Tendrils of Agony, illustrated by Pete Venters.

The Perfect Storm (TPS)/Tendrils

Best of the combo decks? So good that makes Old Frame Vintage an unplayable format? TPS (short for The Perfect Storm) has been a nightmare for many players since the moment the Storm ability was introduced in Scourge, the last of the Old Frame sets.

David Kaplan’s winning deck at the XIII Online Old Frame League.

The Perfect Storm Decklist

ARTIFACTS

1 Black Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

INSTANTS

1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Dark Ritual
4 Force of Will
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

SORCERIES

1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Windfall
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

ENCHANTMENTS

1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain

LANDS

1 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

SIDEBOARD

3 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mind Twist
1 Mystic Remora
3 Phyrexian Negator
1 Pyroclasm
1 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Tormod’s Crypt
Black Lotus

Tendrils of Agony, the Card of the Deck

Tendrils of Agony, illustrated by Pete Venters.
Tendrils of Agony, illustrated by Pete Venters.

Card Name: Tendrils of Agony.

Mana Cost: 2BB.

Type: Sorcery.

Card Text: Target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.

Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)

Expansion: Scourge.

Rarity: Uncommon.

Artist: Pete Venters.

TPS Deck Tech

The Perfect Storm is, without a doubt, one of the most played and the most successful deck in all the Magic the Gathering Old Frame Vintage format. For that reason, Felipe Guzmán, one of our favourite players and friend and collaborator of the site and project, wrote a wonderful introductory article for those who want to start playing and would like to try a competitive deck.

You can find the article here.

The Perfect Storm Appearances in Tournaments

DateTournamentPositionPlayer
July 2020I MTGOF League2ndSimon Schoofs
July 2020I MTGOF LeagueKarl Akbari
October 2020II MTGOF LeagueTop 4Karl Akbari
December 2020III MTGOF League1stKarl Akbari
December 18, 2020I Open Old Frame1stPaco Benlloch
December 18, 2020I Open Old Frame12thRoberto Martínez
February 2021IV MTGOF League1stFelipe Guzmán
March 2021V MTGOF League2ndFelipe Guzmán
October 2021VIII MTGOF League1stDavid Kaplan
December 2021IX MTGOF LeagueTop 4Galen Lemei
February 6, 2022LMOF 1.1Top 4Diego Obregón
March 13, 2022LMOF 1.22ndVedast Sanxis
March 13, 2022LMOF 1.24thDiego Obregón
March 13, 2022LMOF 1.27thDavid Aparicio
April 17, 2022LMOF 1.33rdDiego Obregón
May 15, 2022LMOF 1.43rdDiego Obregón
May 15, 2022LMOF 1.45thVedast Sanxis
June 19, 2022LMOF 1.51stDiego Obregón
July 2022XII MTGOF LeagueTop 4Vedast Sanxis
July 2022XII MTGOF LeagueVíctor Manuel Martínez
September 25, 2022LMOF 1.64thDiego Obregón
October 2022XIII MTGOF League1stDavid Kaplan
October 2022XIII MTGOF LeagueVedast Sanxis
January 21, 2023LMOF 2.11stVedast Sanxis
May 28, 20232023 Worlds12thVedast Sanxis
May 28, 20232023 Worlds16thAndrés Ramón Martínez
July 2023XVI MTGOF LeagueTop 4Galen Lemei
September 2023XVII MTGOF League1stJuan Espadas
September 2023XVII MTGOF LeagueTop 4Vedast Sanxis

Frequently Asked Questions About TPS

Can you Stifle Storm?

Yes, you can Stifle Storm. Storm is a triggered ability, what makes it subject to be countered by Stifle, which counters an activated or triggered ability.

When you Stifle a card with the Storm ability, the spell on the card will still happen, it just won’t be copied for each spell cast before it this turn. A stifled Tendrils of Agony makes target player lose 2 life and you gain 2 life. That’s it.