[budget] getting into vintage - Platinum control/10 proxy

[Ulthrion]

Hi,

Since I got back into magic during Time Spiral, I've read up on a lot of articles and found myself more than interested in Vintage (mostly due to Oscar Tan's Control Bible). As a newer player with a not too big budget, I always look at threads like Budget Blue - And How to Join Vintage in which some compromises are made to fit the deck into a zero-proxy environment. I don't know much about tournaments in my region yet, but I'm aiming for a 10-proxy environment (additions for more proxies will be added at the end of my post). Obviously, I have no clue as to what the meta will be, but I'm not too concerned about that. I am aiming for a deck that I can afford and that can help me get a feel of competitive vintage play in a tournament. Remember that I have no real experience yet, so numbers could be way off and the whole deck could be underwhelming. Anyway, here is the list that I came up with (I'll mark the cards that I don't have):

Deck: Budget Platinum
Mana (24):
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire                        (1x proxy)
1 Black Lotus                         (1x proxy)
1 Mana Vault                          (1x proxy)
1 Mana Crypt                          (1x proxy)
1 Strip Mine
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Seat of the Synod
11 Island
1 Tolarian Academy

Creatures (8):
4 Platinum Angel                      (3x proxy)
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
3 Trinket Mage                        (1x proxy)

Control (14):
4 Force of Will                       (4x proxy)
4 Pact of Negation
4 Stifle                              (4x proxy)
2 Counterbalance

Tutor/draw (12):
1 Mystical Tutor                      (1x proxy)
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk                           (1x proxy)
4 Ponder                              (3x proxy)
4 Thirst for Knowledge                (4x proxy)

Toolbox (2):
1 Sensei's Diving Top                 (1x proxy)
1 Tormod's Crypt

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Energy Flux
4 ???
4 ???

Note: I have never used a sideboard, so I really have no clue what to put here.

Which brings the total to 26 proxies, most of which are easy to trade for. My plan is to leave the following proxies (I actually have a recall):
Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Time Walk, 4x Force of Will, Mana Crypt, 2 Platinum Angels
Which means that I'll have to trade for the following:
1 Mana Vault
3 Ponder
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Stifle
1 Trinket Mage
1 Sensei's Diving Top
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Platinum Angel
which are all tradable and solid investments for vintage I think.

On to some explanations:
Why a Platinum Control variant? Going mono-colored was an obvious choice, as the manabase on any multi-colored deck would put it out of budget range. Mono blue would be the best I think as it gives access to a lot of staples, it fits my playing style, and allows me to expand the deck slowly into something more competetive. In other words, I think that blue is the best choice for later expansions. Finally, I have an ancestral recall, and 4 pact of negations, so platinum control seemed like a decent choice.

0 Mana Drain Mana drain seems like a logical counter for platinum control, and they probably can be included at the cost of the stifles/dreadnought. However, there is also another problem: proxies. I can't afford forces right now, and they are virtually untradable, because most people here play legacy, and forces are already in high demand. This would mean that I would have 12 cards that need to be proxied (lotus, mox, walk, crypt, 4 force, 4 drain).
Other than that, mana drain is obviously good if you're aiming to cast a 7 mana spell. I don't really know whether the deck's mana will provide a steady enough early 7 mana, which leaves the question: is mana drain that essential? (by which I mean, does the lack of mana drain make the deck unplayable?)

2 Ancient Tomb Since we're playing with platinums anyway, the damage you take is negated as soon as one hits the table. The tomb helps power one out early, and also helps with early Thirst of Knowledges. The number 2 is purely a guess (as I currently have 2 in my possession). on one side, adding 4 gives more mana and more reliable platinum angel, on the other hand, it starts to eat into the blue mana sources, which might make cards like counterbalance too difficult to cast.

Trinket Mage/Toolbox/dreadnought/stifle I added in a trinket mage toolbox for various reasons.
First of all, dreadnought gives me a good beatstick other than platinum angel.
Second, it allows a toolbox (tormod's crypt/top), with crypt giving me a fighting chance against graveyard abuse, and counter/top being a good control engine. I could add in a pithing needle, it adds one more proxy (not too much of a problem), and I'm unsure what to cut for it. I have never had the chance to play with the needle, so I don't know how important this addition will be.
The third reason to add a trinket mage toolbox is that it naturally increases the artifact count of the deck allowing better support for tinker and tolarian academy.
Fourth, While I didn't see the full power of stifle in the Sullivan Sollution thread, here it obviously adds the ability to stifle the dreadnought's come into play trigger, as well as stifling the pact of negation's upkeep trigger. In this last way, it also glues the platinum angel control and the trinket mage control packages together by maing pact less of a dead card without the angel.

4 Ponder, 0 Brainstorm The most obvious lack of the deck is brainstorm, however, due to budget constraints I cannot afford fetches to add the needed shuffle effects. I have read that ponder is often the superior card on turn 1 (but losses fast to brainstorm once shuffle effects are added in). I would still like to smooth my early draws, so I opted to run 4 ponder, as I *think* that it's more powerful than brainstorm if there are no shuffle effects present. If  I can trade for more fetches/other proxied cards, or play in a tournament which allows more proxies, I'll chance some islands into polluted deltas/flooded strands and switch out ponders for brainstorms.

Thirst for Knowledge With the trinket mage setup, I chose for thirst of knowledge as draw, because it takes up the least deckspace. Another option I was considering was a Looter il-Kor/Squee, Goblin Nabob combination and razormane masticores as alternative finishers. However, this would probably push the trinket mage package out of the deck, which I feel is more versatile. In addition, this way the deck is completely immune to graveyard hate.

4 Seat of the Synod These are here purely to boost the artifact count. The added vulnerability to wastelands/etc. may be crippling though, but at least there are 11 basic islands to catch that.

0 back to basics, 1 strip mine, 0 wasteland This deck does very little to disrupt an opponent's mana, yet has 1 strip mine. The reasoning is that the strip mine can be a luck draw in some moments. Adding back to basics takes up both deck space and clashes with the acacemy/artifact lands, and thus put stress on the trinket mage package. In the same way, wasteland puts stress on the blue mana count in the deck, which is already relatively low for a mono-colored deck.

So, what do you think? Is this a decent deck to get a feel of vintage, as well as provide a base to expand from?

[zimmerbloke]

Something you'll definitely want to consider is the addition of Merchant Scroll.  They're cheap, so it shouldn't interfere with your proxy limit.  Not only can it find Ancestral in the early game, it's great for securing protection once you have a Platinum Angel in play.  Furthermore, you definitely need to be running at least one bounce spell maindeck, most likely Echoing Truth.  Merchant Scroll finds you Echoing Truth, and also Mystical->Tinker in a clutch.  The addition of Merchant Scroll may intrude on the Trinket Mage package, but I think it's a stronger build of the deck.  Also, with 4x Scroll, you may consider adding Brainstorm, but it's hard for me to say without testing the deck without fetches.

Honestly, I think this deck needs Mana Drain.  Even with the artifact accellerants you have, it's hard to see the Angel coming out earlier than Turn 3 or Turn 4, and with the lack of early game action and protection you have (only FoW, really), this is possibly too late.

There are also a few cards I was surprised to see omitted, the foremost of which is Fact or Fiction.  What was your logic for not including at least the singleton?  It seems as strong as Thirst, at least.  Also, depending on your proxy situation, Library of Alexandria seems like a good fit for Mono-U control.  Academy Ruins also has a place in this build, and that shouldn't be too expensive to trade for.  4x Platinum Angels seems like one too many, too - maybe consider replacing one of the Angel proxies with Library?

I'm sure you've seen Owen Turtenwald's build that T8'd Day 2 of SCG Chicago, but here's the link: http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=23694

As for a sideboard, it depends largely on your metagame.  Leyline is necessary, and depending on what you're expecting, Threads of Disloyalty (GAT), Hurkyl's Recall (Stax), and Meloku (pretty much everything aggro) are all strong choices.

[Anusien]

Fetchlands can be relatively inexpensive, but more importantly, they're sort of necessary.  Not only is Counterbalance probably too inconsistent without Sensei's Divining Top, but Brainstorm + fetchlands contributes much more power to the deck than almost anything else.  If you really want to get into Vintage, trading down an Ancestral would dramatically open up the decks you can play.  One Ancestral can easily get you a set of Forces and other stuff, which also helps if you want to get into Legacy as well.

Also, I hate to be that guy, but why this deck?  Flash and Ichorid both seem more easy for you to put together.

[Ulthrion]

First of all, thanks for the quick replies!

Something you'll definitely want to consider is the addition of Merchant Scroll.  They're cheap, so it shouldn't interfere with your proxy limit.  Not only can it find Ancestral in the early game, it's great for securing protection once you have a Platinum Angel in play.  Furthermore, you definitely need to be running at least one bounce spell maindeck, most likely Echoing Truth.  Merchant Scroll finds you Echoing Truth, and also Mystical->Tinker in a clutch.  The addition of Merchant Scroll may intrude on the Trinket Mage package, but I think it's a stronger build of the deck.  Also, with 4x Scroll, you may consider adding Brainstorm, but it's hard for me to say without testing the deck without fetches.

Honestly, I think this deck needs Mana Drain.  Even with the artifact accellerants you have, it's hard to see the Angel coming out earlier than Turn 3 or Turn 4, and with the lack of early game action and protection you have (only FoW, really), this is possibly too late.

So basically, what you are saying is that the trinket mages are the weak spot in the deck, and that space could better be used to improve the sole strategy of putting a platinum angel into play and protecting it, rather than add an additional win condition (dreadnought) and a small toolbox? I can see the power of merchant scroll, and I hoped that the lack of bounce would be solved by the power of platinum angel. But you are probably right that the angel won't appear before the 4th turn. What would you think about making the deck more tinker-orientated by dropping some of the angels, adding in the scrolls, and possibly some other tinker targets (memory jar, sundering titan, I don't have colossus).
As for bounce, how would chain of vapor fare? It generated mana with the artifact accelleration, but at the cost of lands. I'm a bit divided on it, as on the one hand, it's not a combo deck, and the mana you destroy can come back to haunt you (especially when your opponent gets wipe away or something similar). On the other hand, the pacts and forces are free, which leaves the thirst of knowledges that potentially suffer the most. The more I think about it, the more I believe that chain of vapor is not the right choice though (in addition, it would also be better with full jewelry).

There are also a few cards I was surprised to see omitted, the foremost of which is Fact or Fiction.  What was your logic for not including at least the singleton?  It seems as strong as Thirst, at least.  Also, depending on your proxy situation, Library of Alexandria seems like a good fit for Mono-U control.  Academy Ruins also has a place in this build, and that shouldn't be too expensive to trade for.  4x Platinum Angels seems like one too many, too - maybe consider replacing one of the Angel proxies with Library?

4 angels is there for consistency. I don't (yet) run brainstorm/fetch, so three angels does not garantuee I have one when I can cast one. In addition, playing a second one isn't dead, as it protects against wipe away kills. I see your point that the fourth one is a bit redundant, and ideally you don't want to see the second angel in your hand, but my reasoning was that the deck's search power was not powerful enough to garantuee me an angel with only 3 in the deck. If I go the merchant scroll way though, I can cut back on the angels as I'll have virtually more angels in the deck through tinker.
Angel over library is a choice of consistency over lucky wins I guess. Library loses a lot of it's power if you draw it after turn 2, but then again, if you do get it online, it can virtually win you the game on it's own. The reason for leaving it out is that I'd much rather have a card that I'm aiming to play, rather than one that I have to do a lot of work for to keep up. You could very well be right though, and the occasional win you get through a first-turn library should probably not be ignored. I am just worried about it being a dead card once the game progresses. That said, maybe I should switch out the strip mine for the library and trade for 1 additonal angel. The strip mine is sort of a lucky draw at the moment, and library is a more powerful lucky draw.

I'm sure you've seen Owen Turtenwald's build that T8'd Day 2 of SCG Chicago, but here's the link: http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=23694

I have seen it, but I already forgot about it, so thanks a lot for the link. Although full jewelry/drains/fetches/forces is not something I can play now, It does serve as a nice reference, and possibly something to work towards.

As for a sideboard, it depends largely on your metagame.  Leyline is necessary, and depending on what you're expecting, Threads of Disloyalty (GAT), Hurkyl's Recall (Stax), and Meloku (pretty much everything aggro) are all strong choices.

That is exactly the problem: I don't know what to expect. But that doesn't make this responds less important. Knowing what are good cards against certain archetypes is always good once it comes to actually making the sideboard.
One comment, how would rebuild play against GAT? Does the additional mana kill it? Because if it doesn't, then it allows you to replay all you artifact accelerants and possibly actually make mana.

Fetchlands can be relatively inexpensive, but more importantly, they're sort of necessary.  Not only is Counterbalance probably too inconsistent without Sensei's Divining Top, but Brainstorm + fetchlands contributes much more power to the deck than almost anything else.  If you really want to get into Vintage, trading down an Ancestral would dramatically open up the decks you can play.  One Ancestral can easily get you a set of Forces and other stuff, which also helps if you want to get into Legacy as well.

Also, I hate to be that guy, but why this deck?  Flash and Ichorid both seem more easy for you to put together.

First of all, the deck has a virtual 4 tops with top + 3 trinket mages. Or did you mean that this is not reliable enough to get top out if I draw into counterbalance?

Commenting on that last statement. The reason I'm not thinking about playing Ichorid is that the cards I have to trade for will not really contribute to any other deck I would like to make in the future. I haven't really thought about Flash, but as a deck it doesn't appeal a lot to me. I think that some variant of mana blue control makes more sense for my playing style, as well as having the option to build a variety of decks out of them once I get more staples.

Maybe I should explain my situation a bit more. I am fully intending to get a playset of forces this year (and maybe more, like some fetches), but I don't want to sit still the entire year collecting staples and not knowing anything about playing competitive vintage. For the forseeable future though I won't have the funds to get forces, fetches, or duals. With this in mind, I wanted to create a deck that I can easily trade together, and unfortunately, fetches and forces aren't easily tradable here. Nevertheless though, I want a deck that, should I come across the opportunity to trade for a fetch or force, I would be able to add them to the deck I am working on and get into some more power with other proxies.
The list I presented above might not be very good (as has been commented), but the cards which I am required to trade for it are all either extremely cheap or tradable cards I would want to have in my collection for the future anyway.

As for legacy, trading down ancestral would require quite a lot of effort as the interest for it here is quite low (there are a few vintage players, but they like beta stuff, signed foils and other pimp stuff), and in a few years, I would be looking to trade for one anyway. In addition I am not at all attracted by playing legacy. I love to occasionally tutor for a yawgmoth's will and just win. I like it when my opponent flips a mox with confidant and powers out something ridiculous. I have played against a vintage deck with a casual one, and even though I lost without a chance, I got tripple duress and managed to live until turn 4 against a long variant. I liked to see such a deck in action, and that sort of brokenness just can't be seen in legacy. In addition, legacy is probably more expenive than vintage right now, as they don't allow proxies, and you are pretty much required to get a playset of tarmogoyfs as well as the duals/fetches to support the splash for them (at least, that's the most common complaint about legacy that I hear here).

Finally, don't worry about being "that guy". If I didn't want any critical comments, I wouldn't have made this thread in the first place. So feel free to burn my ideas to the ground.

[LotusHead]

@Fetchlands.  Fetchlands are great with Brainstorm.  You know that.  Why not use some 10 cent Terramorphic Expanses?  Sure, your island would come into play tapped but as a budget player, you will have to just deal with some sub-optimal choices.  (I uzed Ertai's Meddling in place of 2 Drains when I started tourney Vintage.  This would give you some shuffleability and allow you to play Brainstorms.  This could also open the doors to play one Swamp and Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Yawgmoth's Will.

[Ulthrion]

I've tried to restructure the deck, this time without the trinket mage package (as suggested by most), and with drains and a black splash for demonic/vampiric/will. I think you were right in that concentrating more on the platinum gameplan instead of adding an expensive (mana and deckspace-wise) toolbox was a better idea. At least the deck looks more focussed to me now. The main problem I forsee now is that the combination of the black splash, the suboptimal terramorphic expanses, and the artifact support for tinker eats into the consistency of the mana base too much and I'm considering to drop either the tinker (as detailed below) or the black splash (which would remove the lotus petal as well).

Deck: Budget Platinum
Mana (24):
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire                        (1x proxy)
1 Black Lotus                         (1x proxy)
1 Mana Vault                          (1x proxy)
1 Mana Crypt                          (1x proxy)
1 Lotus Petal
1 Strip Mine
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of the Synod
6 Island
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Academy Ruins

Creatures/Win (3):
3 Platinum Angel                      (2x proxy)

Control (11):
4 Force of Will                       (4x proxy)
4 Pact of Negation
3 Mana Drain                          (3x proxy)

Tutor (8):
4 Merchant Scroll                     (3x proxy)
1 Mystical Tutor                      (1x proxy)
1 Vampiric Tutor                      (1x proxy)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker

Draw (12):
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Thirst for Knowledge                (4x proxy)
1 Fact or Fiction                     (1x proxy)
2 Ponder                              (1x proxy)
4 Brainstorm

Utility (2):
1 Echoing Truth                       (1x proxy)
1 Yawgmoth's Will


Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
3 ???
4 ???
4 ???

Proxies
Lotus, mox, crypt, 4x force, 3x drain

Tradelist:
1 Mana Vault
2 Platinum Angel
3 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ponder
1 Echoing Truth


Black Splash: The raw card power of the black splash is very obvious (demonic/vampiric tutor, yawgmoth's will), but this goes at the cost of the mana base. Although I think that the support for Tinker does more damage (due to being unable to run full jewelry), tinker adds a direct way to win the game. Yawgmoth's will is a powerful way to add card advantage (although this deck isn't designed to abuse it as much as other decks), and the tutors are always great to have. However, especially with vampiric tutor, I am not yet sure whether the 7 black mana sources in the deck make this one consistent enough. What I mean is that the power of vampiric tutor lies in the fact that it can be cast so early, but most of my black mana sources come from terramorphic expanse, which means that with a turn 1 expanse, the vampiric tutor basically becomes a card disadvantage demonic tutor in terms of speed.
In other words, I am wondering whether the black splash is worth it, seeing as most of the cards will not live up to their full potential.

Tolarian Academy I'm beginning to fear that without the proxy space for full jewelry and without the trinket mage toolbox, there is really too little support for the academy (and in a way, also for tinker). If so, I would switch it out for an island.

1 Tinker: I know it's a powerful card, but I'm beginning to worry that it's not worth upsetting the rest of the deck for so much. On the one hand I only have the ability to play 3 drains for now, and cutting tinker as well may seriously hurt my chances of getting a platinum angel into play. On the other hand, tinker hurts the consistency of my mana base and thus affecting the ability to play the control game. Finally, if I want to run energy flux in the sideboard as an anti-stax option, I pretty much need to cut back on my own artifacts as well, thus dropping tinker. However, I'll probably figure out the exact sideboard once the maindeck is finished, so that it really an issue to be adressed later, but something to keep in mind anyway.

0 Time Walk: I have cut time walk to free proxy space for a third mana drain. Although the time walk is powerful, the fact that mana drain contributes directly to the deck's plan (i.e. getting a platinum angel into play) makes it more important than the potentially powerful boost of an extra early turn.

0 Mox Jet: I simply don't have the proxy space for it. I could cut crypt, but I think that the crypt is a more powerful accelerant, as it contributes to thirst for knowledge, fact or fiction as well echoing truth and of course platinum angel.

1 Lotus Petal: I don't know if the card has a place in this type of deck, but at least it increases the artifact count, adds another black source, and ups the chances for a 1st turn drain or brainstorm/terramorphic. Finally, it's nice to have with Yawgmoth's Will as well, although that's not a main reason.

1 Fact or Fiction: I added fact or fiction as suggested, over a ponder, to the deck. I am not sure if it might be too expensive, but on the other hand, if I can't get a tinker through it gives a nice tool to cast while ramping up the mana for a platinum angel. On the other hand, pushing out a ponder for this, means it increased the curve quite a bit.

Additional Bounce: I was also thinking about was cutting another ponder to add a second bounce option, but I'm unsure about whether to to cut another ponder, as well as which bounce to add. Rushing River seems nice, but the kicker could be a pain in a mana hungry deck like this. Wipe Away seems like a fail-safe option, but only against decks that counter a lot. Otherwise it's just expensive to cast. Hurkyll's Recall and Rebuild seem too situational for the maindeck. Another option I was thinking about was snapback, as it is potentially free, so can be cast on the turn you scroll for it. However, I don't know if it's optimal to run bounce with the same casting cost as scroll (because of chalice etc.). Also, it only hits creatures, and it seems like almost a pure anti-darksteel colossus card, which might be a bit too narrow.
So the main question here is whether to run a second bounce spell (and if yes, which one), or to run a second ponder.

Additional Counters: Finally, I could switch out the two ponders for two metagame counters (Nix, mana leak, shadow of doubt, etc. i.e. to be determined later) to increase the control aspect of the deck. On the other hand, 6 brainstorms in the deck gives a very nice chance to have one in your opening hand. Is it worth considering the additional counters (especially since pact is basically dead until you get a platinum angel out), or is this best served for the sideboard later? (or not at all?)

EDIT: Tolaria West: I just thought about adding a Tolaria west (or two) to the deck. They would probably take the spots of the ponders in this case as well (as the mana base doesn't need any more upsetting I think).  They search for academy if I have enough artifacts, they find strip mine (although probably too late), and in the late game they can find pact of negation as well, although this seems like a win-more option. The question is the same as withthe additional counters though, is it worth cutting ponders for?

[zimmerbloke]

I think your latest list is much closer to a 10-proxy functional approximation of the deck than the first iteration.  However, I still disagree with a few of your choices.

First and foremost, I don't think you want to pursue the black splash.  Honestly, the deck isn't designed to abuse Will in the least, so you're considering the splash for two (admittedly solid) tutors.  I would personally exclude black for more resiliency in blue.  I don't recall you mentioning whether Misdirections are available to you, but if you have them, I think they would be a strong inclusion.

Furthermore, I strongly question your inclusion of Strip Mine in this deck.  It is your only mana denial element, and you don't really have anything explosive enough to exploit the tempo advantage it creates.  Without some added support for either of Strip Mine's strengths, it doesn't really make sense.  I would replace it with a singleton Tolaria West.  The obvious disadvantages of coming into play tapped (big) and being non-basic (still relevant) seem minimal given some of the advantages you could get out of it.  More often than not, it seems like it's going to be used to transmute, so coming into play tapped doesn't matter.  Also, it can find 8 of your 10 artifacts, functionally increasing your Tinker count, and it also acts as a second Tolarian Academy or Academy Ruins.  Finally, it's another shuffle effect for your Brainstorms.  Thanks to the Merchant Scrolls and Exapanses, it seems like you're close to full functionality of Brainstorm.

Here's the Mono-U 10 proxy list I would put together with your constraints:
Mana (24)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of the Synod
7 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West


Creatures/Win (3)
3 Platinum Angel

Protection (14)
4 Force of WIll
4 Pact of Negation
3 Mana Drain
1 Echoing Truth
2 Misdirection      

Tutor (6)
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tinker

Draw (13)
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
3 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

Proxy: Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, 4x Force of Will, 3x Mana Drain

If you don't have access to Misdirection (which actually seems pretty tradeable, if most of the players in your area play Legacy), I guess I would recommend adding an additional bounce spell (depending on your metagame, but Hurkyl's Recall seems reasonable) and an additional Ponder or counterspell.

Truth be told, you're right in saying that some aspects of the deck are suboptimal at this point.  Terramorphic Expanses are unfortunately bad, but they'll work, and running 4 Seat of the Synod doesn't compare to running full jewelry.  However, this does seem like a good place to start building.  If the time comes that you manage a playset of FoW, you can proxy up the additional Mana Drain and start replacing some of the weaker cards.  It also gives you the advantage of playing cards you'll use in the future.

Good luck with everything.  If you do take this to a tournament, I'm curious to hear how it plays.

[Ulthrion]

First and foremost, I don't think you want to pursue the black splash.  Honestly, the deck isn't designed to abuse Will in the least, so you're considering the splash for two (admittedly solid) tutors.  I would personally exclude black for more resiliency in blue.  I don't recall you mentioning whether Misdirections are available to you, but if you have them, I think they would be a strong inclusion.

As I said before, I'm not quite sure about the black splash, and I am still not. If I leave out the black splash, the list would probably end up something like below. If there are any comments on either list, or arguments to chose one or the other, I would like to hear it obviously. Otherwise I'll proceed with collecting the missing cards and just test out whether the black splash works out or not, as there is no real difference in the cards I need to get and what to proxy (and trading for a vampiric tutor and not using it immediately is not that big of a loss).

On a side note, one of the reasons I still like will is because I play a very casual vintage-legal platinum control deck at the moment which also uses black, and yawgmoth's will has been very powerful in that deck. Then again, it also runs 3 chromatic star, 4 dimir signets and 4 dark rituals, as well as a single Tendrils for a possible combo finish, so there is much more support for it. Obviously, this is not a tournament worthy deck (like I said, purely casual, non-proxy), but even wills that recur an ancestral and brainstorm can sculpt hands that are amazing.

Furthermore, I strongly question your inclusion of Strip Mine in this deck.  It is your only mana denial element, and you don't really have anything explosive enough to exploit the tempo advantage it creates.  Without some added support for either of Strip Mine's strengths, it doesn't really make sense.  I would replace it with a singleton Tolaria West.  The obvious disadvantages of coming into play tapped (big) and being non-basic (still relevant) seem minimal given some of the advantages you could get out of it.  More often than not, it seems like it's going to be used to transmute, so coming into play tapped doesn't matter.  Also, it can find 8 of your 10 artifacts, functionally increasing your Tinker count, and it also acts as a second Tolarian Academy or Academy Ruins.  Finally, it's another shuffle effect for your Brainstorms.  Thanks to the Merchant Scrolls and Exapanses, it seems like you're close to full functionality of Brainstorm.

I will explain my inclusion for strip mine further below.

On to the list:

Deck: Budget Platinum
Mana (24):
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire                      (1x proxy)
1 Black Lotus                         (1x proxy)
1 Mana Vault                         (1x proxy)
1 Mana Crypt                         (1x proxy)
1 Lotus Petal
1 Strip Mine
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Seat of the Synod
7 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Academy Ruins

Creatures/Win (3):
3 Platinum Angel                    (2x proxy)

Protection (14):
4 Force of Will                        (4x proxy)
4 Pact of Negation
3 Mana Drain                          (3x proxy)
1 Echoing Truth                     (1x proxy)
2 Metagame Counters

Tutor (7):
4 Merchant Scroll                    (3x proxy)
1 Mystical Tutor                      (1x proxy)
1 Tinker
1 Tolaria West

Draw (12):
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Thirst for Knowledge           (4x proxy)
1 Fact or Fiction                     (1x proxy)
2 Ponder                              (1x proxy)
4 Brainstorm

Utility (2):


Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
3 ???
4 ???
4 ???

1 Lotus Petal: I left in lotus petal to increase the artifact count as well as increase the chances of a first turn mana drain/metagame counter.

Strip Mine/ Tolaria West: For now, I left in Strip Mine, and added a Tolaria West which can search pact, strip mine etc. Although transmuting for a strip mine to waste an early library of alexandria is probably too slow, I think it's nice to have the option. On the other hand, it could be a blue source (if I switched it out for an island), so I guess testing will find out whether I need the stability more than the option to take out a potentially dangerous land. Note that Strip Mine is not here to create a tempo advantage (zimmerbloke is right in mentioning that this deck is not equipped to take any advantage of it), it is mainly there to have an out against a permanent type that the deck would otherwise not be able to deal with. Library of Alexandria is a serious problem for this deck, as it allows other decks to swamp this deck and eventually take out the angel. This is even true in the late game, as the angel itself is not a terribly fast clock. In a way you could see this as a reverse Library of Alexandria. I don't have the proxy space at the moment to add a library myself, so I can't counter it that way. In this way, I can.
If it proves to be troublesome, I'll switch it out for an Island, and if it's too slow/useless, I might chance it to a second Tolaria West.
One note, I added Tolaria West as a tutor rather than a mana source. This is because I mainly see it as a tutor, and not so much as a mana source. Should this prove to be too much in the way of lands, then it'll replace an island, and this spot will become an additional bounce of sorts.

Metagame Counters: Increasing the counter-count to 13 seems like a decent idea as normal platinum control has 12 usually with the additional mana drain. The choices here are many. The ones that I was thinking about where:
Nix: The cheapest of the bunch, and counters important spells like Force, Pact, Misdirection, Therapy, Chalice@0, and possibly Lotus.
Spell Snare: Like nix a cheap counter, and one that targets another set of important spells, like Flash, Tarmogoyf, Merchant Scroll (although I think it's questionable whether this is a good play), Dryad, Sphere, etc. It seems a little more powerful than Nix, hitting more important spells, but also a little less versatile.
Mana Leak: This one seems like a catch-all. It's novelty wears off during the late game, but then the pacts come into play. It works against most of the field I guess, but never truely shines.
Shadow of Doubt: I have a soft spot for this one, and it cycles. It's also the hardest on the mana and somewhat situational. It will probably not be this one, but given a tutor-heavy meta, it is something to consider.
Counterspell: Pretty Basic, and more powerful than mana leak, but harder on the mana (like Shadow of Doubt). Unlike Shadow of Doubt though, it's not situational and can't create card advantage.
Misdirection: Also to comment on zimmerbloke's response, I honestly haven't a clue to their availability. I don't have them yet, I have seen them around occasionally (although not much), but don't know how difficult it will get to trade for one of these.

As it stands, I'm leaning towards one of the 1 mana counters (spell snare / nix) for mana reasons obviously. Misdirection could also take these spot depending on whether I can get a hold of them.

Thanks for the replies, and if I get some good testing/playing with this deck done, I'll be sure to let you know.

[Morphling420]

Scrap this deck its not good at all. As a prominant vintage player I will tell you the best deck to play on a budget is one of 2 options: Mono Red Goblins or TMWA both these decks are optimal in an unknown enviroment. In addition they are both very cheap to put together. Blue is probly the hardest color to play on a budget unless you play fish and even this deck can be expensive with duals and such. Please listen to this or you will be disappointed with the results of your mono blue deck. In my opinion Goblins is the way to go. Also magus of the moon is a cheap and effective way to disregard players high costing duals and in some case will seal up the game first turn. Goblins are extremely consistant and REBs and Pyroblasts are amazing in the type 1 enviroment. Look at Dave Fienstiens tournament results here on the mana drain there is a goblin deck you should take a look at.

[twault]

Unfortunately, I have to refer you to T-Hawk's Budget Deck Principal #1: "blue on a budget don't cut it".

4 x Force of Will = $125+

This is your starting point, and it's an absolute must.

My advice to you is to save up and buy what you need in blocks. 4 x Force of Will, 4 x Underground Sea, 4 x Fetchland, etc.

Once you buy your "Vintage Staples" you can start saving up for those Power 9s. Look at it this way, by getting your FOWs, Duals, and Fetches you can almost play any deck in the format. It's a hefty investment, but once you get the "staples" of Vintage, you'll only need to pick up a a few cards here and there in new sets. In a 15-proxy environment, you might never have to buy a single card over $100 (unless the deck runs p9, 4x Bazaar, 4x Mana Drain, and 4x Workshop).

In the meantime, play something with a low proxy count in your tournaments. As stated previously, Goblins, TMWA, Ichorid are all good for budget.

I did it the hard way, getting piece by piece on a very tight budget with 2 kids. I now have just about every major Vintage card. I have almost completed playsets of Duals & Fetches, a playset of Force of Wills, and I own 2 Moxes. Eventually, I will have a playset of Mana Drains and the rest of the p9. If you don't want to go into debt, it's going to take time. Play something competitive, but cheap.

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

usually the global vintage meta game is running blue, most people will tell you about 80% of the list out there run blue. Because of the I'd advise against running a non blue deck,such as goblins and tmwa, simply because building a blue based deck will cause you to own more vintage staples and open more list up to you I'm the future. As far as platinum control goes, it a good start. As someone who's played this deck in competitive setting I'd strong encourage 4x scroll, simply because the deck has 1.5 plays. Tinker and the plan b mana drain hard cast. Scroll facilitates both of these. Also, I've seen this list play w/ 2x platz and meloku main. Meloku is strong, I'd at least sb one. As far as the brainstorm thing, it a staple you need it. For the shuffle effect, you can try brainstorm in conjunction with ponder, this should also add consistency to you decks performance and reduce mulliganing/ dead draws late game.

[Ulthrion]

Scrap this deck its not good at all. As a prominant vintage player I will tell you the best deck to play on a budget is one of 2 options: Mono Red Goblins or TMWA both these decks are optimal in an unknown enviroment. In addition they are both very cheap to put together. Blue is probly the hardest color to play on a budget unless you play fish and even this deck can be expensive with duals and such. Please listen to this or you will be disappointed with the results of your mono blue deck. In my opinion Goblins is the way to go. Also magus of the moon is a cheap and effective way to disregard players high costing duals and in some case will seal up the game first turn. Goblins are extremely consistant and REBs and Pyroblasts are amazing in the type 1 enviroment. Look at Dave Fienstiens tournament results here on the mana drain there is a goblin deck you should take a look at.

I am aware that this is not a perfectly performing deck at all. I also know that Goblins and Ichorid with proxies are much stronger budget decks. However, I have already discussed my reasoning for chosing this deck in my previous posts, and I don't find any good reasoning (yet) to pick up another deck. As a recap, the main purpose of this deck is to serve as a starting point to play vintage with, and be a deck that I can gradually expand as I get more vintage staples. Decks like TMWA and Goblins might be better on a budget, but they don't really allow for easy integration of newly acquired vintage staples.

Unfortunately, I have to refer you to T-Hawk's Budget Deck Principal #1: "blue on a budget don't cut it".

4 x Force of Will = $125+

This is your starting point, and it's an absolute must.

My advice to you is to save up and buy what you need in blocks. 4 x Force of Will, 4 x Underground Sea, 4 x Fetchland, etc.

Once you buy your "Vintage Staples" you can start saving up for those Power 9s. Look at it this way, by getting your FOWs, Duals, and Fetches you can almost play any deck in the format. It's a hefty investment, but once you get the "staples" of Vintage, you'll only need to pick up a a few cards here and there in new sets. In a 15-proxy environment, you might never have to buy a single card over $100 (unless the deck runs p9, 4x Bazaar, 4x Mana Drain, and 4x Workshop).

Regarding that first statement, I have to ask: What do you mean with "doesn't cut it"? Do you mean that it will never get a win in and doesn't allow for learning about vintage environment? Or do you mean that it won't win a tournament? If it's the last, then don't worry, because I just want to use it to learn about the environment and gradually expand into a better deck (or transform it altogether, depending on the situation). If it's the first, then I could you give me a pointer to a discussion about this, or give a more detailed explanation.

In the meantime, play something with a low proxy count in your tournaments. As stated previously, Goblins, TMWA, Ichorid are all good for budget.

I did it the hard way, getting piece by piece on a very tight budget with 2 kids. I now have just about every major Vintage card. I have almost completed playsets of Duals & Fetches, a playset of Force of Wills, and I own 2 Moxes. Eventually, I will have a playset of Mana Drains and the rest of the p9. If you don't want to go into debt, it's going to take time. Play something competitive, but cheap.

So what you say is that you'd advise against getting into vintage with a deck that you can expand over time, but instead pour resources into a completely different budget deck and then start working on something I want to play. The problem with that, as I see it, is that I'd probably have to spend as much time and money getting a budget goblin deck together as I need for the lists I presented above. I can't use goblins to expand my vintage collection (except for expanding into TMWA variants). Also, part of what I need is playing skill and vintage gaming knowledge, and while I can get that using a goblins deck, I think that the skills required to play a variant of the above are more in line with the skills I need for my eventual vintage deck(s) (Blue being my favourite color in magic).

@h3x: Thanks for the support, I'm going to think about Meloku but as I have no sideboard yet, I can always play with that in the (virtual) sideboard for the moment. She seems like an interesting and powerful choice, but what spot would she take? 2 Platinums seems a little low for a deck that already compromises in efficiency (due to terramorphics etc.). Also, I don't yet have a good understanding about how singletons without dedicated tutors to search it affect a deck like this.

Finally as a general question: With Forces being the first addition I want to make for vintage, which 4 new proxies should I think about? the 4th mana drain seems obvious, but after that? Fetches seem like the most stable choice, but a pair of moxen and a time walk is also appealing. What would you guys advice?

[Anusien]

Sensei's Divining Top is like $5.  Don't bother to proxy it.
Ditto on Mana Vault, but I'm not sure how good it is.
Mana Crypt seems somewhat weak for you.

I'd cut the Vault and the Crypt for real lands, and run a real Top.  This lets you get in the 4th Mana Drain and fit in something like Library of Alexandria.

Honestly though, I think people have a hard time thinking that you're serious about this if you're not willing to buy the cheap commons and uncommons like Ponder and Merchant Scroll; stuff that is an auto-include in many top-level decks.

[Everrid1234]

I think adding black could really help. Check my list in this forum!
Maybe some Standstills? Just as a thought. Mystic Remora? Since you don't do anything but countering the first turns or tutoring for Tinker or Draw.

[twault]

Scrap this deck its not good at all. As a prominant vintage player I will tell you the best deck to play on a budget is one of 2 options: Mono Red Goblins or TMWA both these decks are optimal in an unknown enviroment. In addition they are both very cheap to put together. Blue is probly the hardest color to play on a budget unless you play fish and even this deck can be expensive with duals and such. Please listen to this or you will be disappointed with the results of your mono blue deck. In my opinion Goblins is the way to go. Also magus of the moon is a cheap and effective way to disregard players high costing duals and in some case will seal up the game first turn. Goblins are extremely consistant and REBs and Pyroblasts are amazing in the type 1 enviroment. Look at Dave Fienstiens tournament results here on the mana drain there is a goblin deck you should take a look at.

I am aware that this is not a perfectly performing deck at all. I also know that Goblins and Ichorid with proxies are much stronger budget decks. However, I have already discussed my reasoning for chosing this deck in my previous posts, and I don't find any good reasoning (yet) to pick up another deck. As a recap, the main purpose of this deck is to serve as a starting point to play vintage with, and be a deck that I can gradually expand as I get more vintage staples. Decks like TMWA and Goblins might be better on a budget, but they don't really allow for easy integration of newly acquired vintage staples.

Unfortunately, I have to refer you to T-Hawk's Budget Deck Principal #1: "blue on a budget don't cut it".

4 x Force of Will = $125+

This is your starting point, and it's an absolute must.

My advice to you is to save up and buy what you need in blocks. 4 x Force of Will, 4 x Underground Sea, 4 x Fetchland, etc.

Once you buy your "Vintage Staples" you can start saving up for those Power 9s. Look at it this way, by getting your FOWs, Duals, and Fetches you can almost play any deck in the format. It's a hefty investment, but once you get the "staples" of Vintage, you'll only need to pick up a a few cards here and there in new sets. In a 15-proxy environment, you might never have to buy a single card over $100 (unless the deck runs p9, 4x Bazaar, 4x Mana Drain, and 4x Workshop).

Regarding that first statement, I have to ask: What do you mean with "doesn't cut it"? Do you mean that it will never get a win in and doesn't allow for learning about vintage environment? Or do you mean that it won't win a tournament? If it's the last, then don't worry, because I just want to use it to learn about the environment and gradually expand into a better deck (or transform it altogether, depending on the situation). If it's the first, then I could you give me a pointer to a discussion about this, or give a more detailed explanation.

Mostly the latter, that it probably won't do well in a tournament setting. However, it does kind of restrict your ability to learn about the format, mainly because, you aren't using the optimal cards for your deck and getting the "full effect." I mean, fetchlands can pull off some amazing tricks when you have the proper synergy with the optimal decklist. Even if you play Vintage casually, you should play with the mindset that you want to compete with the top decks.

In the meantime, play something with a low proxy count in your tournaments. As stated previously, Goblins, TMWA, Ichorid are all good for budget.

I did it the hard way, getting piece by piece on a very tight budget with 2 kids. I now have just about every major Vintage card. I have almost completed playsets of Duals & Fetches, a playset of Force of Wills, and I own 2 Moxes. Eventually, I will have a playset of Mana Drains and the rest of the p9. If you don't want to go into debt, it's going to take time. Play something competitive, but cheap.

So what you say is that you'd advise against getting into vintage with a deck that you can expand over time, but instead pour resources into a completely different budget deck and then start working on something I want to play. The problem with that, as I see it, is that I'd probably have to spend as much time and money getting a budget goblin deck together as I need for the lists I presented above. I can't use goblins to expand my vintage collection (except for expanding into TMWA variants). Also, part of what I need is playing skill and vintage gaming knowledge, and while I can get that using a goblins deck, I think that the skills required to play a variant of the above are more in line with the skills I need for my eventual vintage deck(s) (Blue being my favourite color in magic).

Ok, I understand completely on what you are saying, but it would be sorta unproductive to put all of your time and energy into a deck that you can't even play correctly now, due to not having all the cards you need. Plus, it sounds like it may take some time before you'll even be able to get all the basic stuff that most blue-based decks need, let alone power. Platinum Control isn't a top-tier deck, and it may not even be viable 6 months from now.

The Vintage format does change over time. It's good to have the staples regardless of what deck you play, so that you can build other decks down the road. Learning how to play other decks also helps make you understand the game better. You'll start to pick up on your own mistakes and learn strengths & weaknesses of other decks. If there's one thing I learned from playing underpowered and suboptimal decks....you will learn how to lose.

I really just threw out some decks that I knew you could build cheap (under $200 with 10 proxy). Mainly because you are faced with this decision: Play an underpowered, sub-optimal deck and spend years building it, or play a deck that can fire on all cylinders (with proxies) and potentially do well in a tournament setting. This is important, because you can win power or cash to buy the expensive stuff and complete your "pet" deck by playing in tournaments.

However, after looking over some lists, maybe these decks might be better suited to you: Flash, Fish, and Landstill. Here are 3 more decks that can be built under $100 (with proxies for the expensive stuff). Plus, you won't have to invest a lot into cards that you don't need for your pet deck.
@h3x: Thanks for the support, I'm going to think about Meloku but as I have no sideboard yet, I can always play with that in the (virtual) sideboard for the moment. She seems like an interesting and powerful choice, but what spot would she take? 2 Platinums seems a little low for a deck that already compromises in efficiency (due to terramorphics etc.). Also, I don't yet have a good understanding about how singletons without dedicated tutors to search it affect a deck like this.

Finally as a general question: With Forces being the first addition I want to make for vintage, which 4 new proxies should I think about? the 4th mana drain seems obvious, but after that? Fetches seem like the most stable choice, but a pair of moxen and a time walk is also appealing. What would you guys advice?

You definitely need these at some point, and either way, I don't think you can go wrong: Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, Moxen

[Ulthrion]

Sensei's Divining Top is like $5.  Don't bother to proxy it.
Ditto on Mana Vault, but I'm not sure how good it is.
Mana Crypt seems somewhat weak for you.

Honestly though, I think people have a hard time thinking that you're serious about this if you're not willing to buy the cheap commons and uncommons like Ponder and Merchant Scroll; stuff that is an auto-include in many top-level decks.

Although I appreciate your interest in trying to help in this thread, and maybe I wasn't clear enough in my post, but I just marked all the cards that I currently don't own in these lists. Using the word proxy might not have been the best choice, but I stated that this build is aiming at a 10 proxy environment, because the list has over 30 proxies listed, I assumed that it was clear that I was listing the cards that I would be getting for this deck and for the future. This is especially in regard to your last comment, because I do intent to get those cheaper/more available cards, I was just organizing the cards that I needed to get. So with that said, I won't bother proxying a Top, if only because it isn't in the list anymore.

I'd cut the Vault and the Crypt for real lands, and run a real Top.  This lets you get in the 4th Mana Drain and fit in something like Library of Alexandria.

First of all, I am a little confused. I didn't list a deck with both Top and drains in them, so are you suggesting to add a top to the deck, or were you commenting on the first list I presented?
Eiether way, I thought that both (Crypt / Vault) were good choices to get either a hardcasted platinum, or an early thirst for Knowledge / Fact or Fiction. What you are saying is that a 4th drain will be a better choice than a crypt? I understand that Drain is powerful, but early mana also seems crucial to a slow deck like this. Also, as explained above, removing a vault does not free up a proxy space, so Library is still out in this case, even if I do play an Island over the vault.

I think adding black could really help. Check my list in this forum!
Maybe some Standstills? Just as a thought. Mystic Remora? Since you don't do anything but countering the first turns or tutoring for Tinker or Draw.

I have seen the list, and from the looks of it, you have chosen to let the power of Pact of Negation go for more black disruption with Duress and Thoughtseize. Although it looks promising, I don't think that same approach will work here at the moment, because I'm using Terramorphics instead of fetches, which means that a turn 1 Duress will be next to impossible to get on a regular basis without cutting deep into the blue sources.
Also, Standstill seems like a potentially dangerous card in that it can easily be dead if I don't get it down first turn (which might be hard without full power). If my opponent has some sort of board position then standstill will be a dead card.
Mystic Remora seems like a good draw engine of sorts. My experience with Vintage is not good enough to know what this can do for the deck, as it only triggers on succesfully cast spells. This means that it punishes setup spells, which should be all around, but against something like Staxx, especially aggro variants, it seems to only trigger on cards you want to counter anyway (spheres etc.). But it does seem like a very potent card, and I'll be sure to test it once I get more feeling for the deck.


@twault: I understand what you are saying, but the problem as I see it is that at the very least, this will cause me to invest in future playable cards, which is not the case with goblins etc. Also, I don't think it can be said with certainty that any of the budget alternatives are playable in 6 months. From what I gather here, the state of vintage is changing quite rapidly.
With repsect to winning power in tournaments, I don't think I should get any hopes up of winning them anytime soon. In fact I hope that by the time my skills with vintage are on any competitive level, I'll already be in possession of more vintage staples to make a better deck. You are right, however, that my chances of wining are better with a dedicated budget deck, but winning, at the moment, is not the main priority.

I don't have the intention to play with deck as my final one, I just thought it would be a nice place to start while collecting staples. Flash doesn't seem like I would really enjoy playing it, so I sort of ruled that out before beginnig. I have thought about Fish, but I don't know if the manabase lends itself to my limitations. Terramorphics can be seriously limiting, but being unable to get duals with them in a multi-colored deck is too much of a stress I think. In addition, I'll be limited to 4 "fetches", being 4 terramorphic expanses. It does sound like an interesting deck to play, and with great options for variantions. I might need to look at that one more seriously. As for landstill, I don't really know much about that deck at all, apart from the basics (landstill, manlands). I don't know about the playing style, the variantions and the other staples for that deck, so I'll have to (and will) search out a thread about that topic.

Thanks again for the replies. Lots of things still to do.

[kalithrian]

Mystic Remora has an errata, and I feel it would be strong in vintage right now, especially for a mono-blue control deck:

"Cumulative upkeep 1 Mana
Whenever an opponent plays a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays 4 Mana."

The most interesting detail of this card is that you draw first, then choose whether or not you want the spell to resolve. At worst, I feel it deserves some sideboard space, especially for a budgeted deck that runs so many free counters. From testing it in Mono-blue Platinum control, I found the cumulative upkeep can mock topdeckery. And in the black variants, dark confidant is strictly better (although possibly outside of budget, especially in a legacy area).

From discussion, it sounded as though you owned duress (a comment you made about a casual game where you played 3x duress against your opponent's turn 4 long combo). Duress is a neat way to protect your angel from wipe away, and in a blue control deck it is probably not your optimal turn 1/2 in a control mirror. If you opt for a black version, I would pack 1-2 duress in the main in place of your 13/14th counters.

As for some sideboarding options, you need a way to deal with goblin welders. They tend to run rampant in many a metagame. My suggestion is either pithing needles or threads of disloyalty, but I'd imagine damping matrix could complement your deck as well. With extended season still in bloom, it may be difficult to get a hold of needles and threads, or even sowers of temptation for that matter. Blue elemental blast kills welders and Magus, both of which seem to pose slight problems for your deck. They are cheap to boot! A budgeted sideboard might looks something like this:

4 Leyline of the Void
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Dominate
4 Disrupt

Leyline: This should be a very obvious solution to dredge, and it should also be sufficient given the large quantity of blue permission and the fact that platinum angel is very good in this matchup.

Blue Elemental Blast: This kills goblin welder. It also kills magus of the moon. It also deals with red elemental blast, which these decks will happily bring in against you. It's cheap.

Dominate: Another cheap solution to not only goblin welder, but other decks in the metagame as well. Steal a dryad. Steal a tarmogoyf. Draining into this guy isn't always a bad idea. You can scroll for this too.

Disrupt: I feel this requires more explanation. I personally think that disrupt is like 1092321 times better than ponder. Maybe I'm a fool for thinking this, but why draw a card when you can counter a spell and draw a card? Better yet, they may even hang onto an end-step tutor for an extra turn because they had to pay 1 to keep their merchant scroll on turn 1/2. It doesn't have the power of selection that ponder does, and it is incomparable to brainstorm's undeniable strength in the format; however, it has won me many games, shining best against Flash and GAT. It is completely dead against almost any other matchup though, so this is why i dedicate it to the sideboard. It also gives you an excuse to keep that revolting strip mine in your control deck. *hates missing land drops*

[twault]

I've been in your shoes before, so I commend you for taking the "hard" way into Vintage. It took 6 years for me to build a competitive deck. These guys on here are very helpful, so take all the advice that you can get.