A deck I'm trying, do you have any tips?

[UR]

Hello all! This is my first post on Themanadrain.com but I’ve been reading the topics for a while now. You guys always have constructive criticism that makes sense so I figured that I would post the deck here that I’m currently developing and see what you think. I don’t have any power/semi-power not listed in the deck below so please don’t say I should add a Black Lotus.

You would probably like to know about my metagame… It is pretty open but I guess Stax and Welder decks are the most popular (I call them Welder decks because there are a lot of different lists).
Oath is also being played along with Leviat.dec, TPS, Dragon (rarely these days but you still see them at tournaments) and Goblin.
If you go to non-proxie tournaments, Landstill, Ravager and SuiBlack will also make appearances although they rarely pose problems.

//Artifact 14               
3 Crucible of Worlds            
1 Darksteel Colossus            
1 Mana Crypt               
1 Mana Vault               
1 Mox Emerald            
1 Mox Jet               
1 Mox Pearl               
1 Mox Ruby               
1 Sol Ring               
3 Zuran Orb

//Blue 21
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Intuition
4 Mana Leak
2 Misdirection
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

//Black 2               
1 Demonic Tutor            
1 Vampiric Tutor            

//Green 3
1 Fastbond
2 Living Wish

//Land 20               
1 Forest               
2 Island               
1 Library of Alexandria         
4 Polluted Delta            
1 Rath’s Edge               
1 Strip Mine               
1 Tolarian Academy            
4 Tropical Island            
3 Underground Sea            
2 Wasteland               

//Sideboard 15
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Wasteland
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 God’s Eye, Gate to the Reikai
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
3 Energy Flux
2 Stifle
3 Echoing Truth

Explanation of choices;

Fastbond + Crucible of Worlds + Zuran Orb: It is my kill combo in combination with Rath’s Edge but the cards are decent enough to play on their own. The Crucible of Worlds combines nicely with the Wastelands and/or Strip Mine and will give you a random win sometimes. The Fastbond will speed you up a little and the Zuran Orb… well… it really is there to finish the combo but it has saved me from Tendrils twice and you an always sacrifice it to Tinker.

Darksteel Colossus: random win. That is it. You can Tinker for it and 75% of the time it means that you win.

Living Wish: If it doesn’t get countered, Oath and Goblin have major problems with the lands in the sideboard. If you aren’t playing those decks, you can always get a Wasteland or one of the lands that work well with the combo.

The black tutors: Basing your combo around three pieces is risky and I figured I needed a little extra search, even though you do have to give up some of your mana-base.

Misdirection: A very nice card against Ancestral Recall but more often it will help you as Force of Will number 5 or 6 in a counterbattle. I’ve really fallen in love with this card and it will be hard for anybody to talk me out of it despite what you may think.

If there are any other cards that you would like me to explain just ask…

I haven’t been able to playtest this a lot because I normally play a different deck. But maybe you already have experience with it or you could just give me your experiences with certain cards (or combinations) and problems I’ll be likely to face.

Tips? Tricks? Suggestions?


Edited because it was a mess...

[Dipstik]

Well it's a UBg control deck that's not as good as psychatog... that's my first thought.

But this is the newbie forum! Bad combos are played for their own sake! So here's my next thought: You need fastbond to win. That's the key. Your combo is dependant on a restricted card. This presents two problems: 1) how to find fastbond? and 2) How to get it to resolve?

To solve the first problem, you need more tutors/card draw. If you are using proxies (I see power...) add in one Imperial Seal once it becomes legal. Consultation, Spoils of the Vault, and tainted pact are all a problem since you only have one target card. Maybe Impulse? Definitely Fact or Fiction. Probably Accumulated Knowledge since you're already running intuition.

I'd suggest cutting any counterspells that you can't cast for free since you're really going to want to try to get your combo. (or else what's the point?) Duress is your friend since it will help your fastbond resolve. Also think about Yawgmoth's Will and Regrowth (or eternal witness? I dunno) to help you get your fastbond BACK if it gets countered.

Just brainstorming with my fingers... Hope this helps some, but don't expect to win Chicago with it

[islanderboi10]

Try looking up the deck....Animal Farm. That was a land-based deck also, but the deck is was pretty good. Some people say it can still compete. Maybe with a few changes, it could be viable again.

[policehq]

To speed up your finding of Fastbond, you can cast Intuition for Fastbond, Revive, and Regrowth. It works very similarly to Gifts Ungiven in that sense, because no matter what happens, you're going to have Fastbond.

[UR]

To speed up your finding of Fastbond, you can cast Intuition for Fastbond, Revive, and Regrowth. It works very similarly to Gifts Ungiven in that sense, because no matter what happens, you're going to have Fastbond.

How come I never tought of tweaking Gifts Ungiven... thanks.

If you are using proxies (I see power...)

It isn't proxied. These are the cards I have... hence the no black lotus comment.

Try looking up the deck....Animal Farm.

Will do...

[ReAnimator]

Cephalid coleseum is probably better than raths edge as a win condition just for the fact that it taps for U and it can help you dig in the mid-game.

Sylvan library works really well in decks like this since if you have a crucable fetch-land you essentially have a brainstorm every turn for free, not to mention vs control you can just pay 8 the first time and ancestral yourself.

[dend51]

A couple people that play in the store i go to play with this type of deck. keith johnson plays with a deck like this, he calls it turboland. If you do a search you will find alot of posts on it. it mostly uses barbarian ring as the win. but it is mostly the same type of concept.

[Onslaught]

I don't have much to add to the discussion, but I thought it was worth bringing up Crop Rotation. It can lead to a random Strip Mine win with Crucible out.

[Lelolith]

I would consider, Merchant Scroll as another tutor and I like stifle main deck, but maybe thats just me. I'd attempt to make more of the combo, as combocontrol, is in my opinion the perfect deck.

[rvs]

Living Wish doesn't seem too hot in your deck. You have way too many potential targets, which makes your sideboard horrible. I'm sure that about 50% of it never gets used in about 98% of the games at least.

Also, no crop rotation? It's simply a tutor in your combo, and should work well.

[dend51]

I dont know if you have thought of Horn of Greed to help out the draw for the deck? I know that has been the usual draw engine with this type of deck in the past. Do you find that the blue draw you do have is enough to set yourself up? Also bazaar is a very nice card to have for this type of deck.

Have you done any testing since you posted?

[semifly]

You might want to consider running MWS (or 'tombs if MWS == null) for rapid crucible deployment. And I second the notion that tutor/draw is of upmost important in a combo decks such as this one.  Get Fast Bond. Quick like the bunny. Also, I'd probably decrease the control aspect and shoot for pure combo, or attempt to control tempo even further with added counters, denial, etc.

[UR]

In the end I decided not to play it. I'm now experimenting with a yanky aggro deck that uses Dimir Doppelgangers and Genju of the Spires for a win... Nothing like going against the meta 

[Necrologia]

n the end I decided not to play it. I'm now experimenting with a yanky aggro deck that uses Dimir Doppelgangers and Genju of the Spires for a win... Nothing like going against the meta

Hopefully there are some other cards in there because Genju of the Spires and the Doppelgangers have no synergy whatsoever. Doppelganger works off creatures in the graveyard, and once a 6/1 Mountain hits the yard it's just a plain old Mountain again. You know, even ignoring the fact that decks that want to run a bunch of Mountains dislike splashing for completely off color gold cards.

[UR]

Ohw sorry, I meant Dimir Cutpurse...