U/B Affinity

[PittSoothSayer]

This is a pretty good deck, but I have no delusions of it ever winning a T1 tournament, so I guess the Casual Forum is the place for it.  It’s one of the better decks in my playgroup, but I’d like to hear what you guys think.

Beaters (20)
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Somber Hoverguard
4 Myr Enforcer

Counters (8)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will

Draw (8)
4 Brainstorm
4 Skullclamp

Restricted (4)
R Yawgmoth’s Will
R Demonic Tutor
R Mind Twist
R Vampiric Tutor

Mana (20)
R Tolarian Academy
R Mana Crypt
R Mana Vault
R Sol Ring
R Chrome Mox
R Lotus Petal
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
3 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Island

Sideboard
4 Chain of Vapor
4 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Chill
3 Stifle


Maindeck Inclusions
Somber Hoverguard: He fills a dual role as a beater and cards 12-16 that can be pitched to FoW.

Mana Drain: Much like Hulk, this deck uses it as a tempo swing.  Often, Draining a somewhat insignificant spell just for the mana acceleration is the right play.

Brainstorm: This used to be Thoughtcast, but Brainstorm is just a better card, IMHO.  Althought, when that switch was made, I was running 4x Fetch.  With the 3 that I have now, Thoughtcast may well be better.

Skullclamp: I know a lot of the people who have been working on competitive T1 Ravager have cut these in favor of the Draw7 engine, but w/o Frogmites, other cheap artifacts are a necessity.

Restricted: YawgWin and both Tutors are a must in the deck.  Mind Twist, however, is probably the most expendable card in the deck.  I had Tinker in its place, but was incredibly under whelmed.

Mana: I’m not too crazy about Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, or Lotus Petal, but they are better than more lands, and, in the absence of Moxen, are the best artifact mana I can get.


Strengths
The deck is very apt at playing both types of Aggro-Control.  It can either lay threats and back them up with counters and drawing, or it can play control for the first few turns then magically poop out a 2-turn clock for 2-3 mana, which is backed up by counter and drawing.


Weaknesses
There are several permanents which give this deck headaches, and it’s unable to remove pre-board.  First and foremost is Null Rod.  Also Meekstone (It’s played in my group, yikes.), and Chains of Mephistopheles severely hurt its performance.


Possible Changes
I would like to fit Frogmites in place of the Hoverguards.  That, however, would leave me with too few Blue spells to reliably play FoW.  This could be made up for in the draw engine by switching from Clamps to the Draw7s, or possibly even Standstill. The changes would probably be something along the lines of this:
-4 Somber Hoverguard, -4 Skullclamp, -1 Mind Twist
+4 Frogmite, +1 Windfall, +1 Memory Jar, +1 Tinker, +2 Diminishing Returns
~or~
+4 Frogmite, +3 Standstill, +1 Tinker, +1 Memory Jar
I’m kind of skeptical about the Draw7 setup, but the Standstill version may be better than what I have so far.  In any case, I will test both proposed changes to the deck.

[Silverdragon]

Have you ever thought of adding red to your deck? it doesn't hurt the manabase that much but you have to change your playing style from aggro-control to pure aggro (well I think that is what affinity is supposed to be).
By adding red you could use 4 Shrapnel Blasts and/or wheel of fortune.
For me the draw7 plan has worked out really good because our playgroup is not that much powered. The only problem you'll face is combo decks because you'd have to cut some counters.
What I like at your deck is the hoverguard tech! It synergizes really well with force of will and it flies!
Last but not least I'd definitely cut the mind twist for a memory jar or another broken card because in your deck twist is really weak. The only use I can see is after you've drained something big but you'd always rather play more guys than strip away your opponent's hand.

[PittSoothSayer]

If I were to add red to the deck, which I've been considering, it would be for Goblin Welders, not Shrapnel Blasts, and the great sideboard cards in Red.  I will be the first to tell you that I suck at pure aggro, and Ravager Affinity is one of, if not the hardest deck of that archetype to play correctly.  Control is also my preferred playstyle.  I've used it in one form or another since 1995 and am too stubborn to change.

As for the Draw7 engine, against most decks in my group that would be fine.  There are 2 decks, however, that I do not want to give a full hand and load their grave.  One is a B/g powerless Dragon with Bazaars and the other is a partially powered Hulk Smash.  They, along with my deck, are the top 3 in my group, and I'm reluctant to give up ground in my matches against them.

The Mind Twist is most definately coming out, but I'm not too sure what to replace it with.  Tinker/Jar is the most likely, or, If I splash Red, I will test it as the 21st mana source.

Also of note is that making changes is very hard in this deck.  Trying to juggle Affinity, FoW, and the usual T1 brokenness means that any cards cut from one place require other changes to bring the balance back to the deck, otherwise it just loses to itself.  That's probably the biggest reason I haven't gone for the Red splash yet.

Since I forgot to include it in my first post (brainfart), here's my meta approximately ordered from best to worst.
1. Hulk Smash! (has Mox U, Mox B, Ancestral, and Walk)
2. B/g Dragon (Bazaars but no power)
3. U/B Affinity (me)
4. Classic Sligh (think Ball Lightning, Fireblast, Goblin Grenade, etc.)
5. "S&M Black" (Juzams, Scutas, and MD Chains of Mephistopheles)
6. R/G Beatz (Mostly old T2 stuff, but has Kird Apes, Mox Monkey and a few others)
7. Enchantress (Land Tax/Scroll Rack engine w/ Auratog for the kill)