Mono Blue Aggro Islandhome/Islandwalk Varient

[Funlicker]

To start out, I apologize, I'm only 17 and don't possess the million dollar card pool or superior mtg knowledge that most of you do, here on tmd.  Since, I lack these qualities my decklist is obviously not the best it can be, or atleast the best an islandhome/islandwalk deck can be.  So I've come to the people to fine tune and construct the best islandhome/islandwalk deck possible (without using p9).

To avoid flaming:
- Yes I read the definition of a "casual deck," and realize that a "casual deck" isn't neccesarily a "bad deck" in which case a "islandhome/walk deck" might not be considered casual.  In my eyes Manta Ray, 3cc for a 3/3 unblockable, is a descent card.
- I'm not looking to build an amazing deck, but rather an amazing Islandhome/walk deck.  Islandhome/walk decks entertain me, and hopefully we can make one functional.

My current decklist (not very good at the moment):

Creatures:
4 Tidal Warrior (1cc changes landtype)
2 Merchant Ship (why not :S)
4 Dandan (2cc for a 4/1 seems like a bargain)
3 Manta Ray (3cc for 3/3 unblockable)
3 Seasinger/Veiled Serpent (3cc steal a crit, 3cc for a 4/4)

Counters:
4 Force of Will

Draw:
4 Brainstorm

Direct Damage/Pumps:
3 Psionic Blast
3 Unstable Mutation

Enchantments:
4 Sea's Claim
4 Lingering Mirage
3 Seal of Removal

Lands:
11 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Wasteland
1 Stripmine

It works.. Just not very well.  The landbase aswell as everything else may seem odd (horrible), because I just don't have the talent to build a deck alone.  I don't have a sideboard either, this is because I haven't got past the maindeck yet.  However, the sideboard will probably contain some sort of Blue hate, since I'll have alot of dead draws with sea's claim ect. Also, note that I don't use any islandwalk creatures.  I'd really like to incorporate islandwalk in here somewhere, but I haven't found a descent Islandwalker besides River Boa and he's green.  Maybe a U/G list would be possible?

Other Cards I like:
Dream Thrush
Reef Shaman
Curiosity
Counterspell
Daze
Impulse
Quicksilver Fountain
Mind Bomb

One last thing, my play group is completely random.  Most of them play tier1 standard net decks, but some of them try to be creative and build random lists like me.  So I'm not looking to have a competetive t1 deck lol.  Thank you for any constructive criticism that you contribute.

[Ephraim]

You have already observed that 4 Lingering Mirage and 4 Sea's Claim are an awful lot.  You're already using Tidal Warrior, so I would advocate getting rid of Sea's Claim altogether.  In its place, I would recommend two or three Lord of Atlantis.  They're an adequate Bear, but they also make your Tidal Warriors a threat against blue decks, when their land-changing abilities are no longer needed.  The last slot or two left from this exchange, I would fill with another Island.

I am also wary of Brainstorm in a deck like this.  Conventional wisdom suggests that it is very good, but you're playing a highly-consistent deck (lots of 3-ofs and 4-ofs) and you don't have 6+ Fetch-lands, like many decks that utilize Brainstorm.  Impulse is a very good alternative, in my opinion.

Unstable Mutation is a champion in an Islandwalk deck, but I find it lackluster among so much Islandhome.  A fourth Psionic Blast would probably be some good and then something huge and fun like a Piirate Ship and one last Island.

[Funlicker]

When I play my current decklist, I found myself trying to turn most if not all your lands into islands asap sorta like land destruction by not so much.  Maybe that is my problem?  I'm not sure...  I know that with 4 Warrior, 4 sea's claim, and 4 mirage, i found myself not being able to keep turning your lands into islands as you play them... allowing you to resolve spells.  So I doubt turning all your lands into islands is a viable tactic.  Or maybe a more controly mono blue islandwalk deck would be more suited for this tactic, any thoughts? Quicksilver Fountain?

Lord of atlantis is good, but I don't want to play too many merfolk that don't follow the islandwalk/islandhome theme unless i can consistanly get out a turn 3-4 lord of atlantis.  However, I did notice that I'm already using a few merfolk that do follow the theme, seasinger and tidal warriors, but seasinger is probably goin to be tapped in most cases and I feel that 4 tidal warriors don't abuse lord of atlantis's ability enough.  Maybe I should play more merfolk like Rootwater Thief? Maybe work in a merfolk assassin/warbarge combo, which would be hilarious in my deck lol?

Brainstorm is a very nice card, and I find myself with an open land more often than with 2.  So I feel more comfortable playing Brainstorm over Impulse.  Maybe I should just include more fetchlands?

The original plan was to make the deck more focused on islandwalk and abuse that evasive ability with huge creature pumps.  So yes if I could make it more Islandwalk/evasive oriented than Unstable Mutation would work wonders.  Maybe I could even abuse River Boa and make a U/G aggro with pumps like rancor? Ideas?

Sticking with Monoblue I came up with what I believe is a worse list lol:

4 Tidal Warrior (Merfolk, landchanger) No evasion without LoA, weak aggro crit
4 Rootwater Thief (ruins you, evasive, merfolk)
3 Lord of Atlantis (Pump merfs, grants islandwalk) 2 for 2/2 no evasion, a anthem for merfolk but I count 8 useful crits
3 Seasinger (Merfolk, steals goodies) Not aggro friendly
4 Manta Ray (3/3 evasive) Still my mvp
1 Pirate Ship (late game badboy) I like it, nice 1 of for fun

4 Seal of Removal (ehhh nothing better to do)
4 Psionic Blast (direct damage)
4 Unstable Mutation (pump)
4 Force of Will (counter)
4 Brainstorm (draw)
4 Lingering Mirage (landchanger/cycles)

11 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Wasteland
1 Stripmine

Would a more merfolk/islandwalk oriented deck be more viable? Suggestions there?
Would a U/G Islandwalk focused deck be more viable, with BoP, River Boa, Rancor ect? Suggestions?
Would a more controlish islandwalk deck, abusing landchanging as LD with stuff like quicksilver fountain, be more viable?

Benthic Djinn, 4cc 5/3 islandwalk, upkeep lose 2, seems like it can do some wicked dmg but I gotta splash black, you like?

[Funlicker]

I've thought about it alot, and a merfolk deck sounds just as wicked as an islandwalk deck.  The deck itself would also incorporate some islandwalk with LoA making it that much kooler.  So, I've decided to put together an unpowered merfolk deck and test.  Things seem to be goin better, but the deck just isn't where I'd like it to be yet.. let's see if you guys have any suggestions.

Decklist:

Lands:
14 island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Strip Mine
(too many lands?, too many fetches?, no wastelands?)

Creatures:
4 Tidal Warrior (can give all merfolk evasion with LoA)
4 Manta Riders (1cc 1/1 flyer)
4 Merfolk Looter (fixes bad draws)
4 Rootwater Thief (pulls threats, evasion)
4 Lord of Atlantis (Mvp)
3 Man-o-War (not a folk, was originally seasinger, found it to be more aggro friendly opinions?)

Spells:
3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Force of Will
4 Daze (allows me to tap out and counter)
4 Brainstorm (draw, even better draw with fetches)
1 Lotus Petal (why not)

Sideboard:
3 Back to Basics/Winter Orb??
.....
...
....

Like I said.. It seems like this list is heading in a better direction than a pure islandhome/islandwalk deck.  I'd like to keep it mono blue but maybe a splash would help?  It's a fairly good unpowered merfolk list in my opinion, but it can always be better, plz help and thank you.

[Shake]

Uhm...Quicksilver Fountain might have that LDish thing you're looking for.