Optimizing TPS

[Cross]

A lot of posts have gone up about removing a number of the draw sevens from TPS and I think it would be a bad idea to remove all of them. Specifically we should talk about tinker + jar. Not only is jar really one sided and amazing versus most decks, and it allows you to set up an even huger yawg win; tinker allows us for the sideboarding of Collosus (versus everything) or Platinum Angel (versus most things, combo and oath[which usually can't win with this resolved]), which are generally stupid good.

One aspect of draw sevens that has not been discussed is their use as an alternative win condition against doomsday. Once Doomsday has set itself up a draw seven is an auto win for you. One can leave themselves the option of just tinkering in jar Doomsday can't win. There's also the more random luck based "mise" of the draw seven after doomsday goes for the stack.

In addition to this, cards like twister (which I don't think anyone has considered cutting) and timespiral, which many versions don't run at all, are actually really good against workshop, non-existent tog, and even dragon. The loss of their well set up 'yard is obviously devastating.

This is why I feel that when discussing draw sevens we should be careful to just write them all off. I think it would be a good idea to replace windfall, and wheel of fortune (most people won't even consider running anyways).

In response to this

Should TPS include Doomsday

I really don't think this is such a great idea. The decks are really different and work to win in very different ways. You can really only win with tendrils when you have a fairly decent storm count set up already, plus you need to be able to draw the ancestral that lets you win. I think another topic would be a more appropriate place to discuss TPS's additions to Doomsday.

[mongrel12]

In addition to this, cards like twister (which I don't think anyone has considered cutting) and timespiral, which many versions don't run at all, are actually really good against workshop, non-existent tog, and even dragon. The loss of their well set up 'yard is obviously devastating.

"Non-existant tog." enough said.

If you play a draw seven against workshop and they untap, you lose, against dragon the result is pretty much the same. The doomsday argument is pretty much moot given the amount of doomsday, and the fact that a good doomsday player will never cast doomsday if there is a possibility of you resolving a draw7 next turn.

The fact is, that you generally board out the majority of the draw7s in the control and shop matchups for bounce/draw. Usually I would plan to take out all of them except twister and spiral, and sbding colossus in specific situations.

@Doomsday. except for the manabase, they are completely different decks. Doomsday is about resolving 1 spell and surviving for a turn, TPS is about forcing through a series of bombs.

[Xman]

There are many options to TPS, and some very bad builds of the deck.  I would have to say that TPS relies on Draw7's to an extent, and after extensive testing, 4 of them is the correct number.  Those 4 would be Twister, Jar, Windfal & Spiral.  I know some people disagree with me on this, and that is fine.  As Jacob Orlove has said, this forum is not about everyone agreeing, it is about moving Type 1 forward.

Tinker is just to crucial, as well as Jar are to this deck to cut.  They are very effective in so many circumstances.  Tinker can be used for DsC, Plat, Lotus, Jar, etc.  It is a tool of the deck, to provide verstility, form a deck that can go from combo to having an excellent alternate win.

As for Cunning wish, the more I see it in my hand, the more I love it.  Such a good utility card, to grab everything from Brainfreeze (good useful card, not just a kill condition) to Mis-D to Stifle to BEB.  one slot, very versatile.

And as a question to Cross, what would you personally replace Windfall with?  I have found it to be an excellent card in this deck.TPS is a controlish combo deck, with the ability to ride out MUD and other nasty threats.  When it is set up, it takes a strong control force against it to stop it.

[rozetta]

I was having some thoughts about the manabase I've seen in most of these decks. I'm not overly fond of the Lotus Petal, but more importantly, I'm not that fond of the 4 Underground Seas. Decks can often Wasteland twice in the early game, so if you draw the Underground Seas and not the fetchlands or basics, you're opening yourself up to the possibility of an unlucky loss due to manascrew.

With the deck running only 14 or 15 lands, I was pondering actually running more fetches, while decreasing the number of Underground Seas. If you think about it, this deck will play out roughly 4-5 lands before winning, so running, for example, 7 fetches, 2 of each basic land, Academy and 2 Underground Sea means you still have enough land to fetch to be able to win. Perhaps in this configuration, it would be wise to substitute the Lotus Petal for another basic island?

This approach has pluses and minuses.

The pluses are that you can ramp up to 3 land under a Trinisphere without fear of wasteland. It also gives you guaranteed wasteland protection against a deck like fish which can easily shut down your artifact mana via Null Rod. As an aside, it strengthens Skeletal Scrying and thins out more lands when you start to go off (which could actually facilitate maindeck Scrying).

On the minus side, it's extra loss of life should you start using Necropotence or Yawgmoth's Bargain, and those fetches are dead if you need to Twister (which is anyway a more last-resort move in the tutor-based TPS builds).

I toyed around with a build running 7 fetches, 5 islands, 2 swamps and no petal. It was a little clunky in the fact that there were perhaps not enough black sources to guarantee a turn 1 duress and if you needed to fetch a swamp for that play, you might be in trouble if you didn't draw another fetch or island for all the blue spells.

Most people will fetch basic land first anyway, since losing a land to wasteland (which is still highly prevalent) is sometimes more than just an annoying setback. Therefore, theoretically, increasing the number of fetches increases the chance of being able to fetch basics out early game.

This is, of course, just an untested idea that I've been toying with, but I thought I'd propose it to see if anyone else has experimented with such a configuration.

One a side note, I've been playing around with Maxx's list and it seems that Gush is not too bad as a wish target. It's mostly for when preparing to go off, but you can EOT wish for gush, then use it after floating mana for Yawgwill if you already had 4 islands on the table for essentially a free draw-4 plus 2 storm count and perhaps untapping one land. Since Maxx's version is slower and more control orientated, these situations arise fairly often.

[Shaman]

Incipit:

Nobody here is claiming he owns the Truth, at least I suppose. Magic is a game and I consider for this reason that there are not so many obvious choices when building a deck since a lot depends on your style of play. Like Xman wrote a couple of posts above, we are not supposed to agree on every card choice, but the discussion can force people to doubt about their previous convinctions and try the new ideas on the field...then judge them worth of consideration or not.


I, like many, have found Windfall extremely poor. I considered the idea to cut it long ago, replacing it with the fact or fiction I used to side it in its place almost in every match. Even the Tinker + Jar option, largely discuss on this thread, is winning me the same amount of games I lose because I can't use it properly (tinker+jar in the same hand, and no brainstorms...I ensure it happens really often). The release of this new toy called Gifts Ungiven was God-send, for this deck we play, since it brings more skill in and thins the luck factor. Why do you draw 7 random card if you can get 2 broken cards out of 4? A random hand of 7 new cards can have, on average, 2 broken cards, but the draw7 spell is sorcery speed.

Right now I am testing this configurations of one-side and both-side drawer:

timetwister
timespiral
fact or fiction
gifts ungiven
2x cunning wish
2x rebuild

I tried to cut the jar+tinker, playing in their places the Spiral (a draw7 more one-sided then others, since it untaps your lands and eat the graveyards) and the second Cunning Wish, that I found really useful and can get another 2 drawers in the side (Skeletal Scrying and Plagiarize --- that's techy enough to work, expecially in the mirror). The inclusion of Spiral, in my opinion, can fill the blank space left by the departure of the Jar, with no harm since it can be also pitch to Force of Will in the early game. Moreover, the fact I do not play tinker maindeck anymore, leaves another slot open, so I can assume to play one more "treath" (cunning wish in my case).

About the undergound sea matter, I agree with rozetta completely. When I read about cutting one/two seas I was a bit surprised, then i tried this land
mana base:

2 seas
3 islands
2 swamps
6 fecth (4 delta + 2 flooded)
1 tolarian academy

In my initial testing this has proved good over any expectations. Just consider, when playing against any opponent but the mirror and T1T, you always sfetch for a basics in the early game, and a hand with a sea and a mox only can be a risk if you have your opponent packing a full set of wastelands and you have only 14 lands. My tests proved me I was rather satisfied and the game is more relaxed: you do not have to worry about choices you previously had to take, at the cost of a minimum color screw* largely compensated by unwasteble targets.

*= i refer to thug's considerations about the second swamp, for example. I agree with him completely, but if you run only 2 seas the second swamp is less optional then before.

I hope to have been of any help

[MaxxMatt]

I suggest to all the "new to the TPS' World" to try to "break himself" a card like Gift Ungiven.

It is in our tests deck from months and any match I can arrange a better series of 4 cards to quickly kill my opponent o I can set up a different set of cards that can be completely understood ONLY by me and not by my opponent.

He choose cards that he clearly DIDN'T completely know WHY you have chosen.
It is an inherent advantage.

It is stupid, from my point of view, that I start suggesting you some among the common uses of that card. They would be mostly dependant by your current hand and at least another couple of factors ( when you cast it, what your opponent did until know, reciprocal board's positions, which deck are you facing and so on... ).


Shuffle and goldfish with a TPS with 2 Gifts.
You would play it as a winner almost any game it would be in your hand.
Try to arrange different sets of cards against the same opponent, imaging facing a specific opponent
Only practizing with this "multitutor" would increase the rate of winning with it without relying on the raw power of a draw7.


Good year!

MAxx

[BigMac]

Negator13  

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If you are using a card you claim is amazing as a last resort, then it can't be optimal. If you say you like Tinker because it gets Lotus to set up a YawgWiN, take a look at Gifts Ungiven. It sets up Will at Instant speed, alot better, without any sacrifice.
 

If you read correctly i say i use it as a finisher OR as a last resort. So i dont think it is subobtimal, only i board it against certain decks because it has less uses. But it is a good finishing card.

[Thug]

There will always be people with different opinions, but to me that should be caused by the metagame, if everyone would have the except same metagame, there should and would be 1 best version of the deck.
Type has a lot more randomness than other formats, and (maybe) therefore people tend to play slightly different verisions of archetypes.

So to find the perfect config for your own metagame I think you should take a good look at what you expect to face, and what your strategy is in such a matchup.

I would like to ask the people who continue to play the draw-sevens about their game strategy against control, and about their sideboard strategy. Let's take this quote for example:

The fact is, that you generally board out the majority of the draw7s in the control and shop matchups for bounce/draw. Usually I would plan to take out all of them except twister and spiral, and sbding colossus in specific situations.

Is this true for most people or not?. Personally I have been advocating the use of multiple scryings sideboard to replace draw-sevens with for some time last year. And that plan proved itself over and over. To me their was no doubt my matchup got a lot better after sideboarding because of the triple scrying I had there. This was some time ago, and their are better options right now (mainly Gift), but I still think their can be no doubt that your matchup against conrol is much better with targetted draw than with draw-sevens. But do people actually agree with this? And what about the Shop/Prison matchup?

Basicly what I want to know is: The fact that people love the draw-sevens is this because of your metagame, do you face a lot of aggro? shops? control? What is the reason why you play them?

---

On the land config:

I'm still running 15 lands, and it does cause some flood in the midgame, but it also add a little more stability and makes Wasteland less of a problem. I do like an extra fetch instead of the 4th Sea though, but if I would cut another Sea I would have to run a second Swamp, and you all know my opinion about that.

Petal:

Cutting petal would be another step towards a more control orientated approach of the deck. This doesn;t have to be bad, not at all. But personally I like petal, mainly because it pretty good with Will, but also becuase it can often speed up a bomb like Necro or Bargain with a full turn.

The card I'm actually less sure about is Mind's Desire. Too often I find myself playing a Desire with only 3-4 copies and turning up only Duresses, FoWs, Bounce, Lands or Acceleration. This wouldn't be that bad if desire does not force you to give up all your hand to makes some strom and get the needed mana. Often after a Desire failed to bring up anything good you're doomed to lose, barring some amazing topdecks.

Koen

[Negator13]

Ive continued testing with the Tutor build, and I absolutely love Gifts, and especially Skeletal Scrying. How does playing 2 Gifts, 2 Scrying in those four slots sound to you guys? FoF is usually a 4 mana Inpulse for me (4 mana for a 1 for 1 trade) because I'm either using a Dark Rit to cast it in a timely manner (2 for 2) or because I get a single bomb in one pile that I have to take. Scrying however has been good just about every time I cast it, and a Scry for 3 or 4 eot usually wins the game. Even better, I have no problem with using Ritual to fuel a Scrying because I get that card back, plus more using the extra mana.

[CMass]

I have been trying a single Frantic Search, but it just feels weak and situational to me.  Untapping lands as it resolves provides some cute tricks (get an untap under Tangle Wire as Thug pointed out, for example) and ramps up the storm count, but I find that it just doesn't dig deep enough.  It really sucks as a topdeck, as well.  The card keeps cropping up in a lot of lists, though, so somebody must be seeing something that I'm missing.  Are others really finding Frantic Search to be a strong choice?  MaxxMatt has been pushing a second Gifts Ungiven, and I'm thinking that this is the slot for it.

[Xman]

I have been trying a single Frantic Search, but it just feels weak and situational to me.

The card is situational.  Weak, however, is debateable.  First, this card allows you to dig a little farther under necro/bargain  Second, this card can untap your key lands like you academy or duals to fix yoru mana to help you combo out earlier.  Third, you can use it to bait a counter.  Lots of times, people will counter Frantic Search, especially if you have academy out.  Fourth, it allows you to streamline your hand when you are comboing out, gftting rid of 2 lands you won't need anyway for 2 business spells.  Fifth, it ups your storm count for FREE or for negative mana.

Search is a business spell you hold until you are comboing out.

As for Gifts, I know MaxxMatt loves it, but I am honestly unsure of how good it could be.  I personally have not tried it yet, but a member on my team has.  We discovered it helped shore up the already good control matchup.  Rule #1 about deck building and modding, along with sideboarding, don't worry about your good matchups, shore up the weak ones.  I guess I would need to figure out what exactly we Gifts for.  I personally don't think it would be worth a slot of a draw7, at least, not in the US Metagame right now.

[FreshIsOuttaTurn]

One of the comments I have heard time and time again is, "Why run [insert card]?  It only helps my already good matchups."  So my question is, what do people consider there good match ups?

I expect such a diverse set of responses.  And I ask everyone to say the name for each individual deck they know is good, bad, or a coinflip and (preferrably) why, don't just say "Control" because there are large variations between each control deck.

Example

BAD
-Belcher, you have only 8 real ways of stopping there combo and 4 of them only work if you go first, or they don't explode on Turn 1.
-DeathLong, again, very little way of stopping them and they are extremely resilent to Duress and extremely fast
-etc...



Your turn

[Xman]

Lets see

good matchups for TPS
- Nonatifact control (like 4cc, MonoU, Fish, even Oath)
- Stax is about 50/50
- Non workshop aggro

The reason I say control is we have enough control to force our bombs out, and then they have to rely on any other way to stop us.To stop TPS, you need 2 counters & a stifle in hand.  That is a pretty hefty order.

Stax vs. TPS coms down to the better draw & who goes first.

Belcher & Deathlong, yea, those are slightly bad matchups. They improve every turn the game is played.

Decks like Control Slaver, it is a tough matchup, but still slightly in our favor.

Non workshop aggro is crazy in our favor.  Workshop aggro is questionable, as it is so blazing fast.

[mongrel12]

Its very clear that the combo matchups are the worst for tps, but duress and FoW go a long way, as do boarded cards (stifle, etc). Draw7s obviously suck against combo becuase if you pass the turn, they will lose. However the added speed that draw7s provide against combo can lead to a missassignment of role--in the combo matchups, tps is NEVER playing the aggressor.

Its hard for me to understand why windfall is good in this deck, as it is very often a win-more card, played after you've ramped up you mana and cards with a draw7 already this turn.

Going first, 3sphere isnt much of a problem, as you can lay some mana and basics and duress/fow/bounce it. However, if you play a draw7 against workshop and they take another turn, it is hard/impossible for you to win as they will just explode/weld stuff into play. The graveyard-killing effect of the draw7s is moot because if you are casting them against tog/shop/dragon and passing the turn, you will lose anyways.

Against control, the draw7s are marginally better, but if you do not hit sick disruption, a drawn-into drain or force after they have emptied their hand trying to stop your bombs can end the game, as can not-winning.

Gifts Ungiven basically says "i win next turn," even if you are going for the standard 3 tutors+lotus. It sets up you graveyard for a huge yawgwill and plays the tinker=>lotus role at instant speed. However the quality of your gifts ungiven is pretty much a direct function of how much experience you have with it, so it can take a while to get used to it.

[Cross]

I just return from Waterbury having learned a lot about TPS. I think today proved to me that MaxxMatt’s version of the list is way better. Cutting the draw sevens in the deck is such a good idea. Most of the time I would draw Timespiral, and not only did I not want to cast it, I like never had the resources to devote to casting it and playing stuff afterwards. Jar was really weak cause most of the time I felt like it would just give my opponent answers, plus you cannot really use it correctly unless you wait a turn.
I am ready to pull out all the draw sevens and replace them with one sided draw spells and gifts ungiven. I did run gifts as a one of today, but I only saw it once. In testing it was really good though.  

What I would really like to champion is cranial extraction in the sideboard. Cranial Extraction actually won me more games today than tendrils. I used it against World Gorger Dragon, naming dragon, lost game 1, won games 2 and three on this move; and I played Chain5 who was piloting the meandeck tendrils, and won the same way. I am ready to find space for 2 of these in my board.

As far as other sideboard cards are concerned….

I found that colossus was generally weak. It’s not fast enough versus combo, and most aggro decks can overwhelm it unless you get it out turn 1 or 2. I really feel that platinum angel is a better choice, as Thug had mentioned earlier in this forum, I feel like the angel works in basically the same way, and it owns Meandeck combo and oath. Plus it’s actually possible to hard cast her if things have really gone wrong and it’s a savior in a pinch.
I feel like boarding a Hurkyl’s and a Rebuild takes up to many slots. They are redundant and I would really only board 1 in against most match-ups where these are necessary anyways.
I had two coffin purge in my sideboard. While I found that having two was unnecessary, these are way better than ebony charm. Although charm does hit three, if it gets countered you can’t flash it like the purge, which is a good idea I got from brass man. Also I did win one game today by upping my storm count simply by playing coffin purge and flashing me back, give me just the right amount of storm.
Does anyone have any advice for sideboarding (or even mainboarding) against control slaver? I feel like even with my answers they were still outdrawing and out-countering me on everyone front. I managed to steal a game off an early Necropotence, but the other two games they had answers for everything. I play tested a lot against this deck and I still don’t feel confident.

On a related topic, I think a lot of people have discussed what main board bounce is best, and I think one rebuild and one chain of vapor is really excellent. I found that the chain is awesome for doing tricks with moxen and upping your storm count (as long as you don’t forget to tap the moxen for mana, which I did every time except once and it cost me the game, and eventually got me knocked out of Waterbury, dam play errors).

[goobafish]

On a related topic, I think a lot of people have discussed what main board bounce is best, and I think one rebuild and one chain of vapor is really excellent. I found that the chain is awesome for doing tricks with moxen and upping your storm count (as long as you don’t forget to tap the moxen for mana, which I did every time except once and it cost me the game, and eventually got me knocked out of Waterbury, dam play errors).

^ Exactly what i'm running it's amazing. Also i dislike cunning wish very much  i find it hard to keep that many land sources open unless you have necro or bargain which already means gg. I like running Gift's Ungiven even tho it's hard to cast its worth it for the card advantage and card choice.. Also Frantic Search is tech when you are going off and missing mana, plus it untaps Tolarian Academy .

[Negator13]

Well, I came in 3rd/4th yesterday at Ray's and took home a Mox Jet. The tourney was great, and I learned alot thoughout the day. In the swiss, I won three mirror matches, beat two Control Slaver, lost to MonoBlue, and beat EBA. I beat another Control Slaver in the Top 16, went 2-1 against some U/B Workshop in Top 8, and lost to the 4th Slaver I played against that day in the Top 4. (I resolved Necro both games, and got absolutely nothing. It was pretty horrible.)

This is the list I played:

3 Island
2 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Frantic Search
2 Rebuild
1 Tinker
1 Cunning Wish
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Force of Will
1 Time Spiral
1 Mind's Desire
4 Dark Ritual
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Duress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Necropotence
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Memory Jar

Sideboard:
1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Energy Flux
2 Engineered Plague
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Hydroblast
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Stifle
1 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Brain Freeze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Rushing River
1 Misdirection

I made a last minute decision to add Tinker/Jar and Time Spiral back into the deck the night before the tourney. FoF, Scrying, and the 2nd Scrying were cut for them. I like the Tutor plan, but it's rather clunky at times and I felt I needed the raw power of the draw 7's to make it through 8+ rounds at Waterbury.

Going by how useful/useless each card was yesterday, I would make the following changes:

MD:

-1 Flooded Strand, +1 Underground Sea
There were many, many times where I needed access to a 3rd Sea, or when I needed a black source with Flooded Strand in hand, but already had both Seas.

-1 Time Spiral, +1???
I only cast Time Spiral once in the Swiss, and I lost the game when I cast it in Top 4. I boarded it out against anything with Drains, and it took far too much setting up to be good. I'm not sure what should be in its place though.

SB:

-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Platinum Angel
I brought DSC out once the entire tourney, and Platinum Angel would have been better there. Plats is good in every matchup DSC is, plus combo and Oath.

-2 Energy Flux, +2 Rebuild
Even though I only played against one Shop deck, I was able to see how clunky and ineffective Flux is in TPS. Boarding up to 4 Rebuilds is a much better plan.

-2 Engineered Plague, +2 Mystic Remora
Plague was meant to come in against Welders and Spirit Tokens. I played against 3 Slaver decks, and Plague was never useful. Welders are too slow to matter against TPS, really. I didn't play against Oath yesterday, but I know from testing that its not a hard matchup in the first place. The addition of Plats to my board will help greatly there, anyway.
Mystic Remora is excellent tech that I got from The Brassman. It is for the mirror or any other combo deck... they have to play 10 spells to win, so Remora draws you 10 cards. He didn't see it against me so I didn't see it in action, but it definitely warrants testing.

I will probably also cut Hydroblast and Misdirection, as I never wished for them or used them postboard the entire tourney. They are far too situational and narrow.

[Cross]

Congratulations on the finish. I feel like I held myself back yesterday more than the deck, having made a play mistake in round 4 (I was 2-1 up until then) which cost me the game and eventually the match.

I agree with you on many of the changes you are planning on making to the deck.

-1 Flooded Strand, +1 Underground Sea
There were many, many times where I needed access to a 3rd Sea, or when I needed a black source with Flooded Strand in hand, but already had both Seas.

-1 Time Spiral, +1???
I only cast Time Spiral once in the Swiss, and I lost the game when I cast it in Top 4. I boarded it out against anything with Drains, and it took far too much setting up to be good. I'm not sure what should be in its place though.

The change to your mana base would basically make it the same as mine is right now. I never had any problems with it all day.
As far as timetwister is concerned, I agree with you completely on all points; in addition to this I felt the same way about memory jar, however with jar occurs the possibility of siding platinum angel. I was looking at gush or deep analysis as a replacement for spiral, to shore up the CS matchup. However, both are equally drainable, still not solving the a few of its problems.

How was frantic search for you? I'm probably going to add it. Because tolarian tricks are sweet, and it is another "free" spell, another reason I want to add gush.

On mystic ramora, while I feel that it would be sweet to draw a bunch of cards I would rather just win with cranial extraction. I never had problems casting it of rituals and vault, and two of my matches were won with it against faster combo decks.

[Necropotenza]

-1 Flooded Strand, +1 Underground Sea
-1 Time Spiral, +1???
SB:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Platinum Angel
-2 Energy Flux, +2 Rebuild
-2 Engineered Plague, +2 Mystic Remora

It's possible that the admission of the 3rd sea to your mana base took the place of the 3rd island instead of the 2nd Strand. I feel that it's far more important to have 6 fetches that can grab you the color you need anytime with the extra protection they give, not to mention that holding a lone island (in your initial hand) wanting to duress first, sucks, aka mulligan time. 4 basics are enough with 6 fetches, in my experience. I think that 3 is the correct number of seas.

I don't play Spiral, my only draw 7s are tinker->jar and twister. Spiral is awesome if you can actually  cast it, which usually isn't easy. FoF is great MD material, it seldom reveals 5 cards that doesn't give you the upper hand.

I've played with Colossus one tourney and Angel another. I'd go with angel for the reasons you stated.

I haven't had any experience with Fluxes, but they don't  seem to work the way you need them to  work for you facing Stax and MUD. They could just maintain a couple of good lock components for enought turns for them to stabilize. Bouncing effects are better IMO. I did play 2 MD rebuilds and 2 SB once and i didn't like it too much. Rebuilds are the way to go MD, but when facing Stacks and MUD they'll SB in Chalices. If they set up a chalice for 3 with any lock components in the table, you are done. I'd suggest 2 Hurkyl's instead of the 3-4th Rebuild.

Bouncing effects, and going off is the better way to fight Oath in my experience. I have a 50-50 record vs Slaver and I can't find the way to break the matchup parity, any ideas?

Adria.

PS: if I sound arrogant or something, forgive me, English is not my first language.