Stupid Idea 2007 (A.K.A. Gush/Tax)

Stupid Idea 2007 (A.K.A. Gush/Tax)

The Idea : I love Land tax. Vintage is the only format where Land tax is legal. Land tax is awful in vintage. It's way too slow, sometimes even doesn't work (ichorid, stupid combo decks), it's white, and forces you to play with basic lands that don't tap for blue.
But still, Brainstorm + Land tax is Ancestral recall. Also Land tax is quite strong against stax. It's still a 1CC permanent that nets you 3 cards every time it triggers.

Now Gush is unrestricted, we have a wonderful tool to help Land tax trigger. Wild mongrel is quite cheaper than Land's edge, and have synergy with Gush. Grunt is a decent beater, and feed your deck with discarded basics, allowing you to play with moxes and duals. So maybe we have something here that could work.

Land tax 4
Gush 4
Brainstorm 4
Jötun grunt 4
Merchant scroll 4
Force of will 4
Ancestral recall 1
Time walk 1
Fastbond 1
Rushing river1
Daze 4
Black lotus 1
Wild mongrel 4
Mystical tutor 1
Echoing truth 1
Strip mine 1
Mox emerald 1
Mox pearl 1
Mox sapphire 1
Flooded strand 4
Tundra 2
Tropical island 2
Island 8
Lotus petal 1

Fastbond is not that strong here (like it could be in GAT or turboland), but still, you're playing with Gush. Plus, it's a decent counter/duress bait on game one

Grunts are huge : they ensure that you can use the land tax every turn, even with only 8 basics, they allow you to tutor for ancestral every turn, and they do what they do best : empty the grave and swing for 4. You can keep them alive the whole game with this deck.

Wild mongrel is the main kill, and they are quite strong here. But sometimes, I feel some (if not all) of them should be cut for extra disruption (Chalices). Riding the grunt to victory is often enough.

Gush is here to ensure that land tax triggers when you want it to. Even without Land tax, Mongrel, or Fastbond, he's still some good.

Merchant scroll, as usual, is good. The fact that Grunt lets you tutor for Ancestral recall several times is just a bonus.

Brainstorm, once you have Land tax on board, looks like an unrestricted Ancestral recall. It also helps finding non blue instant stuff (creatures or Tax).

Daze seems "cute", but the deck needs more than Force of will to survive the first turns, so it stays.

Rushing river is expensive, but deals with chalices, a main concern in my local meta. Should be chain of vapor, even if chalice @ 1and 2 is game over, because I feel 3 cc is out of curve.

Echoing truth answers lots of stuff. Combined with Grunts and Strip mine, it (almost) offers you a chance to win game 1 versus Ichorid. (Don't get me wrong, you will probably lose, but it's not a complete auto lose)

Cards I could see in :

Chalice of the void. This deck needs to slow down the game as soon as possible. Null rod is too slow without a full set of accelerants. Chalice also forces the opponent to play more lands (ok, that's a minor point)

Library of Alexandria, but I'm not sure I can reduce the number of basic islands. Testing will tell.

Abolish gets rid of problematic chalices at no cost, but basic plain is not what I like about Land tax

Life from the loam was cut for Daze n°4

Scroll rack is slow, but looks good on paper.

Sideboard attempt

Chalice of the void 4
Leyline of the Void 4
Serum powder 3
Spell snare 4/Rootmaze 4

Matchups

Testing has been limited so far, but, to make a long story short :

Stax : A Land tax trigger is not GG, but it helps so much. You have a low mana curve, lots of basics, and creature beats. It's a easy one, but beware chalices. (Not a cake walk, but definitly winnable)

Bomberman : never tested, but I feel confidant. You draw as many cards, and have bigger creatures and a lower mana curve. Of course, the "Oops, I win" factor is in their favor.

Grimlong, Pitchlong, Flash : against a competent pilot, the match-up is bad. You'll feel like a bad fish deck. Post board it gets better, but you have to win 2 games in a row now. If you enter the tournament and all you see is vulcans talking about Flash, Rituals and Bargain, maybe you should play something else.

GAT : Will test soon. I'm quite curious about this one, and the spell snare/root maze tech.

The list is far from optimal, but I think some ideas, if not the whole concept, deserve some attention. Maybe green could be cut altogether, not quite sure. Once again, testing will tell.

Any help to turn this pile of cards into a coherent and efficient vintage deck will be much appreciated.
Thanks for reading.