Help on CS

[xwt]

I tossed up a deck for the upcoming local 5-proxy type 1 tournament.

I like Mana Drain but I like robots and welder better than vault and key.

here's the list

Creature - 7
Inkwell Leviathan
Platinum Angel
Triskelion
Sundering Titan
3 Goblin Welder

Instant - 20
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
Gifts Ungiven
Vampiric Tutor
Mystical Tutor
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Echoing Truth
Fire / Ice
Rack and Ruin

Sorcery - 7
Yawgmoth's Will
Demonic Tutor
Merchant Scroll
Time Walk
Tinker
2 Duress

Artifact – 10
Mindslaver
Tormod's Crypt
Black Lotus
Mox Ruby
Mox Jet
Mox Sapphire
Mox Emerald
Mox Pearl
Mana Crypt
Sol Ring

Land – 16
Tolarian Academy
Library of Alexandria
3 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

I'd like comments, suggestions, etc

[vassago]

I dont know how much I would care for the platz at this time. Possibly the fourth welder would be better right now.  Only two duress effects?  I think you should run at least three if not four if you are going to run it at all.  Also, WHERE is FOF?  One would think you  would want to run this in any mana drain deck. 

Also, I think key/vault would go good in the deck. You have thirst and welders, seems to go hand in hand. I could be wrong though.

[xwt]

Essentially, I like your suggestons. The problem is that you propose to add 6 cards, yet to cut only one. I'll explain my choices:

3 welders has been fine, even if a 4th would obviously be good. I don't want to run 61 cards and I am reluctant to cut mana sources.

FoF and Ponder has been cut for 2 duress effects. They are disruption pieces 9-10 at no card disadventage. They used to be misdirections, but got replaced. 2 is fine in the maindeck. Against combo, I can mull into it (or a tutor to duress early on)... 2's been fine.

Vault/Key is not the way I play the best. If I did, I'd also include at least 1 tez, and might do so by cutting robots in a maneuver like:
- titan
- inkwell
- fire/ice
+ vault
+ key
+ tez

and, to be fair... i face a decent share of tezzeret hate so relying on other win conditions appears to me as ok.
The local meta is 30% jank, 20% aggro-control, 10-15% combo, 35-40% drain decks.

Big plats is an out to painter (weld it in during upkeep) and helps tons against rg aggro beatz and discard-oriented suicide black, strategies that prey on drain decks. Tinker into plats is also extremely good in delaying TPS and other storm-based combo decks... if you manage to resolve an early tinker, you shouldn't be loosing the next turn. I play 5 robots and 3 welder (+ tinker) because they can be hardcast with drain mana (happens) and I want a robot in the yard every time I have an active welder, no less.


My deck is not perfect, but I'd like detailed suggestions... like what card do I take out for FoF? or for duress #3?

I haven't played with 4 welder and no plats in a year, but i'll try it out just to know how i like it.

[vassago]

I was just thinking out loud, so I guess listing cards that would be easily cut wasnt really on my mind.  I think the duress effects could move to the board, as I think fact or fiction would just be a stronger play.