Cerebral Assassin...........For the new metagame

[Imsomniac101]

Alright, so the DCI drops a nuke on the Vintage community. No biggie. Just bust out the killer weed.........or something that sounds like a serious retarding substance.

The metagame is in tremendous state of flux at the moment. I heard that Steve had postulated that Hulk Smash was gonna take up GAT's mantle as the blue combo deck. People are speculating that Shops, Ichorid are gonna be hot in the new format, now that blue combo is neutered. However, there remains a large amount of speculative decks that have yet to make they're presence known.

However, this is Vintage, and people are bound to play Dual Lands. That and with Menendian's Hulk list, I feel that it may catch on enough that 7/10 may be good again.

Here's a list for those who haven't played long enough to know what CA is.

NB that this is just a list to start discussion. It is not the end all or be all of CA lists, obviously. And it would do no good to nit pick over card choices. Make meta changes as you see fit. However, the main objective of this thread is to give people yet another option to take into the field and also to discuss it's viability in this wide open field.

//NAME: CA 4 T1.1
        3 Goblin Welder
        4 Bazaar of Baghdad
        2 Necromancy
        4 Animate Dead
        3 Careful Study
        3 Thirst for Knowledge
        4 Force of Will
        4 Sundering Titan
        1 Ancestral Recall
        1 Time Walk
        1 Tinker
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Vampiric Tutor
        2 Intuition
        1 Chain of Vapor
        1 Echoing Truth
        1 Rushing River
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mana Crypt
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Mana Vault
        1 Tolarian Academy
        2 Forbidden Orchard
        3 Underground River
        4 Gemstone Mine
        4 City of Brass
SB:  4 Oath of Druids
SB:  4 Leyline of the Void
SB:  1 Triskelion
SB:  3 Ancient Grudge
SB:  3 Sacred Ground

[Purple Hat]

I'd add the dragon combo in here and go to 4 intuitions because it's the best card in the deck.  there are several good dragon kills that also make respectable reanimate targets.  shivan hellkite, oona and sliver queen would all work.  one of the strengths to this deck is that if you find an opening you can easily transition from reanimator mode to combo mode.

[akabane]

I also tried to build a good CA deck, i personally think that the best "tools" in a CA deck are
3+ titans
1 platz

1 POSSESSED PORTAL, that's a fairly BROKEN card, but adding that would change a little your list, cause we must add
3+ squee
+1/2 intuitons
because you must have access SOON to all the stuff you need.

For draw i'd use
2 Careful study
3 TfK
2 Deep Analysis
1 Ancestral of course

And i'd cut 2 necromancys and run only 4 animate dead, with welder's i always think that's enough.
And i can't figure out why you don't use Balance, in a deck like that it's superior, it happens that you remain with low cards in hand and use it to nuke opponent's hand, or lands, or creatures...
I also use, as tools, 1 life from the loam and 1 darkblast. (VS artifact lftl is great and so is darkblast vs welders and confidants)

[Outlaw]

id run reanimates and a petal for more turn 1 titans and quicker animates

[chrisn]

I've been playing CA for the last 2 years on MWS for fun from time to time. I never took it to a tournament but I came close a few times. I kept tweaking it over the years and here's what I got now:

// Mana
    4  City of Brass
    1  Seat of the Synod
    1  Tarnished Citadel
    1  Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1  Tolarian Academy
    1  Undiscovered Paradise
    4  Gemstone Mine
    1  Mox Jet
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Mox Pearl
    1  Black Lotus
    1  Mox Emerald
    1  Mana Crypt
    1  Sol Ring
    1  Mana Vault

// Engine
    4  Bazaar of Baghdad
    2  Squee, Goblin Nabob
    1  Life from the Loam

// Tutors
    1  Vampiric Tutor
    1  Entomb
    1  Demonic Tutor
    4  Intuition

// Reanimate
    4  Goblin Welder
    4  Animate Dead


// Targets
    2  Sundering Titan
    1  Platinum Angel
    1  Duplicant
    1  Triskelion
    1  Possessed Portal

// Protection
    4  Duress

// Broken
    1  Tinker
    1  Balance
    1  Regrowth
    1  Time Walk
    1  Ancestral Recall
    1  Yawgmoth's Will



/// Sideboard
SB: 1  Jester's Cap
SB: 3  Ray of Revelation
SB: 1  Darkblast
SB: 3  Pithing Needle
SB: 4  Ancient Grudge
SB: 3  Pyroclasm


I've chosen to go with 5 colors. Balance, Life from the Loam and the sideboard options are worth the hassle of the 5c lands. Urborg is a nice mana fixer and you allways get an extra target with Titan. You can also get rid of nonbasic lands too (Shop, Bazaar, LOA even something annoying like Maze of Ith). Undiscovered Paradise and Tarnished Citadel are up for debat but I havent found anything better and Paradise's drawback can give you another discard option for Bazaar.

I've cut down from 4 Squee's to 2. The only reason I still use 2 is for a hard lock with Possesed Portal. Squee's are the first cards that get sided out though.

Every CA deck should run 4 Intuitions and LFTL gives you some interesting Intuition piles in this version.

The dragon combo (Eternal Witness + AR/Trike kill) has been going in and out of the deck (and sideboard). I've got a love/hate relationship with it Sometimes it gives me the edge against fast combo decks but other times it's just a dead draw.

The worst matchups are fast combo and Oath IMO. I'm hoping it makes a return to the metagame, the deck is too much fun (except for the mirror, heh)

[Imsomniac101]

I'd add the dragon combo in here and go to 4 intuitions because it's the best card in the deck.  there are several good dragon kills that also make respectable reanimate targets.  shivan hellkite, oona and sliver queen would all work.  one of the strengths to this deck is that if you find an opening you can easily transition from reanimator mode to combo mode.

Yeah, I had the Dragons in there for a while, but after tanking for a bit, came to the realization that Leyline's and graveyard hate are gonna be everywhere. Hence the Oaths in the board instead. I actually had the Oaths Maindecked, but had to make room for more general cards like bounce.

I also tried to build a good CA deck, i personally think that the best "tools" in a CA deck are
3+ titans
1 platz

1 POSSESSED PORTAL, that's a fairly BROKEN card, but adding that would change a little your list, cause we must add
3+ squee
+1/2 intuitons
because you must have access SOON to all the stuff you need.

For draw i'd use
2 Careful study
3 TfK
2 Deep Analysis
1 Ancestral of course

And i'd cut 2 necromancys and run only 4 animate dead, with welder's i always think that's enough.
And i can't figure out why you don't use Balance, in a deck like that it's superior, it happens that you remain with low cards in hand and use it to nuke opponent's hand, or lands, or creatures...
I also use, as tools, 1 life from the loam and 1 darkblast. (VS artifact lftl is great and so is darkblast vs welders and confidants)

OMG. I totally forgot about Balance. Easy addition.

Cut the Possessed Portal, because it is reliant on Squee. And now that Brainstorm is gone, making your opponent run Bstorm  into Portal ( one of the best plays btw) is gone. Squee is crap, as it's just a draw engine. You don't want a draw engine that's reliant on the graveyard. It's too slow anyway.

I was actually running Triskelion main instead of the 4th Titan, but decided to go for consistency. I can definitely see the need for it though.

Definitely look into the dredge cards.

id run reanimates and a petal for more turn 1 titans and quicker animates

Reanimates are terrible, as they cause you to lose too much life. Besides, Turn 2 is the optimal time to bring the Titan into play, as that's when it's Sundering effect is most powerful.



Where's the discussion on its viability in the new metagame???

[RJ]

If you are running 4 Titan, you should definitely run flash.  Overall, nice list although the 3 welders is sort of odd.

[chrisn]

Cut the Possessed Portal, because it is reliant on Squee. And now that Brainstorm is gone, making your opponent run Bstorm  into Portal ( one of the best plays btw) is gone. Squee is crap, as it's just a draw engine. You don't want a draw engine that's reliant on the graveyard. It's too slow anyway.

You dont need Squee for Possessed Portal, Life from the Loam works just as well (both are replacement effects). It's still a bomb even in a format without 4 brainstorms.

[akabane]

Chrisn, a thing that i notice in your list is that you don't draw at all.
You don't sport the full squee package to draw with bazaar, nor you play Deep Analysis OR Careful Study OR TFK's.
This makes you resilient only on your hopening hand, and i don't think that's a good choice for a deck like CA...
I also see tinker lacking,  i prefer it to an entomb.
Do you remember our endless mirror on mws?

[AngryPheldagrif]

If you're running the Oath transformational board, you NEED a different creature with some sort of evasion. Take this from the guy who's played Oath for years. Otherwise they just throw tokens in front of Titan until the end of time, or even better Oath up something of their own afterwards, something in the 11/11 Indestructible or 4/4 can't lose the game range.

[chrisn]

Chrisn, a thing that i notice in your list is that you don't draw at all.
You don't sport the full squee package to draw with bazaar, nor you play Deep Analysis OR Careful Study OR TFK's.
This makes you resilient only on your hopening hand, and i don't think that's a good choice for a deck like CA...
I also see tinker lacking,  i prefer it to an entomb.
Do you remember our endless mirror on mws?

I'm definitely playing Tinker, I guess you missed it
About drawing, you're right. I've tried alot of versions and all of the cards you named but this suited me best. I feel tutors are better than drawing in CA. Intuition is the key card to resolve and you have so many options (thanks to Life from to Loam). I would rather tutor for the card that I'm missing than hoping to find it with Thirst.

Do you remember our endless mirror on mws?

Yeah that game took way too long

[Imsomniac101]

If you're running the Oath transformational board, you NEED a different creature with some sort of evasion. Take this from the guy who's played Oath for years. Otherwise they just throw tokens in front of Titan until the end of time, or even better Oath up something of their own afterwards, something in the 11/11 Indestructible or 4/4 can't lose the game range.

Yes. This is a recurring problem. One which I've been trying to fix. There are several options.

 - increase the number of Echoing Truths. This is also good in general against the now creature heavy meta.
 - add Berserk??? I've thought about this one for a while, and the more I like this idea. You can really surprise opponents by Berserking their Welder/Confidant in the RedZone, as well.
 - add Trike/ some other removal. This seems to be the clunky option. But I guess more space efficient than the Berserk option.
 - I've also thought about adding Cunning Wishes. But I never liked Wishes........


I've played around tons with Intuition. You never wanna see two in your hand, and you pretty much only want to see Intuition when you can't find Titans. I think upping the number to three is solid if you're playing the Dragon Alt. kill. Otherwise, TfK is good, as it allows you to fill your hand.

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

[mutedequilibrium]

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

Seems like it's got a rough time vs Ichorid, considering most builds run 4 LotV and 4 Powders, main. Also, despite Welder and Bazaar, it seems you also have a pretty rough time vs Stax too. This list isn't TOO different than older and more known builds of CA in the past. I never lost to CA when I was playing 5C Stax, in those days. Seems even worse for CA now, considering that Uba Stax is probably the best build post restrictions and Uba Stax always owned 5C Stax. I think the same reasons would apply to CA, not to mention Uba Mask removing your big guys from the game and preventing them from getting into the grave without the use of your tutors. The Workshop Aggro matchup also seems interesting, but in Shop Aggros favour due to Thorn.

This deck should roll over Fish, Goblins, Bomberman, and Slaver.

I like Chrisn's idea for Life of the Loam, though. Portal is insane and I've always wanted to run it, effectively, in Stax. It's always been THE Cerebral Assassin card, and I think that def belongs.

Anyone who's preparing for the upcoming metagame should ask themselves: Does this deck beat Shops? Does this deck beat Ichorid? Does this deck beat Rituals? If it can answer 2/3 of those as 'yes,' then that's a good start. I'd say adding the Dragon combo should be the first change. Dragon was always a huge pain in the ass for Stax. If you have infinite mana, it doesn't matter if Uba Mask is out cause you can just cast everything. Also, it's fast enough to win vs Ichorid. Urborg most certainly should be in the deck for animating turn 2. Also makes Oona a viable choice without taking pain from your lands. I'm very interested to see how well this could do now, as I've always loved the idea of the deck.

[islanderboi10]

I, too, have always been a fan of the deck.

I believe that Portal does belong in the deck.  It is insane.
Also, I have been playing 5c Staxx in the last past two years as well.  If the dragon combo is maindecked, it is a pain to come across.  I say run it.  It is also great because you can race some other decks.

I think intuition should at least be a three-of.

[nataz]

Oh man, this is/was my fav deck of all time. It was pretty much insane to play. Just for reference, and so we all don't have to rehash old ideas, people should at least be familar with the deck and its history. Some interesting stuff can be pulled out of the following threads.

The original CA thread started by EastMan. For a long time it was one of the most viewed threads ever.

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=20135.0


A SCG thread which had a number of intersting ideas on directions for the deck in the old - "new" - meta game. I remember talking about LFTL and DicemanX really pushing the Dragon combo portion of the deck.

http://forums.starcitygames.com/viewtopic.php?t=285176&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=assasin&start=25

I'm pretty sure the deck is better if you focus on Duress and Thoughtseize rather then FOW for its main disruption. Also, don't forget about orims chant in 5-color versions of the deck, as well as simple things like null rod, EE, and Chalice which are all effective tools.

As for the Dragon combo, I say run it, at least until the metagame settles down. At the cost of 2 slots (1 dragon, 1 E-witness/Hellkite) it gives you a combo end game. Remember that if you use E-witness you can use recall to mill your opponents deck, or Time Walk them into oblivion, so a third kill card is not needed. You are runing Time Walk and Recall right?

One of the great things about this shell is that there are many ways to run with it. In the past I've had versions that were turbo-lock portal decks, Dragon decks w/ a small artifact component, and WS aggro decks with combo finishes. The basic thing to remember is that Bazaar is broken, find a was to abuse it.

[chrisn]

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

Anyone who's preparing for the upcoming metagame should ask themselves: Does this deck beat Shops? Does this deck beat Ichorid? Does this deck beat Rituals? If it can answer 2/3 of those as 'yes,' then that's a good start. I'd say adding the Dragon combo should be the first change. Dragon was always a huge pain in the ass for Stax. If you have infinite mana, it doesn't matter if Uba Mask is out cause you can just cast everything. Also, it's fast enough to win vs Ichorid. Urborg most certainly should be in the deck for animating turn 2. Also makes Oona a viable choice without taking pain from your lands. I'm very interested to see how well this could do now, as I've always loved the idea of the deck.

Ichorid depends on their list. If they play the destroy target permanent when comes into play Angel it's nearly impossible, else you can tutor up Platz and win. Leyline is annoying but you can play around it. Chalice of the Void hurts more.
Fast combo is a really bad match-up... Without FOW they can basicly ignore you. I've won very few matches against fast combo. Your best bet is beating them to it with the Dragon kill.
Shop depends on the version. G1 is pretty rough but I like my chances G2 with 3x Needle and 4x Ancient Grudge.

Oath isn't a walk in the park either. You're win condition is playing dudes and their dude (Tyrant) is better than yours. Again the Dragon kill is your best option.

But the deck has a lot of broken cards and enough tutors to find them. It IS capable of broken plays.

[c dizzle]

This is input from a guy who has done limited testing with CA, so take it with a grain of salt:

The strength of CA is that it has a lot of ways to get the job done. From the 7/10 kill, to the random Dragon finish to locking the game with Squee/LftL-Portal, its strength is its diversity. If you start removing the various wins from the deck, you ruin what made it work.

[BreathWeapon]

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

I've been building/piloting CA since the B&R announcement, and I've been running over most of the "format," minus Storm combo. Being able to MD Leyline of the Void and Chalice of the Void is what gives it such an edge, when other decks can't cheat costs with the graveyard or accelerate with the artifacts, getting Sundering Titan and Goblin Welder on the board is just an after thought.

Thirst for Knowledge is a terrible Careful Study, you want a card that either finds Bazaar of Baghdad or Chalice of the Void on turn one or puts Sundering Titan or Oath of Druids on the board on turn two. Worldgorger Dragon and Squee, Goblin Nabob are terrible, post board it's about graveyard hate, so Oath of Druids > Worldgorger Dragon, and Squee, Goblin Nabob is useless with Careful Study and "bricks' Oath of Druids.

SB Ray of Revelation and Darkblast are HUGE, you want to be able to Intuition for either to shut down Oath of Druids and Goblin Welder based decks.

I think you're running too much land, you could get away with 9 mana producing lands easily, or you could just cut lands for Serum Powder.

[Imsomniac101]

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

I've been building/piloting CA since the B&R announcement, and I've been running over most of the "format," minus Storm combo. Being able to MD Leyline of the Void and Chalice of the Void is what gives it such an edge, when other decks can't cheat costs with the graveyard or accelerate with the artifacts, getting Sundering Titan and Goblin Welder on the board is just an after thought.

Thirst for Knowledge is a terrible Careful Study, you want a card that either finds Bazaar of Baghdad or Chalice of the Void on turn one or puts Sundering Titan or Oath of Druids on the board on turn two. Worldgorger Dragon and Squee, Goblin Nabob are terrible, post board it's about graveyard hate, so Oath of Druids > Worldgorger Dragon, and Squee, Goblin Nabob is useless with Careful Study and "bricks' Oath of Druids.

SB Ray of Revelation and Darkblast are HUGE, you want to be able to Intuition for either to shut down Oath of Druids and Goblin Welder based decks.

I think you're running too much land, you could get away with 9 mana producing lands easily, or you could just cut lands for Serum Powder.

Thanks for the awesome comprehensive reply. I had the exact thoughts on Dragon and Squee, so it looks like we should MD it, then board into Leyline/Chalice/Oath in the SB. Naturally, I'll increase the number of Intuitions.

The huge number of land was to support the rather large mana curve, which is weighted more toward 3&2 rather than 2&1.

I was thinking of trying out Read the Runes, just like in the most recent lists of Dragon of old. What do you guys think?

Also, Balance has been rather random for me. It's a bomb sometimes, and other times, I just throw it to Bazaar.

Come to think of it, last time I played you on MWS, you were experimenting with tech that made it's way into those same Dragon lists.
Btw, do you go by the same name on 2+2?

[theLastGnu]

Here's a list with which I've been toying around since the restrictions, any tips/comments would be appreciated:

// Lands
        2 Seat of the Synod
        4 Bazaar of Baghdad
        4 Gemstone Mine
        2 Tarnished Citadel
        2 Underground River
        1 Tolarian Academy
        2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
// Creatures
        1 Platinum Angel
        3 Sundering Titan
        1 Triskelion
        2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
        4 Goblin Welder
// Enchantments
        2 Animate Dead
// Spells
        1 Ancestral Recall
        2 Intuition
        1 Vampiric Tutor
        1 Balance
        3 Careful Study
        1 Demonic Tutor
        2 Exhume
        1 Life from the Loam
        4 Thoughtseize
        1 Time Walk
        1 Tinker
// Artifacts
        2 Chalice of the Void
        1 Lotus Petal
        1 Mana Crypt
        1 Possessed Portal
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Sapphire

[vartemis]

Here's a list with which I've been toying around since the restrictions, any tips/comments would be appreciated:

How about an explanation regarding your abnormal card choices, such as the Synod or the 2 exhumes over animate dead.

j

[BreathWeapon]

What decks will this be weak against? What will it be strong against? Is it a viable contender in today's metagame?

I've been building/piloting CA since the B&R announcement, and I've been running over most of the "format," minus Storm combo. Being able to MD Leyline of the Void and Chalice of the Void is what gives it such an edge, when other decks can't cheat costs with the graveyard or accelerate with the artifacts, getting Sundering Titan and Goblin Welder on the board is just an after thought.

Thirst for Knowledge is a terrible Careful Study, you want a card that either finds Bazaar of Baghdad or Chalice of the Void on turn one or puts Sundering Titan or Oath of Druids on the board on turn two. Worldgorger Dragon and Squee, Goblin Nabob are terrible, post board it's about graveyard hate, so Oath of Druids > Worldgorger Dragon, and Squee, Goblin Nabob is useless with Careful Study and "bricks' Oath of Druids.

SB Ray of Revelation and Darkblast are HUGE, you want to be able to Intuition for either to shut down Oath of Druids and Goblin Welder based decks.

I think you're running too much land, you could get away with 9 mana producing lands easily, or you could just cut lands for Serum Powder.

Thanks for the awesome comprehensive reply. I had the exact thoughts on Dragon and Squee, so it looks like we should MD it, then board into Leyline/Chalice/Oath in the SB. Naturally, I'll increase the number of Intuitions.

The huge number of land was to support the rather large mana curve, which is weighted more toward 3&2 rather than 2&1.

I was thinking of trying out Read the Runes, just like in the most recent lists of Dragon of old. What do you guys think?

Also, Balance has been rather random for me. It's a bomb sometimes, and other times, I just throw it to Bazaar.

Come to think of it, last time I played you on MWS, you were experimenting with tech that made it's way into those same Dragon lists.
Btw, do you go by the same name on 2+2?

Yup, I'm BreathWeapon on 2+2.

Other than Tinker, I haven't found a restricted bomb worth drawing/tutoring for other than Memory Jar, Wheel of Fortune and Windfall, Balance is just too unpredictable.

I'm not advocating using MD Worldgorger Dragon and Squee, Goblin Nabob; I'm advocating not using Wolrdgorger Dragon and Squee, Goblin Nabob altogether. I don't see a point in MDing 2 Dragon/1 Queen for a combo finish when Sundering Titan will do, you have 4 Animate Dead for the Dragon Combo, but you have 4 Animate Dead and 4 Goblin Welders for Sundering Titan, so the Iron Giant should be the central plan.

Read the Runes is mana intensive, at 3cc it's on par with a Careful Study and worse than a Draw 7, and unlike Dragon you don't want to trade your acceleration for card advantage when you rely on it as Goblin Welder food.

One card I've been considering is Living Wish, tutoring for Bazaar of Baghdad, Sundering Titan and Goblin Welder is huge, and tutoring for Tolarian Academy, Forbidden Orchard lets you either start hard casting Deep Analysis and Sundering Titans or activate Oath of Druids. Alternate reanimation targets are useful,Platinum Angel, Triskelion and non-artifact creatures to circumvent Goblin Welder, Enchantment removal is a god send vs Leyline/Planar Void and Wish->RFG flips the bird to Extirpate.

Avoid Exhume, reanimating opposing Goblin Welders = :*(**

Baseline is,

4 Force of Will
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chalice of the Void

1 Tinker

4 Intuition
3 Living Wish
1 Demonic Tutor

4 Deep Analysis
4 Careful Study
1 Ancestral Recall

3 Animate Dead
3 Goblin Welder

3 Sundering Titan

3 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
3 Forbidden Orchard
Artifact Mana

SB
1 Sundering Titan
1 Platinum Angel
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Goblin Welder
1 Enchantment Removal Creature
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Forbidden Orchard
4 Oath of Druids
1 Darkblast

[Imsomniac101]

Oh no, I wasn't advocating Squee at all, just the Dragon kill. I think Living Wish is interesting except that I don't agree with the 4th Bazaar in the SB. Has 4 Deep Analysis been good for you? I'm using no card-advantage engine at all, and it has been semi decent to me.

I think you're right about RtR. I just wanted to try it out, as an extra way to get the Dragon kill condition into the yard if they waste your Bazaar

[BreathWeapon]

Yeah, DA is awesome. T1 Careful Study followed by T2 DA is digging 5 cards deep with + 1 CA, and double Bazaar of Baghdad activation and T2 Deep Analysis is digging 7 cards deep with card parody. As long as you don't walk into Mana Drain, your out pacing the rest of the field in cards seen/drawn.

Living Wish is good because it tutors for Bazaar of Baghdad, and I don't think I'd use Living Wish over Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal if I couldn't tutor for Bazaar of Baghdad. I'm not positive on Living Wish tho', it's a card that helped me a lot in Dragon, and in principle it should be helpful here to, but it's speculative.

-3 Living Wish and -3 Fobidden Orchard for +1 Sundering Titan, +1 Goblin Welder, +1 Bazaar of Baghdad, +1 Tolarian Academy and +1 Animate Dead was the list I was using. Right now I'm debating whether or not MD Leyline of the Void is "correct," over either Serum Powderor Frantic Search, Time Walk, Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal or Wheel of Fortune, Windfall and Memory Jar

It's tough choosing between restricted bombs and disruption, especially free, uncounterable disruption that GGs people so hard.

[theLastGnu]

Sorry if I'm bumping a dead thread, but what's the consensus on whether the dragon kill belongs in this deck? I've been having marginal success in testing against an admittedly abysmally few decks with this list:

// Lands

        4 Bazaar of Baghdad

        3 City of Brass

        4 Gemstone Mine

        1 Shivan Reef

        1 Strip Mine

        1 Underground River

        2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

// Creatures

        1 Platinum Angel

        2 Sundering Titan

        1 Triskelion

        2 Worldgorger Dragon

        1 Oona, Queen of the Fae

        2 Squee, Goblin Nabob

        4 Goblin Welder

// Enchantments

        4 Animate Dead

// Spells

        1 Ancestral Recall

        3 Intuition

        1 Vampiric Tutor

        4 Careful Study

        1 Demonic Tutor

        1 Life from the Loam

        4 Thoughtseize

        1 Time Walk

        1 Tinker

// Artifacts

        1 Lotus Petal

        1 Mana Crypt

        1 Possessed Portal

        1 Sol Ring

        1 Black Lotus

        1 Mox Emerald

        1 Mox Jet

        1 Mox Pearl

        1 Mox Ruby

        1 Mox Sapphire


With a sideboard containing 4 pull from eternity and whatever suits your meta. I think chalice has a place in this deck, but I can't seem to find anything to cut for it.