twiddle vault - boréal

variant became possible. None of the required combo pieces are restricted, allowing for a stronger mana base fueling a truly blue-based combo deck. Using cards like Sylvan Library and Howling Mine, each extra turn taken increases visibility and cards in hand. An in-play Time Vault is untapped by a Twiddle to net an extra turn. Between the extra draw and Recalls, it becomes possible to end up in a situation where the pilot can take many sequential turns if the opponent has no responses.

Cards like Hurkyl’s Recall and Mana Short help to make draw-sevens safer by depriving an opponent of resources prior to receiving a new hand.

Eventually, if the early game goes according to plan, the pilot will eventually play nearly all permanents in the deck and recur the deck with Timetwister. With most of the mana sources in play along with multiple Howling Mines and Sylvan, even with all Recalls spent, the pilot can deterministically recur the deck between four Twiddles, Demonic Tutor, Regrowth, and of course, Timetwister.

The win can easily be a Fireball for 20, or multiple Fireballs over multiple recursions of the deck dependent on the scenario. Prior versions I built would deck the opponent with Braingeyer as the only win condition, but this proved too time-intensive and dangerous.

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I think that this build is nearly the most efficient version of TwiddleVault combo built to date. Since building in 2019 (if I recall correctly), I think I have put up the most positive results with large tournament wins, and I have seen many others play nearly the same build after I popularized it. This deck is a true combo deck, forgoing cards like Mind Twist, Balance, or even the full complement of Counterspells. It plays a single Chaos Orb as the only removal, a requirement for cards like Underworld Dreams, Energy Flux, Chains of Mephistopheles, Ankh of Mishra, and Circle of Protection: Red, among others.

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MEMORIES FROM PLAYING IT?

It was pretty cool winning n00bCOM2 with it, since that was a reasonably serious tournament for a deck that few took seriously. Every match with this deck is a puzzle and playing it is a lot of fun. I’ve been playing 93/94 longer than most people, and I’m generally interested in more novel game states and play patterns. It’s very rewarding to play a non-linear deck in which each micro-decision has a large impact on game outcome.

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MATCHUPS?

This deck is amazing against mid-range. Fast aggro is challenging, but not insurmountable. This deck is very poor against blue/white-based control (the Deck). Between Disenchant, Divine Offering, and Counterspell, it is very hard to win post-sideboard.

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SIDEBOARD SUGGESTIONS?

The main deck is very tight and few cards can be removed if the deck is still to function properly—likely no more than 3 or 4 cards. Because of this, the sideboard is not extremely relevant. Additional Mana Shorts (control), Tranquility (black decks), Red Elemental Blast (for decks packing Energy Flux), Hurkyl’s Recall (for decks with Ankh of Mishra & Black Vise) and Blue Elemental Blast (red decks that run Blood Moon).

In all likelihood, the sideboarding will be minimally relevant.​​

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source: Danny Friedman - Lords of the Pit

picture: @oldschoolmtg