My tps

[RisingWater]

So after recently getting back into magic, The first deck I found that I really liked and wanted to build was tps.
I'm still in the process of getting all the cards for it, but im off to a good start (or so Id like to think)

A little help on the deck list though, heres what im running at the moment.

Mana :
4 city of brass
4 glimmervoid
4 gemstone mine
1 academy
1 reflecting pool
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
1 lotus petal
1 mox diamond
1 lions eye diamond
2 simian spirit guide
4 dark ritual
4 chrome mox

Draw/Search :

1 mystical tutor
1 regrowth
1 vampiric tutor
1 demonic tutor
1 ponder
1 brainstorm
1 crop rotation
1 burning wish
3 death wish
1 mind's desire
1 tinker
1 memory jar
1 merchant scroll
1 gift's ungiven
1 frantic search
1 time spiral
1 windfall

Stuff :
2 tendrils
1 hurkyl's
2 duress
2 chain of vapor
1 force of will
1 spell pierce
1 DSC
1 necropotence
1 yawg's bargain

Sideboard:

2 pithing needle
2 tendrils
1 disenchant
2 putrefy
2 xantid swarm
1 duress
1 balance
1 yawgs will
2 orim's chant
1 bojuka bog


In the near future im looking to get some more FoW, taking out the spell pierce, 1 death wish, and 1 city of brass to run 4 FoW. Id like to get some confidants to put in here but im not sure what to take out. Im not sure what else though, any help would be nice. Im open to suggestions, Maybe some basic lands because of all the wastes?

[mistervader]

You're running more like unpowered 5C Long at this point than TPS, and unpowered, no less.

If you're going to go unpowered, currently, the most likely deck to run that way is Ad Nauseam + Tall Men + Culling The Weak. I suggest you look into that, as it's definitely going to yield more for you than a gimped TPS.

[RisingWater]

Which is why im asking what to do with it to make it better =D

I just play with my friends as of lately and it was something that I put together with the cards I had

Little back-story I guess because my point doesnt seem to be getting across and that response seemed a little iritable

I started playing around urza's block when I lived up north in indiana, had no idea what I was doing...just played with some friends every now and then. When I started to go to college I met a new playgroup of people who were exponentially better than me. It opened up a whole new aspect of the game. It showed me the speed and power of the older cards and what "vintage" cards were I guess you could say. Well when my dad got sick and ended up passing away, but during that time I dropped out of college to take care of him and kind of stopped playing. I ended up selling all my stuff because I wasnt using it. A couple years later I moved to Louisiana and a friend here at work got me back into playing.

I know this isnt the best deck ever. Which is why im on here asking for help. I see the decks that everyone has on here and it makes me want to get better. No one around here plays type 1 so I have no one really to improve with because the guys here I play with arent that good. I know its "unpowered" but I just got back into playing like 2 months ago and Id look like a jackass playing with my friends with proxied power lol. I see everyones tps decks and read about them and they seem awesome. I just put something together with the things that I could afford at the time and what friends had to trade me. I know its not the perfect deck, which is why im on here asking for advice. I want to get better and move it in the right direction, so the only way to learn is to ask.

[Ten-Ten]

..I have been here myself. I still do not have power but you can build a tendrils deck with what you have, seeing as you chose TPS you are in the right state of mind
 Do you own any cabal ritual? mana leak? sensei's divining top? demonic consultation? let us know what else you may own that you may consider.
I play with 4 chrome mox in my deck,for non-proxy play, and it is slower than TPS but I have played it enough to know when to play my mox and what to remove from my hand for it. Your list is mostly singletons so chrome mox is less attractive.
Also, I would replace the 4 Glimervoid with Basic lands. 2 swamp/ 2 island. The 2 spirit guides for either 2 more spell pierce or 1/ 1 more duress.
It is getting late for me so, I will compose a decklist from what you have presented here along with some cards on the cheap you could try out in your budget TPS latre in the morning.

[mistervader]

W-ell, that's sort of why I'm pointing you in the direction of a deck designed to be successful without power, which is Ad Nauseam + Tall Men. I've seen local tournaments have players top 8 with them, and it's explosive enough for you to almost not miss the fact that you don't have power 9.

The other alternative is Long. TPS without Force Of Will is really a raw deal, and that's why I was trying to nudge you towards a deck that doesn't require cards you don't have yet/will spend a lot to acquire.

But yes, for starters, cut the Glimmervoids. They will really hurt, because you won't find enough artifacts to make sure they come in and stick. If you're aching for mana of any color, I'd look into even Forbidden Orchard before I go for Glimmervoid.

Lastly, your deck looks much more like Death Long than TPS, so I suggest you look into those older decklists for inspiration. If you increase the density of your bombs, I'm sure you can achieve a consistent turn 3-4 combo win. For now, cut the FOW and Pierce and just use a set of Duress for the sake of uniformity. You don't run enough U cards to justify 4 FOW, much less a singleton.

Note that in no way am I telling you that you should stop playing combo if you don't have power. I'm just giving you alternatives if in case you haven't heard of Culling Ad Nauseam or Death Long, because until you get 4 FOW, TPS will really not be the combo deck for you to play, even if we excuse the lack of power cards.

[RisingWater]

I guess calling it "TPS" was the wrong thing to do seeing as how it isn't quite that

TPS without Force Of Will is really a raw deal, and that's why I was trying to nudge you towards a deck that doesn't require cards you don't have yet/will spend a lot to acquire.

and getting FoW's isn't out of the question...neither is getting power. I was just saying I don't have it "yet"
When I played when I was younger I was a little more tight on funds than I am now.

The only reason I have the one FoW I do right now is I picked up one, and 2x Show and Tell's from the local shop here for 40$. It seemed like something worth not passing up.


As for how it is working for me, I threw the counters in there just to be able to protect the bargain. If that hits the table its pretty much game, and its usually pretty consistent with a turn 3-5 win. The biggest problem I've noticed having is that chrome mox's are very irritating. I feel like they are card disadvantage because not only in my hand are they clogging a spot, but I also have to remove another card to even be able to use them...so there have been times where I have had one or two in my hand and had either nothing to be able to remove to be able to play them or had things I really didn't want to remove.

As for what to immediately change, Im guessing scrapping the spirit guides to put in 2x more spell pierce, and getting some more FoW's? Scrapping glimmervoids for basics as well.

Once I get the forces what do I take out though? I dont really ever use mem. jar or merchant scroll

[mistervader]

Well, for FOW, you're going to start needing to reduce your Chrome Moxen. I'd run only 2 at the most in a deck like yours, and even Ad Nauseam has ceased to run more than 3, simply because it's terrible in multiples unless you've already played Ad Nauseam.

Most combo decks run 28 mana sources, only 4-6 of them rituals. The rest are either lands, Moxen, or Sol Ring/Lotus/Petal/LED/Crypt/Vault. You will want Memory Jar if you had enough artifacts to Tinker it into play, but if not, I'd suggest skipping the Jar, and either running a fetchland base so you could use Duals (Much more stable for you in the long run.), or sticking to your Rainbow lands and using Wheel Of Fortune, Regrowth, and Balance as cards that would be useful for you at any given point.

Rule of thumb is running 18-19 Blue cards to support FOW. Here are the 19 cards you'd expect to be running, assuming you're fully powered...

4 FOW
2 Bounce Spells
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ponder
1 Tinker
1 Timetwister
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact Or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
1 Inkwell/Sphinx (Instead of DSC, just to up your U count.)
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Windfall

Other cards you might consider here are Frantic Search and Misdirection. Spell Pierce seems counterintuitive for a deck trying to expend all its mana when comboing out. Duress can hamper your opponent on a turn apart from your combo turn, while FOW can be pitched for.

I can see you going, at worst, 17 blue cards, but anything less than that is... well, nuts.

Feel free to ask other questions, but I must say, Smennen's list in his "intro to TPS" sticky in these forums is one of the best versions of TPS I've ever encountered. I actually took it, card for card, to a tourney, and top 8'd with ease.