"Blue Dreams" (Academy Combo) V4.0

[b_1e1_n]

Okay, I have done some very drastic changes, and know I am going to write this as a primer.  I would like help from everyone, but if your help is not justified or seems bad to me, I will not reply to it.  Any other advice I will gladly reply to.

"Blue Dreams"
(By B_1e1_n, 01-28-04)
V4.0

Massive Drawing:
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Brainstorm
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall

Other Drawing:
4 Meditate
3 Impulse
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Frantic Search
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tinker

Control and Other Manipulation:
1 Teferi's Response
1 Duress
1 Regrowth
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Gimmicks:
1 Cursed Scroll
1 Capsize

Artifacts:
3 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Memory Jar
1 Mana Vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt

Lands:
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Glimmervoid
1 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
4 Force of Will
4 Tormord's Crypt
3 Duress
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Zuran Orb
1 Worship


-------------------------------------------

CARD DESCRIPTION
Massive Drawing:
1 Braingeyser - Alternative win condition.  Braingeyser is easy to use early or late, and since mana comes by the X can easily fill up even if you are short on mana and need the draw to save your life.
1 Stroke of Genius - See Braingeyser.
1 Skeletal Scrying - Some people say this doesn't work for my deck, but I have no idea why they would say that.  This can easily be 2B draw 2 early, a great use for mana vaults and such, or late in the game when my graveyard is full and I can get 10+ off this.
1 Timetwister - Draw 7s are also important, whether I am getting mana screwed and need a second chance or just a refill.
1 Wheel of Fortune - See timetwister.
1 Windfall - See timetwister.

Minor Drawing:
4 Meditate - After I play one of these, I don't plan on taking my next turn, I shouldn't need it.  If I am forced to lose a turn hopefully I drew into enough to get a quick win.
3 Impulse - A quick way to get rid of lands when I don't need them (as far as potential draws) or find key cards.
2 Brainstorm - See impulse.
2 Merchant Scroll - Usually finding an X draw or recall.
1 Demonic Tutor - Used to get more draws or combo cards.
1 Frantic Search - The name reveals it all, and untapping three lands is key for this deck.
1 Ancestral Recall - Obvious.
1 Tinker - Usually used to get a lotus, crypt or cald, and occasionally a mox sapphire.

Graveyard Manipulation:
1 Regrowth - Obvious, but not always completely neccesary, I have even considered removing this, but found nothing strong enough to replace it.
1 Yawgmoth's Will - Obvious.

Land Manipulation:
1 Fastbond - The one card that is better for mana than the actual academy.  The pain it deals is easily worth it.

Control and Turn Manipulation:
1 Teferi's Response - Used to protect an academy before I play it when neccesary, if not then the first card SBed out usually.
1 Duress - I use this before I play a win condition.  Some say it's not enough, but considering I have 4 win conditions, yawgmoth's will and regrowth, I think it is usually enough.


Gimmicks:
1 Cursed Scroll - Played with capsize as a win condition, I like this more than Kaervek's Torch because it's also an artifact and some people won't be likely to counter it until they catch on.
1 Capsize - Used to get tons of mana or with cursed scroll or as an emergency precaution early in the game.

Artifacts:
3 Candelabra of Tawnos - Used to get a black or green mana, but mostly for academy.
1 Helm of Awakening - Used to play artifact cards more quickly.  I am considering either upping this to 2-3 or removing it completely.
1 Memory Jar - See draw 7s.
1 Mana Vault - Fast mana.
1 Black Lotus - Fast mana.
1 Lotus Petal - Fast mana.
1 Sol Ring - Fast mana.
1 Mox Diamond - Fast mana.
1 Mox Ruby - Fast mana.
1 Mox Sapphire - Fast mana.
1 Mox Emerald - Fast mana.
1 Mox Jet - Fast mana.
1 Mox Pearl - Fast mana.
1 Mana Crypt - Fast mana.

Lands:
4 City of Brass - Easily diverse mana.
4 Gemstone Mine - I have yet to use one of these all the way, so basically painless cities of brass.
2 Tropical Island - Obvious.
2 Underground Sea - Obvious
1 Glimmervoid - Something that I have been using in place of an underground sea and so far it has been working out great.
1 Undiscovered Paradise - Usually this works great, but I may remove it later on.
1 Tolarian Academy - Obvious.

Sideboard:
4 Force of Will - VS control.
4 Tormord's Crypt - VS dragon or decks like it.
3 Duress - VS control or other combo decks.
2 Red Elemental Blast - VS control.
1 Zuran Orb - VS burn.
1 Worship - VS swarm or burn, I may remove it later.

When to mulligan:
Not enough mana
Not enough drawing

General strategy:
Go off ASAP and have enough mana and 1-2 win conditions and a duress or know you can get it off before going for the win.
If you are getting countered for your big draws but you haven't meditated yet, you will still easily out draw them.  Knowing this, you may want to limit your meditates to one vs heavy control if you suspect them to counter vital drawing cards.

[Pago]

As you said yourself, since your decks wants to draw lots of cards and maximize mana usage, Undiscovered Paradise may not be good, as it puts you back to square one on your crucial turn (2-3). I would try cutting it and adding another glimmer void.

[Plainswalker]

I would like help from everyone, but if your help is not justified or seems bad to me, I will not reply to it.

Seriously dude, I've been helping in a lot of your threads, but get off your high horse, your decks getting there, but your not even close to writing a primer, especially on a archtype that probably already has many because it is outdated

On that note, I'm still gonna go through this a pull out things.

1.) Why are your three brainstorms seperated into two groups? maybe just a typo. Braingeyser maybe?
2.) Merchant Scroll are clunky in a deck that already has tons of draw, there's so much this space could be used for something better.
3.) 1 Duress is weak, you may be able to tutor it up but this slows you down from more important things. Xantid Swarm or another chant effect is much better in this type of deck so you can just go off. 1 Abeyance is much better then 1 Duress
4.) Cursed Scroll is clunky and not really needed, there are other kills that are less a pain to use, and things like Tendrils can at least get you out of a bind if you can't kill.
5.) The biggest and strangest thing. You have Worship in your sideboard, but not creatures.
6.) Thanks for the mulligan tips...really.

[kl0wn]

I would like help from everyone, but if your help is not justified or seems bad to me, I will not reply to it.

That's a pretty poor way of doing business on a message board chief, especially since, to be totally honest, your deck looks like a bad Neo-Academy build (and Academy is a bit obsolete at that).

On that note, please explain why this deck is superior to proven Neo-Academy builds, why it should be played over said proven Neo-Academy builds and what makes it superior to current combo decks.

Furthermore, please explain which decks you've tested against (including a generalized matchup analysis).

On top of that, please explain what kind of help you were looking for with your deck. Judging by how you presented your "mini primer" it seems like you're already well on your way to going 0-X at any serious tournament without the help of others.

[Toad]

I would like help from everyone, but if your help is not justified or seems bad to me, I will not reply to it.

Your previous thread has been closed for that kind of comment. Please try to learn from your mistakes.

Closed
-- Toad