[Deck] Soulstill - an experimental EBA variant

[riggy]

Ever since Mirrodin came out, I've wanted to use Soul Foundry. The most natural creature (for me, at least) to put on it was the Meddling Mage. However, the 6 mana to get the engine rolling seemed a bit overwhelming at first. So now that I've finally retired my workshop deck (well, after Smennen's mox tourney, it'll be retired),  I'd like some advice on how and if I should proceed with this deck.

Here's my first list followed by card choice discussion.


--Mana--
4x Tundra
4x Underground Sea
4x Polluted Delta
1x Flooded Strand
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Pearl
1x Black Lotus
1x Sol Ring
2x Mishra's Factories
1x Plains
1x Library of Alexandria
4x Wastelands
1x Strip Mine

--Control--
4x Force of Wills
4x Mana Drain

--Engine--
3x Soul Foundry
4x Meddling Mage
4x Standstill

--Draw, Search & Disruption--
3x Duress
1x Fact or Fiction
3x Brainstorm
1x Ancetral Recall
1x Time Walk
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Yawgmoth's Will
2x (Vindicates, Swords to Plowshares, disenchants, removal of variety x)

--Kill (in addition to mage swarm)--
1x Decree of Justice

Alright, the main problem with the deck was trying to find room for everything I wanted. Adding 4 Standstills and 3 Soul Foundrys was very difficult. It came at the expense of my draw power. I'm looking into fixing that, but haven't found a satisfactory engine.

The second problem is that there are only 4 creatures in the deck to imprint on the soul foundry. I've only goldfished a couple times with it, before realizing that I couldn't get a mage on a foundry and pop one out prior to turn 3 or 4. So I need to add some search or more draw.

The third problem is again: little to no draw.

So things I've been looking at adding:
Phyrexian Negators -- a good card, slightly hindered by the rise of aggro and u-control playing Fire/Ice in my area. As such, having a bunch of them out isn't all that great.

AK train -- I almost immediately discarded this idea due to the 6 slot requirement. I have no idea what I could take out to put in there.

Shadowmage Infiltrator -- this kind of helps out twofold. It's a cheap creature, with a built-in draw and built-in evasion. Putting him on a soul foundry seems like something of a waste, but it's still a critter.

Exalted Angel -- A decent critter, evasion, and lifegain. Far too expensive to be putting on a foundry though.

Juggernaut -- not too bad on a foundry. Not sure what to cut though.

Chalice of the Void -- not terrible, but everything in the deck is low casting cost and while it definitely controls, the inherent slowness of the deck prevents this from being MDed.

Spheres of Resistance -- a possible addition, but not a likely one.

Edit: More card choices (after discussion with my testers)
Enlightened Tutor -- searches out standstill or Foundry

Balance -- Saves some backsides in a pinch.

Mystical tutor -- mystical for balance saves some backsides.

So that's what I'd like to do with the deck. Pump out mages while under the influence of a Standstill. I'd appreciate any comments or insights. Thanks.

[GodzillA]

I always liked the idea of Ravenous Rats on Foundry... use it directly after your opponent's draw phase and they effectively never get a chance to draw another card. Perhaps run them in conjunction with Meddling Mage? The combo costs as much as the Mage combo, but at least you would have twice as many creatures in the deck for your "lock". In a way, the Rats are actually a harder lock than the Mage. With the two in conjunction, it's pretty much unbreakable. Doesn't seem like Tinker would be a terrible idea either.

[Gabethebabe]

The deck you propose will not work. You´re going to need a lot more creatures, because you´d hate to have a Soul Foundry and nothing to imprint.

[riggy]

I made mention of that in my post. I'm looking for more creatures to add. Hence the list of creatures near the end of the post (i.e. Juggernaut, Infiltrator, Angel). But thanks for  offering a useful suggestion to improve an already stated deficiency. Perhaps some comments or suggestions on the listed creatures and/or what you'd remove to try and squeeze more critters in.

We've currently testing the following:
-1 Mishra's Factory
-1 Wasteland
+2 Shadowmage Infiltrators

[Methuselahn]

I think you need to decide what you want to do with your deck.  A good EBA build is an aggro deck first, then disruptive/controlish.  Good 'EBA' builds rely on many diverse creatures that are not only powerful, but useful.   This combo of utility and power makes up for the decks wacky mana base.  Your deck is nothing like EBA, in fact. In short, your deck is a prison deck (mage/foundry) built from a mana denial Keepr skeleton using sub-optimal cards.

Although you are packing duress, brainstorm, FoW, and Mana Drain, you are just not going to be able out-control Tog, Keeper, Landstill, etc, and the like.

You've got 5 strips but only 2 factories to use with Standstill.  This makes it hard keep Standstill in for me.  Even more so if you plan on adding some creatures.

Some creature suggestions:

Exalted Angel
Ophidian
Mesmeric Fiend (soo good with Meddling Mage)
Wretch?

Personally, I like utility dorks over power dorks (i.e. Negators) and using Angels for the main win.  With 14-16 creatures the build is very controlling yet still puts the heat on.  Negators can really wreck your plans.  Having to sac a Meddling mage that is holding back something brutal is a tough pill to swallow.

Mana Drain is the critical card in the deck when it comes down to it.  If you play Drains you have to commit to heavy blue and building your deck as a reactive one.  If not, you are the beatdown.  As some may say.