Pass-the-Turn Piles

Preamble

First of all, why would you ever want to cast Doomsday and then pass the turn? The answer is simple: when you can't win otherwise. It should be clear that pass-the-turn piles open you up to some risk by allowing the opponent to untap, but they can still be quite powerful.

One of the main uses of pass-the-turn piles is to become immune to discard. Under the right conditions, you can cast Doomsday, pass, and untap with all the resources you need to win on the battlefield or the top of your deck, thereby invalidating an opponent's interaction.

Another situation in which you may choose to do a pass-the-turn pile is when you don't have a draw effect, but your life total is not threatened. Here you can use your draw step as the cantrip. This also reduces the amount of mana you need to go off in one turn.

With Thassa's Oracle

Thassa's Oracle is a substantial improvement to the deck, not least of all because of the extremely cheap pass-the-turn piles it enables. Most are quite straightforward and many are nearly identical to their same-turn counterparts. Let's look at some basic examples.

Example 1

Imagine you have an Island and and Underground Sea on board, Dark Ritual and Doomsday in hand. You can Ritual into Doomsday, pass the turn, and win with a mere 2 blue mana and 2 life when you untap. In fact you could conceivably cast Doomsday on turn 1, and make your second land drop to generate . You may notice that this is identical to the basic Oracle pile presented in the first chapter, simply using the draw step in place of a cantrip to draw into the pile.

Example 2

This is essentially the same pile as Example 1, but with Infernal Contract as the draw spell. It has a different cost, but it's worth noting that this could be paid with a Ritual, meaning fewer lands needed if the situation permits.

Again, this pile is also presented as a same-turn pile in the first chapter, and here the draw step replaces a cantrip.

Example 3

Lion's Eye Diamond on the board - , 2 life

If you have an LED on the battlefield, you can win for just 2 life, no mana needed. This can be very valuable, because there may be times where you lose lands after passing the turn. Invalidating mana-denial and discard can be valuable against a deck like Pox, which, while uncommon, you will surely encounter at some point.

Example 4

Ponder in hand -

This pile is similar to the last, but swaps the locations of the cantrip and the LED. You might use a pile like this when you are constrained on mana and don't have enough resources to go off all in one turn. For example, with a single Underground Sea, you could cast Dark Ritual and Doomsday on one turn, and Ponder on the next, where you wouldn't have the mana to do it all in one turn.

With Tendrils of Agony

Generating a lethal storm count can be tricky when you have to pass the turn. A standard five card pile ending with Burning Wish for Tendrils will only generate 6 Storm on its own, which is unlikely to be lethal. Having additional Rituals or mana artifacts in hand can help add to storm count, but even then it can be difficult to approach double-digit Storm counts. Thassa's Oracle has made it so these kinds of piles are often unecessary, but if you are unlucky you may find yourself with Oracle exiled, nothing but a Doomsday in hand, and you'll be glad you read this section.

Example 1

2 cards in hand - - 8 Storm

Echo of Eons in the maindeck provides some very interesting pile options, which are explored more in depth in a later chapter. One powerful application is building a high storm count by recycling multiple spells post-Doomsday. In this example, you draw Ideas Unbound, which draws 2 LEDs and an Echo of Eons. Crack both LEDs for RRRUUU, and spend your blue mana to flashback Echo. This will draw the remaining 7 cards. Recast the mana artifacts, then the Burning Wish to grab Tendrils and cast it off LED mana.

This pile is quite mana efficient, and even approaches a lethal storm count on its own. If the 2 cards in hand are castable spells (i.e. Rituals, Petals) you can easily reach a lethal storm count assuming you have the resources to cast those spells. Echo creates some unusual constraints on the pile though: the precise number of cards leftover is important so Echo doesn't kill you, and there is a chance your opponent draws a fresh hand full of interaction.

Example 2

LED, LP on board - - 9 Storm

1. Cast Ideas Unbound, holding priority to crack LED for , drawing LED, Ponder and Doomsday
2. Cast LED, crack the Petal for , then cast DD with the floating black mana
3. Construct the following new pile:

1. Ponder into this new pile, holding priority to crack LED for
2. Draw and cast Ideas Unbound to draw LED, Petal, and Burning Wish
3. Cast LED, Petal, and then Wish, holding priority to crack LED for
4. Retrive Tendrils of Agony from your sideboard and aim it at your opponent

This what is often referred to as a Double-Doomsday pile, where a second Doomsday is used as a way to recycle spells. While the initial mana cost looks relatively low and the Storm count quite high, the pile is actually quite mana hungry and you need additional mana artifacts on board (or in hand for extra storm) to supply that mana. Note that this pile also halves your life total twice, meaning you'll need at least 4 life to execute. Though it appears clumsy, this pile does not require any unusual card choices and does not draw your opponent any new cards, so it has some appealing aspects.

Example 3

5 lands in play - - 5 Storm + 6 Storm

This pile, on the other hand, does require some less commmon card choices. It works by using CB to cast ToA twice. To do it from no cards in hand requires a ton of lands on board, as well as Rain of Filth, Conjurer's Bauble, and maindeck Tendrils, which not every deck plays. However, with some mana producers in hand the onboard requirements are easier to manage.

Example 4

DR in hand, PiF in sideboard - - 10 Storm

If you have Past in Flames in the sideboard you can use that as an engine to generate lethal storm.

This pile doesn't require the use of an artifact meaning it can beat a Null Rod or a Phyrexian Revoker, although having an LED available will make producing easier.

The final Tendrils can be replaced with Burning Wish, but this will increase the cost of the pile by , effectively requiring a mana artifact to be available in hand or on board.

Conclusion

1. You don't always have to win the turn you cast Doomsday
2. Pass-the-turn piles can be cheap and effective, especially when Thassa's Oracle is involved
3. PTT piles leave you more susceptible to disruption
4. It is possible to generate lethal Storm counts despite passing the turn, typically by using tricks to recycle cards. Mana is usually the primary constraint in such piles.
5. Note that all of these piles can be used as same-turn piles, you simply need the extra resources to cast Doomsday and draw into your pile on the same turn.
6. Don't put unnecessary cards in your deck just to enable some of these more unusual pass-the-turn piles.