GWS Oath

[Brutha]

Since you are playing no Thirst for Knowledge I see no reason to run Top over Sylvan Libary. The Libary is way more powerful because it allows you to get ~3-4 extra cards in a matchup were life doesn't realy matters like the control matchup.

[Moxlotus]

Top is better than Sylvan.  It comes down a turn earlier, dodges Chalice=2, and can be used multiple times in a turn.  With Sylvan, you have to wait another turn to look at the cards.  With Top you can use it right away.  It is also better with card disadvantage tutors.

[And11]

1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1x Razia, Boro's Archangel
4x Oath of Druids
1x Gaea's Blessing

4x Chalice of the Void
4x Duress
4x Force of Will

4x Brainstorm
4x Thirst for Knowledge
2x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Crop Rotation
1x Time Walk

4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Pearl
3x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
2x Underground Sea
1x Tropical Island
1x Volcanic Island
1x Island
4x Forbidden Orchard

sb: 15
2x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
3x Spawning Pit
4x Oxidize
3x Rack and Ruin
1x Tinker
1x Darksteel Colossus

My team and I did some thorough testing and agreed on this build. Four of us took it for the annual "Lotus tourney" and two of us made top 8, but were paired in the quarterfinals - weee! However, the final man standing proceded to split the Lotus and gave me props on the whole way home (since I saw you guys' build and put TfK's in and tweaked the board for our meta ). We were all impressed with the Top, TfK over Impulse and our beloved sideboard and it was definately the right deck in a metagame full of TPS variants, Slaver, AggroControl and a couple of incompetent Stax players. Thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks once again for bringing tech over seas! ,
/Andreas

[Moxlotus]

Spawning Pit is terrible.  It is decent againt 1 deck only because they should be bringing in Oxidizes anyways in the mirror.  Play Trikes instead.  They rock the Oath mirror and other matches as well.

Impulse>TFK because it digs deeper and costs 1 less mana.  Who cares if you don't get card advantage?  Half the time you don't want to draw cards because you don't want to draw a guy.  I've always hated TFK and have been trying to find ways to cut it since July.  It is only recently we figured out Tops.  It can't be cast on turn 1.  It is a huge drain target.  It draws guys and lots of times doesn't give card advantage.  A lot of times it you can't cast it unitl turn 4.  Turn 1-land, mox, something.  Turn 2, waste, something.  Turn 3, 3 mana-but you have something better to do than thirst.  Turn 4-thirst.  I'd like to know why you like TFK better than Impulse.

I personally like Chokes better than REBs, but that's a preference call.

[And11]

Impulse>TFK because it digs deeper and costs 1 less mana.  Who cares if you don't get card advantage?  Half the time you don't want to draw cards because you don't want to draw a guy.  I've always hated TFK and have been trying to find ways to cut it since July.  It is only recently we figured out Tops.  It can't be cast on turn 1.  It is a huge drain target.  It draws guys and lots of times doesn't give card advantage.  A lot of times it you can't cast it unitl turn 4.  Turn 1-land, mox, something.  Turn 2, waste, something.  Turn 3, 3 mana-but you have something better to do than thirst.  Turn 4-thirst.  I'd like to know why you like TFK better than Impulse.

I think we went over this already, but here it goes. I hate the fact that a smart control player can sit back and wait until you play Oath to waste any counter magic. I think the effect of Thirst is worth the extra investment of one colorless mana. 1) It's a spell your opponent just can't "let us resolve", if they plan to win the upcoming counter war. 2) Chalice make drawn moxen and Chalices (yeah, you can set it at one, but only against TPS/Long/Belcher or if you can manipulate your draws with an active Top IMO) plain dead, so having to discard isn't much of a drawback after all.

Our sideboard plan vs. the mirror involved Spawning Pit, Tinker/DSC, blasts, artifact removal and just one Oath maindecked. I'd like to hear your brilliant plan regarding Trikes, since I don't get it just yet.

REBs are played to take care of Meddling Mage and Mana Drains. I guess your plan vs. a resolved Mage is something like Tinker -> DSC/Trike or a hardcasted Trike? Doesn't sound too reliable IMO.

Maybe I can get the finalist himself to comment on something later.

Just some thoughts - thanks for commenting,
/And11

[Moxlotus]

Keep in mind that half the time you are searching for the Orchard, something that can't be countered so there will be no "future counter war" and Impulse finds it quicker and cheaper. 

Going first, turn 1 Impulse is really good.  It lets you see 4 more cards.  This plan lets you see a total of 12 cards by turn 2, so you should be able to play Oath.  Your opponent won't have drain mana up unless they cast a lotus or sapphire turn 1.  Thirst would not let you do this.  Turn 1 Impulse is one of the best plays in the deck.  I will Impulse mainphase turn 1 95% of the time trying to find a chalice to play or the off chance of another mox/lotus.  The chance of turn 1 Chalice goes from 40% (chances of not finding it in opening 7 are .60) to 57% (chances of not finding it in 11 is .43).

So many hands are made keepable by the ability to turn 1 Impulse it isn't even funny. 
A hand of waste/mox/land/land/land/BS/Impulse is keepable because you can:
turn 1: land, mox-Impulse
Turn 2: waste, BS into new cards.
By turn 3 you have 2 land, your opponent has 1, and you have seen 8 new cards (impulse=4, draw turn 2=1, bs=3, draw turn 3=0...already saw it with BS)

Or:
Turn 1-land, mox, BS
Turn 2, land, Thirst seeing 2 new cards
You have let your opponent have 2 land on his second turn and have seen 6 new cards.  Even though you have 1 or 2 cards more in your hand (depending on if you discarded an artifact or not)-the trade off isn't worth it.

Think of the beginning of the match-turn 1 and 2.  Maximize your options-then find Oath ASAP.  If the game is going long enough that you don't have Oath in play when your opponent has mana for multiple counters...you're probably screwed anyway.  Don't think "if I am in tis bad situation, how can I get out of it."  Think "how can I best set myself up to be in a winning situation?" Be the beatdown.

Impulse is also insanely better against Stax than Thirst. 

Our sideboard plan vs. the mirror involved Spawning Pit, Tinker/DSC, blasts, artifact removal and just one Oath maindecked. I'd like to hear your brilliant plan regarding Trikes, since I don't get it just yet. 

Win Orchard war with 4 Orchards and 5 Strips.  Tutor for them if you need to.  Drop Oath as fast as you can once you establish Orchard superiority, Oath up Trike.  Shoot one of your guys so they don't get to Oath.  EOT, Shoot them once, and shoot trike.  Repeat with double trike/blessing--shooting them for 1 or 2 each turn until they are dead.  Meanwhile, your opponent never gets to Oath again.  If you can't win Orchard war, Tinker-DSC or Tinker-Trike if you can win it on a 1-shot burst.  Spawning Pit is terrible since it is useful in 1 match and even then, they should be bringing in Oxidizes.  2 Oath mirrors have been lost since the weekend of SCG Rochester/Syracuse.  When our deck first became public, it was played by a ton of people in our area.  After beating them they all said "so...that's what the dual trikes the board are for."  It took us a few months to figure out how to beat the mirror and while that way is constantly evolving-this is the best thing we have found.  It also saves a few sideboard slots for other matchups.

Mystical/Vamp/Seal/4BS/2 tops find tinker/bounce spell quite quickly to rid Meddling Mage.  However, if you feel that REBs are needed to combat Mages, they do have the additional pro of being good against Drains.  I use Chokes since they are a BOMB against CS, Gifts, and non-GWS Oath.

[nataz]

Although I do really love the deck, I'm still not sold on the idea of twin trikes for the mirror match.
It is hard to argue with results, which are impressive, but I have not been able to duplicate your testing, at least on the level you seem to claim, and especially when the opponent knows what they are doing.

I still dint like the A) plan to be;

win the orchard war, then go to town with trikes.

I realize that you can tutor for an orchard/strip, and I realize that you can use TW as a critical advantage, etc etc, but if you are playing the mirror, or near mirror, your opponent should be able to do the same thing, and it comes down to luck of the draw and personal playskill.

I think trikes are one of the best ways to keep winning the orchard war, but they don't actually help gaining the initial advantage. And thats the basic problem I have with the plan, and something that I feel like you have never addressed. Once you have orchard advantage, you are 95% of the way to wining, trike or no trike.
 
I've been testing LFTL and Darkblast, and in combonation with Trike I have been having decent results. I know you guys don't like them in the deck, but with Top dredge can be insane, with blessing basically negating any drawback.

also, what are you bringing in the oxidizes for in the mirror?

[Moxlotus]

I realize that you can tutor for an orchard/strip, and I realize that you can use TW as a critical advantage, etc etc, but if you are playing the mirror, or near mirror, your opponent should be able to do the same thing, and it comes down to luck of the draw and personal playskill.
 

One of the major reasons we have done so well in the mirror is because we've played it infy times.  A lot of it is the luck of the draw-but knowing what opening hands to keep, what to counter, when to duress/oxidize, etc. is what tips the scale.  Of course the opponent's should be trying to do the same thing.  All mirror matches the 2 players are trying to do the same thing.  Card choices and skill tips the favor towards the better player.  Winning the Orchard War is more likely to happen towards the better player, and then Trikes guarantee it.  After playing it enough times, you become comfortable in winning the Orchard war enough that you don't need to bastardize the SB to do it.

One of the best reasons for the double trike plan is versatility.  Sure, in a vacuum of 1 match Pits may be better than Trikes, but they never are useful in any other match.  Trikes can come in against tons of things.  Spawning Pit comes in against Oath only.  Having those extra 2-3 sideboard slots can make the difference in the tournament.  There will never be a card in my SB that only comes in against 1 deck.  And if a card is coming in against only 2 decks-it better be a damn good card.

Currently we are developing a new SB to help with the rising popularity in Oath.  However, any new tech must be useful in other matches or it is crap IMO.

[Wikoogle]

What do you think of this build, being discussed at http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=23221.0

11 Mana Sources
4 Forbidden Orchard
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria - This could be a land that produces colored mana.

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Imperial Seal
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Personal Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker

4 Oath of Druids

1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

4 Duress
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
1 Pithing Needle/Chalice of the Void - This could be a land or crop rotation or disenchant or balance or something random instead.

4 Brainstorm
4 Impulse
4 Mana Leak

It has more tutors and more random wins.

It also has more protection like Misdirection and Pithing Needle and Chalice.

[Moxlotus]

I think that deck will lose the mirror match every single time without any wastes or Crop Rotations.  All of those cards are critical in most matches, and especially the mirror.

[Wikoogle]

I think the build is using Wastelands as part of the 11 land slots that weren't specified.

Crop Rotation seems kind of narrow. It doesn't pitch to FoW or Misdirection, is hated out by your own Chalice for 1, is card disadvantage, and is a really narrow tutor.

All the other tutors can get atleast one card that will win the game. This one can only tutor for Orchard which is rarely as important as most decks play creatures. It can't get tinker.

But I will try it out.

The card that seems really interesting is including 1-2 Misdirection. It lets you win counterwars and also misdirects anything directed at either Oath or your creatures. In short it can win games. Plus it can pitch to FoW in a pinch. Have you tried it out?

[Moxlotus]

Having only 22 mana sources is really really low.  I hope you don't see a lot of Stax.

Crop Rotation is key in the mirror, as it turns any land into Orchard.  It also saves lands from Waste against Stax.

[Wikoogle]

I'll try it out definately. And I'll cut the chalice to add a land too.

What do you think of the Misdirections though.

That's the thing that really differentiates from other current oath decklists. I can think of a lot of matchups where they could be game deciding (pretty much any deck running blue - and that's pretty much every deck in this meta)...

except for Stax, but I think this beats stax pretty easily anyways.

[Anusien]

He's already said that Stax is one of the matchups he fears most, which means saying this beats Stax handily is kind of silly.  Also, Misdirection seems fairly bad.  It'll help win you counterwars over Oath, but so does Duress and it does so more efficiently, while also not sucking flaccid monkey wang against other decks.  Versus something like Fish, Misdirection is almost always going to suck (only hitting Ancestral, counters and StP) while Duress hits all that and more.

How do you feel about Library of Alexandria?  Given the way you play the deck, my guess is that it would have no place, because you never want to sit on a hand of 7.  Still, the advantage gained could be incredible.

[cosineme]

He's already said that Stax is one of the matchups he fears most, which means saying this beats Stax handily is kind of silly.  Also, Misdirection seems fairly bad.  It'll help win you counterwars over Oath, but so does Duress and it does so more efficiently, while also not sucking flaccid monkey wang against other decks.  Versus something like Fish, Misdirection is almost always going to suck (only hitting Ancestral, counters and StP) while Duress hits all that and more.

How do you feel about Library of Alexandria?  Given the way you play the deck, my guess is that it would have no place, because you never want to sit on a hand of 7.  Still, the advantage gained could be incredible.

hasn't an active loa always been an incredible advantage? that's not really the point, there are few control decks out there that can afford to sit on 7 cards for even a single turn, obviously going first makes it difficult, any fow action, chalices wants you to bring your moxes out early...etc.

especially since this is a "fish" variant with actual threats, i don't see any possibility of holding 7 cards. plus the fact that they mention that they aren't control player, they don't have inevitability, and with no CA, it's not going to happen.

[Moxlotus]

I have enough problems finding blue cards to pitch to force-I would never want to add more pitch counters.  If I could run 5 FoW I wouldn't.

[Wikoogle]

I suppose you don't have to run LoA, eventhough the card is truly awesome. You can use it if you're going second. And you can use it the same turn that you use a cantrip like Brainstorm, Time Walk, Impulse, Demonic Tutor etc.

"If I could run 5 FoW, I wouldn't."

Now that's just LUNACY.

You sir are certifiably insane and I'm being dead serious.

[Moxlotus]

Blue Cards:
4 FoW
4 BS
4 Impulse
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical
(4 Leak)
=15 (19) Blue cards

No-I really wouldn't want to add another FoW

[ozimek]

Maybe I can get the finalist himself to comment on something later.

/And11

Actually I do have a few comments.

First let me say that the build Wikoogle suggested is sorta off topic in this thread, as the builds we are discussing are basically just variants of Fish with a faster clock and an answer to Juggs/Werebears/Factories and such. Having no mana denial component and more counters, it is a deck that plays VERY differently from GWS / 9000 Oath. I would call it outdated.


On the Thirst vs Impulse discussion:
Impulse does dig one card deeper, but that is just about the only advantage over Thirst.

Costing 3 mana instead of 2 is not always a drawback in a deck that already has huge problems with Chalice@2. I don't see how going from 2 to 3 mana makes it a HUGE drain target. Often you will have either Duressed you opponent before casting Thirst or denied him of UU. Especially in the early game.

Looking at more cards is not all that matters. Being able to replace cards that are dead due to Chalice is very important.

Discarding drawn creatures is nice, when Chalice@1 has shut down Brainstorm. I realize that you won't draw them in the first place with Impulse, but sometimes they just end up in your hand anyway. Allowing the deck to play Chalice@1 and not screw itself too badly is useful in many matchups.

I can see that digging deeper for turn 1 Chalice is nice, but I don't think it outweighs the versatility of Thirst. If your opening hand is dependent on finding a Chalice with Impulse, it probably should have been a Mulligan anyway.


On Trike vs. Spawning Pit:
As Nataz pointed out, Trike seems like a win-more option. If you managed to active Oath, it seems like you have already won the Orchard war. Your gameplan in the mirror seems like a coin flip to me. Keeping in all 4 Oaths is just begging for dead cards - which is even worse when you can't replace them with Thirst.  

The Pit is truly dead in all other matchups, but it ENSURES that you win the Spirit token race. Furthermore if you happen to face a build with bounce or Swords, you can also sac Akroma to send her to the graveyard instead of to the hand.

The sideboard doesn't seem too hard pressed yet to include a card that is useful in only one mmatch up when it virtually ensures victory in that mmatch up Especially when that mmatch upis very likely to come up in every tournament.

Oh, and the Library:  
Please stop suggesting Library in this deck. That is just absurd. The manabase is horrible. You will be playing as many spells as possible in the first few turns. There are too few lands to fetch already.  You hardly have any draw spells to replenish your hand. The list of reasons not to play Library is long.


Well that was my opinion on some of the card choices that seem to be disputed the most. Since And11 introduced the decklist he posted in this thread to our team, I have been doing a LOT of thinking to try to improve it, but I would say that the maindeck is pretty much perfect for the current metagame, and I can't find a single slot to chance. The sideboard is a lot more tweakable.

/Jan

[Moxlotus]

  Keeping in all 4 Oaths is just begging for dead cards 

Who said anything about keeping in 4 Oaths.  That is truly retarded.

  I would call it outdated.

I'm not sure what you are calling outdated, but I can tell everyone that the initial I posted is outdated.  Uba Stax and the mirror are more prevalent and Drains less so (in the midwest), so card choices must be reevaluated and the SB must morph to coincide with the deck.  Way back when Cron won SCG Syracuse with Stax, Meandeck said he coevolves his deck with his SB.  They are 1 thing and when 1 changes, the other must be restructured to reflect how many cards can be taken out, what can go in, versatility, etc.  This is the same thing.

I must ask if you have tested Impulse-especially in the Stax matchup.  You won't get 4 mana to cast Thirst through a sphere of resistance.  Hell, if you can keep 3 mana on the board against Stax you are probably going to win anyways.  I also think I have shown in my previous example how being able to Impulse before your opponent gets Drain mana up is extremely important to how the deck beats Drain.dec

Relying on Impulsing into Chalice?  Hands don't rely on Impulsing into Chalice-it's just a very nice option to have turn 1.

I don't know what your SB looks like, but I value every card in the SB very much and wish I could have a SB of 20.  There are other matchups I would love to shore up more, so I must rely on the versatility of SB to keep an edge on all my matches.  I'd rather have a bunch of 60-40 post side matches rather than a 80-20 and a bunch of 50-50s or worse.

[nataz]

I played 3 different stax matches at waterbury while piloting GWS oath, and I would def agree with moxlotus, to the point that I was even SBing out my TFK.

It is so critical to be able to FOW and/or dig + play oxidize in the first 2 turns it is not even funny. if I can get three mana against stax to draw cards, things have pretty much gone wrong.

games play out basicly in the first 3 turns. If you are not wining, or have the oxidize ready for the smokestack/chalice by turn three, its almost time to give up. You simply do not have enough time for TFK, and if I have three mana I'd rather use it to play a rebuild/rushing river/impulse -> oxidize.

Oxidize is amazing in the stax match b/c it makes chalice a coin flip.

Set it at one, and run the risk of the following cards over the next couple of turns. Mox + orchard + oath. Once these cards come down, you basicly have three turns to live (or two if you have taken any damage). The combo only takes 2 mana over the course of the entire game, and can be played all in one turn.

Set it at two, and you leave yourself open to oxidize, rebuild, crop rotation, and vamp + mystical to find them.     

it's at catch-22.

really, the best answer I feel is for the stax player to set it at two, and hope that you can use waste effects to keep the oath player off three mana (which allows rebuild), and just simply hope that you can apply enough pressure with smokestack to make the tutor -> hate plan too slow.

oxidize is also amazing when the stax player tries to race you, and throws down a first turn stax. At 1 mana, and with 2 free turns before it goes active, you can afford to play the waiting game.

I don't think I will ever play with less then 4 oxidize in the SB with GWS oath. 

[Wikoogle]

Ozimek, your post is really confusing.

Impulse does dig one card deeper, but that is just about the only advantage over Thirst.

Costing 3 mana instead of 2 is not always a drawback in a deck that already has huge problems with Chalice@2. I don't see how going from 2 to 3 mana makes it a HUGE drain target. Often you will have either Duressed you opponent before casting Thirst or denied him of UU. Especially in the early game.

Looking at more cards is not all that matters. Being able to replace cards that are dead due to Chalice is very important.

Discarding drawn creatures is nice, when Chalice@1 has shut down Brainstorm. I realize that you won't draw them in the first place with Impulse, but sometimes they just end up in your hand anyway. Allowing the deck to play Chalice@1 and not screw itself too badly is useful in many matchups.

I can see that digging deeper for turn 1 Chalice is nice, but I don't think it outweighs the versatility of Thirst. If your opening hand is dependent on finding a Chalice with Impulse, it probably should have been a Mulligan anyway.

None of those reasons apply to any of the Oath builds including the original Endress build that run Mana Leak over Chalice, and for very good reason. Chalice is often set to 0 anyways

The main function of either Thirst or Impulse in Oath is to get you the card you need to combo out and win quickly. You are basically saying that a card like Thirst that's strictly inferior for that function (doesn't cost as much mana and digs one card less) should be run just on the off chance that you play a chalice and set it for 2?


I respect your opinion but i'm going to have to disagree with it for the same reasons that others have posted as well.

[Lost In Admiration]

There's been a lot of talk about  the mirror and I thought I'd comment a little bit more on it.

Casting Trike seems to be wholly ignored.  Oath mirror matches are often times long and I've won a TON of matches due to a hardcast Trike.

The mulligan is the most important part of the match.  I really have to have some good spells if my lands aren't at least two of the following: Wasteland, Orchard, Tutors, or Crop Rotation.  Crop Rotation is an exception as it usually counts as two in just itself, particularly in the mirror.

Tinker obviously comes in the mirror.  Tinker for Trike happens enough to be worth considering heavily.  Controling Oath is the most important part.

I don't leave in more than one Oath post board.  One is the right amount for the tutors to find if you get a "Orchard, Orchard, Waste, Tutor, I'm awesome guys " hand.

[And11]

You are basically saying that a card like Thirst that's strictly inferior for that function (doesn't cost as much mana and digs one card less) should be run just on the off chance that you play a chalice and set it for 2?

Don't be stupid. He is obviously talking about opposing Chalice set @ 2.

We did test out Impulse, but were too easily locked out of the game by opposing counterspells and really needed some card advantage. Of course Impulse is superior vs. Stax, since card advantage is not what that matchup is about, but we don't see much Stax over here. I'd much rather include Thirst and have a stronger Gifts/CS matchup and then hate on the few Stax decks post-board. But let's drop this TfK vs. Impulse debate - we're obviously not getting any further. You guys did great and made top 8 some weeks ago and my team mate split a Lotus this Sunday, so we both have results to back up thoughts on our preffered card.

[M.Solymossy]

and11  your list looks like a mix of our (ICBM) list and the GWS list.  It doesn't work, we tried it.   Enough said.

you either want to play the control route (our list) or combo aggro list (GwS).  you don't need Rebs.

[And11]

and11  your list looks like a mix of our (ICBM) list and the GWS list.  It doesn't work, we tried it.   Enough said.

you either want to play the control route (our list) or combo aggro list (GwS).  you don't need Rebs.

The only differences from the GWS list are TfK over Impulse and the sideboard (and therefor, the mana base). It's really retarded to say that the list doesn't work, when my mate has just won half a Lotus and piloted our build a 6-1-1 or so finish. It can maybe be improved, but take your crap with no argumentation at all elsewhere - thanks. MoxLotus says that their list is outdated, but you say that you have created the definitive two Oath types. Please face reality and accept the innovation. Great, you guys created what I would call the "Meandeck Gifts of Oath decks" and now it's time for people to evovle this archetype.

We don't need REBs? It's wonderful Drain hate and pinging down/countering Mages and Thieves seems okay to me. I'm not sold on the Chokes - I'd much rather force through my Oath and win the game, rather than playing a sorcery speed drain target (Yes, if it gets through Drain, it has a larger effect than REB).

Later,
/A

[alvin6688]

I think Chalice + Impulse is the way to go. I play the deck as aggro-control, almost like a Gro deck with 4 super Quirion Dryads. I want play a Chalice 0 and/or a Wasteland to make my opponent scramble for mana. Maybe throw a Duress in there if my hand is extra good, just to be sure I win the counterwar or maybe pull out a Thirst for Knowledge if I'm lucky. While he's trying to repuzzle his game, I use the window of time to cast the Oath. Impulse is much better for this, as it hits earlier and digs deeper. I'm not afraid of dead Chalices, as Brainstorm, Impulse, and Top clear them away consistently enough.

4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma
1 Spirit of Night

4 Chalice of the Void

4 Brainstorm
4 Impulse
2 Sensei's Top
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Crop Rotation
1 Gaea's Blessing

4 Duress
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Leak

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sappire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 City of Brass
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
2 Island

I have 61 cards listed here because I'm testing all sorts of things right now. But if I were to bring it to a tournament, I'd definately find room for the 4th Mana Leak and cut down to 60 cards.

As for the sideboard, I don't like Triskelion or Spawning Pit. Spawning Pit needs to resolve, and Triskelion you've either already activated Oath (meaning you're ahead of the Orchard war alread making Trisk pointless), or you somehow managed to hardcast and resolve it.

I prefer Darkblast by a mile; it's huge in the Orchard war, for one thing. I really don't care about losing a draw each turn, as the cards that win the Oath matchup are all uncounterable. They can have ten million more cards in hand than I do, but they still won't be able to deal with my active Orchard combined with a recurring Darkblast.

Darkblast also deals with Goblin Welder and Gorilla Shaman.

Lastly, DEFINATELY DO NOT CUT CROP ROTATION, especially in a Chalice build. Mana denial is a huge theme in my decklist, and Crop Rotation finds Strip Mine whenever I don't need to grow an Orchard.

[Cr0v4x]

Hi,

I've played Oath in the last tourney I went to. I chose a muddle oath deck. now i've been testing the decklists with tops. first of all i like the more aggressive approach inculding 4 duress, 4 leak and so on (it seems to be better than playing the drains). furthermore i like imperial seal and crop rotation but don't you actually think that a deck not being able to handle certain scenarios is a pretty bad deck? the deck is all about aggression and trying to resolve certain threads as soon as possible as devastating as possible but sometimes this just doesn't work. don't you therefore think that some sort of bounce would really improve this deck? some card like rushing river? you're totally handcuffed by a card like chalice 2 in game 1 and i don't really think that that should be the way to go.

[And11]

@Cr0: I've played a single Rushing River in the past and it is absolutely horrible, since the chance that you can actually dig it up with an unused tutor (these tend to be played early for combopieces or Ancestral), when facing Chalice or Mage, is slim to none. And when you randomly draw it, you wish it would be some search/draw/disruption and not some narrow answer for stuff you have plenty of stuff to fight against post-board. When playing an aggressive Oath variant, you need to accept that you have to focus 100% on your own game plan in order to maximize the effenciency of the build. Keep in mind that Meddling Mages and Chalices are easily neutralize by REB and Oxidize post-board.

@Alvin: I don't like the fact that you got rid of Imperial Seal (> C.Rotation IMO) and mana sources to squeeze in Mana Leaks. I agree that Mana Leak would be great in this deck, but cannot find stuff to cut. I've tinkered with removing Tops, Mystical and a land for 4x Leaks, but losing Top means losing the little bit of consistency this archetype has left. Damn, it's really a tough call to be honest.

Merry X-mas from Denmark,
/aNdiiiii

[Glix]

Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind                              2UURR
Legendary Creature - Dragon Wizard 
Flying
Whenever you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
: Draw a card.
"(Z->)90° - (E-N'W)90°t=1"
Illus. Todd Lockwood
4/4
#123/165

This is a recently leaked card from Guildpack, and upon looking at it, it costs the same as trike (and you can produce RR easily between volcanic islands and orchardsk, lotus and mox ruby), would this be a supperior card in the mirror match than trike.  It has the same body, but its pinging doesn't change its size, it flys, generates LoA type ca, and can deal a ton of damage between Brainstorms, top, etc.  It can easily wipe an opposing field, or win you the orchard war.  If oathed up, it pings imediatly.  This thing seems like some good, imho.  I like him better than trikes, at any rate.