I was talking to Peter Smutko after the tournament and he expressed a similar feeling about the Spellstutters, that they were generally unimpressive.  He told me he would not run them again.

Would it be possible to get top 8 lists?

Thanks.

I'm not sure about the templating on this one, but I feel like the majority of the "game-rules" bears have had symmetrical effects (Meddling Mage, Gaddock Teeg, Kataki, etc.), so maybe

Judge of Time
 
Creature - Wizard
2/2
Each player skips his or her postcombat main phase.
"Better think twice before you attack..."

Or, if you want to keep the card such that it affects only opponents:

Judge of Time

Creature - Wizard
2/2
Each opponent skips his or her postcombat main phase.
"Better think twice before you attack..."

I do like the concept behind the card, though.  My personal preference is for the second mod I posted--a 2/2 (you want a creature than can still attack while modifying the game state)--that affects all opponents.

Another fun and very well run tournament, thanks a lot.  It was good to see the attendance as high as it was.

Are there plans for a Legacy tournament at Pastimes during March, or is the GP going to take the place of the monthly tournament?

It seems like two of the best pieces of disruption you can cast are Null Rod and Root Maze.  I think it would be worth maxing out both of those to 4 each.  If you're worried about your own fetchlands, you could probably cut them for Stomping Grounds.  Have you considered Simian/Elvish Spirit Guides for acceleration?  The difference between turn 1 and turn 2 Null Rod/Root Maze is significant.  Furthermore, SSG gives you the "red force of will" trick with Pyroblast/REB.

The other area in which your deck seems lacking (no offense meant, just my initial reaction) is card advantage.  I don't know what your proxy/card pool situation is, but there are two card drawing engines that come to mind-- Bazaar of Baghdad + Squee or Life from the Loam and cycling lands.  Have you considered either of these?

Also, I feel like Wasteland and Strip Mine are probably auto includes for this type of deck.

As I recall, this idea has already been tossed around by WotC.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/506

I have a question regarding the inclusion of Gush as one of the three Brainstorm replacements (along with Ponder and Merchant Scroll, as mentioned earlier).

It seems that without the Gushbond engine, Gush loses most of it's strength.  DT does not seem lacking in instant speed card draw, and the manabase seems like it's already strong against Wasteland, with the 4-5 basics you're advocating.  It seems to me that either Sensei's Divining Top #2 or Gifts Ungiven act as superior cards in that slot.  Additionally, as is being discussed in the "Bridging the Brainstorm Gap" thread, replacing Gush with another Top gives you another turn 1 play.

In my opinion and testing (all after the June 1 restrictions, which is why I'm asking for more experienced opinions), DT already possesses an excellent draw engine in terms of pure card quantity, and it seems like the card selection provided by either Gifts/Top (especially Top in the early game) would be of greater benefit.  Has anyone else tested this possibility?

In response to your comments regarding the pre- and post-board records you recorded this past weekend, how much do you think this is a result of the "reverse engineering" you discussed in the first few posts of this primer?

To some extent, it seems like you were successful in attacking the historical weakness of Ichorid (post-board games) by building your deck for games 2 & 3.  Obviously, your skill and experience with the deck skews this number to some extent, but do you feel that the specific plans you built into the deck (ie, including some of your "sideboard" cards in the maindeck) were effective in the manner you hoped?

Congratulations on the finish, by the way.  I think you've stimulated some interesting thought in this archetype.  I also feel like this lends some credibility to the deck as skill intensive.

Here's a link to the last article he wrote about Meandeck Tendrils:

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12009.html

Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Chrome Mox
4 Darkwater Egg
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
   

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
4 Repeal
4 Spoils Of The Vault
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
4 Land Grant
3 Night's Whisper
4 Tendrils Of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Lands
1 Bayou
1 Polluted Delta
1 Tropical Island

Here's the article with the list: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/af39

The core idea is there, but the rest of the deck is really out of date (circa 11/04).

This possibility has been discussed some in the Vintage Open Forum.

The most likely candidate would be Meddling Mage (naming Echoing Truth) for the 2cc spot.

Two comments on your list.

1) On the manabase... I'm not still sure about the right answer here, but what's your logic for only running a single basic?  I know Gush gives good Wasteland protection, but I like the added stability of having the second Island.  How has your Stax matchup been with only one basic?  I like being able to develop early without huge fear of Wasteland, and I feel basic #2 gives me that ability without really color-screwing me noticably.

2) This is the first time I've seen a list playing around with something I've been running through my head, the exclusion of Berserk.  Often it's been easy enough just to drop a threat and play control until the end, but I can't justify folding to repeatable blockers (Zombie Infestation), so it seems like the trample is necessary.  Also, there's the "oops, I win" factor often enough.  Can you expand on what finally pushed you to cutting Berserk?

Also, what sort of metagame have you tuned this list for?  With Misdirections over Drains and only Dryads maindeck, it seems like you're in a pretty control heavy meta.  Is Flux + 'goyf enough out of the board for Stax?  I've felt like some targeted artifact destruction is necessary.

The most common, and probably strongest, build of Fish around right now is W/U/b.  There's a pretty in-depth thread you can read through that examines some of the newer lists and how to deal with the more creature-heavy metagame as of late.  http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=31880.0

If you're looking for something different, there's a good article about a new build of Sullivan Sollution with 'goyf, another Fish-like build.  http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35164.0.

The Vintage Open Forum is always a good place to check for this sort of question.

I think your latest list is much closer to a 10-proxy functional approximation of the deck than the first iteration.  However, I still disagree with a few of your choices.

First and foremost, I don't think you want to pursue the black splash.  Honestly, the deck isn't designed to abuse Will in the least, so you're considering the splash for two (admittedly solid) tutors.  I would personally exclude black for more resiliency in blue.  I don't recall you mentioning whether Misdirections are available to you, but if you have them, I think they would be a strong inclusion.

Furthermore, I strongly question your inclusion of Strip Mine in this deck.  It is your only mana denial element, and you don't really have anything explosive enough to exploit the tempo advantage it creates.  Without some added support for either of Strip Mine's strengths, it doesn't really make sense.  I would replace it with a singleton Tolaria West.  The obvious disadvantages of coming into play tapped (big) and being non-basic (still relevant) seem minimal given some of the advantages you could get out of it.  More often than not, it seems like it's going to be used to transmute, so coming into play tapped doesn't matter.  Also, it can find 8 of your 10 artifacts, functionally increasing your Tinker count, and it also acts as a second Tolarian Academy or Academy Ruins.  Finally, it's another shuffle effect for your Brainstorms.  Thanks to the Merchant Scrolls and Exapanses, it seems like you're close to full functionality of Brainstorm.

Here's the Mono-U 10 proxy list I would put together with your constraints:
Mana (24)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of the Synod
7 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West


Creatures/Win (3)
3 Platinum Angel

Protection (14)
4 Force of WIll
4 Pact of Negation
3 Mana Drain
1 Echoing Truth
2 Misdirection      

Tutor (6)
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tinker

Draw (13)
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
3 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

Proxy: Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, 4x Force of Will, 3x Mana Drain

If you don't have access to Misdirection (which actually seems pretty tradeable, if most of the players in your area play Legacy), I guess I would recommend adding an additional bounce spell (depending on your metagame, but Hurkyl's Recall seems reasonable) and an additional Ponder or counterspell.

Truth be told, you're right in saying that some aspects of the deck are suboptimal at this point.  Terramorphic Expanses are unfortunately bad, but they'll work, and running 4 Seat of the Synod doesn't compare to running full jewelry.  However, this does seem like a good place to start building.  If the time comes that you manage a playset of FoW, you can proxy up the additional Mana Drain and start replacing some of the weaker cards.  It also gives you the advantage of playing cards you'll use in the future.

Good luck with everything.  If you do take this to a tournament, I'm curious to hear how it plays.

Something you'll definitely want to consider is the addition of Merchant Scroll.  They're cheap, so it shouldn't interfere with your proxy limit.  Not only can it find Ancestral in the early game, it's great for securing protection once you have a Platinum Angel in play.  Furthermore, you definitely need to be running at least one bounce spell maindeck, most likely Echoing Truth.  Merchant Scroll finds you Echoing Truth, and also Mystical->Tinker in a clutch.  The addition of Merchant Scroll may intrude on the Trinket Mage package, but I think it's a stronger build of the deck.  Also, with 4x Scroll, you may consider adding Brainstorm, but it's hard for me to say without testing the deck without fetches.

Honestly, I think this deck needs Mana Drain.  Even with the artifact accellerants you have, it's hard to see the Angel coming out earlier than Turn 3 or Turn 4, and with the lack of early game action and protection you have (only FoW, really), this is possibly too late.

There are also a few cards I was surprised to see omitted, the foremost of which is Fact or Fiction.  What was your logic for not including at least the singleton?  It seems as strong as Thirst, at least.  Also, depending on your proxy situation, Library of Alexandria seems like a good fit for Mono-U control.  Academy Ruins also has a place in this build, and that shouldn't be too expensive to trade for.  4x Platinum Angels seems like one too many, too - maybe consider replacing one of the Angel proxies with Library?

I'm sure you've seen Owen Turtenwald's build that T8'd Day 2 of SCG Chicago, but here's the link: http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=23694

As for a sideboard, it depends largely on your metagame.  Leyline is necessary, and depending on what you're expecting, Threads of Disloyalty (GAT), Hurkyl's Recall (Stax), and Meloku (pretty much everything aggro) are all strong choices.

Considering the original decklist, where is Lotus Petal?

I've seen Petal in 3c-builds, and it seems like the color fixing is even more welcome here, while the acceleration is just as relevant.  What was your logic for leaving it out?