Hey guys,

Thanks for all of the helpful advice and insight.  I really would of been lost without it.  Now, I honestly do now know whether or not Sundering titan has a role in the main or not, but I do really, really like the idea of gorilla shaman.  Also, from my limited experience I have with the deck, I have to agree that Welder is merely an after though in anything other than the stax matchup.  It normally seems like welder is there just to get the mindslaver lock rolling and I really would much rather draw into the blue cards in my deck instead of the welders.  I wish to move this discussion to sideboard choices.  Duress seems so solid but I can really see the mana issues, I like the Idea of ReB and Pyroclasm.  What else?  Is arcane lab really that essential?

Thanks again you guys

Hi,  I am very new to the T1 scene and even newer to TMD.  I have looked through many different deck lists from the most recent t1 events and it appears as though Control Slaver is a very relaible deck as it has posted some solid results. 

Here is just a List I copied from SCG recent power nine tournament

 Control Slaver
A Vintage deck, by Jim Erlinger
4th place at a StarCityGames Power 9 Tournament tournament in Chicago, Illinois, United States on 2005-07-31
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Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Jester's Cap
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Artifact Creatures
1 Duplicant
1 Pentavus
1 Triskelion

Creatures
4 Goblin Welder

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Force Of Will
2 Intuition
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor

Legendary Artifacts
1 Mindslaver

Sorceries
2 Deep Analysis
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Artifact Lands
1 Seat Of The Synod

Basic Lands
1 Island

Lands
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
2 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Snow-Covered Basic Lands
1 Snow-covered Island

Sideboard:
1 Sundering Titan
3 Arcane Laboratory
2 Echoing Truth
1 Pyroblast
3 Rack And Ruin
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Pyroclasm
 
Since I am very new to the format I am confused about a lot of choices.  I really just hope that the people here are patient enough to explain some of this stuff to me.  Why does it run one snow covered island? Is the jester's cap just for deck's like gifts and oath?  Why no DSC?  Is combo prevalent enough to warrent 3 arcane labs in the board [ I have never actually played in a tournament but I do not see TPS or other combo decks place solid results in the top 8 oftournaments].  Do you all have any suggestions on what direction to take this deck in? I do not really like the Deep Analysis in the deck any suggestions for replacement? .  Why no mana vault?  How is this deck's match up's versus [what seems] to be the other most prevalent deck, stacks?  Would you all recommend this deck to someone who has very little type 1 experience [ I have played lots of type 2/1.5 and extended but never a single tournament round of type 1].

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks