Ritual-Gush

[Ufactor]

What are the benefits of adding Gush to an existing Bob-Tendrils deck?

What are the benefits to adding Dark Ritual to and existing Gush-Tendrils deck?

Why are there so many Gush variants anyway?

How does a Gush-based combo deck fit in the metagame as compared to TPS, ANT, Suicide-Bob, etc.?

What are the obstacles facing Ritual-based combo in the current meta? Does any specific card of combination of cards remedy this?

Why can't I just overwhelm my opponents with bombs?


...I'm still struggling to answer these questions for myself.  Rather than make claims on strategy or performance on a basically untested deck, I'm proposing this in inquiry form.  If the deck does something particularly cool or unique, and especially if it has a substantial solution to any of the above, then some sort of success has been reached.  If not, then whateversauce.


Ritual-Gush

3 Dark Confidant
4 Dark Ritual
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
4 Thoughtseize

1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Tendrils of Agony

Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Demonic Tutor
Fastbond
Gifts Ungiven
Imperial Seal
Merchant Scroll
Mind's Desire
Mystical Tutor
Necropotence
Time Walk
Timetwister (admittedly, I hate this card here.  The deck as it stands now does not have enough explosiveness to effectively utilize it!)
Tinker
Vampiric Tutor
Yawgmoth's Will

Black Lotus
Lotus Petal
Mana Crypt
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire

14 Fetch/Dual/Basic

[Smmenen]

Lotus Cobra is basically a better ritual in Gush decks, since it turns every Fetchland into a Dark Ritual that can play Necropotence, and breaks Fastbond + Yawgmoth's Will even more than Yawgmoth's Will + Rituals.

The one advantage Dark Rituals have over Cobra is Mind's Desire, where storm count matters.   

[Ufactor]

I respectfully disagree sir.  Ideally, I would prefer a deck that is less dependent on resolving Fastbond, not more.  There are other reasons not to go the Lotus Cobra route, but I would rather focus on the (possible) strengths of the decks as already listed above.