience or disruption you can build into your Doomsday stacks. With a single
additional mana post-Doomsday, you can remove a Lotus Petal from your stack in
favor of a free counterspell, and with two additional mana, you may add a one mana
discard spell, such as Duress or Thoughtseize, or a counterspell. With three additional
mana, you need not include Black Lotus, and can put another disruption spell in that
slot as well.

C. Fastbond

If any of the combo parts are already in hand or in play when Doomsday is resolving,
then it opens up an opportunity to place another spell in that position, but does not
fundamentally alter the basic approach to the end-game or the post-Doomsday
sequence. That is not true of Fastbond. Fastbond generates an alternative and more

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

efficient end-game. Suppose you have Fastbond in hand (or play) when resolving
Doomsday. Here is a possible solution for a scenario without Gush in hand.

||Library Top|
1) Gush
2) Flusterstorm
3) Gush
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Yawgmoth’s Will (or Gitaxian Probe)
||Library Bottom||

The Gush in the top position can be used to draw Flusterstorm and another Gush. The
second Gush is protected with Flusterstorm and draws the Maniac and either Will or
Probe, which is used to win the game. If Gush is already in hand when resolving
Doomsday, then the Gush in hand draws Gush and Flusterstorm, and the next Gush
draws Maniac and a third Gush, and the third Gush can be used to trigger the Maniac,
for the same result.

Of course, this kill requires at least 5-7 life, post-Doomsday, so it is not always feasible.
But it does point toward other possibilities.

D. Sensei’s Divining Top

Sensei’s Divining Top, as noted earlier, fundamentally changes the formula for winning
post-Doomsday as well. That is because Top uniquely allows both Gush and Ancestral
Recall to draw the entire library despite both being selected with Doomsday. Observe:

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Ancestral Recall
3) Black Lotus
4) Lotus Petal
5) Laboratory Maniac
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Steps:
1) Tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw Gush.
2) Cast Gush, drawing Top and Ancestral Recall.
3) Cast Ancestral Recall to draw Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, and Laboratory Maniac.
4) Cast Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Sensei’s Divining Top, and Laboratory Maniac.
5) Tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw from an empty library, and trigger Laboratory
Maniac to win the game.

This solution, however, requires a blue mana to cast Ancestral Recall post-Doomsday.
What if, instead of a blue mana, you only have a spare black mana? Is there a solution?

There is.

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Ancestral Recall
3) Black Lotus
4) Dark Ritual
5) Laboratory Maniac
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

1) Tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw Gush.

2) Cast Gush, drawing Sensei’s Divining Top and Black Lotus.
3) Cast Black Lotus, and sacrifice it for UUU mana.
4) Cast Sensei’s Divining Top, and tap it to draw Ancestral Recall.
5) Cast Ancestral Recall (UB mana now floating) to draw Sensei’s Diving Top, Dark
Ritual, and Laboratory Maniac.
6) Cast Dark Ritual (UBBB mana now floating).
7) Cast Sensei’s Divining Top using B mana, and then cast Laboratory Maniac.
8) Tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw from an empty library, and trigger Laboratory
Maniac to win the game.

In this scenario, Sensei’s Divining Top is activated three times post-Doomsday to cycle
through the library.

E. Brainstorm in Hand

Like Top, Brainstorm has a few idiosyncrasies that must be understood. The capacity to
return cards to the library means that any additional cards in hand can be exchanged
for disruption and countermagic. Brainstorm functions like a cantrip to draw cards, but
it can also optimize your hand.

Without a Gush in hand, the default pile is the same as without Brainstorm.

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) Gush
5) Yawgmoth’s Will
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Steps:
1) Cast Brainstorm into Ancestral Recall, Black Lotus, and Laboratory Maniac, putting
back two cards (Black Lotus and Laboratory Maniac, for example).
2) Cast Ancestral Recall into Black Lotus, Laboratory Maniac, and Gush.
3) Cast Black Lotus and then cast Laboratory Maniac.
4) Cast Gush to trigger Laboratory Maniac for the win.

However, with a Gush in hand, the piles that are possible change dramatically. Because
Brainstorm can draw more than one card, it can be used to draw the 4th, 5th, and X
(empty library) position. So, with Gush and Brainstorm in hand, you might construct
this library instead:

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Black Lotus
3) Laboratory Maniac
4) [any card]
5) [any card]
||Library Bottom||

In this sequence, Gush in hand is used to draw Gush and Lotus, then a second Gush is
used to draw Maniac and the 4th card, where Brainstorm is used to trigger the Maniac
by drawing the 5th card and X position, to win the game.

F. Ponder or Preordain in Hand

Another possible situation is that you resolve Doomsday with either a Preordain or
Ponder in hand, and exactly one additional mana to play it. With two additional mana,
the Default Stack without Gush in Hand provides a ready solution. However, with

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

only enough mana to cast the cantrip, you do not have enough mana to cast Ancestral
Recall, even if you can draw it.

The fundamental challenge with this pile is that you must draw into a free spell, and
therefore must begin with Gush at the top. This poses another problem because you will
not be able to cast both Gush and Ancestral Recall to win the game. As diagrammed
earlier, Gush and Ancestral Recall cannot be used to draw all 5 cards in the library, if
either card is drawn from the Doomsday stack. This means that a “cantrip in hand”
stack post-Doomsday must be constructed without Ancestral Recall entirely.
Furthermore, Gush only draws two cards, which leaves three cards left in your library.

Assume that you have already played a land this turn as well, making it impossible for
Gush to generate another mana by replaying a land. Is there a solution? In fact, there are
a range of solutions, depending on the amount of total mana on the board, your life
total, and whether or not you have an available land drop this turn.

If you do have an available land drop for the turn, a green mana source, and at least 5
life, then Fastbond offers a solution:

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Fastbond
3) Gush
4) Laboratory Maniac
5) Any cantrip
||Library Bottom||

Steps:
1) Cast Ponder or Preordain into Gush.
2) Cast Gush (returning two lands to hand), drawing Fastbond and Gush.
3) Cast Fastbond, and replay both lands.
4) Tap both lands for U mana and cast Gush, drawing Laboratory Maniac, and a
cantrip.
5) Replay both lands. Tap both lands for U mana (UUUU mana now floating).
6) Cast Laboratory Maniac, and then cast the cantrip drawn above to win the game.

But what if you do not have a land drop for the turn? Is there a solution?

Yes, provided you have at least two mana (at least one of which is a land) on the board
after you resolve Gush.

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

||Library Top||
1) Gush
2) Black Lotus
3) Time Walk
4) Yawgmoth’s Will
5) Laboratory Maniac
||Library Bottom||

Steps:
1) Cast Ponder or Preordain to draw Gush.
2) Cast Gush (returning two lands to hand), drawing Black Lotus and Time Walk.
3) Cast Black Lotus and Time Walk.
4) Draw Yawgmoth’s Will on your Time Walk turn, and replay a land.
5) Cast Yawgmoth’s Will.
6) Replay Black Lotus from the graveyard.
7) Cast Laboratory Maniac, and then cast Gush from your graveyard (returning two
lands to hand) to trigger Laboratory Maniac to win the game.

If you have an additional land drop on your Doomsday turn, the solution is a bit
simpler, as you only need one land on the board after you resolve Gush.

G. Gitaxian Probe in Hand

Gitaxian Probe poses a similar question to having Ponder or Preordain in hand, except
that you do not need a mana to play it. Depending on how much life you have to work
with, or how much mana you have in play, either solution to the Ponder or Preordain
scenario will work.

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

H. Gush in Hand, but Only 1 Land in Play

Sometimes you may be able to fire off an early Doomsday with Gush in hand, but with
only one land in play or in hand. In this case, you will need to put a land into your pile,
often in the place of one of the other mana accelerants. The Default Stack with Gush in
Hand solves the problem, but with a land in the Lotus Petal slot, and an additional turn
(it is a “pass the turn” solution).

I. The Tendrils of Agony Kill

Although Laboratory Maniac serves as the default strategic objective post-Doomsday,

there may be reasons to pursue a Tendrils of Agony kill instead. One reason may be
that you exiled Laboratory Maniac by pitching it to Force of Will, or that it was
otherwise removed by a Thought-Knot Seer or other tactic. Another reason may be that
you wish to avoid losing to a Sudden Shock or other counter-tactic.

The key to winning with Tendrils is to maximize your storm count. Here is a sample
stack, if Gush is in hand:

||Library Top||
1) Ancestral Recall
2) Black Lotus
3) Lotus Petal
4) Yawgmoth’s Will
5) Tendrils of Agony
||Library Bottom||

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

Here are the steps to execute this plan:

1) Cast Doomsday (Storm 1), making the stack above.
2) Cast Gush (returning two lands to hand), drawing Ancestral Recall and Lotus Petal
(Storm 2).
3) Cast Lotus Petal (Storm 3), and sacrifice it for U mana to then cast Ancestral Recall,
drawing the rest of your library (Storm 4).
4) Cast Black Lotus (Storm 5), and then sacrifice it for BBB mana to cast Yawgmoth’s
Will (Storm 6).
5) Replay Black Lotus from the graveyard (Storm 7), then replay Lotus Petal from the
graveyard (Storm 8).
6) Cast Tendrils of Agony from hand (Storm 9) to win the game.

If you are feeling courageous, you could cast Ancestral Recall (targeting your
opponent), before casting Tendrils of Agony, for an additional storm count. If you have
played another spell this turn, storm will already be 10, for a full 20 life loss.

Without Gush in hand, you must rely on a “pass the turn pile” instead. If your
opponent is at 16 life or less and you two cards in hand, the following pile also works:

||Library Top||
1) Brainstorm
2) Black Lotus
3) Dark Ritual (or potentially Lotus Petal)
4) Yawgmoth’s Will
5) Tendrils of Agony
||Library Bottom||

Assuming your opponent is at 16 life or less and you have cast Doomsday to build the
stack above, and then passed the turn, here are the steps to victory once it is your turn:

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

1) Cast Brainstorm (Storm 1), drawing Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, and Yawgmoth’s Will.
Put back two cards.
2) Cast Black Lotus (Storm 2) and Dark Ritual (Storm 3).
3) Cast Yawgmoth’s Will (Storm 4)
4) Replay Black Lotus from the graveyard (Storm 5), and then replay Dark Ritual from
the graveyard (Storm 6).
5) Replay Brainstorm from the graveyard (Storm 7).
6) Cast Tendrils of Agony from hand (Storm 8) to win the game.

Sensei’s Divining Top can come in handy here, as it is a card that, with enough mana,
can be a massive storm generator, provided you have additional mana. In the following
scenario we need three additional mana, and Sensei’s Divining Top can be used to help
generate a slightly higher storm count.

||Library Top||
1) Sensei’s Divining Top
2) Gush
3) Black Lotus
4) Yawgmoth’s Will
5) Tendrils of Agony
||Library Bottom||

Steps:
1) Cast a cantrip to draw Sensei’s Divining Top (Storm 1).
2) Cast Sensei’s Divining Top (Storm 2), and then tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw
Gush.
3) Cast Gush (Storm 3), drawing Sensei’s Divining Top and Black Lotus.
4) Cast Black Lotus (Storm 4), and then sacrifice it for BBB mana, using B to cast Sensei’s
Top (Storm 5), still floating BB mana.
5) Tap Sensei’s Divining Top to draw Yawgmoth’s Will.
6) Cast Yawgmoth’s Will (Storm 6).

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

7) Replay Black Lotus from the graveyard (Storm 7).

8) Replay Gush from the graveyard (Storm 8) to draw Sensei’s Divining Top and
Tendrils of Agony.
9) Cast Sensei’s Divining Top (Storm 9).
10) Cast Tendrils of Agony from hand (Storm 10) for the win.

Tendrils kills can be constructed innumerable ways, but they all involve attempts to
maximize storm through cards like Yawgmoth’s Will, which generally increase the
storm count beyond the cards you have available.

Mechanics and Logistics

Constructing Doomsday piles under tournament conditions can be challenging at best,

and consume more time than you have allowed without running afoul of Slow Play
rules. It is important to practice building Doomsday piles in addition to familiarizing
yourself with how to design them.

In paper Magic, the first step should be to pull all of the likely cards that you would
likely select in building your stack. I recommend pulling Laboratory Maniac, Black
Lotus, and Ancestral Recall first, since these are singletons. Most Doomsday stacks
involve these three cards, and should take less than 10 seconds to quickly extract those
from your library. Put those three cards on a face down pile in front of you as quickly as
possible. Then, in a second pile, next to it, face down, I recommend pulling Gush, Lotus
Petal, Gitaxian Probe, and Yawgmoth’s Will, and any other cards you think you may
wish to include.

Put your library down, and then look at the first pile, and begin figuring out which
what you want around it from the second pile, and begin constructing your stack. It is
likely that there is only one card at most that you’ll need to pull from your library to
round out your stack.

If you are efficient and practiced enough at this, and have most of the stack thought
through before you cast Doomsday, you should be able to execute all of this in well
under a minute, and avoid any slow play warnings or penalties. If you are less time
pressured, or considering Doomsday stacks in advance of casting Doomsday, I
recommend developing a short hand notation system and using a piece of paper to
notate your stack before you even begin. For example, this is something you might do
on your opponent’s turn, the turn before you might cast Doomsday. Your opponent will
not be able to parse your margin notes, but this can help guide your Doomsday stack
construction after you resolve Doomsday, while saving time in tournament conditions.

On Magic Online, the physical mechanics of searching your library is vastly simplified,
and there is no danger of incurring a slow play penalty, however annoyed your

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 Appendix: Doomsday Scenarios

opponent may be at your Doomsday construction. In this context, I recommend

opening a notepad or a word processor program, and then working through your
Doomsday stack in the manner presented in this chapter, and then literally write out the
steps to make sure that the execution works. You should be able to work out a range of
stacks without using more than 5 or so minutes of your clock. Be sure to click on cards,
however, as you do not want the program to think that you are no longer playing, and
there may be a 5 minute or so activity clock that will force a game loss if you do not do
anything at all in that period.

Resolving Doomsday on Magic Online requires you to click 5 cards to include in your
stack. You may click any card that you already selected to deselect during your
construction process. Once you have selected five cards, and are certain of those
inclusions, Magic Online will prompt you to confirm your selection. At this point, you
must then click the order in which you wish to place them. Each click will place a card
into the library, starting from the bottom. Be especially careful here, as a mis-click will
result in a suboptimal stack, potentially resulting in a game loss. It may be worth
expanding the zone in order to ensure accurate clicks with your cursor.

Magic Online is especially friendly to the Doomsday pilot, as it is the perfect medium
by which to construct Doomsday piles. Although seemingly tedious, the effort of
writing Doomsday stacks in a word processor program will help eliminate any errors,
and is actually far faster than writing with a pencil or pen. Most importantly, you can
use this Appendix as a reference. To observe Doomsday stack construction inside of a
tournament or match scenario, I encourage readers to visit YouTube and watch my
Doomsday matches in the Vintage Super League, or to read my Doomsday tournament
report listed on the next page.

Further Reading on Gush, by Stephen Menendian

Over the years, I have published a number of tournament reports with Gush strategies
that may be of interest to you. Virtually all of these articles are available for free on
EternalCentral.com, and feature detailed play-by-play analysis that illustrate the
principles and ideas discussed in this book. Enjoy!

So Many Insane Plays – Top 8 at NYSE Open 2, a Tournament Report

So Many Insane Plays – It’s a Young Mancer’s Game: Grow 2013
So Many Insane Plays – 2012 Vintage Championship Report & Post-Mortem
So Many Insane Plays – MeanDeck Open Report with MeanDeck Gush Control
So Many Insane Plays – Understanding Remora Gush
So Many Insane Plays – From Confidant to Cobra Gush: First Place in Sandusky
So Many Insane Plays – Understanding Confidant Gush
So Many Insane Plays – Vintage Maniac Doomsday Combo Platter

359

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 About the Author
Stephen Menendian is a long-time Magic writer, and an accomplished Eternal Magic
player. Crowned the 2007 Vintage World Champion, Stephen is the author of the long
running So Many Insane Plays column, dedicated to highlighting thought-provoking
Vintage, Legacy, Old School, and Magic theory articles. He is also the co-host of the
groundbreaking So Many Insane Plays Podcast with Kevin Cron, analyzing current
events in Eternal Magic. Stephen has also authored strategy articles for StarCityGames,
Wizards of the Coast (MagicTheGathering.com), Inquest Magazine, and Quiet
Speculation. Another full length Magic-related book, Schools of Magic: The History of
Vintage, is also in the works.

Stephen is a licensed attorney, and is currently the Assistant Director at the Haas
Institute at UC Berkeley (CA, USA). He has lectured and published widely on a variety
of issues related to constitutional law and civil rights, and oversees a burgeoning
program of ongoing research initiatives. Most recently, the United States Supreme
Court cited an amicus brief Stephen authored in the 2014 term.

About the Publisher

Eternal Central Press in an independent publishing house, and a subsidiary of Eternal
Central – a company focused on providing dynamic content to a growing segment of
the gaming community. Working closely with authors and podcasters to connect with
more users and reach a wider audience, Eternal Central was launched in 2010 to
provide publishing opportunities for writers seeking to create or expand their
publishing platform, and who have a passion for gaming.

Legal Notice
The written contents of this book are property of the Author © 2016, are licensed by
Eternal Central for exclusive publication, and may not be copied, reproduced, edited, or
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Cover Image: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer by Caspar David Friedrich

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