today for a couple reasons I'm thinking about 'that time LSV won a tournament with Storm despite forgetting to actually put his Storm card in the deck because people were so fucking spooked they just conceded': https://youtu.be/vZDlM8iNESU?t=551
To sum up: Storm is a mechanic in MTG where a card that has Storm on it copies itself for every single instant or sorcery played before it during that turn. It's one of the enduring spellslinger archetypes in older formats.
it typically uses tutor effects, fast mana, and card draw+filtering to win by casting a Tendrils of Agony with the Storm count at ten or higher to immediately win the game. Luis Scott-Vargas is a VERY talented Storm pilot and arguably the best Storm pilot of all time.
in this tournament, LSV had been tweaking the deck a lot, was boarding-out things, trying to get the most optimal coverage against the field, went in for deck registry, presented his deck, and after he got it back, realized he'd boarded-out Tendrils. Zero copies, main or side.
he'd accidentally gone in on Stormless Storm. But he's already in it, and he can't change his deck at this point.
So he goes: "...you know what, fuck it. As long as I never actually claim to HAVE the Tendrils, I can just get my Storm count to 10 and see what my opponents do. I'm not going to claim to kill them with a card I don't HAVE, but I don't HAVE to tell them I don't have it."
And he just kept winning, because people were so scared once he started storming off that they scooped as soon as he'd fire a tutor or cast Yawgmoth's Will or whatever.
@hystericempress A fine tradition, dating all the way back to ProsBloom days - "You want me to run all the way through this? I've got the combo set up now." "No, that's good, I can see you've got it." Meanwhile, the final card needed is actually in the first player's graveyard with no way to get back into their hand.
