They did it. Those crazy wizards did it. They reprinted Storm into Standard! Kind of…. Ral, Crackling Wit is a planeswalker that essentially has Prowess by getting loyalty every time a spell is cast, which enables his -10 ultimate that draws you extra cards and gives every instant or sorcery you cast for the rest of the game the keyword Storm.
Why is Storm a Big Deal?
Storm is a keyword that triggers when you cast a spell and it copies the spell for each spell that has been cast before it in the turn. Historically bonkers cards with storm such as Brain Freeze or Grapeshot have enabled entire decks and are still drafted in vintage cubes to many players' delight.
Storm is also the mechanic that was used when naming the infamous “Storm Scale” which is a tier list Mark Rosewater has used to explain how likely mechanics are to return. A mechanic like Flying is a one on the Storm Scale because it is an evergreen mechanic, whereas something like Daybound would be around a seven. As you can imagine, Storm is so unlikely to ever appear on new, competitive Magic cards that they named the entire scale after it.
It's not uncommon for mechanics with high Storm Scale numbers to get reprinted in supplemental sets. Modern Horizons II, for example, gave us such hits as Aeve, Progenitor Ooze and Chatterstorm, and the Mystical Archive saw Grapeshot and Weather the Storm included in draftable Strixhaven packs, but none of these became legal in Standard.
The last time we saw a truly Storm-style effect in Standard was with Thousand-Year Storm from 2018's Guilds of Ravnica, and it was beloved by many casual jank brewers including myself. At six mana for a setup piece, it wasn't remotely competitive and was a lesson on what a “win-more” card looks like.
Our New Storm Mage
So how does our new otter friend compare? At four mana, he doesn't arrive before the opponent will be able to set up resources and answers, and by virtue of being a planeswalker, he can be easily attacked if we don't address the board, so identifying a time to actually deploy him could be tricky. Additionally, even with his passive, ten loyalty is a high bar to clear. Fortunately, though, the only thing we really need him for is the ultimate, so the instant he gets the tenth loyalty, we can activate that ability and put it on the stack. Additionally, instants become critical with his passive because it can throw off your opponent's combat math and force them to invest more resources attacking him.
But is Ral Worth Building Around in Standard?
This deck sets out to ask that very question. Storm decks in older formats typically have a critical mass of cost-reduction engines, ritual spells that make mana, and cheap spells that draw cards. The more you can do cheap is the name of the game, even if the effects of those spells aren't very good. Unfortunately, we don't have ANY of those spells in Standard right now. No Goblin Electromancer, Desperate Ritual, and no Manamorphose. That said, we can make due with some replacements that don't look too bad.
Standard’s Storm Pieces
When looking for a Goblin Electromancer stand in, Stormcatch Mentor actually provides a meaningful upgrade. It does have smaller starting stats, but the inclusion of Haste and Prowess means it can attack for reasonable damage throughout the course of the game and even the turn it drops. The thematic bonus that it's also an otter can be noticed as well. Unfortunately, this is about the only upgrade we have on this list.
This deck's curve is heavier on two-drops than I would have liked, but all of our two-drop spells have generic mana so they'll benefit from Mentor being online. This little otter being in play when we untap will increase the likelihood of a win immensely.
Sleight of Hand is a serviceable cantrip, but it leaves a lot to be desired when compared to old-school houses like Brainstorm, Ponder, or Preordain, but it's one-mana and it draws us a card with some selection, so we won't be picky.
Okay, this card doesn't exactly have an older analogue, but it gives us a one-mana noncreature spell that provides early board presence and a potential secondary gameplan by leveling it up should the need arise. This card represents a desperation measure if the Mentor and Ral don't survive long enough to do their thing, but at level three, this thing is a Monastery Mentor that doesn't die to Sunfall, so it can be pressure in the late game.
Winning the Game
Funnily enough, if we give storm to cards that were never intended to have storm, one or two Prologue to Phyresis casts can win the game on their own by stacking up poison counters while simultaneously filling our hand. Experimental Augury also fits perfectly because it can proliferate those poison counters while also proliferating our Ral, Crackling Wit to speed up the emblem's arrival. I will never not be amused by the fact that this deck is designed to win off of poison, but only has four cards in the entire deck that can apply poison counters. Storm is nuts, y'all.
The other angle we have for the storm kill is by good old-fashioned damage. Shock having storm makes it strictly better than Grapeshot because it's half the price and double the damage, and Lightning Strike takes that idea to an extreme. These cards are also heavily represented in the current build because of Arena's ladder containing a high number of aggressive threats in the early game. These spells do double duty as our finishers and our early game survivability.
If you want to modify this deck, be sure to note if a burn spell can target a player. If it can't, it will be significantly worse in this build as it loses the late-game punch utility. Obliterating Bolt or Torch the Tower work in the sideboard because in matchups where you need to exile a Heartfire Hero or knock out a Preacher of the Schism, that price is worth it.
Final Thoughts
I've had a lot of fun with this deck and it has become a regular in my weekly “Fight Me Friday” livestreams on Twitch where I battle viewers. It's effective there because it's a casual environment and people want to see splashy builds. Unfortunately, I don't believe this implementation of Storm is as busted as I want it to be in competitive play because it just gets outclassed and generally relies on Ral surviving for a turn without surrounding him with threats that can pull removal. Again, the deck is fun, but it's definitely jank.
However, some of these pieces are very, very strong. Stormcatch Mentor and Stormchaser's Talent are both top-tier threats and I would be surprised if they don't find a home in Standard at some point down the road. The tech to take this over the top don't appear to be here yet, but I'll be keeping an eye on Duskmourn previews to see if that changes.
Thanks for reading, and happy brewing!