What would be good in the Anathemancer slot? Negator?

Just thought I'd post my latest attempt at a relatively inexpensive Vintage Deck. Of course the important part with this deck when playing it in a fully powered metagame is to get down Null Rod and Pithing Needle (naming Vault/Key) as soon as possible and hope the other guy doesn't have bounce with Force backup.

Artifact:6
3 Null Rod
3 Pithing Needle

Red:10
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Plated Geopede
3 Price of Progress

Green:11
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Lotus Cobra

Gold:3
3 Anathemancer

Black:8
4 Dark Confidant
4 Thoughtsieze

Land:20
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Taiga
2 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Forest

The rest of the deck is based around the idea that you actually can have decent Acceleration without power. SSG and ESG combined with Lotus Cobra Make it entirely possible to empty your hand quickly without worrying about Null Rod. Anathemancer and POP just strike me as the best deal you can get right now for the mana against decks packing a full set of dual lands. Geopede can deal 5 damage on turn two. That's right on par for Vintage in terms of cost/damage ratio. And Dark Confidant is just busted to begin with. A Land and Spirit Guide are all this deck really needs to make a decent creature or Thoughtsieze/Pithing Needle the other guy. That should at least buy you a couple of turns. The Sideboard would I guess try to deal with Oath, Dredge, and Storm...

Sideboard
3 Keeper of Malakir
4 Simplify
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Duress

Hmm...Not sure I really have much that beats Storm...Oh, Well...

Here's a comboish build I've been working on that wins with Brain Freeze and abuses Words of Wind to bounce their entire side of the board...

Artifact:7
5 Moxen
1 Lotus
1 Mana Crypt

Blue:19
1 Brain Freeze
4 Force of Will
4 Mind Over Matter
4 Words of Wind
4 Mystic Remora
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:17
4 Enchantress's Prescence
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Sylvan Library
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Fastbond

Land:17
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
3 Forest
2 Island

Once you get MOM and Library you should be able to draw your entire libary...If you can't win past that point you're in pretty bad  shape ...

So here's the version I'm currently testing...I cut out white entirely in order to make the mana a bit better...

Artifact:6
3 Null Rod
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus

Blue:8
3 Back to Basics
3 Arcane Lab
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:24
3 Words of Wilding
3 Enchantress's Prescence
4 Argothian Enchantress
3 City of Solitude
3 Ground Seal
3 Root Maze
4 Exploration
1 Fastbond

Land:22
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
10 Forest
4 Island

Since people don't play much enchantment hate to begin with I like my odds against a random field....

I've been thinking it was about time to bring back replenish as a viable deck in type one since it's now possible to win by bringing back Sanguine Bond followed by Illusions of Grandeur FTW. Kind of like trix...

Artifact:5
4 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus

Black:16
4 Sanguine Bond
4 Entomb
2 Raven's Crime
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal

Blue:7
4 Illusions of Grandeur
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:9
4 Life from the Loam
4 Crop Rotation
1 Fastbond

Split:1
1 Worm Harvest

White:4
4 Replenish

Land:20
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Strip Mine
1 Urborg
1 Riftstone Portal
4 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Underground Sea
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand

So yeah, it's a replenish/Bazaar based Life from the Loam deck with Worm Harvest as an alternate late game win condition...Funny stuff...Raven's Crime is also quite wrong against traditinal control though possibly a bit slow for the format if combo is prevalent...Thoughts?

Another route the deck could take would be to run each hoser as a single copy and use a lot of draw power to get them. Here's a bit of a diferrent version...

Artifact:8
5 Moxen
1 Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt

Blue:8
1 Back to Basics
1 Energy Flux
4 Mystic Remora
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:20
1 Words of Wilding
4 Enchantresses Presence
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Sylvan Library
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 City of Solitude
1 Ground Seal
1 Fastbond

White:8
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Rule of Law
1 Aura of Silence
1 Sacred Ground
4 Enlightened Tutor

Land:16
4 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Savannah

Maybe this version would work better but I think I should probably add another win condition or two...I was also thinking about building a better enchantress combo and decided that it should involve Time Spiral with the various Enchant Land spells out there and Serra's Sanctum to generate Sick amounts of mana...

Artifact:1
1 Lotus

Blue:30
4 Cloud of Fairies
4 Snap
1 Brain Freeze
4 Time Spiral
4 Braingeyser
1 Cunning Wish
4 Force of Will
4 Mind Over Matter
1 Time Twister
1 Frantic Search
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:13
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Exploration
1 Fastbond

Land:16
1 Library of Alexandria (With MOM and Library you can draw your entire deck BTW if you're holding eight cards and proceed to discard one to un-tap Library)
2 Serra's Sanctum
4 Tropical Island
4 Breeding Pool
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand

I want to get Sylvan Library in here somehow but want to make sure that my first priority is having a card that hoses every tier one deck out there and having multiple copies of said hose to ensure that I have a good chance of drawing it in my opening hand and I can use Enlightened Tutor to go get enchantress's prescence or Words of Wilding...

So the purpose of this deck is to function similarly to Stax setting up a hard lock with Root Maze/Back to Basics/Energy Flux that deprives the opponent of mana. Solitary Confinement and Rule of Law both play a role in shutting down combo assuming you can get to three mana which can be a pretty daunting task sometimes which is why I'm running
Moxen and a Lotus and will probably cut Wild Growth to include Sol Ring and Mana Crypt and possibly even a full set of off color moxes. I really wanted to abuse Null Rod as well but the Back to Basics/Root Maze lock makes the mana a bit tenuous on my side as well. Ground Seal sucks against Will but shuts down Ichorid cold as soon as it hits the board. The decks I want to beat are basically Ichorid, Mana Drain, Storm, Stax, and Selkie Fish. I'll devote three slots per archetype in my sideboard but I also want to have a card that makes their lives difficult main as well. I also really want to play Mystic Remora but it's tough to find space with all the hate...Please note I'm not trying to build combo enchantress as it's way to slow to compete with the other decks out there. I'm pretty sure that WOW is the best win condition I can find but I also like the idea of Opalescence...

So I wanted to build a competitive enchantress variant in vintage since WOTC unrestricted Enlightened Tutor. I really like the idea that one can go snatch any artifact or enchantment to hose a given archetype. Here's what I've got so far. Tell me what you think....

Artifact:4
1 Black Lotus
3 Moxen (UWG)

Blue:8
3 Back to Basics
3 Energy Flux
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Green:22
3 Words of Wilding
3 Enchantresses Prescence
3 City of Solitude
3 Ground Seal
3 Root Maze
3 Utopia Sprawl
3 Wild Growth
1 Fastbond

White:10
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Rule of Law
4 Enlightened Tutor

Land:16
4 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Savannah

So there's something for everybody with the possibility of even more hate in game two. Basically what you want to do is get Root Maze and Back to Basics in play to shut down their mana base followed by Energy Flux to finish the job. Ground Seal does a good job of shutting down Ichorid even though it's not great against Will. Rule of Law, however is excellent against both Will based decks and Tendrils (Which are both generally the same thing). City of Solitude rounds out the hatred and exists to make decks with FOW and Mana Drain cry. The best win condition I could come up with is Word of wilding in terms of Casting Cost and effect. It's generally a good idea to go get basic land early so it's possible to set up BTB Root Maze. I'll post a sideboard later.

In spite of the fact that it fails miserable against Null Rod I think this deck could be a fun surprise if built correctly. To review, you sacrifice Sword to Foundry generating a token which in turn brings back the sword generating five artifacts for the Time Sieve without any net loss of permanents. I also tried using Myr Servitor and Artificier's Intuition but it was way too clunky and slow. This still requires at least three cards and five mana so it might still be a bit slow but it seems like a neat rogue deck anyway.

Artifact:25
1 Inkwell Leviathan
4 Thopter Foundry
4 Sword of the Meek
4 Time Sieve
4 Sensei's Divining Top
5 Moxen
1 Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt

Black:6
2 Thought Seize
1 Yawgmoth's Wil
1 Demonic tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal

Blue:12
4 Force of Will
2 Repeal
1 Tinker
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder

White:2
2 Enlightened Tutor

Land:15
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Underground Sea
4 Tundra
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand

So you've got plenty of search, a touch of disruption, a way to remove Null Rod, and a relatively stable mana-base. I plan on testing this but can't see it being better than tier two.
There's no real reason to play this over Tezerret and you could probably even add that combo in here also. I just though I'd put this out there to add to the overall discussion...

Vise is essentially a bad lightning Bolt. It doesn't do much damage on average but can be good when you draw and play it early in multiples. Aside from that it's just there to sack to Shrapnel Blast. Chalice is Good also but fitting it in is difficult at this point. One idea I was pondering was adding Winter Orb and Null Rod to further the Black Vise/POP/Mancer plan...Here's my latest version...

Artifact:14
4 Ankh of Mishra
3 Winter Orb
3 Null Rod
4 Black Vise

Black:7
3 Phyrexian Negator
4 Dark Ritual

Gold:3
3 Anathemancer

Red:16
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Fireblast
4 Price of Progress
4 Shrapnel Blast

Land:20
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Badlands
12 Mountain

The more I go in the mana denial direction the more I want Fireblast...Thoughts?

Edit: Cut a few cards to add Fireblast as it's just too good not to include in a deck that stays tapped out regularly. What's the best card to punish a Tez player aside from Null Rod?
I want something that will make them feel pain...Here's my sideboard for a meta that I assume will have a lot of Tezzerret  and combo...

3 Pyroblast (This is the best solution I can think of offhand against Inkwell Leviathan. The best way I can stop it is to Pyroblast Tinker)
3 Thoughtsieze (Also good against decks that have crazy stuff they want to cast early)
3 Deathmark (Kills Goyf and other fish creatures)
3 Mogg Fanatic (Versus Ichorid)
3 Leyline of the Void (Versus Ichorid)

So that's about it...I really want Green in here but want to stick to the Mancer/POP plan as I think it can take me a long way if used correctly...I think Shockwave's comment is probably true and I'd really like to figure out how this deck can reach the next level beyond just a budget deck and win tournaments...

The premise behind this deck is pretty simple really. It's designed to take advantage of the fact that a BR deck has access to both Price of Progress and Anathemancer against a given type one environment. While this doesn't guarantee a win by any stretch of the imagination it's certainly worth testing...

Artifact:14
4 Ankh of Mishra
4 Black Vise (I run this because I can sack it to Shrapnel Blast and it also forces the opponent to play lands setting up Anathemancer and POP)
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ruby
1 Jet
1 Lotus

Black:4
4 Dark Confidant

Gold:4
4 Anathemancer

Red:24
4 Price of Progress
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Fork
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt

Land:14
4 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain

So there you have it, burn. Not much to it really, burn face and win. Any deck that can walk into a tournament with 4 POP and 4 Anathemancers ought to be able to win a few games by surprize if nothing else (Not that it's particularly surprising that someone would run said deck). The important part is timing. Fork+POP can pretty much kill the other guy any time they blink and Mancer's Unearth ability combined with his relatively cheap cost to effect ratio make him also quite good IMHO. It's also relatively inexpensive as well in terms of cards that an average player can afford. The key is not to play mancer or POP too early. They should be the last cards played unless a race is on. The only really unnecessary card that I'm not sure about is Fork as it's a horrible late game top deck without anything already in hand and also poor with Anathemancer. I may add Fireblast as it tends to be a staple in any Burn deck that can run it but it's not always very good against Drain or Misdirection and I've only got 14 lands. Other than that I'm pretty happy with this build thus far and look forward to burning people out with it. I'll post a sideboard whenever I decide what would be worth replacing. I could probably safely cut top as well but it's really important to be able to cast Shrapnel blast every time I draw it....

Do you think this list needs white for Wild Nacatal, STP, Ethersworn Canonist, and Gaddock Teeg? Kind of more like three deuce from the Trix era? I'm sure that the RG list functions fine but white really rounds out the overall theme of the deck with some really powerful cards.

The Sui black lists I've seen in Legacy all play Tarmogoyf and Tombstalker with Pernicious Deed. Goyf seems necessary in this archetype as a secondary threat to replace either Negator or Shade or a disruption card...

Artifact:8
4 Null Rod
2 Moxen
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus

Black:24
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Dark Confidant
4 Hymn to Tourach/Thoughtsieze
4 Duress
4 Dark Ritual
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal

Gold:4
4 Pernicious Deed

Green:4
4 Tarmogoyf

Land:20
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
4 Bayou
1 Overgrown Tomb
5 Swamp

I hear Tombstalker is quite good also but it has bad synergy with Confidant and Goyf. Love Suiblack as an archetype. Definitely need a set of Null Rods MD. Great article. The deck has come a long way since using Flesh reaver, now it has a surplus of good cards available. I think some guy had an article on a deck he calls Eva Green in Legacy that splashed green for Goyf and Deed.

HI, couldn't this deck win in a more comboish fashion? Maybe Painter/Grindstone? Since you're running red anyway you could play pyroblast to help versus drain decks and whatnot...

That's pretty ill. Intuition/Goyf would work well without demigod. Inution for recoup/Timewalk/Ancestrall is pretty wrong or LFTL/Library/whatever...is quite good. Inuition is actually more broken than Gifts as it can do more in terms of versatility...

Could you post your Springtide list? Here's my latest High Tide list. Right now I'm testing four Tops and Thirst for Knowledge as pre-spiral search. The Top obviously works well with the 10-12 fetchlands I feel that the deck should run. Orim's Chant is definitely a viable option as well...

Artifact:12
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus

Black:4
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal

Blue:20
1 Brain Freeze
4 Time Spiral
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Force of Will
4 High Tide
1 Ancestral
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm

Green:1
1 Fastbond

Land:23
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Windswept Heath
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Island

So things get gradually more streamlined and power based. Having extra Island is great but TFK/Top/Fetchland/Moxen helps the deck function much more smoothly on it's way to finding Fastbond and going infinite...FOW is about the only disruption I can fit in here but Counterbalance almost seems doable...I want to go with a Transformational sideboard with Goyfs and Negators...Like I said I'd love to see that legacy Springtide list...This deck has a more classic combo feel to it than the average Storm based Tendrils deck...Combo gets boring to me fast but if I was going to play it this would be one viable list...How good is Brainfreeze as a win condition??? Would Tendrils be better?

That's the idea after you cast the first High Tide/Time Spiral. You need four land to go off. 1 for High Tide and then three for Time Spiral. You can do this without Fastbond but the idea in the first three turns is to find Fastbond in order to accelerate into the afore-mentioned game state after which you should be able to keep rolling indefinintely. I'm not sure about Summer Bloom, wouldn't exploration be better or is the one turn bonus offered by Summer Bloom that good?

Like I said the early game for this deck pretty much consists of finding Fastbond as quickly as possible. Once that you find Timetwister (If you're not already holding it) and you go off. I recently added Intuition Accumulated Knowledge and it's been working pretty well, you can also Intuition for Time Spiral and then reshuffle the other two Spirals back into your deck....Here's my latest list...

Artifact:2
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Black Lotus


Black:9
1 Tendrils
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
3 Thoughtsieze

Blue:25
1 Brain Freeze
4 Time Spiral
4 Force of WIll
4 High Tide
1 Pact of Negation
1 Timetwister
2 Inuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Gush
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestrall

Green:1
1 Fastbond

Land:24
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
6 Island

Gush is actually great in this deck with Fastbond in play (duh). I cut Mana Drain but some sort of extra disruption may still be necessary...

I think fastbond is the card that makes the deck competitive. Without drawing it in the first 3 turns your chances of victory are a bit more limited hence the combo/control route as opposed to Straight gas.

So High Tide should be viable again as a combo/control deck with 4 Time Spirals available to facilitate a massive turn with High Tide and Fastbond to get to the desired game state as quickly as possible...

Artifact:2
1 Black Lotus
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Black:10
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
4 Thoughtseize

Blue:26
1 Brain Freeze
1 Cunning Wish
4 Time Spiral
1 Mind's Desire
4 High Tide
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Pact of Negation
1 Gush
1 Frantic Search
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm

Green:1
1 Fastbond

Land:21
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Island
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool

The inlusion of Mana Drain is probably a good idea as well but I don't want anything clogging up my hand when I go off with Fastbond/Time Spiral/ High Tide. I chose extra Islands over moxen because the deck is based around High Tide and drawing a mox instead of Land is bad post Time Spiral. I guess Exploration might be an option as well but I didn't think it was necessary when the only card this deck really wants is Fastbond. This deck should typically go off turn 4-6 while disrupting the opponent with Thoughtsieze, Mana Drain, and FOW. I guess it's a lot like Drain Tendrils but a bit more controlling...Is anyone considering anything similar? Thoughts?

Yeah, scrap Kird Ape for Wasteland...and root maze for Mox Monkie...

I feel like I can compete with TPS if I get an early Rider, Thorn, and/or Teeg...It will always be a tough matchup regardless of what you play...It's TPS.

You're probably right but I'm going to test it anyway...What do you think of Mox Monkie? I would rather play an additional hate card before skullclamp but that's one more idea worth testing...

Hi, which game do you play? I'm just trying to build a deck that wins along the same lines as TMWA. This would do fine against most of the decks out there even if it didn't overpower them it offers enough disruption to make beatdown a possibility. I think adding Wasteland and Magus of the Moon would probably be better than Bolts and Taste for Mayhem though maybe Root Maze would be good also...

Artifact:7
3 Thorn of Amtheyst
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus

Gold:3
3 Gaddock Teeg

Green:8
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Root Maze

Red:11
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic

Split:4
4 Figure of Destiny

White:10
3 Glowrider
3 Kataki
4 Jhotun Grunt

Land:17
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
4 Taiga
1 Savannah
1 Plateau
1 Plains
1 Forest

The deck is still evolving but beats are secondary to disruption....Which is better? Aven Mindcensor or Glowrider? I think glowrider but that's certainly open for discussion. Is Mindcensor still good in a post Brainstorm/Fetchland environment? If not I like Glowrider and I'll probably add Thorn of Amtheyst also...I'm playing Ancient Tomb main so I can accelerate into an early Thorn followed by Glowrider. If that doesn't put a crimp in someone's plans then nothing will...Maybe Mogg Fanatic would be better versus Ichorid as well...I feel pretty good about Grunt and Teeg helping things in that matchup...I checked out the TMWA threads and there are some great ideas there as well...How good is Figure of Destiny in Vintage? It seems like a pretty good late game card to me (Assuming there ever is a late game...). BTW people that don't know anything about a deck or how it works shouldn't talk. The initial version of this deck did need work but I wonder if the same people that dismissed my idea out of hand would have anything positive to say when it does end up winning (like the three deuce variants I saw winning in Europe on Morphling.de)? 

So it seems that Wizards is making some pretty scary critters for us beatdown players....

Gold:3
3 Gaddock Teeg

Green:4
4 Tarmogoyf

Red:16
4 Kird Ape
4 Taste of Mayhem (Bloodthirst is this deck's natural state anyway so this card is better than Rancor in terms of cost/damage ratio...)
4 Chain Lighning
4 Lightning Bolt

Split:4
4 Figure of Destiny

White:13
3 Jhotun Grunt
3 Kataki
3 Isamaru
4 Savannah Lion

Land:20
4 Taiga
4 Savannah
4 Plateau
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Moxen
1 Lotus

I eschewed power in this deck in favor of more creatures and Dual Lands but you could put a few moxen in and speed things up. The idea is to beatdown efficiently while disrupting their game with Kataki, Grunt, and Teeg....The deck is simple but should hold it's own by virtue of efficency and nasty hate....I'll post a sideboard alter...There's no reason not to run RGW of you're playing a beatdown deck right now...

So you're playing a deck in a meta game with Brainstorm/fetchland? If you can play Brainstorm/Ponder/Gush/Fastbond/Tendrils/ETW then you should play the best deck in the format and stop trying to create a pile that will inevitably sit there while the player with the good deck kills you on turn three... But for what it's worth I think your build is as good of a red based hate deck that I've seen. Good luck...

The lack of power is mostly theoretical at this point but could be further negated by Ancient Tomb. My idea is still a bit rough but what I want to accomplish is a colored hate/lock deck that isn't based around Workshop. Lumberjack serves multiple purposes here including but not limited to his synergy with thorn and Root Maze. It looks like the original post was something more akin to Ankh-Sligh which makes me wonder about whether or not the deck would benefit from Price of Progress and Shrapnel Blast/Atog instead of Ghost Quarter which can be useless against a prepared deckbuilder. If you want to kill them with extreme prejudice then Shrapnel Blast and POP would be better than Wasteland and Strip Mine unless there's a particular land that isn't already shut down by Root Maze that you really need to kill. BTW Masta love your pic (Achoo) hee hee...a lot. It's not gay at all. Well, except for the fact that you're using fucking pickachu as something you use to identify yourself. I think you should spend as much time as you need writing down your life story and then go show it to Jack Kevorkian, he'd probably be real interested in it and could help you do what's right for the rest of humanity.

Toodles,
BAK 

What exactly made you think that posting this was a good idea?  Full Warning for violation of Rule 2, Inflammatory Posting.  -DA

Have you considered Orcish Lumberjack? He's an overlooked card that I used in a similar deck that was supposed to be a budget stax variant. Here's my take on what (I think) you're going for...

Artifact:19
4 Black Vise
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Null Rod
4 Thorn of Amtheyst
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere

Green:8
2 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Root Maze

Red:14
2 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Orcish Lumberjack
4 Goblin Welder

Land:17
4 Mishra's factory
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Taiga
3 Wooded foothills
1 Forest

You can recur Tangle Wire and such with Welder and forests with Crucible for Stupidness with Waste/Strip or an extra Lotus every turn (even with Root Maze in play). Lumberjack deserves serious consideration in a deck with Thorn and Root Maze...

You could basically rename this deck Trix if you add kokusho replacing Hellkite...

Artifact:8
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Chrome Mox

Black:8
4 Kokusho
4 Thoughtsieze

Blue:12
4 Pact of Negation
4 Ponder
4 Sleight of Hand

Red:12
4 Dragonstorm
4 Seething Song
4 Rite of Flame

Land:20
4 Steam Vents
4 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 B/R Storage Lands

So it seems like a viable deck as long as you can hardcast Kokusho and Protect him if you get a bad draw...