Eternal Wind

[Terevaune]

Sorry to revisit something that was discussed earlier in the thread, but do you feel that the new build would work unpowered (I only have an ancestral), and I'm looking for a new deck.  

Also, what do you side in braingeyser against.  Is it just an extra win condition against decks where mobilitzation does not work?  I haven't tested yet, but there may be something better for the slot.

Also, are cards like blood moon or back to basics a problem. B2b looks like it could be gotten around with fetchlands or traderoutes/fastbond on the nonbasic, but bloodmoon looks like it could be a problem.

One last thought - do you think mirari's wake couild have any place here - probably not but a friend suggested it when I showed him the list, and I thought I'd ask.

Edit: what do you think about replenish?  It seems it would be mostly unnesscessary, but I used to play control enchantress, so I thought I'd ask.  Maybe as a replacement for those of us without timetwister?

[pernicious dude]

@Wasp -

Cool build.

Without Sterling Grove, doesn't Aura Fracture own you?
You have City Of Solitude, so you can't even Seal it when it comes out.

[waSP]

By the time aura fracture hits, I've probably already won or lost the game, and that'll just seal the losses.  Sterling Grove may find its way into the sb but I'm firmly against it in the md.  It's too slow or promotes card disadvantage.  The geyser is def not necessary right now with 2 kills in the main.  The sideboard needs a bit of work currently.  I'm not liking  the naturalizes so much unless I play against stax.

The plains is in the sideboard against Blood Moon and B2B.  I currently have not had a problem with either.  The moon got played by stax, and I just continued to do stuff and eventually killed it so i could combo.

I could see a replenish getting played but the high casting cost stuff really messes with your mana base.  I dislike how the spells huddle around 3 right now, and adding a 4 would worsen that.

[Kheoinn]

I'm curious as to why Confinement is so amazing here. I might be missing something, but do you rely on topdecking enchantments to keep the engine going? Without Words of Wind, you have no way to return enchantments to your hand to keep the engine going, which could lead to a problem if you don't draw enchantments.

I'm wondering why you have chosen to to include Sterling Grove at all. The card disadvantage is often irrelevent, as it will almost always cantrip anyways. It protects your enchantments from most enchantment removal, and with two out, even things like aura fracture. Even though the deck is extremely redundant, there are still enchantments are that aren't 4-ofs, like Fastbond and Solitary Confinement. Have you tried it out, or just dismissed it?

[Deletehead]

It's looking pretty competitive, I went 2-1 vs. Landstill and 1-1 versus Fluctuator but then the bar got busy and my friend Nick had to work. The only parts of your build I disagree with are verduran (As it lets them use removal and I think 8 enchantress's are enough, I've never needed more than 2 or 3 in play at a time) and the multiple copies of stuff like Trade Routes and City of Solitude which seem like
they would be "dead" once in play which is something I try
to avoid with any non-Search card. I guess my version is more
Enchantress than combo. The key card in both builds is Fastbond which is why I like grove so much. I almost always pay 8 life w/Sylvan to keep the cards and it also rocks w/ Words of Wind which I still think is quite solid ( against Landstill at least). I still need to play against some tier one stuff but the things I would change at this point are one more Sanctum in place of Crop Rotation. Also I think Replinish should replace Confinement game two versus control as Confinement just doesn't really shine vs. Control. The last
card I'm considering is Holistic Wisdom, does that seem good
or no???

[waSP]

I do play the deck as a combo deck instead of an enchantress deck.  That means that I need a couple of early enchantress's to get me going.  I may, once this version is exhaustively tested, begin looking at a version with brainstorms and 8 argothians.  I feel it will have a steadier mana base, but be more erratic.

Confinement is good against control too, especially keeper.  They generally race to find mind twist to shut you down early.  Dropping the confinement gives you at least 1 more turn, and you can let it go when it's more of a hindrance than a help.  I may add caltrops to the sideboard just to laugh at sligh and other weenie decks when they attempt to attack me with x/1's, although that may just result from bitterness instead of sound strategy.

The thing Kheoinn has stressed the most in his responses to this thread is that things cantrip in this deck, nearly everything.  The only cards that can't cantrip are the jewelry and the creature enchantress's.  Trade Routes give all your land cycling, and game 2 the control player realizes that they have to counter it, because it's part of the simpler infinite combo.  I believe I will be readding a words of wind to the deck, because I mess what it did, the mana filtering it sometimes gave me.  Probably will replace City #3 atm.  I think the creature in the sideboard that I'll use (if i have one) is going to be gigapede.  He is untargetable and recurs without timetwister.  Multani relies on Twister if your opponent manages to remove him.  I haven't done enough real testing to decide if Mobilization merits its spot md, but will have a few hours tonight to devote to this and another deck (starting work on a casual elves deck i can port to 1.5).

Deletheead, regarding Holistic Wisdom, if you are playing a slow, non combo enchantress style (it doesn't focus on the combo), it is excellent to play.  If you want to focus on the combo, it is unnecessary.

I wonder if a heavy combo in straight Blue/Green might be viable that played Future Sight.  I really like the card but don't feel it belongs in here.  Just a musing.

[Deletehead]

I'm going to test one copy of it in my build in place of Words
of Wind tonight...

[Deletehead]

Future sight is the absolute most insane enchantment ever
printed. Once it comes down with a few Enchantress's and
a sanctum in play they should never get another turn. It also
takes the Groves and tutor's drawbacks and flushes them
down the crapper. I've found myself tutoring for it before Fastbond, it's that good. The first game I played it I had three
enchantress's in play and drew into three more in a row, I almost decked myself on turn 2 but I sealed a prescence and
returned all my lands with Words of Wind. I haven't even had any issues casting it. So here's my latest build...

Artifact:1
1 Lotus

Blue:10
1 Braingeyser
1 FUTURE SIGHT (I should play two copies but it's so expensive...)
1 Trade Routes
1 Words of Wind
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall
4 Soothsaying (Kinda pricy but once in play but it's just stupid with Future Sight and Sanctum. The initial CC is better than Library as well. But the clincher is that it works immediately. I might go to three Sanctums just to abuse these...)

Gold:3
3 Sterling Grove

Green:15
4 Enchantress's Prescence
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Exploration
1 Sylvan Library
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth

White:6
1 Sacred Mesa
2 Solitary Confinement (I actually prefer Confinement to Moat)
2 Seal of Cleansing
1 Enlightened Tutor

Land:25
3 Serra's Sanctum (This may be too many but the Soothsayings are kinda dependent on them...)
4 Flooded Strands
4 Windswept Heath (The fetchlands are great with Soothsaying so I went to 4 of each removing a couple of those crappy regular dual lands...)
1 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
4 Island
4 Forest
4 Plains

I can't wait to play some tier one stuff with this. What do ya'll
think of Red for Wheel and Mana Flare??? Oh yeah here's the
beginnings of a sideboard...

4 Seal of Removal (Good vs. Groatog...I think)
4 Interdict
1 Opalescence (This might be better than Multani...)
1 Gound Seal (Destroys Dragon which I have to play every week...)
1 Aura Fracture
4 Multani's Presence

I would play this at a tournament tomorrow even though it
still needs work just because it's so fun to play and works
with no power. I still haven't tried the Vineyards but speed isn't that important. If you can keep Confinement in play you
can just go off whenever you get tired of toying with them
anyway      ...Please let me know
if any of these cards seem sub-optimal as I don't see anything
that's unnecessary right off hand...

[waSP]

This post will fit along nicely with the debate going on in the EVF about the state of the format.  The one huge weakness of the deck was in fueling other decks with vineyards.  The explosiveness involved with the vineyards was great, and I think I'll run it in my metagame where there are few of the "broken" decks and use it to bash my opponents faces.  But we're working on a design that is optimal for the Type One metagame, so in the end the Vineyards have to go.  I've often though about using Brainstorm to fix the mana.  Here's is my initial draft.

Eternal Wind by Steven Petersen

Mana (25)
        5 Forest
        4 Windswept Heath
        4 Tropical Island
        3 Savannah
        2 Wooded Foothills
        2 Serra's Sanctum
        1 Plains
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Black Lotus
Enchantress's (8)
        4 Enchantress's Presence
        4 Argothian Enchantress
Enchantments (18)
        4 Seal of Cleansing
        4 Exploration
        2 Solitary Confinement
        2 City of Solitude
        2 Trade Routes
        2 Soothsaying
        1 Fastbond
        1 Words of Wind
Draw/Search (9)
        4 Brainstorm
        1 Timetwister
        1 Time Walk
        1 Ancestral Recall
        1 Regrowth
        1 Stroke of Genius

I would love feedback on this version of the deck.  Thanks to Deletheead for the Soothsaying tech.  I loved it against Rector Trix, it allowed me to beat his bargain, stacking my deck so he couldn't counter everything.  It's an excellent addition to the deck, but I'm still not sure about how many to run.  I think hurting your mana base too much to abuse it might be a mistake.  I'd definitely run something over the lone sylvan in your deck.  Probably the second Trade Routes, it helps so much.  Is there a reason behind sacred mesa, why is it better than Mobilization?  I'd definitely run the 4th sterling grove over enlightened tutor in here.  The mana cost shouldn't be that big of a factor.  Now i have to figure out how to fit Future Sight in here.  Also, you don't seem to have any protection, City's are excellent although you can run abeyance or orim's chant.

[Kheoinn]

Why not put the Vineyards in the sideboard versus Stax and Aggro? Even though our metagame has more of those decks than the average competative metagame, they still come up a lot in most any place.

Replace Stroke of Genius with Future Sight in the draft decklist. I'm sure you know why .

[Deletehead]

I've been doing a lot of work with this deck over the past week and the major issue is the mana base. Fortunately this
is easy to fix w/Land Tax in place of Exploration, which also
lets me include Moxen, and allows for a much lower land count
and mana curve making Sanctum just a little more insane. I think I'll go for broke and just run 4 sanctums as it's pretty
much key to getting the deck rolling...

Mana Base:26
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Serra's Sanctum
3 Windswept Heath
3 Flooded Strands
2 Gemstone Mine
5 Plains
4 Island
5 Forest

Blue:8
1 Braingeyser
1 Future Sight
1 Trade Routes
1 WOW
1 Timetwister
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall
3 Soothsaying (In my mind they key to this deck being fast
is to run as many 1cc enchantments as humanly possible. If
I was going to run 2 Copies of this then I would use
seal of removal instead as it's a pretty strong card also)

Gold:4
4 Sterling Grove

Green:12
4 Enchantress's Prescence
4 Argothian Enchantress
1 City of Solitude
1 Holistic Wisdom
1 Fastbond
1 Regrowth

White:10
2 Solitary Confinement (Land Tax is also pretty broken with
Confinement, it's disgusting w/Holistic Wisdom as well...)
4 Seal of Cleansing
4 Land Tax

So that's what I've got for the moment but it'll change by tommorow. As far as protection is concerned my build has
so many must counter spells that if played correctly it shouldn't be concerned about counterspells. The one permission deck I played against (Landstill) was completely
overwhelmed, and it ran about as many counters as Keeper
along with 4 Disks so I don't think this deck cares much about
silly little things like FOW if it's played well and gets the 2
enchantress/Grove draw it should go off by turn 4 depending
on how soon Fastbond or Future Sight hit. Also, I think
the deck needs to be re-named since WOW has been relegated to a supporting card. I'm thinking of naming it Sanitarium after the Metallica song since your basically just
playing Solitare if it goes off. And Finally thanks Kheoinn for the idea as Vineyards seem pretty necessary against mana
denial. I still haven't tested them main but I'll definitely do it
when I test vs. Ducktape...

[Kheoinn]

Land Tax is not a replacement of Exploration. Exploration provides Speed. Land Tax provides consistancy. From your deck list, I would drop a Braingeyser and either a Words of Wind or Soothsaying, along with a land tax, for three exploration.

Have any of you ran into problems with conditional cards? For instance, City of Solitude against Aggro, or Seal of Cleansing against Hulk, and such? Wouldn't it be much better to put conditional cards in the sideboard, and go for raw speed, with perhaps some unconditional disruption, for game one? Here is a preliminary decklist working off that idea (based off waSP's last build).

Mana (24)
       4 Forest
       4 Windswept Heath
       4 Tropical Island
       3 Savannah
       2 Wooded Foothills
       2 Serra's Sanctum
       1 Plains
       1 Mox Pearl
       1 Mox Sapphire
       1 Mox Emerald
       1 Black Lotus

Enchantress's (8)
       4 Enchantress's Presence
       4 Argothian Enchantress

Enchantments (17)
       4 Eladamri's Vineyard
       4 Exploration
       2 Solitary Confinement
       1 Trade Routes
       2 Soothsaying
       1 Fastbond
       1 Words of Wind
       1 Future Sight
       4 Sterling Grove

Draw/Search (8)
       4 Brainstorm
       1 Timetwister
       1 Time Walk
       1 Ancestral Recall
       1 Regrowth

Sideboard (15):
       4 Seal of Cleansing
       2 City of Solitude
       1 Sacred Ground
       4 Swords to Plowshares
       4 Force of Will

waSP: Off topic, but do you test at Dreamer's? If so, when? I heard that Tuesday afternoons there were some Type 1 players there, but I want to make sure before I make the trip over there.

[waSP]

I test at Dreamer's on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Sometimes I have work on Tuesdays, but a couple other Type 1 players will show up, and there's usually someone to play, especially if you get there before the draft (too poor to draft  )

I don't want to give game 1 to control with this deck.  The strength of City of Solitude game 1 against control offsets the drawback of it being less useful against aggro.  It can be used if you think your opponent is holding enchantment hate.

I replaced the Vineyards in my build with brainstorms (virtually), and that has improved a couple of the weaker matchups while hurting the stax matchup.  I think that this is worth it, and will not likely adjust from there.  I'd drop the Vineyards and add at least 1 City of Solitude and 1 Seal of Cleansing (no less than 1).  The mask matchup was terrible until i added the seals.  That gives me the option of not dying to their first dreadnought, and buys me time to set up confinement.  It also let's you beat random md blood moon.  That is a card I never regret having in the md.  I'm curious what the FoW are in to combat.  I like the idea of future sight in the deck, but rarely will I have 5 mana to cast the card.  There are neither enough control cards nor free cards in the deck to justify running future sight imo.  Unless you stall against your opponent you shouldn't be in need of draw.  It shouldn't be run for the same reason mirari's wake isn't run in the deck.  I did try it for about 5 games (drawing it at different points in each).  It is very useful in comboing, and makes the sanctums almost unnecessary (they are still amazing) but doesn't do enough early to be valid in this deck if it is run as combo.  If you run it as combo control, like The Shining, I think both cards are great inclusions and Future Sight's synergy with Solitary Confinement would win many games without a doubt.  I think considerations for a more controlling version of the deck should be made.  A version like that would probably look more like deletheeads and run moat and humility, (maybe just moat).  I'm just theorizing right now.  I will test it when I am happy with my current build.  I don't want to toss this one aside yet.

[Deletehead]

Here's my latest build post land tax w/Duals...

Artifact:4
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire

Blue:12
1 Braingeyser
1 Mind Over Matter (This card is a lot of fun...)
1 Future Sight
1 Words of Wind
1 Trade Routes
2 Soothsaying
1 Timetwister
1 Timewalk
1 Ancestrall

Gold:4
4 Sterling Grove

Green:15
4 Enchantress's Prescence
4 Argothian Enchantress
1 City of Solitude
2 Exploration
1 Regrowth
1 Fastbond

White:4
3 Solitary Confinement
1 Enlightened Tutor

Land:21
3 Serra's Sanctum
3 Windswept Heath
3 Flooded Strands
4 Tundra
4 Tropical Island
4 Savannah

I'm going to test it tomorrow vs. some of the more popular stuff but I think it's almost ready...

[Deletehead]

I was goldfishing this deck the other day and went off first turn...

Soothsaying, Fastbond, Timewalk, Trade Routes, Serra's Sanctum, Tropical Island, Windswept Heath...

That's actually the first one I've ever drawn with real cards (Well mostly real). I just thought I would share that as it was
really cool. One more thing I was considering is a Celestial Dawn to smooth out the mana, It's not necessary but casting
my Stroke of Genius with my sanctum sounds kinda cool...

[Godder]

Braingeyser or Stroke, Stroke or Cunning Wish -> Stroke? Likewise, isn't MoMa and Future Sight overkill? And is Soothsaying needed, or is it just nice in certain match-ups?

[waSP]

This may be a little long winded, so bear with me, but I think my comments might better explain card choices in the deck than just saying Future Sight is a bomb, I always win when it hits.

As Deletheead's versions of the deck aren't as much tuned to beat any specific matchups I think it's more important to think about why cards are included.  This relates more to theory than actual play as I've tested neither of the two cards.  In the deck you play certain cards, and those cards are not questioned.  An example or the 8 untargetable (by creature removal) enchantress's.  I started with 4 targetable but eventually realized my folly.  One strong point to this deck is it creates many dead cards in your opponents hand.  One way to do this is through the disuse of targetable creatures.  That makes StP, Smother, Keg, etc. dead.  In Deletheead's version once the second Sterling Grove (or even the first) makes you invulnerable to enchantment hate.  I agree with the power of this card, but I prefer not to play it maindeck because of its conditional use.  It doesn't do anything game 1 unless they have enchantment hate.  And in game 1 there won't be enough to warrant the inclusion of 4 sterling grove.  The other side of sterling grove warrants its inclusion because it is a moderately powerful tutor capable of setting up a win.  In a deck as redundant as this one (especially with the inclusion of brainstorm), having extremely conditional cards will flaw the deck.  If you add too many, the deck becomes weak, where it should be strong.  Soothsaying is an excellent choice for the maindeck, because it is not dead in any matchup.  It sets things up for you when it needs to.  Soothsaying is a better choice than others (sylvan library for example).  If an unconditional card is better in Soothsaying's slot, I will play it.  As of yet, I haven't found that card, so I won't replace it .. yet.  Future Sight is an excellent card.  It's abilities and power makes it a favorite of mine.  I just love how the card works.  With that said, I can realize that the card doesn't quite belong in the deck.  It's prohibitive casting cost is why I will not (currently) include the card in a version of the deck I build.  If the deck evolves in which it's cost doesn't outweigh the benefits it provides, I will certainly run it.  Mind Over Matter's cost is even more difficult to pay without proper set up.  Getting three blue mana on the board is difficult sans Lotus, but four is near impossible against decks with wastes.  Against decks without wastes, going for the three or four blue sources takes time, and if you have time, you shouldn't truly need those cards to win.  If you occasionally lucky with a Lotus, and you like the swingy luck factor when you play, these two cards are ok to play.  They might actually be excellent choices, as you will enjoy playing the deck to the utmost.  Now I'm a believer in utter redundancy and don't care much for flash.  When I play a combo deck, I suck every bit of power I can out of it.  I see great potential in this deck, although I certainly don't see it in flashy plays.  Future Sight (if it resolves) is thoroughly unnecessary and so is Mind Over Matter.  Now if you have a flashy playstyle, play it and win big.

Next, to improve the basic understanding I will go through every card with significant conditions.  I will skip over any cards I see as unnecessary.  Currently, my decklist as compared to the last one I posted is

-1 Forest
+1 Wooded Foothills (infrequent troubles finding blue mana)
-1 Brainstorm
+1 Sterling Grove (currently in testing to find out how the deck runs with it.  It's semi prohibitive casting cost (green) slow the deck slightly, giving it more protection)

Mana

The only thing I see questionable in here is the 3 Wooded Foothills.  Comparing my build to Deletheead's (I feel he has put the most original thought in the deck), I run 5 basic lands to his 0.  In a Blood Moonless environment, this is a wonderful luxury, but Blood Moon exists and you MUST play basics of any color you absolutely need.  Forests BELONG in the main deck, and the plains is my personal choice to dodge wastelands (given its synergy with Heath).  The Wooded Foothills will get me any of the three colors i need outside of Blood Moon, and are strictly better than Flooded Strand in a deck that runs basic forests.

Enchantress's

Nothing questionable here.  8 works perfectly well with brainstorms.

Enchantments

Now here we find some controversy, especially in the different builds of the deck.
The single Words of Wind in the maindeck is a staple, I believe, and can be two, although three seems too high for a card that doesn't become better in multiples.  1 is common, probably required, and 2 is tolerable.

Fastbond is absolutely required for this deck, no questions, it is a must counter for control (whether they realize it or not).  1, always.

Soothsaying.  I briefly mentioned Soothsaying above, but it's provides an important role in the deck.  As Deletheead mentioned earlier, you need lots of early enchantments to make Sanctum good.  Unfortunately there are no Moxes in the world of Enchantments.  What's good about Soothsaying is its ability to dig into your deck, and set yourself up extremely effectively.  This gets important if you ever begin to stall due to poor topdecking.  The shuffle effect is less important due to the many fetchlands in the deck, I've never used it.  This is certainly effective and should be played until a better alternative is found.  It is similar to Words in that it doesn't come in useful in multiples except to 'trip.  The blue casting cost makes its use as such limited.  2 copies recommended, anywhere from 0-4 excepted, depending on your style.

City of Solitude.  This card is important for a few reasons.  My build will indeed scoop to a well played aura fracture, usually.  This card shuts out aura fracture, completely.  You cast this then combo, its your only hope against a resolved aura fracture you can't deal with.  It is a must counter, which is even more important.  These give you the necessary maindeck disruption often necessary against control.  In an environment devoid of direct damage I could see Xantid Swarm, although it would give them a target for their removal.  Xantid Swarm becomes a sideboard consideration.  City, I believe is an absolute must for the deck, not giving control ANY game unless they go aggro on you.  1 necessary, 2 recommended.

Trade Routes.  This card is slightly better in practice than it is in theory.  In theory you see the combo with Fastbond and Solitary Confinement, you also see some stalling prevention and a way to not deck yourself when searching for Timetwister.  1 of them is absolutely necessary if only to get a second way to go infinite.  2 is what I recommend and has been very good for me so far.  I haven’t tested 3, although I might if I add another land or two.  3 may be a problem similar to the one with Soothsaying, drawing too many early and being unable to cast them because of a low blue count in the mana base.

Solitary Confinement.  This card is what will make this deck viable in the environment.  The power of this card its near lack of a drawback is simply shocking.  You can play this card without worries about it.  Getting 2 copies before turn 3 is troubling though.  For those who love absolute brokenness this is the card for you.  For everyone else, play it because it wins games you probably shouldn’t.  2 of them has seemed optimal for me although I can understand 3.  I wouldn’t dip below 2 though.

Exploration.  This deck certainly needs acceleration.  This is the best type of acceleration so far.  I’ve tested the Vineyards, and I was for them at first, but they added something random to the deck that I didn’t want in it.  They have been removed and I have no regrets about their absence.  This card I believe should definitely be a four of, but Deletheead runs two and I’d be delighted to know why.  Run 4 until Deletheead gives us a good reason to run 2.

Seal of Cleansing.  This card gives you a good matchup against Mask.  It’s not the Confinements or your speed.  It’s your ability to stop one of their threats.  Be wary of playing your City’s if you need to rely on the Seals.  It’s usefulness against TnT and Stax isn’t even all that important for running them, but is certainly a very nice benefit.  This card is better in multiples as it can promote mana screw or shut down an opponent’s strategy.  Run 4 unless you see no Rector Trix and no Mask then look hard before you run less.

Those are all of my enchantments.  Now I’ll talk a little about other options.

Sterling Grove.  A decent tutor and another source of protection against certain cards.  I really like it but I don’t want to run it maindeck, yet.  I still need to get a feel for how it runs before I decide what to cut for it.  It’s going to fit in my sideboard at the very least.  I recommend this card but I don’t know how best to play it yet, so I won’t recommend any numbers yet.  After testing I will get a list with these in it and see how it fares.  It’s roll is similar to that of Soothsaying, early drop promotes lots of Enchantments and has only 1 relevant color in its cost.  We’ll see on this one.

Future Sight and Mind Over Matter. I’ve already discussed these.

Sylvan Library.  I think we’ve all decided Sylvan doesn’t hold synergy in the deck.  Run it if you don’t like comboing.  0 copies.

Seal of Removal.  Certainly a tempo card, like Smmenen said.  It is certainly inferior to Solitary Confinement in its function.  Soothsaying takes what spots it could possibly fit in.  Good against GaT and Stax.  One is dead and the other needs metagaming against or is uber-tough.  You can win the Stax matchup without it.  Stalling Welder tricks in that matchup is important though.  This is a metagame card.  Play it if it suits your metagame.

Holistic Wisdom.  It seems too slow for the deck, but I see it as another must counter.  It would be mandatory in a slower version, less focused on the combo.  I like its prospects, but don’t think it quite fits.  If white was dropped (don’t ever do such a thing) it would be ok to use.

Any more I forgot?

Draw/Search/Kill

Ancestral Recall.  You’re playing combo and this card draws you cards.  If you expect many misdirections don’t hesitate to side it out.  Always play 1.

Timetwister.  This is THE recursion card for the deck.  It is far more important in keeping the deck tight than most of the other selections.  You shouldn’t replace it but you can if you need to.

Stroke of Genius.  This is the optimal kill, not because it’s the most popular, but because its an instant.  Early on you can stroke for 3-4 to get yourself going and then recur it with twister.  Play this card unless you like swinging with 1/1’s (or 1/2's with wake out)

Brainstorm.  This card has been very good to me, fixing my mana and helping me out of tough spots.  I don’t see a reason to not run it.

Braingeyser.  This is strictly inferior to Stroke.  It cannot be played end step to optimize the cards you get off it.  Play this as your secondary, not first.  Stroke could surprise an unwitting combo opponent whereas Braingeyser can’t.  Play 0 or 1 if you have stroke and like 2 kills.

Cunning Wish for kill.  A good suggestion except the constant tapping out involved with the deck leaves little room for wishing for conditional cards.  Additionally they aren't enchantments and don't have ancestral recall attached to their regular abilities.  A consideration in a slower version which I may start a discussion on in the future.  This isn't the time though.

I’ll try to keep all the questionable cards listed here.  If there are other ones, please inform me and I’ll try to make the best statement about them that I can.  If I seem vastly misinformed regarding any of these cards, pray tell.  Thanks for reading this far, your patience is appreciated.

[Deletehead]

Yeah I'm ditching MOM for MD Stroke, also your right about
Exploration being a 4 of as the deck is just too slow without
it...

[Godder]

I agree that all non-basics is asking to get royally screwed. For coloured mana requirements, lands can be bounced with Trade Routes and replayed using Exploration/Fastbond. I also like Trade Routes as land protection . Incidentally, playing the deck in Extended is interesting, and I've found that Celestial Dawn is actually really good, since Sanctum goes nuts with it on table. Mind's Desire is also insanely good, since I get multiples...

Pointless Extended comment aside, would Celestial Dawn be good as a mana fixer? How important is the Sanctum? And, is one copy of Mind's Desire worth it? I find I can usually get 4 - 5 free spells off it...

[Igor]

The problem with this deck is that it really can't win if a control player focus on the right cards.  If I counter City of solitude, WoW, regrowth and TimeTwister, there is no way you can win, I don't care if you have 3 enchantress in play and draw 10 cards per turn, if I am able to cast 4 counters, you simply cannot win... to me that's a huge problem.

[waSP]

Igor, I've gone over this repeatedly, but I will again because it's important.  You have counter the following cards, and I will attempt to play them in this order so that I get the most mileage out of them.

First
BOTH City of Solitudes and you have to counter one twice because of Regrowth.  So 3 must counters so far.

If you don't mind me having access to infinite mana, Fastbond gets through (although that seems somewhat unintelligent.  So if you're ok with ridiculous mana counts we're still at 3.

You have to counter the Words of Wind.  What?  You don't?  Are you sure?  You didn't?  Good Game, you got decked.  So we're at 4 must counters.

Timetwister?  Bam FoW.  Thought so.  5 must counters.

Alright you were ok with me getting infinite mana with fastbond, so Stroke becomes a must counter.  Excellent, that's 6 must counters.  But what if I run a second kill condition main?  That makes 8.  Excellent.  This deck WILL draw the entire library before you get the mana to cast 4 counters.  You getting 4 unconditional counters may be rather difficult also.  The only problems with control I ever have is racing them.  Your best bet is to drop morphling and start swinging.  PM if you'd like to test the control matchups.  I'm always open to more testing, it can only strengthen me as a player and can help improve the build.

I haven't tested Celestial Dawn yet, but I can see potential, but it feels too slow, what are you guys considering cutting for it?

[Godder]

For reference, this is the current version of the deck, I believe.

Mana (25)
       4 Forest
       4 Windswept Heath
       4 Tropical Island
       3 Savannah
       3 Wooded Foothills
       2 Serra's Sanctum
       1 Plains
       1 Mox Pearl
       1 Mox Sapphire
       1 Mox Emerald
       1 Black Lotus
Enchantress's (8)
       4 Enchantress's Presence
       4 Argothian Enchantress
Enchantments (18)
       4 Seal of Cleansing
       4 Exploration
       2 Solitary Confinement
       2 City of Solitude
       2 Trade Routes
       2 Soothsaying
       1 Sterling Grove
       1 Fastbond
       1 Words of Wind
Draw/Search (9)
       3 Brainstorm
       1 Timetwister
       1 Time Walk
       1 Ancestral Recall
       1 Regrowth
       1 Stroke of Genius

I'm not sure what to remove for 2 Celestial Dawn, to be honest. Possibly the Grove and a Forest or a Brainstorm. Regardless, it's a difficult choice. Which of Timetwister, Time Spiral or both is the correct option here?

Regarding the counters, you need to knock off City of Solitude x 2, the card that was Regrown, Words of Wind, Fastbond/Stroke of Genius and Timetwister. That's at least 5, probably 6, and how were you planning on countering that many times in a turn, bearing in mind that Mana Leak isn't likely to work?

[Moobius]

Regarding the "Must Counters":

@Wasp: You are very right in that no blue player is going to be able to keep up with the draws. It is completly abusrd to think that even having 4 active counterspells is going to stop this deck.

BUT

That isn't the right list of must counters. The must counters are the Enchantresses, City of Solidude and Replenish (with the possible exception of fastbond/traderoutes if it means winning).

I've been playing the enchantress engine for over a year now and there is only one guy that I never beat and the only things he counters are the enchantresses. My build runs:

4xArgothian
4xVerduran
4xPresence
2xCity of Solitude
2xReplenish

all main. Thats 16 must counters and they are what really wrecks the opponent. If you cut off the draw engine then the deck doesn't go. It just sits there with the possible vineyard in play. Most of the games I lose are a couple of early counters on the enchantresses and a quick Morphling beatdown.

[waSP]

Here's the text on Celestial Dawn

Nonland cards you own that aren't in play and nonland permanents you control are white. Lands you control are plains. Spells and abilities you control produce white mana instead of any other color. You may spend white mana as through it were mana of any color.

So, now, all of our beloved sanctums are plains.  That's bad for the deck.  It fixes your mana, but Toad helped me come up with a better solution, one that doesn't require cutting any of the good cards from the deck.

With Toad's assistance, here's my mana base.  More sources of blue are a very good thing!

4 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
4 Tropical Island
3 Savannah
2 Serra's Sanctum
2 Yavimaya Coast
1 Plains
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus

For unpowered people, I believe the Pearl could viably be removed for a Sol Ring.  First turn Argothians or second turn presence's really give this deck a little of the "brokenness" running rampant in the format right now  .

[Toad]

I've started to play waSP's deck a few days ago, after playtesting the $T4KS's matchup against him. The first thing I noticed was the few amount of effective blue sources you have when going off. 7 fetchlands are great in the first turns, but you want real lands to cast all your blue spells, without needing Trade Routes. My first thought was to cut some Wooded Foothills for Yavimaya Coasts, and 2 is probably the way to go. Since then, I've never had problems to cast all the blue spells you have in the deck. I've then tried to cut the last remaining Foothill for a Treva's Ruins, which produces your three colours and is not that bad with Explorations in the first few turns. It's also another way to make infinite mana with Fastbond and Trade Routes. After some testings, I found it was uneeded. The mana base waSP listed above is nice.

Then, with only 5 fetchlands remaining and no other suffling effects except the really expensive Soothsaying, the impact of Brainstorm has dramatically been lessened. I've often found myself holding a Brainstorm and no fetchies. I've tried Sterling Grove instead, it's really nice, but its casting cost is often prohibitive early game, and the tutor ability has a tremendous card disadvantage that can cost games. The deck has a really strong draw engine, and I've never found myself needing something I could not simply draw. So I've cut a Brainstorm for a Mystic Remora. The cumulative upkeep is painful, but it's something control should counter, and nets you cards even against aggro decks (or, at least, tempo advantage). It works fine for me.

Matt

[Moobius]

Moobius' Un-Powered Wind
This is the deck as I last played it:

//enchantresses: 12
4xArgothian Enchantress
4xEnchantress's Presence
4xVerduran Enchantress

//enchantments: 24
2xSeal of Removal
4xEladamri's Vineyard
4xWild Growth
1xFastbond
3xExploration
2xFertile Ground
1xEarthcraft
2xTrade Routes
2xCity of Solitude
3xWords of Wind

//other: 12
4xLand Grant
1xCrop Rotation
3xCloud of Faeries
2xCunning Wish
2xReplenish
5xForest
4xTropical Island
2xSerra's Sanctum
1xIsland

//Sideboard: 15
//wishable: 6
1xStroke of Genious
1xSwords to Plowshares
1xReclaim
1xSeedtime
2xNaturalize
//nonwishable
2xElephant Grass
1xSeal of Removal
6xother stuff

My build is fairly heavily meta'd against control as I'm usually playing the 1337 Hadley Crew. The last time I played a keeper deck with this I realized that I didn't have any sideboard for it because I was maindecking it all (replenish, city, etc).

This deck is a real pain in the brain to play. I had to carry around Green(d20), White(2d20) and Blue(d4) dice to keep track of my mana. The deck can go infinate but its a wicked pain and I usually just go for fastbond/trade routes.

Infinate looks something like this:

1) Play a land off exploration (NOT FASTBOND!) if you have it. Tap the exploration when you use it to make it easier to keep track of which ones you have used this turn/how many you have left.
2) Play an enchantment (preferably another exploration, second to that something that costs G like Vineyard)
3) Pay white mana from Sanctum to activate words of wind for 2+
4) Bounce Cloud of Faeries and a used Exploration (optionally: extra enchantresses, fastbond, land)
5) Play Cloud of Faeries - Untap the Sanctum and the BASIC LAND with fertile ground/wild growth on it
6) Lather
7) Rinse
8) Repeat

End with City of Solitude on the table and UU infinate in your pool. Wish for Stroke. Stroke someone.

The non-infinate win:

1) tap Sanctum for a lot
2) spend W to return sanctum to your hand
3) play Sanctum

Things to remember:
Your "Super Land", the one with all the Wild Growth/Fertile Ground enchantments on it, should be BASIC. Most people pack 3 Wastelands but only 1 Strip Mine. Also Earthcraft only works with basic land - no untapping that sanctum.
You can activate your Words off Trade Routes (the mind reels)
If you're stuck with Words on the table skip your draw for the turn to bounce an enchantment, play it and draw cards. In an unpowered enviroment this is a soft lock.
If you have Earthcraft on the table don't forget to tap those Faeries before you bounce them.
Words of Wind is a great mana sink. The bounce doesn't happen unless there is a draw effect and the replacement only lasts until end of turn.
Trade Routes is a great mana sink. Return a land. In response return the same land.
With Trop/Rotate/Wild Growth in your opening hand rotate the trop for a basic. Trust me. Wasteland bites the big one.

[waSP]

I'm wondering how you've been faring without the Solitary Confinements as they are the single most important card in the deck against anything that doesn't kill with Morphling.  Also without Seal of Cleansing are you conceding the mask matchup straight up?  I'll be tinkering around with this version for inspiration.

[Project5]

Moobius:

Have you considered Survival of the Fittest with your high count of enchantresses? Cloud of Faeries seems conditional enough in that it doesn't help you when you do not have a Sanctum or an enchanted basic land, and seeing more than one doesn't add any utility. Perhaps with SOTF to search for a lone copy, it would up your enchantment count and give you a way to pump out enchantresses faster.

I suppose this would be important only against opponents with ways to get rid of the Enchantresses, but let me know what you think.

--Ben