URg StifleStill

[Samoht]

URg Stiflestill by Tom Dixon (credit to Josh Potucek for pioneering much of the groundwork on the archetype, though I've added some wrinkles over the years.)

Upon beginning to test for the NYSE event month I had put together a few different lists. All featured Dack Fayden, but other than that they were widely divergent. I started out with Welder Control but couldn’t figure out a way to make the Storm or Oath match up what I wanted. I moved on to Keeper but felt the deck was still weak to Oath and was prone to playing Legacy and not Vintage (by that I mean that the games that had super high tempo pushed it out). I ended up settling on Oath but wasn’t very happy with it. It showed as my 2-5 record resounded with my feelings on the deck.
However, I tested extensively with Dack and Wasteland and realized very quickly that the real hay was to be made in a deck that was looking to deny resources to the opponent. After getting back into the Vintage laboratory I reminded myself that the best UR deck at denying resources was Landstill. I perused some of my older lists and a bunch of Josh Potucek’s old lists and went to work.

Obvious cards went in first:
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Mental Misstep
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Factory
1 Strip Mine
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria

43 cards later and I had a deck shaping up.  Josh and I have long been fans of Engineered Explosives and that card fit right in with the mana denial plan I was looking to employ. It also encouraged me to add a third color to push it to 3 as/if needed.  I also mentioned that I really wanted to be playing Dack Fayden so he found a home as well. I wanted to bolster the counter package and thus added Misdirection, Mindbreak Trap, and Izzet Charm. I think Izzet Charm is one of the most underplayed cards in the format. Any deck featuring U and R that is not dedicated combo needs to take a long look at it. It has ways to interact with everything your opponent can cast and also filters out weaker cards if that is needed. With Crucible the card is simply stellar. I put Time Walk in the deck because with the additional Planeswalker and the mere power of the extra turn when used in conjunction with Crucible, Dack, or Jace made it optimal. Josh has often cut this card but I felt it had a home in my list.

4 Engineered Explosives
1 Tropical Island
2 Dack Fayden
2 Misdirection
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Flusterstorm
1 Time Walk.

Well, that left me 3 cards short of 57 and left some glaring issues. My own mana base was a bit lighter than normal. I had less ways to interact with onboard effects. At first I was thinking of just adding another land, a Lightning Bolt, and an Ancient Grudge to the main and calling it a day. Then I thought about it a bit more and it didn’t really work at denying resources the way that I wanted. It hit me, Stifle was perfect. Not only would it attack my opponents fragile mana bases, it would protect me from Wasteland. I would wield the card to stop Forgemaster activations, Factory pumps, Griselbrand draws, Tendrils triggers,  Tangle Wire triggers, and several other unfun activations/triggers puttering around the metagame.  I started testing it and Stifle kept performing! It made the final cut:

4 Engineered Explosives
4 Standstill
2 Crucible of Worlds

2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Misdirection
3 Mental Misstep
3 Stifle
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Izzet Charm

2 Dack Fayden
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Time Walk
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus

This left the sideboard work. What match ups needed the most help? Of course Dredge and Shops were at the top of the list. Both decks are extremely powerful and have the ability to force us to play the game on their terms. As such, we needed direct plans against them. I put in Firespout originally but transitioned it to Rolling Earthquake in case I had to kill something like Restoration Angel or Auriok Salvagers (X/4+’s).  I chose to play Grafdiggers Cage to split duty against Oath and Dredge. Bolt was all purpose and great, but didn’t particularly crush any match up. I put it in the SB to swap with weaker cards in the MD that had better application in specific matches. Otherwise the SB is straightforwardly combating the two archetypes originally mentioned.

SB: 2 Lightning Bolt
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 4 Grafdiggers Cage
SB: 3 Goblin Welder
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Rolling Earthquake

I likely should have Tormod’s Crypt in over Relic of Progenitus. I had switched out Nihil Spellbombs from a URb version and thought only about the card drawn, not considering the Welder or Crucible. Upon further reflection I’d suggest that be the card.

My SB plans:

Against Smokestack/Forgemaster Shops:
-2 Misdirection
-3 Mental Misstep
-2 Izzet Charm
-1 Mana Drain
+2 Lightning Bolt
+3 Goblin Welder
+2 Ancient Grudge
+1 Mountain

Against Terra Nova Shops:
-4 Standstill
-3 Mental Misstep
-2 Misdirection
+2 Lightning Bolt
+3 Goblin Welder
+2 Ancient Grudge
+1 Mountain

Against non-Oath Storm:
-1 Mox Ruby
+1 Lightning Bolt

Against Oath:
-1 Mox Ruby
-1 Crucible of Worlds
-2 Izzet Charm
+4 Grafdiggers Cage

Against Wastes+Cavern Fish:
-2 Dack Fayden
-1 Mana Drain
-1 Force of Will
+1 Rolling Earthquake
+2 Lighting Bolt
+1 Mountain

Against Dredge:
-2 Mindbreak Trap
-1 Island
-2 Dack Fayden
-2 Crucible of Worlds
-2 Mana Drain
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+1 Rolling Earthquake
+4 Grafdiggers Cage
+2 Relic of Progenitus/Tormod’s Crypt
+3 Goblin Welder

The deck’s main plans are to control your opponent’s early game and then stem the tide with Standstill. Ultimately you sit behind your Crucible and Planeswalkers and grind the game out to a finish while amassing tons of card advantage. Be mindful of Stifle targets. Try not to fight over spells that won’t kill you or lead you down a path to death quickly. If you have multiple counters, try to apply the most specific one to the situation that ties up the least of your resources. If you have to commit resources be mindful of not only what you have but also of what you’ve represented having the entire game.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Thanks for the write up Tom...I have enjoyed stifle recently as well when I was testing landstill (before dack). I'm glad to see it perform well for you. This makes me excited to pick the deck up again. The main reason I set it down wasn't due to it being poor in the meta, it was more or less that I was getting burned out of playing the same deck over and over. I like 3 stifle alot. It's the correct number IMO. I also agree izzet charm is under played. I was playing with 1 of but I can see 2 being good as well. I do like the 2 Misdirection here as well!!! Great job homie

[JarofFortune]

Wow, this is remarkably similar in a lot of ways to my version of Delver. Both are very effective Drain control decks that have the ability to deprive the opponent of their resources. I originally ran Stifle, but I ended up having to cut the card. It makes me happy to see that you are running it with great success! May I ask, however, what your logic is behind your sideboard plan against non-oath Storm? Wouldn't you rather bring in a cage or 2 than an bolt? And why cut the ruby?

[Samoht]

May I ask, however, what your logic is behind your sideboard plan against non-oath Storm? Wouldn't you rather bring in a cage or 2 than an bolt? And why cut the ruby?

Mox Ruby does nothing for us post board. I normally cut a mana source against decks that don't attack my mana base, and this is the least efficient one.

I tend to bring in Bolt to catch them when they go too low on life from their own effects. I like the reach it gives in conjunction with factories to punish them for using cards like Necropotence or Yawgmoth's Bargain. It could easily be a Cage instead if you prefer to fight over Will. I often find that Will isn't something that resolves against us (17 counterspells) and thus prefer to attack from a different angle. Our deck is so heavily based in permission that for them, resolving a Will is almost impossible. Also, remember that they have to play around Mindbreak Trap and Stifle as well when attempting to go off.

[zeus-online]

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[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Trap neuters storm and is better then flusterstorm here because late game it is also a hard counter against anything. Not to mention it can counter a creature cast off cavern. It also can hurt a shop pilot with a busted turn 1 hand. Trap is great here!

[KanaKaishou]

I don't know where to find the room in deck, but I want Sensei's Top somewhere in the deck. It sure looks kike all you want to do is make land drops and have the right answers, and Top solves thpse issues exactly.

[zeus-online]

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[Bibendum]

Workshop openers tend to make this a free counter as well. Last I checked dismiss also doesn't dodge cavern of souls or beat abrupt decay.

edited: my first post's shop sequence is the worst thing in the world

[KanaKaishou]

Workshop openers tend to make this a free counter as well. Last I checked dismiss also doesn't dodge cavern of souls or beat abrupt decay.

edited: my first post's shop sequence is the worst thing in the world

The look on Keith's face at the NYSE when he open Crypt, Chalice for 0, Cavern of Souls, Metalworker, and I calmly Mindbreak Trapped the Metalworker was priceless.

[Samoht]

Why do you feel that dack fayden is particularly good in this deck?

Also, are there a lot of combo where you play? I find the addition of mindbreak trap in the maindeck curious.

There is a lot of Shops and Blue where I play. Mindbreak Trap serves multiple purposes. It wins counter wars pretty emphatically and trumps Flusterstorm. Stopping things cast with Cavern of Souls and to a lesser extent Abrupt Decay is hyper relevant in the current Vintage metagame. Add in its overt power against Rituals and the card is quite good. Let's not also forget that Landstill likes the game to go longer than most other decks and often turns this into a live hard counter.

Edit: Dack serves two main purposes. Mostly, his -2 is stellar mana denial by acquiring pieces of jewelry. Additionally, he pushes us through any early land clumps while also making our Crucibles significantly stronger. He has replaced what used to be the Echoing Truth/Steel Sabotage slot(s) for me to great effect.

[zeus-online]

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[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I was pointing out how good the card is vs a multitude of different decks but if you're interested in playing dismiss, be my guest...

[zeus-online]

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[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

But I didn't miss your point...I play Mindbreak Trap because it's a great card in the metagame. Weather it's fighting storm, abrupt decay, dudes off cavern, or winning counter wars. It's an excellent card. Being a late game hard counter is a bonus. You just seemingly like to nit pick my posts

Furthermore, most blue decks I play run 1-2 Mindbreak Trap. The card is a great card that is definitely under played

[The Atog Lord]

Tom, thanks a lot for taking the time to write this. This is a very interesting take on the Blue Control archetype.

Zeus, while I haven't played this deck, I have been playing a lot of Mr Faden in Control Slaver. Therefore, I can speculate on why this deck would be interested in playing him. First, Dack's ability to steal an opponent's artifact is very relevant. It might not seem like much to steal an opponent's Mox, but after doing this on multiple occasions, it is impressive how significant it is. For three mana, you are suddenly up three cards net (counting their loss of a Mox, your Mox, but Dack himself for the future). And that is only if you are stealing something as innocuous as a Mox. In the course of six rounds of Sanctioned Vintage on Sunday, Dack stole artifact mana, two Lodestone Golems, and even a Mindslaver.

Second, the number of Blue cards that are good against Workshop decks is vanishingly small. Energy Flux is often insufficient to win, especially in a world where a single Lodestone Golem can end the game by himself. And keeping the Blue count high enough to enable those all-important Forces of Will is vital to any Blue deck's game plan against Workshop decks.

Third, stealing a Mox has synergy with the rest of this deck's mana denial plan. I've been happy stealing Moxen with Control Slaver, and that deck isn't even trying to collapse the opponent's manabase. This deck is, and stealing one of those precious Moxen can be the final nail in the coffin.

And finally, the Looting from Dack. It may not be as strong as the Jace Brainstorm chain, but it is not to be dismissed quickly (get it?). The bonus card filtering after stealing a Mox or other artifact makes Dack more than justified in a deck like this.

[hashswag]

He listed 5-6 strong applications that show that Trap is a powerful card against multiple vintage archetypes. Grizzly Bears costing 2 mana, being a 2/2 and being able to attack and block are not things that are useful in vintage.

[zeus-online]

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[hashswag]

Are you kidding me?

Trap neuters storm and is better then flusterstorm

late game it is also a hard counter against anything.

it can counter a creature cast off cavern.

It also can hurt a shop pilot with a busted turn 1 hand.

beat abrupt decay.

It wins counter wars pretty emphatically

trumps Flusterstorm.

Landstill likes the game to go longer than most other decks and often turns this into a live hard counter.

Count them. 8 powerful applications of Mindbreak Trap that are extremely relevant in vintage.

Now explain how

grizzly bear is a 2/2 for   . it can attack and block.

describes 8 common vintage situations where Grizzly Bears is a strong card to be playing.

It's not like he said "It counters Storm Crow," "It counters Lingering Souls," "It counters Rod of Ruin" ffs.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Zeus, you're being a turd here and it's obvious. So move on...I'm actually quite surprised you're a "vintage adept". I gave support on why trap is not only good in landstill but good in the current meta game. But yet you want to hold on to dumb nit picking bullshit rather then just use your brain and understand what I am saying.

[The Atog Lord]

I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but...

Guys, please stop bickering about whether Grizzly Bears is Vintage Playable. Good arguments have been made regarding Mindbreak Trap is a strong inclusion in this deck. That is clear. I'm not issuing any warnings or anything, but please get the discussion back on track.

[vaughnbros]

This list is very interesting Tom.  After you beat me I was trying to figure out how you found space for all the cards that you were running.  I didn't realize you cut lands from landstill!  Has 20+1 been enough?  I've found 22+1 the lowest I've ever been willing to go, my 21st land being barb ring, and 22nd creeping tar pit, both of which still provide value.  Honestly Id take barb ring over Ruby in a heartbeat.

The second big change seems to be lighting bolt, where you have 2 coming in from the board.  I think for me it's a main deck card.  It's just far too versatile to pawn it off into the board, the only match up it's not useful is maybe against oath.  It's also a 1 cc answer to a resolved deathrite, bob, and lodestone all of which can cause landstill fits if they are played on turn 1. 

The third big change I notice is no ingot chewer out of the board.  When you factor in the reduced land count, and only 2 post board bolts, I think it would be difficult for this deck to compete against a turn 1/2 lodestone golem.  How has it performed in such situations so far?

The problem I see with these changes is you've made them for cards that I'm not really sure are improvements.  Izzet charm is versatile, but costs double colored mana something the mana base can issues with.  Misdirection can cause blowouts against ancestral, but is pretty much dead in most match ups especially considering you have maybe 1 or 2 cards that you care about protecting from abrupt decay.  Id like to hear more justification for those two cards.

[KanaKaishou]

Tom has a giant crush on Izzet Charm. He should probably marry it.

In all seriousness, though--Izzet Charm is inefficient, but versatile. It's a bad spell pierce, a worse lightning bolt, and a horrifically bad brainstorm...but it does all these things in one slot. I suspect Tom was able to cut bolt because he had Charm, and was similarly able to go down a land because he gets more filtering. It seems exactly like the swiss army knife a going long deck like Standstill wants--once you have 5 lands in play, efficiency is less important than simply having the right sort of answer (and Charm isn't even *that* inefficient).

I'm curious on Misdirection as well. It seems like something where it's out to catch opposing counterspells, and randomly gain value off ancestral. It's also much better post board, where the deck *does* care about Abrupt Decay more, so there's that.

[Samoht]

This list is very interesting Tom.  After you beat me I was trying to figure out how you found space for all the cards that you were running.  I didn't realize you cut lands from landstill!  Has 20+1 been enough?  I've found 22+1 the lowest I've ever been willing to go, my 21st land being barb ring, and 22nd creeping tar pit, both of which still provide value.  Honestly Id take barb ring over Ruby in a heartbeat.

I have always played a lower land count than most in Landstill. My personal belief is that it is better to have faster ways to interact with opponents as opposed to bolstering longer games. Free counters and tempo cards like Stifle perform better than the guaranteed land drops. Additionally, a lot of my choices when mulliganing are understanding that I built the deck to have decreased mana sources. I have to value my Crucible higher and be wary of using Wastelands without first checking if I need their mana. I included Ruby to enable more early Standstills but you're probably right in wanting Barbarian Ring over the course of longer games. It's a card I tend to avoid, but others have had success with.

The second big change seems to be lighting bolt, where you have 2 coming in from the board.  I think for me it's a main deck card.  It's just far too versatile to pawn it off into the board, the only match up it's not useful is maybe against oath.  It's also a 1 cc answer to a resolved deathrite, bob, and lodestone all of which can cause landstill fits if they are played on turn 1. 

Bolt was a card that came in quite often for me throughout the day. It wasn't that the card was poor and thus relegated to the SB. It was above average across the board. However, it wasn't stellar in any one place. I found it lacking and ended up with Izzet Charm in the main over it. It's versatility and utility warranted the MD spot. In several instances they just straight swap, but more often Bolt comes in for cards that are inefficient in particular match ups.

The third big change I notice is no ingot chewer out of the board.  When you factor in the reduced land count, and only 2 post board bolts, I think it would be difficult for this deck to compete against a turn 1/2 lodestone golem.  How has it performed in such situations so far?

Chewer was replaced by Welder. Welder is much stronger against Shops than Chewer, and I learned this by testing it out against Raf playing Forgemaster. He turned the opposing board on its head several times. As far as early LSG's, we do run a bunch of counterspells (FoW, MBT) to interact with that. We can also block them with Factories. I wasn't about to give up Welder for Chewer. If they have that hand and we don't have the cards to interact, we'll lose. Otherwise, we'll win. I'm not sure how much Chewer really affects our win % if this is the only time it's better than Welder.

The problem I see with these changes is you've made them for cards that I'm not really sure are improvements.  Izzet charm is versatile, but costs double colored mana something the mana base can issues with.  Misdirection can cause blowouts against ancestral, but is pretty much dead in most match ups especially considering you have maybe 1 or 2 cards that you care about protecting from abrupt decay.  Id like to hear more justification for those two cards.

Izzet Charm is a card I was thinking of going to 3 of after the day finished. It was hyper relevant in all three modes for me. Whether killing Factory, Revoker, DRS, Bob, Lords, Cursecatcher, etc. it never was wanting for being a bolt. The only X/3's running around are Magus of the Future, Trygon Predator, and double Lords. I'll take the counterspell (used several times) and filtering (absurd w/ Crucible) for the tradeoff adding U and losing 1 damage off L Bolt. The UR CMC is challenging at times, but really only a concern against Shops where they have Wastes + Spheres. Against Fish it's pretty easy to set up the casting of it as needed. We do play Island so presenting things like Fetch + Dual or Island + Fetch isn't insane. I did also have Ruby and Lotus to use as R sources. If it's that big of a deal it always pitches to FoW or Misdirection.

Misdirection was only dead for me once, against Keith Seals. Against Shawn on Terra Nova in g1 I was setting up a MD on his Dismember but the game ended before I got to pull the trigger. Against any other deck it has applications. Sure, it's limited in scope and can be severely limited against certain strategies. It functions darn well despite that. It was FoW 5-6 for me several times to protect my Jace or Crucible from being countered. I got to live the dream of nabbing Joel's Ancestral in t8, but that's not why it's in the deck. Remember that we often draw up and over 7 cards because of Standstill. At times our mana can already be used for casting our threats. We need as many ways to interact when this happens as our opponents have likely been sculpting hands themselves. As such, the card is a requirement in my opinion. I've never played Standstill without the 4 FoW, 2 MBT, 2 Misd, 2-4 MM splits for this reason.

[Shock Wave]

Interesting list. There are lots of viable Landstill builds, and although I am not a huge fan of the choices in this particular version, the inclusion of Dack Fayden is pretty exciting, especially in a non-Rod build.

I think Stifle is terribly weak, and while it is very flexible in its application, in my experiences, it has a very underwhelming effect most of the time. It is most potent when hitting a fetchland, but that is generally only a really strong play if you are hitting their first land. So, you really need to win the die roll, or you'll most likely by drawing this card at a less than ideal moment.

My only real concern about the architecture of this build is the high concentration of cards that are just not very good in the early stages of the game:

3 x Jace
2 x Dack
4 x Drain
4 x Standstill

It seems like you would get a lot of opening hands with a combination of these cards in it, and that seems less than ideal.

[Samoht]

Interesting list. There are lots of viable Landstill builds, and although I am not a huge fan of the choices in this particular version, the inclusion of Dack Fayden is pretty exciting, especially in a non-Rod build.

I think Stifle is terribly weak, and while it is very flexible in its application, in my experiences, it has a very underwhelming effect most of the time. It is most potent when hitting a fetchland, but that is generally only a really strong play if you are hitting their first land. So, you really need to win the die roll, or you'll most likely by drawing this card at a less than ideal moment.

My only real concern about the architecture of this build is the high concentration of cards that are just not very good in the early stages of the game:

3 x Jace
2 x Dack
4 x Drain
4 x Standstill

It seems like you would get a lot of opening hands with a combination of these cards in it, and that seems less than ideal.

Standstill is probably my favorite Turn 1 or Turn 2 play. A Dack on Turn 2 or Turn 3 to take a Mox/Ring is strong. Draining on Turn 2 into a Jace on Turn 3 is something decks live in fear of playing against. I'm not sure what you mean, perhaps we approach the games very differently if you don't want these cards early.

Stifle is very good in the current metagame, at least in paper magic. Every single deck has relevant effects that warrant Stifle-ization. I've leveraged it to great success in testing and now in a tournament. That said, if you want another Island, a Bolt, and a Grudge main instead I wouldn't be adverse to listening to you.

I've found EE to be so much better than Null Rod, and I'm fairly sure Josh has too. Aside from it's overt flexibility, it's ability to kill Spheres when announcing at 0 or 1 is critical against modern Shop decks. It does much more work than Null Rod in that match up, save the Metalworker lists. Still, I prefer to have it over Rod because it relevantly applies to other match ups and in situations where the threat is NOT artifact based. Namely, against Merfolk and/or True-Name Nemesis. That said the lack of Rod makes Dack better as taking the Moxen nets you an advantage as well denying them from your opponent.

[Shock Wave]

Standstill is probably my favorite Turn 1 or Turn 2 play. A Dack on Turn 2 or Turn 3 to take a Mox/Ring is strong. Draining on Turn 2 into a Jace on Turn 3 is something decks live in fear of playing against. I'm not sure what you mean, perhaps we approach the games very differently if you don't want these cards early.

Yeah, Standstill is a very strong T1 play. The problem is that a T1 Standstill has a low probability of resolving in ideal circumstances, for several reasons.

1) You lose the die roll.
2) You win the die roll, but now you need a Mox hand to make it happen. Lotus+Standstill isn't the greatest of plays.
3) This particular list does not run any cheap removal, which makes Standstill more difficult to resolve in an advantageous position. For example, your opponent opens with a T1 threat (DRS, Bob, whatever.. ). What do you do?

Stifle is very good in the current metagame, at least in paper magic. Every single deck has relevant effects that warrant Stifle-ization. I've leveraged it to great success in testing and now in a tournament. That said, if you want another Island, a Bolt, and a Grudge main instead I wouldn't be adverse to listening to you.

What are the scenarios you've encountered where Stifle is good for you? It is an awful draw against so many of the prevalent decks in the current metagame. Oath/Shop/Dredge/Humans/Merfolk ... even against blue decks. Yes, there will be many situations in every matchup where you can actually use Stifle, because every match will have dozens of triggered/activated abilities ... but I've found that often, you're just burning a card and not really gaining anything.

Perhaps the differences in our builds result in a different approach to the game. I never want to see 2 Drains or 2 Standstills in my opening hand.

I've found EE to be so much better than Null Rod, and I'm fairly sure Josh has too. Aside from it's overt flexibility, it's ability to kill Spheres when announcing at 0 or 1 is critical against modern Shop decks. It does much more work than Null Rod in that match up, save the Metalworker lists. Still, I prefer to have it over Rod because it relevantly applies to other match ups and in situations where the threat is NOT artifact based. Namely, against Merfolk and/or True-Name Nemesis. That said the lack of Rod makes Dack better as taking the Moxen nets you an advantage as well denying them from your opponent.

Yeah, I know there are fans of the EE version, but I'm not one of them. Rod is the most powerful card in this deck, in my opinion. Most of the time I resolve it, it is just a blowout. EE has never really provided that sort of effect for me. I willingly accept a weaker matchup against aggro decks for the benefit of stomping on anything that relies on artifact acceleration.

As for Dack, I agree that he looks really good in this list. I'm curious to hear how it works out for you.

[JarofFortune]

Izzet Charm is a card I was thinking of going to 3 of after the day finished. It was hyper relevant in all three modes for me. Whether killing Factory, Revoker, DRS, Bob, Lords, Cursecatcher, etc. it never was wanting for being a bolt. The only X/3's running around are Magus of the Future, Trygon Predator, and double Lords.

You forgot a very important x/3. Its big and brown and it locks you out.

[Samoht]

Izzet Charm is a card I was thinking of going to 3 of after the day finished. It was hyper relevant in all three modes for me. Whether killing Factory, Revoker, DRS, Bob, Lords, Cursecatcher, etc. it never was wanting for being a bolt. The only X/3's running around are Magus of the Future, Trygon Predator, and double Lords.

You forgot a very important x/3. Its big and brown and it locks you out.

Yes, a glaring oversight.

Standstill is probably my favorite Turn 1 or Turn 2 play. A Dack on Turn 2 or Turn 3 to take a Mox/Ring is strong. Draining on Turn 2 into a Jace on Turn 3 is something decks live in fear of playing against. I'm not sure what you mean, perhaps we approach the games very differently if you don't want these cards early.

Yeah, Standstill is a very strong T1 play. The problem is that a T1 Standstill has a low probability of resolving in ideal circumstances, for several reasons.

1) You lose the die roll.
2) You win the die roll, but now you need a Mox hand to make it happen. Lotus+Standstill isn't the greatest of plays.
3) This particular list does not run any cheap removal, which makes Standstill more to resolve in advantageous circumstances. For example, your opponent opens with a T1 threat (DRS, Bob, whatever.. ). What do you do?

I play Standstill. Then I play my Factory or hope to race it. If necessary I will break my Standstill EoT to begin a fight once I'm forced to.
I'm ok being whittled down while we both sculpt hands. I can very easily and readily race a Bob. DRS takes awhile to become a threat as well. Now if we're talking t1 Goyf or something irritatingly large then yes, I have to change my plan. Otherwise I lock the game down, make my drops and hope to stabilize underneath the standstill. Breaking it isn't the end of the world. Also, I do play a bevy of cheap/free counters to try and combat the early starts that could threaten my early Standstill, with the intent of getting it into play and living off the CA generated.

Stifle is very good in the current metagame, at least in paper magic. Every single deck has relevant effects that warrant Stifle-ization. I've leveraged it to great success in testing and now in a tournament. That said, if you want another Island, a Bolt, and a Grudge main instead I wouldn't be adverse to listening to you.

What are the scenarios you've encountered where Stifle is good for you? It is an awful draw against so many of the prevalent decks in the current metagame. Oath/Shop/Dredge/Humans/Merfolk ... even against blue decks. Yes, there will be many situations in every matchup where you can actually use Stifle, because every match will have dozens of triggered/activated abilities ... but I've found that often, you're just burning a card and not really gaining anything.

Perhaps the differences in our builds result in a different approach to the game. I never want to see 2 Drains or 2 Standstills in my opening hand.

Tangle Wire to keep up Drain. Forgemaster to stop Tinker. Griselbrand to stop draws. Silvergill to stop draw. Factory/Mutavault activation. Factory pump. Wasteland. Fetchlands. Jace ultimate. Jace brainstorm. Tezz -2 for TV. Welder. Hellkite. Storm trigger on Flusterstorm. Storm trigger on Tendrils, Dack -2 on my Crucible.

I'm more than happy with 2 Standstills in the opener. It means I don't have to fight over the first one and if it sticks I can immediately replay. 2 Drains is less than stellar depending on what the rest of the hand is but although I'm not thrilled I'm not displeased either.

I've found EE to be so much better than Null Rod, and I'm fairly sure Josh has too. Aside from it's overt flexibility, it's ability to kill Spheres when announcing at 0 or 1 is critical against modern Shop decks. It does much more work than Null Rod in that match up, save the Metalworker lists. Still, I prefer to have it over Rod because it relevantly applies to other match ups and in situations where the threat is NOT artifact based. Namely, against Merfolk and/or True-Name Nemesis. That said the lack of Rod makes Dack better as taking the Moxen nets you an advantage as well denying them from your opponent.

Yeah, I know there are fans of the EE version, but I'm not one of them. Rod is the most powerful card in this deck, in my opinion. Most of the time I resolve it, it is just a blowout. EE has never really provided that sort of effect for me. I willingly accept a weaker matchup against aggro decks for the benefit of stomping on anything that relies on artifact acceleration.

EE chops off artifact acceleration as well for 2 mana. I'm not really sure how much better the static effect of Rod is versus the 1 shot of EE, especially when compared to the other uses for EE.

As for Dack, I agree that he looks really good in this list. I'm curious to hear how it works out for you.

He's been working out very well. I just top 4 split the TDG event this weekend with it and Dack was a critical component.

[Prospero]

I wanted to note that Shock Wave (Rich) is generally acknowledged as one of the best Landstill pilots around.  He's been playing Landstill longer than a lot of the guys on this board have been playing Magic. 

He also has a very respectable resume that includes some very nice finishes:

(2007 Champs) http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=15&d=101650

(2003 'Champs') http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=5454

This is the tip of the iceberg, but those are two events that represent the highest level of competition in Vintage in their respective years.

There are a slew of other things that can be credited to Shock Wave, including innovation in Worldgorger Dragon combo.

With the advent of Vintage on MODO, we have a lot of the newer players interacting with guys whom they may not know; please give everyone a chance.

I have nothing to add regarding card choices, but ask that we keep the conversation above-brow and mature, as befits the forum and the community.