@Nephtis : Tendrils is loosing life, not dealing damages, so it can't be redirected to a planeswalker....

I think that everyone also forget that with 4 artefacts in play, this guy is autokill without passing the turn, especially when played in Mid/late game of a control mirror.

to me the problem with painter stems from the various decks that are starting to accumulate that share similar focal points or use cards that mitigate painter's ability (goblin welder as a prime example).  Various decks are trying different strategies based upon how they can best compete against these decks.  Painter has 3 options it can go... it can go the control route involving the REB plan, it can go combo withe all resources attempting to set up the combo, or it can be thrown in as another out.  Ultimately, the problem is that painter turns into a mere 2/2 w/o REB or grinder which, because of the limited # of cards that abuse it cause vast differenes in the game play of the archetype due to player preferences.  w/o more variety or a stronger power play than what it currently exhibits then painter becomes an unpredictable archetype.

I was by no,  means saying mages should ever be main decked in bomerman.  Mindcensor is a meta house right now and should aways be played IMO. 
As for mage against ichorid, The cards you side out are things like force of will or mana drain.  I have never had a chance to counter a spell against ichorid, except cabal therapy and then they just play another. Counters are dead cards, and mage can stop them for a few turns. It gives you the time to set up crypt recursion or just win.

To me the point of mage as a 2 or 3 of in the SB is not to completely shut down a deck, but be a solid card to side in against a lot of your problem match ups.  Its a compliments the hate cards. I would side a grizzly bears in against fish, cause they cant attack into it, and I will win the long game.

Also, I would not count on winning game 1 all that often against ichorid.  Bomerman has a better game 1 then a lot of decks cause of trinket mage, but it can be very slow if you keep a hand with no moxes (assuming you don't know what your playing)

It does stop them from flashing back Therapy off a Narcomoeba or Ichorid, though, and making a bunch of zombies for free from Bridge. Most of the time, it doesn't really matter if Therapy hits something or not. The zombies are the bigger, more immediate problem.

 

Therapy enables Dread Return by a.] making zombies to sac, b.] clearing Force of Will out of their hand to stop it. I've tested this matchup and Therapy has always been my first naming with Meddling Mage, with Dread Return coming second [if I find another Mage].


Honor the Fallen is win-more. Every time I've used it, I was already in a favourable position anyway. Bomberman has a better matchup vs Ichorid than any other control deck, & I'd rather spend my board slots fighting Fish and Long.

I've been running Meddling Mage in the main, instead of Mindcensor, to test it out and see if it was worth it. I've come to the following conclusions:

Slaver: Mage sucks, Mindcensor is great.
Bomberman: Mage is too situational, Mindcensor wins this matchup.
Long: Mage can be good with an experienced player, but Mindcensor is far better all around.
Uba Stax: Mage can be great if you keep them off Barbarian Ring. Mindcensor sucks.
5C Stax: Mage is terrible, and Mindcensor actually keeps them off their tutors [somewhat], and is better.
Goblins: Mage can be good, but is mostly for chump blocking. Mindcensor flies over them, and stops Matron. Decent, but both mostly suck.
Ichorid: Mage names Therapy and DR. Mindcensor is useless.
Fish: Mage can name Grunt and Bob. Mindcensor is okay.

On the whole, I'd say Mage should be in the board, and Mindcensor in the main. Almost everyone seems to be playing Slaver and Long nowadays. It's too 'hands-free' not to be good.

I don't play this deck but what i imagine will get said is that they serve different purposes. I feel Mana leak is meant completely for slowing your opponent down in the early game. Negate on the other hand can slow someone down early game but doesn't stop first turn bob or Tarmogoyf, even though it can be played later in the game. Being the format that it is right now though, Mana Leak is great because combo is so rampant and so Mana Leak is good for most of the game and is able to counter bob where negate cant

Sort of, but not really.  The first problem is that I think you actually can set up the Salvagers combo faster, by virtue of the "What does the first Trinket Mage get" discussion.  The other thing is that Salvagers + Lotus is functionally a two card combo.  You have 1 Brainstorm 1 Ponder 4 Trinket Mage 1 Ancestral 1 Tinker 1 Merchant Scroll 4 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Sensei's Divining Top 1 Aether Spellbomb 1 Engineered Explosives (comboes with Top to draw your deck); about 1/4 of your deck will find you other cards.  I don't think I've ever had a problem in testing or tournament matches where I put Salvagers + Lotus together and didn't win.  Generally my first Trinket gets Lotus and my second gets either EE or Top, meaning that most any draw will get you there.