Please improve a returning player's old deck

[strideref]

Hello All!

I'll do my best to be brief and succinct.

I've been out of magic for some years, but played from Ice Age to roughly stronghold(?). While I mostly remember the deck I was running when I got out, I know it needs help, and would really appreciate some advice. No need to be polite - tear it apart please. You should be able to tell when I stopped playing by the last expansion represented in my deck. I also realize the numbers are off a bit (~63 cards); its because I cant remember exactly how many of which cards I used in the main deck.

LAND
4x Volcanic Island
4x Island
2x Mountain
2x Mishra's Factory
1x Library of Alexandria
1x Tolarian academy
1x Strip mine
1x Wasteland

CREATURES
4x Serendib Efreet

ARTIFACTS
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
1x Mana Crypt
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mox Diamond 

BLUE SPELLS   
3x Arcane denial
3x Force of Will
4x Counter spell
2x Mana Drain
2x Stroke of Genius
2x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Boomerang
1x Time walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Timetwister
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Frantic Search
1x Brainstorm

RED SPELLS   
4x Lightening Bolt
2x Incinerate
2x Red Elemental Blast
2x Fireball
1x Wheel of fortune
1x Fork
? Gorilla Shaman
 
Deck Explanation -- This deck is obviously not set up around some main combo. It seems a lot of decks now are though. Is that a huge problem? I originally put this deck together because I wanted to see if a non-combo type deck could hold up in Type I. All the cards were selected because while they all operate nicely together, the deck is not crippled if any one card type is countered. There are a number of ways to kill, ranging from direct damage, to creature damage, to deck depletion. Also, many of the cards are useful either against the opponent, or on myself (e.g., arcane denial was nice because I could counter a spell with only 1 blue, rather than 2 blue - OR - I could counter my own spells, like a bolt, to draw a bunch of cards myself). I also felt like boomerang was a helpful card to bounce either my opponent's, or my own, permanents - especially if for some reason one got past a counterspell. The Bolts and Incinerates were there mainly for creature control, and the odd ping to the player. I played serendib because he survived bolts and flew, and could drop 1st turn.

Most of the time, the deck won through a large X spell - either my opponent was forced to draw his entire deck, or burned up in a massive fireball. Less often, but sometimes, another permission type deck would try to limit my draw spells, and end up dead to serendib attacks paired with Mishra's Factories.

Again, its been a while, so I'd appreciate anything from detailed advice (I can look up card text if necessary) to general impressions (e.g., this sucks goblin / is decent / Red-blue permission burn died years ago...)

Hopefully with your advice I'll be a worthy opponent soon.

THANKS TO ALL!

[zeus-online]

As an answer to your question about combos being necessary i'd say: No not strictly necessary, but there's definetly a reason everyone plays with them...They allow you "free" wins from time to time, and gives you a shot at winning a loosing battle.

Here's the "main" combo's for Type1 Control decks today:

Painter's servant/Grindstone
Painter's servant - 
Artifact creature - Scarecrow
As Painter's Servant comes into play, choose a color.
All cards that aren't in play, spells, and permanents are the chosen color in addition to their other colors.
1/3

Grindstone - 
Artifact
  Put the top two cards of target player's library into that player's graveyard. If both cards share a color, repeat this process.

Now obv. if painter's servant is in play the entire library will be milled by the grindstone...

Time vault/Voltaic key - This is probably the most popular currently:
Voltaic key - 
  , : Untap target artifact.

Time vault - 
Artifact
Time Vault comes into play tapped.
Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step.
If you would begin your turn while Time Vault is tapped, you may skip that turn instead. If you do, untap Time Vault.
 : Take an extra turn after this one.

Well, again obvious....if you got both in play, you got infinite turns.

Goblin welder/Thirst for knowledge - A bit old by now....but some people still use it
Goblin welder - 
Creature - Goblin
 : Choose target artifact a player controls and target artifact card in that player's graveyard. If both targets are still legal as this ability resolves, that player simultaneously sacrifices the artifact and returns the artifact card to play.
1/1

Thirst for knowledge  -
Instant
Draw three cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard an artifact card.

Do note that thirst is the main draw-engine for almost every Type1 control deck....Now the idea is to discard a strong artifact to the thirst and then weld it in....Usually Mind slaver or sundering titan.

And one last combo, not so popular, but it's decent:
Auriok salvagers/Black lotus
Auriok salvagers - 
Creature - Human soldier
  : Return target artifact card with converted mana cost 1 or less from your graveyard to your hand.

With black lotus, that's infinite mana....The deck is basicly one big combo, with every card contributing...the deck often wins just by beating though.
And here's a link to a thread about the deck... http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37151.0

Here's a good search engine to view cards:
http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/Index.aspx


And now for some criticism...First of, your deck has a very slow and rather small draw-engine...I'd probably switch it out for Intuiton + Accumulated knowledge, Thirst for knowledge or Dark confidant (use the link above to view the cards ) You really do need to draw cards if you're a control deck.
Serendib efreet probably isn't the optimal win-condition right now, Tarmogoyf is probably the best deal you'll find if you want to win with creatures...Otherwise there's Tinker/Darksteel collosus (or inkwell leviathan)...And i'd probably add in Time vault/Voltaic key.

For disruption:
4 Force of will is a must...After that you've got some potentials:
Mana drain
Duress
Thoughtseize
Negate
Mana leak
Rune snag
Chalice of the void
Stifle/Trickbind  (combo's with phyrexian dreadnought....getting a 12/12 Trampler for  or  is a pretty good deal)
Wasteland and strip mine are also an option....I'd use gorilla shaman aswell if you go that route.

I'd like to write more, but i simply don't have the time right now, i'll try to get back to this thread soon though

One last thing i'd like to say is, check out this thread...I think it might suit your style: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37191.0

/Zeus

[Grand Inquisitor]

played from Ice Age to roughly stronghold

Pretty cool, same here.

As for your deck, Zeus does a good job of outlining the current combo win conditions, but there's also a few non-combo paths to victory that are viable right now.

In particular, this list looks rather familiar to some of the cards you list above, but instead of building towards a complicated kill, it uses counters, removal and mana denial to set up a win with man lands.

As far as general suggestions for adjusting after a long absence, I'd say read these boards and the T1 articles on www.starcitygames.com.  So much has changed (but a lot has remained).  Mostly things have gotten a lot faster and card advantage has become less important relative to tempo and card selection.  In my opinion, this is a great time to get back into T1 with a lot of diverse strategies and new decks.

[strideref]

Thanks to both of you. I'll look over these cards and modify the list.

[Roat17]

To me your list looks like an early adaptation of a mix between Mono Blue Control and Landstill. 

What I would personally do with your list is decide on a particular strategy and stick to it.  For example mana denial, spell denial (FoW and counterspell type effects), creature beatdown and take it from there.

If you want to play a permissions control deck, I would look at Ophidian and/or Trinket Mage.  Mana denial will want to use stifles, wastelands, null rods, blood moon to limit an opponents mana.  Beatdown, or creature kill is very ineffecient in these colours, however some combination of the decks can work.  For example using Stifle, Trinket Mages, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Wastelands, Null Rods, a Tool Box of artifacts to fetch with Trinket Mage, and lots of denial could work well.  At the same time, you might find it to be too dilluted.

Decks I would look up are Sullivan Solution (off colour but relevant), Landstill, Bomberman, E.B.A, and Urphidian.  These decks have done well since your dpeature and all are different but similar at the same time.  Hopefully these lists can help inspire your comeback with a competitive deck.

[vassago]

LAND
4x Volcanic Island
4x Island
2x Mountain
2x Mishra's Factory
1x Library of Alexandria
1x Tolarian academy
1x Strip mine
1x Wasteland

CREATURES
4x Serendib Efreet

ARTIFACTS
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
1x Mana Crypt
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mox Diamond 

BLUE SPELLS   
3x Arcane denial
3x Force of Will
4x Counter spell
2x Mana Drain
2x Stroke of Genius
2x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Boomerang
1x Time walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Timetwister
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Frantic Search
1x Brainstorm

RED SPELLS   
4x Lightening Bolt
2x Incinerate
2x Red Elemental Blast
2x Fireball
1x Wheel of fortune
1x Fork
? Gorilla Shaman

Ah the older styles of t1 decks!  From what I gather from your list, this style came in many different forms around that time.(96to around the emergence of urza's saga))  Is it just me or was Serendib Efreet like the best creature for the longest time in t1?  Unfortuantely, alot of the cards that used to be "bombs" just arent what they used to be today, i.e. timetwister, wheel of fortune and windfall(which isnt in your list)  due to the card advantage for the other player. These days the risk isnt worth it in alot of peoples minds.  Sadly all three of those cards only see play in one deck for the most part.  The cute arcane denial trick doesnt see any play either anymore, but I recall the days when the card was more than playable.  Also stroke of genius just isnt worth the mana investment anymore. Cards like Accumulated Knowledge with Intuition, and Thirst for knowledge have replaced it due to the quicker card advantage.  Fork is also lack luster in comparison to the blue version they made a couple of years ago, called Twincast, and even then it just doesnt do enough to warrant a spot in deck lists.  For UU you could be casting mana drain, or Misdirection seems better than that. Why copy Ancestral Recall when you can just snag theirs? If your going to use bounce spells, which I highly recommend, please think about the following cards, as they are much greater than boomerang: Rushing River, Echoing Truth, Wipe Away, Rebuild, and Chain of Vapor. 

I would post deck lists, but Roat17 and Grand Inquisitor pretty much covered some of the more popular well performing decklists that some what relate to some of the card choices you have listed in your list.  Hopefully what I have written well help you understand a little bit how the t1 playstyle and metagame have evolved over the years.  Unlike days of the past, you cant pick a color and throw the alot of the best cards from those colors in decks and it be pretty good. These days deck choices have specifics reasons why they are there, and anything that doesnt have a solid reason for being there just isnt worth the space.  This is one reason why "Burn" decks dont really have a spot in the meta game. Too slow and there are barely creatures to fry out of the way.  Before building a deck, I would spend the time to be familiar with alot of the decks that are being played right now, and the cards in each of them.  If you havent played t1 in a while, I would say you have some catching up to do. Just in case you are wondering what alot of these metagame beasts are, here is a link to the full explination of what is out there, and considered to be "good." This is an awesome article and Wiley did an excellent job on it.  One of the best articles that you can read on this website IMO.

Welcome back to Type One!