Tyrant Oath

[Malhavoc]

It's is slower because you first have to bounce your chalice and you have to have 2 accel on board where both other decks have stuff to play from graveyard or way to bring back the moxen.

I can bounce my chalice for 0 with any spell, even a mox.  I play the spell and put the two triggers on the stack, chalice first and then the tyrant.  I bounce the chalice, and since it isnt in play at the end of playing the spell, the mox resolves.

Keep dreaming, it doesn't work. Once the Chalice of the Void ability is on the stack, it will resolve even if the CotV is no longer in play. Removing the source of an effect will not negate the effect itself, it's a basic ruling.

As per gatherer on chalice:

10/4/2004 It has to be in play at the end of the playing of a spell to trigger. If you sacrifice it during the playing of a spell, it will not trigger.


j

This quote refers to cards like shrapnel blast, which require to sacrifice the chalice before the spell is really played, and so before chalice is able to trigger. If you just play the mox, chalice WILL trigger, and even if it's no longer in play when its trigger resolves,the mox is countered:

It only checks the number of counters on this card at the time the spell is being played. Changing the number of counters after that will not change the outcome. [Mirrodin FAQ 2003/10/01]

LizardCZ  is right.

[vartemis]

This quote refers to cards like shrapnel blast, which require to sacrifice the chalice before the spell is really played, and so before chalice is able to trigger. If you just play the mox, chalice WILL trigger, and even if it's no longer in play when its trigger resolves,the mox is countered:

It only checks the number of counters on this card at the time the spell is being played. Changing the number of counters after that will not change the outcome. [Mirrodin FAQ 2003/10/01]

LizardCZ  is right.

If that's the  case, then -4 Chalice and +1 top +2 Mana Leak, and +1 Merchant Scroll from my list.

I was under the impression that the trigger was double checked like oath.  My apologies.

j

[Everrid1234]

I can support what Brian said, i have also played against him (me playing fish).
Once the Tidespout hits the table the game is in most cases won if you have saved 1-2 cheap spells in your hand. For example moxen or Root Maze (Root Maze is very strong in here because the Tidespout can also bounce lands).

Show and Tell is a great idea because Meddling Mage isnt such a threat (not regarding the bounce of the Oath deck), there are now 2 options of bringing in the Tidespout. But playing Show and Tell makes it necessary imo to play 3+ Tidespouts.

A strong deck imo!

It could look like this:

4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Pulluted Delta
2 Flooded Stands
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island

1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet

4 Oath of Druids
2 Show and Tell

3 Tidespout Tyrant

3 Duress
4 Mana Leak
4 FoW

1 Ancestral Recall
2 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor

1 Time Walk

2 Root Maze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Darkblast

SB:

1 Ancient Hydra
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Akroma
1 Spirit of the Night (vs. fast Aggro decks which dont't play Swords)
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Duress
2 Root Maze
2 Rebuild
3 Arcane Laboratory

[Malhavoc]

I have tried Show & Tell, and I have to say that it's really good against Chalice for two or meddling. Sure, you can wish for something to remove the threat, and then cast oath, but S&T is faster. However, too many times it's SOOO dangerous: cards like Titan are deadly (going to bounce it with Tyrant? Hmm..), and not only. I see it as as very good card to force a Tyrant or an Oath throgh a meddling or a chalice, or to win the Oath mirror, but otherwise it's just too dangerous, at least without a duress to check the opponent's hand. For this reason I wouldn' run more than one, but with some tutors (mystical for example) to fetch it when needed.


Let' try to arrange list, starting  from what can't be taken out:

*15 Lands* (can be arranged in different ways according to maindeck, this is just an example)
4 Orchard
2+2 Fetch
2 Tropical
2 Underground
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

*8 Artifac Mana*
5 Mox
1 Lotus
1 Ring
1 Crypt

*8 Basic Protections*
4 Fow
4 Drain

*7 Kill*
4 Oath
1 Show & Tell
2 Tyrant

*8 Basic Draw & Tutor*
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral
1 Demonic
1 Mystical
1 Merchant

*6 Other Stuff*
1 YWill
1 Time Walk
1 Krosan Reclamation
3 Cunning (Winning by Freeze is the best win condition, plus cunning is always a good card for every possible situation)


We are at 52 card. What is still missing is the draw engine, and maybe some additional protections.

Main candidates are cards like Duress, Mana Leak, Intuition, Gift, AK, Deep Analysis, Regrowth, Recollect (this two really good with Gift, but often dead draws at the start of a game, unless you quickly scroll into ancestral). Even a single chain of vapor could be really good. Recoup is another deadly card, which REALLY shines after an Oath.

The draw engine is my main concern.. Deep is wondeful after an Oath, but can be slow before.. AKs take a lot of space, need an Intuition to start off, but they are very powerful. Gift is really good, but mana intensive, and doesn't give you big card advantage, but only card quality.

Which do you think it would be the proper card selection? Of course, depending on the decks you're going to play against.

[brianpk80]

I have tried Show & Tell, and I have to say that it's really good against Chalice for two or meddling. Sure, you can wish for something to remove the threat, and then cast oath, but S&T is faster. However, too many times it's SOOO dangerous: cards like Titan are deadly (going to bounce it with Tyrant? Hmm..), and not only. I see it as as very good card to force a Tyrant or an Oath throgh a meddling or a chalice, or to win the Oath mirror, but otherwise it's just too dangerous, at least without a duress to check the opponent's hand. For this reason I wouldn' run more than one, but with some tutors (mystical for example) to fetch it when needed.

I'm glad you've given Show and Tell a try.  I agree with your set up entirely, with the 1 S&T and an ensemble of tutors to find it.  That is how I'm running it now as well.  As for worrying about an opponent's hand, well, it's not really bad at all, and with all respect, I think your fears about what an opponent might play are a bit over-magnified.  For instance, consider the Sundering Titan scenario.  It may be aggravating to think that some of your lands will be destroyed but you're still coming out with an advantage.  First, the decks running Titan are either Slaver, Stax, or some weird Cerebral Assassin type pile (which doesn't really see play anymore).  A Slaver opponent would be silly to pop his Titan at you (and yes I've seen it happen, in fact today I believe) because here's what happens.  It's the fourth or fifth turn, and you play Show and Tell; Slaver guy holding a Mana Drain and a Force gets all excited and lets it resolve to put his Titan on the table.  You play your Tyrant and lose a Tropical and maybe basic Island and which doesn't hurt you because luckily (!) you have either a Fetchland, a Forbidden Orchard, and some artifact mana at your disposal as well as an off-color Mox in hand (holding it like a TPS player would).  As their Titan comes into play, they lose a Volcanic, and then you play a Mox or a Brainstorm and bounce their Titan back to hand and they lose an Island and an Underground, which they needed much more than you needed your Tropical.  Slaver needs about twice as much mana to function as Oath.  So their playing a Sundering Titan is not furthering their objectives at all.  It's quite the opposite.  In the Stax example, it's not as lopsided in your favor but I think losing a few lands is usually (though not always) worth losing a few lands.  Of course it varies by circumstance but particularly post sideboard when the threat of Caps is making you Tutor for your creatures and they use various methods of stopping the Oath, Show & Tell is a must have even v. the Titan.  Also, I may be wrong but I believe you can respond to the Titan's trigger by casting an instant and bouncing back anything you feel is necessary to pull through the game. 

For Show and Tell, the list of opposing threats is very minimal in the big picture.  Usually you will be playing decks that don't have any big permanent threats, and even if they do, they are immediately bounceable (DSC, Triskelion, Akroma, etc), and more often than not, they won't be in an opponent's hand at the time you play Show.  Even Mindslaver is fine so long as it can't be instantly activated (either by lacking the mana or you having a Root Maze in play if you decide to run it in this combo-laden metagame).  The only cards that truly bother me to see played are Yawgmoth's Bargain, Duplicant, and (once in a blue moon) Humility.  Jar and Necro are not too bad at all because when you bounce the Jar after resolving S&T they won't use it and if they pop down a Necro, it won't come online for two turns during which you can actually bounce their lands & blue/black Moxen at their end of turn step to screw them up royally.  Consider also that the Long player will have to factor in at least 5 extra damage from your Titan before they get the cards if they play a Necro so it won't be the usual orgy of life for cards barter that it typically is.     

Let' try to arrange list, starting  from what can't be taken out:
...

*8 Basic Draw & Tutor*
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral
1 Demonic
1 Mystical
1 Merchant

*6 Other Stuff*
1 YWill
1 Time Walk
1 Krosan Reclamation
3 Cunning (Winning by Freeze is the best win condition, plus cunning is always a good card for every possible situation)

If I only chose 1 tutor, I would run Vampiric over Demonic in Oath.  There will be times when you won't want to risk throwing your entire library into the graveyard and would rather see a Tyrant near or on top.  Secondly, Vampiric is a lot easier to manage in the early game because of its instant speed and lower casting cost.  When mana as tight and each turn is critical (ie Stax/Fish), an EoT Vampiric goes a lot further than Demonic Tutor. 

And as for the kill, I have some reservations about it.  I think Cunning Wish is a tad too slow for Vintage these days even though I recognize its versatility.  If you're using it for anything other than the kill, it would probably be for bounce or draw.  3UU is a lot to pay to Echoing Truth a Meddling Mage under the constraints of Fish's mana denial and 5UU is a pretty big investment in a Fact or Fiction (which can be randomly horrible in Oath by forcing you to pick between utility and your creatures).  So the "versatility" is gives you is really an illusion for the Hobson's choice of an inefficient kill, an inefficient bounce, or an inefficient draw spell. 

And as I've said before, Krosan Reclamation is a bit over the top and exposes you to several weaknesses an Oath deck shouldn't have.  I'm finding the strongest argument against it now to be simply that it's a dead draw every time you see it.  And I mean even deader than Gaea's Blessing.  That's why instead of cluttering up my deck with Cunning Wishes and Krosan Reclamations, I find it better to use lock pieces as the game-winners because those lock pieces have an independent utility on their own.  Root Maze, Chalice, and/or Grand Arbiter seal the game *without escape* once the Tyrants do their magic.  Root Maze + Tyrants is the analogue of Trinisphere + Crucible/Strip/Null in Stax; it cements an absolute hardlock.  In that sense, they are as much of an instant win as Cunning Wish for Brain Freeze.  But on the plus side, in the early game, they are much more useful.  A first turn Root Maze will swing a combo match in your favor from 45% to 75%.  Grand Arbiter (hardcast or Oathed up) buys you time against basically everything and is easily hardcast when needed to stop an onslaught of Fishes or the like.  The only thing you will have to consider if you play Root Maze is that you risk crossing the great T1 defining divide of Yawgwill decks and Anti-Yawgwill decks.  Their dyssynergy is immense.  However, because they are both such strong cards and because your deck functioning properly should be able to bounce at Will (pun), it might be worth the minor friction to run them both and use with discretion.       

We are at 52 card. What is still missing is the draw engine, and maybe some additional protections.

Main candidates are cards like Duress, Mana Leak, Intuition, Gift, AK, Deep Analysis, Regrowth, Recollect (this two really good with Gift, but often dead draws at the start of a game, unless you quickly scroll into ancestral). Even a single chain of vapor could be really good. Recoup is another deadly card, which REALLY shines after an Oath.

The draw engine is my main concern.. Deep is wondeful after an Oath, but can be slow before.. AKs take a lot of space, need an Intuition to start off, but they are very powerful. Gift is really good, but mana intensive, and doesn't give you big card advantage, but only card quality.

Which do you think it would be the proper card selection? Of course, depending on the decks you're going to play against.

Repeal is probably better than Chain of Vapor for maindeck bounce because it nets you spells to cast w. Tyrant.  The last build I had used Intuition/AK but I've been tweaking it in the past few days and haven't decided what is optimal.  Deep Analysis is too slow.  Recoup is probably also too slow.  Some things that are great after an Oath just aren't worth it because unfortunately we have to account for the majority of time that the Oath either hasn't been found, hasn't been played, hasn't resolved, hasn't been activated, has fizzled, or we've been quickly killed or locked out of the game.   

Good work on bringing up and helping to explore an important new frontier in T1.  I am back in town now and will be posting my build shortly. 

-BPK

[Khahan]

I believe I just played BPK on MWS. Game 1, I had him to 1 life w/ more crits on the board than he had...tidespout stabilized him, locked me out and saved the day (the turn you repealed my counterbalance, if I had arranged my library differently off top, it would have been countered...not sure if that changed the game).

Game 2, I made a pretty big play error, having an active WFB on the board and tapping! He went off.

Game 3, I got a soft lock which he broke, but he couldn't recover in time and spirit tokens beat him down.

I thought it was interesting that he was able to hardcast the tyrant in every single game. The deck worked pretty well, had decent counter and control. Show & tell was a bit of a surprise for me as well.

[yangtze34]

Yea, show and tell really got me when I played against him.  I can't remember if he had root maze in the deck at the time, but I remember something screwing me over badly.

[brianpk80]

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback here.
This is the current list I'm running and some explanations of card choices.  I'm not the best with snappy names for a deck, so if anyone has suggestions they're more than welcome.  I will have more to add as time permits, but this should provide a basic introduction. 

Oath Prison
-60 cards-

Land (17):

4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
2 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifact Mana (9):
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal

Backbone (8):
4 Oath of Druids
3 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Show and Tell

Lock Pieces (4):
1 Root Maze
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Life from the Loam

Protection (8):
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
2 Mana Drain

Additional Bounce (2):
2 Repeal

Draw/Handscuplting (10):
4 Brainstorm
2 Intuition
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Regrowth
1 Gifts Ungiven

Miscellaneous Goodness (2):
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's Will

_______________

Sideboard (15):
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Arcane Laboratory
2 Stifle
2 Darkblast
1 Memnarch
1 Null Rod
1 Root Maze
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Copy Artifact

_______________

First, let me say that this is probably not going to be the final version of either the deck or sideboard.  Some tweaking, evolving, and optimizing are certainly in order.  There are a few configurations I haven't been able to choose between, because it's so difficult to do any real "statistical" analyses in a game with so many variables.  That said, the general overview and theory of the deck is to create an absolute hard lock (much like a Stax) while abusing the raw power of obscenely broken cards like Oath of Druids and maintaining a high level of flexibility.  The ideal situation is to Oath up a Tyrant, use it to bounce the opponents mana base and bounce any threats, and then Oath up the Grand Arbiter or seal the deal some other way, such as with a Root Maze or Chalice of the Void. 

For those unfamiliar with Tyrants, here's a quick synapsis of the basics:

First, Tyrants can bounce land.  It's an odd thing to see the "nonland" word omitted from a bouncer, but that's how it is written.

Second, the bounce occurs even if the spell you play is countered.  This is probably common knowledge to everyone here, but it's surprising how many opponents freak out when you tell them that they can't stop you from returning their Dark Confidant by Forcing your Brainstorm. 

The math:

1 Tyrant + 2 Moxen (or Mox substitutes*) = unlimited mana and storm. (the storm is irrelevant here for reasons I've discussed in this thread).

2 Tyrant + 2 Moxen (or Mox substitutes*) = unlimited mana, storm, and bounce.

*A Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, Black Lotus, or Mana Vault functions as a Mox substitute for all purposes here.

1 Tyrant + 1 Mox + 1 Repeal on Mox = 2 bounces, with a potential 3rd depending on the draw from Repeal.

2 Tyrants + 1 Mox + 1 Repeal on Mox = 4 bounces, with up to 6 depending on the draw from Repeal.

1 Tyrant + 1 Brainstorm = Between 1 and 3 Bounces, depending on what you find.

2 Tyrants + 1 Brainstorm = Between 2 and 6 Bounces, depending on what you find; by this point you should have found 2 Moxen or substitutes so again, you're probably looking at infinite mana, storm, and bounce. 

Yawgmoth's Will + Any Number of Tyrants = A lot, yes I mean, a real lot of bounces.  Should wipe out the board.

(Post-SB) Hurkyl's Recall/Rebuild + Any Number of Tyrants = Same as Yawgmoth's Will.  Should wipe the board clean.

So as can be seen here, abolishing an opponent's entire board isn't some pipe dream like putting Curiosity on a Prodigal Sorcerer and Cabal Therapying your Rector into Mind Over Matter.  More often than not, it happens for 1G and a turn or two.  And if it can't be established quickly, most of the permanents throwing you off and slowing you down can be eliminated in order of importance, so the hard lock rather perpetuates itself.   In other words, this deck has some serious inevitability.

The Lock:

Once the opponent's mana base is neutralized, a "very hard" soft lock is reached with either Chalice of the Void or Life from the Loam + Strip Mine.  The beauty of Life from the Loam here is that it spares you the agony of having a Tyrant in play and having nothing to cast in hand and drawing Polluted Delta, Tropical Island, etc.  You Dredge it up and no matter what, you get a free bounce for the turn.  If you happen to resolve it and bring back a Strip Mine, then you've set your back by 1 land (Bounce 1, Strip the other, and the bounced land usually gets replayed).  If you desperately want to draw cards in addition to dredging then bring back your Library of Alexandria.  Loam quickly gets Library online.  The lock becomes absolute when the opponent's mana base removed and either Grand Arbiter or Root Maze are in play.  With Root Maze, if an opponent plays a land, it comes into play tapped and you bounce it before it yields any use.  The Arbiter is a Sphere of Resistance that will prevent any relevant spells from being played, barring perhaps one "bravo!" two casting cost spell if there is no Root Maze in play and they spew the Lotus.  With Maze and Arbiter, while you can theoretically keep it going forever by Dredging Life from the Loam every turn, you don't need to.  Why not?  Well, because you have a 5/5 Flyer with potentially more on the way and generally a 3 turn clock.   

On the cards:

Lands are fairly self explanatory.  4 Orchards, 2 and 2 Fetches, 2 Islands, and 4 Duals.  It's tempting to think that the singleton Underground and Tundra may not be enough, but it's important to remember that one of the main combo pieces is a rainbow land.  Strip Mine and Tolarian Academy have self evident purposes and the Library of Alexandria has some great interactions with the deck's engine and is a critical inclusion here. 

All of the standard artifact mana is included here excepting Mana Crypt.  I'm aware that Mana Crypt is a justifiably broken card, but it's not essential here, there's no clever way to get rid of it (Welding, Smokestack, Tinker) aside from wasting my bounces, and I've seen too many games that should have been won become random losses due to its upkeep trigger.  Maybe if I weren't giving my opponent a free clock already with Spirit tokens I could see finding room for it, but I don't think it's wise to concede an average of 7-10 life each game to Mana Crypt and Forbidden Orchards.   

The backbone has been pretty well explained above.  Oath of Druids + Tidespout Tyrant.  I've already elaborated on Show & Tell in several other posts in this thread but to recap, it's a bomb that (like Tinker) tends to end games when resolved.  Its drawback (that the opponent can play a permanent) is negated by the Tyrant's inherent ability.  It eschews Meddling Mages and Chalices @ 2.  It stacks a counter war, because you can bait with the Oath and then Show the Tyrant into play.  There are very few plausible permanents of an opponent's to fear; the list can be counted on one hand.  Best of all, it gets you the Tyrant when you really need it that turn and waiting to Oath would be fatal.  It also gives a utility to the Oath creatures that have traditionally been dead weight in hand. 

As for the locks, I run a diversity of locks rather than a redundancy for several reasons.  First of all, none of the 4 lock pieces are good in multiples.  I would never want to see 2 Life from the Loams in an opening hand.  The Arbiter is a legend.  Root Mazes aren't cumulative (nor is the Null Rod in the Sideboard).  And the Chalice of the Void is intended to be set at 1 at all times; except in emergencies or ridiculous opening hands (Mox, Mox, Strip Mine, Lotus, Chalice @ 0, go), I have no desire to set it to anything other than 1.  Root Maze is off the hook against combo or any deck that wants to abuse Yawgmoth's Will.  For one green mana, it goes so far in slowing a game down it's almost unfathomable.  When you play it first turn, you invariably have a huge speed advantage over the opponent.  A first turn Root Maze followed by Oath of Druids is the end of the game against any deck.  It also has the meta advantage of completely neutering the Dragon loop.  As for the Arbiter, he's fantastic in here.  Even if he is the first creature to be Oathed up, his asymmetrical Sphere of Resistance effect helps ensure that your opponent won't be doing anything particularly remarkable in the interim turn between the Arbiter's and a Tyrant's appearance.  Easily hardcastable as well.     
   
I will have more to add later on the engine and how I pilot the deck.   

-BPK

[Imsomniac101]

Hey all,

I've got some test results in from yesterday
I started with Brian's list with changes as shown:
+1 Delta
+1 U.Sea
+1 M. Crypt

-1 Tundra
-1 M.Vault

-4x Lock Pieces
-1x Repeal
-2x Intuition

+2x Drain
+3x Duress
+1x MisD

I opted for more disruption instead of the locks and I cut the Intuitions (more on this later).

What I found after the first game:
-too much disruption!!??
-too much mana topdecked......
-stalled too easily
-Repeal is weak and random
-Regrowth is terrible*

I made the following changes immediately:
-1x MisD
-1x Repeal
-1x Tyrant
-1x Regrowth

+1x DT
+1x krosan reclamation
+2x Intuition

Results:
-still too much mana topdecked
-K. Reclamation was better than Regrowth, but still weak after one Oath Activation
-the secondary kill is important!!!
-deck still needs an engine of sorts

Changes:
-1x Library
-2x MisD

+2x Gifts
+1x Recoup

After that, I stuck with 3x Gifts and the Recoup for a while.

On Recycling;
I think Regrowth is weak sauce in this build, it's better than the other recyclers if it's in your hand, but it can't do anything if it's in your grave and it's sort of weak when you Gifts for it.

Reclamation is alright, but it is very slow when you want to combo out now, and you've only had one Oath activation. Only good for comboing out if you run 1 creature, but that leaves you very vulnerable

Recoup is the strongest I believe, however, you can't use it as a safety net, and it is used exclusively to recur will.

Blessing is alright for standard Oath builds, but since we are using Tyrant, we might as well go all out Combo.

Here's the list I ended up with:
//NAME: Tyrant Oath
        2 Tidespout Tyrant
        4 Oath of Druids
        4 Force of Will
        4 Mana Drain
        3 Duress
        1 Recoup
        1 Yawgmoth's Will
        3 Cunning Wish
        3 Intuition
        2 Gifts Ungiven
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Vampiric Tutor
        1 Time Walk
        1 Ancestral Recall
        4 Brainstorm
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Mana Crypt
        1 Lotus Petal
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Tolarian Academy
        2 Flooded Strand
        3 Polluted Delta
        4 Forbidden Orchard
        1 Island
        1 Volcanic Island
        2 Tropical Island
        2 Underground Sea
SB:  1 Ebony Charm
SB:  1 Brain Freeze
SB:  1 Chain of Vapor
SB:  1 Rebuild
SB:  3 Pithing Needle
SB:  1 Fact or Fiction
SB:  1 Darkblast
SB:  1 Misdirection
SB:  3 Red Elemental Blast
SB:  1 Show and Tell
SB:  1 Tidespout Tyrant

I added the Cunning Wish to give the deck some flexibility and a secondary kill.
Note that I am playing Gifts AND Intuition. Intuition is a better early game tutor and Gifts is the better late game topdeck. The mana curve is quite high, but you usually have enough acceleration. It's funny though, cuz I usually obsess over mana costs.
I relegated Show and Tell to the SB although it is a very good card, serious Oath hate comes in game 2 most of the time and game 1, most opponents are oblivious. I'd love to have a second copy in the board.
I cut the Reclamation because it was dead weight.

[Malhavoc]

I don't like that prison list quite much. There are too many random 1-of, and only 2 mana drains scream for more.

Root maze has an interesting synergy with tyrant, but it's absolutely awful with orchard, since it delays its triggering for one full turn, thus delaying the oath activation by TWO turns after an orchard has been drawn. Chalice instead is a solid card: I keep 4 of them in side against combo, and they are awesome. They could also have a lot of sense maindeck, but still wasn't able to make them fit in. Played at zero they slow the opponent quite a lot, and at one (something the deck can endure quite well) they prevent much of Tyrant's hate (reb, pyro, swords) and many other powerful cards (dark ritual just to say one). When tyrant enters play, then, you can just bounce your chalice for X, play your X cc spell, and replay the chalice.

I'm also recently thinking about another card: Eternal Witness. It is reasonably easy to cast, given a green-enough mana base. If oathed AFTER Tyrant, it's an absolute win condition: just tutor/take from the grave your mox emerald, and you can draw all your graveyard bouncing and recasting Witness. If oathed BEFORE the Tyrant, it can fetch an easy walk, a powerful yagwin, or at the very worst a counterspell to resist one more turn. I'm not sure this is the best way to go.. still it seems an intersting option worth considering.

[klu]

I've played against a deck running witness and the synergies are pretty good.

just tutor/take from the grave your mox emerald

works with the lotus too.

the engine looked like :
3 merchant
2 gifts
2 cunning wish
1 will
2 demonic / vampiric

disrupt was like :
2 remands
3 mana drain
4 fow
1 misdi(?)

remand is quite good in oath, since you are mostly looking for tempo. it's about to never be a dead card and sometimes is a lot better than counter spell (against stax for example)
you can remand your own spells to have them not countered and draw a card, really strong with ancestral recall which is easily fetched with merchant scrolls.