I just have to chime in quickly again, Restless Dreams is some hot tech man.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

If you guys see any other "red-hot-super-duper-freaky-ass-secret-tech" let me know ASAP.

Well, I don't have a lot of time to respond, but here goes...

Regarding Trinisphere- Both Sphere's are a serious problem for this deck.  I don't know what to do besides Oxidize maindecked.

Regarding City of Solitude- Astro stated it perfectly when he said that there are better, easier to cast answers out there.

Regarding Cabal Ritual- I have not dropped the songs of the damned, I am instead running both songs and Cabal Ritual's maindecked.  They help to smooth the mana a lot.  Plus, sometimes the songs are just dead weight, but with the cabal ritual, dark ritual, and SotD in my maindeck, it allows me to do some pretty sick shit when I spot a Yawg's Will, plus it greatly increases the chances of powering the Bargain into play.

Regarding Gorilla Shaman-  Never thought to use this little guy, I will definitely test him out ASAP.  Until I have some testing with him, I don't want to predict whether he is good or bad for this deck.  He may just have a place.

Regarding a Primer-  Once I have "finished" this deck, I will write a primer for this deck.  I promise to include all the necessary stuff with it, and plan to definitely give credit to the creators of this deck.

I found a little trick that I may try to institute with this deck.  A friend of mine has suggested a blue splash for the obvious blue power.  I think this is fine, but I don't think this solves any problems.  However, when looking at his build with underground sea and fetchies, I began to think to myself, what merit would Daze have in this deck.  Knowing that I can't hard cast it, but simply as a quick stop to a first turn trinisphere or other nastiness.  I plan on testing Daze out soon.

Ouch, testing is showing me some serious flaws in this deck.  I have a complete problem with a deck that dies to several cards, all of which are extremely likely to be in nearly every sideboard, if not maindecked.  Unless we find a new card (diamond in the rough), this deck is going to simply go on the shelf.  This inclusion of green does not even begin to solve many of the woes this deck encounters.

On a better note, I have added Yawgmoth's Bargain, and, again, never looked back.  It is kind of hard to play on a whim, but it is another win now card in the maindeck.  I have NEVER, N-E-V-E-R lost a game in which I resolved this card.  Other cards I have tested and almost certainly will include on a permanent basis are Reaping the Graves, and Cabal Ritual.  Cabal ritual will almost always net you the big 5-banger mana, but in the smaller version, still helps to smooth over your mana issues.  I have started to grow fond of this card... like a lover, we have shared many a good times, and many a rough.

How are other people's playtesting going with this deck?  Is it viable yet?  Does it show potential to be viable?  What problems are you finding?  What solutions are you finding?

Please let me know, since I intend to make this deck work, if it is the last thing I do.

My testing has shown that Tangleroot is bad since it produces Green, meanwhile, the life loss is just minor to Carnival, and it produces Black.

I don't want to use the Chromatic Sphere, since I have no reason to "patch" my colors, and I can draw more cards off from a creature than the Sphere.  Priest of Gix falls in the "too expensive for turns 1-2" category.  

Now, I did see a nice little gem in your suggestions there Pi.  And that was the idea of Channel.  I think this could be a powerful card to help bump the deck over that virtual cliff it faces of mana access.

Thanks for the idea.  Would love to hear other people put in their 2 cents.  I am really working hard with this deck to see how it will work out.  It is still in the early workings, but is showing a great deal of potential.  I have found that it can usually wade through some of the worst disruption people can throw at it, but it dies far too easily to cards that are format defining right now (Trinisphere, Sphere of Resistence, Chalice for 0, Null Rod).  Although these cards utterly destroy this deck, they do not show up as commonly as people would expect.  I have run into a few decks running these cards, but, thankfully, the majority are busy trying to prepare for other decks and don't see this deck coming from right field like a freight train of pain.

DrLambda, you have an excellent point that this deck rolls over and plays dead to a lot of current decks.  I like your idea of using the ESG's to play oxidize off from.  Previously, I was using ESG's to cast Fecundity, but I soon realized that the draw potential of this deck was not the problem, the problem lied in the mana production, and the ability to "chain" things together.

I will do further testing with Bayous and ESG's.

I urge all people who want to play this deck to use the 4 Spoils to their full power.  When I first began testing this deck, I was totally focused on just doing Tendrils for the exact amount needed, but I am now finding that this deck can easily do 10 damage, then use a spoils during the next turn to set up another Tendril's for the kill.  It makes your "going off" turn less likely to stall you out and lose you the game because you didn't draw another Kobold.

Blood Pet, for now, must stay in my deck, since I sometimes need that extra on color mana to help push the deck over the edge, although I plan on testing the Initiates (I think these guys are probably the way to go).  What other mana producers can this deck use to power its win though?  I don't like the Gaea's Cradle idea, due to the same reasons others have posted.  

Just a quick question for those testing this deck, how much land are you using?  I am currently useing 6 lands, but I almost think this is too high of a land count for this deck.

Just a little quip...

I have been testing this deck for a little over a week now, and I have found a few things very interesting.  

First, Serum Powder is a house in this deck.  You have to mulligan aggressively with this deck, and Serum Powder allows you to have more chances at a winning hand.

Second, the main problem the deck faces is not having enough mana during the "pre-going off" phase.  Too many times I have found myself 1 mana short, although I believe that ESG's are a mistake for this deck.  The deck needs more access to black mana in the maindeck.

Lastly, as I always do with any deck I test, I ask those around me what they think, or what they can put in.  During this process, my friend, Andy Hiser (give credit where credit is due) suggested the use of Reaping the Graves.  I just about creamed my pants when I saw this card.  It is like running up to 5 Yawgmoth's Wills in the Maindeck.  This card has singlehandedly pulled me out of otherwise unwinnable situations.  I hope that others give this card a chance and test it, since my testing has told me that this card is a house in this deck.  

Tell me what you guys think.

As far as I'm concerned with the deck, Serum Powder is a very powerful card.  It allows you to throw back those hands that would otherwise be total losers.  It will almost always give you 1-2 extra 6-7 card mulligans, which turns out to be a huge factor to consider with a combo deck like this.  Also, the Powder is dead if drawn later, but my testing of an unpowered version of this deck has shown that the sheer magnitude of the drawing offered by this deck should easily provide you with more cards then needed, lessening the effect of drawing the "dead" powders.  

My testing has shown me, at least with an unpowered version, that Serum Powder is almost a must have.  It singlehandedly lowers your critical turn by almost ½.  As anyone can tell you, this is a huge swing for a combo deck that wins in the first 2-3 turns of play.

Let me know what you guys find out from testing this deck.  I think this deck, or a variant of it, will be a strong contendor in the T1 environment, simply because it will be largely unplanned for, and is not hosed easily by the regular combo hosers (stifle sux big ballz though).

I don't feel that tells have as much to do in magic as simple logical deduction of the situation you are playing.

Although, I must also say...

Show me a serious Type 1 player who can bluff that he doesn't have a Yawg's Will after topdecking it late in the game, and I will show you a player who belongs in a different game.  (psst  I think he's talking about poker )

I hate to just be one of those mindless people screaming about a card, but I must say this...

...Isochron Scepter may have a place in Hulk.  I played a tournament this last weekend using Hulk w/Iso, and I did fairly well with it.  The Iso's allowed me to do sick and twisted things to my opponent.  I have yet to test it out more, but early estimates show this to be a decent card for the different Tog decks out there.

I think it would have to read,"Reveal a non-land card..."  Otherwise this turns into a cheap and fast way to charbelcher someone.

I would not consider myself to be an expert on Parfait, but I feel I must add this tidbit at least:

My friend has played Parfait for at least a couple years.  He has tested many different win conditions in the deck, and has arrived at Test of Endurance as his current win condition.  Test is a very decent card to use, since it coincides with what the deck is already trying to do, gain life.  The only gripe about this card as a win condition, is that it takes a lot of time to play (i.e. 50 min rounds can get a little long).  If you consider yourself a faster player though, you may be able to get this card to work for you.

The fact is , is that people do not wish to work for what they desire.  It is obviously my goal to become a regular member of TMD forums, but I have to work to earn that right.  Handing out what people demand on a silver platter does not make for a better community, it instead turns the boards into a reckless chaos of posts.  Sure, people can say that they have posted here X number of times, or have been well behaved for a certain amount of time, but that should not be the defineing factor as to why people should be allowed to post.  As for myself, I am content to continue posting as a newb.  I know that I am not a newb, and it does not bother me when people assume that I am simply because I am not a full member.  People have to understand that not all of the people in the newb forums and the open type 1 forums are idiotic peons.  I think a lot of the members and casual posters would be shocked as to who some of the people are who post on this site.  

I hope that everyone takes this with a grain of salt.  It is not my belief that TMD should change any of its current policies regarding membership to this site.  Membership is a privelege, and as such, should only be given to those who show that they will not abuse their standing, when and if they ever attain it.

Jay

I played stasis about a year ago, and at that time the money card for me was Reset from Legends.

Reset
UU
Instant
Untap all lands you control.  Play only during your opponents turn.

The fact that this is a 2cc Instant, means it could easily be imprinted on Isochron Scepter for a virtual lock.  I have been meaning to test this combination out, but have lacked the time and effort to do so.

Hey, I am new to the online deck testing programs available to the public.  If someone could shout out what type of programs there are, and which are the most used currently, I would greatly appreciate it.

Just a quick announcement that there will be a Type 1 Tournament held every Friday night in Eau Claire, WI.  Anyone interested can PM me for directions.  It is a $5 entry fee, with all of the money coming back in prize support.