As stated before the "dragon" in dragon represents a 7/7 flying RED [/u]creature.  Yes, World Gorger Dragon is in fact a red card and thus the deck is no longer monochromatic.

Other than that I really don't think there are any reasons to play Chalice Black over Dragon

the best deck I ever played was a R/W repercussion deck with crater hellions and furnace of rath and remembrance???? (I am not sure what I was thinking)  it also played flicker and some other cool stuff that was rare along with Aether Charge.

My very first deck was stompy-esque with boas and orges and elephants and, get this, blosoming wreath.  That was tech against burn decks and black decks with 100 creature removal spells.  I also played the harvest wurm and elves (birds had no power, so they were obviously inferior).  

I tried to splash colors, but that was a mistake;  especially black (for swamp walk).

Lifeline is a really awesome card, even with it's stupid errata that makes it kinda symetrical.  I have designed this deck for a true "casual" experience.  I don't expect any real permission decks or any other not very fun decks.  Without any more blabbering here is the list, things I like and problems I have encounterred.

the Circle of Life

Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Soul Warden
4 Mogg Fanatic
3 Voidmage Prodigy
3 Ravenous Baloth
4 Raven Familiar
3 Phyrexian Plaguelord
2 Viridian Zealot

Accelerators
4 Dark Ritual
4 Show and Tell

Lifelines
4 Lifeline

Lands
4 City of Brass
4 Thran Quarry
3 Grand Coliseum
3 High Market
4 Island
3 Swamp

I like this deck a lot for 4 main reasons
1) The draw engine, raven familiar and high market/plaguelord, is so much fun.  Once it gets going it can be insane.
2) This deck plays alittle bit like reaplace did in that it combos out, but not without player interaction.  A good call for casual.
3) It  has lots of answers that are permanent and double as threats, therefore it can be reactive and agressive at the same time.
4) It is five colors of fun that performs well in multiplayer and one on one.

I dislike the deck for four other reasons that I hope you all can help fix
1) the mana base is really shaky.  It needs all five colors over the course of a game.
2) I don't always get the creatures I want. I am considering adding Survival or living wish and a toolbox sideboard to fix this, any suggestions?
3) The Plaguelords are inefficient in killing other creatures but allow me to use rituals that would otherwise be dead/ get my draw engine moving.  I like Duplicants in their spots, but then I need another lifeline enabler.  any suggestions?
4) The voidmages are a little slow for my taste.  Are there any better, cheaper counter creatures?

thanks for your help.

The deck might run smoother if you ran 2-3 workshop in a more usual version of landstill and treated them as if they were rituals.  They could power out disks and maybe an early or late game threat, like a triskelion or juggernaut.  They would improve the aggro match for landstill and running 2 wouldn't effect your colored mana development.

Just a thought.

I am having a hard time taking the arguments in support of this deck serously.  There haven't been enough games posted without at least one power card in the opening hand to really illustrate the deck's actual capabilities.  And if the answer to that is "I mulligan ALOT to find what I need," then where are the hands that consist of less than seven cards.  Is it really necesary to snap at any negative comment?  I am skeptical because the deck isn't nearly as consistent as your results (and math) show.  Maybe the results are accurate, but they are too few and too perfect for my liking.  Maybe it's just me, but there isn't enough evidence to support your argument.

Now to stray away from all the arguing...  

I like the deck, it has potential, ect.  

If you really do mulligan alot maybe serum powder is an option???  I am not sure how much the deck needs it, but when I have goldfished with it I rarely see a sufficient amount of acceleration.  I would be happy to play the deck with 7 less cards, even if  some are important if it could allow me to win more.  the powders would also allow you to dig more in tough matches games two and three so you can find the sideboarded cards.  

it may be unconventional, but that would match the deck, no?

I hope I see some flying men.  That would be so awesome I wouldn't mind getting my ass kicked.  Not that my ass wouldn't be kicked anyway (my 32 points last 3cb were pretty awesome,) I just would apreciate it if the flying men did it.

it may be useless somtimes, but back to basics could be a monster in this format.  

Can man lands be targeted by creature removal with these rules?

that would be a good idea, then I could cut the white and add ports for a really solid mana base.  This is way cooler because of alot the little masques on the cards.  Would this possible be able to run tangle wire as well?

I think this is becoming a much better deck, I haven't tested the new ideas out yet, but they seem good (and they eliminate white.)  And if it doesn't get better it is gaining brownie points.

Does anyone think that a land destruction format would be fun?  Blue is probably the worst color, but it has counters to make up for that.  I think that a LD pentagram game would be kinda cool.  Any input?

the cutpurses are an interesting idea, but imo they lack synergy with the "LD"component of the deck.  If things go according to plan they will have lots of mana open, only they can't use it to cast their spell.  so in theory cutpuses would just be 1/1's for three mana.  on the same note I did test spiketail hatchlings instead of the mages, but my opponents had open blue mana.  Maybe the cutpurses will work, I'll have to try them.

as for the ports/wastes/strip they go against the decks philosophy as well.  the deck is designed to gain a tempo advantage by investing 1-2 mana to turn an opponent's land into a blasted landscape.  the ports cost me 2 mana to deny my opponent access to 1.  they also are a colorless source, and seeing as I plan on only using the first 5 sources I find they mana screw me more than my opponent.  I did test them once upon a time, but haven't missed them one bit.  The strips are just a bad idea, the have no synergy with limited resources and cause problems in the mana base.

thanks for the replies so far, do you guys think a disenchant or two is a good addition?  I thought about seal since it fits into the tempo game this deck attemps to play.

For about a year now I have been building a version of ponza, that is blue!!!!  As the friday night magic community in my area began to die down after the rath cycle rotated out of type two there were a few of us who insisted on playing - even if it meant playing with masques block. One of the fun loving guys chose to play land destruction of any color (except blue because "blue is for wusses" according to him.")  

I tried and tried to make a solid blue LD deck (well kinda, if you consider turning lands into islands or mountains), but gave  up because of my poor deckbuilding skills, and losing to a combo carnival of souls deck.  

About a year ago I pulled out a commons box and found my not so beautiful, janky blue deck.  I interperated this as a message from god to make finish the deck in honor of Michael (notice how his name and Masques start with the same letter, I bet he felt partially responsible for that awful time in L.A magic) from Glendale High (who is more dead to me now than his dead mother since I haven't seen him for...ever.)

So without anymore of this pointless story I give you BLUE PONZA FOR MICHAEL (with a white splash)

the best LD blue has to offer:
4 Sea's Claim
4 Phantasmal Terrain
4 Psychic Venom
3 Limited Resources (not blue, but then again the rest of these don't really destroy lands.)

other control
3 Waterfront Bouncer (masques)
3 Meddling Mage
4 Counterspell (masques)
3 Foil (masques block)

draw
4 Accumulated Knowledge (masques block)
4 Brainstorm (you guessed it, masques for Michael)

land
4 Flooded Strand
4 Faerie Conclave
4 Plains (if tundra was in masques I would use that in these spaces, do what you want)
12 Island

Sideboard
4 Gainsay
3 Submerge
2 Hibernation
3 Light of Day
3 Chill

I know that the LD component looks like it flat out sucks, but if you can draw 3 of the 15 cards, including a limited resources, it is possible to keep an opponent out of a color (stupid 5 color carnival of souls) or limit the on-color mana your opponent has access to so that the bouncers can control the board.  Actually now that I think about it this is what the deck is designed to do; gain board control via tampering with your opponent's mana then lay the conclave/mage beats. I know counters suck the fun out of the game, but it is the only option this deck has, except losing.

Non-land, mana-producing permanents are a real hassle for this deck, that is why my sideboard packs an answer to green deck, and more specifically elves.  Submerge is an all star in the random elf matchup, or against survival mask variants (yeah, I have seen them whipped out occasionally for a casual game or two.)  Speaking of the sideboard it has an answer for every color that can be faster, or better, than this deck(yes I did just diss white.)  It beats up black, green, and red, while Gainsay allows this deck to take control against bigger, clunkier blue decks with bad mana curves.

Anyway, any comments, questions, or general disscusion shall be entertained on this thread because this deck really does rock the masques block, Micheal this one is for you.

Proxies are a good thing, but too many can be bad.  I am relatively new to type 1, I guess it has been about 1 year now, and the prices have jumped so much that I fear I may never complete my set of power.  The five proxy rule is outdated.  It was a good rule a year ago when I bought my masks for $30 each but now everything is so much more expensive I think the limit should be increased to nine or ten.

On the same note I don't think that the limit should ever exceed ten possible proxies.  With ten proxies you can run almost anydeck and, more importantly, be competitive.  With ten proxies there is still insentive for new players to invest in type one.  Ten proxies also would cause new players to develope a connection to type one by lowering the entrance fee, but not eliminating it.  The feeling of playing with a real black lotus or set of drains is addictive, and will pull people into the format permanently.  The bond that investing in bigger cards creates between the individual player and the format is what makes type one so great, without it the community would be weakened and in constant flux, having people join then quit (like type two when urza's block rotated out) then pick it up whenever they feel like it.  Making vintage the same as any other format, just cooler of course .

I've been testing strips too.  They have been great so far.

Since aggro is so big right now, I cut the necropotence, the will, 1 hymn and 2 swamps.   I have never been able to comfortably use the necro against aggro.  To me necro and 4 spoils are just too much life loss to both be used to their full potencial, thus I cut the necro in an attempt to streamline the deck.

@ Clown of Tresserhorn - isn't the grid monitor too much mana? 4 mana is not only hard to achieve consistently on turn 1 or 2, but it seems like you could use the mana more effieciently by setting up a dreadnought or disrupting your opponent.  Although I am not very fond of the negators in the current enviroment, I am not sure there is a good replacement at 3 mana.

This card also seems like it would be a nice addition to any slavery deck, it would allow you to set up so easily.  Too bad it makes your welders cost three.

Trinisphere is a beast when it hits in the early game.  I have never been disapointed to see it in my opening hand, and have always been able to play it first turn too.  At first I thought I would like sphere more because it costs less, but the more I test the more I like trinisphere. On the same note I have been disapointed to top deck the trinisphere midgame or draw multiples.

trinisphere is also less symetrical than spheresince your mana curve is built on workshop.  It is a devastating against any control deck, but it doesn't stop spot removal if they have a land in hand.