Doesn't Cursecatcher merit a spot in the deck? Or it just does nothing since its useless in the late game?

Congrats, tractor!
Btw, we miss you kicking our butts here on this side of the world. lolz 

Fix the SB and you will lose every game. lol

On a more serious note:
I have been thinking of cutting Tarmogoyf completely. Usually I board it out except for shops but I am not thrilled anymore of it being a 2cc vanilla creature. I was thinking of replacing it with Jotun Grunt as main hate against Ichorid but I know it is useless in the early game. The only thing thats is keeping me from removing Goyf is its raw power of being a 4/5 creature on turn 2 .

The only thing that I don't know about Grunt though is if it can contain Ichorid when it has a bunch of cards in the yard.

Its pretty decent and I love on how the card is created. But the problem is, what would you take out for this deck? Because given a card like this, wouldn't Faerie Conclave be better as it pretty much does the same thing and saves you space? I know you need to activate it but to me fish doesn't need a card like this anyway. Or you can just use Mishra's Factory or Mutavault.

If you would be just using it on Wasteland so you could get it back, I would rather just use Life from the Loam. At least that would give you more cards if needed.

I really think its not the one who has Goyf first unless you go with a broken 1st turn play of fetch, lotus then double Goyf. I really think the mirror is based on who can play Selkie first and then go all the way with exalted. Tarmogoyf can be blocked by all other creatures.

But yes, StP is needed in the SB and I always advocated Jitte in the SB against the mirror and against random aggro.

Just to add.

Here in Manila, Philippines, a lot of people are now picking up the deck and a whole lot of other players are now experimenting with Selkie as a draw engine. I guess I can be the one to be blamed for this in our part of the world since I used the deck for 3 straight tournies and I had finished top 8 in all of them. (and my only power is a Mox Emerald. We play sanctioned tournies by the way).

Don't you kill yourself with all of those non-basics with Null Rod and Magus of the moon in the same deck?

For Spell Pierce, it has made the deck stronger. You can just leave one land untapped and it makes the other player hesitate. A combination of Daze and Spell Pierce is actually powerful and I love it a lot.

During the second game, I SB two goys and just put in one Goyf (except for the aggro matchup). Yes. I have a love-hate relationship with Goyf. Sometimes Goyf is irrelevant because it does nothing unless you can get a 4/5 Goyf on the second turn and do early beatdown. Its an exalted dude who does the killing. I have tried to look for a card to replace Goyf but there are not a whole lot of good creatures that can replace Goyf because it has that random power.

I don't know why but I really like Stifle in UGW fish. It has saved me in games about so many times and Stifling a fetchland has won me many times. The way it protects your dual lands from Wasteland and Strip Mine is also an incredible feat because you made them lose a land drop. Really, it fools a lot of players especially during the early turns. I only put 3 tough because I think 4 is too much.

I guess removing MD Trygon is fine. You still have Spell Pierces which helps a lot in slowing them down. Chalice for 2 is usually gg.

In our side of the world, not a lot of people use Stax. A lot more people use combo and more decks that require a lot of shuffling. So Aven Mindcensor is used more. I have taken it out though because I have started testing with Spell Pierce for this deck. I am so in love on how it protects your threats and how it helps in your counter wars. It makes your opponent think twice if they can use their spell.

For sideboarding, it depends on your matchups. But for me, in my last tourney, I was taking out Tarmogoyf as he was sub-par. A Qasali Pridemage that is 4/4 or 5/5 or an exalted Selkie was enough.

I have been trying to get something in the spot of Goyf but it still has that second turn 4/5 body that its too good to pass up on.

Yes. The Jittes are in there for the random aggro decks. In our side of the world, some people still play aggro decks (Goblins, metagamed Sui Black, RGW beats), and Jitte wins me games against them.

As for Land Tax, it is not that useful since you need your opponent to have more land than you do. Another valid reason is that you don't have space in the deck anymore. You need all of the disruption that you can pack in the deck.

To lilmidget:

The Heartwood Storytellers were alright. In cases that Selkie did not appear first, he was alright as he stopped the opponent from playing a spell and let you gain the aggro advantage (especially if you can play him on turn 1-2). The 2/3 body is also good because he can block and attack especially with the Exalted ability. The reason why I only have 2 of it because I also feel he is not that good when you play him on turn 4 and above and also I value Selkie more in the deck since he can draw a whole lot more. The biggest reason why I did play him is because I cannot find another decent creature that lets you draw cards and at the same time can be a threat. Also, it was a metagame call. Aggro is now lying low here in our part of the world as Tez, Painter, and combo are gaining number of players.


To Jori:

Here was my SB:

3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
3 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Krosan Grip
1 Seeds of Innocence

I will be changing the Samurais to Wheel of Sun and Moon when I put in 3 pieces of Knight of the Reliquary.

I just placed 2nd in a mini-FNM like tourney a few hours ago. I played WGu without Knights. I was 4-1 losing to 9-Sphere aggro (I was hit by CotV for 2 twice on his opening).

Here is my list:

4 Cold-Eye Selkie
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Meddling Mage
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Heartwood Storyteller
2 Ethersworn Cannonist

1 Seal of Primordium
1 Seal of Cleansing
3 Null Rod
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
3 Savannah
2 Tundra
2 Tropical Island
2 Forest
1 Plains

My play of the day:
Opening hand, land with green, Pearl, Gaddock Teeg and it resolved. Black Lotus then Cold-Eye Selkie. Next turn, Noble Hierarch. 

The only reason why I have blue in the deck because of Tinker-Inkwell Leviathan. In my SB, I have 3 Hurkyl's Recall and 1 Seeds of Innocence but most probably I will be changing it to 2 Hurkyl's Recall and 2 Seeds of Innocence.

When I was going at it with 9-Sphere, he hit me twice with CotV for 2 during the first game and on the 2nd game. Because of this reason, I think I will include 3 Knights taking out 1 Tarmogoyf, and maybe 2 Meddling Mages (or all Meddling Mages)

Mox Sapphire was not that great in the deck and I sometimes wished that I had a Lotus Petal or even Mox Diamond or Chrome Mox for color-fixing.

What were your matchups to get you into first place?

Also, I see Knight of the Reliquary being used in your list and in Implacable's list. I want to know your rating for this card and its ups and downs. I know he gets land but I am not too keen about the casting cost of 3cc. Thanks!

I believe the 3 open slots should be Null Rod or you can remove another STP for a 4th Null Rod. Null Rod is golden in the deck especially if you are against Tezz.

Also, I would remove True Believer and place Ethersworn Cannonist. Its better for the combo matchups.

Well at least you can hard cast Progenitus or Nicol Bolas (the Planeswalker) maybe on the third turn. Yay! 

I was thinking the same thing regarding the flavor of the card. Lotus? A Land? And with that ability? I think its a miss for the format. Though I will not be surprised if this comes out in some Legacy and Extended decks.

Our prizes are nothing big. We don't play for a Mox or a Mana Drain because the entrance would be too high. The top prize is blue dual land. Let me tell you though that we don't care because a whole lot of us here play for sport and we'd rather go for glory. Many too are points-sensitive (we play sanctioned tourneys by the way) because since DCI made the Total points rule to get into Nationals (or PTs, GPs, whatever...), some are going for the points.

Ask Herbig  on how its like as he had played in some of the tourneys before. We only have a yearly event with a big prize and that is at the end of the year which is usually the lower-priced moxen as a prize. We really can't afford to have a $20 tournament monthly.

Its still a lot of fun though.

I was able to use this once during a tournament. I sideboarded this in because I was playing against Oath who had Darksteel Collossus in the deck.

From playtesting results though, its not a phenomenal card. Its more like of a surprise card off the SB.

I like the card but I too think its slow in Vintage. Its more of a Legacy card.

If I was able to play this, I would somehow have a Tropical Island in play and another Island. If I had that mana base, I would rather play Vendilion Clique. I know its a different card but Clique can be a finisher and disrupts as it comes into play.

You don't need Mana Drain in that list. Most of the time you will not have any Drain mana to spend on except for Null Rods (which you need to play on the first turns if possible meaning you don't need Drain mana for that), Ninja (which you will be putting into play with Ninjitsu), or Jotun Grunt (which you can play easily without Drain.)

The good replacement for Mana Drain is Daze as it protects your turn 2 Null Rod.

Dark Confidant does look good but there is a problem to it. Dark Confidant is not a merfolk. It does not benefit from the abilities of Lord of Atlantis and Merrow Reejery. Sygg will be better because its size goes up (and will be able to attack due ti Islandwalk).

If I were playing a deck that has no fast way of winning the game, I would play a Null Rod to nerf the opponents deck.
And Empyrial Archangel in a fish deck with Dark Confidants and Force of Wills is too reckless. And you say Empyrial Archangel is to be placed played via Vial? When Aether Vial reaches 8 counters, it has two meanings. Either you have won the game or lost the game. In this build, I am thinking that you have lost the game when you reach 8 counters.

4 Umezawa's Jitte is too much. Its legendary and you only have 12 creatures (I am not counting Archangel as a creature).

Sorry to be blunt but this deck looks like a poorly constructed fish deck. 

I came from an all night drinking spree with friends and I played Bomberman. I wasn't drunk but I really lacked sleep.

I had a 3-2 finish. I won games by playing Chalice for 1 and Chalice for 2. Then I beated down with Trinket Mages and Auriok Salvagers. When the top 8 was ongoing and I was waiting for my teammate, I fell asleep while watching the match. LOL

Please try to make posts that are in some way related to the thread topic.  -DA

You do know with the first build, Null Rod kills you right? As well as Energy Flux. Thats whats good about UW Affinity. Its not that affeced much by Null Rod and can take away a Flux.

UW is the best way to go now. You can drop a 3/3 (minimum) Master of Etherium on the first turn (thats your goyf).

Here is a UW Affinity deck that I played and placed a top 8 finish. It was sort of untested though and I just played it for the fun of it and to surprise people.

Unpowered UW Artifact Aggro

4 Master of Etherium
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Etherium Sculptor
3 Frogmite
3 Myr Enforcer
1 Darksteel Colossus

4 Force of Will
4 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Thoughtcast
4 Courier's Capsule
2 Echoing Truth
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Tinker

1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
2 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Strip Mine
2 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy

SB:
It was bad. Last minute creation. 

MVPs of the deck are Thorn of Amethyst, Ethersworn Canonist, and Etherium Sculptor. Thorn and Canonist against combo (mulliganed for it against combo) and Etherium Sculptor made my dropping of permanents faster. My losses were to two shop decks packing Goblin Welders and my loss in the top 8 was against Tez who just blew my face away with incredible draws and top decks.

Tinker-Colossus was just an inclusion in the deck but most probably I will remove it sometime.

From my further testing, I find Courier's Capsule to be better than Thirst for Knowledge. Capsule was better with a Thorn and Canonist in play. Thorn of Amethsyt was negated by Etherium Sculptor and makes me play more spells under Canonist. It also made my Master of Etherium larger. The hard part about Thirst for Knowledge was that if you have a Thorn in play, you pay extra. Now if you have Canonist in play, when you play Thirst, your opponent might do something to swing the game to his favor. Also, sometimes when I play Thirst, I have a hard time what to discard because sometimes, I need certain cards.

I also agree that Ravager and Master of Etherium are anti-synergistic. I'd rather stick to Master of Etherium since it can be pitched to FoW. Also the additional ability of Master of Ehterium to other artifact creatures is a good one making the clock faster for your opponent.

Really, its a fun deck to play and I really would want to see the development of it further. I'm testing right now if Scarecrone merits a place in the deck.

I was able to land a top 8 finish yesterday with UW Artifact aggro unpowered. I will post my decklist this week along with a quick report. I do need to make some changes though. Mine was more on the aggro side though as it had Frogmites and Myr Enforcers and they were fine as they went for the beatdown all day. My only losses during the Swiss came from Stax (Welder for the win) and to Red Workshop aggro. Then I got kicked out of the top 8 versus the same deck that Harlequin lost to, Tezzeret. I was so unfamiliar with the matchup.

Here is my report with UWg fish:

2 weeks before the tournament, I didn't know what deck to use. I was thinking og using a new deck with the cards from Shards but there was little time to test. I was not really comfy with playing Dawn of the Dead this time because I have been using it in a whole lot of tournaments. Being a proxy tournament, I know what would be coming up, lots of Combo and lots of Stax. I knew Oath would be present too.

So I went to my roots and used the deck that I piloted before. UGw Fish with some little tweaks.

Here is the decklist:

UWg Vial Fish

4 Meddling Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Cloud of Faeries
3 Ninja of the Deep Hours
2 Jotun Grunt
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV (buddy!)

1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Aether Vial
2 Echoing Truth
1 Time Walk
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Stifle
2 Standstill

1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
4 Flooded Strand
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
3 Tundra
2 Tropical Island
1 Plains
1 Island

SB:
1 Magus of the Unseen
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wipe Away
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Energy Flux
3 Krosan Grip
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Tormod's Crypt

Secret tech:

Wearing a pink shirt for lady luck


Round 1 - Moises with Deez Naughts

Game 1 - I mulled down to 5 with nothing spectacular on my opening draw. I already got land so I just proceeded with the hand. He just rips me apart. Tarmogoyf, Life from the Loam getting Strip Mine, Pithing Needle on my Aether Vial. I just conceded when another Goyf hits play.

Game 2 - I sort of got into an average start having 3 mana sources in play. He then played a Trygon Predator which rips my artifacts. Then he was flooded with land. He drew a whole lot of land like he was playing standard. I was able to establish board advantage against his lonely Trygon Predator.

Game 3 - We both mull down to 6. My opening hand was Tundra, Black Lotus, Ninja, Meddling Mage, Time Walk and I think a fetch land. He plays a land and go. I drop Tundra, Black Lotus, crack Lotus for 3 Blue, play Meddling Mage naming Force of Will, then play Time Walk. Time Walk turn, I top deck a Standstill. I play Standstill, attack Meddling Mage. It was downhill from there for him. Next thing Ninja comes in and Jotun Grunt joins the party.

1-0


Round 2 - JM with Wizards

Game 1 - He plays Sage of Epityr which makes me sure that he was playing Wizards. I know I lost this game as my hand was nothing spectacular. He then drops B2B which was good. Also he plays Pithing Needle naming Vial. He then plays Vedalken Shackles which gave me the pain. Seriously, I lost the game when he dropped Shackles.

Game 2 - I lost the game when he Misd'd my Ancestral Recall. It was too much as I kept drawing bad cards and he was just dropping Wizards. I just lost this game to bad draws (or me being stupid in keeping a bad hand)

1-1

Round 3 - Allan with UW Draw-Go Cannonist

Allan was paired down to me.

Game 1 - He was drawing too much land. I just kept on beating.

Game 2 - I played a first turn Grand Arbiter (Tundra, Black Lotus) and it went through. Him having a Sphere effect was too much while I had a Helm of Awakening on my Blue and White Spells. Grand Arbiter and the others came down to party for the beatdown. Too much creatures, too much cards in hand, I just overpowered him.


2-1

Game 4 - Ric with Oath

Game 1 - I had no idea what Ric was playing. I was thinking it was Bomberman but when he played a Forbidden Orchard, I knew what it was. Thing is, Ric was never able to get an Oath in time. I was able to play Meddling Mage naming Oath of Druids for the win.

Game 2 - I was able to play Meddling Mage early naming Oath of Druids. He tinkered to Darksteel Colossus. I know, Ric was gay. I lost.

Game 3 - Ric plays Oath of Druids. I Krosan Grip-ed it. He plays another Oath of Druids, I Grip it again. He plays another Oath of Druids (yup. Thats 3 turns of Oath of Druids and I have 3 tokens). At end of his turn, I Wipe Away it. On his turn, he plays Oath again, I Spell Snare it, he Forces it (pitching SSS). I know I was able to get him down to 9. He Oaths and reveals Simic Sky Swallower and Gaea's Blessing was placed in the yard. During my turn, I played Meddling Mage with nothing to name (I just named Duress. This was wrong though as I will explain later). Then we noticed something. Ric forgot to shuffle Ancestral Recall in his library when Gaea's Blessing resolved as he placed Ancestral Recall in different part of the board. Judge Raffy said that since the game state cannot be reveresed, it will just stay in the yard. After that, I played Magus of the Unseen (Tech Funky specialty. A lot of people were reading the card). Ric then Oath-ed again, revealing Darksteel Colossus and attacked with SSS. Ric misunderstood the card and sort of missed the "If that artifact is an artifact creature, it can attack," phrase in the text. I steal Darksteel Colossus with Magus, and swing for all.

To the Meddling Mage thing, the better play there would be to name Time Walk. If he was able to topdeck Time Walk in his draw, I would have been dead. I just realized that when Ric Oathed again for Colossus. Good thing Blessing was in his hand and Time Walk was in his graveyard.

3-1

Round 5 - Andrei with Bomberpaint

Game 1 - I was able to out control Andrei. Literally, almost all things that he play, I countered it with Sprite, Spellsnare, Force and then card advantage with Ninja and Standstill. I also think he drew too much land.

Game 2 - Andrei plays with a Tundra, Sol Ring, Mox Ruby then taps Tundra and Sol Ring. I was saying "Not a first turn Tinker-lossus." And he did play a Tinker-Lossus. On my turn, I swords to plow it wishing that it was not an FoW he had in hand. It resolves. On his turn, he drops a Library of Alexandria, go. On my turn, I waste Tundra, go. His turn, he draws, and go. On my turn, I topdeck another Wasteland, and waste his LoA, go. On his turn, he does nothing. On my turn, I play Meddling mage, naming Painter's Servant. His turn, he draw goes. On my turn, I play another Meddling Mage, naming Auriok Salvagers, swing. His turn, he does nothing again. Basically, he got land screwed here. Meddling Mage beats for the win.

4-1

Round 6 - ID with the Ozzman as I was guaranteed a place in the top 8. This then turns into a slugfest with Mondu downstairs for Sisig Rice and Chicken Sisig. Mondu and I were now supposed to do some major Hulk Smash damage since our order was sort of late... then when were about to go green, the order came. Sisig for the win, hommies!!!


Top 8

JM again with Wizards

Game 1 - He goes first and I think I mulled down to 6 on this one. It was the suckage. We play land go then he brings down B2B which got through. Then Shackles again got through. I was not drawing the FoWs!!!! For a few turns I was doing draw go because of the Shackles and B2B. I then got sort of impatient as I just laid the beatdown cards. But Shackles was too much and B2B sort of nerfed me.

Game 2 - I was up first and I was confident with my hand. He plays a Jitte. I play a Jitte too so it would be destroyed. Some lands and some counters. He then plays Trinket Mage fetching Skullclamp. What I didn't know was that he has a maindecked Sword of Fire and Ice. Then he plays Shackles again. I Krosan Grip-ed the Shackles, but had nothing to deal with the Trinket Mage attached with a SoFI. With the damage and the draw, it was too much. I just lost and got pounded.

I'm the guy who played the UWg Fish (7th place). I'm finishing up my report and most probably will have it up by tomorrow. I'm trying to remember as much detail as possible.

For the other players, I will ask if they can write up reports. Most of us speak english anyway. 

Do you really want Mistbind Cliques to be 3? I'm pretty sure you don't want to draw them really early in the game since it is 4cc and needs a Faerie in play to be really good. Also, I am not pretty comfy with Mistbind Clique though because it is a huge Mana Drain target and Drains are everywhere these days. It does look good vs Stax and that is if only you are not disrupted for the first 3 turns.  I really think 2 Mistbind Cliques will be better for the draw.

Wouldn't Sensei's Divining Top be better than Sylvan Library? You can make the draw with Confidant safer.