U/W/b wizard fish

[zulander]

Well I tried out a 2 color wizard deck in type 2 but it sucked a lot, so I decided to take the deck to a broader field(which happens to contain one of the best wizards ever in meddling mage) type 1. I'd also like to try to make this a vial fish build as well so here goes the current list.

Creatures: 14
4 Dark Confidant
4 Meddling Mage
3 Voidmage Prodigy
3 Trinket Mage

Control: 11
4 FOW
2 Swords to Plowshares
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt

Goodies:10
4 Aether Vial
1 Sensei's divining top
3 Standstill
2 Oath of Ghoul

Broken: 3
1 Ancestral
1 Timewalk
1 Vampiric Tutor

Mana: 22
1 Mox Sap
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
2 Island

Sideboard: 15
4 Orims Chant
2 Swords to plowshare
3 Sword of fire/ice
4 Seal of Cleansing
2 Stifle
Now onto the choices:

Dark Confidant
Great card advantage, helps get answers fast.

Meddling Mage
Um.. very bad card, never play it. in fact send me all of the ones you own.

Voidmage Prodigy
Turns all of my creatures into counterspells, not too bad imo.


Trinket Mage
Works well off drain mana and gets either more mana in the form of mox/lotus or gets vial/top.

FOW
see meddling mage

Mana Drain
see force of will

Aether Vial
Free's up my mana to use on counters.

Sensei's divining top
Amazing synergy with dark confidant so I don't burn myself to death. Also great dump for extra mana from drain.

Ancestral/time walk: See mana drain

Mana: um, very needed.

I know this deck isn't all that good, so that's why I've decided to post in the improvement forums. I call upon my fellow TMD'ers to help this deck become better than what it is. Some cards to look at for the deck
Sage of Epityr
Brainstorm
Mana Leak/Rune Snag
Landstill??
Jotun Grunt
Psyonic Blast
Children of Korlis

Some things I'd like to keep is the synergy with voidmage and the other guys, not all the creatures need to be wizards, but it'd be a plus if they were. Thanks in advance!


EDIT: UPDATED LIST. as of 10/25/06

[NicolaeAlmighty]

Not bad, although I think you're a little short on disruption. I know you probably expected this, but have you considered Wasteland or Stifle?

Also, having all of your Swords in the SB will definitely turn into an autoloss against Tinker...

Might I suggest trimming down the Sensei's Top for more utility? Maybe take a Bomberman approach and do Aether Spellbomb and/or Tormod's Crypt as silver bullets for Mage.

Also, with Finkel and Trinket, do you ever find yourself regretting moving a Vial above 2?

[Isaac85]

I might consider taking out trinket mage for some tutors. Also how come no tolarian academy. I know you don’t have a lot of artifacts but still it produces blue which you need double of to use voidmages ability.

[NicolaeAlmighty]

Academy is definitely a no-go. He doesn't run a full set of Moxen, and even then he'd need more in order to utilize Academy's power.

I actually think Mages are very nice. Can I suggest something along these lines-

-4 Finkel
-3 Sensei Top

+4 Chalice of the Void
+1 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Aether Spellbomb

Now Trinkey can get various utilities and you have more disruption. With Mana Drains/ Aether Vials, you can definitely set Chalice to whatever you need in order to screw your opponent. Up to you though

[zulander]

Academy is definitely a no-go. He doesn't run a full set of Moxen, and even then he'd need more in order to utilize Academy's power.

I actually think Mages are very nice. Can I suggest something along these lines-

-4 Finkel
-3 Sensei Top

+4 Chalice of the Void
+1 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Aether Spellbomb

Now Trinkey can get various utilities and you have more disruption. With Mana Drains/ Aether Vials, you can definitely set Chalice to whatever you need in order to screw your opponent. Up to you though

Yeah, if anything had to go it would be shadowmage, but i just love his ability  :'(
I honestly haven't even thought about a silver bullet approach. I don't know about -3 top, it's just too useful with dark confidant. And even if you get a 2nd one you pay 1 colorless to trade it with the next card, and with 8 fetches and 4 trinket mages that's enough shuffling to do with. I might remove 1/2 though with the card draw and trinket mages in the deck. So now I'm thinking -2 top -4 finkel +2 stifle, +1 chalice +1aether +1pithing needle +1tormod. I'll test it later on tonight.

[NicolaeAlmighty]

-2 top -4 finkel +2 stifle, +1 chalice +2aether +1tormod

Ah but the big thing about Confidant is that if you want to play him- you must not fear him. LOL

Top itself is a silver bullet of sorts. The reason you only want one is something to fetch with Trinkey.

Also, the reason why you want 4 Chalice is diversity. You want to throw it down turn one at 0 to stall opponents. Then, as you see how your opponent's game plan develops, you tutor it up and set it at a different number to potentially cripple the observed strategy.

Finkel is strong, but to be honest you should probably just run Dimir Cutpurse. Finkel has evasion, but Cutpurse's effect is far more powerful. Entirely up to you though.

I would rethink Stifle. Another card that needs to be in higher numbers in order to be seen early (when it's arguable that it's best).

Just some things to ponder

[zulander]

First I'd like to thank the suggestions, keep them coming! The reason I don't run 4 chalice is because I flat out hate the card. I have used it many times and it really just  diverts my opponent instead of stop him. I'll give it a whirl in the deck and see how it goes I guess though, no harm in trying it out. Also, I meant to put swords to plowshares instead of stifle, don't know what I was thinking when typing my reply out lol

-1 aether vial, -3 top, -4 shadowmage infiltrator    +2 STP, +4 chalice, +1 tormod crypt, +1 aether spellbomb

-2 fetch, -2 scrubland  +3 wasteland +1 strip mine

Double Posts Merged. Please use the Modify function to append to your post if there has been no subsequent post.
-- TAL

[Dnine]

mana drain in a 3 color fish deck???  Seems like the double blue will be trouble and you will most likely be burning for some on your turn if you manage to cast it unless you have a top out.  Duress or misdirection seems better so you can be dropping mages and Dark Confidants turn 2 instead of sitting there with 2 mana open hoping your opponant plays something to drain.     

[zulander]

mana drain in a 3 color fish deck???  Seems like the double blue will be trouble and you will most likely be burning for some on your turn if you manage to cast it unless you have a top out.  Duress or misdirection seems better so you can be dropping mages and Dark Confidants turn 2 instead of sitting there with 2 mana open hoping your opponant plays something to drain.     

It's not that hard to cast it since all the duals in the deck are blue. And the inclusion of vials helps with putting mages/confidants into play with the insurance of being able to sit back untapped. However I do think it might be overkill with the inclusion of voidmages as well. I'll try out -4 drain +2 duress +2 misD later on in the weekend.

[policehq]

Please, please don't play Misdirection in Fish.

Dark Confidant and Sensei's Divining Top do work nicely together, but I don't think the Top justifies its space in the deck. Since you are playing Aether Vials, Null Rod obviously isn't a suitable form of hate, but Tormod's Crypt would have answers to a good portion of the field today. It would be like running Blue and Black instead of Red in Mountains Win.

Stifles are a must-have, and Wastelands make them even better. Once your opponent gets a fetched Stifled, they'll settle to play whatever land they have in-hand. Usually that is a non-basic, so you will have gained a lot of tempo.

Lastly, I think the deck needs a better mana-base that includes basic Islands, that you should drop Mana Drains, and, unless Dark Confidant and Ninja of the Deep Hours are working really well for you, Standstill or Brainstorm.

-hq

[zulander]

Landstill isn't a bad idea, especially with the inclusion of aether vial to make sure I can get my guys into play. And regarding tops, since I have one I don't know if it is bad enough to not include as of right now, but I'll let testing do it's work. And as for drain, since the general feedback is to take them out I think I'll go with that as well and replace them with landstills. So -4 drain, +4 landstill. And for basic Islands, there are 2 in the MD I just forgot to include them in my original list.

[zulander]

So after some basic testing against a couple "normal" builds the deck did better than I actually thought it would. The two things that really stood out to me was how good landtsill and chalice are in the deck. With an active vial and a couple wizards out landstill is almost like timewalk 2-5 in the deck. I would really like to test mana drain next weekend hopefully along with sword fire/ice MD just to see what kind of results I guess. As usual if anyone has any critisizm of the deck I'd more than like to hear it.  ;D

[Pitlord]

I think if you are going to be playing vial you should really be playing 4, not 3. A first turn play of land, chalice @0, vial is pretty good. Hitting multiple vials isn't even terrible in here, because you play trinket mage which requires pushing a vial up to 3 if you want him to come in uncounterably at instant speed. I think dropping a standstill is ok, because without vial, standstill gets worse.

I like the trinket mage idea with aether bomb, crypt, and top, but have you considered pithing needle? It can shut down welder and other problem cards. The easiest place for it in my opinion is in the aether spellbomb slot, because you are already maindecking 2 StP, which is better than boucing the creature.

[zulander]

I think if you are going to be playing vial you should really be playing 4, not 3. A first turn play of land, chalice @0, vial is pretty good. Hitting multiple vials isn't even terrible in here, because you play trinket mage which requires pushing a vial up to 3 if you want him to come in uncounterably at instant speed. I think dropping a standstill is ok, because without vial, standstill gets worse.

I like the trinket mage idea with aether bomb, crypt, and top, but have you considered pithing needle? It can shut down welder and other problem cards. The easiest place for it in my opinion is in the aether spellbomb slot, because you are already maindecking 2 StP, which is better than boucing the creature.

I think you struck gold here. I was wondering wether or not aether spellbomb was even worth it with the inclusions of 2 STP and I never knew what to talk out for it. Thanks a lot!

[Meddling Mike]

I had some moderate success with a U/W/B fish deck I created back in the day, called it WiFi.

4x [card]Null Rod[/card]
4x [card]Meddling Mage[/card]
4x [card]Voidmage Prodigy[/card]
4x [card]Dark Confidant[/card]
4x [card]Force of Will[/card]
4x [card]Brainstorm[/card]
4x [card]Polluted Delta[/card]
4x [card]Flooded Strand[/card]
4x [card]Tundra[/card]
4x [card]Underground Sea[/card]
3x [card]Muddle the Mixture[/card]
1x [card]Echoing Truth[/card]
1x [card]Ancestral Recall[/card]
1x [card]Black Lotus[/card]
1x [card]Mox Pearl[/card]
1x [card]Mox Sapphire[/card]
1x [card]Mox Jet[/card]
1x [card]Time Walk[/card]
1x [card]Strip Mine[/card]
4x [card]Wasteland[/card]
4x [card]Duress[/card]
1x [card]Demonic Tutor[/card]

Sideboard
2x [card]Kataki, War's Wage[/card]
4x [card]Energy Flux[/card]
3x [card]Arcane Laboratory[/card]
3x [card]Exalted Angel[/card]
2x [card]Swords to Plowshares[/card]
1x [card]Balance[/card]
1x [card]Tormod's Crypt[/card]

Uhhh, the muddle the mixtures and echoing truth were pretty random, I'd probably replace those with Swords to Plowshares or Azorious Guildmages. Switching this into a vial version is pretty simple, just replace rods with vials and find some room for the rods in the board, they're really a beating vs. a number of decks.

[zulander]

Hrm, very interesting build you've got there. One of the things I really like about the original list is the silver bullets trinket mage can fetch. Although there is no reason for me not to run null rods in the side, I'll take a look when I have some time and see what I come up with.

[scutakicker]

It's not a wizard, but you need at least 2 Jotun Grunt. It messes with Will, Welder etc, gives you a clock and beats other fishies over the head.

I'd cut 1 Trinket Mage for 1 Vampiric Tutor since you still get your toolbox of artifacts but it also gets you other stuff.

I'm also not a big fan of the Vial/Standstill but that's another issue.

Edit: And I just noticed--no Brainstorm?!

[Pitlord]

I agree with Scutakciker about the trinket mage becoming a vampiric tutor, because it can still toolbox, plus it can get anything. Also, With a tutor added, one of the swords could become a darkblast to continually own little fish dorks on the other side of the field.

I also agree with him that Grunt is a house, although it does mess with the theme it is extremely amazing, and could probably replace a voidmage and something else as a 2-of.

Brainstorm could be good here too, because with vial you can keep some mana open to counter or brainstorm to find a counter. I also don't think it is absolutely needed though either, because standstill should be providing you with a decent draw engine anyways.

[zulander]

I agree with Scutakciker about the trinket mage becoming a vampiric tutor, because it can still toolbox, plus it can get anything. Also, With a tutor added, one of the swords could become a darkblast to continually own little fish dorks on the other side of the field.

I also agree with him that Grunt is a house, although it does mess with the theme it is extremely amazing, and could probably replace a voidmage and something else as a 2-of.

Brainstorm could be good here too, because with vial you can keep some mana open to counter or brainstorm to find a counter. I also don't think it is absolutely needed though either, because standstill should be providing you with a decent draw engine anyways.

It's not a wizard, but you need at least 2 Jotun Grunt. It messes with Will, Welder etc, gives you a clock and beats other fishies over the head.

I'd cut 1 Trinket Mage for 1 Vampiric Tutor since you still get your toolbox of artifacts but it also gets you other stuff.

I'm also not a big fan of the Vial/Standstill but that's another issue.

Edit: And I just noticed--no Brainstorm?!

I think I could try out jotun, definatly good call on vampiric tutor, especially with standstill resolution on stack so I can tutor for the card and actually draw it at that time too. As to brainstorm, I decided I would rather have standstill than brainstorm because of the slower nature of this deck compared to other fish builds.

So, -1 trinket mage +1 vampiric Tutor. As for what to take out for jotun, the only thing I can think of would be -2 voidmages. I'll test that out and post the results.

[scutakicker]

I'd agree with Pitlord. I also wouldn't drop below 3 Voidmage since it's so powerful given all the wizards you're running. What about -1 Voidmage, -1 Swords for +2 Jotun Grunt?

I'm also not so sure about Top. Don't get me wrong, the card is amazing, but it doesn't seem to quite fit the deck. What about replacing it with Engineered Explosives? I've played SS a lot and the card is absolutely amazing. It blows Moxen on board, can act as a Wrath in a Fish mirror, gets Welders etc. Its fetchable with Trinket of course.

Also a quick rules note: you won't be able to vamp for something and draw it off Standstill. When your opponent plays a spell it triggers Standstill. When the trigger resolves you sac Standstill and draw the cards. If, however, you Vamp with that Standstill trigger still on the stack, it will trigger Standstill again. That trigger will resolve first and your opponent will draw the cards. Starcity's virtual judge has a good page on the card http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/judgefinder.php?PHPSESSID=cec1a977fabd2cdb18efc0b78b6e0093&keywords=standstill&Submit2=Ask+the+Judge%21

[Pitlord]

Dropping a swords for the second grunt along with a single coidmage seems like a good call. Voidmage is good and has lots of synergy, but is a little mana intensive to be playing a full set.

Also, I think EE could be good in place of top because you can blow up everything that costs 1 or 2 in the mirror and still get trinket mage beats. Top is really good in a control or combo meta though, because it lets you at least keep up a little in the card advantage race against control, although EE would blow up their moxen, slowing them down a lot. With the addition fo wastelands now, EE does seem like a stronger choice because it helps to supplement the mana denial stragy. It seems to at least merit testing, good luck!

[zulander]

Wow, I can't thank everyone enough for the input into the deck, as far as testing when I first made the deck it was getting rolled over. Now as I sit here I just swept grimlong (to be fair though he had to mulligan to 5 in one of the games). As for -1 STP -1 voidmage, do you guys think that if I take out 1 STP I should replace the other with aether spellbomb so it can be tutored up? And as for taking top out, I really can't. My meta around here is full of long/CS/gifts/stax, and in those matchup top just shines too well to merit a replacement. I know EE takes out their moxen, but so does cotv, hence it's inclusion in the deck. I will try out -4 chalice, +2 EE +2 grunts though, I think it could be interesting.

[brianpk80]

Wow, I can't thank everyone enough for the input into the deck, as far as testing when I first made the deck it was getting rolled over. Now as I sit here I just swept grimlong (to be fair though he had to mulligan to 5 in one of the games). As for -1 STP -1 voidmage, do you guys think that if I take out 1 STP I should replace the other with aether spellbomb so it can be tutored up? And as for taking top out, I really can't. My meta around here is full of long/CS/gifts/stax, and in those matchup top just shines too well to merit a replacement. I know EE takes out their moxen, but so does cotv, hence it's inclusion in the deck. I will try out -4 chalice, +2 EE +2 grunts though, I think it could be interesting.

Zulander, have you considered Oath of Ghouls?
It seems to have great synergy with most of the Wizards you are using (especially Voidmage) and AEther Vial, as well as Jotun Grunt.  If you're worried about creatures, with the Vial to back you up and protect from counters, Waterfront Bouncer + Gilded Drake help out a lot on their own and ridiculously when in combination.   There's a post in the Vintage Forum with an Oath of Ghouls UW/b Vial Fish list that is similar in several ways to this one here (I would know...)     You might find it worthwhile!

That aside, I don't think Engineered Explosives is something you want to toss into this build since it will be very double-edged most of the time.  It's good in Gifts and Bomberman because they have very few permanents at the 2-CC slot and that's the most common setting for EE.  Finding 5 or more mana (3 of different colors) to make a big EE and pop it won't be easy.  If you're using it for Moxen, there are alternatives like Chalice.  Hurkyl's Recall on opponent + Chalice @ 0 is pretty hot if you miss the chance to go first and gives you another maindeck Colossus answer.  My suggestion would be to think about whether it's artifacts, enchantments, or creatures giving you a problem and dedicate that slot accordingly.  Stern Proctor handles artifacts, enchantments, and the most common problematic creatures in the game: Darksteel Colossus and Sundering Titan.  He also sacrifices to Voidmage. 

Good luck,

-Brian

[scutakicker]

Awesome. Glad to see the deck is starting to wreck people. I wouldn't say that EE is crucial, but definitely test it out. If your field is filled with Long/Gifts definitely keep the Chalices. They are one of your most devastating weapons against these decks. Whe you are on the play you can lock them out of tons of their mana and when they are on the play they are caught between wanted to drop all their moxen to get them down and wanting to keep them in hand for storm and it also really hits their Yawg Wills. The one card that you might be able to cut is Pithing Needle. It shuts down Welder but will be dead for you against Long, Gifts and most other Fish decks. What about using that slot for an Aether Spellbomb?

[zulander]

Awesome. Glad to see the deck is starting to wreck people. I wouldn't say that EE is crucial, but definitely test it out. If your field is filled with Long/Gifts definitely keep the Chalices. They are one of your most devastating weapons against these decks. Whe you are on the play you can lock them out of tons of their mana and when they are on the play they are caught between wanted to drop all their moxen to get them down and wanting to keep them in hand for storm and it also really hits their Yawg Wills. The one card that you might be able to cut is Pithing Needle. It shuts down Welder but will be dead for you against Long, Gifts and most other Fish decks. What about using that slot for an Aether Spellbomb?

Wow, I can't thank everyone enough for the input into the deck, as far as testing when I first made the deck it was getting rolled over. Now as I sit here I just swept grimlong (to be fair though he had to mulligan to 5 in one of the games). As for -1 STP -1 voidmage, do you guys think that if I take out 1 STP I should replace the other with aether spellbomb so it can be tutored up? And as for taking top out, I really can't. My meta around here is full of long/CS/gifts/stax, and in those matchup top just shines too well to merit a replacement. I know EE takes out their moxen, but so does cotv, hence it's inclusion in the deck. I will try out -4 chalice, +2 EE +2 grunts though, I think it could be interesting.

Zulander, have you considered Oath of Ghouls?
It seems to have great synergy with most of the Wizards you are using (especially Voidmage) and AEther Vial, as well as Jotun Grunt.  If you're worried about creatures, with the Vial to back you up and protect from counters, Waterfront Bouncer + Gilded Drake help out a lot on their own and ridiculously when in combination.   There's a post in the Vintage Forum with an Oath of Ghouls UW/b Vial Fish list that is similar in several ways to this one here (I would know...)     You might find it worthwhile!

That aside, I don't think Engineered Explosives is something you want to toss into this build since it will be very double-edged most of the time.  It's good in Gifts and Bomberman because they have very few permanents at the 2-CC slot and that's the most common setting for EE.  Finding 5 or more mana (3 of different colors) to make a big EE and pop it won't be easy.  If you're using it for Moxen, there are alternatives like Chalice.  Hurkyl's Recall on opponent + Chalice @ 0 is pretty hot if you miss the chance to go first and gives you another maindeck Colossus answer.  My suggestion would be to think about whether it's artifacts, enchantments, or creatures giving you a problem and dedicate that slot accordingly.  Stern Proctor handles artifacts, enchantments, and the most common problematic creatures in the game: Darksteel Colossus and Sundering Titan.  He also sacrifices to Voidmage. 

Good luck,

-Brian

Ok, so I updated the list again and I took into account many peoples suggestions, the deck list is in my original post. I will be testing the deck this weekend against gifts/stax/long/fish/CS. Hopefully my friends show up and I can get at least 2-3 matches per deck to see what this deck is capable of. Thanks again for everyone's input!

[brianpk80]

Looks good, Zulander.

I think you're getting to the point where the build is out-evolving the need for Trinket Mages and instead of an artifact tool-belt (which is dwindling with every update), you might benefit from a creature tool-belt.  This would go really nicely with your AEther Vials because uncounterable instant creature-answers are amazing w. Vial and let you deal with the board without breaking your own Standstill.  Drake, Bouncer, and more Tormod's Crypts would be a good replacement for Trinket Mage, Swords to Plowshares, and Sensei's Divining Top.  Crypt is the best Vintage hate for Vial Fish because it's quicker than Null Rod, it doesn't shut of Vials, and you can't really undo its damage with a Chain of Vapor/Rebuild/Hurkyl's.  Chalice is only good sometimes, which is why I don't run it.  I like disruption that's good almost all the time, which fits Tormod's Crypt a lot more than Chalice of the Void.  I hate having an opponent slap down 2 or 3 Moxen when I'm on the draw and then having to spend 2 mana just for a Chalice @ 1 (which will get bounced sooner or later) that turns off a lot of my deck as well.  And Fish can just forget about Chalice @ 2. 

Chalice is really good in Workshop.dec since it can reliably power out big Chalices, that are useful even when it's not going first, and they don't hinder its own strategy.  Tangle Wire, Crucible, and all that other stuff cost 3 or more and Welder brings things back anyway.  But it's not nearly as good in Fish because of being a double edged sword (even you're lucky enough to have Vial) and often not even doing what it's supposed to do.  A good move might be to keep 2 or 3 Chalices in the sideboard for the combo, Slaver, and Gifts match-up when you are going first.

Good luck,

-Brian

[zulander]

Looks good, Zulander.

I think you're getting to the point where the build is out-evolving the need for Trinket Mages and instead of an artifact tool-belt (which is dwindling with every update), you might benefit from a creature tool-belt.  This would go really nicely with your AEther Vials because uncounterable instant creature-answers are amazing w. Vial and let you deal with the board without breaking your own Standstill.  Drake, Bouncer, and more Tormod's Crypts would be a good replacement for Trinket Mage, Swords to Plowshares, and Sensei's Divining Top.  Crypt is the best Vintage hate for Vial Fish because it's quicker than Null Rod, it doesn't shut of Vials, and you can't really undo its damage with a Chain of Vapor/Rebuild/Hurkyl's.  Chalice is only good sometimes, which is why I don't run it.  I like disruption that's good almost all the time, which fits Tormod's Crypt a lot more than Chalice of the Void.  I hate having an opponent slap down 2 or 3 Moxen when I'm on the draw and then having to spend 2 mana just for a Chalice @ 1 (which will get bounced sooner or later) that turns off a lot of my deck as well.  And Fish can just forget about Chalice @ 2. 

Chalice is really good in Workshop.dec since it can reliably power out big Chalices, that are useful even when it's not going first, and they don't hinder its own strategy.  Tangle Wire, Crucible, and all that other stuff cost 3 or more and Welder brings things back anyway.  But it's not nearly as good in Fish because of being a double edged sword (even you're lucky enough to have Vial) and often not even doing what it's supposed to do.  A good move might be to keep 2 or 3 Chalices in the sideboard for the combo, Slaver, and Gifts match-up when you are going first.

Good luck,

-Brian

In the meta I face though chalice is good in every matchup, thus earning it's inclusion in the main board. However, if I do decide to put them in the side then I'd probably -4 chalice, +2 Stern Protector, +1 tormods crypt, + 1 chain of vapor. Now that I think about it, doesn't seem too bad. I personally love the trinket mage and artifact tool belt. Trinket mage servers as Crypt 2-5, vial 5-7 and not to include the silver bullet side board I will mostlikely put together soon.

[Pitlord]

I really don't think EE is a good replacement for chalice, and I also don't think chalice should come out of the deck because it is an absolute beating on almost deck except the fish mirror. Most decks really like having moxen and lotus, mainly to power out big spells. With a chalice out consistently you are denying them of your mana and therefore your plays. Chalice should stay in in my opinion. You can always side them out in weak match-ups, because they are better in more matches than not pre-board.

As for the trinket mage and artifact toolbox or the creature toolbox, that is something that should be left up to playstyle and testing. Stern Proctor seems playable, but not amazing outside of the workshop match. I think at this point trinket mage seems a little better without going into another color or sub-optimal card choices. Plus being able to fetch pithing needle or t-crypt when needed seems like it is really powerful.

[wuaffiliate]

The reason I don't run 4 chalice is because I flat out hate the card. I have used it many times and it really just  diverts disrupts my opponent instead of stop him.

I like the deck alot, but i really would like to see more disruption such as wasteland, stifle, Echoing Truth, Rushing River or CoV. (you seem to have fixed this somewhat )

If you like top with confidant i would really think you would want to replace standstills and 1 other for 4 Brainstorms, it works wonders with confidant.

Keep up the good work.

[brianpk80]

I really don't think EE is a good replacement for chalice, and I also don't think chalice should come out of the deck because it is an absolute beating on almost deck except the fish mirror. Most decks really like having moxen and lotus, mainly to power out big spells. With a chalice out consistently you are denying them of your mana and therefore your plays. Chalice should stay in in my opinion. You can always side them out in weak match-ups, because they are better in more matches than not pre-board.

As for the trinket mage and artifact toolbox or the creature toolbox, that is something that should be left up to playstyle and testing. Stern Proctor seems playable, but not amazing outside of the workshop match. I think at this point trinket mage seems a little better without going into another color or sub-optimal card choices. Plus being able to fetch pithing needle or t-crypt when needed seems like it is really powerful.

You're right that EE shouldn't step in for Chalice.  But I'm not so sure I would run either.  Chalice of the Void might seem very strong when you're playing against it, but playing with it is another story altogether.  It's amazing when you have it in your opening hand, on the play, against Drains, Rituals, and occasionally Stax or Dragon.  Even turn one, going first, it's not necessarily spectacular in the Fish mirror, the Oath match-up, Ichorid, Tog, or any aggro you come across, like Goblins, "Stupid Red Burn," Swamp.dec, and others.  Anything after the first turn on the play makes Chalice generally terrible in Fish (Workshop is a different story; I think Chalice belongs there).  You can wait to find 2 mana and set it to 1, meanwhile shutting down a huge fraction of your own deck, even with AEther Vial.  You never want to set it to 2 in Fish except in the most extreme circumstances, and that's a huge Drain target.  Chalice @ 3 won't happen until the very, very late game and someone will have probably won by then.  

The best target for Trinket Mage would be Tormod's Crypt.  I'd replace him with some combination of Crypts and creatures.  I don't know what the primary purpose of a maindeck Pithing Needle is but I think there may be better alternatives.  I stopped playing Needle altogether after the Time Vault/Flame Fusillade was banned by errata.  Goblin Welder or Bazaar of Baghdad are answered by Swords, Tormod's Crypt, and Wasteland.        

Proctor is actually very good in just about every match.  I use him to bounce Colossus, Oath of Druids (then Vial out a Meddling Mage or Prodigy before it's recast), Animate enchantments w. Vial (to win against Dragon), Null Rod, Chalice, flipped Erayos, Counterbalance, The Abyss, Umezawa's Jitte, and even Mindslavers and Memory Jars that hit the table without being instantly activated.  He's a lot more fun when you can get an extra bounce of him with Ninja, but like you said before, whether or not to make those card choices depends on the style of the individual player.    

-BPK