Powerless UGB Oath

[Shade]

This thread is discussion about whether it is optimal to go with the UGB version of Powerless Oath as opposed to the straight UG Powerless Oath.  Though it is arguable that adding a third color to Oath further complcates the manabase with relatively minimal enhancement, this is pretty much negligible in Powerless Oath, which lacks Moxen and runs 4+ basic Islands regardless.

The main reason to add black to the Oath base is to run Demonic Tutor and Duress.  These are pretty much no-brainers.  However, there are some other interesting choices that this version of Oath brings to the table:

- Gaea's Blessing vs. Yawgmoth's Will - Though Will is not as potent w/o Power, it is still a very powerful card.  The problem with running it in place of Blessing is that it makes this almost a suicide Oath -- big risk, big reward.

- Intuition/AK vs. Skeletal Scrying - Without Power AND Drains, running SS is pretty much a no-brainer.  It is more reliable and faster, and takes up 4-5 fewer MD slots.  However, the life loss can hurt, and since this deck still runs Drains, which way is the best to go?  Not to mention that SS has very poor synergy with Will.

The main reason I'm considering adding black to my UG Oath is because I have 4 open MD slots that I feel can be better filled with DTutor/Duress, and I already run 2 Volcanics for SB Rack and Ruins, which would easily be replacable with Seas.  But, is the change worth it, or am I better off running the R&Rs with the red splash?

Here is the preliminary decklist for UGB:

1 Gaea's Blessing
4 Oath of Druids

1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Ancient Hydra
1 Spirit of the Night

4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Intuition

4 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak

2 Flooded Strand
4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Island
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Diamond
2 Polluted Delta
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland

SIDEBOARD:
3 Arcane Laboratory
3 Ground Seal
1 Iridescent Angel
3 Pithing Needle
1 Platinum Angel
1 Pristine Angel
3 Twincast

What does everyone think about Misdirection vs. Twincast?  The Cast seems to be considerably less situational than MisD, though MisD really shines when used for free.

[JACO]

Hey there, since no one else has posted in here, I thought I would give you a little bit of constructive criticism -. There has already been some good discussion regarding BUG Oath in the DOA mini-primer here, as well as in Mox Sapphire's post about Ugb-OATH here.

To answer your question about Intuition/AK vs. Scrying, you were right on target when you said Scrying "is more reliable and faster, and takes up 4-5 fewer MD slots." If you think about it, the life loss is almost always irrelevant. If you're going to be drawing a decent amount of cards, you should be winning that match against a control deck, which frequently features a slow clock, OR a clock where the life loss is negligible (for example, against a Darksteel Colossus or Goblin Charbelcher). This will enable you to run a few more interesting cards as well in the main deck (such as Cunning Wish or Vampiric Tutor or Fact or Fiction). If you're playing against any aggro deck, just find your Oath as soon as possible and ignore everything else.

Because you lack the Moxes, the deck is automatically a bit slower, but you can attempt to speed the deck up in other ways to make up for this. One way to do this is by playing Vampiric Tutor. While I hate card disadvantage, Vampiric is a great card and will allow you to search out your win condition (Oath, or Orchard) much faster. Another thing the lack of Moxes affects is your ability to effectively use Mana Leak early/first turn. While I like your counter base, it might be worth looking at dropping maybe 2 of the Mana Leaks for Misdirection, to help you win the early counter wars without having a lot of untapped mana.

While Ancient Hydra is a very good card for this deck, it is usually better served in your sideboard, unless you expect a LOT of Goblin Welders in your area or the tournament you'll take the deck to. Having the Hydra main deck and Oathing to it will slow your kill down by at least 1 turn, if not more.

The mana base as you have presented it looks pretty decent, but I've got to automatically question the Mox Diamond, as that card usually just sucks in anything outside of combo. What have your results been with it in your testing? Another thing to possibly consider, because of the sometimes high black card count, is a main deck Swamp (instead of one of the Islands, for instance). While it doesn't produce blue, it does allow you to get around Wasteland (if they are in your meta) and repeatedly cast Duress and Scrying. Also, if you cut the Mox Diamond, this would free up a slot for a single Volcanic Island. Why would you want one of those, you might ask? Well, you would pretty much only be fetching it at the last minute against a Stax deck where you want to Rack and Ruin, and have it in hand (or a Cunning Wish in lieu of the R & R).

If I were to play a powerless version of Oath, but had Mana Drains as you do, it would probably look like this right now:
BDOA, aka Budget Duress Owns All, by JACO 06-30-2005
Engine (8)
4 Oath of Druids
2 Gaea's Blessing
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Spirit of the Night

Counters & Disruption (16)
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
2 Mana Leak/Daze
4 Duress
4 Mana Drain

Other Business (12)
4 Brainstorm
3 Skeletal Scrying
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
3 Cunning Wish

Mana Sources (24)
4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Snow Covered Island (this can help to add confusion about what you're playing, for example opponent might think you are playing a deck with Gifts Ungiven)
1 Swamp
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring

Sideboard options
1 Ancient Hydra/Crater Hellion
1 Pristine Angel
1 Platinum Angel
3 Arcane Laboratory
***Cunning Wishable***
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Rack and Ruin
1 Coffin Purge
1 Stifle
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact or Fiction/Skeletal Scrying
1 Naturalize
Another strong sideboard possibility is 2-3 Pithing Needle (good against any hate they could bring in, such as Goblin Bombardment, Claws of Gix, Spawning Pit)

You might want to try throwing this together, and then test against a small gauntlet of decks and report what works and doesn't for you. Be sure to mulligan when you need to, as that is one of the fundamental skills of playing Oath.