It's true; 2nd turn Returns or Mind's Desire isn't easy for this deck. However, Ancient Tomb helps out with this immensely, as shown:

1st turn: Tomb, 2 blue producing eggs
2nd turn: City/Mine, Ritual, Returns

These are surprisingly common hands; most of them have enough acceleration to make a 2nd turn Returns. On the other hand, Desire usually needs a Helm, an artifact accelerant, and a Ritual to go off on. After testing the different versions, Desire is about as consistent as what other versions do to make Thoughtcast for U on the 2nd turn.

In short, I usually get the mana to cast the spells in question.

Btw, is anyone interested in a decklist that uses Force of Will? It is basically a Draw7 variant with Serum Visions and Brain Freeze to bump the blue count to make FoW playable.

I'm sorry about the random decklist there... I don't know how else to get my point across.

But to address the questions to my version:

Channel is just Helm of Awakening #5. I don't run Spoils of the Vault or any card that seriously hurts my life total, so Channel is a one-time Helm that also happens to super-accelerate everything else. Like in Belcher, Channel just wins the game, especially since there are eggs to fix the mana.

Ancient Tomb's drawback is irrelevant because I don't run Death Wish or Spoils or whatever else like that (except Channel, which wins the game). The extra mana means faster Helms, more mana to go off on, and once again, eggs fix the colorless issue. This card needs a serious look by all budget combo decks.

I don't run Academy because it doesn't speed up the deck as well as Ancient Tomb, most of the time. Unless it's a God draw with enough eggs or artifact accelerants, Tomb's guaranteed 4 mana over the first two turns trumps whatever insane amount Academy can produce on the second turn.

Eggs are just filters for the deck, either through mana fixing or deck thinning. Card drawing and acceleration wins the game for Type 1 storm combo. Why not run fewer eggs and more game-breaking spells?

This might seem like a strange idea, but why not make Easter Tendrils into budget Draw7? Most of the decks here still use Thoughtcast and Night's Whisper or 20+ eggs, when just 1 Draw7 can solve problems like land clots while going off or the lack of threats to force through FoW. Most importantly, it would put less pressure on resolving a Helm, meaning less eggs (not threats vs. counters), fewer tutors and Wishes (especially ones that set up turn 3 kills), and more maindeck Draw7s so you don't need to waste precious mana on casting tutors to find your real spells.

Here's my decklist, which really tries to focus on winning turn 2.

Budget Draw7

Land (12)
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine

Acceleration (18)
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
R Channel
R Lotus Petal
R Mana Crypt
R Mana Vault
R Sol Ring
R Grim Monolith
4 Helm of Awakening

Spells to Resolve (10)
R Tinker
R Windfall
2 Diminishing Returns
R Mind's Desire
R Time Spiral
R Yawgmoth's Will
R Necropotence
R Wheel of Fortune
R Memory Jar

Filters (14)
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Darkwater Egg
2 Shadowblood Egg
4 Skycloud Egg

Utility (4)
R Mystical Tutor
R Demonic Consultation
R Vampiric Tutor
R Demonic Tutor

Win (2)
2 Tendrils of Agony

I feel this build is a lot better than others because it just has more real spells than implied ones. Tutors and Wishes might mean extra Helms and draws to easier matchups, but everything becomes much harder if they have FoW. It's even worse if you try to win on turn 3 or after, when Mana Drain comes online. This decklist isn't perfect, but I think it is a step in the right direction.

Oh, and I know Tolarian Academy isn't there. I feel Ancient Tomb is more reliable and thus better for this deck, especially when it comes to first turn Helms. Academy won't help you there unless you have Lotus Petal or Mana Crypt.