Oh btw, the goal of this deck is to get Oath of Duids into play and protect it with counters. If they aren't nice enough to play creatures for you, Forbidden Orchard does the job. Card drawing helps you find everything.

I've taken a break from Magic in '03 and didn't return until '06. Therfore, i'm inexperienced with some of the new decks but I am familiar with U/G madness. As we have a Lorwyn legal tourney on the 23rd, i'd like to present to you all an extended deck i'd like to run that day (and hopefully do well with!)

4 breeding pool
2 polluted delta
2 flooded strand
2 windswept heath
2 wooded foothills
4 seat of the synod
2 tree of tales
2 island
2 forest

4 careful study
4 basking rootwalla

4 wild mongrel
4 aquamoeba
4 tarmogoyf
2 umezawa's jitte

4 circular logic
4 arrogant wurm

4 wonder
4 deep analysis

This is an aggro-control deck that put it's opponent on a clock w/creatures and protects it with Circular Logic, draws cards with Deep Analysis, flies for the kill with Wonder, and does a whole bunch of stuff with Jitte.

SB:
4 spell snare
4 threads of disloyalty
4 naturalize
3 tormod's crypt

We prefer people to edit changes into posts rather than just make new posts.
-Godder

I'm going to play in a Lorywn legal Vintage tournament, this month on the 21st. I don't expect to see too much power 9 abuse there as no one can afford the cards. I expect to do quite well with the deck i'm posting but constructive criticism is always welcome. Here we go:

4 polluted delta
4 flooded strand
4 forbidden orchard
4 tropical island
4 volcanic island
1 island
1 wasteland
1 strip mine

4 brainstorm
4 mana drain
4 force of will
4 merchant scroll
4 accumulated knowledge
2 intuition
1 fact or fiction
1 wipe away
1 mystical tutor

1 akroma (white)
1 razia

4 oath of druids
2 gaea's blessing
1 crop rotation

3 engineered explosives

SB:
4 call of the herd
1 pyroblast
1 red elemental blast
3 ravenous baloth
2 spike weaver
1 akroma (red)
1 simic sky swallower
1 crater hellion
1 woodripper or thwart

What's generally considered the bare minimum of pitchable blue cards to have in a deck that runs 4 Force of Will?

Here's my third variant:

4  Flooded Strand
4  Windswept Heath
4  Tropical Island
4  Tundra
1  Savannah
1  Island

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 land

4  Meddling Mage
2  Mystic Enforcer
4  Quirion Dryad
4  Werebear
4  Merfolk Looter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 creatures

4  Brainstorm
2  Foil
4  Force of Will
4  Gush
4  Peek
3  Swords to Plowshares
3  Winter Orb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 other spells

4  Chill
2  Legacy's Allure
3  Seal of Cleansing
2  Submerge
2  Waterfront Bouncer
1  Swords to Plowshares
1  Winter Orb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 sideboard cards

Thanks for the input Hi-Val! Here's my new Super Gro list. The only real changes are the replacement of Daze with Looters.

4  Polluted Delta
2  Flooded Strand
2  Windswept Heath
4  Tropical Island
4  Tundra

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 land

4  Meddling Mage
2  Mystic Enforcer
4  Quirion Dryad
4  Werebear
4  Merfolk Looter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 creatures

4  Brainstorm
2  Foil
4  Force of Will
4  Gush
4  Peek
4  Swords to Plowshares
4  Winter Orb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 other spells

I had some concerns with being mana screwed but overall the 2 Enforcers are the only reason you NEED more than 2 mana in play IMO.

Goals? To improve and win more I guess? I'm trying to make the deck more competitve for one on one play. Even though I know the deck was designed to beat Trix, Rock and the like, I guess I want to tune the maindeck to be able to handle more beatdown oriented decks without taking away any of the focus....

I'm trying to build a competitive, yet fun deck for casual play. I chose to build Miracle Grow because it's pretty interactive (Winter Orb + creatures) as opposed to a combo deck that just basically ignores it's opponent. Here's what I have so far:

Pro Tour Nice Masters: Miracle Grow
Alexander Witt (modified)
 
Main Deck: 60 cards

4  Flooded Strand (replaces Flood Plain)
1  Savannah
4  Tropical Island
4  Tundra
4  Windswept Heath (replaces Land Grant)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 land

4  Meddling Mage
2  Mystic Enforcer
4  Quirion Dryad
4  Werebear

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 creatures

4  Brainstorm
3  Daze
2  Foil
4  Force of Will
4  Gush
4  Peek (replaces Sleight of Hand)
4  Swords to Plowshares
4  Winter Orb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 other spells

4  Chill
2  Legacy's Allure
3  Seal of Cleansing
2  Submerge
2  Waterfront Bouncer
2  Wax/Wane

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 sideboard cards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any suggestions?

Forgive me but I haven't played Magic in 3 years so I don't know what Glare is.

Accel Blue was decent after sideboarding and would have been better in my first match against the Gilded Drake/Bone Shredder bounce deck but when I solo tested them against each other, U/G Madness won more games. Plus I figured in an unknown enviornment, it's better to play an aggressive deck anyways.

Someone suggested a Necro deck in the link I posted in my report but 1) I didn't have the cards and 2) The lists (support cards) looked awful to me. Someone at the tournament even suggested Bargain but I don't think pure Urza block has the support cards for it...

I guess the bottom line was I wanted to play a block deck that I know was battle tested and proven, plus the fact that I have much more experience with U/G Madness than with any other block deck practically made the decision for me (although I admit I considered switching to Accel Blue.)

This past Saturday, I played at a Magic card tournament. It was a "Block Party" tournament, meaning you could play any deck composed of cards from a single expansion set... excluding banned cards (more on this later.)

Before I get into the event, let me share my preparation with you guys. Odyssey block U/G Madness was my top choice with Urza's block Accelerated Blue being my second, courtesy of Hi-Val http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=30700.0 thanks Hi-Val. Anyways here were my 2 choices:

Odyssey U/G Madness 1.3
Mana
12 Island
10 Forsest
2 Tarnished Citadel

Creatures
4 Basing Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Aquamoeba
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Roar of the Wurm
3 Wonder

Card Manipulation
3 Quiet Speculation
2 Deep Analysis
4 Careful Study

Counters
4 Circular Logic

Sideboard
4 StupifyingTouch
3 Turbulent Dreams
3 Ray of Revelation
2 Deep Analysis
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Quiet Speculation
1 Wonder

The SB Wonder was there for Skies/Waters.

Urza's Accelerated Blue 1.2

Spells
3 Masticore
3 Morphling
4 Power Sink
4 Grim Monolith
4 Miscalculation
4 Powder Keg
4 Stroke of Genius
4 Rewind
4 Treachery

Land
18 Island
4 Remote Isle
4 Blasted Landscape

Sideboard
4 Hibernation
3 Palinchron
3 Douse
2 Annul
2 Scrying Glass
1 Masticore

Hibernation was there for my U/G Madness' Wurms and Mongrels. Palinchron was there for Odyssey block Mono Black Control (Innocent Blood, Chainers Edit, etc.) I decided on U/G Madness as it was more consistent and heck, it's good enough to win a legacy tournament. Accelerated Blue can't say that!

There was a modest turnout (6 players) and I eventually discovered what all of them were playing except for one random dude. On with the tourney:

In Round 1, I play my toughest match of the day: Some Urza's U/B 187 Bounce deck. He stole my creatures with Gilded Drake and Snapped them back to his his hand. It looked pretty janky but it worked to an extent (except for his Cloud of Faries, they were straight up awful, lol.) I won game 1 due to attrition b/c of the brokeness Quiet Speculation, Roar of the Wurm, and Deep Analysis while his combo only showed up some of the time. I boarded out 1 Wonder, 1 Quiet Speculation and 1 Deep Analysis for 3 Turbulent Dreams to deal with Gilded Drake. I notice that he sideboards a lot so i'm kind of worried... In game 2 he plays a Bone Shredder! And bounces that to his hand several times. But he stops drawing Snaps or Bone Shredders and all of his 4 lands are too tied up cycling with some Urza block blue enchantment for him to keep up with my tempo. He did Eradicate my Basking Rootwalla and Quash my Circular Logic but it wasn't enough. Also I never drew my Turbulent Dreams and I never saw a Gilded Drake.

After the match he told me he considered playing U/G Madness but he didn't have a sideboard for it, unlike his U/B 187 deck. He then showed his his "U/G Madness" but it was actually more of a U/G Threshold that didn't run Nimble Mongoose for some reason.

games: 2-0
matches: 1-0

In round 2, I play an underpowered Mirage Sligh deck. Suq Ata Lancer and Lava Hounds were the only decent creatures in his deck. I even Circular Logiced his 4th turn Lava Hounds to prevent him from taking 4 damage. See how nice I am After winning game 1, I didn't sideboard. In the second game I kept attacking with with early drops until he played a Bloodrock Cyclops. That's the only turn I didn't attack since it wasn't worth trading when I was winning the damage race and all he had was a 3/3 that had to attack. Next turn he played a hasty Talruum Minotaur as a blocker so I decided to run him over with all my guys and finish him off, no problem.

games: 2-0
matches: 2-0

So now i'm in the finals and I know from the ending of the previous round that my opponent was playing Cursed Scroll, a card that is banned from Tempest block. I inform him that according to the official DCI rules, his deck is illegal and give him the option of taking them out and either playing a 56 card deck or presideboarding against me. Well this fool refuses my offer and insists on playing with the illegal cards or not playing at all. So I call the judge over. They look up the Block Format Deck Construction rules online and rule in my favor. So basically i'm right and he's wrong and his comeback is "You must really want to win." Yeah, I wanted to win so much, I added banned cards to my deck! Stupid hypocrite. So he forefeits and I win the tournament. Personally I feel that if he were any kind of man, he'd play against me anyway, admit he was wrong and apologize to everyone he beat that day because he cheated against them all.

games: 2-0 (obviously b/c he wouldn't play me)
matches: 3-0

The cheater ran a Tempest Mono-White Weenie deck. Another guy ran Urza's Stompy. I didn't get to see what the last person ran but I guess it didn't matter as he didn't place high enough to play me anyways.

Yeah, I don't even carry around either my Academy or Bargain decks around anymore. I haven't found any rulebreakers recently so there's no reason to teach anyone a lesson. Also, I played the Bargain deck against some guy for fun during states (between rounds mind you) and I scored a second turn kill. I promptly put the deck away and we played vintage the rest of the time.

Here's my updated build:

4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Island
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Muddle the Mixture (transmute for Oath)
4 Compulsive Research (great b/c i'm running 24 lands...)
1 Naturalize (Muddle the Mixture transmute target)
4 Duress
4 Oath of Druids
2 Gaea’s Blessing (running 2 copies b/c i've drawn one and Oathed all thhe way to the bottom of my deck before... with no Brainstorm to save me)
1 Akroma
1 Razia
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vamparic Tutor
1 Crop Rotation

mana curve:
1) 10
2) 16
3) 8

SB:
4 Darkblast (1 toughness creatures, replaces Duress)
2 Oxidize (artifacts like Pithing Needle, etc.)
2 Krosan Grip (more artirfact and enchanment removal)
2 Simic Sky Swallower (for Swords to Plowshares, etc.)
2 Blazing Archon (mono green or beats w/out removal)
2 Phantom Nishoba (sligh or goblins)
1 Crater Hellion (Trade Survival or anything w/annoying, hard to kill creatures)
 
This deck feels pretty complete to me. Any objections?

Here is my revised Ice Age Block Necrodeck:

Necro 2.0

The Core
4 Necropotence
4 Demoninc Consultation

Black Creatures
4 Knight of Stromgald
4 Stromgald Crusader
4 Phyrexian Ironfoot

Black Removal
4 Contagion

Mana
10 Snow Covered Swamp
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Tresserhorn Sinks
6 Snow Covered Mountain
4 Dark Ritual

Red Splash
4 Incinerate
4 Balduvian Horde

Sideboard Considerations
Skred
Icequake
Stone Rain
Icefall
Soul Burn
Anarchy
Pyroclasm
Dark Banishing
Dystopia
Stropmgald Cabal
Stench of Evil
Deathmark
Avalanche
Lava Burst

How do you think this compares to my classic Odyssey block U/G madness build?

U/G Madness 1.2

Mana
12 Island
10 Forsest
2 Tarnished Citadel

Creatures
4 Basing Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Aquamoeba
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Roar of the Wurm
3 Wonder

Card Manipulation
3 Quiet Speculation
2 Deep Analysis
4 Careful Study

Counters
4 Circular Logic

Sideboard
4 Standstill
4 StupifyingTouch
3 Turbulent Dreams
3 Ray of Revelation
1 Krosan Reclamation

I'm not quite sold on the Standstills. What match up do you bring them in against?

I disagree, I mean have you actually tried to build an Necroppotence Ice Age block deck? The creatures absolutely suck! Here's my current list:

mana
10 Swamp
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Tresserhorn Sinks
6 Mountain
4 Dark Ritual

the core
4 Necropotence
4 Demonic Consultation

creatures
4 Knight of Stromgald
4 Balduvian Hordes

creature removal
4 Contagion

land destruction
4 Icequake
4 Stone Rain
4 Icefall

other maindeck considerations/sidebaord options
Incinerate
Soul Burn
Anarchy
Pyroclasm
Dark Banishing
Dystopia
Stropmgald Cabal
Stench of Evil
Deathmark
Avalanche
Lava Burst

Can anyone else come up with a better Necro IBC deck? 'Cause i'm not too impressed by this one =(

Citadel is a great suggestion. I'm thinking of running 2. As far as monoblack goes, U/G appealed to me b/c it's the only block deck that i'm aware of (other than Deadguy Red) to be successful in both block constructed and legacy. OBC Monoblack would fall over and die to Rebels and Waters I think.

You're right on both accounts. Last night I switched from 12 islands/12 forests to 13 islands/11 forests. The only problem I see with this is the number 13 as I can be superstitous at times. Also the sideboard does in fact contain non Odyssey block cards even though the maindeck is purely Odyssey block (I didn't catch that.) Heres the new SB:

4 Stupeyfing Touch
3 Ray of Relevation
3 Turbelent Dreams
1 Krosan Reclamation
4 Standstill

This sideboard is basically the same as the last one only there's another Ray of Relevation and 4 Standstill. The only problem I have with Standstill is deciding what do you cut for it (probably 3 Quiet Speculation and 1 Wonder), what match-ups do you cut it for and is it worth it?

My local gaming store is holding a "Block Party" tourney on Saturday, November 11th. For those of you who don't know what that is, it means you can play any deck from any block constructed set (as long as you don't play the banned cards.) My current front runner is U/G Madness from the Odyssey/Torment/Judgement block. The way you play this deck is to put out a second turn clock in either Wild Mongrel or Aquamoeba then follow it up with by discarding other creatures to madness or flashing back cards (which Quiet Speculation helps out with.) Wonder let's all your guys fly over opposing blockers for the kill (or even allows you to block their flying creatures in the case of Skies or Waters.)

U/G Madness

lands
12 Island
12 Forest

Creatures
4 Aquamoeba
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
3 Wonder

Instants
4 Circular Logic

Sorceries
4 Careful Study
3 Quiet Speculation
2 Deep Analysis
4 Roar of the Wurm

Sideboard: taken from Peter Guevin's deck
http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=7806
3 Callous Oppressor
1 Ravenous Baloth
4 Stupefying Touch
1 Krosan Reclamatio
2 Ray Of Revelation
1 Deep Analysis
3 Turbulent Dreams

Not sure if I should maindeck a single Ray of Revelation main for Parallaw Wave/Rising Waters, other potential devestationing enchantments but what to cut for it?

Here's an explanation of my card choices:

Forests/Islands: Kind of a no brainer but i'm wondering if I should be running 13 Island/11 Forest instead of 12/12.

Aquamoeba/Wild Mongre/Careful Study: Madness/flashback outlet.

Arrogant Wurm/Basking Rootwalla: Still suprises attackers an an "flash" blocker.

Wonder: Gives all your guys flying, both to fly over their troops and to block their fliers as well w/your bigger creatures.

Circular Logic: The only countermagic cheap enough to make the cut (in block constructed.)

Quiet Speculation: Searches for Roar of the Wurm and Deep Analysis.

Deep Analysis: in case you are stuck on 2-3 lands.

Roar of the Wurm: The big fatty of the deck.

Sideboard card choices:

Callous Oppressor: Steals all but the most essential creatures.

Ravenous Baloth: For Burn.

Stupefying Touch: Great for the mirror or Nantuko Shade, or any other creature that has an annoying ability. And it's even a cantrip!

Krosan Reclamation: Quiet Specualtion target, but for what I dunno. Maybe opposing Deep Analysis/Roar of the Wurm?)

Ray Of Revelation: Enchantment destruction.

Deep Analysis: Another copy of a maindeck card

Turbulent Dreams Great way to return Wurms... out of the game!

Any help between now and Nov.11 would be appreciated thanks!

Duress is to help get Necro/Bargain on board. The alternative is to Will them from the graveyard if they're countered/destroyed but Duress costs only 1 black mana as opposed to Y.Will's 2B.

Academy ver.3.3

-3 Defense Grid
-1 Mind Over Matter
-2 Braingeyser

+4 Mind's Desire
+2 Cunning Wish

SB
2 Stroke of Genius

I feel sorta uneasy about not having any defense vs counters but everyone keeps talking about how broken Mind's Desire is, so i'll add them back in... for now. 

Academy ver.3.2

mana
4 tolarian academy
4 tropical island
1 polluted delta
1 flooded strand
1 windswept heath
1 wooded foothills
4 lotus petal
4 sol ring
4 mana crypt
4 mana vault
4 lion’s eye diamond
4 crop rotation
3 mind over matter

card drawing
4 memory jar
4 tinker
4 time spiral
4 windfall
2 braingeyser

counterspell hate
3 defense grid

misc. info
49 restricted cards/13 separate cards
16 colored mana
16 colorless mana
14 blue spells

Maybe i'm wrong but I just don't like Mind's Desire. Perhaps someone else can test it and post their results? What do you cut for it anyways?

Bargain ver.1.3

lands
8 Swamp

artifact mana
4 Mana Vault
4 Mana Crypt
4 Sol Ring
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox

instant mana
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual

card advantage
4 Necropotence
4 Yawgmoth's Bargain

tutors
4 Demonic Consultation
4 Demonic Tutor

finishers
4 Tendrils of Agony

counterspell hate
4 Duress

misc. info
36 restricted cards/9 seperate cards
16 black mana
20 colorless mana
32 black spells

I don't think the NecroBargain deck needs Y.Will (it's more for the Necro part than the Bargain I think) and Necro is mostly there to draw into Bargain. Duress is cheap and should be able to handle any counters you may face (and if they have more counter's than you can Duress, they'd probably just counter your Will, then you'd be out 3 mana instead of 1. I think Will is just for more consistency vs non-blue decks so you need Duress more as Force of Will is your worst nightmare here. All the deck needs is a single Tendril after going off w/Bargain for the win. And if you somehow don't suck 20+ life from them you'll most certainly draw into another Tendril/tutor for Tendril and the mana to cast it.

^ Thanks xycsoscyx.

Let me also take the time to revise my Bargain decklist:

Bargain ver. 1.2

-2 Duress
+1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
+1 Necropotence

The reasoning behind these changes are that I want more consistent goldfishing against decks not packing Force of Will, plus the extra Necro & Bargain should draw out counters anyways. And I still have 2 Duress (b/c I only run 2 Yawgmoth's Will as I almost never cast it.

Mind's Desire

And storm. Does each storm spell counts as a another spell that you need to counter or willl countering the card itself stop it's storm effect. Also for a storm card like Mind's Desire, when you reveal the top cards of your library, do you reveal more than 1 at a time (meaning you have to play them in order?) Or do you reveal them all at once. And since they're removed from the game, are they face up so they oponent can see what you have? What if you draw cards or shuffle your library? What happends to the Desired cards then? And at the end of turn, what happends to all the cards you revealed? Do they stay removed from the game, get placed on top of your library in a certain order, or get shuffled back into your library?

User received a verbal warning for this post.

-DA

Mind's Desire

And storm. Does each storm spell counts as a another spell that you need to counter or willl countering the card itself stop it's storm effect. Also for a storm card like Mind's Desire, when you reveal the top cards of your library, do you reveal more than 1 at a time (meaning you have to play them in order?) Or do you reveal them all at once. And since they're removed from the game, are they face up so they oponent can see what you have? What if you draw cards or shuffle your library? What happends to the Desired cards then? And at the end of turn, what happends to all the cards you revealed? Do they stay removed from the game, get placed on top of your library in a certain order, or get shuffled back into your library?

If this ins't the proper forum to ask this question, please lock this thread. Thanks.

My local gaming store once ran a "50 card theme deck" tournament where every single card (besides basic land) had to have the same word in it somehow (flavor text included.) There's were no restrictions besides the usual 4-of rule. Keep in mind this occured during Mirage block. Here's what I came up with:

Artifacts

6 island
6 plains
4 mishra's factory (needed more creatures, didn't think about strip mine though. it may have been better even though the majority went mono-colored)
4 sol ring
4 phyrexian war beast (with 2 sol rings, a first turn drop!)
4 yotian soldier (hate against goblins and the "first strike" red herring decklist I fed to a couple of opponents- it ran 1 toughness pump knights)
4 juggernaut (primary finisher)
4 serrated arrows (GREAT against goblins lol)
4 copy artifact (copies Serrated Arrows without counters on it and comes into play with 3 counters!)
4 enlightened tutor (grabs pretty much anything in my deck)
4 icy manipulator (taps creatures, lands or the following artifact...)
1 winter orb ( , actually, I rarely used it)
1 zuran orb (tutored for against goblins b/c of goblin gernade)

Highlights:
A week before the tourney, I gave my acquaintence a decklist of my second choice, a mono-white "first strike" decklist, under the guise to prevent him from wasting his time by competing. I knew he was running goblins and that he'd probably get overconfidant :lol: Turns out he did one better; he showed/playtested the deck I gave him w/my chief rival (who hasn't beaten me once to this day) who screwed himself by making a B/W first strike deck featuring 12 black and 12 white pump knights to hate on me! That idiot got mana screwed all day long LOL! (Trying to play second turn black and white knights with only basic lands? Come on!) Plus, he whined to the judge about my deck being too powerful but as I recieved the judge's approval a week earlier, there was nothing my "rival" could do about it!

The only decks I remember playing against were the aforementioned goblins, B/W first strike, and a minotaur deck. But there were at least 8 players. I never lost a single game

I built this deck right after Weatherlight came out for type II. I know Necro-Buried Alive and "Burnt Alive" decks were popular at worlds that year but I built my version w/out Necro and instead focused on Pox and Vamparic Tutor. I won a local store tournament with it

Buried Pox

mana
17 swamp
1 sheltered valley
4 quicksand (used mostly on the maindeck Warthogs this one dude tried to hate on me with)
4 dark ritual

creatures
4 ashen ghoul (recycles)
4 nether spirit (recycles)
4 abyssal gatekeeper (great w/pox)
1 krovikan horror (recycles)
1 necrosavant (recycles)

spells
4 buried alive (the heart and soul of the deck)
4 vamparic tutor (I believed in redundancy back then)
4 nevinrral's disk (combo's w/recyclable creatures)
4 pox (combo w/recyclable creatures and gatekeepers too)
2 stupor (additional discard)
2 serrated arrows (additional removal)

Sideboard (that I can remember)
4 dystopia (these used to be so popular)
4 stench of evil ( I could be mistaken here)
2 stupor
2 serrated arrows
2 forsaken wastes (against slower decks)
1 kaervek's spite (random desperation "I win" card)

Academy ver.3.1

-2 Braingeyser
-1 Mind Over Matter
-1 Defense Grid

+2 Mind's Desire
+2 Cunning Wish

SB
2 Stroke of Genius

I gotta test this out though i'm really starting to learn towards Bargain now as the uberdeck...

Bargain ver. 1.1

lands
8 Swamp

artifact mana
4 Mana Vault
4 Mana Crypt
4 Sol Ring
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox

instant mana
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual

card advantage
3 Necropotence (just in case you can't afford to play Bargain)
3 Yawgmoth's Bargain
2 Yawgmoth's Will (hardly used these, usually either killed w/the first Tendril or used the first Tendril to draw into a second copy.)

tutors
4 Demonic Consultation
4 Demonic Tutor

finishers
4 Tendrils of Agony

counterspell hate
4 Duress (may cut down to 2 to make space for a fourth Necro & Bargain)

Academy ver.3.0

mana
4 tolarian academy
4 tropical island
1 polluted delta
1 flooded strand
1 windswept heath
1 wooded foothills
4 lotus petal
4 sol ring
4 mana crypt
4 mana vault
4 lion’s eye diamond
4 crop rotation
3 mind over matter

card drawing
4 memory jar
4 tinker
4 time spiral
4 windfall
2 braingeyser

counterspell hate
3 defense grid

misc. info
49 restricted cards/13 separate cards
16 colored mana
16 colorless mana
14 blue spells

I'm playing this version b/c I still not quite sold on Mind's Desire yet. How does the storm mechanic for this card work anyway? Do you get to play all of the revealed cards or only the top card. And what happens when you reshuffle? Do you still get to play the unrevealed top cards? Also, I don't like splashing red/black for Burning Wish/Tendrils of Agony/Yawgmoth's Will b/c I took out the Mox Diamonds. And i'm playing Mind Over Matter b/c I like having lots of mana to Braingeyser my opponent out rather than Mind's Desiring for Cunning Wish for Stroke of Genius and hoping you have enough Crop Rotation mana to win.

Thanks go out to herbig for the idea of running a 2 color Academy deck.

Bargain ver.1.0

lands
8 Swamp

artifact mana
4 Mana Vault
4 Mana Crypt
4 Sol Ring
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox

instant mana
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual

card advantage
4 Yawgmoth's Bargain
4 Yawgmoth's Will

tutors
4 Demonic Consultation
4 Demonic Tutor

finishers
4 Tendrils of Agony

disruption
4 Duress

misc. info
36 restricted cards/9 seperate cards
16 black mana
20 colorless mana
32 black spells

I goldfished 10 games with this deck and I got: 5) turn 3 kills, 3) turn 2 kills and 2) turn 1 kills! It plays exactly like the Bargain/NecroDonate decks of old. Step 1, get Bargain into play. Step 2, draw cards and win! Bargain seems a lot more consistent (though potentially weaker vs counters) than Academy.

Props go to Evenpence for the original decklist.

I never said I had to win all the time or that I would play broken decks all the time. I just want the respect in my group that I feel I deserve for the dues that i've paid in high level competition. I mean there's this guy who pretty much wins at every single fighting game we play but sometimes he messes around or gives himself handicaps and that how I see myself (MTG-wise) in the group. I don't gotta win all the time but everyone knows that I CAN win whenever i'm serious. I also don't want to discredit tournament players or make a fool of myself for stating that I used to play in tournaments by losing more thyan a few times.

I know that not every deck that breaks vintage rules by playing multiple copies of restircted cards are guaranteed to be broken but I still find the breaking of the rules to be an unfair advantage. I know there are shades of grey but the bottom line is everyone who plays something like 4 demonic tutor to make their deck more consistent also wants to wins more than s/he would otherwise. Therfore, they are willing to bend the rules in their favor to have more "fun" or as the bottom line would state: to win more.

In the end, isn't winning the untimate goal of any game? No one truly enjoys losing (although i'm willing to put up with it in order to learn and become a better play so I can win more down the line.) Even people who claim they only play for "fun" have their fair share of wins among their friends or else they would quit. And those who would bend the rules "for fun" are really only trying to win more. Why? Because winning is fun. Bottom line.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't support winning at all costs (cheating, unfair deck advantage, etc) but i'm willing and usually out there (these days as I plan to compete again since the prerelease weekend) to playtest decks from the same league (legacy for me.) Will I try my best to get the best cards for the best decks possible? Yes. But i'll also lend my opponents a deck of their choice if they don't have one they feel comfortable playing with. And I lend decks often.

Here's a vintage academy deck I found on an article about a year ago :

Neo-Academy
Type 1 - Matt D'Avanzo

11 land
4 city of brass
4 gemstone mine
1 tolarain academy
2 undiscovered paradise

49 spells
2 abeyance (i already run defense grid)
1 ancestral recall
1 black lotus
1 braingeyser (only one, this must be old)
2 candleabra of tawnos
1 capsize
1 crop rotation
1 demonic tutor
1 fastbond (almost a crop rotation I guess)
4 force of will (i run defense grid so no counters in my build)
1 frantic search
1 grim monolith
4 helm of awakening (non-bo w/defense grid)
4 impulse
1 lotus petal
1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
4 meditate (i ran this in my first academy deck a looooooooong time ago...)
1 mind over matter (he still ran this even w/the infinite candleabra/capsize/helm combo)
1 mox diamond
5 regualar moxen
1 mystical tutor
1 regrowth
1 sol ring
1 stroke of genius
1 time spiral
1 time walk
1 timetwister
1 vamparic tutor
1 wheel of fortune
1 windfall

Note in his build that even though he has access to the Lion's Eye Diamond, Tinker and/or Memory Jar, he doesn't run them. As I explained earlier, I don't think they optimal either. In fact, seeing the cards he runs over those 3 (Grim Monolith over Lion's Eye Diamond, Impulse/Meditate over Tinker/Memory Jar) leads me to believe that Lion's Eye Diamond, Tinker and Memory Jar are all overrated. Also winning by Colossus seems very janky in this sort of deck. I'd much rather have a win condition that is useful for my own deck development (Braingeyser.) I do appreciate your feedback however, thanks.

What's that new bounce spell called?

The only safe way to filter a Lion's Eye Diamond is to call blue for Windfall, Tinker, or Memory Jar itself. So I guess if you're all tapped out of non-blue mana (and no one else here likes Mox Diamond or Forbidden Orchard so it's a definate possibility), you're S.O.L. if you draw a Wheel for Fortune, Demonic Tutor or Crop Rotation.