Serenity

[Lurker101]

Ok I posted this idea in the General Strategy Discussion forum and now have a deck put together. The idea is to use Hatching Plans as a draw engine combined with Serenity and Reverent Silence which double as sacrifice effects. Reverent Silence is also good because you can cast it for free unexpectedly, You can also use Perilous Research with Hatching Plans to draw 5 cards. Ichor Wellspring is another source of card draw. The creatures are hard to deal with and somewhat disruptive while Faith's Reward can reset your Hatching Plans + Serenity and bring back any creatures killed at instant speed. I have a singleton Zur here to repeatedly tutor for Hatching Plans and Serenity. Zur also helps a bit by dodging chalice at 2 where he can pull out a serenity. This is untested so far and any input would be great.

Serenity Now

Mana:16
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
2 Ancient Tomb
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
2 City of Brass
1 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy

Creatures:14
1 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Grand Abolisher
1 Grand Arbiter Augsutin IV
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Thalia of Thraben
4 True-Name Nemesis
1 Blightsteel Collossus
1 Zur the Enchanter

Draw/Disruption/etc
2 Ichor Wellspring
2 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Faith's Reward
3 Force of Will
2 Mental Misstep
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Perilous Research
1 Reverent Silence
1 Time Walk
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tinker
4 Hatching Plans
3 Serenity
1 Replenish

Sideboard
1 Misdirection
1 Abolish
1 Reverent Silence
1 Forest
1 Windswept Heath
2 Faith's Reward
1 Karakas
2 Epochrasite
2 Dismember
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Zur the Enchanter

[xouman]

I like the idea of maindeck serenity to get advantage of hatching plans. Ichor Wellspring and Perilous Research also help with high synergy. Assuming we are getting high amounts of cards, I'd play lots of cheap spells, specially countermagic (it's a pity when you have too many cards but can't play all of them). I'd play less creatures, and I'd prefer those with flash, and zur. zur gets both sides of the *combo*, so play it, at least a couple.

Stop one moment to think about pairings.

MUD punish us if we play lots of spells, but serenity sounds good. Yes, we like serenity! Finding it easily (tutors, for example) would help.
Against oath, serenity is really good again. And oath is quite common, so sign me up with serenity.

What about control? well, i'd play lots of countermagic, and I'd play this deck similar to landstill. then control should be a good pairing.

Aggro decks? these seem the trickier. engineered explosives (bad with serenity), toxic deluge, damnation... dunno. btw, dredge also feels bad.

I know if have changed a lot of your deck (changing aggro to control), but in my eyes is the best way to take advantage of hatching plans. Ah, and give a try to abjure, it's nice with plans.

[msg67183]

I like the idea of maindeck serenity to get advantage of hatching plans. Ichor Wellspring and Perilous Research also help with high synergy. Assuming we are getting high amounts of cards, I'd play lots of cheap spells, specially countermagic (it's a pity when you have too many cards but can't play all of them). I'd play less creatures, and I'd prefer those with flash, and zur. zur gets both sides of the *combo*, so play it, at least a couple.

Stop one moment to think about pairings.

MUD punish us if we play lots of spells, but serenity sounds good. Yes, we like serenity! Finding it easily (tutors, for example) would help.
Against oath, serenity is really good again. And oath is quite common, so sign me up with serenity.

What about control? well, i'd play lots of countermagic, and I'd play this deck similar to landstill. then control should be a good pairing.

Aggro decks? these seem the trickier. engineered explosives (bad with serenity), toxic deluge, damnation... dunno. btw, dredge also feels bad.

I know if have changed a lot of your deck (changing aggro to control), but in my eyes is the best way to take advantage of hatching plans. Ah, and give a try to abjure, it's nice with plans.

I like the idea of the decks synergy, and I too think it should be played in a control form. I am not a fan of Zur though, it has to attack to get ANY Value and commits you to a 3rd color.
I'd much rather play 4 Enlightened Tutor, and then along with the "combo" pieces, add a toolbox of situational stuff to get, Engineered Explosives, Stony Silence, Sensei's Divining Top, Counterbalance, Helm of Obedience, Rest in Peace, etc. I would also up the Swords to Plowshares to 4. I agree with having a ton of counters and playing similar to Landstill. The deck seems like a ton of fun to play and it could do well. Against Dredge, the Enlightened Tutors become golden because you have access to so many cards to grab. I wish you luck with the deck and hopefully you can try it out sometime.

[Lurker101]

Alright, so the deck is still in need of some work but here's what it looks like now:
Serenity Now

Mana:16
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
3 City of Brass
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Tropical Island
3 Tundra

Creatures:7
1 Zur the Enchanter
2 Grand Abolisher
4 True Name Nemesis

The Engine:14
2 Serenity
4 Hatching Plans
4 Perilous Research
4 Ichor Wellspring

Everything Else:23
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Balance
1 Brainstorm
2 Daze
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Faith's Reward
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Jace the Mindsculptor
1 Time Walk

Sideboard:
4 Tormod's Crypt (Dredge)
1 Opalescence (Aggro, they can attack into or have to block Hatching Plans)
2 Serenity (Workshops/Oath)
1 Replenish (for mass recursion of Plans/Serenity)
1 Abolish (Surprise artifact or enchantment destruction that you can also use on your own permanents for free. Goes well with Daze)
2 Dismember
1 Faith's Reward (for mass recursion of anything that died that turn. Can be very explosive and catches people by surprise)
1 Mental Misstep
1 Karakas
1 Reverent Silence (Oath but can draw you lots of free cards vs other matchups too.)

Thoughts:
Interesting cards I haven't tested:
Distant Memories: Maybe as like a one or two of sometime. If you search Hatching Plans you get three cards either way and this also allows you to bluff. It's probably not good enough though.
Devout Witness: Disrupts opponents, easily destroys Hatching Plans and Ichor Wellspring, and attacks for 2.

I also tested abjure but it was way too situational. Lots of times I had it with plans out but nothing to counter, had it without any blue permanents out at all which made it a dead card, or had it out with a blue permanent that was too good to sacrifice to counter a spell. Daze fills this role much better.

Not including Balance at first was a major oversight on my part.

Perilous Research is a lot better than it seems. It's really flexible at instant speed and while it goes great with Plans/Wellspring but can also be used on any permanent of yours that is being destroyed. If you have 1U up then a land gets stripped/wasted draw 2 or Toxic Deluge is going to wipe your board cast Research draw 2, a creature is going to die in combat cast Research draw 2 etc. Even if you just have an excessive permanent on the battlefield you can sac it for two cards. I really liked it every time I cast it. It's rarely ever dead.

[xouman]

Perilous research at 4 likes magus of the unseen. Magus alone is great against BSC and timevault, and with Perilous research you can steal moxen and get 2 cards :p

[Lurker101]

I'm testing Magus. I removed the MD Zur as he never saw play and the deck does fine without him. I've also added Mana Crypt and a MD Ratchet Bomb and removed Faith's Reward.  So far this deck has been pretty good and can get pretty explosive. The draw power is great and you usually have countermagic when you need it. I actually think this is a pretty good deck and could be competitive.

[Lurker101]

Wow, so the changes I made last time really didn't work. I had added vault/key and a few other things but I found I lost the consistency I had before. I noticed I was losing at lot due to mana screw too so I moved one Serenity back into the MD and made room for more lands and a couple more counterspells. I also added two Snapcasters. This seemed to do the trick as the deck is way more consistent now and I'm not fizzling out with several Wellsprings and Hatching Plans on the battlefield and no sacrifice outlets or mana. Some of the sideboard is still untested but I'm happy with the maindeck right now and I would suggest other people give this deck a shot as I think it's actually pretty good.

Serenity Now
Mana: 18
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
1 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy

Engine:15
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Hatching Plans
3 Serenity
4 Perilous Research

Creatures:9
3 Grand Abolisher
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 True-Name Nemesis

Everything Else:20
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Balance
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll


Sideboard: 15
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Abolish
2 Dismember
2 Mental Misstep
2 Teferi's Response
1 Karakas
1 Misdirection
1 Reverent Silence
Also testing in SB:
+1 Ratchet Bomb
+ Opalescence
+ Magus of the Unseen
+1 Reverent Silence
+3 Grafdigger's Cage

[Treblocaz]

I like your deck a lot. Have you tried magus of the future? I noticed most of your deck was filled with artifacts and other things easy to cast off the top of your deck. Also, if you wanted to, you could probably add a tutor engine and auriok salvegers, and play out a bomberman-esque mode.

[Vennie]

4 Perilous Research

4 Perilous Research

I think your decklist contains an error as you have 8 perilous research on your list.

[Lurker101]

Thanks! I'll have to fix that decklist. I haven't tried Magus of the Future but that card is surprisingly good so it'd be worth a shot. I kind of got frustrated and gave up on the list after awhile. It's been fun to play but in practice it's kind of clunky. Salvagers could really work too. I'll have to try them out when I get back to playing. I think I stuck a couple Read the Runes in the last list I used and I wouldn't go more than 2 since they're not always that great but when you can set up Read the Runes right it can be a blowout.