U/R Phid is it viable?

[madmarker]

I recently participated in a tournament in Cary North Carolina and had a perfect record in the swiss ( 3 win, 2 id) and lost in  the first round of the t8 with the following decklist:

Peter Butterfield (UR Phid) (probs to Supa TIm for the list)

3 Volcanic Island
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
6 Island
1 Mountain
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Blood Moon
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak
1 Gorilla Shaman
2 Fire/Ice
1 Echoing Truth
4 Ophidian
3 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tinker

Board

1 Fire/Ice
3 REB
1 Pyroblst
3 Energy Flux
1 Echoing Truth
3 Pyroclasm
3 Arcane Laboratory

Admittedly, this is a sub-optimal build. Yet I am curious as to it's viability in the current vintage metagame.  When it plays right it almost seems like stax but with heavy counter back up.  You use the bloodmoons and chalice to cut them off from their mana and many  draw spells/tutors/combo pieces and use the counters to handle everything else.  Chalice for 1 is far more damaging than 0 as bloodmoon already stifles mana.  In testing I noticed the following weaknesses:

A poor game against fish due to the cost of their threats being significantly lower than phid's answer but the clasm's in the board help out significantly in games 2 and 3, grunt still remains an issue.

A very poor game against resolved threats, like dsc.

Strengths: a good game against stax and storm based combo.  almost unbeatable against oath.  great against slaver.

I am inclined to lean towards this decks viability due to my own performance...especially as a newbie at vintage magic.

thoughts? changes to the deck?  is it viable?
all intelligent comments are appreciated.

[+t]

I've talked with Tim about this deck, and...

The main reason to play this deck, it seems to me, at least, is to play with Bloodmoon.  Bloodmoon is such an incredible bomb that forces most decks to tutor up for bounce to win.  However, since it isn't an artifact, it doesn't die to Hurkyl's/Rebuild. 

The problem, of course, is that Bloodmoon has already been used in Slaver.  And UR Slaver is probably superior to UR phid.  Slaver has a faster clock, better Disruption (iirc bloodmoon slaver runs mana leaks, and of course goblin welder), and a better draw engine (Thirst, which doesn't get shut down by men, and Gifts, which has become increasingly popular).

[Phele]

I like URPhid and pack it out from time to time, when - as +t pointed out - Bloodmoon is pretty strong. I wouldn't agree that UR Slaver ist just the stronger deck, as URPhid is playing another great weapon - Chalice of the Void. To play this effectivly I usually play a little modified list than yours mostly cutting almost any one-casting-cost-spells other than Mystical and Anc. It may sound strange, but yes, I play this deck without brainstorm but with a damn strong Chalice for one.

There are many other great options what to play instead especially to give you some extra draw - like Thirsts or Merchant Scrolls. I also love at least two Isochron Scepters in this deck and upped the Fire/Ice count two three for that. This is for sure not mandatory but gives the deck some extra strengths (and weaknesses). I play Platinum Angel instead of Meluko but this might be just a choice of personell preference.

For the sideboard: You could try out a mix of Pyroclams and Flametongue Kavu to fight weenie hordes (and Grunt), as critters are usually your biggest task. I prefer Rack and Ruin over Energy Flux as almost any Workshop Player brings in Red Blasts against you.

[madmarker]

phele could I possibly see one of your u/r lists for comparison? I like the idea of dropping the number of 1 cc spells even more for increased synergy. but I'm nervous about the iso's but they seems to have massive potential

[Phele]

This is the list I came in ninth at a bigger tournament over here in Germany.

4 Chalice of the Void
2 Isochron Scepter
1 Platinum Angel
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Ophidian
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Mana Leak
1 Mystical
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Echoing Truth

3 Fire/Ice
2 Blood Moon

3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
7 Island
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland

Sideboard
3 Arcane Laboratory
1 Bloodmoon
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Flametongue Kavu
2 Pyroclasm
3 Rack and Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast

In my eyes this deck has a good shot against most of the top decks but serious problems with anything playing to many bigger, in this color setup difficult to remove beatsticks like Wild Mongrel, Jötun Grunt or Nimble Mongoose. I wouldn't call Oath an easy matchup, as Oath comes down quicker than Bloodmoon.

[madmarker]

Interesting, but why only 2 bloodmoon?  It's such an inherently powerful card in most matchups I'd want to see it early pretty much every game.   I think my build would have an easier time with oath because of the 2 extra mana leaks.  Those plus force make it very difficult for the opponent to resolve an early oath and then blood moon removes his green mana.  I do however really like the extra artifacts plus thirst, which would allow this deck to draw cards fairly quickly. That plus the addition of platinum angel are things I really like about your build. Meloku has always been a powerful finisher for me, I can't think of a match where a resolved Meloku didn't equal a win, but that my have been a result of the previous control elements on the opponent and not a reflection of Meloku's power.