Unlocking the Vault #31: Brainstorming

If I were to poll 100 different Magic players and ask them, “What is the single most difficult card to play?” I would probably get 25 or more different answers. Some may say Fact or Fiction. Others may say Gifts Ungiven, or maybe even naming a card with Cabal Therapy would be the most skill-intensive task in the game. Magic is a skill-testing game, and over the years, there have certainly been lots of cards made that offer multiple lines of play, varying levels of power (depending on game state), and can be cast at nearly every point in the game. For me, there is one card, and one card only, that stands out as the most skill-intensive card to play with: Brainstorm.

As someone who plays Eternal formats almost exclusively, my opinion is probably biased, but I would have to believe that same poll above would probably agree with me. So what makes Brainstorm so difficult to use? Perhaps we should consider this:

While this is the popular belief, it’s not 100% true. Ancestral Recall actually nets you 3 additional cards while Brainstorm only provides you with 3 new cards to replace 2 of the worst cards in your hand (in theory). That being said, for all intents and purposes, Brainstorm is an Ancestral Recall when you have a fetch land available to shuffle away your 2 least desirable cards. The prevailing wisdom is that even if you had Recall instead of Brainstorm, those two other cards would be worthless in hand anyway, as you would be keeping your best cards no matter what.

It sounds simple enough, right? Well, unfortunately, many people, myself included, fall into the trap of using Brainstorm as a crutch. Take, for instance, my recent match with PlanetWalls in Round 1 of the Classic Quarter League, which is shown below. If you don’t want to be spoiled, scroll down and watch the match now, but be sure to pay close attention to my line of play in Game 1. After mulling my opening hand, my next grip consisted of 1 single fetch land and a Brainstorm with a couple of other irrelevant cards for this discussion. Ignoring the fact that it was a loose keep (I had already mulled to 6, so mulling to 5 could have been even worse), I was put in a position to use Brainstorm in a way that deviated from them ideal example above.

As the game unfolded, I was in desperate need of countermagic and mana sources, but particularly Force of Will as the Lodestone Golem PlanetWalls was trying to cast would have locked me out of the game. Having no other choice, I was forced to crack my fetch land and then cast Brainstorm in the hope of seeing a Force in one of the top 3 cards of my library. Lo and behold, there was a Force in my top 3 cards! There was much rejoicing… or was there? The 3 cards my Brainstorm revealed were the aforementioned Force, along with Lotus Petal and Spell Snare. Notice what was not included in any of those 3 cards? A land. I was able to cast my Force and counter the Golem, but I had, for all intents and purposes, lost the game right then and there. It was a classic case of winning the battle, but losing the war. The result of my play meant that I would go at least 2 more turns before I would draw a land, and in the worst case scenario, a few more turns beyond that without seeing another land. Considering I only had one land in play at that point, there was little I could do to change the outcome of the game.

In hindsight, there really wasn’t anything I could have done differently that game, right? My Brainstorm revealed a rather unlucky flop, to borrow a poker term. And even if I hadn’t Brainstormed then, I still wouldn’t have had a land on top. Well, truth be told, there was something I could have done: I should have mulled to 5. Even though it wasn’t at the forefront of my decision to keep the hand, the reality was that I probably subconsciously kept the hand knowing that I had a fetch land and a Brainstorm, so I should have been all set. It is an Ancestral Recall after all, right? In the end, it wasn’t a Recall and PlanetWalls was able to blow me out with little resistance.

The moral of the story is that everyone can always use a little brushing up on our Brainstorm-ing skills from time to time. Today, I’d like to take you down the road of evaluating some guidelines of using Brainstorm profitably, even if I don’t always practice what I teach.

[Side Note: Just like most things in life, there are exceptions to the rules]

Rule # 1: Avoid casting Brainstorm without any shuffling effects, namely fetch lands.

This rule is basically outlined above, but making a long story short, Brainstorm-ing without any ability to shuffle away the 2 cards you put back is asking for trouble. Early on, you can lock yourself out of mana, and late game, you can get stuck drawing those two cards you put back instead of drawing new cards which could make the difference between winning or losing.

Rule # 2: So build your deck with a critical mass of shuffle effects.

As a general rule, I like to play with 7-8 fetch lands, which are the primary avenues to shuffle your deck since they are virtually un-counterable. Other ways to include shuffle effects include: Tutors, such as Demonic and Vampiric, Ponder, Tinker and discarding Emrakul the Aeons Torn, such as when you have 8 cards in hand.

Rule # 3: Never cast Brainstorm on Turn 1 or 2 without any sort of plan.

This is somewhat complicated, so let me explain: When you cast Brainstorm within the first 2 turns of the game, you have very little information available to you, even if you have the necessary shuffle effect to get the most out of Brainstorm. This is especially true in a Daily Event or any other situation where you don’t know what your opponent is playing. Blindly casting Brainstorm simply because you have Brainstorm, a fetch land, and an open mana, is not always the best use of Brainstorm. Perhaps this rule should simply be re-labeled: “Have a plan.” Regardless, the longer you wait to cast Brainstorm, the more information you’ll have to decide which cards you should put back and what cards you are actually looking to draw.

Further, casting Brainstorm on Turn 1 or Turn 2 might tip your opponent off that you are land-light and might make them more apt to counter your Brainstorm, especially if they have a Mental Misstep in hand. Waiting a little longer (assuming you can make land drops or at least provide the illusion of not needing more) might allow the Brainstorm to resolve. Going back to my earlier example, keeping a land-light hand thinking that you can use Brainstorm as a pseudo-Lay of the Land is not the best plan. It can be countered, and it could yield a dud flop. Better to keep the hand with 2 or more lands and no Brainstorm, than the hand with one land and one Brainstorm when you need the second land to stay in the game.

The Swiss Army Knife of Instants – Hiding Cards

While those are the rules that I (try) to live by when playing Brainstorm, there are several other useful applications that may not be readily apparent to everyone. By putting two cards on top of your library Brainstorm has the ability to hide cards against discard. Duress, Thoughtsieze, etc., all get their power from trading with a card which is inherently more powerful. What if you could minimize the value that those discard effects have by hiding your two best cards? Or maybe you don’t want to tip your hand as to what kind of deck you have; you can hide the one or two cards that would tip off your deck to keep your opponent on their toes. Brainstorm can do that for you, and in this sense, has an advantage over Ancestral Recall.

Take for instance a scenario where you have an artifact on the board and a Tinker in hand. Next turn you will have the mana to cast it, but your opponent Thoughtseizes you. Brainstorm will help protect your win condition (Tinker), and you can put it as your top card to draw next turn and cast for the win.

Synergy with Dark Confidant and Counterbalance

Brainstorm‘s beneficial ability to put cards on top of the library doesn’t end with hiding cards. Brainstorm has a wonderful synergy with Dark Confidant (Bob) to help mitigate, or even eliminate, the loss-of-life drawback that Bob comes with. Late in the game, Bob can be a liability, especially if you are below 12 life and have Blightsteel Colossus in your deck, but doubly so once you get to 5 life or less, as you can easily hit something like Force of Will or a planeswalker.

While Counterbalance is not usually associated with Classic, it’s worth pointing out its synergy with Brainstorm anyway.

Returning cards to the library that are better in the library than in your hand

Brainstorm can also function as a reverse tutor, if you will. Cards like Oath fatties, Tinker-bots, combo pieces, and even green creatures if you have something like a Green Sun’s Zenith, can be a pain to draw before you need them. With Brainstorm, those cards that are better served being in your deck can be placed from hand back into your deck with a Brainstorm and a shuffle effect.

Digging for answers

Brainstorm‘s ability to see the next 3 cards is rivaled by only Ponder for Classic purposes. This allows Brainstorm to be a great way to dig for an answer when behind, or par, on board state. Sometimes you have to be careful, as my example in the video with PlanetWalls shows; without a shuffle effect, you may not want to see what those 3 cards are as your fate could be sealed. Waiting a turn or two might let you get deep enough to find the answers you need with your Brainstorm.

Brainstorm can also help win battles on the stack. If you are trying to get a key spell through and your opponent casts countermagic targeting it, Brainstorm can be used to dig for another piece of countermagic to help force through a threat. This is another reason to save Brainstorm rather than expend them early in the game or as soon as you draw them.

Main phase or end of turn?

One final point I’d like to make is regarding when Brainstorm should be cast. Being an instant, Brainstorm has flexibility that few other cards can rival, as it offers immense card selection during any part of the turn. When digging for cards, or perhaps a land, it’s probably best to do it at the end of an opponent’s turn. Drawing a card, not playing a land and casting Brainstorm is a strong signal that you are land-light. On the other hand. If you are not land-light, this can be used as a mind trick to create the illusion that you are land-light. In turn, it might draw out a Misstep or another counter from your opponent which could pave the way for the real threat you want to cast to get through. Alternatively, you may want to dig one additional card deeper and so may save the Brainstorm for your main phase, or you may recognize that you only want to put one particular card from your hand back into your library no matter what, before shuffling, meaning that an end-of-turn Brainstorm could be sufficient and safer with respect to freeing mana up on your turn.

Wrap-up

The funny thing about Brainstorm is that for many years, it was viewed as nothing more than a cantrip. While I was away from Magic from 1998-2007, Brainstorm became something much more, and that came about with the introduction of the Onslaught fetch lands.

I’ll never forget the first discussion I had with someone back in 2007 when the subject of Vintage was brought up and I saw Brainstorm in a decklist. My first thought was, “What is that terrible Ice Age card doing in there?” My, how far this game as evolved!

As promised, below are the videos of my matchup with PlanetWalls with the counterpoint video taken from PlanetWalls’ perspective as well. Take them for what they are, a case study in what not to do with Brainstorm!

Here is my decklist for reference:

You can watch PlanetWalls discuss his decklist at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US234mup5dw.

enderfall
Clan Magic Eternal
Follow me on Twitter @enderfall