Then in the SB would you use the Bayou/Trop + Swarms switch? And why 2 Infernal Contract over anything else, such as Windfall?

On that note, how would any of you go about bringing in the Xantid package against Gifts or CS?

Obviously, the first thing:
-1 Island
-1 Swamp

+1 Trop
+1 Bayou

Then what about the Xantids themselves? I've been doing something like:
-1 Windfall
-1 Cabal Ritual

And I'm never sure what the third card to cut is. I'm hesitant to side out another blue card, for fear of making MisD/FoW ineffective. Where would you go from here, anyone?

Completely agreed. Whenever I resolve Turn 1 Xantid I do a little dance, because the game became that much easier.

I have a few questions about Duress out of the board. I see it's for the mirror match, but how does it get boarded in? I could potentially see it coming in for Misdirection, depending on what sort of combo match it is. But Misdirection also seems too good to leave out. What are the weakest cards in the MD in the combo mirror?

As a prospective player of this deck, I just wanna ask a few questions. With some wise input from the way-too-cool-to-be-talking-to-me Mr. Type 4, I paired Becker's MD with Smennen's SB, which is what Paul said he played at Vintage Champs:

// Lands
    2  Underground Sea
    4  Polluted Delta
    2  Flooded Strand
    1  Tolarian Academy
    1 [UG] Swamp
    1 [UG] Island

// Spells
    1  Windfall
    1  Yawgmoth's Will
    1  Tinker
    1  Timetwister
    1  Time Walk
    1  Mind's Desire
    1  Imperial Seal
    3  Grim Tutor
    1  Tendrils of Agony
    1  Chain of Vapor
    1  Black Lotus
    1  Mox Jet
    1  Memory Jar
    1  Mana Vault
    1  Mana Crypt
    1  Mox Pearl
    1  Sol Ring
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Mox Emerald
    1  Lotus Petal
    1  Lion's Eye Diamond
    1  Demonic Tutor
    1  Necropotence
    1  Yawgmoth's Bargain
    1  Ancestral Recall
    4  Brainstorm
    4  Cabal Ritual
    4  Dark Ritual
    4  Force of Will
    3  Misdirection
    1  Mystical Tutor
    1  Vampiric Tutor

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [UG] Swamp
SB: 1 [UG] Island
SB: 1  Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1  Chain of Vapor
SB: 1  Massacre
SB: 3  Duress
SB: 1  Tropical Island
SB: 1  Rebuild
SB: 1  Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 3  Xantid Swarm
SB: 1  Bayou

This seems ok to me, any glaring problems?

I noticed people arguing about a second Tendrils MD. When I first started playing Storm combo, I played 2 copies of Tendrils in my homebrew deck and loved having it there. I've had other experienced Storm players in my area suggest 2 copies. I guess what it comes down to is personal preference, correct? I also saw that Smennen suggested cutting Windfall (cautiously). Would it be reasonable to cut Windfall from the above deck and move the Tendrils to the MD?

I'm really curious as to the inclusion of Time Walk. The card itself is inherently dissynergistic with the Storm mechanic. Why is it in here? One more turn to set up for a kill? In case of post-board DSC kill, one more turn to swing? A friend of mine has been arguing for cutting Walk. He says it's too situational, and I can kind of see that.

Is it really so broken that it just has to go in? We were also talking about Biurning Wish, so that Walk is still there, you get more "copies" of Tendrils, and can still use Walk.

And I had another question about SB'ing. I know that vs. Shops, ESG's come in from the board, and vs. Control, Swarms and FoW's come in. But what gets dropped? And where does the DSC kill come in?

I'm just starting to pick up the deck recently, and so far I've been really impressed with it. It's definitely how I like my decks, always on the offensive. Just a bit of a mental exercise to play.

Regardless, I had a few questions. I was talking an ex-combo player and he was questioning the inclusion of 3 card disadvantage tutors (Mystical, Vamp and Seal). At first I just thought that this allows more redundancy (which equals more power) but it got me thinking. Is Seal overkill? Mystical and Vamp are fine (Insant, play it during EOT/upkeep) but Sorcery speed I could see really hindering it.

Is it's inclusion worth it?

And on Crop Rotation: its manafixing aspect is relatively moot in this deck (lots of 5c lands) but its benefit of fetching out Academy or getting rid of a useless Mine. That, and makes Desire easier to cast, which I heard through a secret source is a pretty good card.

Thanks a lot.

The artifact lands are there to make up for lack of power, so I don't run out of Tinker targets. But 3 more CoB are definitely going in here.

Thanks for the hint on Easter Tendrils! This deck originally had 4 of the UB eggs in here too, but those were cut to make room for disruption, as it at first had none. I might draft a list of it myself later, but if you ever find one, drop it here. I'm very interested.

aka reallybadtendrils.dec

I've been working on playing Storm combo, and a friend of mine drafted up this list for me. I'm working on a pretty low budget at the moment, though that's about to widen up pretty quickly.

I play non-powered Vintage among friends, and we don't do proxies. There are a list of things I am 100% positive I need to get, and am going to get as soon as I can.

I like how this list runs at the moment, but I'm trying to see if theres any way I can improve it:

// Lands
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Seat of the Synod
2 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Vault of Whispers
1 City of Brass

// Creatures
1 Darksteel Colossus

// Spells
3 Cabal Ritual
1 Tinker
1 Chrome Mox
1 [card]Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Windfall
4 Dark Ritual
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Necropotence
4 Helm of Awakening
1 Memory Jar
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Force of Will
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Meditate
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Duress

Random explanations:

Helm of Awakening: This is quite possibly the coolest card ever for budget Storm combo. It just does so many things well it's beautiful. Mana Vault for 0 anyone? YawgWin for 1B? I'd hit it.

City of Brass: Fairly random, but I only have 1 at the moment. It's on my list of things I know I need to get, to be discussed more at the end of this long-winded explanation.

The ass-ful manabase in general: I'm lacking the cash for Seas/more Deltas/a good manabase, but it's definitely on my list of things to change. Should I, in the meantime, add more City of Brass to make up for the badness?

Everything else is fairly standard. Broken stuff, etc. Working on a budget, what should be my proposed manabase? Gemstone Mines, etc.

Any other suggestions? Stuff I could take out, things that would work better in here, etc?

I'm not sure about Firewalker.

And he's not exactly Pro-red. He just can't be targetted by red stuff. Worse than Pro-red. Pinging isn't a huge deal in this environment, and I don't think it really makes the cut. That, and he doesn't really beat on an open field. I know Sword changes that, but thats in the SB.

Anyway, I'm not seriously rethinking Curiousity.  I haven't played around with it much, but I think it could be saucy. I'll proxy the cards I still need and test/play a little down at a store.

I see the need for a faster clock needed in U/R fish, and both SoFI and Jitte fit the bill as accomplishing this. It should deserve testing, But I think that SoFI might be a little far up the curve to work. It's worth a shot, but I don't have time to test right now. Anyone wanna do that and come back here with results?

Well, I would cut the 2 Longs and 1 Shaman. 3 Vials should be enough to run with. But I don't like Long that much, so you may not wanna follow my advice.

Like I said, I can see it as a SB card. It's has its uses. Like an Extract on legs. I read about Extract as Oath SB tech for the mirror, and Long (Extract on legs, as I said) can work for us. Right now, I think I have an alright Oath match (3 Stifle, 3 Bouncers MD, 2 RR coming out of the board, 3 Annul MD) but I think it could work wonderfully for a Gifts match. Yank out their DSC and they're either A) fucked or B) fall back on the more difficult to pull off Tendrils win. He could stay as a 2-of.

Maybe your build just holds more cards in hand. I find myself with 4-5. I've even had to go down to topdecking (but not often)

Lotus just allows for huge starts that are hard to recover from. It may not do broken things like it can in other decks, but Fish doesn't do broken. It kicks broken in the teeth, and then pings them to death by 1's and 2's.

Point dropped.

You can use a Mire/Foothill to grab a Volc and get blue if you need to. I like having the option of getting access to red under Waste-CoW lock. A little insurance strategy.

Normally, I would scoff at Bouncer being a 1/1 for 1U. However, his ability is infinitely useful. It can be good in a lot of matchups (aforementioned Oath, Gifts (DSC), R/G (it is!), even UW Fish (it won me a game vs. this one time)). Its ability is helpful enough that you can look past its frailty.

I like RaR out of the board. No arguments there. Shaman however, while a good Ninja-enabler, just doesn't do much else. Stax does use Moxen, yeah. But in a Stax match I would much rather use Vandal. Also one-drop, and the artifacts he blows on are significantly larger. Anything past CMC 1 is practically out-of-range for a Shaman.

No arguments here either.

Library schennigans are cute, but with Library as a simple one-of, I don't see the impact being that huge. Multiple threats per turn does seem fun. However, I see it as being slightly different: drop a threat and leave mana up for stuff. Seems fun. Maybe I'm being a bit close-minded about Cloud. I'll get my hands on some and fiddle a bit with them.

So...much...text... :shock:

I see where your going with your choices. I'll explain mine tomorrow, but for now I have a couple questions/comments/suggestions for you:

Why are you not using Vial? You don't have Rod in the deck, and you've got Standstill. So I see no real reason ('sides opposing Rods) to run Vial. Standstill and Vial pumping out threats while keeping answer-mana up is saucy.

I find Long to be a mana-hog. Also why I cut Prodigy early. I tried to keep UU open at all times, and that just killed my ability to answer my opponent and continue with the threats. I can see him as SB-tech vs. Oath, GIfts, etc. But not main.

Library doesn't fit at all. We're supposed to be dropping the threats, and only keeping back the answer. Not a full hand of 7. Really the only times my hand is 7 is at the start of the game.

Your lack of Lotus makes me sad. The tempo boost it gives can be sickening.

You already mentioned it yourself, but drop 2 Strands for 2 Deltas. Makes Needle much less useful.

Waste-CoW lock keeps you off red mana. I suggest 1 Mountain to be levered in there somewhere.

Has 1 Bouncer been sufficient? When I ran 2 I was always happy to draw him, no matter who I was against.

3 Shaman is overkill. There are only so many Moxen/Mana artifacts you can nuke. And if the CMC goes past 1, the mana requirement get ball-busting. 2 sounds good.

Your lack of Vandal looks saddening. From what I can tell, your Stax matchup looks abysmal. Shaman does jack-shit against lock pieces.

Faeries don't look so saucy. A 1/1 for 1U I don't see as very effecient. I know you can argue he's "free" but he's not aggressive. And the cute trick with Standstill doesn't happen often enough to consider it worth running.

Again, I'll explain my own choices (but if you have any detailed questions, you should ask tim. My build is based largely on his, with a few self-made tweaks) tomorrow. I'm tired right now.

Because I like your build best. It's worked out well for me. Hope you don't mind 

Anyway, having a 2-power beater besides Factory would be really saucy. However, I haven't really settled on one that I like very much. If I was using a Vial/Standstill/Chalice or something setup, I'd probably be using Prodigy. However, I'm not. So therefore I'm not using him. When I did, he was really just a 2/1 beatstick. I never used his counter ability. If someone can suggest a 2-power beater thats suitable for Fish, then by all means throw it out there.

From a quick search for possible candidates, heres what I turned up:

A) Hearth Kami - close, but no. Sure, it can off moxen for 0. But a Shaman can do that repeatedly, for 1.
B) Izzet Guildmage - I keep coming back to him. Someone should test this bad boy. Gives us a pretty stellar mid-long game. Think about Ancestral x 3...*needs a new pair of jeans*
C) Spark Elemental - also kinda close, but no. Actually, no. If we really wanted something along these lines, we'd be using Bolt. But we're not.
D) Voidmage Prodigy - previously mentioned; he shows promise. Maybe he even warrants some more testing, giving the boy a chance.

And thats really all I found for decent things to run. I think the most promising one is the Guildmage. I like him a lot; he looks good on paper. I'll do some playing around with him, and see how things turn out.

Now there is no reason to go unpowered with this deck, unless your on budget and are playing no-proxy (which is rare). And even if it's only 5 proxy, you only need 5 power, sometimes even less to make this deck work.

Now heres the list I've been working with and have really decided upon. It's great fun, and has answers to all the questions.



// Lands
    4  Wasteland
    1  Strip Mine
    4  Mishra's Factory
    3  Flooded Strand
    4  Volcanic Island
    1  Bloodstained Mire
    2  Polluted Delta
    3  Island
    1  Mountain

// Creatures
    4  Grim Lavamancer
    3  Ninja of the Deep Hours
    2  Gorilla Shaman
    3  Waterfront Bouncer
    2  Goblin Vandal

// Spells
    3  Null Rod
    3  Stifle
    2  Daze
    3  Annul
    3  Fire/Ice
    1  Time Walk
    4  Force of Will
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Black Lotus
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Ancestral Recall

// Sideboard
SB: 2  Goblin Vandal
SB: 3  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4  Energy Flux
SB: 2  Rushing River
SB: 4  Pyrostatic Pillar

Since I'm really short on time right now, I can't go into detail about the particular card choices at the moment, but if you post your questions here about why I'm using a particular card, I'll do my best to get back to you in a reasonable amount of time.

Note: This is on 10-Proxy, tuned to have a good Stax game. My Oath match while still bad, is better than usual.

Quick question: I see more people doing 4 Stifle MD. I've found 3 to be very saucy, but is a fourth even better? I've got a spare so I'm wondering if I need it.

I'm choosing not to acknowledge the existence of sundering jerk. For he is, just that.

Now, heres the list that I've decided upon. The deck is done. I either have the cards, or their in the mail. And I like it.

// Lands
    4  Wasteland
    1  Strip Mine
    4  Mishra's Factory
    3  Flooded Strand
    4  Volcanic Island
    1  Bloodstained Mire
    2  Polluted Delta
    3  Island
    1  Mountain

// Creatures
    4  Grim Lavamancer
    3  Ninja of the Deep Hours
    2  Gorilla Shaman (2)
    3  Waterfront Bouncer
    2  Goblin Vandal

// Spells
    3  Null Rod
    3  Stifle
    2  Daze
    3  Annul
    3  Fire/Ice
    1  Time Walk
    4  Force of Will
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Black Lotus
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Ancestral Recall

// Sideboard
SB: 2  Goblin Vandal
SB: 3  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4  Energy Flux
SB: 2  Rushing River
SB: 4  Pyrostatic Pillar

I like how it works. Once I finish it, I'll start bringing it with me to see if I can get some testing/etc done at FNM. One of the clerks at the store plays T1, so thats helpful.

Agreed 100%.

MD Annul is one of the tools that can allow U/X fish vairants to compete in the current. It is useful against almost all decks.

Yes, I believe we did.

Seems reasonable. Does it matter which red fetch? For now I'll use Mire, since I think its less expensive.

Stifle MD has been SO awesome vs. everything. I don't think there are any matches where its completely useless. Stifle Oath triggers, manland activations, prison piece triggers even fetchlands. I love having 3 MD.

4 Chalice for combo. I'm actually contemplating on not using them. Would you think Arcane Lab to be more effective? I haven't yet gone up against combo, so I have no experience in this matter.

I think I'll wait on completely evaluating the Guildmages for this deck once the U/W comes out. And if both abilities are useful, just splash a dual of the appropiate color in. Now on the ones currently out:

U/B: His draw ability can come into play in the late game, if you end up having enough mana open. The discard ability is worthless, and not worth splashing for.
U/R: No splashing needed, and I can see his abilities coming into play sometimes. But not often. Yes copying Ancestral a few times would be fun, I don't think the situation would come up often enough. And he is a 2/2 for RR/UR/UU, which is always nice. Our cutting of Kai could make way for a good 2-power beater.

@Izzet Guildmage: No. It doesn't belong, not enough saucy things you can do with it. Too fragile, and doesn't have a good enough effect on the game.

I hate to be selfish here, but I'd like some feedback on my build, a few posts up. I've begun buying the cards, and I'll start getting the expensive stuff this weekend, so I don't want to buy something that I will never be playing, making a huge waste of money:

@Starke: I like your build. It's pretty cool.

What are your reasons for choosing the Vial + Chalice setup over Rod? I'm really debating between the two different versions atm. I'm liking the Rod version I have right now, but my interst was piqued by your particular deck.

I see Rod in your SB. So you can go from Vial + Chalice into Rod. Is it also possible to go from Rod into Vial + Chalice? It was an idea I just thought of (I <3 transformational SB's) and I was wondering how it may work here.

Now, to add to the discussion about Null Rod: It all depends. You could even depend it on your draw choice. Curiousity-based could possibly run 3, since they're going to drawing a higher quantity of cards.

But these are just abstractions. I've been running with 3, and haven't had problems with trying to get a Rod onto the field.

Now, to maybe bring up more discussion points, I'll post my build (which is very, very, very similar to tim's build):

// Lands
    4  Wasteland
    1  Strip Mine
    3  Flooded Strand
    3  Polluted Delta
    4  Volcanic Island
    4  Mishra's Factory (4)
    4  Island

// Creatures
    4  Grim Lavamancer
    3  Ninja of the Deep Hours
    2  Gorilla Shaman (2)
    3  Waterfront Bouncer
    2  Goblin Vandal

// Spells
    4  Force of Will
    3  Null Rod
    3  Fire/Ice
    3  Annul
    3  Stifle
    1  Ancestral Recall
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Time Walk
    1  Black Lotus
    2  Daze

// Sideboard
SB: 3  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3  Energy Flux
SB: 4  Chalice of the Void
SB: 2  Rushing River
SB: 3  Rack and Ruin

Now, a couple comments.

I like having bounce in the side, but do you think it would be a good idea to include some bounce spell (not Bouncer) in the main, so I have an instant answer to DSC/the like that doesn't take a turn to come online? I don't really see the harm in it. If so, which one? Chain of Vapor, Echoing Truth or Rushing River (already in my SB)? Or something completely different?

I'll be modifying my SB, to change the RaR's to Shatteirng Spree, out of Guildpact.

Shattering Spree R
Instant
Replicate R
Destroy target artifact.

For this, I think I may cut either 1 Island or 1 Fetch for 1 Mountain, to increase my density of R. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, just so that in the off-chance I run into Waste-CoW lock or B2B, I won't be completely off red mana.

This is the only downside I see to Spree. It is multiple spells, so they can only counter one. However, each artifact requires R to kill. Right now, I would only be able to hit 4 artifacts max (or 7, w/ a Lotus). Thats why I don't think 1 Mountain would dilute my manabase too badly.

I haven't really played around w/ Vandal too much, but it seems like it could be pretty good. Almost an undercosted Shatter every turn.

So call me unoriginal. I just liked tim's build, and only made a couple changes.

Well, to be quite honest I don't know. I took inspiration from tim's list and that of DrossVamp (if anybody knows him) and cobbled together a melding of the two. I'll seroiusly consider its inclusion.


In my somewhat limited testing, I've noticed the same thing. He just hasn't performed too highly. Whenever I draw him, either I'm not casting him to keep counter mana up, or he's just some dork that beats for 2. I have never used his counter ability, not even once. I can see using something else in its place.


I agree on Standstill. It is now what we want. Right now I use Brainstorm, but I'll change over to using Curiousity to see how that works out for awhile. Your points are valid.


I've right now been using Lotus, and haven't had too many great plays with it. I really can't see how Fish can heavily capitalize with its tempo boost. Once its done, your opponent can still drop a Welder and go to town. I'll consider dropping it.


As I've said before, I'm tuning specifically for Richmond. And even on MWS, there are very few matches where Annul is completely dead. There is the odd combo match, but vs. Oath, Stax, even FCG it has its uses.

Precisely.

And on Oath: I think we have more than enough to deal with it. I managed to Stifle the Oath activation for 3 turns in a row while I went to town on his life total. Even if he had counters, I had double F/I in hand, so I had more than enough time to win. I also MD 3 Annul, so this can really help with the matchup. We've got game vs. Oath

1. I'll have to dig up my list to answer this, so get back to me on that (I'm supposed to be doing an English essay right now).
2.I like Ninja/Brainstorm better. Brainstorm has the obvious tech with Fetches, being able to shuffle away crap. For example, shuffling away F/I when your against Combo.
3. Once again, gotta dig up list. But 6 sounds like a good number. I currently run 5, but I think I should up that to 6, so I have no end to Mancerbait.
4. Power gives you a great tempo advantage. Being able to drop, say, a Mancer turn 1 and keep Stifle/Annul mana up is invaluable and can mean the difference between winning and losing. I feel it should be in there.
5. I use 3 MD and 1 SB. I think I might cut the SB one for something more saucy.
6. 3 MD is what I run, and I find its a great number. You almost always have one when needed.

EDIT: On our Stax matchup: it's not that good. I'm tuning for Richmond, where I heard that there is a large amount of Stax, so I pack potentially excessive hate in the board. 3 Flux and 2 RaR (soon to be 3 Flux and 3 Shattering Spree, which is a gem out of GP).

For combo hate, I pack 4 CotV in the board. Helps a lot with all the accel spells. And 3 MD Stifles kinda help too, so I heard.

Against Welder I've got 3 F/I main, and 1 more SB, and 4 Lavamancer MD helps to blow them away. I think this is the best we can do against all of that.

The way tim (and I too) see it, is that U/R fish needs aggressive creatures. While Flying Men may be the epitomy of effeciency (1/1 flyer for U) I feel it just doesn't belong. All creatures need to either beat for a good amount (2 or more) or have a helpful ability. Flying Men and Cloud just beat. Sure Cloud lets you play her, untap lands then Standstill, but this play happens, what 1 game out of every 3454?

And while it does give you mostly guarnteed Ninja turn 2, you would be tapped out turns one and two, which are the fundamental turns in T1.

Take a hypothetical game situation, vs. Oath.

Your on the play. Hand has mana, Annul, Flying Men, Ninja. It's game 2, so you know they are playing Oath. I, in this situation, would go Mana, go (Sapphire would change this, allowing to go Sapphire, Island/Volc, Flying Men, go, keeping Annul mana up). This gives you insurance against the Oath god-draw, Mox, Orchard, Oath, go. Playing Flying Men would probably screw you for the game.

It's really a matter of preference. I know vs. Oath you just have to keep the pressure up and hit em as hard as you can before Oath hits, but in that situation I would probably hold back the Men to keep Annul mana up.

Wow, I'm not sure if I made much sense. To tie it all up, I don't believe Flying Men really belongs in U/R.

This is how I've been trying to construct my build. All of my creatures have to have some kind of helpful ability. No vanilla stuff (Cloud, Flying Men).

This carbon-based lifeform speaks truth.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on a couple points. Otherwise I agree.

I don't think CoW belongs in U/R Fish. Sure, recurring Wastes/Strips/Pwn't Factories is fun. But it just doesn't fit. There really aren't too many situations where it would make a huge difference. tim tested it, and he didn't get stellar results.

Cloud of Faeries is bad. Bad, bad, bad. Doesn't belong in here. That play you mentioned. It happens, what once in every 100-200 games? Cloud just isn't aggressive enough. Fish creatures should not only beat, but offer some kind of useful ability. Prodigy can counter, Lavamancer burns, Mox Monkey does his thing, Ninja draws cards into play. Cloud does nothing. It just sits there, a 1/1 flyer. You sneeze on em, and they implode.

I'm tuning U/R for P9 Richmond, where I heard Stax is very dominant. So I'm not running Jitte. But if there are more random Aggro decks in your meta, run Jitte. Fish is a very much metagamed deck. There is no one "optimal list." What works in one meta doesn't work in another.

Once again, for the Maze. If your against Oath/Gifts all day, run 3. I like it though, but I won't run more than 1.

I don't think the GIlded Drake is needed. You already have the mazes. While jacking a Collosus or Akroma is great fun, Maze just nullifies their phat beatz for free.

Crypt is good, but I don't think I would run 3. 2 in the board should be enough.

Once again, I mention I'm tuning for Richmond, so I've for 2 RaR and 3 Flux in my board.

I notice your lack of bounce throughout the whole deck. I currently use 2 RR's in the board, but I'm thinking of using 1 MD, just so I have some chance vs. Collosus in Game 1.

Your Fire/Ice count is lacking. Fire/Ice is possibly the best tool that U/R fish has ATM. You can ping random welders, get in those last couple points (though U/R never really has too much trouble with this) or tap Collosus/Akroma/large beatstick for that crucial turn you need to win. I personally have 3 MD and 1 SB (for mirror tech).

Another potentially crippling flaw I see is your game vs. Combo. Its positively abysmal. Your Null Rods may shut off SoLoMoxen, but thats if you can drop it fast enough. 4 CotV in the board is what makes our usually abysmal combo matchup better.

EDIT: I just beat the absolute tar out of Oath. Stifle is SO savage in this matchup. He drops Oath semi-early. I have no counter. I pull Annul off the top.  Anyway, I manage to Stifle Oath for 3 turns straight, which lets me beat him to 4. He manages to punch the activation through, but its too late. Note: I was also sitting on 2 F/I, so I had time.

I heartily endorse 3-4 F/I in EVERY U/R Fish deck. Each and every one. Stifle too. At least 2, I suggest 3. There are few matchups its useless.

Another neat trick my opponent pointed out. Game 1, my fate rested on a Walk. He didn't have the counter, so I won. But he pointed out that I could have beaten him from 3 to 1, then eat one of my own moxen to hit him with Mancer. Always pay attention when you have Mox Monkey + Mancer on the board.

49 Cents hit the nail right on the head. It doesn't do something in every matchup, and it does smell of untech w/Moxen and Lotus.

And thanks Bruenor, I'll go check the thread out.

A buddy and I both plan to head to an SCG P9 next year. But the thing is, I don't play much Vintage, so I don't know much about it, nor do I have any cards for it. Which leaves me to pick and construct a deck. So I looked around, and took into account my |337 m4g1c sk1llz (read: lack thereof) and decided on U/R fish. I'm just not good enough to play any sort of combo, and the only kind of control I'm good with is the Mono-blue casual kind.

So I'm falling back on turning creatures sideways.

Now I talked to a couple people about this. Nobody really had objections. I got this list from a buddy (DrossVamp, if you know him), saying he did pretty good with it. Now keep in mind, for SCG P9, so 10 proxies. I don't know what I can get a hold of by summer (probably when we're going) so just try to keep it relatively budget (that's you guys' specialty, or so I heard).

Current as of: 1/9/06

// Lands
3  Island
4  Wasteland
1  Strip Mine
3  Flooded Strand
2  Polluted Delta
4  Volcanic Island - Proxy
4  Mishra's Factory (4)

// Creatures
4  Grim Lavamancer
3  Ninja of the Deep Hours
2  Waterfront Bouncer
4  Gorilla Shaman (2)
2  Voidmage Prodigy

// Spells
4  Force of Will
3  Null Rod
3  Fire/Ice
3  Annul
3  Brainstorm
3  Stifle
1  Black Lotus - Proxy
1  Ancestral Recall - Proxy
1  Mox Sapphire - Proxy
1  Mox Ruby - Proxy
1  Time Walk - Proxy

// Sideboard
SB: 1  Fire/Ice
SB: 3  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3  Energy Flux
SB: 2  Rack and Ruin
SB: 4  Chalice of the Void
SB: 2  Rushing River

Pretty straightforward. I can do my best to explain card choices, but you'd probably have to go to the people who helped me for more in-depth stuff. I cobbled together the SB with their help.

One thing I was wondering about in the SB is that new Replicating artifact destroyer instead of RaR. It seems strictly better, except for the heavier red requirement. Does it merit including instead of RaR?

EDIT: Snuck this in here. I'm not on a budget for this deck (completely unlike any of my other decks). I do have 1 proxy slot open going from this list, so I have room for 1 more super-expensive card.

And don't laugh at me for proxying duals.