UR Pyromancer Storm (Modern)

The old storm lists that used to take advantage of [[gitaxian probe]] before it was banned. This deck is so much fun to play with an active [[pyromancer ascension]] making tons of mana and drawing all the cards. The new storm lists take advantage of [[baral, chief of compliance]] and while I'm still stuck in the past with only 1 reducer bear in [[goblin electromancer]] I have adapted 2 [[gifts ungiven]] into the main and have been very happy with them. Running 4 doesn't work in this build without being able to play a creature to reduce it's cost as consistently.

I've also trimmed the 4 [[thought scour]] that used to be a fixture in this type of storm deck a few years ago. I'm not completely sure this is correct, as it is such a good card with ascension and of course has synergy with [[past in flames]]. Maybe it'd be better in this version of storm than [[opt]]? The 4 [[lightning bolt] are to kill annoying creatures that pop up more and more now where I play, like [[thalia, guardian of thraben]] [[meddling mage]] [[eidolon of the great revel]]. The fact that bolt reduces the needed storm count for [[grapeshot]] is sometimes relevant also.

Speaking of grapeshot, I go with a 1/1 split of it and [[empty the warrens]] in the main.
1) empty lets me create a board presence early if need be with a relatively small storm count. This can either slow down aggro decks, giving me even more time to sculpt a hand and hit land drops before finishing them, but it can also create enough attackers to win the game with a few swings into the red zone.
2) Some people like to main [[leyline of sanctity]] and I got sick of folding to it game 1. Not super common, but happened enough locally for me to adapt.
3) Goblin beats are hilarious.
4) Some people main [[surgical extraction]]. Once they know you're on storm, and it becomes apparent fairly quickly, they seize the opportunity to remove my win condition. I know I can't control everything, but again, diversifying my main board win-cons makes me feel more prepared for the crazy variance that can happen at a modern fnm. Except for the dude who plays 8-rack. I'm pretty sure he just hates me.

Again, I'm not here to say this version of the deck is better than the current storm lists. It's not. If it were, Caleb Scherer would be playing ascensions in the main and Jon Finkel would still be slinging grapeshots. I have way more experience playing storm with Pyromancer ascension than without it and I am much better piloting the deck with this enchantment than without it.

One other thing to note, I'm currently on 18 lands. I added 1 [[sulfur falls]]. I usually stayed away from this land because it enters tapped turn 1 which can kill this deck. Because I am adding it as an additional land instead of as part of the suite of 17, I can't be mad if it's the only land in my opener, because otherwise it would probably be the 3rd copy of Past in Flames and I'd have to mulligan anyway.